The Last Word on Life

We all live with some kind of hope. We hope it won‘t be too hot today. We hope we will get a raise. We hope our candidate will win the election this fall. We hope to shoot par on at least one hole. But what is hope? The Bible tells us that it is more than just wishful thinking. It is “he assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen“ according to Hebrews 11:1. When the Bible talks about the “hope of heaven,” it isn’t talking about hoping we get into heaven, but rather the hope that comes for the reality of heaven.

Do you live with calm assurance that God will do what He says He will do? Maybe you feel that God has let you down in the past. Maybe you have been hurt by folks in your relationships or in business. Everyone that you thought you could count on has let you down. That is the way it seems sometimes. And in fact that may be your experience.

At a time of such uncertainty in the world, people are looking for something or someone to believe in. They want to feel secure, but then the stock market plummets and gas goes to more than $4.00 per gallon. People just want to be happy, but happiness seems so dependent upon our circumstances. They want to be independent, but then they realize that they do not have the resources for today and tomorrow. They want to trust, but their own feelings betray them. Self-help books and prosperity teachers are a dime a dozen.

Why did God make it possible for us to spend eternity in heaven? Was it because of our goodness? Or was it because of His mercy and His grace?

Well, if it is because of His mercy and grace, and He is never changing and never failing, then we can have hope for today and for tomorrow.

“Living hope“ means that it isn‘t something that we store away for the future. It is alive. The hope that we have empowers us to live today the way that God intended us to live it — in holiness. What we hope for won‘t fade away, rust, or shrink in significance because it is “incorruptible and undefiled.”

The Apostle Peter went on to explain further that our faith is secured not by us, but by almighty God. When we experience true salvation and turn to Christ in repentance, we have a place prepared for us in heaven. John 14: 2 and 3 are fairly clear. No one, not even Satan himself, can take it away from us.

Now this doesn’t mean that life will be easy or without trials. Peter acknowledged this but still assured his readers that the opportunity to spend eternity in heaven is worth whatever the struggles are here on earth.

Have you ever camped outside a store in order to be there when the doors opened in order to get the big sale item? Have you ever stood in line for the chance to buy concert or playoff tickets? I remember getting up before dawn once to be in line to get one of the first Teddy Ruxpin animated talking bears. (Some of you are too old to have had one and too young to remember buying them for your children!)

We get so mixed up in our priorities. We make important the things that are so fleeting. And we minimize the things that have eternal implications. We go to a lot of trouble for what pleases us for a moment. But we ignore the things that will provide peace for today and a hope for tomorrow. We live in the present and yet we are created for eternity.

Jesus has been to Bethlehem, wearing barn rags and hearing sheep bleating and cows chewing. He took His first sips of milk shivering at the feet of animals. God had come to earth in the form of a helpless baby. Countless who face the chill of empty pockets, face the fear of uncertainty or face the tragedies of everyday life turn to Jesus Christ. Why?

Because He has been there.

He has been to Nazareth where he toiled in the hot sun of Palestine; to Galilee where He recruited some who would turn and run when He needed them most; to Jerusalem where He was assaulted by the religious leaders of the day and was ultimately put to death on a cruel Roman cross.

You and I have our Nazareth, Galilee, and Jerusalem. So why turn to Jesus? Because He‘s been there!

And He‘s been somewhere you and I have not been yet. He has been to the grave. Not as a visitor. He was a resident for a time. But death and the grave could not hold Him.

So, in this walk of faith, in whom do you put your faith and in whom do hope? Why not place your trust in the One who has been there before you and who has gone before you to prepare a place for you in heaven?

Just a thought . . .

 

A Place MUCH Better than Last Week!

Heaven — The mention of the word probably brings as many images to our mind as last weeks topic, hell. Again, pop culture may have influenced us more regarding heaven than the Bible.

Maybe you don’t even think much about heaven. Maybe you are busy enough in your everyday life with your countless activities such that you don’t feel you have time to even contemplate heaven. However, the thought of spending eternity in heaven can bring peace in the midst of despair and in the tumult of life. But heaven isn’t about us wearing white robes, sitting on a little cloud and playing a little harp. In fact, it isn’t about us at all! It is about spending eternity in His presence.

