The Relevance of God's Word

Since God is the unchanging Creator of all people created in His own image, His eternal word is always relevant.  It is a silly exercise to "try" to be relevant when God alone has the words of life.  We do not need to spruik the relevance of water, food and oxygen because our bodies demand them.  The Bible isn't worth listening to because it is "cool" or "sick" or the popular choice:  it alone provides the spiritual and practical guidance for living now and for eternity, reveals God and His perfect will, instructs us with parables, sustains us with promises, amazes us with prophecy and guides our every step with God's wisdom.

There is nothing wrong with a polished presentation, examples that engage hearers or the use of technology to better connect with seekers.  We go through the effort of preaching, teaching and studying God's word because we know it is relevant to our lives without needing to dress it up in fashionable phrases or with a sales pitch to appeal to unbelieving ears.  This has no credibility, like an older person who tries to fit in with a younger crowd by using current or hip slang in all the wrong ways.  An older person has much to offer a younger person by simply being themselves and sharing wisdom and knowledge they have received by God's grace through their experiences.  I did not love my parents because they were fashionable, artistic or "rad:"  I loved them because they were my parents who loved me first.

I understand the draw to shake up our thoughts about Jesus cobbled together from messages we have heard, pictures we have seen, mistaken assumptions or ignorance.  There is great value in prompting a careful examination to discover what is actually true about God and go beyond traditional caricatures.  Yet this is only valuable as long as we are grounded in the truth of the Bible, an ancient book inspired by the living God who has put it above His own name (Psalm 138:2).  Left to himself man's ideas about God are all wrong, and we also have a tendency towards idolatry--making gods to suit ourselves.  God has given humans the capacity to appreciate and describe a range of flavours in foods, and it will not do to make sweet what God has made bitter.

Following God is a walk of faith.  It is of no value to attempt to smuggle a little Gospel truth masked in morality into a discourse because God's word must be willingly received by a reader or listener to benefit.  It is a common practice to mask a tablet or medicine for a pet by smothering it in a treat they enjoy to trick them into eating it.  Not so with the word of God!  There are difficult sayings in the Bible because it is a revelation of God beyond our full comprehension; there are hard doctrines because our flesh balks and resists submission to the LORD.  As a patient must fill out forms, have a consultation, pay a fee, show up on the day and yield to the scalpel of the surgeon to remove the cancer or repair a torn ligament, so we must step by step yield before God and His word to receive it as timeless truth relevant to our lives today.

To an unbeliever the Bible may seem foolishness, but to those who are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit they are truly the words of life.  God uniquely gives spiritual insight to believers which is most practical, for our hearts and eyes are opened to the relevance and refreshment of God's word for us today and always.  It does more than merely entertain us but enlightens us to our needs we never knew we had and the glorious God who meets them all by His grace.

The Delight of Hunger

One great challenge that faces preachers is to feed those with the word of God who are already full.  We have all had the experience of finishing a satisfying, filling meal at a restaurant to have the waiter offer the dessert menu.  The pictures might be appealing to one who is hungry, but the sweet offerings are not remotely tempting when there is no room inside!  Restaurants are filled with patrons who came with the express purpose of eating, and once their hunger is satisfied they head off to other activities.

The same can be true when it comes to feeding on God's word.  Unlike our stomachs which are filled with food and drink, our minds and hearts can be filled with a vast array of ideas, doctrines, agendas, affections, questions and doubts.  Sometimes a doubt can be so great nothing can displace it from a mind even after all questions have been accurately answered because they will not receive the truth by faith.  I have found social media and online interactions provide a mirage of genuine engagement and discourse, for most comments are either a provocative shot across the bow, carefully crafted to draw into a quarrel, or an opinion posed as fact without desire to actually consider a different perspective.  Ever so often, however, there are people hungry for more than information--but for God and His word.

As a hungry person must ingest food and drink in person, so the best interactions I have had with others is in person.  When a person is really hungry, they are not interested to look at menus, consider ingredients and pricing or see pictures with their eyes:  they want to receive the real thing.  This was true in a spiritual sense concerning the Gentles in Antioch mentioned in Acts 13:42-44:  "So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. ⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God."  Paul and Barnabas had preached in the Synagogue to people largely hardened to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet there were others who were hungry to hear the word of God.  After the gathering Paul and Barnabas met with those who followed them in response to the message, they "persuaded them to continue in the grace of God."

