Jesus: God's Eternal Solution

Once a year, Israel celebrated the Day of Atonement. The High Priest would wash, and sacrifice a bull for his personal sin, and the sin of his family. Then, he would enter the Holy of Holies -- the heart, and core, of the temple. The place where God would reside among his people. And he would bring with him two goats.

He would sacrifice one goat, and sprinkle the blood on the Ark of the Covenant. The sacrifice would satisfy God's judgment, and turn his wrath away from Israel for another year.

Then, he would pray over the other goat, and symbolically, lay all the sins of the people on the goat. Another man would take the goat away, and release it into the wilderness. Thus, sin was removed from among the people. 

Israel was required to perform this ritual, year after year, or the wrath of God would rest on the people. The contamination of sin would sit in their midst.

This was the Law's means of dealing with God's condemnation, and sin's corruption.

But God revealed a way to accomplish this outside of the Law. God gave his family a blameless, forgiven position in his presence. He gave it to anyone, who believes (give allegiance to) Jesus. Because Jesus redeemed his family, justifying them. Because of Christ's sacrifice, the eternal Judge declares: "the penalty is paid in full."

This sacrifice covers everyone. Jew and gentile. All have sinned. All have God's grace, and mercy, available to them.

Jesus was the sacrificed goat, because he satisfied God's judgment, and God's condemnation.

Jesus was released goat, because he removed sin from among God's family. And, rather than one year, his sacrifice is effective for all eternity.

God was just with the sin of the past, because Christ, and the Cross, spans all eternity. God is just with the sin of the present, because he gives room in the family to everyone, who comes to him now on the basis of Christ's blood.

Sin's penalty is broken. Sin's power is broken. We stand with God, because Jesus stood for us. We can know the Father. We can be -- really be! -- his sons. 

Full Life In Christ

God designed the world, and the people in the world. When we think about design, we tend to think mechanics, formulas, physics, and machines. But the genius behind God's design is that he has moved beyond machines, and formulas.

It is not that he above making machines. Mapping the human genome has uncovered dozens of cellular "machines" that facilitate, and cooperate with DNA, in the manufacture of proteins, and other processes.

I have posted in the past about the "fuels" a human being needs to live optimally. A person can function without joy. A person can function without beauty. But to function optimally, a person needs love, joy, beauty, purpose, and peace. 

And followers of Jesus say that a person was designed to have a relationship with the Father, Son and Spirit. Love, and joy, are completed in that relationship.

It is not that love and joy cannot come from other sources. Love, and joy, from other people is part of wholeness. But there is a qualitative difference in love, and joy, from the Father. It models what love, and joy, among people was intended to be.

Love, joy, and beauty have no place in a machine. They have no place in a formula. They are instilled into creation by the Father's creative will, in agreement with his design. He infuses his nature into the design.

Jesus said one of his purposes was to give mankind a full, and complete, life. By giving allegiance to Jesus, people return to a position to receive that fullness.

Life is now too corrupt, too broken, for people to experience fullness. But, we can begin a relationship with the Father, we can began a lifestyle governed by that relationship. We can begin to grow in, and experience, that fullness.

The design of the Father includes a lifestyle that leads to fullness. Love is the primary key to unlock the fullness. Love for the Father. Love for people.

Scripture says that when we give our allegiance to Jesus, the Holy Spirit makes his home in the core of our being. The Spirit includes us in the Father's family. He is the seal, and guarantee, of our relationship with the Father. He is our connection to God. He is the channel of God's love, grace, guidance, ands transformation.

Scripture says that part of the Spirit's work in us, is empowering us to partner with him, in his purposes. He empowers our personality, and character, to give us a place in his strategy. Sometimes, it is a long term placement to serve in some way. Billy Graham's decades long service as an evangelist is one example of this. Sometimes, it is a one time act of service. Praying for someone to be healed from a physical disease, and the person is healed. And it may never happen again.

But Scripture also says it is not this empowering that has God's priority. It is love. If we express God's given power without expressing it in love, Scripture says it is a worthless act. It is love, which gives power to the works of God. It is love, which is the lynch pin of God's design of people. It is love, which motivated creation, the incarnation, the miracles, the cross, and the resurrection.

Following Jesus

After Jesus died on the cross, after he rose from the dead, and just beofre he returned to the Kingdom of his Father, he gave his followers their marching orders. Modern corporations might call this their statement of purpose.

Jesus said, wherever his followers wnet, they should take his message. They should find people, who are open to spiritual things, and share Jesus' message with them. And because he is calling people to him, by his Spirit, they will find people who want to follow him too. When they find someone who chooses to follow him, first, they will immerse him\her in water, as a public, symbolic declaration of their chose to follow Jesus. Second, like parents, they will teach this person how to live.

They will teach him how to "feed" himself. They will teach him how to treat others. They will teach him about his heavenly Father, how to communicate to him, and how to hear him speak back to us.

Men have studied the Bible. The have tried to understand God, and have laid systems to help others understand God. This is good in that it helps people go further, faster. But it can cause problems as well.

Jesus' marching orders were to go, find open people, share Jesus' teaching, and help them to learn, and obey, all of his commands. (Including this one to go, find, share, and help … which usually gets left by the wayside.)

