Are You “Lazy” (in the Truest Sense?!)

 

I recently visited another community of the Church gathered, and proclaimed the Good News that All of Humanity is Included in the Life of the Triune God in Jesus! I especially honed in on Jesus’ comments in John 6:27-29, where he encouraged all of us in the fact that the work of God is to believe in Him Whom God has sent! This set of scriptures becomes even more plain and clear  when you look up the word “work” in the Greek and discover that it is the word “ergon” and that this word REALLY does mean “action, labor, deeds, toil, etc.”

So, what must we DO to act on the labors and deeds of God – to do his works? BELIEVE IN (EMBRACE) JESUS! In other words, trust Who Jesus is and who we are in Him! Talk about HARD WORK!!!

It seems that most of us would almost rather do ANYTHING than work that hard!!! 🙂 We would rather DO things we can “see”, such as creating and marking off things on a dutiful checklist – pray today, fast today, go to church today, read the bible today, etc. We would rather create elaborate vision and mission statements for our organized gatherings. We would rather engage in creating huge programs with lots of classes for learning the practices to sustain and grow those programs. We would rather spend millions on architectural plans to build a huge building for the church to meet in, with the possibility of growing to hundreds of thousands of people in attendance, so that we can get lots of tithes and build an even larger facility! And on and on!

I think you get the point! In truth, I think we would rather be “lazy” than REALLY work! 🙂 (Please, please NOTICE that I said “we would RATHER do other things than believe”, I didn’t say we don’t believe!! I also did NOT say we shouldn’t or couldn’t do the things mentioned above but that we “would RATHER do other things than believe!)

Now don’t miss another point in all of this (and stand unecessarily condemned!) Remember, there is NO condemnation to those in Christ – Romans 8:1! I am using the word “lazy” in parentheses for a reason! I am doing this to make the point that we believers are not really lazy at all but that we sometimes think we are (or at least KNOW that others are!), and that we need to rethink and reconsider this entire subject of works in the light of Jesus Christ!

Let’s begin with the Gospel to sort all of this out in a clear way.

In Ephesians 1 and 2 we learn that the Good News, or Gospel, is that in Jesus Christ, God the Trinity, Humanity and Creation are NOT separated but bound together in Eternal Union and Communion – forever!

In Christ, all of humanity is reconciled, adopted, and saved, and sits at the right hand of God blessed with all spiritual blessings! God the Trinity included and adopted us all, mysteriously, while we were still sinners and still dead in our transgressions and sins. All of this means that Humanity’s Inclusion in the Life of the Triune God is solely by Grace, AND literally happened to each of us, 2000 years ago, in the Divine/Humanity of Jesus!

Understanding this Good News gives us the proper perspective on Jesus’ comments about work in John 6. Because Jesus knows Who He is, and Who we are in Him, He is encouraging us not to engage in trying to pay for things twice!! 🙂  No sane person would pay for their house again AFTER it was immediately paid off and the debt was fully cleared, would they? No sane child would try to pay their parents for conceiving them and foul up good parent child relationships until the parents accepted the arbitrary payment, would they? These things are RIDICULOUS!

In John 6, and in my own translation,  Jesus is saying, “All of you ARE who you are in me! You are included in the Eternal Life of the Father, Son and Spirit in me!, Don’t try to get into this life in your own way, which is no REAL way at all! Stop trying to do physical labors, deeds and acts in order to get and stay included in God’s Life! You don’t have to pay for things twice, cause I have paid for everything once for all!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I want you to work! I am the God Who IS and DOES! However, I want you participate with me in my doing and trust that I AM God’s work, living in you! That is enough work for each of you for the rest of your lives because you are yet in Adam’s sinful flesh, making it very difficult for you to believe the truth about Me being your Work!!”

Isn’t that so true????? It is not hard for you to believe that “you” are doing God’s work when you engage in the things so highly emphasized by the church today; things such as church attendance, tithe paying, evangelism, etc. That seems status quo and easy!! It’s like lifting toothpicks for exercise! BUT it is EXTREMELY difficult for us to believe that Jesus is God’s work and that there REALLY is nothing we HAVE to do!!! That’s like trying to lift 1,000,000 lbs.!!!! That is HARD WORK!

In reality, the hard work of believing and embracing Jesus is IMPOSSIBLE WORK apart from Jesus working in us to will and do it!! 🙂 We are simply too sinful and weak to lift that much weight! We are addicted to the steroids of our own human reasoning and the rampant legalism promoted by religiosity! But even that weight has been lifted in Jesus, because Jesus shares His actual and strong faith with us! Galations 2:20!! 

