Light of Christ

I discovered fairly soon after I had 4 children under 7 that time to myself didn’t happen often.  I also found out that going to the loo became a spectator sport, often sharing the room with children and several animals.  Gardening fell into the same mold.  I would go outside hoping for some peace and quiet as I declared war on weeds, only to be surrounded by small children and animals all wanting to help.

The only time I had to myself was in the shower.  That was because I had it early before anyone stirred, and because there was another adult that was easier for the children to find.  As the children got older they soon learned that I was only to be interrupted in the shower if someone was near death.

So began my habit of having my time with the Lord in the shower.  Here I prayed for my family and friends, for those I knew that needed prayer, and the like.  Here I meditated on aspects of theology.  Here I complained to the Lord about various aspects of my life and life in general.  And here I listened.  And just sometimes I was answered.

My life has changed.  The children have grown and gone, and have children of their own.  Well most of them have.  Now I have showers when it’s warmed up a bit, and when the world is well and truly awake.  I now have it on a stool with grab bars to hang onto.  But I still pray.  For my larger family and circle of friends, which has now grown to include online friends and contacts.  And more of my friends have gone to be with the Lord, but their families need prayer support.  I still complain, and I still meditate on theology.  I still listen.

This morning I was doing my normal meditating and bemoaning the fact that there are so many who think they know the truth, but they reject the Gospel, and praying that the veil would be lifted from their eyes, that they would listen to God’s voice, and I was reminded of my own journey with Him, and to Him.  I thought back to when I was first aware of Him, and I suppose I was about six.  I remember being at Sunday School in the back of the community hall.  The front was used as a library and I spent a lot of time there too!  The Church of England did not have its own building in our community, that came after I moved, so Sunday School and church were held on the hall.  I remember learning ABOUT God.  I remember learning about what I SHOULD be doing.

Several years later we moved, and again there was no local Church of England.  But right next door was the Baptist Church.  They had just built their church but not the hall yet, and Sunday School was held in a ramshackle tin shed, complete with spiders, and there started my love affair with history.  They taught me the old testament Bible stories.  I was in awe.  Years later they built a better hall, but Mum had discovered that the Church of England were now meeting in our community, in, you guessed it, a tin shed, complete with spiders.  So more old testament Bible stories, which I just loved!   I still went to the Baptists when I could, I loved that history!  The C of E eventually built themselves a hall without spiders and things became more civilised.

Through all this I was learning more ABOUT God.  By this I had a pretty good head knowledge of Him, but not really any heart knowledge.  It was still about what I thought *I* had to do to gain His favour.

 

It wasn’t till I was married with a couple of kids, still going to church, and also going to an interdenominational Bible study that I started to understand about God’s love.  It had been and still was a very gradual process.  He had been wooing me.  I didn’t realise that then, and it only came to me this morning that He had been.  That I was (now) a member of His Church, of His Body, that I was part of the church (ekklesia) that was His Bride.  So of course it made sense that He would woo me.  I am in awe of His love for me, for all His followers.

I am precious to Him.  I am his pearl.  My name means Pearl.

And then I thought….why was Jesus baptised?  He was a Jew.  He didn’t need to be baptised.  He was circumcised, and that’s what He needed to take part in Jewish ritual.  Why was He baptised?

I have since discussed this with Larry, so it’s not all my ideas….

He was baptised at the beginning of His ministry.  His Father, together with the Holy Spirit, announced the beginning of His mission.  He was being announced as the Messiah.
The children of Israel went through the baptism of passing through the Red Sea at the beginning of their voyage with God, just as Jesus was being baptised now in the Jordan,  at the beginning of His mission.  Type and antitype.

Baptism replaces circumcision.  Circumcision showed you belong to the Jews.  Baptism shows you belong to Christ.

Awesome.

This happened a couple of years ago.

The day came for my “date”, with my wonderful ex-neighbour and dear friend.  We were going to the skin doctor, a couple of hours away.  We both had appointments.

