Simple Ways to Share and Express God’s Good News!

 

Are you looking for ways to express the Good News of the Father, Son and Spirit’s Love for us that are simple? Statements that are filled with Good News clarity without all of the valid, but heavy theological terms and language you could speak? Something short but to the point?

I thought I would try to assist you with that on this post. Three things have brought it to mind of late: 1.) Helping my local congregation to do it. 2.) Reading a great book called “The Crucifixion of Ministry” (one of my top ten books of all time).

In this book, writer Andrew Purves, rightly points out that our responsibility as pastors and ministers of the Gospel is to “…first approach people not with God’s judgment or even with God’s forgiveness. We cannot assume that a person knows who the God is who judges or forgives him or her. Instead we come announcing and bearing the love of God.” He continues, “Thus the first pastoral movement of the ministry of grace must be quite simply (although of immense significance) the announcement ‘Jesus Christ is Lord, and this Jesus is God who loves you.’ The statement stands over and against all other claims to divinity and all other definitions of divinity.”

Finally, under the section “Announce the Love of God” on p.130, Purves adds that the Gospel “…is the announcement of the human reality as St. Paul saw it; ‘for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:3)…’the first pastoral act of our participation in the ministry of the grace of God is the announcement in word or act: ‘Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus who is God loves you.'”

That’s a simple expression of the Gospel and easy enough to speak, isn’t it? (by Jesus through your vocal cords! 🙂 )

I think that any preacher or proclaimer of the Gospel should always start with making a similar statement to their audience before they “move on” to other stuff because, in REALITY, there is no other stuff! God the Father, Son and Spirit IS Love and has included all of humanity in His loving, shared, relationship in the person of Jesus! That is the most fundamental truth undergirding every human life!

3.) The third thing that got me thinking about this post was the very practical and simple expression of the Gospel made by one of my Pastor friends, Bill Winn, recently. He had received a similar letter of spam and unsolicited e-mail, as I did, by a person who had gotten a hold of our e-mail addresses. In most of these spam letters, we receive some religious take on a subject. The subject matter is usually not centered on the “Who” of Jesus but some distracting “what”, “where”, “why”, “when” or “how” topic. This e-mail spam was typical.

However what was not typical, was Bill’s great response! His response to the distracting topic was so simple but profound and to the “Christ Point”, I was inspired to write this blog post and share it with you! Here is Bill’s Gospel reply and MANY simple ways to share and express God’s Good News with others. It has been edited for anonymity but Bill’s EXACT words of the Gospel remain untouched.

“Dear [Anyone],

 

You belong to the Father, Son, and Spirit. You always have. You always will. The real concern for you is not [to be distracted by such and such a subject] but to answer the question; “Who is Jesus?”

 

The Father’s eternal purpose for humanity was to gather us together, in His Son, and to have us in relationship with Himself. He has accomplished that in the Incarnation, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, Who is fully God and fully man.

 

Christ Jesus is also the vicarious man. Jesus is you, for you, as you, with you, and in you in the presence of the Father.

 

Acts 17:28 is where Paul said that all mortals, “live, move, and have their being in Jesus.”

 

You died when He died. You were raised when He was raised. You ascended to the right hand of the Father with Him.

 

You are beloved of the Father. Jesus and the Father have been face to face in relationship from all eternity with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God too. The Holy Spirit is the One by which we call out “Abba Father” in the first instance.

 

[Anyone], my friend, you are utterly and completely adored by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As Jesus is so are you in this world. He has shared every spiritual blessing with you already and has made good on the Father’s dream to have the fall of the first Adam undone and to have humanity adopted into His circle of fellowship. He is the Last Adam.

 

Learning to live Loved in the Father’s embrace,

Bill

 

PS you might like these books: Jesus and the Undoing of Adam, C. Baxter Kruger, The Great Dance, C. Baxter Kruger, The Mediation of Christ, T.F. Torrance, On the Incarnation of the Word of God, St. Athanasius, The Shack, Wm. Paul Young.”

Isn’t that a GREAT but simple response spoken by the Holy Spirit through Bill? You Go Jesus in Bill!!! 🙂 And, YES!, even though Bill doesn’t typically respond to these or get positive feedback, when he wrote this letter, he did get a response with positive feedback!! Hmmmmmm – I wonder why???!!!! 🙂 You KNOW why!!! 🙂

I Saw God

That’s the name of one of my favorite songs of all time, from one of my favorite Jazz Bassist’s – Victor Wooten! You can find him all over youtube if you search it! You might especially enjoy the Father’s amazing bass skills in Victor’s take on the song, Amazing Grace.

The song is soooooo full of the Good News of the Gospel of the Adoption of All of Humanity in Jesus Christ, that it needs no elaboration from me. I will simply let you be inspired by, and enjoy, the lyrics, and hopefully view and/or download the song for your Eclectic Gospel Music Arsenal!! Ha-Ha! 🙂

Here are the lyrics:

I saw God the other day
She looked like you
He looked like me

Now I’m gonna tell you a story
And this one you can repeat
I saw God the other day
Just walking down the street
He said “I have something I want to tell you”
“Something I’ve been dying to say”
“You’ve been waiting for My return”
“The Truth, I never went away!””