Have you ever thought about living in a perfect world? Think about that for a little bit. There would be no need to lock your doors. You wouldn‘t need central air or heat. Doctors would be unnecessary as would lawyers. The list of things that would be different is long. For me, I would be 6′ 2″, thin and the best bass singer gospel music has ever known!

The truth is that you and I can live in a perfect world. Just not today. But there is coming a day when that will be possible. No matter how bad life gets today, we can look forward to a place of eternal perfection – heaven.

Look at our study passage in Revelation 21:1-26. John was given a glimpse of what no man had seen before and no one has seen since. The entire book of Revelation draws a picture of what the end times will look like and tells us about life beyond this earthly journey. The descriptions are the best that John could come up with. He saw the unbelievable and indescribable. And he tried to describe it to both Christians and non-Christians.

Not an easy job! Especially considering the task of trying to describe the indescribable using earthly words and images.

In the 21st chapter of Revelation, John begins by pointing out that the “first earth had passed away.” Staying on this planet doesn‘t seem to be an option, does it? It looks like we will relocate somewhere for eternity. And John saw a new location for those who are forgiven and are in a right relationship with Jesus Christ. He saw a new city in which God and man will live together in peace similarly to the way they did once before in the Garden of Eden.

Those who fail to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and choose Heaven will, by default, choose eternity in the “lake of fire.” But choosing Jesus Christ and Heaven is much more than getting a free pass or “fire insurance”. It is all about allowing God and His Holy Spirit to live in us and through us until that time that we reach the end of our earthly journey. It is an abundant life now and an unbelievable life after that.

John goes on to say that there will not even be a temple in heaven. Imagine that. God’s own Heaven and it doesn’t have a temple.

How about this as a concept. . . . Heaven, by definition, will be a place of worship! After all, that‘s what worship is. It is a natural response to being in God‘s presence. And we will be in His presence always and forever. There will be nothing to distract us from worship and from praising Him and celebrating being in His presence.

Go back and read Genesis 1. In the beginning, God designed a place where everything was good and perfect. But man messed it up by his sin and his disobedience. man chose to believe the serpent instead of the Creator who walked with him in the cool of the evening.

Since that time, we have tried to redefine good. We have equated good with big houses, fast cars and high-powered jobs. We have lowered the standard of goodness so that we can experience things that we believe to be good. But good isn‘t good unless it is Godly.

When the things we define as good can be made better, we have missed God’s concept of good. For God, good was the supreme expression of His creation. He looked at Adam and Eve and He said that it was good. God had no better. When God declared that that creation was good, He didn’t mean that it was good enough until something better came along. It was perfect and that is just what heaven will be like.

Do you want to spend eternity in the place that God calls good?

If so, then you can. Simply confess your sins and ask God to forgive you. If you have done that, then ask Him to send His Holy Spirit to indwell you and empower you to live a life of what Wesley called, “Christian perfection.” And allow the Holy Spirit to work in you to bring about a life worthy of heaven and a life that is pleasing to God and that will allow you to anticipate heaven and anticipate being in God’s presence with absolute peace.

This is the abundant life that God offers. Would you like a life like that?

 

H – E – Double hockey sticks

I’ve been told to go there. People make jokes about it. It has been depicted many different ways in film or on TV. Some folks have chosen to just ignore it. Some would tell you that it doesn’t even really exist.

What is it?

Hell.

And many times we never even give it a second thought until Halloween rolls around. But even then, we make light of it.

So why do we try to make light of it or minimize it? It just might be because if we dare to acknowledge that it exists, then we have to deal with some criteria for getting in to it or staying out of it. And if we seriously consider that criteria we may find we are more “qualified” or closer to the admission criteria for hell than for heaven!

For some folks, salvation is little more than “fire insurance.” They bought it one night at a revival or at the conclusion of a scary “turn or burn” sermon. Maybe it was purchased one night at teen camp when they showed one of those scary end-times movies that they inevitably showed us.