In conclusion. let me wrap up with two final thoughts on this subject.

1.) Because we are who we are in Jesus, we are all working hard everyday! Jesus works and his Father works, therefore we HAVE to be working in our union with God in Jesus!! Just look at the hours HE puts in everyday on your job, at school, with your family and friends, in your exercise program, into cooking, your donations to the poor and service organizations, in the church, etc.! You surely weren’t arrogant enough to think that you were doing that all by yourself, were you???? 🙂 There is ONLY ONE Who is Good and that is God! “Your” good works are only a participation in His Good Works! We are His Workmanship, created IN CHRIST to do HIS GOOD WORKS!!! You live, move and have your being in God!

So, we should STOP pressing people so much about working at the church building or in religion with us!!! Rather, we should encourage them in the work Jesus is already doing in them daily, almost everywhere they go, along with us!! They are blind about His good work in their daily relationships and lives, and are burdened under the illusion of thinking that they haven’t done enough and have to do more – and it is killing them!!!!! Good Grief! Jesus’ burden is LIGHT and his yoke EASY!!

2.) Most of us aren’t REALLY lazy because the Reality of our life is Jesus, Himself, and He is always Working in us in His Rest!!! 🙂 I believe we appear to be lazy because we concentrate too much on appearances, and appearances ARE laziness!!! Also, for a person to be TRULY lazy would mean certain physical and social death in a short period of time. Think about that – DEEPLY!!! 🙂

So don’t be overly discouraged that you haven’t met your spiritual goals! Jesus has met them all for you and will continue to meet them in and through you in a way that is meaningful to you AND OTHERS!

So, are you lazy (in the truest sense?!) In Adam’s flesh, most certainly, and especially as we are too focused on appearances, attendance, and working to get others included rather than living in the REALITY of Who we and others actually are already in Christ! Jesus, Himself, is proof of our laziness! We could not get the work of God done without Him coming to Be it and Do it!

However, as we are believing and embracing Jesus in His grace, we are absolutely NOT a lazy person because believing is the hardest work of all (in the sinful flesh of Adam) but, in Jesus, believing is the Work that brings the greatest experiences, rewards, and spiritual “muscles” ultimately!!! John 6:27-29!

I Really “Goofed” Up…

 

… preaching the Gospel before one particular group at a Gospel conference a few years ago!

Of course, I have learned that ONLY Jesus, God Himself, can proclaim the Gospel without goofing it up! However, Jesus has decided not to proclaim it without allowing us “clay jars” to participate (2 Cor 4:7), so on we go in the “foolishness of preaching” (1 Cor 1:21) by which people come to understand Who Jesus is and who humanity and creation are in Him in the power of the Spirit! What a miracle of Triune God’s Grace! I love it!!

I was reminded about the incident I want to relate to you because of two great blog posts recently offered up by my friend Jonathan Stepp. He has surely got me thinking and a lot of us talking! To me it is very inspiring and radical stuff (in a positive way) to think about in the Light of the Cosmic Christ! Colossians 1!

Now to the public “goof up” I made.

I was preaching and proclaiming the Gospel Truth about Who Jesus is and who we are in Him. I was saying something like “because Jesus created and sustains everything, whatever happened to him, happens to everything he sustains, which is nothing short of everything. Therefore, when Jesus died, all of humanity died (just like Paul said in 2 Cor 5:14), and when Jesus rose, everyone and everything rose in Him (as Paul and Peter both say –  Eph 2:4-7, 1 Peter 1:3).”

With my next few words I threw out what became a radical Gospel bomb (in following the above Christ-centered and Trinitarian logic), and said something like, “In one real sense, because everyone is REALLY united with and in Jesus, and Jesus is the head of the Church, His actual Body, then EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE, is REALLY already in the Church!”

If you have gone to church for very long or are religious in any supposedly Christian way, then you can imagine how that went over for most of the crowd! 🙂 Ha-Ha! Understatement! But, to be fair, there were quite a few people who did like it, received encouragement from it and let me know it in very enthusiastic ways! In fact as soon as I finished and went back to my seat, a young woman left her seat and approached me and my family, quickly, to encourage us and let us know how much she appreciated that exact statement!