I don’t care if you believe me at all
I know Who I saw
And it was God!

I said “Hold on just a minute!”
“How do I know it’s really You?”
She gave me a simple answer
She said, “You don’t, unless you do!”
“Wait a minute! I don’t quite understand all this…”
“Tell me, what do You want with me?”
“You see, I’m not a religious type of person.”
He said “You don’t have to be!”

“I don’t know if I’m the right person to talk to…
You know a few of my puzzle pieces are missin'”
And She said, “I speak to everyone.”
“But not everyone chooses to listen!”
“Well then, tell me how to treat my enemies,
I mean the people I despise.”
He said, “The Answer will be clear,
When you see Me in their eyes!”

I don’t care if you believe me at all
I know Who I saw
And it was God
I saw God the other day
She looked like you
He looked like me

Now I spoke to God that day
And you spoke to Him, too
And He told me that of all the miracles ever created
“The grandest one is you!”
Now that you’ve told me all of this
Can you tell me “What am I supposed to do?”
She said, “You may think it’s up to Me,
But it’s really up to you!”

Well now my eyes are open
And I can clearly see
That all the things I paid for in life
I could have gotten for free!
Now I’m going to share with you Her parting words that day
And you might wanna think this through
She said, “If I only have One Son,
Then tell me, Who are you????

I saw God the other day
She looked like you
He looked like me

– Victor Wooten (Palmystery 2008)

By the way, you can view the video here, or listen to the song here!

You Don’t Have to Twist God’s Arm…

 

in order for Him to Love You, Like You, or Accept you as His Adopted Son or Daughter forever! He Loves You, Likes You, and has Adopted you purely because he wanted to share his life with you!

(Actually, the Father, Son and Spirit, in their pure Essence and Being as God, have no arms! 🙂 The Son, however, in the fullness of His PRESENT humanity in Jesus Christ DOES NOW have real human arms, but there is no record of them ever having to be twisted in order to force him to love you, the World or anyone else!)

In fact, I want to suggest that trying to twist the arm of the Father, Son and Spirit is DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH, and you ought not even attempt it!!!

One reason for saying this is that God IS love and His character as Father, Son and Spirit cannot be changed or split in any way! Scripture says He is everywhere and in everything! The Father, Son and Spirit are One! God is the same yesterday, today and forever! His Word goes out and does not return empty, but fulfills all that He has set out to accomplish. The reason behind all of creation was the Plan of the Father to Include it and everyone in His Eternal Life and love, through Jesus Christ! When Jesus accomplished this Adoption and Inclusion of Creation into God’s Life, it brought God great pleasure! Ephesians 1!

With those foundational thoughts in mind about the Father, Son and Spirit, let’s use a physical illustration to demonstrate how dangerous it can be to try and twist God’s “arm” and get him to like and accept you!

The EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, when it was completed in April 1931, broke every record in the book for tall buildings. At 1250 feet, it topped the Chrysler Building by 200 feet and the third tallest, the Manhattan Company Building at 40 Wall Street, by more than 300 feet. Gargantuan in SCALE, its five-story base covered two acres and its eighty-five floors of offices boasted more rentable space — 2.1 million square feet — than the Chrysler Building and 40 Wall Street combined.

During the short twenty months it took to design and complete, the foundations and grillages were dug and set, 57,000 tons of structural steel were fabricated and milled to precise specifications. Ten million common bricks were laid, 62,000 cubic yards of concrete were poured, 6400 windows were set, and 67 elevators were installed in 7 miles of shafts. Interiors were equipped with 6,700 radiators, 2,500 toilets and sinks, and 51 miles of plumbing pipe, and were finished with 10,000 tons of plaster and 328,000 square feet of marble.

Contrasting Fact: The average North American adult has a mass near 100 kg!

Now imagine a LOONY human being gripping a corner of the Empire State Building in order to lift it, move it,  turn it, or twist it! You know that I am telling the truth when I say that someone who STRAINS to do this is going to get HURT in all kinds of ways – and the Empire State Building is NOT the someone!! 🙂

The absurdity of trying to twist such an immense and immovable object as the Empire State Building with such a puny human force is laughable (for those of us who wouldn’t even dare to try such a dumb thing)!  For the one who does try, hernias, and all kinds of other troubling physiological, mental, psychological, spiritual and relational problems naturally await them (depending on how long they keep straining to do it!!)

Notice, also, that all the pain and suffering in trying to do such a foolish thing does not happen as a result of the Empire State Building punishing the puny and weak human being!! The suffering comes NATURALLY from trying to even attempt such an impossible deed against something so unmoveable in its basic character!

Another Contrasting Fact IN CHRIST: Jesus Christ Created and Sustains You, mysteriously, in His very Being, therefore, whatever happens to Him, happens to you. When he was baptized, you were baptized! When he died, you died! When he rose, you rose! When he ascended to His Father in the Spirit, you ascended to His Father in the Spirit with and in Him! You have been adopted and included in the life of God your entire life, because Jesus did all of the aforementioned stuff around 2,000 years ago! You can’t do anything to get out of it because Jesus lives eternal, and you live eternally in Him (1 Corinthians 15:22)!