We set off.  We hadn’t been travelling long and it became obvious the weather was deteriorating, but we kept on.  By the time we had been travelling an hour, it started to rain.  The sky was black, and there was lightning all around us.  The further we went, the heavier the rain got, and we could barely see the road ahead.  We considered stopping and waiting till the weather improved, but there was too much traffic, and the road was too narrow to allow us to do this safely.  So we kept on going, guided by the tail lights of the car in front of us.  Large trucks were coming the other way, and as they hit the puddles on the road, we were further covered with water.

I don’t think either of us had been in such torrential weather.  It was horrendous!  Eventually we came to the turn off to the doctor’s, and turned into that road.  Things were still bad.  He found a parking place right outside the doctor’s, which was most opportune, but the gutters were full of water and fast running.  He parked the car and told me I was not to get out till he was there to help me.  For once I did as I was told, and took off my shoes and rolled up my slacks so I could get across the gutters a bit easier.  He came round, opened the door (it was still pouring) took my bag and walking stick, and then held my hand as I walked through the gutter.  Then helped me across the footpath, and up the ramp to the doctor’s.  By this time we both looked like drowned rats, but I must admit it was fun paddling!

Once inside, we discovered the receptionist and doctor both running round with buckets and mops.  They had multiple leaks and the computers wouldn’t work, and they had also had had power outages, although the power was back on by the time we arrived.  So two drowned people fitted right in!.  We went into the waiting room and waited our turn, and tried to dry off.  We were both giggling about the state of affairs.

In due course it was my turn.  The doctor, like me, has ataxia.  He had a tumour on his neck, and to remove it they had to remove some of his cerebellum, so we compare notes on how we are both progressing.  The actual examination went well, I only had a couple of suspicious “thingies” that needed removing by freezing, so I came out and waited while it was my friend’s turn.  Well in due course he came back out with bits and pieces burned off him everywhere, and he had to make an appointment for surgery to his ear.  He had also had some nasties burnt off his head, and they were rather sore.

Thank goodness by this time the rain had stopped, so we had a much easier trip home. We stopped at the local Mackers (McDonald’s) and had an icecream each.  Had he felt better, we would have had something a little more exciting.  I think we both deserved it!

 

Experiences like this one help us in a number of ways.  Of course we appreciate God’s care in getting us from point A to point B safely, whether the journey was uneventful or “interesting” like this one was.  I’m sure my friend was also thankful to have gone (in the long run at least) because the skin cancer that he needed to have removed a few weeks later was thankfully in the very early stages.  Even so it required removal of part of his ear, and was, as you can imagine very sore initially.  Had he not gone and had it not been sorted out, who knows what would have eventuated there?

And the companionship with a fellow Christian, the shared laughs, the shared joy in the Lord is a treasure of immense worth.  Whenever we go anywhere together, we end up having a theology discussion.  And laugh!

And we share chocolate!

It is such a joy to be able to have a Christian friendship.  I appreciate the ones I have online, and I appreciate the ones I have “in the flesh”.  There’s a depth to these friendships that exceeds normal friendship.

And I know they will continue in heaven!

Homosexuality is a fairly topical issue at the moment, because Australia is having a postal survey to see whether people are in favour of changing the Marriage Act to allow same sex couples to marry.

It got me thinking about Sodom and Gomorrah, what were they really destroyed for.  The situation there was covered in some detail in Genesis 18 and 19 in what seems an open and shut case for homosexuality.   But I looked at another passage.  Ezekiel 16 tells of Jerusalem as a faithless wife, an includes this reference to Sodom: 49Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.

I read this carefully, because this reminded me of the judgement scene in Matt 25: 31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,^f you did it to me.’