People, no matter how hard they study, how diligent, and conscientious, to avoid errors, miss stuff. And people, who insist on following someone's system, run the risk of missing stuff too.

Moreover, they are following a system, instead of a person. Jesus didn't say: Follow an "ism." He siad: Follow me.

We need to learning how to read the Bible for ourselves. We need to learn to pray for ourselves. We need to learn to hear God speak to us ourselves. Then, we need to learn to practive what we read, or heard, ourselves. These are probably the foremost skills for a follower of Christ to develop.

Scripture says we are Christ's ambassadors. Scripture says his family is a kingdom of priests. We are all God's representatives. We are all intermediaries between God and people. Each one should be able to go, find, share, and help. Each one should be going, finding, sharing, and helping.

In the places where Christianity has existed for centuries, people have been trained to sit. They have been trained to be audiences. But Scripture declares that each person who chooses to follow Jesus is his priest. Maye we should not all be standing up, and doing something, at the same time. That might cause a little confusion. But, sometime, in some place, we all should be doing something priestly.

Being God's People

We are invited to become God's holy people. The word "holy" in English has a connotation of being especially pure, and spiritual. The word in the original language contains more of a though of "separated for," or "dedicated to."

Becoming a Christian is a choice of allegiances We are choosing to step across a line, and dedicating ourselves to a relationship with the Father of All. We are choosing to adopt his priorities, his standards, and his values, as our own. We choose his family as our family. We choose his Kingdom as our Kingdom.

We are not negating our connection to our own personal families, nations, or communities. We are expanding our relationships. We are expanding our commitments.

As God designed the world, and people, he instructions about life are wiser, truer, and more congruent with our design. Living in agreement with his standards brings the world closer to his intentions. It will make the world a brighter, better, and more healthy place.

The world doesn't agree, of course. It has its own ideas. Groups of people band together to promote their view of better. And they opose other groups view of better.

"Civility" was a buzzword circulating in the US a while ago. The political climate had gotten so caustic, even the politicians called for a different way of treating each other. The buzz was short-lived.

God's standard is: "Love you enemies." Which can be parsed as: "Treat everyone with love." Speak about your enemies the same way you speak about your friends, and family. Serve, bless, and encourage without reguard to race, creed, color, ethnicity, or political affiliation.

Jesus died for his enemies, so that they might be able to be right with God, and become part of his family. Jesus died for those who hate him. We have given allegiance to Jesus, and he has become our model. Not to praise, though we should. No to acclaim, though we should. But to practice. To live, as he lived.

Identity(3)

The Pharisees were a group of Jews, who lived during Jesus' day. They took God's admonitions to obey him very seriously. They studied God's law. They memorized whole books of the Old Testament. They developed a list of 614 rules that people should obey. Some of them were laws written in the Bible. Some of them were commentary on those Law.

For example, one of the Ten commandments was to keep the Sabbath holy. God wanted to set apart a day for physical rest, and spiritual rest, refreshment, and reflection. So, God instructed people not to work on the Sabbath. So, the Pharisees defined what "work" was. If it is the Sabbath, and you are a farmer, is it work to feed you cows? If it is the Sabbath, and you have to go somewhere, how far can you walk before it becomes work?

So, they did not have a very high opinion of people, who were not a serious about obeying God as they were. And they really down on people, who did not seem to try to follow God.

Then, there was Jesus.

I can see the Pharisees being both intrigued with Jesus, because of what and how he taught, and disgusted, because he did not follow God like they did.

They watched Jesus spend time with people, who did not try to follow God. He ate with them. In this culture, eating with someone honored them. To "honor" means to act in a way that demonstrates something has value. So, Jesus is saying, these people, who do not try to follow God, are valuable. Which is ridiculous to the Pharisees. Only those who follow God are valuable.

So, Jesus tells three stories.

One story was about a shepherd with 100 sheep. And one of the sheep wanders off. So, when the shepherd realizes he has only 99, he goes and looks for the lost sheep. And when he finds it, he celebrates. But it's only one sheep. What's the big deal? The sheep were his livelihood. He cared for his family, paid the mortgage, and sent his children to college with those sheep. He sold the wool. Maybe he sold the meat. Maybe he got more sheep from the one. And maybe his reputation as a shepherd was tarnished because of lost sheep. The fact that he went to look for the sheep showed that it was valuable.

The second story was about a woman with 10 coins. She discovers one coin missing. so, she cleans the house. And when she finds it, she celebrates. But it's only one coin. What's the big deal? There is a lot of opinion about the coin. Maybe it was part of her dowry. Maybe it was part of a necklace, so missing a coin made it look funny. Maybe it was just money. This particular coin was commonly given for a day's labor. So, it was the amount of money a person earns in one day. Suppose someone gets a temporary job for ten days, at $100 a day. At the end of the day, the boss gives the person ten Benjamins. (Ten 100-dollar bills.) When the person gets home, he puts the money on the counter, washes his hands, and, when grabbing for the money, realizes there are only nine bills. Who would not look for that bill? Check pockets, the floor. They would probably go back out to the car, to make sure it was not left behind. The fact that she looked for the coin showed that it was valuable.

