Daily Archives: April 1, 2013

What’s Behind the Appearance?

Christian Life

WHAT’S BEHIND THE APPEARANCE?

“When the Pharisees, a money-obsessed bunch, heard Him say these things, they rolled their eyes, dismissing Him as hopelessly out of touch. So Jesus spoke to them, ‘You are masters at making yourselves look good in front of others but God knows what’s behind the appearance.'” Luke 16:14,15 (The Message).

What a powerful hold deception has over people’s minds! It is Satan’s potent and elusive weapon, blinding us to the most simple and obvious truths. If we would just stop and think logically for a moment, we would recognise how easily we have been duped.

In this case, the Pharisees, who loved money and power and paid any price to get it, made two serious errors; they thought that by outwardly acting holy, they could cover up their greedy hearts, and secondly, they thought that they could fool God. Had they only stopped to think, they would have realised how wrong they were.

Jesus’ words should have brought them back to reality with a bump, but it only drove them deeper into their hardened attitude. That’s the other part of Satan’s arsenal that is so difficult to overcome. He trades on human pride to keep his deception in place. Once a person has made his erroneous beliefs public by acting on them, he will not easily back down and admit that he is wrong.

This stubborn attitude disqualifies a person from access to the kingdom of God. Truth and humility are the two requirements for understanding and entering into the realm of God’s rule. They are like the guiding lights that must be lined up to give a ship safe entry into the harbour. Truth displaces the lies that cause us to veer off course, and humility softens our hearts to believe and receive the truth.

Jesus gave us clear directions for getting free from the lies that ensnare us and drive us into misery, pain and loss, “To the Jews who believed Him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'” John 8:32 (NIV). The truth in and of itself cannot set us free. It must first be believed and internalised to become effective in breaking the bondage of deception.

There is a process in moving from deception to truth. Sometimes it happens is a blinding flash of understanding and at other times it follows a period of careful investigation and growing conviction.

For the disciples, barring Judas Iscariot, it was a combination of the two. They followed, watched and listened to Jesus for three years and then came His death and resurrection. His appearance to them was the last piece of the puzzle. From that moment nothing could budge them from the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Until then they still wobbled and tottered in their faith, but the presence of the risen Jesus cancelled all their doubts and misunderstandings.

This is the moment of revelation and transformation. It happened to the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus; it has happened to millions of people across two thousand years but it never happened to the Pharisees because they refused to examine the evidence. They chose lies over truth and became part of the tragedy of those who never fulfil their God-given potential.

If you examine the evidence with a humble desire to know the truth, there will come for you the dazzling moment of conviction and the life-changing experience of faith, giving you entry and access into the realm of God passionate love and unfailing goodness. All His resources will be yours, you will find the meaning and purpose of your existence and your eternal future will be secure, based on the infallible truth of God’s word.

But is all comes back to the same thing. You choose….

Old Friends?

Christian Life, , ,

OLD FRIENDS?

“By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, ‘He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends….'” Luke 15:1-2 (The Message).

Strange that Jesus attracted the ‘bad’ and repelled the ‘good’ people! Can it be that He had a different way of evaluating people from the way we do? Certainly, the Pharisees did not see eye to eye with Him regarding the ‘sinners’ He considered His friends. Why were the Pharisees so incensed by His eating with the riff-raff?

Eating a meal with someone had great significance. The Hebrew word for a meal is shul, while the word derived from the root, shul, is shulkan, which means ‘table’, ‘reconciliation’ or ‘a lamb’s skin’. The imagery is beautiful. Where there was no table, they would put a lamb’s skin on the ground as a ‘picnic’ blanket. A lamb had to die for them to eat together. Therefore, to eat a meal with someone meant that you had no issues with that person. You had settled your differences and were now reconciled.

No wonder the Pharisees were upset with Jesus for eating with prostitutes and tax collectors! They did not understand the heart of a merciful and compassionate Messiah. Their idea of ‘holiness’ was isolation from people. Jesus’ holiness separated Him from sin but not from sinners. Yes, God is holy, but He is holy-love. His holiness demands perfection, but His love provides the covering so that we can be reconciled and become His true friends.

