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In Him is No Darkness

If asked, many would say that Lincoln is on the penny … but it is only his likeness.  Jesus states that He and His Father are one (John 10:30), but how does that oneness come about?  And how can we get in on that perfect fellowship with God?

I.  1 John 1:5-7.  God’s character is that there is no darkness at all.  Light throws off no shadow.  God is good, for our good (Romans 8:28-29), so that we will do good (Ephesians 2:10).  We can live a lie and tell others that we are in fellowship with God, but we will only fool ourselves and some others.  We will never deceive God, who knows our true nature and motives.

II.  Colossians 1:15-20.  The Son, who claims oneness with the Father, is an exact representation of the Father’s character and radiance.  He has that because He in the flesh abides in the Father and the Father in Him (John 14:8-11).  We are told to abide in Christ by living His commandments (John 15:4-11), a process which comes as a result of much discipline (Hebrews 12:7-14) but allows us to be perfected in holiness to share in fellowship with Him.

III.  1 John 1:8 — 2:6.  Fallen from the image of God in which we were created, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross renews that image in Him (Colossians 3:5-10) through the discipline process (Ephesians 4:20 — 5:2).  To share in oneness with God is to take on His perfect nature; then we can have fellowship with Him and other Christians who are also walking in the light as Jesus does.

To truly be Jesus’ disciple, our walk needs to match our talk.

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That Day

Immersed, I felt pure and clean — prepared
for Jesus’ coming — joyful in your forgiveness —
secure and safe — possessor of all I’d heard;
That Day, O Lord, make me a happy witness!

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Worthy of Trust

The Lord my God is worthy of trust,
In you I put my heart and soul,
This world’s possessions turn to dust,
So eternal life is all my goal.

O Father, every moment I breathe,
I hear the call of heaven’s lure,
Preserve me while the nations seethe,
In peace prepare your people pure.

The strongholds rise on every side,
The devil’s darts come flaming down;
Be now my shield and certain guide,
For I desire the living crown.

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This, I know, is grace

Thank you, Eternal Father, for each precious gift you give — life itself and all that is necessary to sustain it.

The most precious of all, of course, is that of eternal salvation. In comparison, this present life is less than a drop of water in all the oceans of earth.

And everything else besides eternal life is icing on the cake. If the present is sweet, what must heaven be like?

How is it that I was blessed with all this, when so many go wanting? How was I shown the path to freedom when billions are enslaved by sin?

This, I know, is grace, and I am humbled before you.

You deserve all praise and glory for your wisdom.

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The Two Shall Become One Flesh

It’s often said that God created two institutions: marriage (and so the family unit) and the church.  Hebrews 10:1 indicates that the Law is the shadow of the reality to come.  Since the overall theme of the Bible is a holy God redeeming sinful man, then Ephesians 5 describing marriage as the shadow to understand the reality of Jesus’ bride, the blood-bought church, being presented to the Bridegroom at the wedding supper of the Lamb makes sense.

I.  Ephesians 5:22-33.  In figurative language, something that is unknown is described by what is known.  In this case, the relationship between a husband and wife is explained as the one between Christ and His church … and vice versa.  The marriage verse of Genesis 2:24 is quoted and then is directly applied to Jesus and His bride.  We know that earthly marriage only lasts until death or judgment (Matthew 22:29-30; Matthew 24:38-39).  Therefore, to help us better understand the oneness we need to have with God, our heavenly Father gave us the shadow of earthly marriage here.

II.  John 10:30.  Several are described as walking with God (Genesis 3:8; Genesis 5:24; Genesis 6:9).  In Enoch’s case, his fellowship with the Almighty let him escape death (Hebrews 11:5).  The Son, who was sinless (Hebrews 4:15), was in perfect oneness with the Father.  Through His redeeming work at the cross and tomb, Jesus makes it possible for us to live in a restored relationship with Him once again (1 John 2:6).

III.  John 14:9-14.  In Revelation 21:2, the church is presented as a bride adorned for her husband.  Blessed are those who are at the wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9) when the two become one flesh.  To be one with God, we first need to be baptized into Him (Galatians 3:26-27).  Then we need to continue to abide in Him through obedience and continual repentance.

