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Monthly Archives: August 2019
Contrasts that Complete
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
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You know the story: Day 1: Light and darkness. Day 2: Sky and water, Day 3: Land and sky. Day 4: Day and Night. Day 5: Sea creatures and land creatures. Day 6: Increase, His own image in man and woman, reproductive rights and responsibility. Day 7: And at last rest.
God chose to highlight the universe He was creating by accenting the contrasts of each day. This is His world system: completeness built from contrasts that complete each other. In the beginning there was only “sameness” and then God spoke all of these contrasts into being. Clearly the method God has chosen for His creation to succeed is the ability to see each of those contrasts as part of His complete design.
Today we are challenged by a world less concerned about completeness than it is with identifying contrasts that separate us. The adversary’s god is the sameness that blurs the value of the contrasts God revealed. Our challenge is to remember God chose contrasts, not sameness, to be the elements that would complete His creation and THAT is what He declared good.
Welcome Home
FIRST THE NIV
Ephesians 2:19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
AND THEN THE MSG
Ephesians 2:19-22 That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.
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I can’t do any better than letting the Word confirm the Word. God left the “light” on for you. Welcome home!
Do Life!
Ephesians 2:3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
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These are my thoughts:
God obviously has plans for our life and our future. I don’t think God organizes identity parades down the golden streets of heaven to show off his successes so that prompted these questions to think about. When are “the coming ages?” Where are those “heavenly realms” and what was actually “prepared in advance for us to do?”
Our very existence was “prepared in advance” that we could be “alive with Christ.” Maybe learning to do life honoring that truth is the sum of what God calls “good works” not just our little segments of activity. The “coming ages” could be the years we’re given to practice life in Christ here on earth before God chooses to complete them and Heaven becomes our new reality. “The heavenly realms” might be something as simple as earth being the practice ground where we begin to recognize there are intersections of daily life that lead us to His Kingdom.
Life is the palette God chose in advance to prepare us to be His handiwork. He created life for us out of a nature that was deserving of wrath. We’ve been saved through faith, raised up and seated in Christ Jesus in order that “HE might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Posted in Ephesians, Wednesday
Tagged Alive in Christ, Daily Life, Heavenly Realms, Intersections, Kingdom Works
An Unbreakable Thread
Exodus 3:14 & 15b God said to Moses, “I am who I am…“This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.
”…every time you see “Lord” in the English Bible you should think: This is a proper name (like Peter or James or John) built out of the word for “I Am” and reminding us each time that God absolutely is.” John Piper from “I Am who I Am
• John 6:35 “…I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
• John 8:12 “…I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
• John 10:9 “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.”
• John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
• John 11:25 “…I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
• John 14:6 “…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
•John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
I don’t think I’ve ever consciously thought of God in terms of His proper name being “I Am.” That idea has added another dimension to the already meaningful “I Am” statements of Jesus. If you’ve ever had an English class you know the definition of a verb is a word of action that supports the main identity of the subject. Our subject is God. His name “I Am” is the verb. “I Am” is the present-tense version of the verb “be/exist.” God is! The “I Am” statements of Jesus confirm the reality of his complete identity with I Am.
That’s a reality that’s still true for us today. “I Am” is our confirmation that Jesus is still taking action to create an unbreakable thread that binds his followers between Himself and I Am.
And God Spoke…
Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before[besides] me.”
Current events have once again challenged my perspective and driven me back to these words from God’s own mouth, His #1 commandment. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” This is God’s #1…forever!
God’s “Egypt,” then, didn’t specifically mention the little “g” gods that occupy our “land of slavery” now. Today our “land of slavery” is defined by vital issues like mass shootings, racism, political affiliation, sexual orientation and individual rights. Too often we’ve let those issues lead us to justify any means to an end as long as it’s the end we’ve decided is best. That’s a sure sign we’ve replaced the real #1 with the god we know best, ourselves. Over time we’ve let God’s Word go in one ear and out the other.
God’s #1 purpose is still to remind us the “land of slavery” is real. It’s filled with vital issues we can’t solve alone. Only when we’re willing to recognize that fact will He bring us out of the “Egypt” of our own making and make His own #1 commandment our #1 priority too. “You shall have no other gods before [besides] me.”
Tagged #1 Commandment, Current Events, Issues, No Other Gods, Priority
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