Not One More Weight

This morning I approach you the reader and the scriptures cautiously and reverently. I dare not put a burden on you. Grace is all I want to give you.

Theologians have called Soteriology (the study of salvation) the essential doctrine which makes all other scriptural teachings secondary in importance.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God," - Ephesians 2:8 ESV

There is so much in life to learn and unlearn but this one idea... this core idea... is essential... God sent His Son to remove our burdens not to weigh us down. He sent Him to sent us free not lock us up. He sent Him to pay the price. He sent Him to die in our place. Why? So we could be free and remain free.

"So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, 'I believed, and so I spoke,' we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:12-18 ESV

Paul is getting pummeled in his life but he knows he carries a treasure.

Life has weights and burdens but this message doesn't. It is glorious and different and unique. It is from Heaven and the more people hear and receive it the more glory God gets because it is beautiful beyond comparison.

The world is going to weigh you down but I don't want to put another speck of weight on you.

If we carry a false burden then we are prone to weigh others down. I fear I have done that. I know I have done that... but not this morning. Jesus bore our burdens. He already carried our sins so that if we believed in what He did we would be free indeed. That is the essential message.

Oh Lord! Let this be at the heart of our thinking. If what we know or think adds something or takes something away from this truth help us to unlearn it. Unravel the grave clothes so we can truly be free from the life that was and enter into the freshness of the gift You have given to us. You have been so patient with us. So patient and gracious. Thank You a thousand million times for this unspeakable gift.

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Ontological Perfections - Part 2

This morning I am still thinking about 'God Proofs' and apologetics. Christian apologetics is basically explaining and 'arguing for' the faith. It can be confrontational but for the most part it deals with a deep connected understanding of God's nature and man's history.

Here is a wonderful passage.

"Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 ESV

Man wants to experience God and He also wants to understand God. These are two different extremes. Blessing is felt. Glory is know or seen. But God dwells in a realm higher than the rational and experiential. He touches those realms also but He is holy and holiness is set apart from everything that is common. We can see His signature in nature but ultimately we can't find Him there. Theologians can think wonderful thoughts but be lacking in Spirit.

Isn't it wonderful to be around people who are truly alive?

The Lord is Spirit and the Spirit is Lord. True apologetics reveals who God Is. His living perfections. One theologian I read yesterday used the term 'great-making property' and I really liked that. Grace has that quality doesn't it. God treating man with the favor that he gives His perfect self sacrificing Son. God has perfect love and He also has perfect hatred. He is merciful and yet His judgement are perfectly right. He is alive in every sense.

The cross is the ultimate apologetic tool. He reveals great mysteries through the cross. Perfect love is revealed. This love is great and makes others great.

We can talk to people and explain truth and that is needed. We can also say, 'God has blessed my life. Knowing Him has been profitable for me.' and that is also true but as believers we go beyond all that to the person who is wonderful. Glory is revealed in a face that recognizes and desires us.

God is gracious. Don't we want to know this gracious person? Some don't. That is a mystery.

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." - 2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV

Life gets hard and often doesn't make sense. Perhaps you have noticed that also?

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." - Colossians 3:16 ESV

A good apologetic allows this to happen. Even in the hard times. God's perfections remain untarnished because they are eternal.

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Awe Is Where It Starts

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!" - Psalm 111:10 ESV

I have many thoughts this morning but this is the one that rises to the surface. Awe of God is the beginning of putting the pieces together.

A person can gather the many perspectives of a situation and anthropology is revealed through behavior in circumstances. But the awe of God is where theology begins and anthropology must be seen in the light of the study of God.

Maybe that sounds lofty and disconnected but to me it has very practical day to day application. Awe must shape my decision making.

God's praise will endure forever. Today's circumstances are temporary. Faithless decisions will register as a blank space in Heaven's history.

We can live in a wisdom that transcends intellectualism. We can build with gold, silver and precious stones and those structures will last.

Awe is where it starts.

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