Some folks even say that they might prefer hell over heaven because that’s where their friends will be. So let’s be clear about this. Hell is not a place for companionship. Heaven is not the Ritz Carlton and hell is just the Motel 6! Hell will be experienced in agony and alone. In fact, it is eternal separation from God and everyone else in heaven. It is eternal punishment with fire. There will be absolutely no respite from the torment.

Read Matthew 7:13-23. Entering the city through the narrow gate meant leaving all of your possessions outside. It is interesting that Jesus compared salvation in that way. Imagine walking up to the entrance: In your backpack are all of your possessions and all the good things that you have done. Maybe you have your checkbook in there and your laptop. Behind yourself you are pulling a big suitcase with all the trophies of your accomplishments. Inside are your diplomas and the souvenirs of your great worldly accomplishments. Only one problem, the gate is too narrow for both you and the baggage to pass through. You either stay outside with your “stuff” or you put them down and enter alone. The cool thing is that once you get inside, you come to realize that all the stuff that you thought was valuable is now behind you and you are left to stand in awe before God on your own. All the stuff that you accumulated and accomplished is now insignificant. And you are left with nothing but your relationship with Jesus Christ.

Heaven and hell are real. Your choices in this life have eternal implications. You can “want to go to heaven” all you want to, but if you don’t have a right relationship with God it will never happen. And a relationship with God requires some things from you relative to your sin, relative to His will and relative to our obedience to His commands. And God operates on a completely different value system than you and I do prior to becoming a Christian.

Whenever we are operating on a different value system than God, we are living in disobedience to God. In other words, we are holding on to that backpack while trying to squeeze through the narrow gate. We are like Winnie the Pooh in the popular children‘s book — we are unable to get through the opening.

And false spirituality is no spirituality at all. Read Matthew 7:15-20. Real faith is revealed in changed lives. When we are living for God, we say Godly things and think Godly thoughts. We do the things that are important to God. Jesus warned people to steer clear of folks whose faith doesn’t call for or produce a changed life.

Hell is very real. It is not just a sub-standard eternal resting place. The Bible says that it is a place of eternal agony for those who have refused God’s love and His offer of forgiveness. In our focus verse for this summer, John 3:16, the idea “perish” is equated with eternal torment and punishment. Those are the two choices: eternity in heaven or eternity in hell. Either way it is eternity.

How will you face death? Will you face it with joy and anticipation? As the Apostle Paul said, “For me to die is gain . . .” Or is death something that you dread? Now I am not looking for folks to be anxious to die. God has placed us here for a time and for a reason. Esther in the Old Testament stated it best when she proclaimed that she was here “for such a time as this” as she found herself in the royal court and in a place of great influence.

For many of us, there are many years to come ahead. And God expects us to live it for Him and with great enthusiasm He expects us to do all that we can to take as many folks on to heaven with us as we can. Yet, when our life here on earth is over, we will face eternity based upon the choice that we made while we were alive. The good news is that you can have peace here and now. And you can face the future with peace and assurance that you will spend eternity at the feet of Jesus. The choice is yours and yours alone.

 

In His grip — And oh that smell . . .

I hated Saturday mornings when I was very young. That was the morning my mom went to the beauty shop and dragged me along. And I will never forget the smell of a beauty shop. It was the smell of women getting permanents.

Getting a permanent (a.k.a. “perm“) done to your hair might be one of the strangest concepts ever — after all, if it‘s “permanent“ why does it have to be redone every three to six months? One comedian has even asked the question – Shouldn’t it be renamed a “temporary“?

This temporary nature of permanence spills over into theology and doctrine today. Some people have applied it to their spiritual lives, wandering if God might change His mind. Some have wandered away from God or they have wriggled loose from His grip, applying that temporary / permanence to their commitment to God.

Jesus says that eternal life is something that He gives to us; it isn‘t something that we have earned or deserved. Jesus did for us what we are incapable of doing for ourselves. The legalistic faith of first-century Judaism had become cumbersome and confusing. They spent more times counting the steps someone took on the Sabbath than they did counting the cost of Christ and His death on the cross or the cost of discipleship. And today‘s “theology“ as seen by perusing the bookshelves at your favorite bookstore is equally confusing. One book tells you your problem is your diet. Another tells you it is your past experiences, and yet another tells you it is the lack of positive thinking. A better you is just around the corner.

