You Belong to Jesus

This week at Camp Kedron we will be exploring our own identity with the question:  “Who am I?”  Ultimately the only way people can know themselves in truth is by first knowing the God who created them.  I am more than a name, a body, a mass of cells without meaning, but an eternal soul breathed into a body God knit together in the womb.  Since God created man He alone supplies the wisdom and power to be the man He created me to be.  God said to His chosen people in Jeremiah 29:11:  “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Knowing we belong to God is fundamental in understanding our identity as Christians.  The reality is, however, we can try to find a sense of belonging in far less than God Himself.  We can substitute our accomplishments, goals, relationships, our job, or even being a member of a church.  I recently came across a Scripture Union handout of being a disciple of Jesus based on the Sermon on the Mount.  It was broken into six separate studies in the following order:  belonging, witnessing, God’s Word, relationships, prayer, and possessions.  Admittedly that first one is the concept rarely discussed these days.  In our highly individualistic and increasingly independent society, most people overlook the simple fact we belong to God.  Man expends great effort to try to belong instead of realising in Christ he already finds acceptance and belongs.

All created things belong to God, but most are not aware of this fact.  Our understanding of our identity has direct results in our decisions and desires.  As I heard pastor Steve Mays say, we do not fight for victory, but we fight from victory.  Lack of knowledge leads to us working and praying futilely for what is already ours, and therefore we never progress into practically experiencing what God has already freely provided.  We can try our best to fit in with a particular group, not understanding we have been made in God’s image and we have been accepted into the beloved through Christ by faith.

We will never experience the future God desires for us until we seek and trust God.  When our eyes are opened to see God we see ourselves in truth.  After being exposed to the wisdom and power of God, Job saw himself as vile and Peter asked Jesus to depart from him because Peter recognised his own sinfulness.  “The best men,” Spurgeon quipped, “see themselves in the worst light.”  It is the Light of the World Jesus Christ and the scriptures which illuminate the darkness of our hearts clearly, and lead us to God who awaits us with open arms and joy unspeakable.  How good it is to know we belong to God and live accordingly!

Remember Now Your Creator

How good it is for young people to embrace their duty to love and obey God early in life!  The bar is set very low in general these days when it comes to devotion to God, worship, growing in discipleship, evangelism, and service unto the LORD.  For children and youth the bar is lower still.  Just physically attending a church or youth group is seen as a massive victory in itself.  But God deserves that all His people would be active in seeking Him and engaging in His business interests on earth.  We only have a limited amount of time.  Those who make the most of the time and talents given them by God will certainly not lose their reward.

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 12:1-7, "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them": ² while the sun and the light, the moon and the stars, are not darkened, and the clouds do not return after the rain; ³ in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow down; when the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look through the windows grow dim; ⁴ when the doors are shut in the streets, and the sound of grinding is low; when one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of music are brought low; ⁵ also they are afraid of height, and of terrors in the way; when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is a burden, and desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets. ⁶ Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well. ⁷ Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it."

Life on earth is over for all people soon after it begins in eternity's light.  The exhortation of the preacher echoes to every soul to this day:  "Remember now your Creator!"  And how do we remember Him?  Solomon concludes his writing with this in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14:  "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. ¹⁴ For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."  Jesus has commanded us to love one another as He has loved us.  Let us praise God in Spirit and truth, living righteously for His glory, for He is seeking such who worship Him.  His eyes go to and fro over the whole earth, looking for any who remain loyal to Him so He can show Himself strong on their behalf.  May our holy conduct and righteous affections draw His loving gaze!

Holy Days

In preparation for my citizenship test, I learned several significant dates in Australian history.  Different countries, cultures, and people tend to distinguish some days over others.  There are traditions, accomplishments, and milestones remembered and celebrated.  There are days of national, personal, and even religious significance.  Having just celebrated Good Friday and Easter (which many Christians have termed "Resurrection Sunday"), I was reminded of a statement by a colleague:  "To me, Easter is the most holy day in the year."  This statement caused me to think.  Is one day "holier" than another?

To be "holy" means to be "dedicated, consecrated, or sacred."  God set aside many days and feasts as "holy convocations," gathering of His people for a prescribed purpose.  These references seen in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers are translated a "holy assembly" in the NIV.  Though God saw it important to set aside certain days to be observed according to the Law such as the Sabbath, feasts, and gatherings, it was not that particular days on the calendar were more special than others.  The point was God was holy, and His people had been made holy through His covenant.  It is a holy assembly because it was a gathering of God's people, consecrated and dedicated to Him.

