Ernest Hemingway once wrote one of the shortest stories ever. He wrote this:
Baby shoes for sale. Never worn.
In those six words you see facts, but you also feel pathos. The idea expressed in those six words is that someone bought some baby shoes, expecting to give them to an infant. But something happened. The writer did not say the shoes were new. He said they were never worn. Perhaps the baby never came; it was either stillborn or aborted. Maybe the baby died, or was born without feet. The reader never knows for sure, but there is a sadness associated with this story. You feel for the person who is now trying to sell the shoes--there is an over-arching sense of loss. And even though you never find out what happened or why, the story is complete. There is nothing left to be said.
As Christians, we have a happier story to tell, and we can tell it in just seven words:
Here lies no one. Jesus was here.
This phrase reads like an epitaph, but it stirs up joy and hope. This grave was meant for the dead, but the Giver of Life made it unnecessary. This plot was purchased and dug out so that the earthly remains of a loved one could be interred; but my Savior had a different plan. This tomb was intended for Jesus, but He didn't need it.
Imagine seeing this sign on the grave of Lazarus. His sisters had sent for Jesus when their brother was sick. Jesus got the message in time, but delayed his coming. The disciples wondered why. Jesus told them it was so God's will could be made manifest to all. The disciples didn't understand. Wasn't it God's Will that none should perish? He could have prevented the death of Lazarus. So why didn't He?
Upon reaching the grave site, Jesus was overcome with emotion. The Bible says "Jesus wept." That's a pretty powerful short story by itself. Jesus was present at the creation of the universe, and yet he felt sorrow upon the death of his close friend. Even though He had the power to break the curse of Death itself, it still made Him sad. Gathering Himself, Jesus gave the command, "Lazarus, come out!"
Jesus raised others from the dead, as well. The daughter of Jairus. An unnamed widow's only son. And probably others that were not even mentioned in the Bible--remember what Jesus told John's disciples when they came to ask Him if He was the Christ? He said, "Go and tell John what you see here--the blind can see, the deaf can hear, and the dead are raised to life."
Jesus even had power to raise Himself from the dead. Isn't that what the angel of God told Mary when the stone had been rolled away? "Why seek the living among the dead? He's not here; He is risen." That's another way of saying the same short story written above: "Here lies no one; Jesus was here."
In fact, the essence of the Gospel is that Jesus lived here on Earth, He died, and He rose again. Greek scholars have a word for this short message. They call it the kerygma. It basically means the Good News in a nutshell. Theologians use this term to describe any instance in the Bible where a person explains that Jesus lived, that He died, that He rose from the dead, and that this fact was witnessed by men. It's another word for a short story--the entire story of Salvation in one short statement.
This happens seven different times in the book of Acts:
"This man (Jesus) was handed over to you by God's set
purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of
wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.
But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the
agony of death, because it was impossible for death to
keep its hold on Him." --Acts 2.23-24 (Peter)
"The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our
fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him
over to be killed, and you disowned Him before Pilate,
though he had decided to let Him go. You disowned the
Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be
released to you. You killed the Author of Life, but God
raised Him from the dead. We are witnesses to this."--
Acts 3.13-15 (Peter)
"Peter and the other apostles replied, 'We must obey God
rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from
the dead--whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree....
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit,
whom God has given to those who obey Him.'"--Acts 5.29,
30, 32
"We are witnesses of everything He did in the country of the
Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed Him by hanging Him on a
tree, but God raised Him from the dead on the third day, and
caused Him to be seen."--Acts 10.29-40 (Peter to Cornelius)
"Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence,
they asked Pilate to have Him executed. When they had carried
out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from
the tree and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the
dead, and for many days He was seen by those who had
travelled with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now
His witnesses to our people."--Acts 13.28-32 (Paul)
"As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on
three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise
from the dead. 'This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ!'
he said."-- Acts 17.2-3
"I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said
would happen--that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to
rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and
to the Gentiles....I am convinced that none of this has escaped
your majesty's notice, because it was not done in a corner. King
Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do."
--Acts 26.22-23, 26-27 (Paul).
Jesus' tomb is empty, and now Heaven is accessible. He was here, and everything changed, just as the scriptures predicted. Everywhere that Jesus passes, you can see evidence of His presence. God changes hearts. He changes minds. He even changes old, sinful habits. The first phrase of my short story could mean that after Jesus came to see me, I can only tell the truth. No one can tell a lie in the presence of Holy God. He can see right through us. He knows what is in our heart. So on the day of Judgement, when you stand before the throne of God, you cannot tell Him you were a good person; He knows better. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." You cannot tell Him you did enough good works to earn His favor; His word disputes that. "Their righteousness is as filthy rags." You can only rely on His grace; He will only accept you into heaven if you accepted Him into your life here on Earth.
Does He live in your heart? Don't you want to have victory over sin and death? Heaven is eternal life; Hell is eternal death. You can choose today where you will spend eternity. Ask Him to save you, and He promised He would.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Cosmic Chess Match for the Souls of Men
Millions around the world are celebrating Holy Week, the Passion of the Christ, leading up to the celebration of His Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Even so, I wonder how many go through the motions, and don't realize the significance of what went on during that night and day leading up to His crucifixion.
I saw a dramatic presentation at my church this past Sunday, called "In the Shadow of the Cross". It was well-done, and very moving--it brought tears to my eyes. But one thing I took exception to: the character playing Satan had a monologue in which he said that he killed Jesus, and that the death of Jesus was his crowning achievement. This might be a common misconception, but I think it is theologically wrong. Everything Satan did back then was designed to thwart the Will of God. And I believe that it was the Will of God for His Son to die, so that he could be the sacrifice for our sins, and so that He could be resurrected to the Glory of God. As Paul later said, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." (I Corinthians 15.17)
Every move that God made was to ensure that Christ would die. It was as if the Father Himself was sacrificing the Son, much like He had asked Abraham to do with Isaac. So every event, from the centurion who nailed His hands to the cross, to Pilate sentencing Him to death, to the Sanhedrin arresting him--even Judas betraying Him--all of it was designed to bring about the greatest sacrifice ever made. And at each juncture, Satan was there to oppose Him. It was like a Cosmic chess match, and the stakes were high: the souls of all of us lay in the balance.