The Pharisees regarded themselves as their own standard and they despised everyone who did not live up to their criteria. Jesus offended them because He was not fazed by those they regarded as ‘sinners’. He saw beyond their exterior to hearts that were hungry for God and were willing to listen to Him and who drank in His love and His message of mercy.

Are we any different? Do we not judge people by their appearance, their social standing, their financial position, their neighbourhood, their achievements, and even their speech and accent? These are only the circumstances of their lives, not the evidence of their intrinsic value as human beings made in the image of God.

As disciples of Jesus, we are called to follow, learn from, imitate and obey our Master. This is an absolute prerequisite for discipleship. One function not entrusted to us is judgment and yet we assume the role of judge for everyone who does not measure up to our value system or self-proclaimed standards. This is dangerous for two reasons; firstly because we have usurped the role that belongs to Jesus alone and, secondly, because the standard we set for others is the standard by which we will be judged.

When we carefully consider the last statement, it should make us tremble because our standards for others are always so much stricter than our standards for ourselves. God’s justice is perfectly just. It is always based on what we choose. Yes, God has objective standards of right and wrong based on who He is, but He gives us exactly what we choose, whether it be obedience to His way or our own way. He knows where each way will end.

The way of the Pharisees with their hoity-toity self-righteousness took them farther and farther from the heart of God and deeper and deeper into the kind of sin that alienated them from God and people. No amount of rebuke or exposure shifted them from their arrogant pride. Not even Jesus could reach their hardened hearts.

God’s word is faithful to warn us of the attitude that thinks we are right and everyone else wrong. When we look at people through the eyes of Jesus, we see, not the sin that scars their souls but the beauty of our Creator God who has packed the potential in each one of us to become a mirror image of Him.

One Taken, The Other Left…

Christian Life, , ,

ONE TAKEN, THE OTHER LEFT

“‘On that Day, two men will be in the same boat fishing — one taken, the other left. Two women will be working in the same kitchen — one taken, the other left.

“Trying to take this all in, the disciples said, ‘Master, where?’

“He told them, ‘Watch for the circling of the vultures. They’ll spot the corpse first. The action will begin around my dead body.'” Luke 17:34-37 (The Message).

The ‘left behind’ theory, that it will be the unbelievers who will be left behind to be destroyed with the earth by fire, has captured the imagination of Christian writers, producing a flood of novels and teachings that bring this theory to life for the reading public. It may be an interesting subject for a good story but is it true to Scripture?

There are two aspects to the teachings of Scripture that we must examine. Firstly, who will be ‘left behind’ and why? This is tied up with God’s intention for the earth and for the human race. Is it His intention to destroy the earth and start all over again?

God created the earth as a perfect dwelling place for man. His intention was that He would come and dwell with humans, blending heaven and earth together in a union of perfect love and harmony where men would rule the earth under God.

Man was put on probation to see whether he would worship and obey God because he loved Him. Man was lured away by the temptation to be his own boss and set up his own rules. This disrupted the unity between him and his Creator and resulted in the introduction of chaos on the earth.

This chaos and the wickedness of men increased until God had no option but to put an end to it. What did He do? He caused a flood which did not destroy the earth; it destroyed the entire wicked human race except for eight people who were kept alive in a boat, together with the animals that would reproduce and replenish the earth.

Why did God not just wipe out everything and start again? Because that was not His way. Because of who He is, He did not abandon His original purpose but set in motion a plan of redemption, when Adam rebelled against Him in the beginning, that would reveal to all of creation the greatness of His mercy and grace.

He rescued Noah and his family through the very waters that destroyed the rest of the human race. The ark that Noah built was the means of their salvation, sheltering them from the wrath of God as a picture of Jesus in whom we are sheltered from the wrath of God that will fall on disobedient mankind. God did not take Noah and his family out. They were ‘left behind’ when He took out all the wicked through the flood.

Secondly, how will the earth be ‘destroyed’? This is how Peter describes it: “That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:12b, 13 (NIV).

At face value, it seems as though Peter is talking about literal fire and literal destruction. However, we must understand this in the context of God’s power. God works by the power of His word. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth.” Psalm 33:6 (NIV). His word is not only creative but destructive – “‘Is not my word like fire,’ declares the Lord, ‘and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.'” Jeremiah 23:29 (NIV).

