He is Good.
He is Love.
He is Patient.
He is All Knowing.
He is All Powerful.
He is Holy.
And He is a whole lot smarter than all of us humans combined…which is not really saying much since He likens us to ‘sheep’.
He created this universe and this planet that we inhabit for oh, but such a brief moment in time.
He also created each and every one of us…regardless of the circumstances in which led to your entrance into this world. And we were created with a free will but inherited a ‘defective-sinful’ heart.
When God first created the earth and set man into His ‘garden of paradise’, His only requirement was that they were to walk in love with/for one another and to Love Him as they were created in His likeness and image.
Enjoying this special place of fellowship and relationship did have boundaries, as does any healthy relationship. And those boundaries get tested at times for all of us, which then gives us place and opportunity to demonstrate our love and commitment in light of those ‘tests’.
Humanity learned early on that sin (or crossing those boundaries) has consequences.
The world changed when sin brought death and pain and suffering and darkness into it. Yet God in His infinite wisdom and persistent love for humanity, continued to extend an ‘olive branch’ to bring fallen man back into fellowship with Him.
He promised through His covenants made over time to be our protector and provider our healer and everything else that would bless and benefit our brief stay here on earth. As always, there were terms to those covenants; as well as consequences when those conditions were broken and violated.
We know He brought a destructive flood on the face of the earth long ago due to the increasing spread of wickedness that filled men’s hearts. But He provided a ‘shelter in the storm of destruction’ for Noah and his family. Gen 6-9
You might say God did a ‘re-boot’ and started over.
Yet, men’s hearts still strayed and rebelled and pursued their own selfish nature.
So God…because of the ongoing transgressions of men, set a ‘law’ in place. (Gal 4:17-19)
We are familiar with laws of nature like the ‘law of gravity’.
There are spiritual laws as well. (Gal 6:7-8)
And What If…God set in motion…means in which consequences and judgments would be carried out against those who continued to break and violate His laws. I think we all see the value and need for ‘law an order, do we not?
And What if…over time, that when men continued to rebel and turn from God, despite His constant pleas to turn and repent…that lines would be crossed and God would eventually bring other …nations…more wicked than His own children to execute His wrath and vengeance for violating the terms of his covenants. (It was usually the ‘enemy’ that God allowed or brought in to carry out His judgments- both natural and spiritual enemies)
Oh, You can read some of what these ‘consequences’ or ‘curses’ looked like in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. They are serious as is God when it comes to His demands that we are going to walk in love…or else.
And What If…God in his infinite wisdom and foresight knew that a day was coming when He would come to earth Himself robed in humanity, taking on the form of man and would demonstrate just ‘How this walk of love is suppose to look’.
Because that is exactly what He did in the form of Jesus.
You might say God had watched humanity try over and over to ‘get it right’ in their own strength and power…and failed continuously. And there sat God shaking His head dismayed that His children refused to come to Him. So with the angels watching on wondering what He might do…it was as if God stood up, looked to His angels and said…”I’m going to have to go down and show them Myself how this works.”
It was the ultimate “hold my ‘drink’ moment”. (don’t judge me for that one lol)
And What IF…God also knew that the root of man’s ultimate problem was we had a defective heart that reflected the nature and character of an old foe, named Satan. This character was the opposite of God’s nature and character. So the only way man would ever be able to overcome that sinful nature would be to ‘die’ to it and then let God come in and create a new heart and spirit within all who would repent and turn to Him.
The invitation was open to whosoever.
That is exactly what this Christian walk of faith and repentance and taking up one’s cross is all about. God is Holy and God is Love and the only way He can duplicate or reproduce that nature in us is by our turning to Him and making Him Lord of our lives. (The ‘Savior Only’ option is not available) I
t won’t work if you think you can come on Your terms. It won’t work…if you think you can give him just 50…75…or even 90% of your heart.
And simply acknowledging with some verbiage that Jesus is the Son of God and died on a cross and was raised from the dead will not produce that divine nature in you that God came to birth in us.
We are to be holy in ALL our conduct as He is holy. We become a ‘new creation’…conformed to the image of Him. ( 2 Cor 5:17 and Rom 8:29) This is not ‘poetic language’.
And make no mistake about it…
It. Is. All. Him. Who. Does. It.
Friends…I have a story to proclaim. It is a story similar to Lazarus’s. I was a friend of Jesus…and got sick…and died. And Jesus came to me, rolled the stone away, and called me out of my stinking tomb of darkness.
I was dead and now I am alive. The grave clothes are being removed and I can assure you God is no respecter of persons and will do for you what He did in me.
You might even be in a similar place of death and darkness wondering if what I am saying is true…
I think I can hear those whispers of….
“What If…?”
“Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live”. –Jesus (John 5:25)
Comments
Post a Comment