Now throw into the mix the simple concept of salvation as a function of God‘s grace and some people get really confused. Solutions to major problems usually require a summit meeting by the world’s leaders or at least a committee or telethon, right?

Read John 10:22-30. We live in a culture where nothing is permanent. Everything we believe to be permanent is really hanging by a thread, so it seems. It is easy to see how people might apply worldly reasoning to spiritual conditions and have that push us to one side or another theologically. With marriages disintegrating and the collapse of the family unit it is hard to believe that God‘s love is eternal. The tenuous nature of our jobs makes it hard for us to believe that God won‘t discard us in the same way our employers do.

The key is this — salvation‘s permanence isn‘t based on my ability to keep it, but on God‘s ability to sustain it. When I doubt my salvation, then I am expressing doubt of God‘s ability and desire to preserve our relationship. And when I return to my old sinful ways, the Bible clearly states that I “fall away“ as in Luke 8:11-15 and Hebrews 6:4-6. And the result of that is that we deny His power to forgive us and cleanse from unrighteousness.

Now that doesn’t mean that we won’t have spiritual highs and lows. Some days are better than others. Some days we sense His presence more than others. But this I know for sure — If I feel distant from God, it is me that has moved away, not God!

Jesus pointed out the problem. Take a look at verse 26 of John 10. It points out one reason that I would doubt God’s ability to save me and keep me — I am not one of His sheep. These are harsh words, but they speak more to patterns of sin than moments of doubt. It is one thing to acknowledge Jesus’s existence; it is another thing altogether to put your faith in Him and move forward in obedience as He draws us deeper and deeper into a relationship with Him.

Read Colossians 2:6-10. Receiving and believing are companion concepts. When writing to the Colossians, Paul referred to believing as “walking.” The idea is that faith is intertwined with action. Action reaffirms faith. Reaffirmed faith spills over into action. This is the idea expressed as being “established in the faith.” It is the same as being rooted or firmly planted. Your daily walk reveals the strength of your faith.

If a casual observer followed you around for a day, would your actions reveal a dynamic, growing faith in God or would that person be convinced that God lacks the power to hold on to your life?

Look at that — we are the ones not walking in faith and yet God will get the blame for it from that casual observer.

Oh Lord, may it never be in my life. May I not crucify you again.

 

Believing and Receiving — Presto Change-o

Belief. Now, there is a word that we use with relative ease but we exercise with caution. True belief will be followed by some kind of action related to that belief. You can say that you believe a boat can safely transport you from shore to shore, but your belief is merely speculation until you actually step foot on the boat. In much the same way, believing and receiving are cause and effect statements.

For instance, we believe the Texans will have a great season. We believe our jobs are secure. We believe that gas will eventually go down in price. We believe that this year will be better than last year. But sometimes the things we believe are little more than hopes based on wishful thinking. There is a line between wishes and beliefs. Wishes are based on desires; beliefs are based on facts.

Is your place in Heaven something you hope for or something that you know to be a fact?

Read 1 John 1:1-10. John’s letter wasn’t based on wishful thinking; it was based on his personal experiences with Jesus. This was John the disciple — the very same John who wrote the Gospel of John and was one of the closest companions of Jesus Christ.

Modern history books tell us stories of people we’ve never met and we can’t really prove ever existed. Our money memorializes individuals that we accept to be factually accurate based upon the testimony of generations. Few doubt the leadership of George Washington, the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin, or the courage of Abraham Lincoln. Yet no one who is alive today has ever encountered one of these men in the flesh. We simply accept their existence because history tells us they lived and we can see their fingerprints of their accomplishments in our world today.

So, why don’t people believe that Jesus existed when the Biblical and extra-biblical testimonies offer the same proof as that of the historical figures from our nation’s history? The sad fact is that they don’t want to believe. If you want to believe in Jesus, there is ample evidence to support your belief. However, if you want to ignore Jesus, you can certainly find articulate arguments to support your lack of faith. It really comes down to a question of your whether or not you want to believe.

