Fathers, Kids and Gifts.

As a young father, I couldn't see it. I really thought that life was all about following the rules, about "getting it right". It wasn't until recently, probably until becoming a grandfather, that I finally realized the truth in what my grandfather told me almost 30 years ago. The words he used were something like, "It's not what you know but who you know."

I reacted with violent negative emotions at the time since I was completely preoccupied with "getting it right". Recently, I thought about what it is like for a parent, a father in my case, to watch a young child open a gift. Often, the child finds the wrapping paper and the package more interesting than the contents, the intended gift. As I contemplated the situation, I realized that a father who is watching this scene would likely smile with satisfaction just because of the joy the child experienced at the fact of receiving a gift, regardless of how impressive the gift itself might have been. He wouldn't be angry with his child for failing to recognize the impressive nature of the item which was enclosed in the package. He would just be pleased that his child is pleased.

Then I thought about God, the Father. He has given us so many gifts and we often fail to understand the true significance of the intended gift. But we still find a great deal of enjoyment in the act of opening the package and we may even take a great deal of fun and joy from the process of playing with the wrapping paper or the bow. Our Heavenly Father isn't angry with us because we don't fully understand or appreciate the full value of the gift. He doesn't chide us for finding pleasure in the package. Sure, He wants us to understand and appreciate the full value of His gift to us but "He knows... that we are dust."

The Father knows not to expect more of us than we are capable of giving. He knows that we are human flesh and that we are weak in that flesh. He understands that we only see in part and therefore cannot even see all that is there, much less appreciate what we do see. I believe that He still smiles from His throne, enjoying our enjoyment of what He has done for us. You see, it is not okay to do wrong. However, pleasing God is not about "getting it right" (in the sense of following all the rules).

Scripture tells us in the Book of Hebrews that "without faith, it is impossible to please God." In the letter to the Ephesians, we are told that even our faith is a gift from God and so it is actually not our own. I guess my grandfather was right. It really is about WHO you know, not WHAT you know.

It's not about following the rules either. In fact, Paul writes in Romans that the law (rules) is put in place exclusively to reveal our sinful nature to us. Without the law, God's law, we would not even have a clue that there is anything inherently wrong with us so we would not, could not, know that we are in need of a Saviour. God in His grace provided the law so that we would know that we need Him.

Then, after clearly demonstrating to us that we need him, He provided the sacrifice which met our exact needs. That sacrifice is Jesus, the "...Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world." (Authorized King James Version) So, it is not about what you know, about life, about Jesus, about Scripture or anything else. It really is about WHO you know. It is about knowing Jesus and developing a personal, intimate relationship with Him. It is about going to Him with all of your fears, your troubles, your needs and sharing your burdens with Him, just like you might do with your (earthly) father.

God is the Father of all fathers as much as He is the King of all kings. Make Him your Saviour, your Advocate, your Deliverer and find out what it is like to know the One for whom we were made. The One to whom we owe our very lives.

The God who is three times Holy!

Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet, had a vision wherein he saw God. He described the Creator of all as being in the presence of many angels, each of which had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet and with two they were flying. As the angels were flying and covering their faces and feet, they were crying out, "Holy. Holy. Holy."

I recently heard a preacher from Ecuador preach a message on this passage. His perspective, whether a result of the differing languages or otherwise, prompted some deep thought on my part and some tremendous awe of God as well. I had always thought that the angels were repeating themselves because their sole purpose in existence was to announce the holiness of God to any who would come near. Or, perhaps they were just redundant for some less noble reason. Perhaps it was the only word in their vocabulary.

It never occurred to me that the repetition of this word had a meaning in and of itself. When this Ecuadorian preacher was being translated, he interpreted this as, "The God who is three times holy!" He emphasized (as the angels were apprently doing) that God is holy but He is also much more than that. He is holier than holy. In fact, He is holier than holier than holy. He is THREE TIMES HOLY!

