Creation

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EASTER THE PIVOTAL MOMENT

Acts 17:28, “For in him we live and move and have our being.”

The life we have, the life we live, our very existence is in God. Contemplating this I realize that God is everything to us. All else diminishes by comparison. The Almighty created everything we know, everything we understand, the entire universe, and us. The creation and the history of it, to this day, is part of a plan that God set into motion from the very beginning.

Galatians 4:4-5 MSG, But the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law.

Everything Jesus did while here among us was part of God’s plan for us. Jesus suffered humiliation, torture, and a horrible death on the cross to fulfill God’s plan. When Jesus rose from the dead, our redemption and eternal life exploded forth into his creation. This was the pivotal moment in God’s eternal plan to have a loving eternal relationship with his created ones.

HAPPY EASTER!

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GOD AMONG US

As we join together in celebrating God coming to be among us, I wanted to offer something I wrote back in 2014. We remember that Christmas is celebrating God’s plan for victory over sin and death. I hope your Christmas is full of joy and peace. Merry Christmas!

 

The recent flood of movies based on ancient mythology depicts gods with the more base human characteristics of violence, greed, covetousness and murder. The hero god battles the dark side and wins in the end. What a great story line! The same basic story line found in the popular super hero movies. I love them. I’ve been to many. We all love to see good win over evil. There seems to be a feeling of vindication when the hero wins. I like feeling vindicated.  But, (you knew a but was coming) what if the evil that needs to be defeated is inherent in us? You know those base human characteristics. How’s a super hero or a god going to overcome that?

Now think how the actual event of God walking among us differs from the good vs. evil stories we all love. Jesus came as a helpless baby. He walked unassumingly on the earth as one of us. Who knew that he was an all-powerful being through whom the earth was created? He never whipped out his sword and killed the bad guys. Actually, the bad guys killed him. But, (Yes, we know this but.) He rose from the dead. Now there’s a great story line, and it’s a true story. Don’t you love those stories based on real events. It seems to give the story a lot more impact.

Yes, a great story, but how was the victory won? He didn’t kill all of us who have inherent evil. We’re grateful for that. What he did do was:

Romans 8:3b God….. (sent) his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man…

By surrendering himself (all-powerful being-God) to death, which appeared to his enemy like defeat, his death condemned sin in sinful man. The victory came in his death and was displayed for all to see by his resurrection. This is a powerful real life story that has impacted us for thousands of years. Wow, God really did come to earth and walk among us. It was very different than our favorite stories. The ways of the real God are not our ways:

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

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OUR PLACE BEFORE GOD

Since the beginning man has been fascinated by the universe. We have studied the stars for patterns and worshipped the sun and moon. Astronomers find that the universe is increasingly more vast than they had imagined. The Bible tells us that God spoke it into existence.

I had this contrasting thought this morning, I thought of the magnificence of God. The one who spoke the universe into existence, and then there’s me. So what is my place when I go before God, mouse before a lion, krill in the mouth of a whale? The humblest place I can find is not adequate. Jesus came to help with this dilemma.

He first referred to God as our Father. Father is a perception we can easily relate to. God, being perfect, would represent the ideal father. One who will love us, protect us, teach us, and provide for us.

Jesus went even further when he addressed his disciples. In John Chapter 14 when Philip asked Jesus to show him the Father he replied, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

Obviously, Jesus didn’t come as the whole manifest presence of God, but he represented the heart and character of God our Father. Jesus was all that an ideal father would be, and then he humbly gave his life for us.

My conclusion, I am on the receiving end of my relationship with God. My fate is entirely in his hands. I can never repay him for his love, kindness, and mercy. I can never match his humbleness. My place before God is one of gratitude. I will praise him and thank him the best I can for as long as I have breath.

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WHO IS THIS JESUS?

One of my favorite passages of scripture is Colossians 1: 15-17. In this passage Paul gives us an insight into who Jesus really is. He writes:

He is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

The last statement, “in him all things hold together,” always intrigues me. When considering atoms, the invisible building blocks of the whole universe, the question has always been what holds an atom together? Perhaps the answer is Jesus. And, of course, I have had to ask myself, what would happen if he let go? Well, the reality is that Jesus holds all things together, whatever that actually means, and this points to the ultimate power of our savior. The one who humbled himself and came to earth in human form is the all-powerful Creator God.

Jesus is God in the fullest sense. He has been given complete authority over all things. He is the supreme ruler over all of creation. What he did for us shows his amazing character, and warrants him eternal praise and gratitude.

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LIGHT

God loves us!  As he was preparing a place for us he first created light.  Light is incredible.  It sustains physical life, refracts into all the wonderful colors we see, and provides a contrast to darkness.  God designed a great place for us that is full of light.