And Jesus told these two stories, because he knew the Pharisees would agree, these things were valuable. If they were lost, we needed to look for them. And Jesus equated these lost things with people who did not follow God. God valued them. God wanted them back. So, he was looking for them.

Then, he goes onto a third story about a family: a father, and two sons. One son asks the father to divide up the property (probably a family farm) and give him his share. So, the father does. The son sells his portion of the family farm, and leaves. Does the son honor the father? Since, it was his inheritance, he is saying to his father: "Your only value to me is when you are dead." He certainly did not value any relationship with the father.

Does the son value the farm? No, he sells it. He could have provided for a family for a long time. He does not value the land. He does not value the lifestyle on a farm. Nor does he value his community, who are also farmers, because he leaves. He rejects everything about his life, and becomes, in effect, an enemy to his community.

He has a wonderful time for a while, but then, he has problems. He runs out of money. He runs out of friends. And he takes the only job he is qualified for to try and provide for himself. And it is not enough to pay the rent, or buy food.

Then, he realizes his best option is to go home, and get a job on his father's farm. So, he heads home.

Jesus say that the father sees his son coming from far away. Some have suggested that the father is scanning the horizon, looking for his son. Possibly true. But, maybe he is checking out the condition of his crops, or maybe he is just enjoying the sunset. But he does recognize his son from far away. And he sees that he is in poor condition. He left with sandals. He returns with none. He left with a pretty good wardrobe. What he has is in poor condition. So, he has compassion. And he runs to meet his son.

Some have suggested that it was undignified for older men to run, in that culture. So, running demonstrates the father's heart. He was so glad to see the son, that dignity didn't matter. Some has suggested that since the son made himself an enemy to his community by rejecting them, that the family's neighbors might express their displeasure for the son, by throwing stones at him. So, the father runs to protect his son.

When the father meets the son, the son begins confessing his mistakes, and his disrespect. But the father doesn't listen. He orders sandals, a robe, and a ring be brought. These are signs of being welcomed, and admitted, back into the father. Then, he orders a party. There is an animal that was being saved for a very special occasion. The oldest son's wedding, maybe. And the father uses that animal to signal it is a very special occasion. In that culture, eating with someone showed honor, value. Feeding someone showed more honor. And the bigger the feast, the more the honor.

The son rejected his family, his life, and his community. He became an enemy. When he returned, he admitted his wrong. And the father initiates acceptance, and restoration.

This is a picture of God's heart, God's value system. He created people. He values people. And he values relationship with them. He is serious concerning their lifestyle and behavior. But it is not his first priority. Relationship comes first. We'll deal with behavior afterwards.

Identity (2)

In the beginning of the Bible, the writer describes the creation of the world, and the creation of Man. The bible says that Man was created in the image of God. What does that mean?

If we sort a list of god's attributes, they can be put into one of two categories: infinite, or personal. Since, Man does not obviously share the infinite attributes with God, he must share the personal attributes with God. God and Man are both personal. The both have a will, make choices, make moral judgments, communicate, and create. They both give, and receive, love. They both interact with beauty, either by appreciation and enjoyment, or by creating.

It is this higher order of personality that separates Man from the rest of creation. It is personality that gives Man value. God gave Man a distinct nature, a distinct place, and a distinct role in the world.

A diamond has value based on its nature. It value is demonstrated by how hard someone works to receive it, or retrieve it if it is lost.

Jesus' death did not give Man value. God had already given Man value, when he created Man, and chose to have a relationship with him, and chose to love him.

But, sin broke that relationship. God "lost" his relationship with Man. And Jesus died to regain for God something he valued highly. He regained a relationship with people. He regained a relationship with you, me … and has the potential to regain a relationship with everyone who has not chosen to enter into relationship with the Father.

Sanctification is the process of transformation from the current reality to God's ideal.

If there were no sin in the world, what would people look like? What would people act like? They would look, and act, like Jesus. From creation, God intended that people would be unique expressions of God's creativity, and the would be pictures of Jesus. They would be perfect, like he was perfect.

So, one could say we are being transformed into Christ's image. Or you could say, we are being restored into who God intended us to be, in the first place.

Although, I have not found a passage in Scripture that specifically states that God designed each person individually, there are enough passage that hint at it, so many people think that God did take the time to think, plan, and design each person.

Imagine the God of eternity taking a couple of thousand years to consider, and plan, how each one of us would work. What will this one like? What will they be good at? What place in my purposes will they play? And then, he moves to the next person. (Or he spends a couple of thousand years planning each person all at the same time.)

The word "weave" is used to describe God's creation process of human beings in a few passages. Weaving a tapestry is a painstaking process, involving a lot of math, patience, and intentional effort. One does not weave a tapestry by chance.

If God values people, because they are made in his image, like every other person, how much more a uniquely designed masterpiece.

There is another passage, where people are described as God's handiwork, or masterpiece. Great artists, like Leonardo or Rembrandt, have created a dozen masterpieces. God has created billions. Each one is intentionally created, and prepared, to fill a special role in his plan.

Identity

Every day, we get bombarded with a ton of messages. Many of them are trying to get us to take a particular action. Many of them are trying to affect how we see ourselves.