A friend of mine used to like to describe God's omnipresent quality by saying that, "He's more here than we are." He was saying that God is not limited to a single space like we are; rather, that He is everywhere at once and at once He is everywhere. He doesn't fit into a space, He defines space. He created the space that we are in and He is more here than we are.

I think that this is the point of what Isaiah was hearing from the angels. God isn't just holy. He is the very essence of all that is holy. He is more holy than holiness. He is more pure than purity. He is more righteous than righteousness. He is not defined by these terms; rather, these terms are defined by Him.

The conclusion of this is simple. We cannot and dare not define God in terms of our own existence or understanding. We MUST define our existence, our wisdom, our understanding, our goodness or righteousness, our holiness and purity by Him. If we do not understand Him as He really is, then we cannot understand ourselves as we really are. Hence Solomon's wisdom,

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the LORD is the beginning ^F4 of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (taken from Crosswalk.com on October 18, 2007)

Let's stop fooling ourselves and begin to seek his face; learn of Him and from Him. It is only as we begin to gain real knowledge of the God who is really there and who really cares that we can begin to see ourselves for who we really are.

I may have a few days when I can legitimately claim some goodness, some holiness; however, I can never attain to the heights of holiness which the Lord God inhabits, even though He has instructed me to be like Him. May God grant us courage to face our own shortcomings, true knowledge of Him and wisdom to behave as he wants us to behave. Amen.

Free Will?

Free will is the mantra of many in today's world, even in the church. We say that we believe in a sovereign God but we hang on ferociously to our own right to choose. Can we have both or is it all one and none of the other? I may take time later to discuss this in more detail but I want to summarize for now.

First, we must start with a couple of assumptions. Our primary place of beginning ought to be with the authority of Scripture. My first premise therefore is that Holy Scripture is absolutely correct and our final authority on all matters regarding God, our Creator and our Saviour. Since we believe that God is the author of Scripture, our unfailing belief in its statements and claims is an unwavering belief in God Himself.

The next assumption is that God must be greater than we are and must be greater than our ability to comprehend. The God that reveals Himself in the pages of Scripture is a God that is so much bigger than we are that He is literally the very essence of all that is. He didn't just create the earth and its inhabitants outside of Himself; rather, he created everything as a display and an illustration of His nature and character.

A friend of mine used to say when we were discussing the omnipresence of God that, "He is more here than we are!" We are limited by space and time but He defines the things that limit us. Now, a God such as this says in Scripture that He chooses some of us to be His. Who am I to argue with Him about this?

When Scripture teaches (in the Old Testament) that God made the Egyptian Pharoah as a vehicle for destruction, that is exactly what He meant and it is arrogant of us to tell God that He isn't allowed to do things whatever way He wishes to. While my spirit may cry out "Unfair" at the thought that He also does NOT choose some for salvation, that entirely misses the point that He makes in Scripture.

Scripture teaches that all creatures/creations are made by their creator for the purpose that the creator has in mind. We don't think that Ford, GM, Mercedes or some other automotive manufacturer is making a bad decision when they create one kind of car, truck or other vehicle over another. However, we want to limit God by our own idea or concept of fairness. 

A careful reading of Scripture does teach that we are responsible to choose right from wrong and that we will be held accountable for those choices. It also teaches emphatically and repeatedly that we are chosen by Him, not the other way around. The reason that these two positions seem to be contradictory is 1) because we are trying to understand God from our perspective (a limited one at best), and 2) our pride does not want to yield the "right" to make a choice whether that choice is ultimately found to be a right one or a wrong one.

Since pride is sin, we have to be extremely careful to guard ourselves from the temptation to interpret God in the light of our sinful nature. Our concept of Free Will is typically based on the idea that we not only MUST choose but that we have a right to our choice without God holding it against us. Since God is not willing that any should perish, how could He possibly have created some some creatures as vessels for destruction?