I call my radical statement a “goof up” for a couple of reasons. It was a “goof” up, sort of, in that the Truth of the One God in the Three Persons of the Father, Son and Spirit, reveals to us in Jesus that there REALLY is distinction within the Godhead and creation. Distinction is important for there to be personal existence and real love. if there were no distinction, I would not be me, and you would not be you. We’d be a single, blobby mess!

If there were only One God Being without distinct persons, then there would be no one else to love or give to. There would only be a single self-centered existence, and that is NOT God because God IS LOVE! The Father must have someone to love for there to be love, and so must the Son and Spirit. God is love because there is Unity without loss of distinction among the Persons. The fancy theological word for this truth is “Perichoresis“. This is what my good friend Dr. Baxter Kruger is always blogging about here.

Therefore, there was something right in people’s negative reactions when I uttered that “goof-up” about everyone being in the church. Part of the stumbling over this is that, In the United States, particularly, we have been trained to think more about our independence than our interdependence. Even the church is a culprit behind people committing the Gospel “crime” of “over-exclusivity” as we constantly overemphasize personal decision, personal salvation and personal prayer time over and against our cosmic union with God and each other in Jesus Christ!

On the other hand…

…I call it a “goof up” in parentheses because, in one real sense of Being and Seeing, we all, REALLY, are who we are in Jesus Christ! Jesus is our Reality and the Truth about Who we REALLY are even if we are blind to it, and/or forever oppose and reject it! Our real life is HIDDEN IN HIM – Colossians 3:3! We ALL REALLY DO live, move and have our being in God- Acts 17:28!! If we can believe that in Adam we are all sinners (and in Adam we all are!), then how come it is so hard for us to believe that in the Father’s Son made human, Jesus, we have all been made righteous?! Romans 5:6-19!

How is it that Adam gets more respect and praise than Jesus? Adam did NOT create us, nor does he sustain us – Jesus does! If Jesus, the One Who created and sustains us, stepped into our shoes and undid the work of Adam, as a human being, how is it that we have not all been positively impacted by His Human Life and Goodness? The truth is, we all have been positively impacted and affected! Romans 5:6-19, again! We REALLY do need to change our minds (repent) and embrace the Good News!

I must admit, I felt “crazy” and a bit weird after saying such a statement myself (it was NOT in my notes!) After all, I have grown up in the church, too, and am a trained Christian pastor for goodness sake! I, however, went where the Christo-logic of the Gospel I was preaching took me, and it has actually been confirmed and stated by other Christian’s too. Check out this post on writings from the Great 20th century Christian theologian Karl Barth! This post describes the wrestling that we go through on the subject of our Inclusion in the Triune Life when confronted by the Gospel of God’s Grace Revealed in Jesus!

Recently I took a church history class and was pleasantly SURPRISED to see that I am not the first Christian to have said or embraced such a “goof up”! Justin Martyr, one of the first Historians and Apologists of the early Christian Church actually took a similar approach and Christo-logic when proclaiming the Gospel to the Greek philosophical culture of his day. In his book “The Story of Christianity”, pp.53-56, Justo L. Gonzalez, writes the following with regard to Justin Martyr:

“According to the Fourth Gospel, this Logos is “the true light that enlightens” everyone. This means that, even before the incarnation, he [Jesus] is the source of all true knowledge. Paul had already said (1 Cor. 10:1-4) that the ancient Hebrews’ faith rested on none other than Christ, who had been revealed to them before the incarnation. Now Justin added that there were also among the pagans those who knew the same Logos, however dimly. Whatever truth there is in the writings of Plato was granted to him by the Logos of God, the same Logos who was incarnate in Jesus. Therefore, in a way, Socrates, Plato, and other sages of iniquity “were Christians,” for their wisdom came from Christ. This is not to say, however, that the incarnation was not needed, for those philosophers of old knew the Logos “in part”, whereas those who have seen him in his incarnation know him “fully.”

What Justin thus did was to open the way for Christianity to claim whatever good it could find in classical culture, in spite of its having been pagan. Following his inspiration, there soon were other Christians who tried to build further bridges between their faith and ancient culture.”

Hmmmmm. “Goof up” or Bridge building? I am sure it’s probably BOTH seeing that the Triune God shares His Truth with the world through “clay jars” and is NOT prevented by any barrier from helping people to see who they are in Jesus, His Son!! Ha-Ha!! 🙂 (You can find Jonathan Stepp’s blog posts right here and here!)