TV commercials are a good example. “You should use our product. It works well. It is efficient, and easy to use. Besides, all the cool people use it.” So, if you use that product, you are cool. If you don’t, you are not cool.

I think political parties do the same thing. “We are for this. We promote that. This will be good for people. Because we are doing all this, we are the good guys!” And if you support what they support, you are one of the good guys. And, of course, if you don’t support what they support, you are one of the bad guys.

Identity is the word most people use to “name” how people view, or describe, themselves. Everyone has an identity. There are differences in how aware, and how much understanding, each person has of their individual identity.

But identity is part of God’s design. Scripture says, to quote Stephen Covey, all things are created twice. Meaning something is first created in a person’s heart. Then, it is created in the world. So, our identity is part of the structure for this creative process. If you are going to make pizza, the list of ingredients, and the process of making pizza go through your heart processes. If a person has assumed “being kind of clumsy” as part of their identity, they may say “I can’t make pizza, because I am not able to roll out the crust. Better choose something else.”

Everything a person experiences are included in this self-picture. Different experiences impact the picture differently. Some reinforce parts of the picture. Some totally upset the picture. People have similar experiences. Most people go to school. Most people go to school for the first time. One could assume they would have a similar effect on people. I have a friend who is an airline pilot. This is a skill that has a unique process of learning. There are similarities with driving a car, but not quite. There are problems that do not occur anywhere else. There is a method of problem solving that does not occur anywhere else. I have discovered from talking with my friend, that pilots do not look at the weather the same way other people do.

Families are one of the fundamental places that identity formation takes place. Imagine you are six years old, and have just done the “most dumbest” thing you have ever done. It was the “most dumbest” thing you will ever do, in your entire life! And, of course, you father comes to talk to you about it.

Your father could say: “That was really dumb! You need to learn to think things through a little more carefully. Just don’t do anything like that anymore.” How does this add to your picture? You made a mistake. You need to learn, so that you can grow, improve, and do better. You are becoming a better person.

Or your father could say: “You are really dumb!” How does this add to your picture? You can’t learn. You can’t grow. You can’t improve. You will never be a better person. Why even try?

One important thing to realize: there are some really bad fathers in the world, who do not have a heart for their children. However, most fathers do have a heart for their children. So, if your father said “You are”, most likely, he meant, “That was”, and it didn’t make it out of his mouth correctly. He made a mistake.

Another important thing to realize: Yes, our experiences affect our identity. But we need to agree with it. If your father said “You are”, you do not have to agree with it. You can say, “No, I’m not. Yes, I made a mistake. But I will grow. I will become wiser. I will become a better person. And I won’t do anything like that again.”

Now, imagine once again, you are six years old. You are the youngest of six children. And you have just completed the volcano science project for school. (A person makes a model volcano, usually out of clay. Then, the person adds a combination of chemicals to the “volcano,” that react, and cause the model to look like a real volcano.) You take you finished project to your father, to show and explain it to him. Unbeknownst to you, all your brothers and sisters also did the volcano science project. And when your father did the volcano science project, he got an A+++. So, he could say, “You should have painted your model this color.” Or “You should use these chemicals, instead of these chemicals.” But, what he does say, as you explain the project to him, is: “Wow! That’s amazing!”

Any experience can add positively, or negatively, to our identity. We can choose to receive the input. We can also realize that we give input. And we can choose what kind of input that will be.

The enemy also sends messages. The enemy wants to detract from God’s glory. Meaning: He wants to make God look bad. And, since he is in a war with God, and he knows he is going to lose, he is miserable. So, he wants to make everyone else miserable too. Every message he sends is meant to either make God look bad, or make people miserable. He will always say to people: “Do this dumb thing.” Then he will say: “You are dumb.”

God sends messages too. He designed people. He designed an optimal way of living. Optimal living is: (1) having a relationship with God, (2) a particular lifestyle, and (3) a particular identity. The closer life is to optimum, the better God looks, and the less misery people experience.

In subsequent posts, I want to look at a few of the Father’s messages in particular.

God Will Meet Anyone

I know a man, who was once a pretty bad person. He drank to excess. He did drugs. He sold drugs. He tells a story about planning to rob another drug dealer, and maybe, even, killing that drug dealer. (Neither actually took place.)

One day, someone gave him a book that describes what the Bible says about the future, and the final days before Jesus' return. While reading the book, he saw a connection between the Bible, and current events. And he had an epiphany. If what the Bible says about current events is true, maybe what it says about everything is true!

He became very conscious of his sin. And he became very conscious of his Saviour. He gave his allegiance to Jesus. He changed the way he lived to follow God's way.

I know another man, who, when he was nine years old, became aware there was a God. He was real. He was true. He was the Creator. He was the King. Which meant he was the Final Authority. Which meant for life to be real, meaningful, and in agreement with the Truth, he need to be on God's side. He need to get in line with who God was, and what God said.

If you would have asked him if he did wrong things, he would have said yes. But, at nine years old, he was not conscious of sin. But, he was conscious of God. So, he gave his allegiance to Jesus. And he chose to follow God's way.

