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The Fullness of Christ – part 3

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Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. – 1 John 2:15

Earlier this week, I skipped onto the David Bowie site. For those who don’t know, though I doubt there are many, Bowie was a music icon who died more than a year ago. I grew up with Bowie and was a big fan for much of my young adult life, who knows, perhaps he was even an idol. I thought it strange that, after just 12 months, so few are talking about him. What does his website look like now?

If you log onto his website, you will see as I did, that his final single release is called ‘No Plan.’ I watched the video and I was intrigued, because in it Bowie describes how, for the first time in his life, he has no need of a plan. He knows he is going to die, therefore, who needs a plan? I’m sure vast epistles have been preached on this subject, but I did spend some time wondering about how I spend so much of my time planning my life in this world, with so little attention devoted to the next. Alas, even the care of my teeth, which are not in great shape I have to report, take careful planning. Should I even bother? Does God shake his head in disbelief at the fact that humans plan every aspect of their lives down to the minutiae, without so much as a cursory consideration as to what might happen when we die? I don’t think so, as he really does know what we are like.

Soon we shall come to Easter, a time of year I personally love, and I have been drawn back to the wonderful work of Isaiah. Nothing speaks more of God’s relationship to his creation through his Son, than that book. Sometimes a little theology is helpful in our understanding of a Heavenly Father. More on that in the coming weeks for those of you who might occasionally glance this way.

Other than that?

Well, last Sunday we met with 2 groups of people, both believers, both very different and both at interesting stages. In the morning, we met with a few believers who perhaps should have been more mature given the length of time in the faith, yet somewhere along the line their faith had grown cold. Why is that so common – is Jesus really that dull?

The answer is that, for whatever reason, Jesus had been replaced in their lives. As is so often the case, Jesus gets replaced by all sorts of things in our lives. Liturgy, doctrine, apathy, the world, all that is shiny, the list can be extensive.  Merely though, that we choose to follow other things than him. He becomes routine.

“I’ll follow you wherever you may go.”

“Do you realise that foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head?”

There’s no mistaking it; you’re not going to have an easy life if you follow the Son of Man. Each of us needs to have that squared away, comprehending who he is and deciding, “yes I want to follow him no matter what.” In the process of following him, there will certainly be a way of life that is like his. Surely that makes sense. John testifies, “anyone who claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.”

We grow cold, when we say to ourselves, “I want to follow Jesus but I don’t intend to walk as he walked. I have another way to follow him.” As Paul prophesied would be the case, such events in Christendom are very popular. Most believers (and many non-believers who perhaps think they are believers) think like this.  It’s easy, so it goes, to follow Jesus when he’s going East and you’re going West. Can that truly be the case, that we can follow him without submission? Of course not, but it seems to me, much more practical than that as well.

We go where he goes, live like he lives, think like he does, speak like he does, pray as he does, love like he does. I cannot find any other way to follow Jesus.

As we do, like the Apostles before us, our lives become “testified with great power” and “great grace was upon them all.” There is evident a quality of life that seems to converge with the testimony of Jesus.  As a direct result, other lives became like his, believers walked it out as he walked it out, and understood what made the Father pleased, how relationships should work. As only he can.

It is very important – crucial in fact, that Jesus does not get replaced by some form of religion, or pomp, or formula, or idea or any externals. Else, we shall live impoverished, fabricated lives that are a show to others as to how pious we are, when deep down, the true riches of relationship with the Son of Man are missing. Eventually, tedious routine. It is about walking simply with the Master, and then linking arms with anybody who wants to walk that way too.

As we behold Him, we are transformed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another. We come to him, to each other, eyes-wide-open, all my heart, soul and mind and live it for him. His teaching, His way of life.

Nothing else needed.

The Fullness of Christ – part 2

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T’oma said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going; so how can we know the way?”  Yeshua said, “I AM the Way — and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me. Because you have known me, you will also know my Father; from now on, you do know him — in fact, you have seen him.” – John 14: 5-7 (Complete Jewish Bible)

We’ve heard this so many times before. Do we believe it though? Like Thomas and Philip, who had been with Jesus for so long, do we not scratch our heads and wonder, ‘do I know God?’ One minute we didn’t, but apparently now we know God. How is it possible? It’s encouraging at least, that the work of ‘knowing God’ seems to be His responsibility.

This week on the streets, we met Fred. Slightly addled, extremely nervous, Fred surprisingly knew a lot about church, God, the Bible and other things. His thinking though wasn’t clear, instead it was very confused. We’ve met many other people, some devotees of church and God for years, and in all seriousness very devout, who still don’t ‘know God.’ What is wrong with us all?