Here we see most fruitful combinations:  hungry people receiving the word of God and God's people persuading others to continue in the grace of God.  Our physical hunger comes and goes as we snack or eat a meal, but spiritual hunger to receive God's truth and fellowship with the brethren is truly insatiable.  Even after we have eaten spiritually we are enabled and equipped to share what we have received, for observe how almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God:  not to be fed, not to be physically healed, not to be baptised or have demons cast out.  When the congregation broke they looked forward to gathering together again to hear the word of God as they continued in the grace of God.  Such hunger for God's word is a delight, for God has the words of life that satisfy our souls.

When a person is hungry, they will be the instigator.  They do not need to be cajoled, bribed, convinced or pressured into eating because they actually want to eat!  The same is true concerning the word of God:  people hungry for the truth of God's word will open the Bible themselves and desire to hear the Bible taught so they might walk in faith according to it.  Save the presence of the God Himself, there is nothing more enjoyable for a preacher or teacher than to personally engage with seekers or believers who are hungry for the word of God.  In that moment there is a sense of doing what you were created to do, having fellowship with God and one another by faith in His grace.

What Christ Accomplished

"And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem."

Luke 9:30-31

As Jesus prayed on the mountain, He was transfigured and was clothed with glory.  He spoke with Moses and Elijah because God is the God of the living, and the subject of their discussion was intriguing:  His upcoming decease He was about to accomplish.  Most people do not see death as an accomplishment, but Jesus through His death would accomplish more than mortal man or scheming devil could know.  Jesus was about to conquer death by His own death and provide eternal life through His atoning sacrifice.

When John the Baptist saw Jesus he identified Him as "The Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29).  The scripture is filled with things Jesus accomplished on Calvary culminating in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension and intercession for as many as receive Him.  Paul wrote in Galatians 1:4-5 of Christ "...who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."  By His atonement Jesus made a way of salvation by faith in Him possible, washed us from sin and imputed righteousness to all who believe.  Jesus has delivered us from sin, Satan and hell and saved us for eternal life and glory with Him.

Recently I was struck by the prophetic utterance of what Christ would accomplish as if it was already finished in Isaiah 53:4-5:  "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed."  Many Christians are aware our sins were placed upon Jesus but have not considered that our griefs, sorrows, afflictions and sickness has been as well.  Having overcome sin and death by His divine power, so we also are no longer slaves to grief, sorrow or afflictions.  Knowing Jesus has accomplished this, faith in Him prompts us to be casting our cares upon Him because He cares for us.

There are times when we care about things we cannot change, but God's care for us is combined with almighty power.  Isn't it possible we have tried to shoulder grief and sorrow that overwhelmed us ourselves when Jesus has already borne it for us because we did not know this is part of His accomplishment?  If we will gladly give Him our sin, won't we give Him our grief and afflictions too?  We are not sufficient or able to do even this, but thanks be to God who helps and strengthens us to believe, receive and give.  Jesus was a "man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" and yet He continually has perfect peace and fullness of joy.  We cannot understand how this can possibly be, but what is impossible with men is possible with God.

Declared Of God!

"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."

1 John 4:4

It is wonderful to consider all Jesus has done for believers.  Because He came to earth and gave His life as a ransom for many, we can be born again by faith in Jesus through the Gospel.  John 1:11-13 says, "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."  To be declared children "of God" by faith in Jesus Christ!  To lay hold of this new identity and righteous standing with God by grace is a humbling privilege.

When Jesus came to Jerusalem, the Pharisee Nicodemus pulled him aside and they had a chat under cover of darkness.  It is written in John 3:2, "This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  There is a world of difference believing Jesus was a teacher come from God, that He was of God or that He was God.  It seems Nicodemus was yet to be convinced about who Jesus was, that He was the promised Messiah.  He did far better than other religious rulers spoken of in the first part of John 9:16:  "Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Jesus was more than from God or of God, for He is called Emmanuel:  God with us.

Because believers in Christ are born again of God, our lives ought to be marked by godliness.  When we talk about being "godly" it typically based upon observable piety, yet godliness is more about who we are in Christ than about what we do or avoid doing.  We are godly because we are of God, and this realisation ought to have a tremendous impact on us choosing to walk in godliness.  1 Timothy 3:16 says, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory."  True godliness has been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, and we are called to follow Him in faith and obedience.  He blazed a trail to the right hand of God the Father in heaven where we will join Him one day in glory, and so let us walk worthy of those who are of God as He is.