A couple of days ago I finished the book of Leviticus and I was struck by what was in chapter 26. After God laid out His law for the people of Israel he warned them what would happen if they disobeyed. The warnings were stern, the punishment severe:
““But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you.”
(Leviticus 26:14–17 ESV)
Four more times in this short section of Leviticus God warns what will happen to us to Israel as their disobedience deepens (Leviticus 26:18-20; 21-22; 23-26; 27-33). Each time the punishment gets more severe. Sadly Israel didn’t listen. Sadly we don’t listen to the warnings God gives us either.
But… God gives them and us a way back home again. Back to Him
““But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the LORD their God. But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.””
(Leviticus 26:40–45 ESV)
We are just like the Israelites of 3500 years ago. We let our sin and pride carry us away. While today we don’t get carried out of country to another land, we do lose our focus on God, which makes it seem we are very far away. The advise is the same as it ever was, come to God to confess and repent of our sin with a humble heart and then we can be be rejoined with our Heavenly Father.
What strikes me most about this, is as outraged as God is for the sin of Israel (and our sin), He gives a way back to Him.
What would happen if you went up to one of the more profane entertainers and ardent atheist and gave them a bible. If you know the person hates everything you believe in. Do you think it would be a waste of time? Is it worth the effort? Or would you just go looking for someone easier to go talk to.
One day someone gave Magician and Atheist Penn Jillette a bible. This video has been floating around for a while, but it once again challenged me when I was asked if I was going to invite my parents and sister’s to our ELQ (which is like alpha). Hear his reaction from his own mouth and be challenged by his words.
Here is what he said:
“I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell, and not getting eternal life or whatever. And you think that it’s not really worth telling people this because it would be socially awkward. And atheists who think that people shouldn’t proselytize, just leave me alone, keep your religion to yourself. How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize, how much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible, and not tell them that. I mean, If I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you and you didn’t believe it that that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you, and this is more important than that.”
One of my favorite books that I have ever read on the Christian Life is “The Discipline of Grace” by Jerry Bridges. One of these days I need to sit down and do a book review explaining why I think this book is so good and helpful. As I am reading through this book for the fourth time, I am doing a book study with a friend, I was really struck by this quote. I think this really gives some very practical advise on how to live by the gospel.
To live by the gospel, then, means that we firmly grasp the fact that Christ’s life and death are ours by virtue of our union with Him. What He did, we did. This is the only sense in which we can understand Paul’s bold statements in Romans 8: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1); “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31); and “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33).
These statements by Paul are objective truths; that is, they are truth whether we grasp them or not. So often, however, we find it difficult to believe them. Because of our frequent failures before God, we do feel under condemnation, we do not feel God is for us but rather must surely be against us, we do think He is bringing charges against us. At such times we must preach the gospel to ourselves. We must review what God has declared to be true about our justification in Christ.
Justification is a completed work as far as God is concerned. The penalty has been paid and His justice has been satisfied. But it must be received through faith and must be continually renewed in our souls and applied to our consciences everyday through faith. There are two “courts” we must deal with: the court of God in Heaven and the court of conscience in our souls. When we trust in Christ for salvation, God’s court is forever satisfied. Never again will a charge of guilt be brought against us in Heaven. Our consciences, however are continually pronouncing us guilty. That is the function of the conscience. There we must by faith bring the verdict of conscience into line with the verdict of Heaven. We do this by agreeing with our conscience about our guilt. but then reminding it that our guilt has already been borne by Christ.
“The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to him, is not to believe that he loves you.”
John Owens “Communion with God”
It is going on five years since I have given my life over to Christ. The more that I learn, the more I understand, the more my faith grows in Jesus Christ. One of the things that I have struggled with over my time as a Christian is that God not only, so LOVED the world, but He so loved me, that he gave His only begotten Son… (John 3:16).
I have spent most of my life isolated from the world. Only in the last 5 years or so have I really started being a bit more social. I am not very good at relationships. I am not very good at having people close to me, I struggle on how to do relationships. In a lot of ways I am very immature when it comes to dealing with people. In a word I tend to be a misanthrope, far easier to avoid and hate everyone, than have to deal with people. It is hard enough for me now to believe that I have such quality people in my life. It is even harder for me to believe that these people would befriend, and even go further to love me and call me brother.
Though I have been a Christian for the last five years I could never wrap my mind around the fact that God loved me. Just like in my relationship with people I always take the cynical route. I just couldn’t believe for any reason that God really wanted me to be part of the Kingdom. I could certainly see why God loved others, but never could understand how he could me. I often sabotage myself to fulfill the self-proclaimed “prophesy”. Sometimes even sinning, just to thumb my nose at God, and to try to put up another barrier between God and myself. To be loved has always scared me.
Coming face to face with the “burning heart” of God has destroyed all pretense that the Love of God is only for those who are better than me. God’s Word says that in love he predestined us for adoption before the foundation of the world. God knows exactly who and what I am. He knows how I am going to succeed and how I am going to fail. He chose me anyway. He didn’t choose me because of who I am, but because of who He is. Though I am not a very good Christian, a slow learner, I want to live a life that honors and glorifies God. I want to learn to be holy and be sanctified and transform from one degree of glory to another.
It is through His promises that he makes out his great, passionate, steadfast love that sustains us on the trail of holiness. Even as I struggle through some of my darkest times of depression, His love is a beacon in the darkness.
His love has brought me from death to life, and if you let Him, He will do the same for you!
Entries (RSS)