Reveal, Redeem, Restore!

Jesus came not only to teach but to save, not only to reveal God to mankind but also to redeem mankind for God. John R. W. Stott

Jesus came to reveal.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve walked with God. However, because of their sin, they distanced themselves from God. When we sin, we put a wall between us and God. Thankfully, Jesus’ death crumbled that wall. We will never have the sort of relationship (on earth) God desired to have with his creation when he made Adam and Eve, as God is Holy and cannot be around sin (which is why he turned away when His Son took on all of the world’s sin on the cross).

However, we are still able to draw close to God in spirit. When we sin, we find it is hard to even meet with God in spirit.

Sometimes that sin is something “earthly”, meaning we have done something in our natural life that goes against God, whether it be a sin of dishonesty, adultery, or unkindness. Sometimes our sin is of a spiritual nature, meaning we grieved the Spirit because we ignored God’s desires for our lives. We heard him call, and we ignored him. Maybe God urged us to pray or read our bible, and we closed off our hearts and went about our day. Maybe he moved us to reach out to a person, yet we decided we didn’t have the time.

Since the day God created earth, his creation (mankind) has turned away. Eve listened to the serpent who questioned what God had really asked of her. Surely God did not say she could not partake of this tree! Right? That is the question the devil asks all of us on a regular basis.
“Surely it is okay for you to do this. Does the bible really say this is unacceptable? What’s the harm, eh?”

When we allow this sort of thought to run our minds and hearts, we separate ourselves from God. Before long, we are so far away, it seems impossible to get back.

This is the story of mankind. Throughout the bible, we see people, who were once close to God, wandering away from Him. Not only are they wandering away, but they are leading their family and friends in a similar direction.

Jesus came to reveal God to us. To show us the way. To lead us back.

Jesus came to redeem.
Not only did Jesus come to show us His Heavenly Father, He came to redeem us as well. He could have come to earth, pointed to heaven, and said, “Hey, that’s God. Serve Him.” He could have lived a great life, taught us many lessons, then left. Adios. Good-bye. But that’s not how it went. He lived a great life. He taught us may lessons. He revealed God to us. Then He died for our sins.

He redeemed us. He bridged the gap. That’s what sin is; sin is a deep, dark pit that prevents us from reaching God. The cross was once a symbol of a horrible death, but now, because of Jesus’ sacrifice, the cross is a symbol of life. It is the bridge that allows us to access God.

However, redemption is a gift. It is something we have to accept, open, and use. If we don’t, it’s useless. Jesus offers salvation to all, but so many refuse it. Others listen to the gospel and say, “Hmm, that sounds good, but I want to do my own thing for a while. Maybe later I’ll open this gift, but, for now, I’m just going to set it aside.”

Jesus will come to restore.
Jesus’ first “visit” to earth was as a lowly man. When He comes again, it will be in all His Heavenly glory. He came to reveal and redeem. When He comes again, it will be to gather His redeemed and restore the Kingdom of God.

It’s Valentine’s Day, and Jesus has given you the best gift of love ever! Have you accepted it? Have you picked it up? Have you opened it? And most of all, have you used it? Have you put on the cloak of salvation? If not now, when?

A Follow-up to my post on postmodernism

I’d like to respond to a note I received on my entry about Postmodernism.

“I think that perhaps Christianity overlooks the fact that there are MANY other very valid religions, such as Buddhism (and my mind is for some reason blanking on others…Judaism, there’s one), who do NOT believe in the Bible, Christ, but still believe in God, a Diety, and still live VERY “moral” lives, some quite rigid. I agree that it’s very easy to say, oh it’s okay, God will love and accept you for who you are (true) without really EXAMINING what God truly wants for the Children of this planet. It occurred to me last night, that we keep pulling God down to our level, therefore “Humanizing” God, rather than trying to pull ourselves UP to God, therefore making ourselves more like God. Should we REALLY be trying to make God into a human being? We use words like He and Father, all the time without really UNDERSTANDING if God even has gender… God is probably a Parent, a Teacher, but is God Human? I think not. I’ve begun to try and eliminate putting a gender to God.

Another thing that occurred to me last night… God as a Parent. If we put ourselves in God’s place, think like a Parent for a minute… what *I* realized is that God probably WANTS us to quit depending on “Him” for everything, at least at some point we MUST grow up spiritually and take responsibility for our abilities to create and stop asking God to lead us everywhere and take care of our every need. I don’t know if that makes sense, but I think it’s what any/every Parent wants for their Child. To become a Separate but perhaps integrated being, fully capable of living in the (spiritual) world as a loving citizen who takes care of themselves and each other.