In 1 John 1:6, John draws a line in the sand. The claim of discipleship must be supported in action. That must have been a problem in the first century; I think you will agree that it still is a problem today. Walking in darkness can be explained forever as not “living what we claim” as it says in The Message. But, what does this mean in everyday life? It means not making spending time with God a priority. In means greedily holding on to what rightfully belongs to God. It means seeking our own pleasure rather than seeking to serve God. It means living for our own purposes and pleasure rather than for God’s purposes and pleasure.

Think of it this way. If you hang out around a car lot, you don’t become a car. Likewise, if you hang out around believers, you don’t become a believer (although it certainly helps!) Becoming a believer is an act of your will. You become a believer when you take Jesus at His word, seek His forgiveness, turn from sin in true repentance, accept His control over your daily life and act in obedience to His will.

In 1 John 1:9, we see the formula for establishing a right relationship with God. Confess your sins. Confession is an acknowledgement. It is a formal agreement with God about our state or condition. We can confess only when we stop making excuses for what we do. We must see ourselves from God’s perspective. Once we see our lives from His perspective, it is inevitable that we will be broken and disappointed in ourselves. We will then seek God’s forgiveness and He will forgive us. His Word says so. Read the end of 1 John 1:9 again. The verses say that He will “purify us from all unrighteousness.” Then, and only then, will we be ready, or able, to have the kind of life that God intended for us to have.

Are you living proof of God’s love and forgiveness or are you trapped in your sin? Real belief is followed by real change. And when it comes to God, rest assured, it is you and I who are required to change. We are not the person that we once were. At least we are not supposed to be!

 

Heaven’s “Whoever” Policy

Whoever in the Bible is a pretty all-inclusive term. In other words, no one has to be left out. The worst sinner, the vilest offender, the most despicable character, and the most hard-hearted person are all included in the potentiality wrapped up in that whoever statement. I am also included in the whoever statements. The next time you are reading the Bible, substitute your name for the word whoever.

Some folks find it hard to believe that they are desirable to God.

Why?

They obviously recognize God‘s holiness and they can see their own personal depravity. They see the great gulf that separates them from God and they see no way to cross from the depraved side to the Godly side.

Been there!

For many, it is easy to recognize our need for God, but often difficult to comprehend God‘s desire for a relationship with us. We can‘t add anything to God that He doesn’t already have or that He needs. So, why does God desire to have a relationship with us and why did He allow His Son to be sacrificed so that the relationship could be made possible? It‘s because of His love for his creation. Remember the theme of all of this? – - – “For God SO LOVED the world . . . “

God’s “Whoever Policy” includes you and me and everyone else on planet Earth. And as Christians, it is our responsibility to:

• point people to God’s love and,
• not stand in the way of them seeing God’s love.

So, here is a question for you to consider:

Is it easier for you to point people to God’s love or to control your actions and attitudes so that you don’t become a stumbling block to others?

The very reason many people out there in the world fail to accept God‘s offer of salvation is because of their encounters with people who are “Christians.” How often has someone told you about those hypocrites in the church? If that is how they view Christians, do you really blame them for not wanting to be one? I don’t!

One final question to consider:

When people encounter you, are they encouraged or disgusted? Are you a good advertisement for God’s “whoever” policy?

Lord, help me to be a good example of what it is to be a Christian.

 

Buy the heart, get the new life for free!

“For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly”

Mark 7:21-22

Jesus understands why we are so messed up without Him.  It is a heart problem.  Just look at the problems Jesus connected to the heart.  Heart problems are the symptom of a need for heart holiness.  God wants to deal with our actions (sins) and our attitudes (sinful nature).  This is the reason Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  He sent the Holy Spirit to perform the kind of heart surger that only the Divine Physician can perform.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:16-21.  We normally evaluate people against a human standard.  We grade intelligence, appearance, and success as better or worse than another person.  In verse 16, Paul suggested that being in a relationship with Jesus Christ changes the criteria by which we evaluate people.  The new criteria is Jesus Christ.

