Created Unique

It's amazing how different God makes people in appearance, personality, and preferences.  He has given us all a unique perspective on how we see the world and aspects of life which are important to us.  God has given my wife and I two sons who are quite different from one another yet not as different as Esau and Jacob were.  They were twins but as far from identical as could be:  one was born covered in red hair and the other was smooth skinned.  Esau enjoyed hunting and the great outdoors while Jacob preferred cooking stew and staying home.

When God heard the prayer of Isaac He caused Rebekah to conceive.  Undoubtedly she had expectations of what a "normal" pregnancy would be like, having spoken with many mothers with experience, yet these romantic notions were dashed with pain and discomfort.  Genesis 25:22-23 gives us insight into what was happening out of sight before sonograms:  "But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If all is well, why am I like this?" So she went to inquire of the LORD. ²³ And the LORD said to her: "Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger."  God caused Rebekah to conceive twins that did not play well with each other!  The struggle in utero would continue throughout their lives and their descendants would comprise two separate nations.

Isn't it remarkable God would create two twin brothers who were different in appearance and attitude and even when in the womb did not get along?  I find it amazing how God can do a similar thing in the Body of Christ, the church.  We, like Rebekah, can have a romantic notion of what unity looks like and how other Christians would be best served to share the same beliefs and views we hold.  We imagine this new life in Christ should be without conflicts, struggles, and pain.  It does not take much engagement in church fellowship to realise how unique people are from one another.  Through the Gospel Jesus unites people of all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds as members of His church of which He is the Head.  Even as twins with the same genetic input are totally different people, pastors and parishioners alike have unique convictions, areas of emphasis, personal needs, experiences, maturity, and social engagement.

Believer, do you know pastors or fellow believers you see as a bit weird or different because of what interests them, their political leaning, or the stance they take (or don't take) on social issues?  How easy it is to fall into the snare of thinking everyone would be better off being more like us when God has intentionally made people different from one another.  God designed the bone structure, tendons, ligaments, and skin of hands and feet to be different because they serve different purposes--though part of the same body.  Even all feet and hands are not the same size or shape!  One hand can swing a hammer with precision and another is gnarled with arthritis.  Some people cannot buy shoes at a department store because their feet are large, not the same size, or need a custom sole fitted because their legs are different lengths.  The God who created countless stars and calls them by name, the God who created the trillions of cells in our bodies, He saw fit to create people unique in His own image.  Instead of being annoyed or threatened by differences of others, let us celebrate God's wisdom, praise Him for our brothers and sisters, and thank Him for such rich diversity of gifts, calling, and leading.

By faith in Jesus Christ and the filling of the Holy Spirit we are united as one for His glory.  The miracle of conception and human life is amazing, and being spiritually born again into the family of God is even more so.  The differences of Easu and Jacob are nothing compared to our vast separation of sinners from God because He is holy and righteousness.  God said to naturally wicked mankind in Psalm 50:19-23, "You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. ²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. ²¹ These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes. ²² "Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: ²³ whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God."  How different man naturally is from God though created in His image, and praise the LORD He redeems, forgives, and accepts all who trust in Him as His own.  God has demonstrated His love towards us while we were His enemies, and may we demonstrate grace and love in showing kindness towards others.

The Secret Place of the Most High

I remember working as a contractor at San Diego State University and seeing radiation symbols on random buildings.  I discovered these office buildings doubled as bomb shelters underground and were stocked with old barrels of supplies should the need arise.  It looked like many of those green military stores had been sitting in dust for decades.  The subterranean bunkers I walked through were dimly lit and cold, but they would be a welcome refuge in a nuclear disaster.  The problem with bomb shelters is making sure you are in them before the bombs start dropping, or otherwise all the careful preparation was in vain.

Blessed is the one who makes God His refuge and finds certain shelter in all seasons.  Psalm 91:1-3 reads, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust." ³ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence."  God will be a shelter for His people when the stars fall like rain and every mountain is moved from its place.  He protects us from the schemes of the devil, the fear of man, and the curse of sin.  In God is a fortress which cannot be overthrown or undermined, a relationship with the almighty God that will endure forever.  God is a Saviour and Deliverer in whom we can trust.

A bird that is caught in a snare cannot free itself to fly to the safety of the nest.  God, however, delivers from the "snare of the fowler."  No bunker can deliver like the God who is our refuge who comes to us in times of trouble, who provides salvation and help through faith in Him.  When Psalm 91 was written airplanes that deliver explosive ordinance were obviously not invented yet, but pestilence was just as perilous.  An illness could strike man and beast suddenly without cure.  Consider the plagues which God brought upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians which caused sores to break out on their bodies, decimated their cattle, and crops were consumed by locusts.  God protected His people in Goshen during times when death and famine seemed inescapable.

The psalmist concludes with God's response to the one who makes God his refuge in Psalm 91:14-16:  "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. ¹⁵ He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. ¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation."  How blessed God's people are!  God promises to deliver and set on high, to hear and answer our prayers, and experience the comfort of His presence.  God provides deliverance, honour, satisfaction and salvation.  These promises do not exclude us from suffering and trials, yet God will sustain us through them.  He offers long life--eternal life--to all who rely upon and love Him.  Let us publicly proclaim the secret place of the Most High available to all by God's grace.

Why Sacrifice?