One LOONY thing you can do, in your distinction, is to TRY and oppose and “twist” God’s arm! So, how are you trying to twist the Father’s “arm” so that he will accept and include you on your terms?:

Are you trying to “twist” God by paying your way into his favor through tithes and offerings, or a success program to build and amass wealth? Through “your” moral and ethical works, good health, or wearing a particular style of clothing? By pretending to be an Atheist so that he’ll PROVE Himself to you on your terms? With uncontrollable rage and anger, hurting everyone and everything around you till he responds as you see fit? By being lazy and forcing him to “make the first move”? With church attendance, bible study, prayer, fasting, baptism, etc.? With fake “upper lip” optimism and positivity even though you are hurting deeply inside? With a “Woe is me, I am worthless and only deserve the worst” mentality?….  and on and on the illusions go!! 😦

Please STOP IT! Jesus lives in you and You are ONLY GOING TO HURT YOURSELF (and you weren’t created to hurt yourself and like it for very long!) “Twisting” God’s arm will only be pleasurable for a season, and then you are still going to have to face the Truth:

The Father, Son and Spirit have embraced you in such a way in Jesus Christ, that they will never let you go! You are included, adopted and acceptable in Jesus! You always have been, and you always will be! Jesus IS the Required Work, Toil, Labor and Effort of God – Embrace it, and enjoy His unchanging Love! (John 6:28-29!)

Overcoming Your Greatest Weakness!

 

What Is The Greatest Weakness of Man?

That is how the question was posed to the character, James Farmer, Jr. (Denzel Whitaker), in the movie “The Great Debaters“, by his father, James Farmer, Sr. (Forest Whitaker). Junior’s father was a pastor and was preparing a sermon when Junior walked in the door and had that question thrown at him.

So, how would you answer the question, “What is the greatest weakness of man?”

In life I have heard many answers to this question. We have all heard or thought answers such as, “Greed!”, “Laziness!”, “Just not thinking!”, “Lust!”, “The Devil!”, “Simply a limited physical being!”, “Death!”, “Sex!”, “The opposite sex!”, “Money!”, “The love of money!”, and there are potentially a “million” more reasons.

Junior looked a his father in a thoughtful way, and in just a few short seconds came up with the CORRECT, Christ-centered answer, in an ironically doubtful way:

“Not believing? Doubt?”

“That’s it! Thank You Jr.!”, said his father, “Matt 14:31!”

This is a Christ-centered answer because it is the point Jesus Christ kept making about humanity’s fall, time and time again! Matthew 8:26, Mark 4:40, Luke 9:41, John 16:9 .

Now, don’t be too discouraged if you know that you lack faith in Jesus! You could ONLY lack faith in one area of life because you have STRONG faith in another! You definitely have faith in something, even if it is in the false belief that you have no faith! 🙂 You also need not be discouraged because EVERY human being, except Jesus, lacks sufficient faith apart from Jesus sharing his with us! Luke 18:8!

The Encouragingly Good News is that you do not have to worry about trying to work up the faith that satisfies God! It has been given to you graciously in Jesus, Who is having faith for you, and sharing that measure of faith with you even now! Romans 12:3, Gal 2:20, Hebrews 12:2!

Can you believe and embrace that?! Yes, you can! Because, in Jesus Christ, you have been given nothing less than every spiritual blessing! Ephesians 1:3-6! “Every spiritual blessing” certainly INCLUDES Jesus’ exact faith! Ephesians 2:4-10!

Here is a link to the most popular post on this site, which further emphasizes this MAJOR point! Be encouraged!

How to Deal With EXTREMELY Difficult People!

You have probably heard MANY answers and responses to this question and concern. I know I have! But it has only been since I have learned more about Who Jesus Christ is, and who humanity is in him, that I am finally starting to KNOW what the answer to this question REALLY is. And here it is:

JUDGE extremely difficult people!!!

(Or as Jesus said “Do not judge by appearances but judge with right Judgment!”)

I can almost hear the religious brakes squealing as I write! 🙂  It seems the ONLY parts of scripture about judgment that stick in our minds are the ones that say things like “judge not that you be not judged” (Matt 7:1). We almost totally neglect the other part that says, “for with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged!” OR, if we do include that section, and other sections of scripture on judgment, it is almost always totally negative and not reconciled with a proper view of Who Jesus is!

The point of this post is NOT to go into all the finer points of that passage of verses, other than to say that what Jesus is saying is absolutely true and has probably been experienced by most of us – in the negative! I’ll never forget the day my wife pointed out how she was sure that Jesus was REALLY saying something like, “If you judge people in a certain way, with certain rules, and then you inevitably break those rules yourself, people will judge you the same way you judged them! If you judge people in and with grace, then people will judge you in and with grace!” I wholeheartedly agreed with her!

