But God forbid that I
should boast except
in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom
the world has been
crucified to me,
and I to the world.
For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision
nor uncircumcision avails anything,
but a new creation.
And as many as walk
according to this rule,
peace and mercy by upon them,
and upon the Israel of God.
Galatians 6:14-16
The Israel of the old covenant were the chosen people of God. By means of them the world was to become aware that God exists and that only Him were they to worship. In the new covenant by means of the death and resurrection the seed of Isaac that was promised to him by God extended to all the children of God: "But it s not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, no are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, 'In Isaac your seed your seed shall be called.' That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as seed" (Romans 9:6-8; cf. Genesis 21:12). Furthermore, all people are called by God: "As He says also in Hosea; 'I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there they shall be called sons of the living God" (Romans 6:25-26; cf. Hosea 2:23; 9:26).
Our glory, if in anything, is to be thrust upon the cross, for it is by the cross that this new covenant is established and it is by the cross that the promise to Isaac was to be fulfilled. By placing our faith, our glory, in things other than the cross is to nullify all that the cross did for God's children, His seed. For God to send His Wisdom to become Incarnate, only to suffer and die for those who He called, was to become agonized in this Redemption, that is the cross of Jesus Christ. Think upon this fact, the cross was an infinitesimal event, the most important event that ever occurred upon the earth. Re-think what you believe! Re-think as to how as children of God, the spiritual Israel of God, as to how we are to live? As we enter into a time of holidays, times that have become so important in our lives, that has become so secular with emphasis upon things rather than upon God, His Son, and allow the Holy Spirit to enliven us for the work that God has given to all His Children to do, that is, to make disciples, to love as one of God's children: "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him" (1John 3:18-19). Those words of John the beloved disciple and Apostle of Jesus Christ, who walked with Jesus Christ, who laid his head upon the breast of Jesus Christ, are awesome and terrible. He gives us a test of our faith, that is, whether or not we are of the truth: that test consists whether or not we love in deed and in truth, if not, then we are not in the truth. How do we assure ourselves that we are in the truth? In our love shown to the world by our deeds and by being in the truth. We are commanded to love one another in Jesus' words that we are to love God with our hearts: "Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40). John in his letter adds the words of Jesus Christ: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35). As I write this blog I am reminded how far short I have lived most of my life chasing after "things" to make me happy, to fulfill my every desire, only to hang them up in the garage, or to give them away in a "white sale" or to sell them in a garage sale, when the money so easily disposed of to make me happy, did not in actuality make me happy; only broke, only to be in debt to credit card companies, etc. The holidays have become so consumer oriented that the reason for the holidays becomes placed in the "backseat." What have we done? For so long now the Church has forgotten that we are not of this world, this world is not our home, we are just passing through; as the old hymn so states. We have taught our children to desire "things" over the desire to be like God. We give some tacit teaching of God, then, we stand in line for days, hours; rushing, pushing, piling onto our carts, "things" that will show those to whom we are giving them to that we love them. We feel as though we have done a good thing and we feel pleased with ourselves. Oh! We are so lovable! Yet, we have not taken any time, or much time, to teach our children what it means to be a Christian, to teach about the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. But we do have the latest technological equipment, the bigger and better television, etc. Am I saying that those things are to be avoided completely? No! What I am saying is, where is your heart? What is your motivation for giving gifts? God gave the greatest gift of all; His Son. The love of God that we are to display and have in our our, our motivation for the things we do, is not a brotherly love, not a love for our siblings, and family, not a love for our spouses, rather is is a love that is founded upon the principled love of God. It is this principled love that shows the world, God, and is our assurance that we are in the truth: "Beloved, if God so loved us,we also ought to love one another" (1John 4:11).
Enjoy the holidays, give gifts, but do not forget the reason for the holidays and what God has done for His children. We are not to forget that we are to love in word and deeds. As we enjoy the holidays, as we eat ourselves into oblivion, Ha! do not forget that there are brothers and sisters in other parts of the world who would be so happy if they could only have a grain of rice. We have abused our freedom, our calling to be Christian. The world has become our home. The call for me, and for you, is to examine our hearts, our motives, our deeds: do you love God, Jesus Christ? Do we say that we love God and charge the next item on our credit card, now we owe to someone else not knowing that the next day, all will be lost, jobs, physicality, etc. John in his old age writes: "We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also" (1John 5:19-21).
Place your mind, your concentration upon God. Now, if I talk my own talk, it is of no more importance to you that your talk to me; but if talk the truth of God, then you and I will be in harmony and our lives will have the assurance that we are the children of God. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us in this direction, empowering us to live according to His commandments.
being justified freely
by His grace through
the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus.
Romans 3:24
Glorify God Today In Deed and Truth
Richard L. Crumb
No comments:
Post a Comment