And then, there was Paul. Paul was a Pharisee. Pharisees seemed to be hyper-religious Jews. In the Scriptures, God tells Israel that if they did not obey his commands, one of the results would be getting conquered by foreign powers. And they had been conquered by Assyria, Babylon, and, currently, Rome. So, God must not be happy with them, because they were not obeying him. So, they came up with a system, that if they kept it, they were confidant they would please God.

The system had 614 laws. Some were laws written in Scripture. Some were clarifications of God's law. For example, God commanded the people keep the Sabbath holy. Part of keeping the Sabbath holy was not working on the Sabbath. So, if you were a farmer, do you feed your cows on the Sabbath? If you have to go somewhere, how far can you walk, before it comes work? (Apparently, it's 2000 cubits. Or 3500 feet. Or 1070 meters.)

And Paul kept the system. Paul writes of himself, that he was "righteous according to the Law." Until Jesus rocked Paul's life on the road to Damascus, he viewed himself as being right with God, as keeping the Law. He would probably say that he was not perfect. But when he failed, he followed God's procedure, and so, was right with God.

But he did get flatttened by Jesus. He saw God, and God's expectations, in a totally new light. He gave his allegiance to Jesus. He changed the way he lived to follow God's way.

In my three stories, we have three different responses to sin, right, and wrong. We have three different, initial responses to God, and God's expectations. We have three different ways these men connected to Jesus. But all three chose to give allegiance to Jesus. All three chose to walk in a way that followed God's way.

All three walked different paths, but God is flexible enough, and capable enough, to meet anyone, anywhere they are, and to reveal his presence, and his love, to them. And he can lead anyone on their unique path of following him, and filling their place in his family.

The Kingdom (2)

God created the world, and was Lord over all creation. The enemy deceived the first people, and they brought rebellion, and enmity, into their relationship with God. And the enemy, momentarily, ruled creation. But, when Jesus came, he defeated the enemy.He nailed sin onto the cross. Lordship over creation was restored to the King.

During World War II, the US army invaded Iwo Jima. If the Japanese army could have repelled the Americans, and keep them off the beaches, they would win the battle. But they could not. Once, the US army secured a foothold on Iwo Jima, the results of the battle were a forgone conclusion. But knowing the conclusion did not mean the Japanese would surrender. They fought fiercely, and stubbornly, for every inch of that small island.

This is the position the enemy is in. Defeated, but refusing to surrender. Determined to fight to the bitter end. Take as many as he can with him. Make as much misery as he can.

God's family, as his agents, have the role of the marines on Iwo Jima. Remove the enemy. Establish God's rule over all the land. God's family does not stand alone, because their Father stands with them.

But the question is: how does God's family establish God's rule over the land? The marines used guns, and bullets, to secure Iwo Jima. With do God's people use? What are their tools, and weapons? This war has different goals, and different objectives. So, the weapons are different.

Of course, the Kingdom's greatest weapon is Jesus. The cross has defeated the enemy. His power — death — has been broken.

Another weapon is a life given in allegiance to Jesus. When a person gives his allegiance to Jesus, the Holy Spirit makes his home in the person's heart. New spiritual DNA is injected. The sure transformation, into a life that God's designed, begins.

The life is so different, and so contrary to what is expected, it seems to some people like a brand new life. And Paul does describe it as new. Indeed, some people compare the old life, of someone they know, with their new life. And the difference between the two is enough to motivate them to give their allegiance to Jesus.

But there is more. As God's family live as designed (read: obey God's word) the change the spiritual atmosphere of their society and culture. There is a supernatural aspect of this. There is a natural aspect of this.

The supernatural aspect consists of an invitation to the Holy Spirit to live in our midst. The lives of God's family invite God's presence; and they do not live in ways that repel God's presence. And God's presence affects anything that it touches.

The natural aspect consists of more, and more, people living according to God's word. God's primary commands are to love God, and love people. If God's family is living according to love, it would revolutionize society. Just driving on I-95 would be calmer, and more peaceful, because drivers would be patient, and kind.

God's children are perhaps his greatest asset, as they invite the Spirit into circumstances, and conduct themselves by his standards, values, and commands.

The Kingdom

When Jesus began his ministry, he proclaimed that the Kingdom onf God was near.

God took a family, multiplied them, and established them as a nation. God told the family, if they followed him, he would bless them, Then, they would take what he blessed them with, and pass it onto the world. The world would receive God's blessing through them.

Then, the world would learn what it is like to choose allegiance to the God of Israel. Then, the world would give him their allegiance too.

Israel gave allegiance to God in words. And there were times they followed him in deeds, and practice, also. But, overall, they chose to follow something other than the God of the universe.

So, God chose another way to inject his Kingdom into the world. He became a man, a part of Israel, and began the process of building a family … a spiritual family.

When, a person gives his allegiance to Jesus, God's spirit makes his home in the inner core of that person. God's family is not linked by a common physical DNA. It is linked by a common spiritual DNA.

And God will use his family to expand his Kingdom.

A kingdom is anything the king reigns over. In human terms, it is a territory that a human king controls. In God's Kingdom, it is the people, who give him their allegiance.

To look at it another way, God is the Lord, the Master, the King, of all life. He is not just Lord of Sunday morning. He is not just the Master of the church. He is the King of all. All people, all plants and animals, are in his Kingdom. All countries, all peoples, and all institutions, are in his domain.