Let's look at Christ's preparation. He took Peter, James and John and went to the garden called Gethsemane at the Mount of Olives. The disciples hung back, while Jesus went a stone's throw further into the garden. He prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will." He prayed so fervently that his sweat became like drops of blood. How many of us have ever broken a sweat while praying? Yet he agonized so much that perspiration mixed with blood seeped from His pores. Three times He came back to the disciples and warned them about temptation; but they were asleep. Was He equating sleeping with temptation? I don't think so. I think he might have been wrestling with Satan himself during this agonizing time. The Bible doesn't explicitly say so, but Luke 22.43 says, "An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him." The only other time in the Bible where it says an angel came to minister to Jesus was early in His ministry, after He had fasted 40 days, and Satan had tempted him three times. (See Matthew 4.11 and Mark 1.13).
I know I could not have withstood such temptation on my own. If I knew I had less than 24 hours to live, and if Satan came to me and said I could avoid death if I would only reject God's plan and follow Satan--well, it would take more strength that I humanly had to resist that temptation. And His friends, whom He had chosen and taken with Him to the garden were no help; they were sleeping.
See, Satan had already made the first move. He had entered into Judas, one of the disciples, so that Judas would go to the Sanhedrin and sell Jesus out. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. This move was designed to call out God's hand, to make Him make His move. Then Satan probably went to Jesus while He was praying, and tried to talk Him out of dying. God strengthened Jesus' resolve, and He countered Satan's move by controlling the Sanhedrin.
I think that Satan intended for the Sanhedrin to try Jesus and to execute Him themselves. That way the prophecies about Him being "hung on a tree", and His being "pierced for our transgressions" would not have come true. And the Jewish form of execution was by stoning; if Jesus had been stoned, like Stephen was in Acts, then his body would have been mutilated, and not fit for a bodily resurrection. Remember the instructions to the Israelites, when Moses instituted the first Passover? The sacrificial lamb was to be spotless, without blemish, and its bones were not to be broken. If the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, had been stoned to death, His skull would have been crushed, and other bones might have been broken as well.
Instead, God made the Sanhedrin take Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman ruler of the land. Pilate questioned Jesus, and could find no fault in Him. Pilate offered three alternatives:
Released or Deceased
Pilate could not even find enough evidence to throw Jesus into prison. So he told the people that he would have Jesus flogged and released. But God did not want His Son released. It would not have been part of His plan. So He made the Jews cry out, "Crucify Him!"
Pacify or Crucify
Pilate again wanted to mollify the crowd. He tried to strike a deal with the Jews. During Passover, it was the custom to release a prisoner to appease the people. He asked the Jews if they would allow him to release Jesus as a part of this custom. The Jews cried louder, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!!
Insurrection or Resurrection
Pilate tried one more time. He called up Barabbas, a political prisoner who had been arrested for rabble rousing and leading an insurrection. He then offered them a choice; a no-brainer, really. He could either release Barabbas (whose name means "son of his father" or "his daddy's son"), who was a riotous murderer, or he could release Jesus, the Prince of Peace, the Only Son of The Father. He knew that by releasing Barabbas the Jews would have been putting themselves in danger--they could be victims of more murders and riots started by this man. But no; the Jews said they would rather see Barabbas released, because Jesus had said he was their king. "From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, 'If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar'....'Shall I crucify your king?' Pilate asked. 'We have no king but Caesar', the chief priests answered." (John 19.12,15).
This was the ultimate irony. The chief priests of Israel had long chafed under Roman rule, and were commanded by God to keep themselves and their people separate from the world. Israel had no king but God. And yet here in this situation, God gave them over to their sinful desires, and their true allegiances were revealed--they were not spiritual, they were political; they did not obey God, they were obedient to government. The same government that had oppressed them for hundreds of years. This is why I think that God put an evil spirit in their hearts, like He had done with King Saul (see I Samuel 16.14 and 18.10). God wanted there to be a Resurrection; but without the Crucifixion, there could be no Resurrection. Crucifixion: CHECK. Resurrection: CHECK-MATE.
Do you see the lengths that God went to in order to offer us Salvation? Oh, how He must love us, because we know how much He loved His son. Oh, how He must hate sin, because He battled Satan every step of the way to make sure that the sacrifice was made for us, so that we could stand spotless before Him, washed in the Blood of Christ. However, day by day Satan tries to lure us into a new game. With unbelievers, he plays keep-away: the less one hears the Gospel of Christ, the less opportunities he might have to believe and put his Trust in Him. With believers, he plays tag--Satan tags us as losers or sinners or backsliders, anything that will keep us from being productive Christians.
People, don't play Satan's game. He is a defeated foe, the ultimate Loser. Don't let him make you believe you must stay lost; don't believe him when he tags you a loser, too.
I saw a dramatic presentation at my church this past Sunday, called "In the Shadow of the Cross". It was well-done, and very moving--it brought tears to my eyes. But one thing I took exception to: the character playing Satan had a monologue in which he said that he killed Jesus, and that the death of Jesus was his crowning achievement. This might be a common misconception, but I think it is theologically wrong. Everything Satan did back then was designed to thwart the Will of God. And I believe that it was the Will of God for His Son to die, so that he could be the sacrifice for our sins, and so that He could be resurrected to the Glory of God. As Paul later said, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." (I Corinthians 15.17)
Every move that God made was to ensure that Christ would die. It was as if the Father Himself was sacrificing the Son, much like He had asked Abraham to do with Isaac. So every event, from the centurion who nailed His hands to the cross, to Pilate sentencing Him to death, to the Sanhedrin arresting him--even Judas betraying Him--all of it was designed to bring about the greatest sacrifice ever made. And at each juncture, Satan was there to oppose Him. It was like a Cosmic chess match, and the stakes were high: the souls of all of us lay in the balance.