In other words, if you proclaim the Gospel as “not breaking any of God’s holy laws”, and then you inevitably break one of them (make that almost all of them – repeatedly!!), then people you have proclaimed this Gospel to will judge you as a lawbreaker and condemn you. If, on the other hand, you proclaim the Gospel as “the Adoption of Humanity and Creation into the Life of the Triune God, in Jesus, regardless of our rule-breaking or rule-keeping”, people will judge you according to that. They may call you out, properly, as doing something you shouldn’t have done, but they will also still judge you as adopted, or according to the standard (gospel) you promoted! It’s sinful human nature!

BUT, knowing Who Jesus is in his Person helps us sort out the subject of judgment properly AND how to deal with difficult people.

Because Jesus is God, and God is our ultimate Judge, AND, Jesus, in our humanity with us, has judged our sin as conquered and overcome in His human life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension, humanity (you and I) have been judged in Jesus as cleansed of sin and adopted! The Judge has ascended with all of humanity to the right hand of God as the Second Adam, where we are seated with him and blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places!!

Whoa!! I NEVER get tired of hearing that! In fact, “judge me, judge me, judge me” according to that Truth in Jesus ALL THE TIME!! Please!! And, of course, because Jesus is permanently human for and with us, He DOES judge every one of us this way, ALL THE TIME!! And within that truth lies the ability to deal with extremely difficult people, and the ONLY hope for becoming extremely lovable and loving people!

Karl Barth, one of the great, if not greatest, theologians of the 20th Century put his answer to “How to Deal with Extremely Difficult People” in this kind of heavy, Christ-centered way:

“On the basis of the eternal will of God we have to think of every human being, even the oddest, most villainous or miserable, as one to whom Jesus Christ is Brother and God is Father; and we have to deal with him on this assumption. If the other person knows that already, then we have to strengthen him in that knowledge. If he does not know it yet, or no longer knows it, our business is to transmit this knowledge to him. On the basis of the knowledge of the humanity of God no other attitude to any kind of fellow man is possible. It is identical with the practical acknowledgement of his human rights and his human dignity. To deny it to him would be for us to renounce having Jesus Christ as Brother and God as Father.” – The Humanity of God, p. 53. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982. (The Adopted Life)

In my more simple way of putting it, Karl Barth is saying that when we see Who Jesus is, and Embrace Him seriously for Who He really is, we take seriously that Jesus lives in everyone! This is to our advantage in EVERY CONCEIVABLE WAY with a difficult person. We can KNOW, up front, that they are only so difficult, not all difficult! We can appeal to the Jesus that indwells them. If they know about this Jesus in them or have forgotten it, we can “ring their bell” and be a helpful reminder to them of who they REALLY are. This is one way you could call them out in the Gospel: “Why are you being so extremely difficult _____________ ? That’s not who you really are and we both know it! Jesus Christ lives in you!! BE that!!”

If they do not know who they are, then you are compelled to tell them who they are! We can KNOW IT WILL HAVE SOME GODLY EFFECT, because Jesus Christ DOES live in them! Call them out more like this: “_____________ , I know the real you, and you are NOT this EXTREMELY difficult person in Jesus Christ, Who lives in you!! Good Gravy! The sooner you begin embracing that fact, the sooner you will stop creating misery for yourself and others! Now change your mind and believe the Good News before I have to restrain you in love so you don’t hurt anyone else, including yourself, until you can see Jesus more clearly!!”

To not think about and deal with EXTREMELY difficult people in this way is to deny Jesus Christ as our Brother, and to deny God as our Father in the Holy Spirit, because there is no one Who is not in Jesus! Colossians 1:27! Yikes!

Help us Jesus!!! (He has and He will!)

Are You Struggling…

 

…with your Freedom in Christ and some of the challenges involved in EXPERIENCING IT AS JESUS DOES?

A friend and fellow-reader of this blog, Boyd Merriman, wrote and sent to me a modern day parable that illustrates some of the dynamics involved. It is also a great compliment to my last post on the historical analogy of the Emancipation Proclamation as it relates to the Gospel. I thought it was good and asked him if I could post it here and he said that I could. See what you think!

“Once upon a time, there was a man who was given the task of running the zoo and caring for its animals. He was called, The Zoo Keeper.

The Zoo Keeper walked the grounds of the zoo and observed the animals and their surroundings.  He was not pleased with what he saw.  He saw caged up animals that were not in their natural environments.  He heard their cries and gnashing of teeth, and sometimes he heard nothing at all as they lay sleeping their lives away.

One particular animal took his interest.  It was a bear that slept in one corner of his cage, and when he was hungry, he would get up slowly, then walk over to the opposite corner to eat the food that was given to him.  He would then walk back to his corner and lay down to go back to sleep.  He was unhappy and unhealthy.

So The Zoo Keeper decided to change things.  He told his servants of a huge project which would involve acquiring new land, expanding the environment and building natural landscapes for the animals that would be exactly like their natural habitat in the wild.

The elephants would live in an environment just like their homes in Africa, and the monkeys would swing from real trees, and the polar bears would enjoy large cold water tanks and rocks. The servants rejoiced in hearing the Good News, and began the work. When they accomplished the renovations, the Zoo
Keeper said, “It is good.”

They then took the cage with the bear in it and set it into his new environment along with the other bears. They opened his cage door and waited.  The bear sniffed the air, looked around, looked at the open door, then walked over to his food, ate it, and then went back to his corner and laid down to sleep.

