Satisfaction guaranteed…

Horatio Bonar, in the first paragraph of his short work, The Everlasting Righteousness, summarizes the impact the Holy Spirit using sound doctrine can have on individuals. In this case, he is referring to the era of the Reformation:

“The awakened conscience of the sixteenth century betook itself to “the righteousness of God.” There it found refuge, at once from condemnation and from impurity. Only by “righteousness” could it be pacified; and nothing less than that which is divine could meet the case. At the cross this “righteousness” was found; human, yet divine: provided for man, and presented to him by God, for relief of conscience and justification of life. On the one word tetelestai “It is finished,” as on a heavenly resting-place, weary souls sat down and were refreshed. The voice from the tree did not summon them to do, but to be satisfied with what was done. Millions of bruised consciences there found healing and peace.”

Horatio Bonar

The Everlasting Righteousness, Preface

In His mind, when the true understanding of “the righteousness of God” was made clear, it was as if chains of bondage fell off people. As I read his words, I was reminded of the great work God has done even on my behalf. Nothing I deserved. Nothing I earned. Nothing I scammed. Simply God being God. Reaching down and saving whom He wills. Why He chose to save me? That lies in the eternal mystery of God’s pleasure. For my part though, He truly has done it all. I wonder if the church of today doesn’t need a shot of that same reality? Is the life-giving/life-saving righteousness of God truly enough or must there be more… more effort, more prayer, more Bible reading, more fasting, more giving, more volunteerism, more religious rites, more church services attended, more of whatever I think it is going to take for God to be pleased with me?  What I think the church at large today has failed to reckon is that anything we add to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to gain relationship with God is death. As has been said before, “The Gospel plus anything equals nothing. The Gospel plus nothing equals everything.”  Prior to our conversion and even after it, the Gospel calls us to abandon all self-improvement projects – anything that adds to the work of Christ to reach us and save us. Repeating the words of Horatio Bonar: “The voice from the tree did not summon them to do, but to be satisfied with what was done.”

Drink deep… be impressed by…  be satisfied with the God who has done it all.

Surely the Lord is in this place…

Ever felt like there was more to your experience than what you were experiencing?  Jacob found out what that was like… In Genesis 28, God records for us an encounter that He had with the man whom He had chosen to be His vessel of blessing to the world. 

Jacob, a scoundrel and schemer – sent away by his father Isaac to find a wife amongst his relatives – sent away by his mother Rebecca to be safe from his brother Esau – flat broke – on his own for the first time – free of mama’s skirt strings – fending for self – alone in the world – laid his head down on a stone to sleep.  On top of all of this, the writer lights our minds to the fact that “the sun had set.”  This really was a dark time in Jacob’s life – but as Jacob found out, God specializes in dark times.

“Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed… And behold, the Lord … said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’ 17 And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’”

Genesis 28:12-17

Quite honestly, this passage amazes and astounds me.  It gives me hope and causes me to cry out for the God who is there.  I see much of me in Jacob.  Like him, I can be a conniver, a deceiver, and a schemer.  Like Jacob, there have been times in my life where I have worked to ensure that the blessings God had already promised did in fact become my own.  I told people that God could be trusted and then I went out and acted as if He couldn’t.  And even as Jacob was a usurper, I see that God’s mercy was indeed wide enough to cover the unfaithfulness and doubt that existed.  Indeed, it covers my own unfaithfulness and doubt.  I see the Gospel in this passage, for I see a God who promises deliverance and salvation to Jacob in spite of everything that Jacob has done (and hasn’t done).   

In this passage, God writes several checks that will be cashed by Jacob both at a later date and in the moment… payment so undeserved that the lavishness of the promises boggles the mind.  Land returned and bestowed even after leaving home for a couple of decades.  God’s presence and protection given in order to insure that Jacob makes it back from his travels.  And for all Jacob knows, these promises are going to cover weeks, maybe months, but certainly not years and definitely not decades!  The promise of a family that would spread through all the earth is the great indicator though that God is up to something massive.  God stays by Jacob and reveals Himself to Jacob through many years of what I am sure seemed like a desert of hardship. 