Let's look at Christ's preparation. He took Peter, James and John and went to the garden called Gethsemane at the Mount of Olives. The disciples hung back, while Jesus went a stone's throw further into the garden. He prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will." He prayed so fervently that his sweat became like drops of blood. How many of us have ever broken a sweat while praying? Yet he agonized so much that perspiration mixed with blood seeped from His pores. Three times He came back to the disciples and warned them about temptation; but they were asleep. Was He equating sleeping with temptation? I don't think so. I think he might have been wrestling with Satan himself during this agonizing time. The Bible doesn't explicitly say so, but Luke 22.43 says, "An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him." The only other time in the Bible where it says an angel came to minister to Jesus was early in His ministry, after He had fasted 40 days, and Satan had tempted him three times. (See Matthew 4.11 and Mark 1.13).
I know I could not have withstood such temptation on my own. If I knew I had less than 24 hours to live, and if Satan came to me and said I could avoid death if I would only reject God's plan and follow Satan--well, it would take more strength that I humanly had to resist that temptation. And His friends, whom He had chosen and taken with Him to the garden were no help; they were sleeping.
See, Satan had already made the first move. He had entered into Judas, one of the disciples, so that Judas would go to the Sanhedrin and sell Jesus out. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. This move was designed to call out God's hand, to make Him make His move. Then Satan probably went to Jesus while He was praying, and tried to talk Him out of dying. God strengthened Jesus' resolve, and He countered Satan's move by controlling the Sanhedrin.
I think that Satan intended for the Sanhedrin to try Jesus and to execute Him themselves. That way the prophecies about Him being "hung on a tree", and His being "pierced for our transgressions" would not have come true. And the Jewish form of execution was by stoning; if Jesus had been stoned, like Stephen was in Acts, then his body would have been mutilated, and not fit for a bodily resurrection. Remember the instructions to the Israelites, when Moses instituted the first Passover? The sacrificial lamb was to be spotless, without blemish, and its bones were not to be broken. If the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, had been stoned to death, His skull would have been crushed, and other bones might have been broken as well.
Instead, God made the Sanhedrin take Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman ruler of the land. Pilate questioned Jesus, and could find no fault in Him. Pilate offered three alternatives:
Released or Deceased
Pilate could not even find enough evidence to throw Jesus into prison. So he told the people that he would have Jesus flogged and released. But God did not want His Son released. It would not have been part of His plan. So He made the Jews cry out, "Crucify Him!"
Pacify or Crucify
Pilate again wanted to mollify the crowd. He tried to strike a deal with the Jews. During Passover, it was the custom to release a prisoner to appease the people. He asked the Jews if they would allow him to release Jesus as a part of this custom. The Jews cried louder, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!!
Insurrection or Resurrection
Pilate tried one more time. He called up Barabbas, a political prisoner who had been arrested for rabble rousing and leading an insurrection. He then offered them a choice; a no-brainer, really. He could either release Barabbas (whose name means "son of his father" or "his daddy's son"), who was a riotous murderer, or he could release Jesus, the Prince of Peace, the Only Son of The Father. He knew that by releasing Barabbas the Jews would have been putting themselves in danger--they could be victims of more murders and riots started by this man. But no; the Jews said they would rather see Barabbas released, because Jesus had said he was their king. "From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, 'If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar'....'Shall I crucify your king?' Pilate asked. 'We have no king but Caesar', the chief priests answered." (John 19.12,15).
This was the ultimate irony. The chief priests of Israel had long chafed under Roman rule, and were commanded by God to keep themselves and their people separate from the world. Israel had no king but God. And yet here in this situation, God gave them over to their sinful desires, and their true allegiances were revealed--they were not spiritual, they were political; they did not obey God, they were obedient to government. The same government that had oppressed them for hundreds of years. This is why I think that God put an evil spirit in their hearts, like He had done with King Saul (see I Samuel 16.14 and 18.10). God wanted there to be a Resurrection; but without the Crucifixion, there could be no Resurrection. Crucifixion: CHECK. Resurrection: CHECK-MATE.
Do you see the lengths that God went to in order to offer us Salvation? Oh, how He must love us, because we know how much He loved His son. Oh, how He must hate sin, because He battled Satan every step of the way to make sure that the sacrifice was made for us, so that we could stand spotless before Him, washed in the Blood of Christ. However, day by day Satan tries to lure us into a new game. With unbelievers, he plays keep-away: the less one hears the Gospel of Christ, the less opportunities he might have to believe and put his Trust in Him. With believers, he plays tag--Satan tags us as losers or sinners or backsliders, anything that will keep us from being productive Christians.
People, don't play Satan's game. He is a defeated foe, the ultimate Loser. Don't let him make you believe you must stay lost; don't believe him when he tags you a loser, too.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Choose Eternal Life
You have wearied the Lord with your words. "How have we wearied Him?" you ask. By saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and He is pleased with them" or "Where is the God of Justice?"...."You have said harsh things against me," says the Lord. Yet you ask, "What have we said against You?" You have said, "It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out His requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape." Malachi 2.17; 3.13-15.
Why do people reject Christ? After all that He has done for them, why do they decide against becoming Christians? Or if they have become Christians, why do they get discouraged and become ineffective? Malachi gave us three answers.
First, we confuse "good" with "God". From the time we are born we are all taught the same half-truth: that God is love. If God loves everybody, like the Good Book says, then everybody must be good. There is no evil person, so there is no need for punishment. A loving God, these people believe, would never send anyone to Hell.
