GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION
Humanity has always searched for the secret of life, the holy grail, the source of wisdom -- the throne of God. We tell captivating stories about the search. We make blockbuster movies about it. The heart looks desperately for ultimate reality; where God lives.
We all need a god to trust. It is part of our being. We are trusting someone or something at all times. Some are looking to the mysteries of magic. Others take pilgrimages to the past. Still others are enamored with the fantasies of the future. The search is universal in its practice.
Well, there is some hope. The prophet Isaiah records the words of God:
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite..." Isaiah 57:15 (ESV)
It seems that God has two addresses. He lives beyond time and space, and He lives with those who know they need Him.
First, let's examine the high and holy place. It doesn't mean that God delights to distance Himself from us. It means that He is by nature in another category from us. He is not the projection of our own imaginations. He is not humanity in a better state. He is distinct. He is creator, rather than creature. He is the source of life, rather than the recipient. He gives without diminishing His resources. He loves without condition. He is beyond time, and He transcends space.
Humankind did not make Him in our image. We are made in His. He is beyond the capacity of man's imagination; deeper than the speculation of the wise man; better than the best of all things. He is so high that He must descend to our level of cognition. He is so omniscient He must reveal for us to know him. He is just in every decision and merciful in every act.
Yet, He so wants us to know and enjoy Him that He became a human like us so we could relate. We can't and don't need to ascend to the heavens to find Hhim. We are not required to deny our humanity to please Him. He has come to us--to do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. He has done the work necessary for our reconciliation, and then He has quickened our spirit to know both our need and His provision.
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He can be found with the person who has a contrite heart. That is the one who has been awakened to the perversion of his own heart. He or she has paused in judgment of the wickedness of others to confront the potential of evil in their own heart. The evil of Adolph Hitler is the same evil that lies in the human heart. Unless it is overcome by the power of the cross, it will manifest in ways that bring embarrassment and destruction. The contrite know this.
They also know that God loves to revive the lowly. Only He can give hope to helpless slaves of sin. He can be trusted. He has never failed to keep His promise. He is good and can't do bad!
The search reaches its goal when we realize that God has found us.
He stumbled up to the convenience store and sat down on a stack of Coke cases. He look tired and frustrated. The concerned lady behind the counter spoke, "Are you OK?" Slowly he lifted his head to reveal hollow cheeks and empty eyes. "Lady,” he said, "Yesterday my wife was diagnosed with cancer. My health provider has notified me that we are not covered. Today my boss demoted me. My car just stopped running a couple of miles down the road, and this is as far as I could walk. I could use some good news."
Maybe we have all had days like that. In fact, we are living at a time in our own culture when it seems like bad news is all we get. Globally, the American dollar is staggering under an unimaginable debt. Currencies that here-to-fore bowed to the mighty dollar are competing for dominance. The American dream has lost its luster for seniors who fear that the Social Security they had counted on is not that secure. Younger people are burdened over the debt they are assuming as they try to bear the burden of baby-boomer mortality, while they face the reality that they probably won't prosper as much as their parent's generation.
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The American destiny is being reinterpreted through the lenses of secularism. God's involvement in the purpose of this nation is being denied, and our faults are being magnified to the point of shame. We are told that we have had it all wrong and that anyone who celebrates our history is prejudiced and blind. Fake news has become a celebrity of communication as we have taken the used car salesman's spin technique and adopted it in Media, Congress, the Presidency, and even the pulpit. We could use some good news.
Israel had a time like that. Once a prosperous nation under the guidance of God they had been devastated by the Assyrians in 722 BC and then by the Babylonians in 536 BC. Under this rule they were slaves, being told every day that they were a class of beings barely above the animals. Added to the physical pain of abuse, persecution and mental torture, they were aware that they were guilty of breaking the covenant with God. They were convinced that he had divorced them, sold them into slavery, and washed his hands of them. The past was filled with regret. The present was painful, and the future looked bleak. Into this era of despair, a voice was heard from God's prophet:
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion: Your God reigns -- Isaiah 52:7.
It was startling news. Too good to be true. The natural eye had trouble finding enough evidence to make it believable. But God's word is trustworthy. He rules over nature, history, and time. Nations are used by him -- without even knowing it -- to accomplish his purpose. He raises up kings and deposes them. He has always had a plan to rule his creation through his image-bearers.