God, it would seem, wants us to understand that the truth about Jesus is greater than our current introspection.

“Now you know me.”

We do? If Jesus says we know him, then the only question must surely be, do we believe him? It is the beginning of real faith, of having our lives filled with the Fullness of Christ, to have faith that what he says is true, is real. If we are to experience what he said, we have to believe it. Christ dwells in our hearts, only by faith.

Our wiring though, after centuries of being told by all and sundry that such things might not be true, demands a certain proof before we will believe. He came to re-wire us. Forget what you’ve heard or even experienced, what I say to you is truth. Our faith must be child-like. If we struggle to see it, then we must ask him. “Help me to see how I know you. I don’t think I do, but I’m obviously wrong, because you say I do.”

There are many other Scriptures that call for the exact same kind of response. “Reckon yourselves dead to sin.” What is our usual response? “I’m not dead to sin, why only this morning…” As long as we keep arguing with God, then not only will we be wrong, but we are never going to experience walking in the Fullness of Christ; instead, we walk in unbelief. We hear the words, but like the Hebrews before us, we simply will not believe them.

You are dead to sin. Why? Because God has said so. As believers, and especially as believers who want to tell others about Jesus, our ability to live out The Way, The Truth and The Life every day, depends on whether we are hiding in Him alone for our fulfilment. No matter how we feel, or even what we think, our rest, our life, our hope must be in him alone.

“Am I saved?”

“Is Jesus saved?”

I have been thinking about this a lot. After years of listening to people, many of whom seemed so desperate to find some meaning in their lives in the church, what has gone so terribly wrong? The conclusion must surely be, we simply do not believe what God has told us about His Son, Jesus Christ. There is no formula to living the “victorious Christian life” or finding the “perfect church”. The perfect Christian corporate life is a bunch of people who are totally sold out to the idea that Jesus is the answer to every question in life. Our willingness to love The Truth, to put our faith entirely in Him, is the beginning of our ability to walk in the Gospel and to “taste the powers of the coming age.”

This is the Gospel we must announce to the world, that Jesus is the fulfilment of God’s every requirement of us, he is the Yes and the Amen to every promise and every hope of God. We must just settle that in our hearts. When we are frustrated, or tempted, when ‘stuff’ is happening to us, whether good or bad, we must never waiver: Jesus is the answer, the answer has been given, the Word has become flesh, God’s every dream and every hope for mankind is fulfilled in us, as we believe in the One he has sent.

“Do we know God? – Yes”

“How do we know that we know Him? – Because he has already said so.”

The Fullness of Christ – part 1

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When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Instantly the man could see, and followed him along the way. – Mark 10:47, 52

Around the world, millions of people claim Jesus as their Saviour, and are indeed saved according to Biblical definition. Yet, of those, only a few will ever experience in this life, what it means to have the fullness of Christ. That is, a relationship with Christ which is simply fully immersed into him. There is no ‘Jesus-and.’

Such a bond doesn’t involve a 5-step process, or adoption of Four Laws, signing a piece of paper or saying a prayer. Neither is it about my doctrine, the one that insists I must repent sufficiently, attend church, be baptized or pray regularly enough. Incidentally, if you settle for religion – no matter how high, or pure, or lofty the ideal, you will end up frustrated.

You can see and enter the Kingdom of God, only by being born of God, through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. The Father has left it to the Son to save us. It is his choice. But there is more, much more than just this.

Every spiritual blessing is in Christ as well. If you want to relate that to ‘a great prayer life’, or holiness, peace or something else, then just fill in the blanks with him, because Jesus is that blessing. He is Salvation in its entirety. We still think it has to do with some nugget, some teaching or activity of ours that we can do, and then we will have it. Jesus-and.

When blind Bartimaeus was along the roadside, he didn’t cry out to Jesus, “what must I do to receive sight?” he cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” Everyone pushed him back, in unison they told him “he doesn’t’ have time for you, just follow his teaching (you can collect your Braille book on the 20-greatest teachings of Jesus from over there). But he said, NO!, I just want Him. I want Jesus. So it is with salvation. A saved person should never be someone who has accepted just a set of ideas, or teachings and has therefore become a Christian. They are someone who says, “Jesus or nothing.” The set of ideas, the handout, the philosophy or theology, none of it is enough. Only he will suffice.

We, you and I, need to decide whether we really want to see or whether we are happy to pretend. It has been concerning me for so long. Jesus-and, doesn’t work.

If that is true of salvation my friends, then it is also true of becoming a man or woman of God. Or, perhaps of becoming a person of prayer, of being set free from whatever bondage in your life you need release from, or from becoming the person of sacrifice you always intend to be. Let us, all of us, just go after the person, not a self-help list of things to do, which gives us temporary success at best. Finally, we think we will have it, but we won’t. We are going to have to meet him to receive the blessings, because He is the only blessing.