Animal sacrifice to deities is a foreign practice and concept to many in the west and the world.  My observation of the purpose behind sacrifice outside Judaism is one of appeasement, to ensure rains will come, the sun would rise, fertility, or for good fortune.  Sacrifices were made to obtain something desirable and beneficial like a man offering a bribe to a corrupt official for favours.  While no one can know for certain the motivations of the hearts of men, it is likely among the Jewish nation this was true to a degree:  sacrifices were at times offered to receive atonement from God and prevent falling out of God's favour.

There are many times recorded in the Bible sacrifice followed deliverance and victory as a show of acknowledgement of God's help with thanksgiving and gratitude.  An example of this is after God delivered Noah, his family, and many animals from the great flood and he offered a sacrifice.  Another time was after Joshua and the children of Israel, mightily helped by God, defeated the inhabitants of Ai.  In obedience to the Law of Moses Joshua 8:30-31 states, "Now Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel in Mount Ebal, ³¹ as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: "an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool." And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings."  To offer burnt and peace offerings to God was a solemn and joyful duty in response to God's goodness and glorious deliverance.

The nature of sacrifice is it always costs the giver.  I wonder:  as children of God are our sacrifices unto the LORD given out of a desire to gain something from God or a response to His goodness?  Is it possible I make "sacrifices" with the hope of future benefits rather than rejoicing for all God has already done for me?  I can say undoubtedly I have and I desire this selfish, short-sighted practice is struck from my life.  To have a relationship with the almighty God who loves us and offered Himself as a sacrifice once for all is the greatest treasure, that He is our inheritance!  As the old hymn goes, "Jesus paid it all!  All to Him I owe.  Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow."  In light of who He is and all He has done we offer ourselves as living sacrifices unto Him, our lives a testimony of His love, grace, and forgiveness.

The Final Offering

A child born into royalty could take much for granted.  This child would not know hunger or cold like the starving daughter of a farmer whose parents cannot afford wood to heat their dwelling.  It must be a severe famine indeed to impact the palace kitchen of the king and queen.  The prince or princess would never know the feeling of a parent imprisoned or the need to help raise little brothers or sisters with servants at the ready.  The fact their father is the king would influence their perspective and attitude.  It would take losing everything to begin to realise how much of their lives was foreign to the rest of the subjects of the realm.

After coming to Jesus Christ as poor beggars, our heavenly Father has adopted us as His own children by faith in our Saviour and LORD.  Our humble background as street urchins creates a very different problem to the one raised in the luxury royalty affords:  we do not realise what is ours as children of God.  God has fitted us with a robe of righteousness and we use it for a dog's mattress.  Instead of drinking from the goblet of heavenly joy and peace we try to satisfy our thirst lapping from puddles fouled by the hooves of horses and donkeys.  We have the best teacher in Jesus and the Holy Spirit who has provided the word of God but we are not familiar with the material or God's patient methods of teaching.  We are more taken watching boys wallow in a street fight than comprehending spiritual truths that transform our lives from within.  A man who learned to navigate the sewers in darkness as a boy suddenly finds himself through the Gospel accepted, embraced, washed, and thrust into a life he never imagined as a child of God.

Before stepping foot into the palace a common person would have heard many things about the king, and a lot of them would be untrue.  There are many things he would continue to believe until he was corrected or learned by experience.  So it is for us who are children of God by faith in Jesus.  Religions and "spiritual" people are riddled with error when not grounded in Bible truth, and we are naturally hostile towards God and His ways.  The scriptures explain to the unregenerate the wisdom of God appears foolishness (I Cor. 2:14).  When we are born again our disjointed souls are snapped into the proper orientation--like when a dislocated knee is set.  Our eyes are opened to see lavish blessings we could not have dreamed were possible given our past.

One of these is found in the book of Hebrews.  The writer sets the stage by saying Jesus came according to the will of God to establish a new covenant which supersedes the Law of Moses.  Hebrews 10:10-18 says, "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. ¹¹ And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. ¹⁴ For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. ¹⁵ But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ¹⁶ "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," ¹⁷ then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." ¹⁸ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin."

Isn't it amazing followers of Jesus have been sanctified through Him once for all?  Through Jesus we are perfected forever as those being sanctified.  God no longer deals with us according to our sin but the grace of God and just forgiveness through the Gospel.  Because He does not remember our sins and lawless deeds any more, having provided remission of these, "there is no longer an offering for sin."  There is literally nothing we can do to add to the sacrifice Jesus has made for us, no penance or lessons to be learned:  when Jesus said "It is finished!" it is true concerning the payment for our sins and acceptance into His fold by faith in Him.  After His resurrection Jesus taught His amazed disciples that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations (Luke 24:27).  The foundational precept of nearly all religions in this world emphasise what man must do to be accepted by God:  Christianity is unique in declaring what God has done so sinful men by faith in Jesus alone are declared righteous and sanctified.

Praise be to God for His marvelous love towards men!  We were lost and without hope in the world, had no power to save ourselves, blind and headed for hell, and the Light of the World shines upon us by the grace of God.  As citizens of heaven whose eyes have been opened let us open our hearts to receive the timeless truth of the Bible and the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth.  We are blessed for coming to Christ in faith at the first, but let us also go on with Him--growing in love towards God and more fully understanding the implications of our inheritance as children of God.  In light of what Jesus has done it is our reasonable service to offer ourselves as living sacrifices unto God, rejoicing to serve and glorify Him now and forever.