Adam and Eve were the first. They yielded their rule to the deception of the Serpent. But God had another Adam in mind and he came to earth as a man, as an Israelite, and as God's servant to establish God's rule through a man. That man was Jesus who lived obediently as man was designed, died sacrificially as was required by justice, defeated death which was mankind's arch enemy, and ascended to sit on the throne ruling everything his sacrifice paid for. He rules today and shall reign forever and ever.
When we hear in our hearts the good news that "Our God Reigns," we believe, and peace pushes out fear and worry. The good news that sets the heart free is that our God reigns. He rules over history, nature, time, sin, flesh, death, and Satan. It would be the epitome of foolishness to see a God who controls all of life and refuse to yield our lives to him. It is true wisdom to see a God who rules over all authority and power and gladly trust him to rule our lives. We have good news.
I grew up going to the country church where my parents attended and served as volunteer leaders. We prided ourselves both as a church and as a denomination that we could always count on a Christ-centered message coming from the pulpit. We were mission-minded where other churches were maybe more doctrinal or liturgical. We wanted to make sure that anyone who attended the services had an opportunity to profess faith in Jesus as Savior. The "plan of salvation" was always given at the end of every service.
What I now realize is that when it came to the preaching, we meant more Christ-added than Christ-centered.
I can remember the pastor using various passages from the Bible and spending most of his time explaining how we should cease from certain behavior and begin doing something more beneficial. Then, at the end, he would briefly mention that Jesus was ready to save us if we would trust him. Maybe he would help us keep our promises or live up to our resolutions.
Man-centered messages with Jesus added are not only powerless to transform, but they are false representations of the gospel.
The focus was unmistakably on what we should do to be better. Christ was added like instant tea to cold water. He would add flavor, but the task could probably be accomplished with enough faith and willpower. It was more about what we should and must do to make God happy -- and Jesus would help us.
There were sermons and Bible studies on the principles that assure success in our endeavors. There were lectures on ethics. There were interesting Bible stories explaining the moral characteristics of the characters, with the exhortation to "dare to be a Daniel," or "be courageous like young David."
Sometimes there were in-depth doctrinal sermons on great theological controversies, but they always ended with: "I don't want anyone to leave today if you haven't accepted Jesus as your own personal Savior and Lord. If you will admit your sin, and confess by open profession, your faith in him, you can be saved."
Sadly, not much has changed -- not only in the small country churches like that one but also in some of the largest pulpits in our world.
We seem to have forgotten that Jesus took the first disciples on a tour of the Bible and showed them that he was the subject and center of the whole story. We seem afraid to tell the raw truth that Jesus alone is the way to the Father and that only through him can we know intimacy with God now and forever. We add him to our well-crafted speeches that really feature what we can do, rather than what he has done.
Man-centered messages with Jesus added are not only powerless to transform, but they are false representations of the gospel.
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A growing hunger for the Christ-centered message which energized the early disciples is becoming evident. The entertaining talks and dramatic presentations have not satisfied a deep longing for a glimpse of Jesus the Lord. We are made for him. Our eyes are never fully opened until we see him by faith. Our hearts are never at peace until he is our all in all.
When we are the center and Jesus is added, we slowly die. When we see him as filling our field of vision, we find ourselves in our proper position. If he is Lord of all, he can never be an "add-on."
How do we reproduce the life of Jesus? Hint: It’s not by trying harder! This teaching by Pastor Greg Riether, the pastor of Healing Grace Church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, is powerful and this isn’t the only one that is. I’ve been devouring Pastor Greg’s messages on YouTube this past month or so and they […]
The post Reproducing the Life of Jesus appeared first on Sandra McCollom.
The Salvation Army bought this place in 1948 and dedicated it to The Lord and said their goal is that everyone who comes through the gates will have an opportunity to encounter Christ! I hope you can join me in Bourbon, MO on November 4th, 2017 for an encounter with Jesus! Although this event is […]
The post Let’s Lift Up Jesus in Bourbon, Missouri! appeared first on Sandra McCollom.
Lori, from Dracut, Massachusetts recently emailed me the following question about obedience after reading my post titled There’s No Bad News In The Good News. Sandra….John 14:15 says “If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands. And John 14:23-24 says “Jesus answered, If a person [really] loves Me, he will keep My […]
The post What About Obedience? appeared first on Sandra McCollom.