41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

 

Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their complacency.  Because they ignored their responsibility to look after their vulnerable citizens, the poor and the needy even though they were rich and had plenty!  They had lost their compassion, and were selfish.  Don’t know about your country, that sounds very like Australia.  The rich get rich and the poor get poorer.  Don’t worry about the pensioners, who have worked all their lives.  Don’t worry about the people who have lost their jobs for what ever reason, and now do not have enough to live on.  The Government pays them a pittance, and there is no work to be had.  And big business rakes in record profits, and pay their bosses obscene wages. Not to mention the way refugees are treated.
This is the sort of thing Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for.  I hazard a guess nearly every other country on this earth is in a similar situation.  Society is wicked.  Life is cheap.  People are interested in easy money, cheap thrills, no depth to their thoughts.  They are self centred.  Sodom and Gomorrah deserved to be destroyed.  Do not we?

Have a look at how Jesus will judge the world when He comes in glory.  Is there mention there of which day people attend church?  Or even whether they attend church at all?  Of is Jesus looking for signs people are caring for each other, as they would if they were full of His love?  After all in John 13: ’ 34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  The sign we are His followers is LOVE.

When He says I never knew you, He’s   talking about people who act like selfrighteous Pharisees.  Who think salvation is about what THEY do or don’t do, what THEY eat or don’t eat, what THEY wear or don’t wear, and so on.  He’s talking about people who have not accepted his invitation and listened to His Voice.  He’s talking about people who have put other people’s words as more important than His own (eg. Ellen white).  They are called cursed.

He’s talking about people who when they hear the pure and simple words of the Gospel add to them, building barriers for people, deceiving and deluding them.

When He says Come, you who are blessed of My Father, He is talking to those who love Him, and trust His promises, who believe His is the only Name through which we can be saved, and who love others, because He first loved us.  They then put that love into action, by caring for the unfortunate, the needy, the sick.  They are called righteous, because He is righteous.

I pray that everyone will think about which group they will end up in.  I pray that everyone will heed His  Voice and turn to Him.

And do His good works.

Yesterday I took the long trip to the city to visit my specialist.  I normally see him every three months for treatment for the part of my condition that IS treatable, but I will be doing it for the rest of my life which is a bit sobering.  But yesterday’s visit was for assessment of the part of my condition that has no treatment.  I have an inherited neurological condition called spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (there are about 50 types) with dystonia.  The dystonia can be treated, the ataxia cannot at this stage.  There is no cure for either of them.

I think I read that ataxia occurs in something like 1 in every 100000 people.  In my family my sister has it, my father had it, two cousins on his side of the family have it, their father, my grandmother, and at least one of her sisters had it.  My geneticist was delighted!

As some of you know about fourteen months ago, I fell and broke my ankle in three places, and dislocated it.  This caused much mirth all over the world because at the time I was stamping my foot at the cat, and fell into the laundry hamper.  The cat instantly ran under the bed (she was completely unharmed) but very put out about all this.  I fairly quickly realised I had done something drastic and used my vital call pendant to ring the ambulance.

Three months later I was allowed home (the nursing staff wouldn’t let me come home till I was better, because I live alone, and also because people with ataxia do not “do” crutches, and were concerned about further falls.  On my return it became patently obvious the ataxia was worse.  I could not walk round the house without my trusty walker, and I certainly couldn’t go outside, so since I came home it has been a case of rest and recovery and teaching myself to do things again, on my own.

So I was a little bit concerned that the doctor would find my ataxia had progressed faster than it should.  When it was my turn to see him, I found a trainee neurologist from Spain was also in attendance.  I’m always happy for them to be there, what I’m experiencing might be just the thing that doctor needs to learn, and so help someone else. They were very interested in my downbeat lateral nystagmus.  I very nearly said you should see it from my side!  My doc gave me several tests, and pronounced that even with my “incident”, progression was “normal” and he was pleased I was coping well.  So back in round about 12 months for the next assessment, 3 months for the next treatment.

At times I get introspective and think how much my life has changed.  How many things I can no longer do at all, and how many things I have had to change the method I do it.  And then I think well, I have no choice but to embrace my “new normal”.  This is just the way things are, and I have to get on with it.  My sister, aged 80, is my inspiration.  She has the same condition, though without dystonia, still lives alone (though, like me, she has a great support system).  Life goes on for both of us, and there is so much about life that is still so good, and very worth living.  My other sister has a different neurological condition which also makes her life interesting, but like us, she gets on with it.