Sometimes, it does not look like he has dominion. Probably, every living person is disturbed by the lack of love, peace, and order — both as individuals, and internationally. But I think the reason for God's restraint is multi-layered. Meaning, there is no single "this is why."

One layer is: God has decided, it is better for people to choose their allegiances. He wants us to give our allegiance to him. But he wants it to be voluntary, wholehearted, and fully aware.

Another layer is: There are many now, and many yet to be born, who have not given their allegiance to the Lord of the universe, but who will. So, he is patient with everyone, to provide a chance for everyone, and an opportunity for some. And he has given his family the opportunity to demonstrate to the world, that he is the Lord of life, what that means, and how that works.

Many of God's children have drawn a box around what that means. Some act as though God is only Lord of Sunday morning, inside a special building. Some act as though God's only concern is individual salvation, and personal morals. Some act as though God only reveals himself through particular supernatural acts, and practices.

The Kingdom of God should look more like William Carey.

Carey left England, for India, in 1792. He shared the gospel, and saw thousands come to Christ. He taught himself Greek, Hebrew, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Hindi, Bengali, and Sanskrit. He translated the Scriptures into several Indian languages. And he translated several works of Indian literature in English. He built schools, hospitals, and at least, one university. He combated many cruel social practices. and saw the death of some of them. He engaged life on almost every front, and left it better for his engagement.

Not bad for a guy, whose only formal training was in the manufacture, and repair, of shoes.

Disciple The Nations

The last thing Jesus told his disciples to do, was "to disciple the nations." How do we do that?

First, we baptize them. Baptism has always been a symbol of washing away an old life, and moving into a new life. John's baptism was, specifically, a baptism of repentance. "To repent" means to "change one's mind." So, baptism is a symbolic declaration of choosing a new path in life. And if you are being baptized in Jesus' name,  you are choosing his path as you path.

So, part of making disciples is assisting in the mind-changing, new path choosing, process. There are a number of methods, plans and schemes, to accomplish this. Often, surrounding a campaign, or a celebrity. And I don't want to give the impression that these are necessarily wrong. They are pursued by people with good motives, good intentions, and right desires. I will remind us that we are all God's priests, God's ambassadors, and God's family. We all represent God to the world, and the world to God. Each child of God should have the ability to explain Christ's message, to facilitate a decision of repentance, a decision to follow Christ, and the public declaration of baptism. It should not necessarily be a campaign. It should be part of the lifestyle.

Part of making disciples is facilitating a change in the spiritual atmosphere. There is a war going on. The ultimate goal for God's family in the war is the proclamation, and demonstration, of God's glory. The demonstration has a number of parts — increasing the size of God's family is an important part — none of which the enemy wants to happens. So, the enemy lays siege to the family of God. He attacks, assaults, spies on, sabotages, disrupts supplies, and communications, harasses, and, in any way possible, works to prevent the proclamation of God's glory.

So, disciple making involves waging war in the spiritual realm. It involves prayer: to disrupt the enemy's tactics, and strategy, to strengthen his family, for the Father to act to move his kingdom further, and to celebrate what God has done, and what he will do.

Walking with Christ is both practical, and mystical. The life of God's family is simultaneously in both arenas. And they need to act in both arenas.

The second part of disciple making is to teach obedience. Knowledge is important. Acting on, or practicing, the knowledge is more important.

In many parts of God's family, knowledge is raised up. Expectations of participation in God's kingdom center in only a few areas. Again, we are all God's priests, and God's ambassadors. We all ought to practice every area of God's instruction. Some will be better in some areas. Some will have more opportunity in some areas. (And we are Christ's body.) But, there is no area of God's instruction — including disciple making — that we can say we don't have to practice.

Let me be clear. Knowledge, and understanding, are important. But, if it stops there, a person is not truly following Christ. God designed us. If it were not for sin in the world, and in our lives, we would act, speak, think, and feel like Jesus. We may not be able to do that. But that is God's aspiration for us. And it should be the same for us, the people in our lives, and all the family of God. My goal in sharing this is not to induce guilt. It is to encourage each of us to take serious consideration of what we are not practicing, and how we could start.

More Than Expected

Paul was a Jew, and a Pharisee. The Jews knew they were God's people. God declared it in Scripture. He demonstrated it in their history.

The Pharisees realized God was not too pleased with the Jews. He declared it in Scripture. He demonstrated it in their history. After all, that's why there were Roman armies wandering around their countryside.

The Pharisees decided that getting back on God's good side would solve a lot of their problems. So, they developed a system hyper-religiosity, which they believed pleased God. If they could get enough of their fellow Jews to agree, everything would be OK. And Paul was in enthusiastic agreement. That's why Paul was so irritated with those pesky Christians. They did not keep the system. They did not please God. They perpetuated all that was wrong in the world.

Then, some angel whacked Paul between the eyes with a 2 by 4. (Metaphorically speaking, of course.)

Jesus spoke to him. He was blinded. He was healed. So much happened, that he went on vacation, to clear his head.

And while he was on vacation, he read his Bible … a lot! And he saw stuff in a whole new light. So much so, that he gave his allegiance to Jesus, became a disciple, and a messenger of God.