For blind Bartimaeus, he needed to burst through the crowd of people who wanted to push him back into place, to approach Jesus despite the noise, the confusion and fear of men, to dispel all of the competing ideas; he needed to have the attitude that “Jesus is my answer and everything else will have to get out of the way. I am not ashamed, and everything else I will have to relinquish. I will not be quiet. Son of David, have mercy on me.”

Jesus, just Jesus is the Way. He is the Life. The Truth. He is prayer and righteousness, and love and self-sacrifice, self discipline and kindness and Holiness. It is all found in him. So what do we do? We adopt the attitude of Jacob. The greatest deceiver in the Bible became Israel, the founder of the nation of God, he wrestled and refused to let go. Show me you’re real. Son of David, have mercy on me.

I won’t ever let go of you Jesus, the Person, I will not let you go until I have received all of you. It is the only way to live. Live your life, me, you, full-faced toward Him in every area of our life. If he says, “you are forgiven” will we believe him? If he says to us, “arise, take up your mat and walk,” will we sit there and wonder whether you are healed, or will we take him at his Word?

When we turn full-faced to Jesus, then reality springs into life. Not just for us either, but for those who are all around us, especially the unbeliever.

Just Jesus, let us do all we can to find him, to face him, to follow him. There is no substitute, not now, not ever. Him alone.

Grace for Ragamuffins

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We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. – Romans 3

I read a treatise recently, written by a current well known evangelist from Europe, on what the Gospel really is in their view. While lots of Biblical text was used, I couldn’t help notice that there wasn’t a single use of the word ‘Grace’. Yet for Paul, God’s grace first, and our faith second is the entirety of the Gospel. No other religion contains the word Grace. Could it be simpler?

Last Sunday we spent a glorious few hours in ‘church’, which was actually a smoke-filled apartment with a bunch of ragamuffins, us included. The overwhelming discussion in the room was whether those gathered were ‘good enough’ and each in turn clung onto God by their fingertips. Are you like that today? Sin was confessed as a result, addictions were laid bare and as we listened I was prompted to read this passage in Romans. There is no greater passage to provide assurance that we are saved, not because of anything we do, but because of everything Jesus has done. Reading this, watching those in the room, you get the impression God bypasses the proud in the world, and goes looking for ragamuffins, those who struggle to know whether they are good enough in his sight.

Is it enough though? What about doing something with the faith you have, being obedient to Christ along with all the other things that make up the Gospel?

Well, I don’t believe any of us are that good at loving God in spite of our efforts and what we think. Deep down, we struggle to give him the priority he deserves, and all of us sin to some degree or other. Even Paul wrestled with this, and God reminded him, as he reminds us, that his grace is sufficient.

There is also maturity in the faith that we must consider; some of us have been around the block a few times with God, and in so doing we have a clearer understanding of his expectation of us. We must be careful, especially with ragamuffins that we allow God to be the gardener with his tender green shoots. I have seen and heard far too much recently, of our inclination to put unrealistic demands on others if they aren’t correctly ‘rinsed’ through some process, which is eagerly pointed to in Scripture as being essential for true belief. In so doing, we can crush the spirit of those who are simply unable to comprehend, for whom life started well behind the starting line of most, or for whom life has been derailed because of sin along the way. I’ve never yet met another sinner who isn’t more aware of their shortcomings than they are. Are we to remind them?

I question sometimes whether we think that God does want to save some people, that he will take them as he finds them and love them anyway; we often seem more willing to judge than God, when our expectations are not met. A chapter earlier in Romans, God reminds us that when we believe, his Spirit begins the process of changing our hearts. God does so much of the work in our lives, he alone can change us. Do we get in his way?

Many will attest to the end result of God disciplining us through the years, as he makes us more into the likeness of his Son. It is almost inevitably painful, but as we look back we see how he has drawn us more closely to him, and in course, we have been changed. His, and our expectation of a certain standard changes. Still though, there is grace.

On the streets, in the workplace, wherever you bring Jesus, you will meet people who are at the end. Life is one of an endless cycle which is not easily broken, whatever the cycle is – violence, addiction, depression, mental illness, wrong relationships there are many. God in the person of Jesus treated such people with great care, preferring to minister to them first with his grace. For many, simply understanding and being able to believe that there is somebody in this world who loves them that much is enough to start the change.

When we next come across a ragamuffin in need of some grace, perhaps we can start with what God has done for us through his Son, and how simple faith in that can begin to change our world.

Less of us, more of Him. Amen to that.

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