Carpooling to seminary back around 1994, one day my friend remarked, "In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says that we are to seek first the kingdom of God. What is that? If you don't know what it is, how can you seek it?"
That question has stuck with me. Did you know that the phrase "kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God" occurs 101 times in the New Testament. That's more often than the words "salvation" and "saved" (together 100x). More than "repent" (54x). Almost as many as agape (109x).
Consider some of these verses:
1Ch 29:11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
John the Baptist and Jesus' ministry were all about the kingdom (Matthew 3:2; 4:17). And when they proclaimed that the people were to repent because the kingdom of heaven was at hand, they were saying, "Get ready, because the king is here!" The kingdom is to be the heart of our message, too #Mt 10:7.
Extremely important: The kingdom IS HERE NOW #Lu 17:20-21|. Those for whom Christ is king are citizens of that kingdom: #Php 3:20|. We are dual citizens.
The old saying, "It's not a religion, it's a relationship," misses this important point. The Sanhedrin persuaded the Romans to crucify Jesus Christ because He represented a treasonous competing claim to sovereignty. Caesar can't tolerate another "king of kings." It's not clear to me whether Pilate bought their argument. He kept calling Jesus "king of the Jews" (John 18:33ff; 19:20), which may have been bad enough for Rome to execute him, and offensive to the unaccepting Jews (19:21). But that fell short of what Jesus was really claiming.
Consider the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Another old saying is, "Jesus isn't Lord at all if he isn't Lord of all." "Lord" means sovereign, ruler, master. He's "Lord" because He's the King of God's Kingdom.
This is a life-transforming concept. Dig for yourself and see what you discover.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
What is fear?
The preacher began the sermon with "perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). That got me to thinking about fear, and what causes it, and how it is that love could somehow be the antidote for fear. (After I pondered on fear a little, I checked out the wikipedia article on fear. It's pretty good, but it's more clinical than helpful, I think.)
I discovered that I feel fear whenever I get the idea that I, or something I care about, or someone I care about is threatened.
There are terrorists, to be sure. And if I really believed that that cello case might really be a bomb, I'd have fear. But in our little town, we don't really fear terrorists because we don't really believe they'd be interested in us. After all, we reason, a bomb here would not strike as much terror as blowing up a big important building crammed with people. That's proximity.
There are cliff edges all over the place, but I don't fear them because I'm in my house. The risk of falling off of them from here is just about zero. That's proximity.
Fear of death is not a motivator to young people because they don't really believe that death could happen soon. They see lots of old, reckless people who are still alive. They haven't seen much death up close. That's proximity.
The second way we combat some fears is by discovering that their threat is non-existent. Eating cooked sheep's eyeballs (a delicacy in some countries) becomes un-scary when you've done it and found them to be delicious. The threat is eliminated.
They may look ferocious, but daddy longlegs 'spiders' are harmless. The threat is eliminated.
The third way fear is reduced is by caring less about the things I care about. The hard drive in my old computer may crash one day. But that's my old computer. I still use it, but I no longer keep critical information on it. Back in the day, I cared a lot about that computer. Now not so much.
And when people in my life are threatened, the degree of fear and concern I have is proportional to how dear they are to me. Before facebook, all my high school friends were just a memory. When something happens to a faded memory, it doesn't affect me near as much.
The Christian way of dealing with fear is by realizing that, in God's hands, you're perfectly safe. Jesus taught and actually demonstrated that there is a God, and that He cares, and that He is perfectly in control of all things. And when we reach the point in our lives where we understand and believe that, and are willing to entrust ourselves and our things to Him, we are relieved of fear. That's because we've let go of those things. We aren't in control of them after all (and never were, though we once thought we were).
Fear still creeps in for a Christian who has entrusted everything to God. Sometimes God lets things happen that don't make sense. Christians still get sick and die. We get hit by drunk drivers. We lose our jobs. But we believe that in it all, God has a purpose. And that in the end, we get to go home.
Some scripture references: Isaiah 54:17; Jeremiah 29:11-14; Psalm 56:4; 118:6; Hebrews 13:6; Matthew 14:27; John 14:27; 1Peter 3:13-22
I discovered that I feel fear whenever I get the idea that I, or something I care about, or someone I care about is threatened.
- Standing on the edge of a cliff is scary because you believe there is a real chance that you might fall off and get seriously hurt.
- A new lump or tingle or twinge or numbness somewhere in your body is scary because it may be the beginning of bad things that will cause you pain and suffering and death.
- Having to give a speech is scary because you may fail and be ridiculed. Or you may fail to communicate well and cause harm to your listeners. Or disappoint the one (the One) who sent you to speak.