The reason this is a half-truth is that people don't hear the second part of the message: Yes, God is good; but we are separated from Him by sin. We are born with a sinful nature. Ever since the first man disobeyed God, every subsequent generation has found new ways to disobey Him. There is a great chasm between us and God, and we have no ability within ourselves to reach Him. Thankfully, He has made the first move: He sent His Son to be a sacrifice for us, to bridge that gap between Him and us, so that we could come to Him and enjoy fellowship with Him.
The second reason one might reject Christ is bitterness. Some people have been so hurt that they cannot see good. They have become so jaded that they feel like everyone is going to hell. These people look for Justice above all, and failing to find it, they go about denouncing Injustice. Failing to find Justice in this world, they come to the conclusion that there is no God. If there was a Just God, they believe, he would wipe injustice off the face of the earth. They see man's separation from God as proof that God does not exist.
These people have grasped a second half-truth. God gave us Free Will. He did not create us to be robots. He allows us to follow our desires. And, being human, our desires are usually selfish and self-serving. And if by looking out for me I occasionally step on you, well, too bad for you, because it is all about me. No wonder we sometimes become jaded. But we have to remember that without Free Will, then the choice to follow God would not be ours, it would be His. The World clamors for choice about abortion rights, for the right to choose their leaders in open and fair elections, and even for the choice of what to say and how to say it. Why, then, would we believe that God should somehow take away the most important choice of all: whom we will worship and whom will we love? Yes, He loves us dearly, and paid a hefty price for us; but He still gives us the choice to love Him back.
Quickly, the third reason we question God and fall away from Him (and this is mainly for Believers) is that we don't think following God with all of our hearts, minds, and strength is worth it. We lose the joy of our salvation, and start thinking that the Christian life is spending all your time like you are at a funeral. We look at non-Believers and see that they look happy; some might even have more money or things than we have. We start to compare, and then we pout: why does he have all the blessing? He doesn't even go to church! What is the point of going through the motions when I could be having fun hanging out with all my heathen friends?
Psalm 1 describes a three-stage plan for falling away: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night." Here is a Christian, doing his best work, keeping moving; but he also takes some advice from wicked people. Pretty soon he stops doing the work of the Lord and just stands with sinners. He may be arguing with them, or he may be stopping for a closer look, like he might want to join them. Finally, our hero is neither walking or standing in the faith; he is sitting among the sinful people, mocking others for doing the work of the Lord. That was the same work he himself was doing not too long ago. The way to keep from falling in that trap is to keep reading the word, day and night; keep thinking about it, and living it. God will give you joy if you truly work for Him, and don't just go through the motions.
People who go through the motions for God don't win many people to Christ. In fact, they are one reason lost people become jaded, or they hold to religious half-truths that will, in the end, not get them to heaven.
So why not invite Him into your life today? Do you really think you can make it without Him? My daughter goes to Dallas Baptist University, and this week she blogged about something she heard one of her professors say: Thousands have tried to swim the English Channel, but only about 50 have succeeded. If you register with the English government (as is required by English law), then the government will assign a boat to follow you as you attempt to swim the Channel. That way, if you get tired and decide to quit, the boat can rescue you. Now, imagine that everyone on earth is required to swim from San Diego to Honolulu, a distance of some 2200 miles. There is no possible way that any human being can swim that far; some can swim farther than others, but even triathlete swimmers would soon give up. Now, imagine that a Higher Power has provided a boat to follow those people, much like the English government provides a boat for swimmers in the Channel. This Higher Power invites everyone to climb in the boat and be saved from drowning in the Pacific. But some people might say, "No, thanks. I can do this myself. They wouldn't have told us to do it if it couldn't be done." Others might say, "No, really. I prefer the water; I hate boats." Still others might say, "No, no, no! You are not real; you are just a mirage of a boat, and if I get in I will succumb to myths and superstitions about boats. The water is real; I want to stay in the water."
The point is this: only those who get in the boat will be saved. Those who try to swim to Honolulu by themselves will perish. In the same way, only those who come to God through His Son Jesus Christ will make it to heaven. The rest will spend eternity in a lake of fire called Hell, not because God sent them there as some kind of punishment, but because those people did not want anything to do with God in this life. Please, don't be lost. Don't try it on your own. Don't vex God, who has provided a way to be saved from an eternity in hell.
It is as easy as ABC. First, ASK Him into your heart. It is that simple. The Bible says, "All who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved." Second, BELIEVE that He can save you. God doesn't want lip service--he wants your heart. The Bible says, "But to as many as believe Him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God." Third, CONFESS; tell someone, or convey to them that you have done it. There is something good about saying it out loud--if I determine in my own mind that I will lose 20 pounds, I will fail; but if I tell someone, or write it down and share it with someone, then there is a witness to my commitment, and it kind of finalizes the process, like a Last Will and Testament, or a Contract. The Bible says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Salvation is a gift; don't leave it unopened. Unclaimed, it reverts back to the Giver of Life and Light; the recipient who refuses delivery is left with death and darkness forever.
Why do people reject Christ? After all that He has done for them, why do they decide against becoming Christians? Or if they have become Christians, why do they get discouraged and become ineffective? Malachi gave us three answers.
First, we confuse "good" with "God". From the time we are born we are all taught the same half-truth: that God is love. If God loves everybody, like the Good Book says, then everybody must be good. There is no evil person, so there is no need for punishment. A loving God, these people believe, would never send anyone to Hell.
The reason this is a half-truth is that people don't hear the second part of the message: Yes, God is good; but we are separated from Him by sin. We are born with a sinful nature. Ever since the first man disobeyed God, every subsequent generation has found new ways to disobey Him. There is a great chasm between us and God, and we have no ability within ourselves to reach Him. Thankfully, He has made the first move: He sent His Son to be a sacrifice for us, to bridge that gap between Him and us, so that we could come to Him and enjoy fellowship with Him.
