RSSColossians 2:13-14
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Why were we dead in the first place? - Because of our sin and sinful nature. This is the departure point for us. We cannot live up to God's standard and hence we cannot truly LIVE without the grace and the mercy of what Jesus did on the cross FOR US.
Through Christ's death on the cross, we were given life. Again. Through Christ's death on the cross, we were given life. Not just that, but we were made ALIVE - a far more potent concept.
What we celebrate this weekend is big. It has been warped by hunting for easter eggs and eating chocolate, but if we can look past the commercialisation, we will hopefully grasp the enormity of this. What amazes me is that Good Friday and Easter Monday are not celebrated as national holidays here in the US. One would think that these would be the first of the "holy-days" but it seems that the states themselves decide on that. Virginia, alas, has not recognised it. Hopefully we can use the opportunity of being in our places of work to tell others about this incredible and free gift that we received through the cross.
Consider that you are alive, and have a great day.
PermalinkPhilippians 2:12-13
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
It is strange to me that certain words have become 'dirty' in this day and age - obedience and discipline being two of them. Here Paul admonishes the people of Philippi (and us) to show obedience and to remember God's nature. God cannot accept sin. It is good that he doesn't accept sin. Things are only made 'right' for us through what Jesus did for us. Still, we must tread with caution and walk in God's ways once we receive the gift of salvation. How do we know what God's ways are? God works in us through the Holy Spirit, compelling us to do certain things and convicting us of other things ... our obedience to this heartfelt and intimate conversation with God is how we follow His purpose and work out our salvation.
Remember that because of Jesus, God is now with us (Emmanuel) and because of this He doesn't need to thunder down at us from Heaven or from a cloud-enveloped mountain. All He needs to do is whisper to us - I for one know that I need to tune my ears better to hear this whisper and to stop expecting the thunder.
Several of the verses that I picked (somewhat randomly) for this period of lent refer to our hearts. I found it interesting to see yet again that God was interested more in the hearts of His people than in the place they were in (in their lives):
Deuteronomy 8:2-5
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.
The Jewish nation was wandering around in the desert with not much clue as to where they were or where they were going. That didn't matter to God, in fact, He used that situation to see what really mattered to them - their orientation according to their hearts. It seems cruel to test them like this, but God had to lead them to a place of humility before they would see Him and worship Him fully. I think the same is true for our lives. We are also in a wilderness (modern society) headed for a promised land (heaven). I think that our road there is not meant to be easy, partly because it just isn't, and partly because those kinks and bumps will hopefully teach us humility and allow God to work in our hearts.
In the same way that parents do not give in to every wish and command from a child, in order to discipline a child, so too is God doing a good thing for us by not granting every wish and desire we have. Through the humility of "not having" every desire fulfilled, we learn the true value of the things that are granted to us. We learn not to 'look a gift-horse in the mouth'. Although we see Christmas as the time of gifts, gifts that symbolise Jesus being sent to earth, the real gift was actually His death on the cross for our sins. Let us remember what God has done and is doing for us as we wander aimlessly in our desert and let us appreciate and value the Greatest Gift of salvation through Christ's blood.
Acts 5:38-39
Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.
These are tough verses to understand. In that context, the Jewish authorities really thought that they knew God's will and they were doing what they thought was in line with that. Sure, there were some among them who had self-seeking goals and various financial or political agendas, but at least this one, Gamaliel, was considering God's will here. So, according to what they thought God's will was, they were persecuting the apostles because of their faith in Jesus.
What does this mean in our 'post-modern' context? Should we be zealous in our pursuit of what we think God's will is, when possibly we don't know what that will actually is? On the flip-side, should we be lackadaisical in our faith and just assume that God's will is going to be manifested regardless of our input?
I don't know.
I hope that the Holy Spirit would guide us in each situation. And be cautious: it is easy to become pharisees ourselves, condemning others for their faith or actions when we don't fully know what God's plans are (for ourselves, let alone for others). We need to show the same grace that was shown to us through Jesus' death on the cross. We also need to remember that God's reasoning is so far above our own that we should consider ourselves very fortunate indeed to know His will at all.
Continue to move, but as you take those steps use the following as your compass and to judge your pace:
Compelling Spirit
Commanding Scripture
Council of the Saints
Common Sense
Circumstantial Signs
(these come from a sermon and via my brothers - and I wish I could credit the responsible pastor)
There are many difficult passages in the bible. Jesus teaching his disciples the beatitudes is one of those passages for me:
Matthew 5:3-12
"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
It is difficult for me because it exposes my weakness of following society's doctrine rather than Jesus'. In this passage, Jesus shows how the blessed life is often so very different from the life perceived to be blessed by the western world. We chase after "quality of life" as defined by social status, opportunities, wealth, food, education etc. Jesus is saying that we should be chasing after a totally different suite of characters (and note that His definition of the blessed life has nothing to do with possessions and everything to do with character).
"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." - I think this means that the kingdom is available to those who are poor is spirit. It is a difficult verse for me to interpret and I think I will always grapple with it.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." - It truly is a blessing to be comforted in mourning ... both by God and by people.
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." - This is topples the dog-eat-dog and survival-of-the-fittest attitude so pervasive in society.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." - Yet again Jesus shows how our hearts matter ... not so much where we are in the journey, but whether we are at least headed in the right direction.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." - I think that this relates not only to the reward for this character, but also to the blessing of actually being merciful (feeling God's pleasure in becoming more like Him).
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." - Again this could be the ultimate reward of worshiping God in heaven, but I think the pure in heart also see God in their daily lives because of the lens they see life through (what there focus is as they do often mundane things).
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." - I interpret this against the background of centuries of human history in which societies associated war mongering with strong kings. Those kings often had their sons lead their armies into battle and they were central to troop morale (just note the furore over Prince Harry's evacuation from Afghanistan recently). God had used tactics like this in securing land for the Jewish nation, so they fully expected Him to continue saving them like that. Jesus denounces the perception that war mongering = strong kings - in so doing also denounces the perception that the Messiah would free the Jewish nation through military action.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." - We consider ourselves to be blessed in that we are not persecuted. This is another one that I struggle with.
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." - Again we bemoan days when it is more difficult to be a Christian in the face of societal persecution. We are horrified when people lie about us and mislead others about us.
"Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." - This goes back to being thankful and joyful in all situations ... hmmm seems to be a common thread over the last few days.
These are some tough pills to swallow. I know that my perception is skewed too much towards the things and 'perceived blessings' of society rather than the blessings Jesus clearly explains. Perhaps next time, I will think differently about what it means when someone says "God bless you" to me.