So the Zoo Keeper said, “Take down the walls of the cage and carry them away from here.  The bear does not realize that the door is opened to him, that he is free and has a new environment in which to live.”  So they took down the walls of his old cage, carried them away leaving the bear sleeping.

When the bear awoke, he looked around and noticed something different.  But his hunger took over, he got up as usual and walked over to where his food was, ate his food and then went back to where his bed was, and laid down to sleep. Even though there were no walls to confine him, he did not move beyond the confines of his belief of where his walls once stood.

So the Keeper said, “Take his food away from him.  Give him better food, food that has strong smell that will attract a bear, and put it several feet away from his normal area, and let us wait.” So they took the food away and set out a feast that only a bear could truly appreciate, and they put it several feet away from his usual place, away from his usual confines.

Eventually the bear woke up, walked over to where his food once sat, and did not find it.  He sniffed the air, and smelled the strong food and flavors that would attract a bear, yet not immediately seeing it, he turned back to his bed and laid there and slept, but this time, hungry.

Those with ears let them hear.

Notice that though the bear is in his new kingdom, a member of that kingdom, yet he is exercising his freedom in a way that is allowing the walls of his mind and beliefs to hold him to his old environment. An environment that has already changed and no longer exists as it once did! All of this change happened while he was sleeping and right under his very nose!

He did not see nor care that the other bears are free.  All he knew was his old environment.  Was the bear destroyed or punished for his lack of understanding?  No, but he suffered needlessly because of the strong, negative force of his misperceptions, which brought on his crying and gnashing of teeth. But daily, the servants of the zoo came to patiently lead him away from his old confines until he eventually was able to enjoy his new environment.

It is written that those who live by the law will die by the law. The law, like the cage, has been fulfilled in Jesus and taken off of our shoulders to complete. But if the bear believes that he is still confined to a cage, he will be alive (and yet still somehow be dead!) within the boundaries of his paradoxical existence.

But the Zoo Keeper was compassionate and loved the bear.  Instead of letting the bear sleep his life away, he sent in his servants who continued to encourage the bear and show him what it was like to live in the freedom he was designed for.  He eventually found a new place to sleep and eat, but more importantly, he found enjoyment in his new environment along with others of his kind.

Then the Zoo Keeper said, “It is very good”.”

Not Just Barely Free! Abundantly Free!!

 

Here is a great example from history illustrating the dynamics going on in humanity’s connection with God in Christ!

 

In 1862 Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Signing this document meant that slavery was illegal in the United States and all slaves in the U.S. were to be set free, immediately. Everything was fine for most of the freed slaves, and many of them celebrated and started enjoying their freedom, even though that freedom in and of itself was a very difficult adjustment. There was one exception to the freed slaves though.

 

In Galveston, Texas, slaves did not get the word about their freedom until two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation!! That is when the United States Calvary finally arrived there to tell them that they were officially set free two and one half years before!!!

 

 

The celebration of Juneteenth (June 19th) in the African-American community commemorates the release of these slaves in Galveston in 1865. This historical event and celebration is similar to what has happened with humanity in the Light of God’s Good News.

 

2000 years ago, the Son of God became flesh for 40+ years (John 8:57) as God had originally planned. During that time, He lived in, and fixed up, our broken, lying humanity! Col 2:10-15! Because our sin ACTUALLY corrupted our flesh, Jesus had to undo our corruption and put corrupt flesh to death – in the flesh!! Literally with blood, sweat and tears! Luke 2:52, 22:39-44, 23:46, Heb 5:7-8!

 

This tells us that the Father doesn’t just sweep our REAL problems under the rug and pour blood on them and act like things are fixed when they really aren’t! He actually fixes them and undoes the REAL mess! Pouring spaghetti sauce on a bowlful of spaghetti does not unscramble the spaghetti! It still takes a fork to actually unscramble the spaghetti!!

 

If Jesus had not actually gotten inside of our corrupt flesh, He would not REALLY have fixed anything at all! Jesus couldn’t walk in our nature and skin without actually walking IN OUR NATURE AND SKIN. Heb 2:17-18! By becoming REAL flesh and blood, Jesus literally fulfilled God’s original intention of Adopting Man into Triune God, undoing our sin, and placing us into His Renewed Humanity.

 

This is not just theology, theory or a good idea! Triune God REALLY did get us into Himself, by getting Himself into us. Col 3:3-4!! Jesus undid our human darkness and wrong thinking, and defeated the Devil’s purposes by believing the Truth about God’s goodness while living, literally, in our sinful flesh. Rom 5:15-21!

 

Jesus’ mother, Mary, was REALLY a sinful human being, Luke 1:46-47, and Jesus REALLY was born into our sinful humanity through her! Luke 2:1-14! However, Jesus did not sin while living in it!! Heb 4:15-16!

 

Regarding our freedom in Christ, this is often very difficult to adjust to. Have you ever seen a dog that was tied up all of the time finally be set free? I have seen two reactions. They will literally go “hog wild” and run all around the neighborhood and get into everything. They do this because they were meant to run free and NOT be tied up and it takes them a little while to adjust to their freedom and calm down!