The sister with ataxia and I live alone.  I dare say at times she wishes, as I do for myself,  she had someone to share her life, but he would need to be a very special man who could look after a (physically) high maintenance female, but would also need to be smart enough when to stand back and let us do things ourselves, to encourage, but not to mollycoddle.  Or there would be fireworks.

Very rarely have I said why me.  I don’t blame God for this.  The world can be a rotten place, and we were (un)lucky to have been dealt these hands.  The type of ataxia we have will not kill us.  We will die with it, not of it.  Other types take their sufferers early, one young man recently was in his late 20s when he passed away.  Others have been in their 40s and 50s.  Some have had painful lives.  So when you look at it things could have been much worse.  I rarely get lonely.  Just sometimes…..

I have so much that I thank God for.  I thank Him that He is my Saviour.  I thank Him for the blessed hope of His return, and of course in advance I thank Him for my new glorified body that will work the way it should, and will allow me to run and jump instead of staggering around like a drunk.  I also thank Him in advance for my voice that will sing in tune beautifully, and will not slur and make me sound like a drunk as well.  I thank Him too that my intellect is still there (though it takes me a lot longer to work things out these days).  I thank Him that I live in a beautiful country and in a wonderful caring community, where people do care, and take care of me, and each other.

I also give thanks for wonderful friends and family.  Some (friends and family too) I have yet to meet physically, but the love I feel for each of you is deep, and intense.  Whether we agree is not the issue.  Our hearts have met and I care for you all, and I know you all care for me.  Another reason to look forward to heaven.  I could not live here without my friends who are willing to help me at a moments’ notice.  You all mean so much to me.

Come Lord Jesus, so the feasting can begin in heaven!

As we get older, I have discovered we need more rest.  This is in direct contradiction to what my mother told me when I was 40 something, when she said we need less rest.  I discovered what she really meant is that our sleep patterns change, and we need less sleep at night, but more nanna naps during the day.  I was quite disappointed.  I was hoping to be able to fit more activity into the day.  Life certainly has been a learning experience!

Besides the joys of getting older, I have been “blessed” with an hereditary neurological condition, spinocerebellar ataxia type 6.  The symptoms are many, but one is fatigue.  This is tiredness to the nth degree.  There are days where I can barely function, and spend most of the day on the couch.  This can happen as often as twice a week, and because the last few days have been busy (for me), I think the need to rest will descend on me like a ton of bricks, on Sunday afternoon, or Monday morning.

This has made me a bit of an expert on rest.  Physical rest is not spiritual rest.  You can rest physically, but not spiritually, and visa versa.  When I am fatigued, I rest physically, sometimes sleeping (I have been known to have needed 4 nanna naps during the day), sometimes reading, sometimes watching tv (this usually brings on the nanna naps), using the computer…basically doing things that are enjoyable but restful.  I do not for example go outside and pull weeds out, or ride the exercise bike for 30 minutes.

On a normal day, I will do some gardening, some housework, some exercise bike riding, some piano playing, all interspersed with rest times.  This method of “pacing” myself means my days of exhaustion and fatigue don’t happen quite so often.

But does any of this give me spiritual rest?  Well the piano playing and the gardening come close….but really no.  There is really one way to get spiritual rest, and that is through and in Jesus Christ.  No amount of going to church on Sabbath and then spending the afternoon “resting” in whatever way you choose, as long as it doesn’t include doing your own pleasure, or actually expending any energy, will give you spiritual rest.