And so, with sleep in his eyes, Jacob comes to the wonderful conclusion that “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”  Ever been there?  I have.  Am.  Will be again.    God was giving to Jacob faith, the stuff without which we cannot please the Lord.  The stuff without which we can’t have relationship with God.  The stuff without which man remains an enemy of God.  The stuff without which the spiritual world remains a myth.

A.W. Tozer, a long time pastor now dead, wrote:

“Faith enables our spiritual sense to function. Where faith is defective the result will be inward insensibility and numbness toward spiritual things. This is the condition of vast numbers of Christians today. No proof is necessary to support that statement. We have but to converse with the first Christian we meet or enter the first church we find open to acquire all the proof we need.

A spiritual kingdom lies all about us, enclosing us, embracing us, altogether within reach of our inner selves, waiting for us to recognize it. God Himself is here waiting our response to His Presence. This eternal world will come alive to us the moment we begin to reckon upon its reality…

Faith creates nothing; it simply reckons upon that which is already there. God and the spiritual world are real. We can reckon upon them with as much assurance as we reckon upon the familiar world around us. Spiritual things are there (or rather we should say here) inviting our attention and challenging our trust.”

As I grow in this thing called the Christian life, I am coming to reckon more and more (like Jacob) that “the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”  I want the Lord to close these gaps of blindness more and more each day so that one day I will see more than I do now.  I am not a man of great faith, but my faith is growing and sensing afresh that there is a God who still speaks, who still guides, who still holds and protects, who still moves, who still does miracles.

Tozer, a man for whom I am growing to respect and admire more and more, continued on with his thoughts about faith:

“The spiritual is real. If we would rise into that region of light and power plainly beckoning us through the Scriptures of truth we must break the evil habit of ignoring the spiritual. We must shift our interest from the seen to the unseen. For the great unseen Reality is God. `He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.‘ (Hebrews 11:6) This is basic in the life of faith. From there we can rise to unlimited heights. `Ye believe in God,‘ said our Lord Jesus Christ, `believe also in me.‘ (John 14:1) Without the first there can be no second.”

This is more than just “Matrix” thinking, positively believing that we can somehow overcome a world that is holding us back… blue pill vs. red pill thinking… this is believing that there is truly a world we are called to live in, and that in this world is the God who is. 

 

“As we begin to focus upon God the things of the spirit will take shape before our inner eyes. Obedience to the word of Christ will bring an inward revelation of the Godhead (John 14:21-23). It will give acute perception enabling us to see God even as is promised to the pure in heart. A new God-consciousness will seize upon us and we shall begin to taste and hear and inwardly feel the God who is our life and our all. There will be seen the constant shining of the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:9) More and more, as our faculties grow sharper and more sure, God will become to us the great All, and His Presence the glory and wonder of our lives.”

 

 The Lord is in this place, and I know it.

 

Tributes of Thanks

I had a chance to watch some of the Football Hall of Fame enshrinement on Saturday evening.  The Class of 2008 included Fred Dean, Darrell Green, Art Monk, Emmitt Thomas, Andre Tippett, and Gary Zimmerman.  As I watched I was struck by the fact that to a man, these great ballplayers, while physically gifted, never considered their success to be an individual accomplishment.  As a matter of fact, the three speeches I did hear were basically tributes to family, friends, and teammates who helped them to become the players they had become.  And the two words from these speeches that stick out the most in my mind are simply:  “Thank you.”

There were thank yous to coaches and owners, teachers and mentors, parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, grandchildren, cousins, fans, friends, and spouses.  Thank you after thank you went out to people who either gave them a hand up, a shoulder to stand on (maybe even to cry on), or perhaps a much needed, kick in the pants.  For the most part, these men had the necessary physical assetts, but there are many players who have great talents and never amount to much…  These men not only succeeded (I would submit that anyone who makes it to the pro level in a sport has succeeded at their trade) but became “great” (isn’t that part of the definition of a Hall of Famer?  someone who was “great” at their position?) And they did so because they had people who loved, encouraged, touched, and buoyed them when no one else would.  At the end of the day, the only fitting tribute to give to someone like that is a word that wells up from the heart… “Thank you.” 