 

On the other hand, some dogs have been so bound up by a leash for so long, that when you set them free they just sit there as if they are still bound. They can’t perceive their freedom. They are “bound” to the same “leash” IN THEIR FREEDOM, even though there is no “leash!!”

 

In a way Jesus was like Abraham Lincoln. When Jesus set the sinful flesh free from our lies and misperceptions, we were all set free at the same time! Remember the analogy a couple of posts back about Jesus being the “cup” and all of creation being like “water” inside the “cup”?

 

 

Whatever happens to the Son happens to the Creation that exists ONLY inside of Him. Heb 1:1-3! As a result, there are many who now believe this Truth and live in the freedom of it. Col 1:1-6! These people are called the Church, Christians, or Believers, and even a few other names (not all good!)

 

Unfortunately, most of us still seem to be like the slaves in Galveston, Texas. We either haven’t heard the word about our freedom in Jesus, yet, or, we don’t really embrace it, therefore, we have no other choice but to continue experiencing bondage (even though we are all totally free to believe and embrace the Truth in Jesus! John 8:36!

 

Our Freedom in Jesus Christ is the ONLY thing the Son is sharing with us! If we believe something else, it is coming from another source opposite of God and is evil – Gal 5:6-8 – because the Father and the Spirit are in total agreement and unity with the Son!!

 

Here are some good questions about this true story in American history:

 

When were the slaves in Galveston, Texas freed? Were they freed when Abraham signed the Emancipation Proclamation, or were they free only after they got the word and believed it? The answer is not really “either/or!” In short, the answer is, “Yes!”

 

All the slaves in the U.S. were TRULY, objectively freed when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, AND, they were freed, in their experience, when they got the word of their freedom and believed it to be the truth!!

 

 

This is exactly how you should understand the subjects of “faith” and “salvation” in the Bible! Rom 4! Everyone in the Whole World is already Saved and Adopted into the Life of God because of our connection with Jesus Christ! 1Tim 4:9-10, Titus 2:11, Rom 11:28-32!  But we can only experience this Adoption and Salvation as truth when we embrace it as truth!!

 

 

If we don’t believe we are saved, even though we really are saved, then we can’t and won’t experience it the way Jesus does! We are like the dog that is “bound” without a leash! We can only live in the pain, lies and misperceptions that bring on the condition called hell! Eph 4:17-24!

 

Believing the Truth of our Adoption is GOOD! Not Believing the Truth of our Adoption is BAD!

 

 

Ephesians 1:7 (The Message):

 

“7 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people – free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!”

A Few More Analogies About Our Connection to Christ!

 

1.) Have you ever seen a remote control car, boat or plane? A person leads the vehicle with a remote control and guides it wherever he/she wishes. It appears that the vehicle is driving itself and has no connection to the remote, but the vehicle is NOT driving itself and it DOES have a connection with the controller.

In fact, if there were no connection between the controller and the vehicle, there wouldn’t be any way for the vehicle to have guidance or power to go. The invisible connection between the remote control and the vehicle is by what are called radio waves. You cannot see these waves but they are there, nonetheless, AND, they ARE connected to the vehicle, giving it guidance!

It appears as if the remote and vehicle are “separated” from each other, doesn’t it? But the truth is that the remote and vehicle are absolutely connected by the radio waves. The connection is VERY REAL, even if that connection cannot be seen with the naked eye. John 4:24!

Creation’s connection with Jesus, by analogy, is kind of like the connection a remote control has with the vehicle. Jesus made us and sustains and guides us all! As the last post stated, all things live move and have their being in Him! We can’t even breathe without him! 1 Cor 8:6!

The “radio wave” connection is similar to the communion and connection we have with Jesus in the Holy Spirit EXCEPT that the Holy Spirit is a Person with a distinct personality. The Holy Spirit is not a thing or a radio wave, but the Third Person of the Trinity! 2 Cor 13:14, John 16:12-15! In history, the Holy Spirit has often been referred to as the “Go Between” Person of God. Rom 8:26-27! All created things are something like the vehicle, in that they have no power or ability to move apart from the Father, Son and the Spirit.

Obviously, this analogy falls a little short of a fully accurate picture because Triune God DOES NOT control every move we make, even though he is the basic source from which we make all movements. We are distinct and have a real freedom to participate in His Truth with understanding. And we have freedom to choose and make decisions just like Triune God. We are made in God’s image Gen 1:26!

However, just as the vehicle has no power of its own to move and get around, we, too, only “live, move, and have our being” in Jesus Christ, the Son of God! Acts 17:28!

Now, it’s one thing for the remote control to guide the car from a distance, but what if the controller could actually get inside the vehicle and start guiding it even more “up close and personal”? Wouldn’t that make the connection with the remote control and the vehicle even more “intimate”? That is something similar to what God the Son did.

Jesus came from a “distance”, per se, to get “up close and personal” and become what we are, FULLY! The Father’s plan was for the Son to get into human flesh and make the connection between God and creation even stronger than it already was!! Astoundingly, Jesus not only got in creation, “the vehicle”, but is still in creation in his divine flesh and always will be! Jesus will always sustain and guide all of Creation in His Divine/Human Body! Matt 28:18!

