Wednesday, March 3, 2010

We Are Not God

Isaiah 55:8-9-"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

One of my favorite sayings regarding our relationship with God comes from the movie Rudy where Father Cavanaugh says to Rudy these words, "Son in over thiry years of religious study, I have discovered two incontrovertable truths; there is a God and I'm not Him." Never was a statement more true. No matter how we try to perceive God, he is still God and we are not. We must forever remember that the original, and still primary sin was to try to become like God in terms of knowledge and understanding. We are to know God, but we can never fully know about him. We are to take on his character, but we cannot approach his majesty. This is both exciting and frustrating. But the promise remains that one day we will be like him and see him as he is

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

IN CHRIST

John 3:3-"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Being in Christ, and all that it means to Christian maturity and freedom, is the overwhelming theme of the New Testament. For example, in the six chapters of the Book of Ephesians alone there are 40 references to being in Christ and having Christ in you. For every reference to Christ being in you, there are 10 to you being in Christ. Being in Christ is the most critical element of our identity. But we weren't born in Christ. We were born in sin, thanks to the first Adam. What is God's plan for transforming us from being in Adam to being in Christ? We must be born again (John 3:3). Physical birth only gains us physical life. Spiritual life, the eternal life Christ promises to those who come to Him, is only gained through spiritual birth (John 3:36). What does it mean to be spiritually alive in Christ? The moment you were born again your soul came into union with God in the same way Adam was in union with God before the Fall. Your spiritual union with God is complete and eternal because it is provided by Christ, the last Adam. As long as Christ remains alive spiritually, you will remain alive spiritually--and that's for eternity. Contrary to what many Christians believe, eternal life is not something you get when you die. You are spiritually alive in Christ right now. That's how you got to be in union with God, by being born again spiritually. You'll never be more spiritually alive than you are right now. The only thing that will change when you die physically is that you will exchange your old earthbound body for a new one. But your spiritual life in Christ, which began when you personally trusted Him, will merely continue on. Salvation is not a future addition; it's a present transformation. And that transformation occurs at spiritual birth, not physical death. God's Word promises, "He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life" (1 John 5:12). Eternal life is something you possess right now because you're in Christ. Believe it. Rejoice in it

Monday, March 1, 2010

Tried, Tested and True

Job 23:10-11-"He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside."

How we long for this to be our true confession. We are not yet gold, but long to be. We are not yet fully following his steps, but are trying. We have tried not to turn aside, but we sometimes falter. Thank God for his grace until our intentions and desires are fulfilled!