Jesus called all you were weary to come to Him and He would give you rest.  Matt 11:28-30.  This is weariness of soul, not physical tiredness.  To achieve this rest, we need to turn to Him. He will give us a new heart, and make us a new creation. He will write His laws on our hearts, and He will give us peace.  Joy.  Rest. And once you have rested in Him, you know you can trust Him for everything.  Everything!  You will never fear again!  You have that blessed assurance.  Not only is Jesus thine, but you are His, and He will not let anything or anyone take you out of His hand.  John 10:28.  Whatever happens to you, good or bad, He is there. Even if you physically die, you know that you will rise at the last day to meet Him in the air, with all the other faithful departed!  And in the meantime you have spiritual rest.  Complete spiritual rest.

Remember, physical rest does not bring spiritual rest.  Spiritual rest means your spirit is in a state of rest and peace even if you are doing a hard day’s work, or if you are stressed about something.

The ancient Israelites were given the sabbath by God.  To mark them as His “peculiar” people, and to point them to Christ.  Not many of them “got it”, because God said “they shall not enter my rest”. Hebrews 4:5.  They rested on the Sabbath, sure.  They got their physical rest, but they missed the point.  There was more to this resting than inactivity.  It has to be spiritual.  It wasn’t enough to be on the head level, it had to be on a heart level.  You know when you “know” a person, as in they are an acquaintance, but a member of your family, a spouse, a boy/girl friend, you know on a much deeper level.  You “know” them with your heart as well.  It is much more intimate.  So it is with spiritual knowledge and spiritual rest.  It is intimate.  It is soul to soul, spirit to spirit.  It is deep within your being.  That is why it is so refreshing.  Physical rest cannot touch it.

They both have separate jobs.  You are physically tired, you go to sleep, you sit down for a while.  You relax for a while, and you are physically refreshed.

But spiritual rest.  You rest in Jesus, your spirit is at rest.  It is at peace.  Your inner being is at rest.  TWENTY FOUR SEVEN!  There is nothing to compare with this!

Come to me all who are laden and I will give you rest.  What a promise!

On the first day of spring, 1^st September, 1970, it snowed where I lived, in the central tablelands of New South Wales.  At about 500 metres (1500 feet) above sea level, winters at that time were “brisk”.  Cool days, cold nights, some VERY cold nights, with frosts down to -12C, with accompanying frozen and broken pipes, (they were  very soon lagged!) and fogs till midday (further from the river they weren’t so bad).

But it usually only snowed about once every winter, with snow falling on the hills around several times a winter, which was lovely to look at and the wind off it was woeful!  This fall on the first day of spring was memorable in more ways than one to me.  I had just come home from hospital that day with No 1 son, who also happened to be No 2 child.  No 1 child, who was also No 1 daughter, had gone to stay with one set of grandparents, and would return in a week or so, to give me a chance to settle in with the baby.

The weather had been nice when I went into hospital to give birth, and it got progressively worse the longer I stayed there.  In those days they didn’t rush you home.  They kept you in till they were satisfied the baby was doing well, and so were you.  So I had been there for a week, and the day I came home, it had turned cold.  Really cold.

So that evening, I went to have a bath.  We didn’t have a shower in that house, just a bath.  So I settled off to enjoy this bath, had just soaped up, and the lights went out. My husband come in and said he had checked to see whether it was just us, but the whole town seemed to be without lights and power, and he would go out to the garage to see whether we had a gas lamp or similar I could use in the bathroom.

What seemed like an eternity later (it was probably only 5 or 10 minutes) but the water was getting cold and I wanted to get out, my husband came back in, and announced he couldn’t find the lamp, but it was snowing!  I couldn’t care what it was doing, I just wanted to get out and dry and dressed!

Shortly after he left to see what else he could find, the lights came on again.  I jumped out of the bath, dried myself off and dressed myself before the lights went off again.  The power stayed off this time for three days….and our home was all electric except for heating.  I felt a little better about life in general and come out to the living area where hubby was looking out the window.  The snow by this stage was falling heavily and soundlessly.  There was no wind.  And it was beautiful.  Just beautiful.  We watched for a while as the world turned to white.