Think of how stupendous this is – with another analogy! J

2.) If YOU had created monkeys, and you wanted the monkeys to be able to relate with you forever, would you consider becoming a monkey in order to make that happen?! An even larger question is: If you did decide to join the monkeys as they were, would you REMAIN 100% monkey, FOREVER, so that the monkeys (who had sinned against you!) could share in who you are forever??

If you said that you would, I would NOT believe you!! Ha-Ha! I wouldn’t do it either! John 2:23-25! BUT God the Son did this exact kind of thing for us!!! He stooped to the level of a human being and remains a glorified human being for our sake! Phil 2:5-11!

3.) Another good example and analogy of our connection with Triune God in Jesus is our human body. We ARE connected to our toes but we are also “distant” and “distinct” from our toes at the same time! We are NOT our toes, and yet, our toes are fully connected to us, right?!! Right!

We can also influence our toes immediately, through the connection of nerves, at anytime, but we don’t directly control our toes 24 hours a day, do we? Don’t our toes sometimes move involuntarily, or “on their own?”

May these examples and analogies be yet one more proof for those of us who believe, that everything, and everyone, is caught up in the Life of the Father, Son and Spirit! Creation was made by the Triune God and His Fingerprints can be seen everywhere when we have eyes to see!

Looking For a Good, Simple, Gospel Analogy to Share?

 

 

Here is one you can place in your Good News arsenal for sharing the truth of Humanity’s Adoption into the Life of the Father, Son and Spirit, in Jesus Christ with others! It is a good physical picture and analogy of what we should understand about the Triune God.

 

 

Let’s start with the scripture in Acts 17:28, which says,

 

For “In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “For we too are his offspring.’

 

 

 

If God the Son, in our analogy, was portrayed as a “cup”, then creation would be the “water” inside the “cup” because creation lives and moves and has its being IN Jesus Christ! Whatever happens to the “cup” necessarily happens to the “water” inside the “cup!” So if the cup happened to be placed over a hot fire, not only would the cup get hot but so would whatever is in the cup, right?

 

 

That is a good physical picture of how our connection with God actually works at some level! Jesus created us in Himself and sustains us in Himself. When Jesus, the “cup”, became human and lived among us, that is when the “water” in the “cup” (all of creation) was impacted by the Son’s Incarnation Life and became highly influenced by His Life!

 

 

When Jesus, the “cup”, went into the grave, the “water” inside the cup went into the grave with it. When the “cup” came out of the grave, everything inside the “cup” came out of the grave, too! So, naturally, when Jesus, the “cup”, went back and ascended to the Father and the Spirit, the “water” inside the cup (all of creation and humanity) ascended to the Father and the Spirit IN Him!

 

 

Whatever happens to the Cup MUST happen to the water inside the cup!! It is unavoidable! That makes sense, doesn’t it? That is what the Apostle Paul understood so well and explained in the scriptures about Jesus! Whatever happened to Jesus, mysteriously but ACTUALLY happened to everything that lives, moves and has its being IN him! 2 Cor 5:13-21, Eph 1, 2, Col 1, 2!!

 

 

One important thing should be pointed out about this analogy, though. Creation and humanity is NOT so swallowed up in everyone else that we have no distinction! That would be New Age philosophy! In fact, water is REALLY made up of distinct atoms and other particles that are bonded together by some kind of mysterious “glue” (the Communion of the Holy Spirit!)

 

 

We, too, are our own distinct selves connected to the rest of creation in Jesus! You will always be distinctly you, AND, you will always be in union with the Father, Son and Spirit. That is how God is, and that is how we are!! Triune God does not create things in opposition to Who He is as Father, Son and Spirit! Gen 1:31, Matt 19:17, James 1:17!

 

 

This is a wonderful and exciting Truth, isn’t it?! In fact, it is the greatest truth there is!! It is the Truth of all Truth’s! God the Trinity loves us so much that He decided He would become what we are, and remain what we are, so that we can live forever in His relationship of Love and Unity!

 

 

It can actually be said that God loves us more than God loves Himself!! This must be true because God not only became a human being; God the Son still remains a human being in Jesus, on our behalf!

 

 

There is a good chance that you have probably never really thought deeply about this but there are many bible scriptures that speak of Jesus STILL being a man – permanently! 1 Timothy 2:5, Luke 24:38-39, Acts 1:11, Col 2:9! Remember – whenever the bible speaks of Jesus, it is speaking of the Son of God AS FULLY GOD AND FULLY MAN!!

Now you know why! Jesus remains forever human so that you can remain forever human in His humanity, and be influenced by His Good Human Nature forever!! The Gospel REALLY is Good News!

YOU and I are GOOD with Jesus’ Goodness!

 

How is that for an encouraging and TRUE compliment toward you in Jesus Christ?!

I can imagine that there are some few of us who believe that a statement like that is true of us because we have prayed, gone to church, been baptized, do good works and share in other religious things. However, the bible is clear, no one is good except ONE, the Father, Son and Spirit! Psalm 14:3, Romans 3:12, Mark 10:18!