The truth is, this world and its system of time observed with calendars and clocks will someday pass away.  Even now, God operates outside of the confines of time.  The day Jesus was born, died, rose from the dead, or ascended up into heaven are only significant because Jesus is holy Himself.  The day or date is not what is important, for long after the end of this world and time as we know it He will remain holy.  Revelation 13:8 says, "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."  The day we celebrate as Good Friday (which is not always observed on the same date!) was known by God when the world was founded.  In the same way a church is people, not the building, holiness comes from God and not from a service or observance.

Since God instituted feasts and holy observances, sacred assemblies of God's people uniting in faith in Him, there is clearly value in honouring God together as His people.  It is important we do not begin to make our gatherings a source of pride which we believe distinguishes our group as more spiritual than others, or become divisive or combative with believers whose practices vary from our own.  Whether believers observe a day or not should not cause us to judge one another.  As it is written in Romans 14:4-9:  "Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. ⁵ One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. ⁷ For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. ⁸ For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living."

The Law tells us to "remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy."  Under the Law, the Sabbath day was one set apart as sacred, set apart to rest even as God worked for six days in creating the universe and on the seventh day He rested.  But Colossians 2:16-17 tells us Sabbaths and festivals were simply a shadow of what Christ is the substance:  "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, ¹⁷ which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ."  If you have the substance, one does not need to focus on the shadow.  When we are adopted into God's family by grace through faith, we are made holy unto the LORD.  Every day is equally holy, for we are made holy in Christ.  It is lawful for us to do good, worship, and bring honour to God's name every day, not to be reserved for certain dates on a calendar which will pass away.  Many times in scripture God spoke to His people, "Be holy, for I am holy."  We are positionally holy, are called to be intentionally holy in our conduct, and to be holy every day, perfecting holiness in the fear of the LORD (2 Cor. 7:1).

Psalm 118:19-24 is a passage which well sums up my thoughts:  "Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, and I will praise the LORD. ²⁰ This is the gate of the LORD, through which the righteous shall enter. ²¹ I will praise You, for You have answered me, and have become my salvation. ²² The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. ²³ This was the LORD'S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. ²⁴ This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

Jesus Will Judge

"Moreover I saw under the sun: in the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, iniquity was there. ¹⁷ I said in my heart, "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work."

Ecclesiastes 3:16-17

King Solomon recognised the irony of wickedness is a place of judgment, and iniquity in the place of righteousness.  In the face of injustice or wickedness Solomon did not charge God with wrong or doubt God's existence as many do.  He saw hypocrisy and evil as contrary to God and His righteous judgment, and ultimately the holy God of all will hold accountable those responsible.  During our short time on earth, the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts are heard and seen clearly by God.  The fact evil exists is not an indictment against the goodness of God, but rather confirms His righteousness.

A good judge will not allow guilty lawbreakers to escape punishment, and God is a good Judge.  The Bible tells us every word a man speaks will be weighed according to God's righteous Law, and to be guilty of breaking the Law in one point makes a man guilty of breaking all.  Because all have sinned, every man faces the full weight of punishment the Law demands:  the death of the body and ultimately the second death of the soul.  Having recently celebrated Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, a time to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the implications of Christ rising again is a sign to all everywhere.  Paul spoke to seekers of truth in Athens concerning Jesus Christ in Acts 17:30-31:  "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, ³¹ because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."  Jesus Christ is the Judge of all the earth, and He only does what is right.

The amazing truth is Jesus has paid the price for sin with His shed blood on Calvary, and His resurrection is a clear demonstration of His power over sin and resulting death.  All who repent and trust in Jesus can be forgiven of all sin and declared righteous through the Gospel.  The world is saturated with wickedness and righteousness.  We know God will ultimately judge the righteous and wicked:  the believer who lives righteously or wickedly, and the wicked who believes himself innocent.  The entire world is guilty before God according to His Law (Romans 3:19), but through the Gospel we can be cleansed and born again.  Jesus is the Son of God written of in 1 John 5:11-13:  "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹² He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. ¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God."