That was the heaviest fall of snow I have experienced in almost 50 years in the area.  The phones were out, the power was out, both sets of grandparents were trying to contact us to say they couldn’t come to see us yet, the mountains between us and them were impassable.  We were trying to contact them to say don’t try to come, you won’t get up the mountains.  We finally had to resort to telegrams!  We lived on sandwiches till the power came back on.  I was breastfeeding so the baby was ok for food.  We had heating, but nothing else.  But we managed.

For twenty five or thirty years after that we went back to one decent fall of snow (not quite like that) every year or so, with several falls in the hills around each winter.  The last fifteen of so years, the frosts haven’t been so bad, and the falls of snow are only every four or five years now, with maybe a fall of snow in the hills around every year or so.  Things are changing.

But you know, thinking back about how beautiful the snow was as we looked out on it and how beautiful it was the next day, at least until it started to melt and turn to slush…..  That falling snow, that pristine sparkling beauty, it really was magic.  It looked like a fairy land.  Everything that was mundane was hidden or transformed.  Isn’t that what Jesus’ righteousness does for us?

We are worse than mundane.  We are flawed and sinful.  Our righteousness is as menstrual rags.  We are unclean.  Unless and until we are covered by Jesus’ imputed righteousness.  He is perfect.  He is sinless. He is the light of the world, that marvellous light.  He is love, He is lovely.

Over two thousand years ago, He forsook what was rightly His, so that we, unworthy wretches that we are, may, through God’s grace, be His co-heirs in glory.  His perfection masks our imperfection, so that God is able to look on us.  He has redeemed us, saved us for His good works that we could not do without His living in us. And we, His followers, have turned to Him.  We have repented, and He us given us new hearts, and made us new creations.  He has covered us with His righteousness.

His perfection covers our imperfection.  To God we appear as a pristine, sparkling snowfield, all shining white and beautiful.

Each morning I pray for my family and friends.  I also pray for every person I know online.  Whether I have met them or not.  Whether they share my beliefs or not.  God loves them all, and so do I.  Agreeing/not agreeing is not an issue.

 

I pray for all my friends/contacts who are Christians, that they continue proclaiming His Gospel in whatever circumstance they find themselves, and that we all, as Christians support and encourage one another.

 

I also pray for all my friends/contacts who are not Christians (some are dyed in the wool atheists/antitheists) and those who are not sure what they think (some are agnostic, others are as my father would have described callithumpian) and there are those who think they are Christian but are actually trapped in legalistic religion and cults.  I pray that they will listen to the Holy Spirit, as He calls them to Christ, and that they are released from their various bondages and find freedom in Him.

 

It distresses me that Jesus is not enough for people, that they feel His sacrificial death is not enough, that they have to “make up” that deficit with their own efforts or with doctrines that has Him doing things later.

 

Our works, our righteousness is as filthy rags.  How could what we do make any difference to our righteousness?  Only He is righteous.  Only he can impute His righteousness to us.  Therefore instead of seeing the wretches we are, God sees the righteousness of His Son, and we are acceptable to Him.

 

God talks about the supremacy of His Son in Hebrews 1.  1Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

 

The Son is above all.  God says so.

 

Likewise, it distresses me that people do not “trust” the Bible, the word of God.  The translations have been corrupted.  The Bible is incomplete.  There is now new light that the Bible doesn’t cover.

 

Trouble is that some of these people are putting their trust in “extra Biblical sources”, works that have been written by modern day prophets.  And the trouble there is that these prophets are false.  You only have to go through their works and find ONE mistake, where they have spoken falsely.  One mistake is all you need to show that they are not inspired as they have claimed.  They are deceivers.

 

The Bible, the word of God, is not a science book.  It is not a text book.  It is about Jesus.  It gives testimony to Him.  And as He is all we need, the Bible is all we need.

 

It does not teach us to drive a car, or mend your broken piece of furniture.  But it does contain what we need to learn about our Saviour, about the Gospel, which is life to us.  It contains His commandments of love, which is what we should be showing to God, and humanity.