I have to confess that these are sometimes difficult things to comprehend but He wants us to abandon our own understanding when it is opposed to His teaching and seek to understand things from his perspective. In doing that, we can learn to accept things as true even when our hearts cry out against them. This is the essence of faith (taking God at His word) and always results in obedience, the greatest test of our faith.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul describes the condition of a human being prior to Salvation as being dead in trespasses and sin. It is not for nothing that He used this illustration of a dead person since we believe that the very Spirit of God is the author of Scripture. A dead person, a corpse, can DO nothing, SEE nothing, TOUCH nothing, SAY nothing, DECIDE nothing and THINK nothing.

If Paul makes such a description of the unsaved person's condition under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we must conclude that this is truth. Having made such a determination, we must also understand that Paul describes the condition of a saved person as being made alive. So, by comparison, the lost person who is headed for Hell is unable to choose anyone or anything while the saved person, headed for Heaven, is able to do, touch, see, say, think, etc. AFTER SALVATION, our "choices" have real significance. Prior to salvation, the only choice made by a sinner is the one that is consistent with his "dead" nature.

I could apologize for taking this position but this position is consistently presented throughout Scripture and is consistent with many other teachings of Scripture as well. Therefore, I cannot apologize even if you are offended by it. In II Corinthians chapter 4, Paul says that we ought to preach the Word plainly, not using deception. To teach anything different than what I have laid out here would be hypocritical of me, deceptive of me and would be a false representation of God, His character and the truth of Scripture.

Hung up on ourselves... or Him?

It is awfully easy to get really hung up on us. After all, we look at ourselves in the mirror on a daily basis... and usually admire what we see (whether we admit it or not). We groom ourselves, dress ourselves, quaff ourselves and on and on it goes. All of this is to impress those whom we currently do not know or to maintain an impression with those that we do know.

It simply would not do to let the people in our lives see through to the "real me" that lies beneath. However, it is exactly that "real me" that Jesus wants to see. In fact, He doesn't just want to SEE us the way we are. He wants to KNOW us the way we really are. He wants to interact with us as we really are and have us interact with Him on the same terms.

This is where we get ourselves in trouble. You see, most of us do not want to admit that we are really as bad as we know we are. We do not want to face ourselves that way, much less have anyone else face us that way. Certainly, if Jesus saw us as we really are, He would not, in fact He COULD not accept, love or forgive us. We know that we are really that bad, but we don't want to admit it even to ourselves.

Jesus tells us that we should come to Him with all of our troubles and all of our burdens and He will give us rest. Let us imagine for a moment that we can actually play a nasty trick on Him, that we can actually come to Him as we want to be seen and known. That we can come to Him without all of our baggage.

Now, in that condition, we come and we hear Jesus say, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." Where is the rest for us? We have hidden our troubles away. We have buried our burdens somewhere out of sight. We have managed to cover our errors, our mistakes and our sin so that we appear to be acceptable as we are. What good is Jesus' offer to us now? What comfort can He offer us if we have no burden to bring to Him? What strength can He offer us when we are quite capable on our own and burdens are either small and insignificant or non-existent?

My friend, you must come to Jesus just as you really are. Do not dress up for Him or put on makeup to hide the scars, the bruises and the other misshapen features of your real self. Come just as you are and hear His call to you. He says, "Come." That is where the process begins. You will never know the grace, mercy and forgiveness of our Saviour unless you first come.

Do not hesitate to come now. There is a time that is too late. Jesus has said that today is the acceptable time. Tomorrow, as we all know so well, may never come. So, come today, and come quickly. Bring all of your troubles, burdens and shortcomings. Come as you really are, in all of your miserable condition, and do not delay. Jesus has promised life, liberty and peace to those who come. If you remain in your sin, you have only distress, misery and slavery to enjoy. So come to the Master and take His burden in exchange for your own. Accept His mercy and forgiveness and gain the peace and satisfaction that only He can give. 

He died so that you might live. Live for Him not out of some sense of obligation but as though you were voluntarily paying a debt of gratitude for all that He has done. Don't get hung up on you; get hung up on Him. The reward is endless and the love He shares is indescribable.