Gospel Panic and Exhaustion…

 

…is often the first thing that takes hold of you when you begin to take seriously that God’s Good News is better than you ever thought! The reason for this is that there is no good thing in our fleshly humanity, apart from Jesus Christ! Therefore, when we are confronted with the weight and burden of God’s goodness and glory (in contrast to our sinfulness), it is very difficult to believe and embrace.

Often times, when proclaiming the Good News of Humanity’s Inclusion in the Life of the Triune God, solely by God’s grace, the accusation is put forth that we are not calling a person to “repentance and change!” Nothing could be FURTHER from the truth! This is proven by the fact that when people are called to think of God in all of His goodness and Inclusive grace, the last thing a person wants to do is believe that and repent (change their mind radically, resulting in a radical change of action)!

By the way, changing your mind IS an action and DOING something, too!! 🙂

 

In God’s ever-present grace, I preach the Gospel in unbounded joy and increasing zest and freedom – NOW! It wasn’t this way at first! See more of my personal story, entitled “Nothing Less than Radically Shocking!” here. Being as lost we all still are in the clinging flesh of fallen Adam, there is no such thing as not being called to repentance when we hear the Good News of the Gospel proclaimed! We are either found believing the Truth about Jesus and ourselves in Him, or we are found not believing it. If found not believing it, we are placed in a crisis of belief IN AND APART FROM ANYONE SAYING “Repent and believe this Good News!”

When hearing the Gospel, which says confidently and unequivocally that, “In Jesus Christ every person, dead or alive, has been Embraced, Saved, Included and Adopted into the Life of the Triune God, and always will be!”, our fallen flesh begins to go into a denying panic! I’ve noticed that it typically follows this same pattern for most people trained in religion: Shocking disbelief, leading to “fighting mad” or, if embraced as truth, “descending” to total embarrassment and humility, and finally, progressively accompanied by great liberating “can’t shut up about it” joy!

Up to this point, it may seem as if I am just spouting out a bunch of theology and thoughts on my constant Gospel theme of Humanity’s Inclusion in the Life of the Triune God. But, I was reminded of this process and experience when re-reading an e-mail I received in the recent past after sharing the Gospel and a few resources with a fellow Pastor! I want to share his response with you. I keep it tucked in the back of my bible to encourage me in the suffering and joy that comes with sharing and being confronted by the Good News of the Person of Jesus Christ!

May you be encouraged and strengthened by this REAL LIFE interaction I had with a Pastor as you begin to embrace God’s Good News, continue to repent and embrace it more, or participate with Jesus in sharing it with others. Like the panic and exhaustion that I hear women discuss regarding pregnancy, as the “baby” of the Good News is being birthed from the inside out, it is not always joyful at first!  🙂

 

Here is the response and experience of the already Christian pastor, verbatim, with ONLY the name of the pastor being excluded for anonymity:

“Tim,

I hope you are asleep as I write this but I can’t sleep. I just spent the last 3 hours reading my sermon notes for tomorrow and trying to find my Augustinian influence and writing it out.

I need those web links for the free books please. I am ordering “On the incarnation of the Word of God” and “The Forgotten Father”

Did you weep over any of this? Because I found myself on my knees in tears tonight asking God to break me down and rebuild me into a REAL preacher of the true Gospel. I’ve decided that I am going to seek the true Gospel no matter what the cost.

I suddenly feel like my relationship with God has been superficial all these years. I’m not discouraged. Oh quite the opposite I am more excited about God than I have ever been because I think my experience and relationship with Jesus has been and is awesome and now I see that I have not even scratched the surface.

I can’t wait to know Him more. Its like that song “In the secret” I do want to know Him more.

This is all fresh and new and I am trying hard not to panic. I am praying a lot tonight but I just wanted to email you to say I think I am going to get it, I don’t believe God would tease me. If He has introduced me to this theology I know it is because He wants me to understand.

I am ready to commit to learning the real Gospel, the Gospel with power and lifechanging authority.

Last year I read “Making a difference in Preaching” and now I see that the real way to make a difference in preaching is to discover the real Gospel and preach that and then let the power of God’s Word make the difference.

So again please send me links to the free books I can read. I feel like I am in the middle of the desert and all I want is water. I have 200 books on my shelf but none of the ones I desperately want to read. 

Whew,

This is exhausting,

I’ll keep in touch.

PS I loved the rap. May I play it at my church? “

God and German Chocolate Cake!

 

Honestly, it began as one of the scariest experiences of my life so far!