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.  Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

We get it way wrong when we say that we invited Jesus Christ into our lives.  This suggests that He took up residence in the area that we assigned Him.  That sounds like we are some cosmic innkeeper or run a boarding house.  We think we can just let him move in to the empty room to the left at the top of the stairs.

That isn’t real salvation!  We don’t invite Jesus into our lives; He invites us into His life.  When we understand this little difference, we are ready to experience a radical change of heart and life.

When we enter into this kind of relationship with God where He is not just a resident, but the owner, we must leave behind the things that are contrary to His nature.  Verse 18 says that “now all things are of God.”

Romans 3:23 reminds us that this sin problem is universal and plagues us all.  That may seem like bad news, but it sets the stage for a remarkable truth.  There is also Romans 6:22 and 23.  Most of us know verse 23, but we may not be as famiar with verse 22 and it’s context.

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:22-23

The good news is that God can empower us to live a life that is worthy of the calling in our lives.  God, through the Holy Spirit, can live that life through us, if we allow Him to inhabit every area of our life.  Rather than claim Christ as a resident of our compartmentalized life, let’s turn over the entirety of our lives to Him. Only when we totally surrender to God will we be prepared to experience life the way God wants it to be — holy, full, abundant, rewarding.

And here is the good news.  The heart transplant includes a complete “life overhaul” at no extra charge. Jesus Christ took our sin on Himself so that we can stand before God without fear of eternity in hell.  But salvation is more than “fire insurance” as is taught by many churches; it is the only way to experience the life of holiness.

Are you living life with a new heart? Are you living a life of holiness?  If so, you can testify about God’s power to change a person‘s life.  If not, you have yet to accept Jesus‘s invitation to live out His plan and purpose for our lives.  You are not yet “in Christ.”  But you can be!

This is not some goofy game show where you try to guess the answer and hope you are not wrong.  If you are right you get a new washer and drier.  And if you are wrong, no big deal.  You just don‘t get the new washer and drier.  This has eternal implications.  It also will impact how you live out this life right now. 

Test drive a new heart.  And try out that new life that comes along with it!

 

Exclusive and Unique

I spent a lot of time “building the front porch” this morning and didn’t get to spend as much time “building the house” as I wanted to.  So, I’ll build a little on the main house now.

Go back and re-read John 14:1-14. Why were the disciples troubled?

Something was up and they could just sense it.  There was tension in the air.  Their lives were about to be turned upside down and they couldn‘t yet comprehend it.  We have felt that way before, right?

Jesus was trying to explain things to them by trying to help them see the big picture. If Jesus were successful at that, then His disciples would be better equipped to face the days that were just ahead. 

He was also trying to provide a measure of comfort to them.  Jesus promised to go and prepare a place for those who follow Him.  The most encouraging promise here is that those who do trust Him and follow Him will spend eternity with him in Heaven. 

The symbolism here was not lost on the disciples.  They were all Jewish males and they understood the reference.  Jesus was using the words that young Jewish males would recite to their fiances.  They would commit their love and life to their future bride and then they would leave them with their family and the man would return to his own home.  Once home he would beging to build an addition on to his dad’s house.  He would build a couple of rooms on to his parent’s home.  As soon as they were built he would go back to his fiances house and get her.  He would bring her back to be with him.

Now do Jesus’ words make more sense?

Does that alone make today’s problems disappear?  — Of course not.  But it does help us keep the very finite nature of our problems and circumstances in the perspective of eternity with Jesus.  They become strangely smaller in that light and context.  A line from an old hymn says, “ . . . and the things of this world will grow stangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”

Now here comes our “Narrowminded Alert!” 

For some folks, what Jesus says in verse 6 is one of the most difficult truths to accept.  Jesus’s statement is even harder to accept in today’s society.  He says that there is no other way to His Heavenly Father but through Him.  What an exclusive and narrow statement!  That flies in the face of our multi-cultural, open, inclusive and politically correct society. 

That statement completely eliminates any faith that is not built on Jesus Christ.  It shoots down the theory that we can get to heaven if we are “good enough.” It says that being better than __________ (fill in the blank) isn’t good enough in light of God’s requirement that we be holy as He is holy as seen in Leviticus 11:45 and 1 Peter 1:16.  It says that I won’t make it based upon my geography or genealogy.  There is only one way to God. 