 

God loved us, wretched as we are, so much that His Son sacrificed Himself for us, to reconcile us to His Father.  He died for our sins, He was buried, He rose again, the Victor over death.  All this is in the Bible.  This is what we need.

 

Jesus is enough for us.  The Bible is enough for us.

Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15:  1Now I would remind you, brothers,^a of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

The Gospel.  Gospel means good news, glad tidings.  It comes from Old English Godspell.

So what is the Gospel, and why is it good news?  Paul tells us a bit more.

3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

So….Christ died for our sins (in accordance with the Scriptures), He was buried, and He was resurrected (in accordance with the Scriptures).

Okay, it seems Christ fulfilled some prophecy here.  But what is the actual good news?

He DIED FOR OUR SINS!  Um…why is that special?  Because we all deserve death.  All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:23.  The wages of sin is death.   Romans 6:23.  So all of us are sinful.  Everyone.  Even little babies deserve death.  Because this world we are born into is sinful.  So we are doomed before we’ve even done anything.

So it IS special.  Jesus DIED FOR OUR SINS!  He took the death WE deserved, and gave us His righteousness!  And our sins are forgiven!  Hebrews 9:22.  But, why?  (In the words of my then two year old son….) Why would He do that?  Because He loved us!  Jesus loved us.  God loved us.  God IS love.  Jesus IS God.  Jesus IS love.

So Jesus died for our sins.  He paid the price for us. 2 Cor 5:21  He paid our ransom.  Because He loved us.  Wow.  That IS good news!  That is Grace!  Then He was resurrected.  Um…how?

Well this is something I don’t really understand.  I don’t suppose I have to really.  It was a miracle!  Jesus was dead, and then He wasn’t.  And now He lives forever.  So…..He has defeated death.  So we really DO have eternal life!

Well okay!  This IS good news!  So now what?  What do we do now?  Can we buy this?  No.  It is a gift, freely given.  Eph 2:8.9.  We cannot work for this, it is God’s gift.  We need simply to believe in Him, as in the words of John 3:16 “For ^hGod so loved ⁱthe world,^9 jthat he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not ^kperish but have eternal life.”

As we turn to Him, believing that He IS the Son of God and that He has redeemed us, we will be struck by a sense of our unworthiness;  how depraved and sinful we are.  We will fall at His feet, broken hearted because of what we have realised and what we have done.  We will beg forgiveness.  He will not leave us there.  He lifts us up.  He has justified us and sanctified us, and our journey with Him has begun.  He changes us gradually (some not so gradually!) into the person we need to be to fulfil His plans for us.  This journey lasts a life time, and is filled with joy and peace and hope.  We have spiritual rest in Him EVERY DAY, all day!  Things may go badly in our physical lives, but He is with us always, carrying us when necessary, but ALWAYS there, whether we feel His presence or not.  He has promised never to leave us.  Matt 28:20.

This is the time He gives us a new heart, and makes us a new creation.  Ezek 36:26;  2 Cor 5:17.

The Gospel, the gift, when it is believed, leads to Christian conversion.

So really it is good news.  It is the BEST news!

Day before last I travelled to see my daughter for a surprise birthday party.  And she was surprised!  She lives on a farm which also doubles as a pottery factory and a tourist attraction.  One of her co-workers had organised a “cloud funding” of a new pottery wheel for her (she is, amongst other things, a potter), and all of those who had contributed had been invited to the party.  It was all a surprise to her when quite a few unexpected people walked in!

Next day, the wheel was “christened”.  She took a 3 kilo (approx. 6 and a half pound) lump of clay and set to work.  As we watched, it was transformed into a beautiful vase.  Then she took ten smaller pieces of clay and made 10 matching vases for a special order.

She was delighted with the result.  The wheel worked smoothly and quickly, unlike her old one, and the other potters were lining up for a go!