I was talking to a fellow pastor on the phone when the blood-curdling scream took place! “Tim! Tim! Tim! Come here NOWWWWW!”, my wife, Donna, yelled in a strained and scarey voice! I almost dropped the phone mid-sentence and felt the impending fear of having to confront the unknown! “What’s the matter?”, I responded as I scrambled out of my seat and headed toward the stairs. “Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! I need your help!!! Nowwwww!!!”, she compelled me!

That was all my heart could take and I was, quite frankly, ready to hurt someone or kill something! Maybe the “rat” (that I had suspected was living in the garage for all these 9 years in this house), had finally come out to tangle!! Well, he was going DOWN! Or should I say I was going to send him UP to his home with Jesus!! Ha-Ha! 🙂 You know how those needless and worrisome fears about the “boogey-man” are! 🙂 (NO! There is no “rat” in my garage – Donna wouldn’t allow it!)

I told my phone guest to hold on (or screamed it in their ear), as I zoomed down the stairs ready to defend, protect and serve my woman and family!! As I bounded from the last step to the main floor and rounded the corner towards the dining room, I got the surprise of my life and almost went to see Jesus in the shock! There in the dining room stood my immediate family and a couple of the neighborhood children, peering around the corner with glee and delight, as they yelled out “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!”

Arrrggghhhh – The deception! Oooohhhh – The lie of misperception!!!! Aaaaahhhhh – the needless fear!! And……Yes! Yes! Yes! – the FUN and JOY of my Inclusion, and the toothy smile radiating from beneath my “Happy Birthday” dunce cap!!!! 🙂

Talk about one of the greatest, fun, inclusive and enjoyable family moments we’ve ever had!! My phone guest heard every scream and word, and enjoyed it all immensely!! All this explained the “weird” moments I had experienced throughout the day and the elaborate cooking and cake-baking Donna had been up to! You may be asking why this birthday celebration came as such a surprise to me. Well, besides just being clueless sometimes, my birthday was actually about a week earlier where we had been serving others and enjoying each other at Higher Ground camp. We can’t forget the “tom-foolery” my family had engaged in to throw me off as well! 🙂

Now to God and German Chocolate Cake. Besides preparing some of my favorite food, my wife fixed my absolute favorite dessert – a huge German Chocolate Cake! For as long as I can remember, whenever my birthday had been celebrated in childhood, someone had always prepared me a German Chocolate Cake. In my marriage of 17years, and primarily due to religiosity, we really hadn’t celebrated birthdays as much as we SHOULD HAVE! We’ve been trying to change that lately and celebrate the Father, Son and Spirit’s destiny for each family member to exist in distinction and inclusion with Him and each other.

Not only did this cake stir up many wonderful, childhood memories, it was the most delicious version of the cake I had ever eaten!! I am not joking when I say I could taste the love in it! The entire cake was almost devoured within the first two days by anyone who got a taste of it, and that’s no joke! I had to play guardian and protect it so that I might savor its sumptuous, out-of-this-world, deliciousness for as many days as possible, and I DID!! 🙂

This cake was sooooo subtly distinct, and filled with sweetness and love, that I have been unable to refrain from remarking positively about it ever since! My wife is used to hearing my compliments on her food (and everyone else’s compliments!), and she REALLY IS a gifted chef, but she is not that good and gifted BY HERSELF!! That cake is so memorable that I not only preached about it, but am now writing about it!

How is it that I could be so apparently obsessed with, thrilled and INSPIRED by, the taste of a German Chocolate Cake? It’s just a physical thing isn’t it?  Here one day – gone the next! How is it that I could say with such certainty that my wife is a good cook and baker but not as good as that cake tasted?! How come wonderful memories and joy-filled emotions were released in my human body, giving me a sense of ecstasy, after eating that cake?

BECAUSE GOD THE FATHER, SON AND SPIRIT ARE IN CHOCOLATE CAKE!!! IN FACT, THIS TRIUNE GOD CREATED, SUSTAINS AND FILLS ALL THINGS, INCLUDING GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE!!! THAT’S WHY!!!

That is the simple and complex reason behind the joy that can be found IN everyone and everything! The Father created every piece of food in existence, including the taste buds, saliva and eyeballs to enjoy it with! Jesus sustains every atom in the universe in His very Being and Person! The Holy Spirit is present everywhere to share the Communion of the Father and Son with all people and things!

Enjoy how Eugene Peterson describes this beautiful Truth in “The Message” version of the scriptures:

 15 We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. 16 For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels – everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. 17 He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. 18 And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. 19 So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. 20 Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe – people and things, animals and atoms – get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross.

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!”