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!!

The REAL “First Three Laws” of Human Relationships!!!, part 1

This article is actually about the first of the first 3 commandments given to mankind! If you think I am referring to a portion of the Ten Commandments given to the children of Israel through Moses, you’d be wrong! There is another refreshing take on laws, I am happy to say! I want to talk about the 3 commandments given to humankind BEFORE humankind sinned.

I want to briefly discuss the commandments we have probably overlooked in the scriptures! We are actually being instructed to take these commands seriously, again, as we understand the Relationship of the Father, Son and Spirit better, and as we understand Who Jesus is and who we are in Him!!

The first three commandments come from this passage in Genesis 1:26-28, which say in the NRSV:

1:26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

1:27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

1:28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

First, did you notice the language denoting distinct Persons within the Oneness of God in verse 26? Did you also notice how it said we were created in the image of this Triune God in verse 27 (distinct from God BUT in Union with God)?

Did you see the 3 commandments noted in verse 28 that match up with Who Jesus is and Who we are in Him?

Here is the first command I see:

1.)    The first command Triune God gives humankind is to RELATE & ROMANCE, or “Be Fruitful and Multiply”

This first command is NOT to “Get a job, earn money, get clothing, worry and struggle!” (the main things we tend to be worried about in our fallen flesh! – see Luke 12:13-31)!

Knowing Who Jesus is instructs us that RELATING with Him, our neighbors, and with ourselves as we really are in Him (INCLUDED in His relationship with His Father in the Spirit), is the REAL, first command to be obeyed!  We already know in a bad way the saying that “No one on their deathbed ever wished they had spent more time at work!

All of us REALLY want to experience great relationships!  We especially want to see multiplied the abounding fellowship of the Triune God, Who IS Love!

This first command from the Triune God is also NOT, “Stay away from thinking or talking about romance and sex – that icky, bad stuff!”? J We all know better than that (whether we are married or shacked up!) This is one part of the commandment we weren’t going to disobey, no matter what! J

Or were we?!……

Knowing Who Jesus is teaches us that there is A WAY of thinking and talking about romance that is NOT congruent with the Father, Son and Spirit Relationship (John 8:1-11, Eph 5:1-18)! Painful!  There is also a way that IS congruent with God’s Triune Relationship (Eph 5:18-6:1-9)? Pleasureable!

When it comes to romance, many of us believe or have experienced the negative relational saying, “Why buy the cow when I can get the milk for free?” In other words, we may “like” not being committed to others, but we sure don’t like it when they aren’t committed or faithful to us! We may “like” treating others like an object, but we sure don’t want other people treating us like objects! We want others to treat us like human beings!

Because we are all included in the exact Love, Faithfulness, Openness and Creative Imagination of the Father, Son and Spirit, in Jesus, what we all REALLY want to experience in our dating and sexual relationships is the Harmony and Trust of the Triune God!

In a very subtle way, can’t we also see that this first commandment is NOT for us to love God but for us to BE LOVED by the Triune God?! He is clearly saying that He called us into being to share in His image and to experience His glorious creation with Him. Let’s face it – he doesn’t say “bow and scrape before Me 24/7”, but we also know that apart from Him we have no possibility of existing and enjoying anything! He created AND sustains us all!! (Acts 17:28, Heb 1:1-3!)

Well, tune in for the next written post, where I will discuss the second of the first three commandments given to mankind. In the gracious education of the Holy Spirit, we really can learn about and experience with understanding more of the restful life Jesus shares with all of humankind, RIGHT NOW, in the Spirit!

Meanwhile, remember that the Father, Son and Spirit Love and Like you Very, Very Much, and indeed, God the Trinity Loves You, Loves US, MORE than He Loves Himself!