The second reason one might reject Christ is bitterness. Some people have been so hurt that they cannot see good. They have become so jaded that they feel like everyone is going to hell. These people look for Justice above all, and failing to find it, they go about denouncing Injustice. Failing to find Justice in this world, they come to the conclusion that there is no God. If there was a Just God, they believe, he would wipe injustice off the face of the earth. They see man's separation from God as proof that God does not exist.
These people have grasped a second half-truth. God gave us Free Will. He did not create us to be robots. He allows us to follow our desires. And, being human, our desires are usually selfish and self-serving. And if by looking out for me I occasionally step on you, well, too bad for you, because it is all about me. No wonder we sometimes become jaded. But we have to remember that without Free Will, then the choice to follow God would not be ours, it would be His. The World clamors for choice about abortion rights, for the right to choose their leaders in open and fair elections, and even for the choice of what to say and how to say it. Why, then, would we believe that God should somehow take away the most important choice of all: whom we will worship and whom will we love? Yes, He loves us dearly, and paid a hefty price for us; but He still gives us the choice to love Him back.
Quickly, the third reason we question God and fall away from Him (and this is mainly for Believers) is that we don't think following God with all of our hearts, minds, and strength is worth it. We lose the joy of our salvation, and start thinking that the Christian life is spending all your time like you are at a funeral. We look at non-Believers and see that they look happy; some might even have more money or things than we have. We start to compare, and then we pout: why does he have all the blessing? He doesn't even go to church! What is the point of going through the motions when I could be having fun hanging out with all my heathen friends?
Psalm 1 describes a three-stage plan for falling away: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night." Here is a Christian, doing his best work, keeping moving; but he also takes some advice from wicked people. Pretty soon he stops doing the work of the Lord and just stands with sinners. He may be arguing with them, or he may be stopping for a closer look, like he might want to join them. Finally, our hero is neither walking or standing in the faith; he is sitting among the sinful people, mocking others for doing the work of the Lord. That was the same work he himself was doing not too long ago. The way to keep from falling in that trap is to keep reading the word, day and night; keep thinking about it, and living it. God will give you joy if you truly work for Him, and don't just go through the motions.
People who go through the motions for God don't win many people to Christ. In fact, they are one reason lost people become jaded, or they hold to religious half-truths that will, in the end, not get them to heaven.
So why not invite Him into your life today? Do you really think you can make it without Him? My daughter goes to Dallas Baptist University, and this week she blogged about something she heard one of her professors say: Thousands have tried to swim the English Channel, but only about 50 have succeeded. If you register with the English government (as is required by English law), then the government will assign a boat to follow you as you attempt to swim the Channel. That way, if you get tired and decide to quit, the boat can rescue you. Now, imagine that everyone on earth is required to swim from San Diego to Honolulu, a distance of some 2200 miles. There is no possible way that any human being can swim that far; some can swim farther than others, but even triathlete swimmers would soon give up. Now, imagine that a Higher Power has provided a boat to follow those people, much like the English government provides a boat for swimmers in the Channel. This Higher Power invites everyone to climb in the boat and be saved from drowning in the Pacific. But some people might say, "No, thanks. I can do this myself. They wouldn't have told us to do it if it couldn't be done." Others might say, "No, really. I prefer the water; I hate boats." Still others might say, "No, no, no! You are not real; you are just a mirage of a boat, and if I get in I will succumb to myths and superstitions about boats. The water is real; I want to stay in the water."
The point is this: only those who get in the boat will be saved. Those who try to swim to Honolulu by themselves will perish. In the same way, only those who come to God through His Son Jesus Christ will make it to heaven. The rest will spend eternity in a lake of fire called Hell, not because God sent them there as some kind of punishment, but because those people did not want anything to do with God in this life. Please, don't be lost. Don't try it on your own. Don't vex God, who has provided a way to be saved from an eternity in hell.
It is as easy as ABC. First, ASK Him into your heart. It is that simple. The Bible says, "All who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved." Second, BELIEVE that He can save you. God doesn't want lip service--he wants your heart. The Bible says, "But to as many as believe Him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God." Third, CONFESS; tell someone, or convey to them that you have done it. There is something good about saying it out loud--if I determine in my own mind that I will lose 20 pounds, I will fail; but if I tell someone, or write it down and share it with someone, then there is a witness to my commitment, and it kind of finalizes the process, like a Last Will and Testament, or a Contract. The Bible says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Salvation is a gift; don't leave it unopened. Unclaimed, it reverts back to the Giver of Life and Light; the recipient who refuses delivery is left with death and darkness forever.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Going "All In" for God
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then, there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!" When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," He said. "Don't be afraid." (Matthew 17.1-7)
Here's a story I would have loved to be a part of. How fortunate those three disciples were when Jesus went up before them and that they witnessed the Blessing of God being bestowed on Jesus. The whole thing was full of meaning, every detail full of significance. Just as the firstborn of the Jews received a blessing (remember Jacob stealing Esau's blessing?), Jesus received validation from His Father. And to prove it, God arranged for there to be six witnesses: three from this world, and three from Heaven. (God was witness to this event, too.) The Jewish tradition was that if two or more witnesses could agree on the events, then their testimony was deemed admissible in a court of law.
The Spirit witnesses included Moses, the Law-giver, the one man that the Jews looked up to the most. He was there as a representative of the Old Covenant, and the promise of Salvation. Also present as a witness from Heaven was Elijah, whom the Jews would recognize as the Restorer of All Things. Malachi 4.5-6 says "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful Day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." This is why the Jews, to this day, always send someone outside just prior to the Passover meal, to see if Elijah has come.
This is explained further in Matthew 17.10-12: "The disciples asked Him, 'Why then do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah must come first?' Jesus replied, 'To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.' " In this way, he was likening John the Baptist to Elijah.
Here is a fun fact: Moses' work had been completed by Joshua, a name that means "the Lord saves". Elijah's work was completed by Elisha, a name that means "God saves." The two names have similar meaning, and are therefore forms of each other (as in today, the names John, Juan, and Sean all come from the same root). The name Jesus is the Roman form of the Hebrew name Jeshua. Again, it means "The Lord Saves", and is similar to Joshua and Elisha.
