Just Who Are We Talking About? (pt. 2)

“…the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isaiah 6:3)

Would we create a computer or robot, and then tell it “Go on, go your own way, I don’t really care what you do now?”  Not at all! If we make a robot, we’ve got plans for that robot! It’s not getting away with running off for its own purposes!

               Why should we get away with abandoning the plans of our Creator?

               Don't be mistaken--God doesn't need us.  He is sufficient in Himself—He is beyond needing anything we could give.  “The God who made the world and everything in it…is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything.” (Acts 17:24-25).  And He’s not lonely—there is fellowship between God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and He is also continually worshipped by the heavenly host.

        Yet He still made us for a purpose.  He made us for His pleasure and glory, to love and be loved, and to demonstrate His nature to all of creation, all angels and demons and supernatural beings.  And He designed us to reflect His nature: “Let us make man in our own image, in our likeness,” He said (Gen. 1:26).  We are His children, meant to be like Him in goodness and holiness.  Like children, we’ve messed up quite a bit, yet as discussed, He’s made a way for us to be restored and reconciled with Him.

        We’ve got to remember that once we are reconciled with Him, our purpose changes.  We no longer live for ourselves.  It’s not about me anymore.  I’ve accepted the greatest gift anyone could give me, and I show gratitude towards the Giver by giving Him my life, which belongs to Him anyway because He gave it to me.  Because He is my Creator and my Savior, He has the right to determine my life’s course.  This is truth for anyone who chooses God.

        It’s time for the American church to wake up and remember our purpose.  We’re not meant to just fight for our own freedoms so that we can keep saying what we want, critiquing our neighbor while we stay ensconced in our comfy, multimillion dollar buildings, and feeling satisfied and superior while the rest of the world perishes in ignorance.

        No! Let us fight, live, and die for the glory of God, who has shown us abundant mercy.  Let us remember when we too were ignorant of God’s righteousness, living in sin and futility.  Let us risk our comfort, our jobs, our safety to demonstrate the love of God in holiness, living as outsiders in this land “bearing the disgrace he bore” (Heb. 13:13).  Let us humbly seek the face of God Himself and be transformed into His likeness, not compromising for the sake of our comfort.

        “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.  Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you…I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters”  (2 Cor. 6:17-18).

      Oh America, the land of the free! Will we risk our personal freedom for Him who grants true freedom? Will we surrender our wealth, our fame, for the fame of the holy God and the riches of His grace?

        Let us glorify Him.

            

Just Who Are We Talking About? (pt. 1)

     The media, Facebook, and Twitter have been abuzz this week with heated controversy over the Chick-fil-A CEO’s position on marriage and over the government’s mandate that insurance plans cover contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.  Comments on both sides center around our rights and freedoms—the right to choose our own lifestyle, the right to control our own bodies, the right to free speech, the right to conscience.

Those in favor of gay marriage say religion shouldn’t be forced upon them, and those that support Chick-fil-A’s position retort that they have the right to freely express their beliefs.  Those opposing the government mandate on insurance say they should have the right to choose where their money goes rather than go against conscience, while their opposition says they shouldn’t complain because they still don't have to take those drugs.

What about God?

Yeah, what about Him? This is my life we’re talking about.  My rights, my freedom, my choice, my happiness.

What makes these so preeminent? 

 Well, I would think if God exists, and if He’s as loving as you claim, He would want to see me happy.  But I don’t think He’s doing His job right.  The way things are today, it seems more like He wants to make things hard on us—we can’t say what we want or live the way we want to. The government keeps trying to control things and take away our freedom of conscience, speech, and lifestyle, which gets awfully uncomfortable. God’s looking out for His agenda more than my happiness.  What’s behind that?

What’s behind that?  Everything!

If we’re claiming that it’s all about our freedom and happiness, we need to step back and take a look at the big picture—especially those of us who call on God to protect those rights for us.  Who is this God whose name we keep invoking?  What is His nature?  

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6:3)

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty…” 

“Holy, holy, holy” the angels cry before His throne.  “Be holy, because I am holy,” He says in His Word.  What does this mean, and what does it have to do with American freedoms?

Holiness means that God is sacred, set apart from everything else, unlike anything we know.  He is completely pure, and so anything, anything, impure is repellent to Him.  His holiness forbids Him to tolerate sin—any sin, whether it’s sexual immorality, theft, greed, self-righteousness, or jealousy.  As much as we would like Him to write off our bad behavior so that we can do as we please, He can’t.  It’s not in His nature.

God shows His mercy, not by ignoring our sin, which His holiness could not allow, but by providing a pure and holy sacrifice, Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God. It is only His blood that cleanses us from sin and makes us blameless enough to stand in the presence of God. We can’t accept this mercy yet choose to keep sinning.  That would be spitting in the face of God and “crucifying the Son of God all over again” (Heb. 9:4-6).  We have to first choose to accept mercy and then choose His way of holiness ourselves.

If America wants the blessing of God, she cannot tolerate sexual immorality, corruption, greed, lawlessness, or anything else contrary to God’s laws.  Nor should she become full of self-importance, pride, and superiority.  To be righteous before God, the American people—and any people in the world—must come humbly before Him in repentance, then embrace His holiness and righteousness by reflecting them in their laws, judgments, and practices.  

What’s the purpose in that?  Why did God even make us if He’s not going to let us do what we want?

Come back in a few days for part 2.