Thomas asks a question like we would ask.  So, how do we have a relationship and know the Father?  What does a relationship-based faith look like? 

It means we discover God’s Son, Jesus by spending time with Him and reading His Word.  Philip speaks up and says, “Well, show us God and we’ll get it this time.”  Jesus’ response pierces right to the heart of the matter. “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip?”

What if Jesus asked that question of you.

Jesus claims something extreme.  He does not claim to be a great theologian, a top theologian, or even the supreme Theologian, but rather He claims to be the ONLY Theologian.  He says, “No one really knows the Father except the Son.”  Again, He doesn’t say “No one really knows the Father like the Son” or even “just like the Son.”   His words are precise and purposeful.  “No one really knows the Father except the Son”

Heaven’s door has one door and one key. And Jesus holds it.

But, He stands at the door of Heaven calling our name. 

 

 

Week Four — Redeeming Love

The book of Hosea is one of the more unusual books in the Bible. Hosea was a prophet and he lived out one of the most difficult object lessons that we can imagine. Hosea was told to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him — a sin that was punishable by death. He knew that going into the marriage. God instructed him to go and marry a harlot.  — How about that? 

Gomer, his wife, personified the attitude of the Israelites toward God. Her adulterous actions were a reflection of the actions of the Israelites as they were unfaithful to God and worshipped Baal. Gomer’s actions resulted in her being enslaved. But God instructed Hosea to pay a price to redeem her — a picture of God’s desire to redeem His people from their sin.

Hosea would have been justified under Mosaic law to stop loving Gomer and divorce her.  He could even have had her stoned.  God wouldn’t have to look very hard to find reasons to stop loving us, would He?

However, in spite of countless reasons, God refuses to end His pursuit of us. God’s pursuit isn’t motivated by His desire to punish us; no, it is motivated by his love for us.

Deuteronomy 7:7-8 says:

The Lord did not choose you and lavish his love on you because you were larger or greater than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! It was simply because the Lord loves you, and because he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such amazing power from your slavery under Pharaoh in Egypt.

This passage reveals the reason God loves us — He wants to love us. He promised to love Israel’s ancestors and God can never be accused of going back on His promises. The picture is one of God being tethered or attached to His people.

Hosea understood commitment. Some prophets used object lessons; Hosea became an object lesson. He was told to take as his wife a woman of questionable character — a harlot. This relationship symbolized Israel’s relationship with God. The nation had been “married” to God but cheated on Him by pursuing other gods.

In the story, Hosea represents God. Hosea loved his wife as if she had been totally faithful to him. Likewise, God loves us as if we had maintained our faithfulness to him. He loves us currently when we have moments of unfaithfulness (OK, let’s call them what they are – sin). In spite of our unfaithfulness, God loves us in the same way that Hosea loved his wife. The rest of the story is also symbolic. Hosea’s wife was taken into slavery and Hosea was forced to pay a huge price to reclaim her.

God’s love for His people — you and me — isn’t based on his emotion; it is based upon His decision. It isn’t something He feels, it is something He does. When God looks at us, He sees His Son . . . If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and given Him the right to be our Lord. God loved the world in this way: He gave His Son as payment for our sins.

In this context Hosea gives the Old Testament’s most eloquent expression of God’s love and tender mercy. It is embodied in the Hebrew word hesed, which is translated as “mercy”, “loving kindness”, or “steadfast love”. It is a love of loyalty and commitment and is best seen in the sacred vows of marriage.

Jesus was the very personification of love. He left heaven for a feeding trough and the dusty roads of Galilee. He grew up in a simple carpentry shop where he swept floors and worked with his earthly father. As an adult He entered a life of public ministry . He was pursued by the religious power brokers and betrayed by one of his closest friends. Maybe you can relate.

He was here on a mission. That mission was to redeem us. His mission was to buy us back. He could have said that we weren’t worth it. (and we weren’t) He could have considered his own needs as more important than ours. But He stayed, He lived, He suffered, He died, and He rose again! Why? Love . . . God’s kind of love . . . agape love . . . love that won’t let go. God’s love is unlike anything that you and I can explain or understand. The only decision that we have is to accept it or reject it.

