Preaching

GOD? What Do You Want From Me? [Part 2]


Spiritual Blog -

1 John 4:7-11 – “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”  NKJV

 

             Imagine a God who is Omniscient (all knowing) who does not like us.  That is a horrific thought, right?  Most of us have or have had a secret(s) that we were ashamed to confess even to our closest friends but God KNOWS everything about us and knows our thoughts even before we think them.  The terror that would accompany the thought that God who knows all about us and does not even like us would drive us suicidal.  He would be an infinite monster!

The Bible never says:  God HAS Power or Love it says HE IS!  Love is not something apart from Him it is WHO HE IS.  But what is Love?  What is Love as it is spoken of here in this passage?  Love, in the English language has become almost a worthless word for we apply it to so many things and give it some many shades of meaning.  What do we think of when we say or hear Love?

Let me suggest a possibility:  It means that we reach out to someone we can reasonably count on that is in our class.  Before you get self-righteous and pious, that is exactly what most of us do much of the time if not all the time.  In European history when a member of a royal family fell in love with a commoner they were fired.  If the king fell for a commoner and married them he would be required to give up his throne.  Likewise when we humans fall in love we tend to keep within our self-imposed boundaries.  Naturally we do not talk about it and possibly refuse to admit it but we do it.

When we say LOVE what do we mean?  If I love a person I am acknowledging that person calls forth my highest admiration and when I look at them I admire them.  We are so captivated by them that when we talk about them they are elevated to a level of worship in our eyes and minds.  We adore them!  Likewise when we LOVE someone it means they answer to what I feel is beauty (eye of the beholder).  Beauty is something that happens in our heads and that is what we usually understand to be love.

But when it comes to God and the Bible declares:  “God is Love” many assume that God is Love in the same way we love.  Virtually every religion in existence has a concept of God based on human love.  However, if God loves like we love how would that work out?  Think with me through some problems with that concept:

  • He cannot find anyone in His Class so immediately we are eliminated. If he were to get friendly with us he would be fired as being God so we are out in the cold.
  • He cannot find anyone in harmony with Him (before salvation) so our disharmony disqualifies us. He is love and holiness and we are selfish and have no plans to change (before salvation).
  • He cannot find any human that would elicit in Him a sense that says about us, ‘That is the best person I know’ for our righteousness are as filthy rags and there is none good (before salvation).

         The dilemma for us is that if God loves like we love we are TOAST!  It is over! We are without hope and hopeless lost forever!   I heard a most appropriate illustration that explains this beautifully:

A missionary went to a witch-doctor and said:  “You preach to me. I come to you with a problem. How would you tell me to reach the Most High God?  I know you have many gods, but I want to reach the Big One, the Most High God.”  The witch-doctor said: “First, you have a big problem, because the Most High God is not interested in you for you are not good enough for him.”  That’s where their religion begins!  Sadly, we have heard the same thing in much more sophisticated terms in church.  We have been told, in so many ways, that we are not good enough for God and He is not interested.

When the Bible says:  God is Love it means that He does not reach out to someone in His class but reaches out to Whosoever Will or reaches down to mankind.  Human love reaches up but God’s love reaches down.  God loves the lost, hopeless, messed up, twisted, distorted, bent, wicked, evil and sinful man and offers LIFE, LOVE and LIBERTY through Jesus!  That is the Gospel message.  What does God want from us?  He wants to dwell in us and with us and manifest Himself through us!

God bless you as you go through this day!

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PREACHING IS NOT JUST A SALES JOB…..


1 Corinthians 1:18 – “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. “  NKJV

 Spiritual Blog - Gospel

I interviewed for a sales job once and the interviewer commented, “Well I guess you are qualified after all preaching is the ultimate in sales.”  I have thought about that many times since and disagree.  Someone once asked if I knew the definition of a salesman and I knew he had what he considered clever to offer so I played the game and said no.  He said, “A salesman is some who convinces you to buy what you don’t need at a price you can’t afford.”  That may be true of some but certainly not true for all who are in sales.  Although sales involves convincing someone to purchase a particular item I do not consider preaching a ‘sales job’ or a ‘pitch’ it is the presentation of GOOD NEWS pointing to the door of salvation and life.  It is more of a ‘public service announcement’ than ‘sales pitch’. 

Once in witnessing to a particularly difficult individual and presenting the GOOD NEWS he stopped me and said, “You are quite the salesman, aren’t you?”  I said, “No sir, I’m not trying to sell you anything I am simply offering information that, if received, will completely transform you”  I make no commission, the price has already been paid, and the warranty is eternal.  It is up to each individual to decide if they will receive the offer or reject it.  If the Holy Spirit is tugging your heart strings then I urge you to accept.  I know that this might be splitting hairs but I have never considered preaching the gospel as sales or politics.  I not seeing a sale or garner a vote I am seeking to see a life transformed.

The apostle Paul packaged what the gospel is in a beautiful package in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.  He identified that Christ died for our sin, was buried, rose on the third day, and seen by eyewitnesses.  He continues in the next verses declaring that there is a resurrection from the dead for Christ arose.  If Christ did not rise then our faith is in vain and we are still without hope and all we have is here and now making that a pitiable existence.  But, Christ did arise and we have hope!

The word gospel means ‘good news’ and the image is that of a newborn calf skipping in delight as it leaps and plays.  The GOOD NEWS makes our hearts leap for joy for it is transforming us from children of darkness into children of light.  We are ‘born again’ and become ‘new creations’ in God where the old is gone and the new has come to life.  So today I come with a ‘public service announcement’ that Jesus is alive and is extending the offer of salvation to whosoever will.  Harken to the call of the Spirit of God if you have not and if you are a child of the King then allow Him to live His life through you completely.

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

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