Post
Saw a fantastic message delivered by Dr. Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan during the annual Willow Creek Leadership Summit, broadcast at our church.
Dr. Keller dug into the story of the Prodigal Son, which many times we Christians believe is all about the lost wandering back to the Father. And it is, but we often forget to look at the Father's other son -- the one who didn't run off and squander his inheritance, but stayed home obediently.
Check out the summary of Dr. Keller's notes from my colleague Tim Schraeder of Park Community Church in Chicago. He does a great job of capturing the essence of what was said.
In summary, though, neither brother really showed love to the father. The younger son had no interest in him, and the elder felt the father OWED him for his obedience and goodness. There are two ways to show you don't love God, Keller posits: irreligiosity and religiosity. One way ignores God; the other tries to order Him around.
The Bible clearly communicates that the latter is more spiritually dangerous, and in the end, it's the irreligious son who makes it to the big party (salvation!). There is a third way to be, Keller says, and it's the best way: Instead of living for God in order to get something, living for God because you GOT something -- eternal salvation!
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
8.06.2009
8.04.2009
Get this: Loaves and Fishes = Jesus' life!
In the story of the loaves and fishes feeding the 5,000 (John Chapter 6), it's often resolved that the story is about how God can take something small and multiply it if it's freely offered.
That's true, but I also believe a few other things are important. First, the fact that people needed to be sat down before the food was to be passed... this required an amount of faith -- or at least cooperation.
It also put everyone on the same level, unable to fully see what was happening in the baskets. Each person had an experience reaching into the baskets and pulling out bread and fish. It was an individual experience, shared by many. Each person had to take the action of reaching to grab some food, which everyone to some degree must have thought foolish.
But the fact was that the multitude had gathered in pursuit of God through Jesus, and He wasn't going to let those people's needs go unmet. And He wasn't going to let the needs of the flesh distract them from the words of life.
The Word makes special note that Passover was near -- and I wonder why. Is that relevant? Is it because it shows a contrast between God the Passover protector and God the Passover lamb?
This experience eventually leads to where Jesus explains that people must consume Him to find life. By being filled with the bread of life -- the Word of Him who was sent -- and drinking, being filled with the blood of the Passover lamb, eternal life is possible. People thought He was being a cannibal or something, and got freaked out, but what they didn't understand was the fact that Jesus HAD to die, and that His sacrifice of body and blood was what was to be consumed. It was a gift that appeared small -- ONE life, but in God's hands (like the loaves/fishes), proved to more than fill very soul, with "food" flowing over -- endlessly!
Accepting Jesus' sacrifice is much like eating the bread and fish -- we must have faith in what we don't see to give us nourishment. We must be in a position to receive Him, and then do so on an individual level, while experiencing Him together. His food never runs out!
That's true, but I also believe a few other things are important. First, the fact that people needed to be sat down before the food was to be passed... this required an amount of faith -- or at least cooperation.
It also put everyone on the same level, unable to fully see what was happening in the baskets. Each person had an experience reaching into the baskets and pulling out bread and fish. It was an individual experience, shared by many. Each person had to take the action of reaching to grab some food, which everyone to some degree must have thought foolish.
But the fact was that the multitude had gathered in pursuit of God through Jesus, and He wasn't going to let those people's needs go unmet. And He wasn't going to let the needs of the flesh distract them from the words of life.
The Word makes special note that Passover was near -- and I wonder why. Is that relevant? Is it because it shows a contrast between God the Passover protector and God the Passover lamb?
This experience eventually leads to where Jesus explains that people must consume Him to find life. By being filled with the bread of life -- the Word of Him who was sent -- and drinking, being filled with the blood of the Passover lamb, eternal life is possible. People thought He was being a cannibal or something, and got freaked out, but what they didn't understand was the fact that Jesus HAD to die, and that His sacrifice of body and blood was what was to be consumed. It was a gift that appeared small -- ONE life, but in God's hands (like the loaves/fishes), proved to more than fill very soul, with "food" flowing over -- endlessly!
Accepting Jesus' sacrifice is much like eating the bread and fish -- we must have faith in what we don't see to give us nourishment. We must be in a position to receive Him, and then do so on an individual level, while experiencing Him together. His food never runs out!
6.24.2009
God's chosen ones
I've thought often about the significance of the term "God's chosen ones" and what it really means. Often, this term referred to the Jews, since they are the descendants of the promise -- of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel. But Galatians 15-29 speaks directly to the issue.
"All the families of the earth will be blessed through you," God promises Abraham in Genesis. But God apparently makes the promise to Abraham's CHILD, too -- singular, not plural, as in descendants. That, Galatians says, is Jesus -- which makes a lot of sense. It reinforces the theory I have -- that God wasn't so interested in the Jewish race exclusively for just the fact that they were Jewish, but because really, the race was a vehicle from which the Savior of the world would come.
Jesus isn't just a Jewish messiah, right? A race, a people had to usher in the much-needed redeemer. God picked Abraham's family because of Abraham's faith and relationship with God.
And because that big promise was handed down throughout the ages, that's why the Jews were most ready to receive the Messiah. God wants to bless the whole world, but picked a family -- a system -- that would best represent Him, that all the world could know Him!
Let me boil it down: The Jews are CHOSEN because they were picked to bring about the Messiah for the WHOLE WORLD to be blessed!
"All the families of the earth will be blessed through you," God promises Abraham in Genesis. But God apparently makes the promise to Abraham's CHILD, too -- singular, not plural, as in descendants. That, Galatians says, is Jesus -- which makes a lot of sense. It reinforces the theory I have -- that God wasn't so interested in the Jewish race exclusively for just the fact that they were Jewish, but because really, the race was a vehicle from which the Savior of the world would come.
Jesus isn't just a Jewish messiah, right? A race, a people had to usher in the much-needed redeemer. God picked Abraham's family because of Abraham's faith and relationship with God.
And because that big promise was handed down throughout the ages, that's why the Jews were most ready to receive the Messiah. God wants to bless the whole world, but picked a family -- a system -- that would best represent Him, that all the world could know Him!
Let me boil it down: The Jews are CHOSEN because they were picked to bring about the Messiah for the WHOLE WORLD to be blessed!
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