Light is necessary for life to exist on earth.  The process of photosynthesis is the foundation for all food consumed by living creatures.  The light we receive from the sun provides the necessary heat the earth requires.  In light we find God’s provision for his created ones.

As light contacts various objects it refracts.  These refractions disperse the light into an amazing array of colors making the earth a beautiful place.  The colors we see calm us, delight us, and stimulate us.  Through light our creator has inspired us and made our lives full and interesting.

Light and its contrast darkness are used figuratively throughout the scriptures to help us understand God’s care for us.  We read in Psalm 18: 28 “God turns my darkness into light,” and Psalm 56:13 says that God provides the light of life.   Light provides a metaphor for virtue.  Light is righteousness and darkness is sinfulness.  Romans 13:12, “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.  So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” 

Light has great importance in God’s creation.  Isaiah used light to predict the coming of Jesus, “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned (Isaiah 9:2).”  For us today that light has long since dawned.  We can now walk in the light.  I pray that His light will shine in your heart today, and that darkness will have no place in your heart.  Praise be to God for the wonders of light.

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ADORATION

I have an ever present desire to understand and more deeply worship the God who loves me. During Sunday worship last week this word came to mind, adoration.  I wanted to be sure of what this word actually means so I looked in the dictionary.  I found these words to be most enlightening, “to regard with reverent admiration and devotion.”

I find reverent admiration when I take time to see the wonder of what God has created.  A morning walk or an evening stroll always helps me to settle my mind and peruse his wonders.  King David wrote in Psalm 8:3-5,

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor

I kindle my devotion when I remember all that God has done for me since I surrendered my life to him.  Psalm 103 reminds me that he has forgiven all my sins, and pulled me out of the pit that my life had become.  He loves me, and he has satisfied my desires with good things.

Adoration is already a part of my worship when I remember to stop and take the time to think of whom he is and what he has done in my life.

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PSALM 121

I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)

 

My help comes from an all-powerful God who loves me as his child.  I find great comfort in these words.  When I am lost in my incessant self-reliance, I am fearful; but when I look beyond myself, I recall that my help comes from the Lord maker of heaven and earth.  I am so prone to forget this.

 

The circumstances don’t change. It’s my perspective that changes.  I look for the Lord, and he comforts me.  He surrounds me with his presence, and I find peace.

 

Whatever they may be, I pray that you find God’s presence in your circumstances.

 

Love and blessing,

Al

 

(Thanks to Joyce Caperton for directing me to this Psalm)

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OUR CREATOR AND US

Psalm 8:3-5

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

I love this passage of scripture.  It speaks volumes to me.  The vastness of the heavens directs my thinking to just how limitless is our God who created them.  Who is mankind in the midst of the universe?  Well, it turns out that we’re quite important to our creator.  Mankind is the focus of creation to the point that he sent his only begotten Son to die for us.   I pause to think about this, and I am overwhelmed by this thought.

The great creator -of all that we know- is loving, personal, and sacrificial in relationship with his created ones.  I desire to take this into the depths of my soul.  Sometimes, I ignore God and take for granted his presence in my life.  These thoughts are important motivators to stir me from my complacent self- centeredness and remind me just who I am serving.  He is the creator of the universe in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).

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NOT MY WILL BUT YOUR WILL

Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

There are two wills at work here in creation, God’s will and man’s will.  God’s will is that there would be harmony in his creation, that we would love one another.  Man’s will has brought about what we experience daily.  We are subject to man’s will because God gave us free will.  We each one get to choose.  The ultimate goal is that we would, of our own free will, choose God’s will. 

In Matthew 23:37 Jesus says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” 

I am in tears as I hear the heart of God in these words.  How much the words, “but you were not willing,” sting my heart.

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THE GREATEST FORCE

Love is the greatest force in the universe.  The Bible tells us that God, the creator, is love (1 John 4:16).   The world and all that is in it was created in love.  It was love demonstrated by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that brought us salvation.  The redemption of mankind was accomplished by His great act of love.  In love then there is sacrifice.  As Jesus exhibited, love requires the laying down of personal wants and desires for others, or maybe just redirecting our personal wants and desires to others.  Jesus told us in Matthew 22:37-39, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

We obviously have the right to use love, and we are commanded to use it.  First we are to love our God, and second to love our neighbor.  Our neighbor being anyone we encounter.

We have access to the greatest power in the universe!  How amazing is that?  Why aren’t we using this great power?  Oh, it requires sacrificing our own wants and desires.  Bingo!  The whole world could be changed by this great force that we have access to, but it requires sacrifice.

Taking a broader look, I find that there is little use of this greatest force in our world.   I’m not seeing a wide use of love.  Knowing that God is love, we can say there’s a lot of ungodliness being exhibited.  For those who like to blame this on God, perhaps a look in the mirror might clear their perspective.  I’m looking in the mirror, and I find much room for improvement.