As I watched, I realised how much pottery making is like Christianity.  First you find a lump of clay.  Then you have to prepare it through various stages before you can actually work it.  Then you put it on the wheel, centre it, shape it, remove surplus bits, and make it into something beautiful, or utilitarian. Afterwards it is carefully put aside to dry over a period of time.  This is vital, because if improperly done, the piece will crack, and be useless. Then it is fired, and/or glazed, sometimes several times, depending on the piece, and/or the type of clay.

God works on us. Sometimes for years, calling us, preparing us.  Then He puts us on the wheel and centres us.  We are centred in Christ.  Watching my daughter showed me how rough this actually can be on us.  Then He starts to make us into what He wants us to be.  This may involve removing baggage, which can be painful.  He makes us into something beautiful, or utilitarian, maybe both.

I am reminded of Romans 9:21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?  While I don’t think my daughter would be making anything “dishonourable”, not all of her work is decorative.  She makes teapots, cups, saucers, as well as beautiful vases, and other decorative items, which are all intricately decorated (she does that too, incising designs of birds on flowers, dragons, celtic crosses and the like).  I think we have to remember that God call some of us be pastors, and some of us to wash the dishes.  Some of us to be at the forefront, some of us to work behind the scenes.  But we are all called to God’s work, whatever our particular task is, and never to be ashamed of whatever it is He has called us to.

We are put aside to dry.  Carefully.  Otherwise we will develop faults.  By taking our eyes off Jesus, and allowing ourselves to think of other things instead of Him, we develop faults.

And we are allowed to go through the furnace of refinement, just as the clay is fired.  Even though this can be very painful, it is essential.  It is part of our journey as a Christian.  It can take all sorts of forms:  bereavement, separation from family, illness, disability; the list is endless. But at the end, He has created something from the clay.  Something beautiful, something useful;  and made for His glory!

How long along the process are you?  Just remember that at the end you have been made into something for God’s glory….by the Master Potter.

I remember seeing the Princess Bride when my children were small.  We rented the video, and were so impressed we went out and bought a copy of our own.  Then when DVDs superseded VCR, we bought our own DVD of it.  It has a cult following in our family.

It is an adult fairy tale.  It is about giants, fighting, duels (the most amazing sword fight!) killer eel infested waters, treachery, and true love.  The characters are wonderful.  Westley the poor farm boy wins the heart of Buttercup, and heads out into the world to make his fortune so they can be married.  Unfortunately he is killed by the dread pirate Roberts, and the news sends Buttercup into a decline of depression.  The evil Prince Humperdinck makes his move and chooses her for his bride, even though she did not, could not love him.  Tremendous adventures ensue, with Westley returning as the dread pirate Roberts, only to be killed again, and brought back to life by Miracle Max, eventually defeating Humperdinck.

There is also a story of revenge.  Inigo has been seeking the six fingered man, who killed his father.  The six fingered man is Count Rugen, Humperdinck’s henchman, and after another wonderful sword fight, Inigo kills him and avenges his father.

The film is full of memorable one liners:  “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.”

“Mawwiage!”

“You’ve been mostly dead all day!”

“If I’m wrong, and I’m never wrong…”

“Death cannot stop true love….”

We who are Christians can attest to the truth of that.  Death cannot stop true love.  It tried, but could not.  God is love.  Jesus is love.  Jesus came to earth in the form of a helpless baby.  He left His glorious home in heaven, and came to earth, once beautiful and perfect, but now the home of sinfulness.  He lived among humans, wretched as they were, and gave them love.  He helped them, He healed them, and then He atoned for them.  He died for them.  He became sin for them.

But death could not stop true love.  He was the innocent Lamb, and He was slain for us.  He was buried.  But on the third day, He took life back!  Death could not stop true love!  He rose again, defeating death!  And now because of what He has done for us, we await His return.  We will go home with Him, and live with Him for ever.

Death cannot stop true love.  He loved us so much, He died, so that we wouldn’t!  We, His followers, will spend eternity with Him, and with each other.

Death cannot stop true love.  Jesus is the truest love there us.  The truest of true love.