One of the things he saw differently was God's plans for the world. God's plan was for all people groups to become part of God's family. Both Jew and gentile would become part of God's family. Both would be united to Christ. Both would be God's heirs. Both would be part of the same body. Both would be used to demonstrate God's purposes, and God's character.

Realizing this, Paul was moved to pray. Prayer is a number of things. One, it is an alignment of a person's inner man with God. Two, it is an agreement with God's purposes, inviting God to bring his purposes to completion. And a few other things.

The first thing Paul prays for was inner strength. God is inviting everyone back into relationship with him, into his family, into transformation, and away from allegiance to the world, and the person's past. For some, turning away from current patterns, and current allegiances, is very difficult. It takes a certain amount of resolve to turn to something new. Especially, if the new requires a high trust component. So, Paul prays for a strengthening of resolve, to move into a trust relationship with Jesus.

And, as we trust God, give him our allegiance, we become united to Christ. Jesus makes his home in our hearts. It is Jesus' eternal presence with us, that completes our becoming united with Christ. And it is that connection that activates every other good thing that arises from knowing God. Forgiveness, justification, the expunging of our sin, and God's restoration project in our lives, all stem from Christ's sacrifice. And we receive all these benefits, because we are united to Christ. Whatever Jesus received, we receive it also, through our connection to him.

As we are united with Christ, we are like a tree, that plunges its roots into the earth, to receive water, food, and other factors of growth, and increase. But instead of the earth, our roots sink into the love of God. We are fed, refreshed, and provided for, out of the abundance of God's love. Certainly, one part of growth, and transformation, is an ever-increasing understanding of the extend of God's love. How far, how deep, will it go? How long will it pursue? If it has already borne the sins of the world, what will it not do … keeping agreement with his nature, and character?

We are united with Christ, connected to the Father's love, and are being "fed" via that connection. We are learning the extent of God's love. How big it is. How much it covers. How far it will go.

And God says we will be full. We will be restored. We will be complete. Indeed, God's power is already working in us. And it will do far more, than we ask, or think.

Persecution

As you are reading this, the most populous country in the world is giving signals that it has begun a campaign of oppression, and repression, of philosophies, and religions, other than the one supported by the government.

Individuals, families, and churches are facing persecution, prison, and, possibly, death. This was the reaction of Rome in the days of Jesus. This has been the reaction of governments since that time.

How should God's family respond?

• Scripture says love your enemies.

We could respond with "an eye for an eye," but Jesus said to respond in a way that is the opposite. Governments persecute, and hurt. God's family should love, serve, and bless.

• You are the body of Christ.

God's family has many parts. All parts make up his family, no matter who, or how different. Disciples of Jesus in Asia are the right hand. Disciples in North America are the left hand. What happens to them does matter to us. Each of us needs to position our hearts with them.

We need to initiate an offensive of prayer. We should pray for: protection and provision, penetration of the Spirit into government officials, workers of the gospel, planting of seed, watering of the crop, and a reaping of the harvest.

• It backfired with Rome.

When persecution was the strategy of dealing with God's family for the Roman empire, when arrest, prison, and dying in the arena were tactics Rome used, it backfired. When God's family responded to persecution with peace, and joy, when God's family responded to persecution with love, and blessing, the responses proclaimed the gospel was true, and more powerful than the government, and its philosophy. People gave their allegiance to God in spite of the persecution. Satan's tools, which were intended to push people away from God, resulted in people being drawn to him.

We should pray for God's spirit to fill this boomerang effect.

Scripture says Satan will attack anyone who gives their allegiance to Jesus, and seeks to live a life of obedience.

Scripture also says we love, and honor Christ, if we live lifestyles of obedience. Almost like being attacked is an indicator of obedience, of love toward God. I sometimes wonder if God's family in the west is really being "persecuted" for acting like jerks.

God's family does need to stand for truth. the most important truth, the one we need to practice above all, is love. We cannot do the first, and forget the second. we need to promote the counter-cultural stands of God's kingdom, of which love is first.

And we need to remember our brothers and sisters, who are in need, who are suffering, by our love, definitely by our prayers, and maybe with our physical assets, or our physical labor.

Essential Good News

The last several years. I have become involved with a number of international students. The local university hosts several hundred students each year. Some come to get their under graduate degree. some come to get a graduate degree. Some are professors, who are taking advantage of a different set of resources for research.

Some of these don't connect with people of the host country. They only associate with others from their own country, language, and culture.

Other get involved with all sorts of social interaction. They get to know local people. They travel, engage in local culture, including holiday observances. (This year, I had a Thanksgiving dinner with 55 people. Only ten were American.)

And some get involved with genuine followers of Jesus. They might attend a church service. They might attend a Bible study. They might have some sort of spiritual discussion.

So, the question is this: How do you explain the gospel to someone, who has never read the Bible, never attending a Sunday service, has had no exposure to Jesus, but wonders what Christianity is all about?

Or another way to ask the question: What is the essential, most basic explanation of the gospel?

It seems to me there are two parts. The first part: believing that -- let's call it -- the Bible narrative is true.

God created the world perfect. He created people perfect. He designed the world, and the people, to be one, giant family, with himself as the ideal Father of everyone. He intended to be close to, talk to, encourage, and develop each person.