Follow me here. Clutch, because I am shifting gears. I'll get back to the point eventually, I promise. I grew up in a strict Baptist house, where gambling was strongly discouraged. As a result, I never learned to play Poker. But in 1978, Kenny Rogers had a hit song called The Gambler, which showed that life lessons can be learned from gambling. "You've got to know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away, and know when to run."
I still don't know all the terminology, even though online gambling sites have made Texas Hold 'Em more popular now that it was when Kenny Rogers cut that record. I think that a "river" is a flowing body of water; I think that a "flop" is something that fish do when you take them out of the river. But some Poker terms I do know are "Up the Ante", "Double Down", and "Go All In." And this is where we get back to the three Spiritual Heroes in the story.
Moses was up against Pharaoh. Nine times Moses upped the ante, and nine times Pharaoh folded. But Moses didn't leave the game. He kept on going, confident that the cards he was holding would beat Pharaoh's hand. That was faith. Would that I had that much perseverance, that much focus. I would have wimped out on the first hand. "Mr. Pharaoh, would you please let us go make a sacrifice to God? No? Okay, have a nice day." But Moses kept at it, and each time, it cost the Egyptians a little bit more, so that finally, on the tenth hand, Moses not only won the right to go three days' journey into the wilderness; he won complete freedom from Egyptian oppression. See, if you hang in there, and stick with it, you will get more than you bargained for.
Elijah was up against the prophets of Baal. He arranged for a contest, a face-off of one man and his God against 450 prophets and their false god. In I Kings chapter 18, we read about the duel: two altars were set up, and two bulls were slaughtered as sacrifices. Elijah challenged his opponents to call upon their god and have fire come down and consume their sacrifice. Then he would do the same, and whichever god responded would be the real god, and the people would worship him. So the prophets of Baal called out. They danced around. They begged and pleaded. They even cut themselves. Nothing happened. Then Elijah started taunting them: "Maybe your god is asleep, or maybe he is relieving himself. Call louder." They made fools of themselves from morning until mid-day, and nothing happened. Then Elijah called the people to himself, and doubled-down on the wager. He had the men dig a trench around his altar. He asked for four barrels of water to be poured over his offering. Then he said, "Do it again". And after they had drenched it the second time, he asked them to do it a third time. A total of twelve barrels of water had been poured over his offering and the wood beneath it; it was so drenched that the water ran off and filled the trench they had dug. Then Elijah said a simple prayer to the God of Israel, and fire did come down from heaven. It consumed the bull sacrifice; it consumed the wood; it even consumed all the water in the trench, as well as the stones and the soil that the altar had been made of. God, give me that kind of faith--where I am so confident in my hand that I will double down on the bet, knowing that You are able to pay off in the end.
Finally, not to stretch the point too thin, but Jesus went all-in by offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. He did not hold back; He did not fold. He went all-in. And there may come a time when He asks us to do the same. Will we be ready? Will we be willing? Will we be able to offer ourselves on that altar?
There are three reasons that we might not be. First, we may not like the odds; the deck may appear to be stacked against us. Wasn't this what Moses felt when he and his brother stood in the presence of Pharaoh? Pharaoh had wealth, riches, power and a standing army with horses and chariots. Moses had a rag-tag group of slaves behind him, and a staff to hold on to. But he knew what God had told him to do, so he went all-in.
Second, we may not like our cards. We may look at the hand we have been dealt, and think "what if they have a stronger hand?" The thing about gambling, and about life, is that it entails risk. We don't see what the other guy has. We don't want to lose, or be humiliated in any way, so we fold. We pick up our chips and go home. Elijah could have done this. At one point after the fire from heaven episode, Elijah was so discouraged that he asked God "Am I the only one still with you?" And God had to show him that no, he was not alone. What he had done on Mount Carmel had made a difference, and there were hundreds in Israel that had not worshipped the Baal. But when it counted, Elijah took a chance, and the result was that God was able to show His power over other gods.
The third reason we may be hesitant to go all-in is that it will stop the game. We won't be able to play after that--either we will win, or we will lose our shirt, but the game will not go on after this hand. Some of us like the game; we're good at it. We like to tease others a little bit, show a little of our hand, but keep the Ace in the Hole. We wish the Game would go on forever, so we wouldn't ever have to face real life. This is what Peter thought when he saw Moses and Elijah there--he asked Jesus if he could build three shrines, one for each of the spiritual giants on the mountain top. After that, they would never leave; and Peter, James and John could visit them whenever they felt like it. But God had other plans. He knew that for His ultimate plan of Salvation to come to fruition, Jesus would have to come down off the mountain and offer Himself as a sacrifice. So God interrupted Peter and said, "This is My Son; shut up and listen to Him!"
We all love that mountain-top experience. We all want the spiritual high to last forever. But Jesus has other plans. When the three disciples fell on their faces before Him, Jesus put His hands on them and told them to get up, to not be afraid. He is telling us the same thing--have faith in Him. Go out into the World and do good. And when you get placed in a situation where you have to face off against Evil, raise the stakes, double down and go all in for God. He will bless you for it.
Here's a story I would have loved to be a part of. How fortunate those three disciples were when Jesus went up before them and that they witnessed the Blessing of God being bestowed on Jesus. The whole thing was full of meaning, every detail full of significance. Just as the firstborn of the Jews received a blessing (remember Jacob stealing Esau's blessing?), Jesus received validation from His Father. And to prove it, God arranged for there to be six witnesses: three from this world, and three from Heaven. (God was witness to this event, too.) The Jewish tradition was that if two or more witnesses could agree on the events, then their testimony was deemed admissible in a court of law.