In some small way, this blog is supposed to point people to the fame of the God who is worthy of praise.  As I listened to these speeches, I found myself thinking that my journey toward God is also really nothing short of a journey of thanks.  Some of the Hall of Famers talked of improbable odds.  I’m no Hall of Famer (in any category), but as a sinner (Rom. 3.23) and one time enemy of God (Eph. 2.3), it is only fitting for me to speak of impossible odds.  The Bible is clear that without faith, it is impossible for me to please God (Heb. 11.6).  The Bible is clear that without being radically tied into Jesus, it is impossible to have a life that produces a Jesus kind of fruit (John 15.4-8).  The Bible is clear that left to myself, it is impossible for me to chose Jesus or even seek after Him (Romans 3.10-12; Ephesians 2.1).  The Bible is clear that without the Spirit, it is impossible for me to comprehend the plan (wisdom) of God (I Cor. 2.7, 14).

That’s why I am so thankful for a God who specializes in the impossible.  The Bible is clear that with man these kinds of things are impossible, but “with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19.26).  My life was faithless but Ephesians 2.8 tells me that faith is the gift of God and I have it now.  I was like a branch severed from the life giving vine of Jesus but Colossians 3.4 tells me that now, Christ is my life.  I wasn’t even looking for God, but Ephesians 1.4 tells me that God was looking for me and chose me before the foundation of the world and now I am His.  I was blinded by Satan who was keeping me from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, but God said, “Let light shine out of darkness,’ and He has shone into my heart to give me the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Corinthians 4.6). 

When I let the weight of the glory of these statements press down on me, I find myself with a thesaurus of words to appeal to, but capable of using only two that really captures what my heart truly wants to say… “Thank you.”

He has found us!

“Our dull, culturally saturated churches have too often forgotten what and how to celebrate. The dull church goes through the liturgical motions mechanically, without passion. The dull church must ask itself, “Why theater/church at all?” In contrast, there are now megachurches in North America that, while far from dull, are unclear as to what is being celebrated. Some celebrate the physical facilities, others the music, and still others this or that therapeutic program. But the cry of Christian celebration is not “Eureka, I have found it” but “Eucharisto, He has found us!” The church, as the theater of the gospel, celebrates the good news that God is with us and for us… The company of the gospel celebrates the body of Christ, given for us-celebrates being the body of Christ“

Kevin VanHoozer, “The Drama of Doctrine” (WJK, 2005), pg. 407

I came across this quote in a recent newsletter I receive.  I was so arrested by the second half of the quote that I wanted to post it.  Surely this is the way that all rescued people feel…  Surely this is the way that we should respond every time we are encountered with the truth of the Gospel…  Surely this sentiment should be the motivation that compels us to cry out to the Lord in praise and adoration… Surely the realization that “He has found us!” should awaken our hearts in exultation. 

Perhaps church should be more like a rescue site where formerly hopeless people are now excited, thrilled, and amazed, because their friends and family, who had been trapped in a collapsed cave, were finally dug out after 2 days without heat, light, food, or hope… and were rescured alive!… perhaps church should be more like a neighborhood street where families are gathered and celebrating over the fact that two children were pulled from a second story window before the house went up in flames, and saying “thank you, thank you, thank you” to the firemen who rescued the children… or perhaps church should be more like the young mother who is crying, laughing, rejoicing, and hugging her child after the 8 year old was lifted from the bottom of the pool – without pulse, blue in the face, not breathing – but the lifeguard who was simply doing his job, revived her… “thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“He has found us!”… in the cave of sin that collapsed around us … without air, without light, without human touch, without knowledge of what to do, water converting dirt to mud, time was out – BUT, “He has found us!” 

Ephesians 2.11-13:

¹¹ Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh…

¹² remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

He has found us!