Earthly marriages fail because of wedges in the oneness.  Christians fail because they allow wedges of sin and selfishness to come between them and their Bridegroom and cease to remain in the bride.  God wants all to come to repentance.  Are you heading to a wedding?

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And Sent Her Throughout … Israel

I don’t believe the USPS or FED-UPS would have shipped it.  The contents were definitely ‘fragile,’ ‘liquid,’ and ‘perishable.’  As terrible as the Levite’s actions were in cutting up his dead concubine after she had been abused by the Benjaminites the whole night and sending the pieces to the twelve tribes of Israel, it did have the effect of waking them up to their spiritual drifting from God’s Law.

I.  Judges 19:1-30.  In a scene reminiscent of Sodom in Genesis 19, the Levite found his host’s home surrounded by men in Gibeah (where King Saul would come from) wanting to sexually abuse him.  In a decision that is heinous to today’s sensitivities and not better explained away by ancient hospitality laws, the Levite’s concubine was given to them instead.  Sending her body parts into Israel provoked outrage and war as this woke the nation up to their spiritual slumber since Moses had mediated the Law on Mt. Sinai many years before.

II.  John 15:18-21.  Throughout Scripture, God used extreme acts to awaken His people, but the result was to bring them back into a right relationship with Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).  Today, it seems that many calling themselves Christian use these extreme actions to protest against truth and groups they feel are stodgy or reactionary.  They call for Christians to blend in with the culture and water-down the gospel to feel-good emotions that are reliant on experience.  Spiritual discipline is hard to market (Hebrews 12:5-11), and Jesus said that His followers were not to blend in with the world.

III.  Matthew 25:1-10.  It takes work to be and stay prepared spiritually (1 Thessalonians 5:5-6), but true worshipers will determine to put this effort above all else.  This is yet another purpose for the church as we each encourage another and spur on to good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25).  The alarm clock is set (Matthew 24:42-44), but we may be hitting the snooze button.

What would it take to awaken you to your spiritual slumber and urge you to awaken others?

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My Heart’s Not Proud

Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart’s not proud,
And I’ve no haughty face;
My goals do not sound loud,
Nor go beyond my place.

My spirit rests composed,
Quiet, content and still;
A young child enclosed
By a mother’s protective will.

O People! Let hope soar
Both now and evermore.

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Is It Better For You …?

In the Calvin & Hobbes cartoon strip, Calvin often played calvinball, a game in which the rules were always changing to benefit him.  That’s how “Christian chameleons” often treat the truth, changing it to appeal to a wider audience, blend in better with the culture, or benefit themselves in some way.

The question we need to ask is: are we seeking to please self or God?

I.  Judges 18:3-20.  When Joshua divided the promised land among the tribes of Israel, God scattered the Levites throughout the tribes to remind them of His covenant and Law.  In the previous chapter, the Levite was so glad to be employed by Micah that he never says anything against his master’s carved image, household gods, or the location of worship.  When 600 armed Danites ask him if it was better to serve one man or a whole tribe, the Levite goes with them, never mentioning God, the tabernacle, proper worship, what God desired, or the need to be holy as God is holy.

II.  1 Timothy 4:16.  When we don’t watch our life and doctrine closely, we fall into selfishness and sin or compromise truth because of cultural pressures.  In both cases we stray from being a true worshiper in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), become a friend to the world (James 4:1-4), and seek to please self rather than God (2 Corinthians 5:9).  Rather, we must seek first His Kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33) and do everything in word and deed in His Name (Colossians 3:17).

III.  Ezekiel 22:23-30.  During the Babylonian captivity, Ezekiel tells us how those who should have been standing firm on truth had strayed in their duties.  He lays God’s charges against the priests, princes, prophets, and people and ends with the lament that there was no one to stand in the breach.  This was true in the time of judges, captivity … but not today.  Jesus stood in the breach for us by the cross and then turned His work over to His followers to be the light of the world (John 9:1-5).

Are you?  Will you stand in the breach to tell a sinful world the saving message of the gospel?  Or will you compromise with the culture?  Will you do what is pleasing to you or God?  You cannot live your live by “Is it better for you …?”  Rather, it should be “Is it better for God …?”