The Spirit witnesses included Moses, the Law-giver, the one man that the Jews looked up to the most. He was there as a representative of the Old Covenant, and the promise of Salvation. Also present as a witness from Heaven was Elijah, whom the Jews would recognize as the Restorer of All Things. Malachi 4.5-6 says "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful Day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." This is why the Jews, to this day, always send someone outside just prior to the Passover meal, to see if Elijah has come.
This is explained further in Matthew 17.10-12: "The disciples asked Him, 'Why then do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah must come first?' Jesus replied, 'To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.' " In this way, he was likening John the Baptist to Elijah.
Here is a fun fact: Moses' work had been completed by Joshua, a name that means "the Lord saves". Elijah's work was completed by Elisha, a name that means "God saves." The two names have similar meaning, and are therefore forms of each other (as in today, the names John, Juan, and Sean all come from the same root). The name Jesus is the Roman form of the Hebrew name Jeshua. Again, it means "The Lord Saves", and is similar to Joshua and Elisha.
Follow me here. Clutch, because I am shifting gears. I'll get back to the point eventually, I promise. I grew up in a strict Baptist house, where gambling was strongly discouraged. As a result, I never learned to play Poker. But in 1978, Kenny Rogers had a hit song called The Gambler, which showed that life lessons can be learned from gambling. "You've got to know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away, and know when to run."
I still don't know all the terminology, even though online gambling sites have made Texas Hold 'Em more popular now that it was when Kenny Rogers cut that record. I think that a "river" is a flowing body of water; I think that a "flop" is something that fish do when you take them out of the river. But some Poker terms I do know are "Up the Ante", "Double Down", and "Go All In." And this is where we get back to the three Spiritual Heroes in the story.
Moses was up against Pharaoh. Nine times Moses upped the ante, and nine times Pharaoh folded. But Moses didn't leave the game. He kept on going, confident that the cards he was holding would beat Pharaoh's hand. That was faith. Would that I had that much perseverance, that much focus. I would have wimped out on the first hand. "Mr. Pharaoh, would you please let us go make a sacrifice to God? No? Okay, have a nice day." But Moses kept at it, and each time, it cost the Egyptians a little bit more, so that finally, on the tenth hand, Moses not only won the right to go three days' journey into the wilderness; he won complete freedom from Egyptian oppression. See, if you hang in there, and stick with it, you will get more than you bargained for.
Elijah was up against the prophets of Baal. He arranged for a contest, a face-off of one man and his God against 450 prophets and their false god. In I Kings chapter 18, we read about the duel: two altars were set up, and two bulls were slaughtered as sacrifices. Elijah challenged his opponents to call upon their god and have fire come down and consume their sacrifice. Then he would do the same, and whichever god responded would be the real god, and the people would worship him. So the prophets of Baal called out. They danced around. They begged and pleaded. They even cut themselves. Nothing happened. Then Elijah started taunting them: "Maybe your god is asleep, or maybe he is relieving himself. Call louder." They made fools of themselves from morning until mid-day, and nothing happened. Then Elijah called the people to himself, and doubled-down on the wager. He had the men dig a trench around his altar. He asked for four barrels of water to be poured over his offering. Then he said, "Do it again". And after they had drenched it the second time, he asked them to do it a third time. A total of twelve barrels of water had been poured over his offering and the wood beneath it; it was so drenched that the water ran off and filled the trench they had dug. Then Elijah said a simple prayer to the God of Israel, and fire did come down from heaven. It consumed the bull sacrifice; it consumed the wood; it even consumed all the water in the trench, as well as the stones and the soil that the altar had been made of. God, give me that kind of faith--where I am so confident in my hand that I will double down on the bet, knowing that You are able to pay off in the end.
Finally, not to stretch the point too thin, but Jesus went all-in by offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. He did not hold back; He did not fold. He went all-in. And there may come a time when He asks us to do the same. Will we be ready? Will we be willing? Will we be able to offer ourselves on that altar?
There are three reasons that we might not be. First, we may not like the odds; the deck may appear to be stacked against us. Wasn't this what Moses felt when he and his brother stood in the presence of Pharaoh? Pharaoh had wealth, riches, power and a standing army with horses and chariots. Moses had a rag-tag group of slaves behind him, and a staff to hold on to. But he knew what God had told him to do, so he went all-in.
Second, we may not like our cards. We may look at the hand we have been dealt, and think "what if they have a stronger hand?" The thing about gambling, and about life, is that it entails risk. We don't see what the other guy has. We don't want to lose, or be humiliated in any way, so we fold. We pick up our chips and go home. Elijah could have done this. At one point after the fire from heaven episode, Elijah was so discouraged that he asked God "Am I the only one still with you?" And God had to show him that no, he was not alone. What he had done on Mount Carmel had made a difference, and there were hundreds in Israel that had not worshipped the Baal. But when it counted, Elijah took a chance, and the result was that God was able to show His power over other gods.
The third reason we may be hesitant to go all-in is that it will stop the game. We won't be able to play after that--either we will win, or we will lose our shirt, but the game will not go on after this hand. Some of us like the game; we're good at it. We like to tease others a little bit, show a little of our hand, but keep the Ace in the Hole. We wish the Game would go on forever, so we wouldn't ever have to face real life. This is what Peter thought when he saw Moses and Elijah there--he asked Jesus if he could build three shrines, one for each of the spiritual giants on the mountain top. After that, they would never leave; and Peter, James and John could visit them whenever they felt like it. But God had other plans. He knew that for His ultimate plan of Salvation to come to fruition, Jesus would have to come down off the mountain and offer Himself as a sacrifice. So God interrupted Peter and said, "This is My Son; shut up and listen to Him!"
We all love that mountain-top experience. We all want the spiritual high to last forever. But Jesus has other plans. When the three disciples fell on their faces before Him, Jesus put His hands on them and told them to get up, to not be afraid. He is telling us the same thing--have faith in Him. Go out into the World and do good. And when you get placed in a situation where you have to face off against Evil, raise the stakes, double down and go all in for God. He will bless you for it.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
What an Awesome God we serve!
