God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives.

 

Thursday, December 28, 2023


Psalms 143; 146

Isaiah 61

Titus 3


Observance: Holy Innocents


God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives.


When we read various commandments from God in our Bibles, they are often in the context of a covenant. A covenant is like a deal: if we do this, then God will do that. It is like Newtonian physics on an eternal scale, where every action has its consequence: if we bless others, we will be blessed; if we curse, then we will be cursed. God has said this to us so that we can have a basic understanding of how He works.


But God wanted to teach us more about Himself. This is because God does not want us to be cursed, in spite of how much we might act like we want this to be the case. And so, in order to teach us just how much God wants us to live the blessed life (and be free of the cursed life), Jesus came and lived as one of us. Jesus’ incarnation – that five dollar word that describes how Jesus of Nazareth was both God and human – demonstrates many things about what God is like. One of these things is that God wants to love us into obedience.


Jesus’ life on earth does more than provide us with an example to follow. His life also actually provides the means by which we may join in living the blessed life. God has given us a set of commandments to follow, but following them is not a daily struggle. The Holy Spirit, which has been poured over us so abundantly and generously, has cleaned out that part of us that likes sin. Following God’s commandments is a blessing, both in the sense that it is the means by which we live the blessed life, and also to follow them is in themselves a blessing.


It is all grace, top to bottom. Living this way is the great gift of God, given to us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and the waterfall of the Holy Spirit that came as the result. If you have a list kept in your head somewhere, keeping track of all the good things you have done listed next to all the bad things you have done, throw it away. It is useless, and it is a burden unto death. Living in the way God wants us to live is actually quite straight-forward: simply pray in the Holy Spirit and keep studying God’s word. This is the way to access the gift of God, the gift of the thorough cleansing, the gift of forgiveness of sins, the gift of life eternal. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monday, September 12, 2022

  Monday, September 12, 2022 Psalm 33 Habakkuk 1:1-11 Ephesians 1:1-14 In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. The lectionary has taken us from the beloved disciple to one of the most beloved of Paul's epistles: Ephesians. Paul must have loved this church very much: we get a sense of his fondness for them and their shared sense of purpose and worship just from the introduction. In what is likely just an introduction to a letter in the style of the ancient Roman world, Paul has managed to squeeze in the entire, wondrous story of God's work of redemption. Paul has framed it the way it ought to be framed: in a pastoral, encouraging tone. He has three main points here (remember, Paul proceeds logically to build up an argument, unlike John who circles around his main point). First: God intended to save us before the world was formed. Think back to the first l
Read more

“Short time or long – I pray to God not only you but all who are listening become like I am, except for these chains.”

  Monday, September 11, 2023 Psalms 28; 29 1 Kings 7:51-8:21 Acts 26:19-32 Observance: Deiniol, bishop (d. 384) “ Short time or long – I pray to God not only you but all who are listening become like I am, except for these chains.” The great many blessings of being under the protection of the blood of the Lamb fill our hearts with joy and peace. To have the Almighty Creator of the universe, the One who sits above the flood, filling the temple of our being with the cloud of His presence is what it truly means to be human. Every day is filled with adventure; every night turns to the rest of the victor. Certainly there are chains: sometimes they are physical chains, the suffering of being a Christian among people who do not love the Lord. Sometimes they are spiritual; the attacks of the powers of the air who try to distract us from the One we love. But they always fall away. Our Rock of Ages always frees us; always brings us out of the pit of despair. A won
Read more

Monday, September 19

  Monday, September 19 Psalm 45 Nahum 1:15-2:9 Ephesians 4:17-28 ...be renewed in the spirit of your minds... It is far too easy to read some of these Pauline lists of virtues and vices and feel like we have gone back to the dark days before the Reformation. The idea that if we behave ourselves then we can call ourselves “good people” is pagan, not Christian. Paul feels very strongly about how Christians behave, he “affirms and insists” upon it. But it is because of what has already happened that we should mind our step, not because of where we are going. Christ's resurrection is many things, but one aspect relevant for Paul's teaching this morning is that it demonstrates to us the radical new reality in which we now live. We too have passed (spiritually) from death to life; therefore, we experience a “renewal of our minds”. Instead of treading water until we die, we live lives. Everything now makes sense: God has spoken, so we have logic. God made us in His im
Read more