I can imagine a larger set of you struggling to believe a compliment like this because, in all honesty, you can pile up the evidence (beginning with something you have done or thought in the last hour!), that PROVES beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are NOT good with Jesus’ goodness! For you, I have nothing less than the stunningly beautiful words of the Gospel from the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:

“27 God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you [emphasis mine]; therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message.”

So, we are all in somewhat of a dilemma, aren’t we? On the one hand, to be embarrassingly honest, no matter how righteous we claim to be, there are bad things we think and do that we want no one else to see or know about!! Good Gravy – I KNOW that is true of me!! Yikes! This is a confirmation on how even our good is still tainted with things that aren’t so good! This is what Paul was wrestling with in his argument in Romans 7:14-25!

On the other hand, we and others CAN observe good things going on with each other and there has to be an explanation for that, too! The explanation for all of this is the Gospel, or the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Because Jesus Christ is good, and he created and sustains everything and everyone, AND he entered our humanity in a special and mysterious way 2000 years ago, whatever happens to him, happens to you! This is why Paul says that when Jesus died, everyone died! 2 Corinthians 5:14! This is also why he says that when Jesus rose, everyone rose with him in the Father’s grace! Ephesians 1:1-10! Do you notice in this passage how everything is given to us soley by God’s grace, for free?! Even the faith to believe this is true is given to us freely through Jesus!!!

SOOOOOOO….Jesus is good, because he is God, and Jesus mysteriously lives in everyone. This is the Gospel! Therefore, everyone has REAL good in them because Jesus, Who is the ONLY source of Good, lives in them and shares his goodness with them! Therefore, YOU and I ARE FUNDAMENTALLY GOOD with the Goodness of Jesus, no matter what we think about it!!!

All of this was brought home to me recently in a powerful way! I was dating my two daughters a few weeks ago. We decided to go out to a local Chili’s restaurant and have at it! I ordered one of my favorites, sizzlin’ fajitas, and both girls ordered their hearts desire – a huge hamburger and some hot, hot, hot wings! Oh how delicious the food AND conversation was!

I asked them of them about their hopes and dreams! I looked them in the eye and told them that I loved and liked them – yet again! I told them that they were good and I was proud of them, and that I was proud to be their father! I told them that I appreciated that they were also good students because I had been a poor one early in life. I prayed before they were born that they would not inherit that poorness from me! The Father was gracious enough to answer that prayer by making sure I married a woman whose genes would have more influence over them in that area! 🙂

 

I told them that the reason we were dating and sharing like we were was because my dad had passed this tradition on to me and my 4 brothers and I had loved every minute of it! I was determined to share this with my wife and children and pass it on (yes, Donna and I still date, too, after 17 years of marriage!) This got us on the subject of my father who had died 4 years ago, in February of 2004.

I asked each of the girls, starting with Jocelyn, the oldest, what they remembered most about him. Jocelyn, my very thoughtful child, searched her memories carefully and then stated, VERY ACCURATELY, “I remember bouncing on a mini-trampoline and paw-paw coming up to me and shadow boxing in front of my face! I also remember that he could quote a bible verse on any subject, at anytime, at will, and always did!!”  Ha-Ha!! How true! He was always known for 2 things: God and Boxing…and he could wear most people out with both!! 🙂 Just “Google”: Rufus Brassell!

I then turned to my youngest daughter, Autumn, and asked the same thing. She thought for a moment and then uttered these words that put me in my personal dilemma on this subject, “I remember that he was as good and loving as you are!” Honest – I could NOT take those words in at first and thought I had misunderstood! I was almost afraid to ask for clarity but finally did. I said, incredulously, “What did you say?!” She then repeated just as firm and sincere, “Paw-Paw was as good and loving as you are!”

Well, I have never ever felt so GOOD and BAD at the same time in all of my entire life!! Ha-Ha! Understatement! Didn’t Autumn know me after all of these 11 years, and how much improvement I needed to be a truly good and loving father? I am SURE she and Jocelyn both could dredge up a negative list a mile long about how truly bad I am, and I would have to agree! Sheeesh! There was no way she could have just said that! I had a hard time receiving it!

BUT, because of the Goodness of the Father, Son and Spirit, and their passion and insistence to share the Gospel with me REGULARLY, and Their helping me to share it with others, I was able to REPENT AND BELIEVE THIS GOOD NEWS quite quickly and say “Thank You!” The Father was so passionate to flood me with His encouragement that he inspired my eldest daughter, Jocelyn, to put an exclamation point on it all by saying “That’s True!!”

We concluded our fellowship in the restaurant by ordering ONE huge dessert that we shared as THREE persons. 🙂 As we ate, I couldn’t help but think again of our One God in Three Persons Who had graciously included me and Jocelyn, and Autumn, (AND DONNA, my wife, and THE WHOLE WORLD), in their Shared Relationship.

God was certainly at Chili’s in a special way that day and, even though the dessert was admittedly good and sweet, I have to admit that receiving the Good News of Jesus’ Goodness and Love in ME was even better and MUCH sweeter!!! I hope you eat plenty, too!! I promise there’s nothing better!!