I like to follow golden threads through Scripture. Stay with me here.
Paul said, "We do speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. However, as it is written,
'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love Him.'
but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit." (I Corinthians 2.6-10)
Isaiah said, "Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before You....For when You did awesome things that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled before You. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, You were angry. How then can we be saved?....Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and You are the potter; we are the work of Your hand." (Isaiah 64.1, 3-5, 8)
King David said, "How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before you....Come and see what God has done, how awesome His works in man's behalf! He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot--come, let us rejoice in Him. He rules forever by His power, His eyes watch the nations--let not the rebellious rise up against Him." (Psalm 64.3, 5-7)
This week my daily Bible study took me to Exodus 14, where God delivered Israel from the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptian army. Doubters among the Israelites thought they were stuck between a rock and a hard place--the chariots and warriors of Egypt on one side, and a large body of water on the other. Believers among the Israelites saw the presence of God in the cloud (which would lead them by day) that stood between them and the Egyptian army, and the pillar of fire (which would lead them by night) between them and the Sea. "Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so that neither went near the other all night long." (Exodus 14.20)
God sent a strong East wind that dried up the Sea, so that the Israelites could walk across on dry ground. I believe God didn't need the wind to part the waters, because the Bible says when they walked across, there were walls of water on either side. The Hands of God held back the water. I think that the purpose of the wind was to dry out the ground, so that the people would not sink into mud up to their knees as they crossed the bottom of the Sea. But I am a Believer. The unbelievers of the time would have seen the East wind as an Omen, a sign that they shouldn't go. Remember, they were headed east, away from Egypt to the west. These people would have heard Moses say "Go, we will cross the water with God's help," but would have said, "Are you crazy? And go against that awful headwind?"
Not to get too caught up in details, people, but look--God was about to do something that people would talk about, sing about, and read about for thousands of years after it happened. He was about to do an Awesome work by making it possible to escape Evil. But He did not make it easy. Let me say this again: He made escape possible; He did not make it easy.
God was dealing with the Egyptian army in ways that the Israelites could not see. He set a cloud between the two camps; He sent darkness over the Egyptian camp. And when the Egyptians were getting ready to advance, the cloud became a whirlwind to confuse them and give the Israelites time to escape. Once the Israelites were on the other side of the Sea, only then did the Egyptians see what had happened. But when they tried to follow in the way that the Israelites had gone, the walls of water collapsed and drowned the entire army, chariots and all.
God is more Awesome than a well trained, well equipped Army. God is more Awesome than Nature. He is more powerful than Man and Machine; He is stronger than Natural and Spiritual forces. And yet we doubt. Or we accept His gift, but we continue in our sinful ways. We try to meet Him halfway, and then wonder why our worship is dull and uninspiring. Isaiah 64.6 says "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
Our Father is full of surprises. Miracles, Signs and Wonders catch our attention. The next step is up to us; we can choose whether to follow or to freeze. We can either disciple up, or doubt out. God has made it possible. We must take the next step.
Paul said, "We do speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. However, as it is written,
'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love Him.'
but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit." (I Corinthians 2.6-10)
Isaiah said, "Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before You....For when You did awesome things that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled before You. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, You were angry. How then can we be saved?....Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and You are the potter; we are the work of Your hand." (Isaiah 64.1, 3-5, 8)
King David said, "How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before you....Come and see what God has done, how awesome His works in man's behalf! He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot--come, let us rejoice in Him. He rules forever by His power, His eyes watch the nations--let not the rebellious rise up against Him." (Psalm 64.3, 5-7)
This week my daily Bible study took me to Exodus 14, where God delivered Israel from the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptian army. Doubters among the Israelites thought they were stuck between a rock and a hard place--the chariots and warriors of Egypt on one side, and a large body of water on the other. Believers among the Israelites saw the presence of God in the cloud (which would lead them by day) that stood between them and the Egyptian army, and the pillar of fire (which would lead them by night) between them and the Sea. "Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so that neither went near the other all night long." (Exodus 14.20)
God sent a strong East wind that dried up the Sea, so that the Israelites could walk across on dry ground. I believe God didn't need the wind to part the waters, because the Bible says when they walked across, there were walls of water on either side. The Hands of God held back the water. I think that the purpose of the wind was to dry out the ground, so that the people would not sink into mud up to their knees as they crossed the bottom of the Sea. But I am a Believer. The unbelievers of the time would have seen the East wind as an Omen, a sign that they shouldn't go. Remember, they were headed east, away from Egypt to the west. These people would have heard Moses say "Go, we will cross the water with God's help," but would have said, "Are you crazy? And go against that awful headwind?"
Not to get too caught up in details, people, but look--God was about to do something that people would talk about, sing about, and read about for thousands of years after it happened. He was about to do an Awesome work by making it possible to escape Evil. But He did not make it easy. Let me say this again: He made escape possible; He did not make it easy.
God was dealing with the Egyptian army in ways that the Israelites could not see. He set a cloud between the two camps; He sent darkness over the Egyptian camp. And when the Egyptians were getting ready to advance, the cloud became a whirlwind to confuse them and give the Israelites time to escape. Once the Israelites were on the other side of the Sea, only then did the Egyptians see what had happened. But when they tried to follow in the way that the Israelites had gone, the walls of water collapsed and drowned the entire army, chariots and all.
God is more Awesome than a well trained, well equipped Army. God is more Awesome than Nature. He is more powerful than Man and Machine; He is stronger than Natural and Spiritual forces. And yet we doubt. Or we accept His gift, but we continue in our sinful ways. We try to meet Him halfway, and then wonder why our worship is dull and uninspiring. Isaiah 64.6 says "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
Our Father is full of surprises. Miracles, Signs and Wonders catch our attention. The next step is up to us; we can choose whether to follow or to freeze. We can either disciple up, or doubt out. God has made it possible. We must take the next step.
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