We must also examine meaning of the word ‘elements’ – ‘the elements will melt in the heat.’ Paul uses the same word in his letter to the Galatians (4:9b) which is translated ‘weak and miserable principles’ and in Colossians 2:8 ‘hollow and deceptive philosophy’.
Both Peter and Paul are speaking of the godless philosophies by which people live rather than the truth which Jesus came to reveal.

When we put this together, it throws a different light on what has been written about the ‘end of the world’. When Jesus returns, He will purify the earth, by the power of His word, of all those who refused to submit to Him and believe the truth He came to bring. The earth will be purged of the corruption that came with Adam’s rebellion and will be renewed to its original perfection. God will make His dwelling with men in perfect unity and man will rule over the earth in obedience to Him.

Multiplied

Christian Life, , ,

MULTIPLIED

“Peter tried to regain some initiative: ‘We left everything we owned and followed you, didn’t we?’

“‘Yes,’ said Jesus, ‘and you won’t regret it. No one who has sacrificed home, spouse, brothers and sisters, parents, children — whatever — will lose out. It will all come back multiplied many times over in your lifetime. And then the bonus of eternal life.'” Luke 18:28-30 (The Message).

Sometimes we might be tempted to think that Jesus was so heavenly-minded that He didn’t care about people’s ordinary, everyday needs and wants. But Peter’s comment brought out the evidence of His sane and balanced thinking. Of course He cares! He doesn’t just treat people as ‘souls’!

We are whole people with human lives that have needs as well as souls and spirits that must be nurtured. As long as we are resident on this present earth in our present human bodies, He has pledged to provide for and take care of us if we trust Him.

However, Jesus did not specify the details of His provision for us. He did not for one moment guarantee that He would literally replace many times over what we sacrifice in order to follow Him. What would be the purpose of owning houses and lands if only to boost our assets?

But, once again, let’s put this promise into the perspective of His ‘kingdom’ thinking. Jesus was always pragmatic. What would be the value of hoarding wealth? From God’s point of view, anything that is not circulated, stagnates and loses its usefulness. He is willing to put anything into a believer’s hands that He knows will not be wasted on self or pulled out of circulation by hoarding.

But Jesus is also indescribably generous. He releases to us in superabundance whatever we need for ourselves and for whoever we can bless. He removes the boundaries of what is ‘mine’, family, possessions, property, money and resources, and opens up the resources of His kingdom in ways we could never dream possible.

What do I mean by that? When God calls us into His kingdom, we enter a realm where blood ties and personal assets no longer restrict us. Remember what Jesus said? ‘He who does the will of God is my mother and brother and sister.’ We become members of God’s forever family, bound by a blood tie much stronger than the ties of human family, the sacrificial blood of our ‘elder brother’, Jesus.

We also step into the realm of all the shared resources of the Father. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” Psalm 24:1 (NIV). To claim ‘mine’ is to take ownership illegitimately of what is not ours. We are children in a family whose Father owns everything and who is loving, caring and generous beyond our understanding.

For Jesus, sacrifice is not a loss but an exchange, and, as always, we are never diminished by what we choose to sacrifice. If we let go of the little we claim as ours, we gain the limitless ‘much’ that God will pour into our lives as long as we use it for the ‘family’ and not hoard it for ourselves. Jesus put it like this: “‘But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.'” Matthew 6:33 (NIV).

People who do not trust God as their Father, run after ‘things’, because ‘things’ are the only thing that represents security for them. When ‘things’ fail, they have nothing left because they have never made the exchange of ‘things’ for confidence in a Father who has never yet failed those who trust Him.

We may think that this is a risky exchange. It is until we try it, and then we find that it is the safest investment we can ever make because it is built on the word of one who risks His own reputation if He fails to honour His promise. So, in the end, it’s not as much about us as it is about Him. If He reneges on His promise, He goes down with us, and that’s the bottom line. But…

“If we are faithless,
He will remain faithful,
for He cannot deny Himself.”
2 Timothy 2:13 (NIV).

‘And,’ said Jesus, ‘there’s a bonus to all this ‘sacrifice’ thing. You don’t only get all the perks of the kingdom in this life, but you are actually already a part of this kingdom of which there is no end. So, when you step over, all you lose are the restrictions and limitations of your sinful human life and you become a partaker of the life of God in its fullest possible sense.’