The first people grew to question God's goodness, and chose to act in a way that was apart form, and against, god. And the world broke. And people broke. And the relationship between God and man broke.

Death entered into the world, both spiritual and physical. All that was true, good, and beautiful was tied to man's connection to God. Remnants of these things remained, but they did not match what was.

But God did not give up his plan, and purpose, for the world, and mankind. He developed, and put into effect another plan to deal with the rebellion of the world, reconnect God and man, and rebuild his one, giant family.

The separation between God and men was infinite. The brokenness was total. Only someone infinite could become a bridge over the separation. Only someone all-wise, and all-powerful could put all the pieces together.

And because men were the rebels, and were broken, mankind needed to take responsibility before God.

And, as only God is infinite, all-wise, and all-powerful, only he could span the infinite separation. So, he merged the infinite with mankind, and became a man. Infinite to span the separation. A man to represent the entire, broken, rebellious race.

He chose suffering, and death, to satisfy god's justice. He chose resurrection to proclaim that the infinite separation had been bridged, death and brokenness had been healed, and he gave his eternal presence, so that a new family would be made, and a complete connection could be maintained.

The second part: to give allegiance to Father, Son and Spirit.

Allegiance is part choosing to move to a position of trust, dependence, and rest as God's child.

And it is part choosing surrender, and submission, to what God commands. God's child chooses to align him\her self with God's word, God's purposes, and God's relationship. It is loyalty of the highest order.

It involves submission, obedience, agreement, and alignment with God's word.

It is shown with the adoption of God's value, a pursuit of relationship with the Father, love and service to God's family, and all others.

Plus a realization that life, wholeness, and meaning all flow from the relationship that results from this allegiance. God's family, as expressions of love and service, seek the adoption into God's family of all those he chose to die for. Which include: friends, enemies, those in the other party, the other race, a different sexual orientation, different religions, and your every day, garden variety creep.

I sure people could come up with other ways of expressing this. Even some that have not been invented yet. There are different understandings of wrong, value, what gives meaning, and what a good life is.

In the west, people have a greater understanding of guilt, and justification. In the east, people tend to look at life through the lenses of shame, and honor. Perhaps, one reason God chose Israel, and put them where he did, was so he could give understanding of both concepts, and they could be included in his revelation.

Some people have a vivid picture of how evil they have lived. Some people (especially young children) may not recognize their imperfections as well.

Regardless of cultural understanding, or moral awareness, there is a Creator God, who designed the world to live in relationship to him. All meaning, value, and truth flow from him. All life is built to be connected, and to flow with him. And I need to recognize who he is, his position in the universe, and my relationship to him. I need to see that I may be moving with the current of his word, and purposes, or I may be moving against them. No matter which is true, I need to determine once for all (and to determine daily) to move into God's current, to move with the current, and choose to stay there. It is the first, and best, place to be.

Performance or Identity

As I understand it, every religion in the world, past or present, bases the success, or worth, of the people following it, on their performance. The followers are successful by following a proscribed set of rules, or principles.

Every religion, but Christianity, that is. In Christianity, a follower's success, or worth, is based on what one, specific, other person did. Followers accept, receive, rely on, trust, and rest in the results of what that other person did. From one point of view, it does not matter what any person does, before or after, because it does not affect the person's success, or worth.

(1) Everything, ultimately, and completely, depends on what that one person did.

(2) There is nothing we could have done to achieve success. And if it depended on our effort to keep, or maintain, the success, or worth, achieved for us, we would have lost it on the first day.

We cannot now, nor in the future, of this life, act, speak, think, or feel, in a way that will achieve the goal, or keep the goal, of right standing with God.

This does not mean God does not care how we act, speak, think, or feel. Because he does.

As we have said in the past: God designed humanity to live a particular lifestyle. This lifestyle leads to right standing, his favor, and optimal living. God has also designed each person for a particular, unique niche in history. But the first people chose to move away form God, and that decision broke the world. The human ability to live in agreement with their design, and their unique niche, was broken.

So, how do we live? And how do we view ourselves?

On one hand, it does not matter how we live. We cannot live righteously. If we pursue following Jesus, we will be transformed. We may even grow to walk in some areas perfectly. But we will never be perfect.

Moreover, Jesus' work on the cross gives us our standing. We accept it. We rest in it. And, except in the possible case of rejecting Jesus, after we chose to give him our allegiance, our fate, and standing, are in his hands. And he is constant, and perfectly faithful.

On the other hand, it does matter how we live. God has chosen us to be his child, and part of his family. God has chosen to be with us, to listen to us, to speak to us, and to act for us. We represent him, and demonstrate who he is. All of the people, outside of God's family, learn who he is, and what he is like, by seeing how his family lives. And this "testimony" is more than just keeping the rules.

How we view ourselves in relationship to God is a more important question. Are we a servant? Or are we part of the family? Are we a pardoned wretch? Or are we a beloved son? Family is more important than the servants. A son is definitely more important than a wretch.

And what is most important is how God views us. Servant and wretch? Or family and son? Because God's view is the definition of reality. I am, your are, who God says we are. God's word is our identity.