- Bizarre foods have a fear factor because of their odor and texture and their source just seems wrong, so you fear that it will taste horrible or make you sick.
- Spiders and big flying roaches are scary because you think they might bite or carry disease or otherwise violate and contaminate you.
- Computer viruses are scary because they may crash your computer and destroy (or distribute!) your precious information.
- The thing that may cause harm to me or mine (a terrorist with a bomb, a plane crash, an angry parent)
- Proximity - the nearness to me or mine of the thing that may cause harm (in the same room vs. across the globe).
- Investment - how dearly I hold myself or mine.
There are terrorists, to be sure. And if I really believed that that cello case might really be a bomb, I'd have fear. But in our little town, we don't really fear terrorists because we don't really believe they'd be interested in us. After all, we reason, a bomb here would not strike as much terror as blowing up a big important building crammed with people. That's proximity.
There are cliff edges all over the place, but I don't fear them because I'm in my house. The risk of falling off of them from here is just about zero. That's proximity.
Fear of death is not a motivator to young people because they don't really believe that death could happen soon. They see lots of old, reckless people who are still alive. They haven't seen much death up close. That's proximity.
The second way we combat some fears is by discovering that their threat is non-existent. Eating cooked sheep's eyeballs (a delicacy in some countries) becomes un-scary when you've done it and found them to be delicious. The threat is eliminated.
They may look ferocious, but daddy longlegs 'spiders' are harmless. The threat is eliminated.
The third way fear is reduced is by caring less about the things I care about. The hard drive in my old computer may crash one day. But that's my old computer. I still use it, but I no longer keep critical information on it. Back in the day, I cared a lot about that computer. Now not so much.
And when people in my life are threatened, the degree of fear and concern I have is proportional to how dear they are to me. Before facebook, all my high school friends were just a memory. When something happens to a faded memory, it doesn't affect me near as much.
The Christian way of dealing with fear is by realizing that, in God's hands, you're perfectly safe. Jesus taught and actually demonstrated that there is a God, and that He cares, and that He is perfectly in control of all things. And when we reach the point in our lives where we understand and believe that, and are willing to entrust ourselves and our things to Him, we are relieved of fear. That's because we've let go of those things. We aren't in control of them after all (and never were, though we once thought we were).
Fear still creeps in for a Christian who has entrusted everything to God. Sometimes God lets things happen that don't make sense. Christians still get sick and die. We get hit by drunk drivers. We lose our jobs. But we believe that in it all, God has a purpose. And that in the end, we get to go home.
Some scripture references: Isaiah 54:17; Jeremiah 29:11-14; Psalm 56:4; 118:6; Hebrews 13:6; Matthew 14:27; John 14:27; 1Peter 3:13-22
Sunday, August 8, 2010
A Prayer of Faith In Christ
In church today, the pastor led in a sample prayer of commitment to Christ in faith. I was reminded of when I invited Jesus into my heart "to be my friend." It was at a Vacation Bible School at West Huntsville Baptist Church. I was about 8. I prayed that prayer after having been exposed to some of the message of Jesus and the cross. And I remember a wonderful exhilaration of joy when I did that. I enjoyed knowing that Jesus, the Son of God, was with me.
A few years later, it came time to seriously examine my life and my soul. That prayer in that VBS was just so wrong. The concept of inviting Jesus into your heart isn't exactly biblical. And inviting Jesus to be your friend isn't exactly right either.
Of course, God doesn't care about mere words. When we pray to Him, our inner thought and our outer expression need to line up. "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." (Romans 10:9).
A better prayer of consecration and faith occurred to me. It's more appropriate for adults than for kids.
A few years later, it came time to seriously examine my life and my soul. That prayer in that VBS was just so wrong. The concept of inviting Jesus into your heart isn't exactly biblical. And inviting Jesus to be your friend isn't exactly right either.
Of course, God doesn't care about mere words. When we pray to Him, our inner thought and our outer expression need to line up. "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." (Romans 10:9).
A better prayer of consecration and faith occurred to me. It's more appropriate for adults than for kids.
O God,
I understand that my choices show that I live a life of self-centered self-reliance. I've lived as if you were not real. I understand now that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for sins like mine and to offer eternal life to everyone who receives Him. I believe that's true. Forgive me. Accept me. Change me. I entrust my life into your hands. My body is yours. My thoughts and dreams are yours. I look to you for guidance and security. I'm yours. Wholly yours.We have assurance from the Bible that God hears when we pray in faith. "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:22) "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." (John 1:12)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)