I’m still working on these “theories” They come to me at night, when I’m attempting to sleep, or when I’m in the shower and just kind of letting my mind ramble. I do not think we come close to knowing God’s Truth, but I do wonder if we shut out the voice of God, even when God is telling us (maybe even MORE so when God is telling us) that we CAN be as powerful as God, and that it’s quite all right to be that way, as it is our ordained right being children of God. God has done little to separate God from Humans, except to give us free will. It is definitely Humans who have separated themselves from God, because of fear, anger, or whatever other “childish” emotions Humans have for not wanting to be one with God…perhaps it’s a part of the growth process, just like our children when they are growing up separate themselves from us so they can become independent thinkers. Of course, I’m personally still trying to figure out many things, and I may be very wrong in ALL of my thinking. I will admit to be just as flawed as the next Human. However, I don’t think I’m entirely too off the mark, either. I just cannot accept the fact that Christianity is the ONLY path to God, especially when so MANY paths exist. I think much of Christianity’s flaws are an arrogance in thinking that this is the ONLY path. Arrogance is such a blinding emotion. The thing is, WHY are Humans here? So they can be ruled by God? Do you really think God, based on what we DO know, really wants to be a ruler? If that was so, we would not have free will, we would not have free thought. God would not sit back and let the world learn at its own pace. So WHY are we here? Pleasure, Pain, and everything in between, why do they exist? Why do Humans have such desires? Is it wrong to desire?

Post modernism is in its own way, trying to find the answers… at least they’re questioning. To blindly accept what is written in the Bible, which really is an interpretation of the Word of God (and as I asked another woman yesterday, are we deaf, blind and dumb to God’s Word within ourselves?) If we can so blindly accept what others say is the Truth of God, then why can we not accept our own Truth of God? Are Humans nowadays SO flawed that they can’t get a handle on God without some Human interpreted BOOK to tell them how to think? Is God really that rigid?

Just some food for thought. I believe in God. I don’t believe in the Bible, and am not entirely sure Jesus Christ ever really existed. There is NO proof that Christ ever existed, other than what’s written in the Bible, and there are MANY other “Christ” like mythologies that came before. If you are EVER in the mood to question this, whatsoever, then check out www.zeitgeist.com. This doesn’t mean that Christ ideals are in any way unworthy… it just means that some beliefs come out of un-questioned, unwavering faith… which can be both a good and a bad thing.

Okay, I’m going to post this… I have probably gone on too much as it is. I also posted this in my diary, because I’m trying to get a handle on the things that are occurring to me, as I have been questioning God and our present situation, which feels pretty painful, but the more I reflect, the more I realize that things are okay. I’m still kind of trying to figure out the lesson though, and it’s not an easy process by any means. “

First- Christianity doesn’t overlook other religions (as you mentioned), it completely disagrees with them. Christianity doesn’t need to take them into consideration. We believe there is one way to Heaven and that way is Jesus Christ.Christianity says that it’s not enough to live a moral life. Be a good person, that’s great, but that won’t earn you a spot in heaven. You “earn” a spot in heaven when you repent of your sins and accept Jesus as your Savior, when you accept that He (who was blameless and sinless) died for your mistakes. Your sins are nailed to the cross.I’m glad people live moral lives. I’m thankful for “good people”, but I believe it is best when our moral lives and goodness are a result of living for Jesus Christ.And yes, God doesn’t want us to depend on him for every-single-little-thing in the way that we don’t do anything and expect things to just fall in our laps. God expects action from us, but he also desires that we look to him for ultimate guidance. Where do we need to be in our lives? What should we do with our finances? The bible tells us to ask for what we need according to God’s will. It doesn’t say, “Ask for whatever you want and God will load it into your lap.”What ultimately separated us from God was the sin of Adam and Eve. From there, it all goes downhill unless we repent. We all need to repent. We have all sinned. We’ve all made mistakes. It’s not the amount of our sins that matters to God. It’s the repentance- it’s accepting Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins.

You don’t have to accept Jesus as the only way, but I believe, with all of my heart, mind and soul, that Jesus is the ONLY way, the TRUTH, and the LIGHT. I believe that all things were created through Him, as the bible says.

You may think these beliefs are silly because they are based on a book, purely by faith, but many who have set out to disprove Christ and the Bible have found themselves as believers (Lee Strobel for one).

I would encourage you to read some of Lee Strobel’s books. He was once an atheist.

I’m going to leave this open for some of my friends and readers to reply/comment on this subject as they are much better at articulating the truth of Christ than I am!