Depending on your generation, one of these sets of lyrics will resonate with you.

Matt Redmond says it this way:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won’t turn back
I know You are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

George Matheson says it this way:

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee,
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee,
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee,
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

Either way, the point is that God loves you and has made a way for you to have a relationship with Him.

“God so love the world.” This is a simple statement that has incredible ramifications. Love is offered from Heaven to us. We simply have to accept it or reject it. Accepting God’s love comes with conditions; rejecting it comes with consequences. Both the conditions of accepting and the consequences of rejecting it are predetermined . . . by God. And He has announced them clearly throughout the pages of Scripture. We don’t get to set the terms. How arrogant of us to even think that we could. This is where so many potential believers balk — they want a relationship with God on their own terms, not His. However, a relationship with God on any other terms than His is no relationship at all.

For God so loved . . . that He relentlessly pursues us . . . to redeem us . . . to dwell in us . . . to empower us to live a life of Holiness.

 

Week Three – Wash, rinse, repeat . . .

Our study passage today was Exodus 32:1-35.  It is especially familiar to those of us who have been on this journey through the first few books of the Old Testament.  (Hopefully we will get through these books in the Old Testament in less time than the Israelites wandered in the desert.  But I digress.) 

This passage contains a few brief words that make me laugh every time I read them.  Aaron tries to explain to Moses how the golden calf came to be. 

Aaron says, “Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”  

Give me a break!  Come on Aaron.  That calf didn’t create itself.  You made it for them. 

The Israelites wanted a god they could see and touch. We do to. So they melted their valuables and fashioned a golden calf.  The calf wasn’t just a convenient image to worship; it was reminiscent of the cow and the bull that were a part of Egyptian worship rituals. The bull was also part of the Baal worship of the Canaanite culture. (this culture would continue to haunt the Israelites for hundreds of years). The Israelites watered down their faith by including pagan elements from pagan practices.  And the consequences of this act would follow them for years and generations to come.

They allowed elements of their old lifestyles, previous experiences and bad habits to continue to shape and define who they were.  They still were not grasping what it was to be the children of a Holy God. 

Why did the Israelites make such a tragic mistake? In a word, fear. They were afraid. Now let’s be clear on something here.  Being afraid is not an offense to God. But how we respond in our fear can be a big problem. When the Israelites were afraid they reverted back to the familiar past. Even though they were slaves in Egypt, life back in Egypt was predictable. And like the Israelites, when we are scared, we often seek out the familiar and stable . . . even if that stability is negative.  

The end of this part of the story of the golden calf is more tragic than its beginning. The people were permanently affected by their decisions to turn their backs on God. According to verse 35, the people were plagued because of what they did.  [Remember last week? -- Connecting the dots?] 

The Israelites probably had a series of “if only” moments. If only they had remained faithful to God. If only they had resisted the urge to worship the golden calf. If only they had waited patiently for the Lord. If only they were willing to break the cycle of disobedience to God and live a life of holiness. 

As we discussed last week, the bad news is that we often have to live with the consequences of our sins. The good news is that God is the God of forgiveness and restoration. We can be in a right relationship with God even after we have let Him down. We can be restored, we can move forward. We can leave the mistakes of the past behind us, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can walk in Holiness and not repeat them over and over. 

We can break the cycle of sin, repent, sin, repent, sin, repent . . .  

Read the back of your shampoo bottle.  It says, wash, rinse and repeat.  No one in their right mind expects us to live in the shower and continually wash, rinse and repeat.  I think it is reasonable at some point to get out of the shower.  Dry off.  Get dressed and go to work! 

We are not supposed to live in the shower.  And I guess that is where the shampoo analogy breaks down a little bit.  But the analogy does work when it comes to Holiness.  God calls us to live a life of holiness.  Like the Israelites, we, who are Christians, are His children.  And He has given us His Son to die for our sins so that we might be forgiven.  And he has given us His Holy Spirit to guide us and empower us to live that life of holiness that He calls us to.