Dana said it well. “I think we shut out the “voice of God” when we close the bible and try to rely on our own thoughts. I do believe that we have “that voice inside us” otherwise known as “The Comforter” or The Holy Spirit…if we are Christian. But even Christians must check their “private revelation” against the Word of God which was handed us in the scripture.

This doesn’t happen in most cases, but Andrea Yates believed she was responding to the voice of God when she murdered her children. Private revelation cannot go against the written Word or it isn’t of God.

There are many other religions and as a Christian I do not have to discount them or disrespect them or their adherents. The religions disagree on many points, but Christianity does not preach conversion by the sword…or the law. We should be tolerant and loving toward all, regardless of their beliefs. But we cannot believe they are going to heaven based on their service for another god.”

You know, we were never meant to be gods. We were never meant to be LIKE gods either. This is what the serpent in the Garden of Eden told Eve, and she fell for it. He told her, if she took part in the fruit of the tree, she would be like God. That’s pure lie, yet the devil is still up to his old tricks in trying to convince us this is possible. It is NOT possible for us to be AS powerful as God. The bible does not suggest that we shut out the voice of God. Our world is crumbling, and I believe it is because we are trying to shut out the voice of God, to eliminate him from our schools, from our states, from our families. It’s a dangerous thing to ignore God’s leadings.

God created free-thinking, free-willed people. What good is it if he FORCES people to worship, love, and praise him? He wants people who worship, love, and praise Him in their own choosing, not because they have no choice, not because they are forced. What is love if it is forced? We would much rather our children do something because they want to, not because we have to force them to or demand it from them.

Postmodernism: a feel good god

I’m reading a book about postmodernism and how it affects our world from a Christian stand point. Darwinism, part of modernism, caught Christians by surprise. What was once a theory is now regarded as fact.

Modernism is basically atheism or deism. Modernism says we are mere machines. There is no God. Science explains everything.

Postmodernism doesn’t rely on fact, theory, or science. It relies on emotion and opinion. Postmodernism says you are a product of your culture, and whatever you choose to believe is your own personal truth. Postmodernists would say there are many absolute truths, or absolute truth is whatever you want it to be, or maybe there is no absolute truth at all. While modernism is cut and dry, postmodernism is all over the place.

Postmodernism is the people who say, “All ways lead to heaven.” Postmodernism says, “We have to be accepting and respectful of all belief systems and religions.” Postmodernism constantly contradicts itself. Postmodernism says our culture is our truth, but also says we need to blend other cultures into our lives. Postmodernism says, “Live how you want. Right and wrong is all relative. It’s what you want it to be.” Postmodernism asks us to be so open minded that our brains fall out.

Is it possible to be a postmodernist and Christian as well? I see much of this in today’s world- Christians who want to blur the lines of God, of Truth, of wrong. We don’t worship a postmodernist God. Even if we blur the boundaries, cross the lines… God does not. We can distort the truth, but the truth is still just that- THE TRUTH. We cannot change Truth, but in our distorting it, we do the world a disservice. We give others the idea that God’s truth is open to interpretation. It isn’t. We’re telling people, “God accepts you as you are,” but we fail to mention, “But he doesn’t leave you as you are.” We tell people that they can live how they want, go to church a couple times a month (or year), have a bible collecting dust on a shelf, and basically be a good, moral person and they’ll earn a ticket to heaven.

It doesn’t work that way. God asks us, as His children, to stand for right, not smudge it, distort it, or pervert it. If we are willing to stand, God will hold us up.

I suppose it all boils down to this. As Christians in the United States, we are incredibly fortunate. We’re not really persecuted much for our beliefs. Maybe that’s because we’ve mixed and mashed our beliefs. Maybe it’s because we’ve failed to stand for truth. Even so, in many countries, those who stand for God, die for God. They are martyrs for Christ.

Are we ashamed to stand for God because it often means going against the grain of today’s society? Are we afraid to offend?

Well folks, the gospel is offensive. The gospel tells us we are SINNERS not WORTHY of heaven. The gospel says we will all surely go to hell if we do not accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the one who left his throne in heaven to spread Truth on earth, to die for our sins. Yes, our sins are nailed to that cross. The cross filled the gap between our cliff and God’s throne.

I’ll be back with the title of the book I’m reading (I’ve forgotten it). I’d like to encourage you all to read it and take a look into how postmodernism has contorted and misshapened our beliefs. We must restore Truth. We must not accept a watered down, distorted truth, because, my friends, that’s no truth at all. That’s a lie.