Category: Salvation (Page 29 of 34)

God Wins!

New Heavens & New EarthWe just finished up our “Anchors” series this past Sunday morning with the climactic foundational truth that God wins! This is the one that gives us the most assurance in times of trouble. Our confidence in the face of suffering and trials comes in this final anchor. This is the strong characteristic of our God’s eternal nature that we hang on to as we walk through the dark valleys of this life.

We know that God wins.

At the end of the last book of the Bible we’re given a clear picture of the culmination of God’s eternal plans for his people. Revelation 21 tells us of the new heaven and new earth. The sea that separates heaven and earth has disappeared. We behold the “new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God” to unite with this world and purify it of all its brokenness and imperfection. God and man now dwell with one another forever. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Someday the whole world will be healed as it is drawn into the fullness of God’s glory. Evil will be destroyed and all the potential of creation will explode in eternal beauty. Heaven and earth become brand new. And one. Again.

And the pains of this life will be wiped away forever. Totally forgotten. “The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17)

God created us for eternal life. Eternal communion. Eternal fellowship. Sin and death are alien invaders. Evil and suffering don’t belong. And they will not win.

God wins. God always wins. And it’s always a blow-out. When he brought his people out of Egypt the final score was: God – two million to nothing. God uses a woman with a glass of warm milk and a tent peg to crush the head of Sisera. God uses a scrawny little kid with a lunch basket and a sling shot to crush the head of Goliath. He brings down the walls of the oldest and biggest city in Canaan with a few trumpets. We see it in all the Old Testament stories of salvation and deliverance. We see it in Jesus’ great miracles and in his Resurrection. And we see it in our Lord’s revelation to John. God wins. And — praise God! — by your relationship with him through his Son, so do you!

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TCUI’m a bigger TCU fan right now than I’ve ever been. In the face of this BCS travesty, Gary Patterson is showing tremendous restraint and honor in taking the high road with college football. He’s not saying anything. But what happened to his Horned Frogs Sunday is nothing short of a shame for everybody involved. By pairing up TCU and Boise in a rematch from last year, the big BCS powers have guaranteed that neither school will make any noise during the postseason. Outside Tarrant County and Idaho, who really wants to watch the Frogs and Boise State?

The undeniable truth is that TCU could completely wreck the collusion and totally destroy the backroom BCS buddy-system by losing to Florida or Ohio State by single digits (very likely). Heaven forbid they should actually beat the Gators or Buckeyes (possible). But even if they demolish Boise’s Broncos by 75 (bet on it), it won’t even cause a ripple.

“Who cares? They beat Boise! Big deal!”

The uglier truth is that if Colt McCoy had waited just one more second before launching that ball out of bounds or if that ball off the Longhorns’ kicker had not straightened out and nudged through the left upright, TCU still wouldn’t have been slotted against Alabama in Pasadena. The BCS would have given us a back-to-back Tide vs. Florida rematch first. Without even blinking.

It’s not fair. TCU is as high as they can possibly go in college football under this current system. Duke and Connecticut can win basketball titles. Fresno State and Rice can win baseball championships. Because every other sport at every other level in the history of the world has a real playoff to determine its best team. A good team with a good coach that really comes together to do something good by out-playing and out-coaching the others has a fair postseason shot at everybody else in every other sport. But not college football. It doesn’t matter what TCU does or how badly they beat everybody who will play them, they are as high as they can go. Because they won’t be given the opportunity to beat anybody else.

The entire rest of the world, every football fan and TV executive in the country, would much rather watch TCU and Florida or TCU and Ohio State. Everybody except Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel. And the commissioners of the Big XII, SEC, Pac-10, Big 10, and Big East Conferences.

It’s not right.

Go Frogs.

Allan

The Love of God

“Could we with ink the ocean fill,
and were the skies of parchment made;
were every stalk on earth a quill,
and every man a scribe by trade;
to write the love of God above
would drain the ocean dry;
nor could the scroll contain the whole
though stretched from sky to sky.

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall for evermore endure
the saints and angels’ song.”

~F. M. Lehman, 1917

The Gift of Life

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” ~John 10:27

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” ~John 10:10

 “For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life.” ~John 17:2

Gift of LifeEternal life comes from Christ Jesus. It’s a gift that’s represented in every facet of Jesus’ obedient revelation of the Father. Salvation is introduced in his birth, his ministry and teachings pave the way for it, and his death and resurrection ensures our participation in it.

Jesus’ gift of eternal life isn’t just a model or a standard of ethics and morals for us to follow. And it’s not just memorizing and/or practicing his teachings. Joining eternal life in Christ is becoming involved in him and his Body. It’s a close connection. It’s a deeply personal relationship.

We are not just people who follow Jesus. We are swept up and integrated into God’s mighty work of reconciling the world and redeeming creation. Salvation doesn’t just satisfy a legal requirement. Salvation frees us to participate in the eternal life of God.

It’s more than just a moment in time. It’s more than his crucifixion. It’s more than your baptism. Much more. It’s bigger and deeper. It’s infinitely more about our nature and character in relationship with God than it is about our legal standing. What Christ has done is abolish all the obstacles and empower us to be God’s children and live eternal life with him in abundance.

It’s a gift.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Peace,

Allan

The Process Of Salvation

“It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” ~Philippians 2:13

Being SavedOur Father is the one who shapes our wills and renews our minds and transforms us into the image of his Son. God is saving us by making us like Jesus. Being saved, the process of salvation, is the on-going work of becoming like Christ. Acting like Christ. That’s our salvation.

And our God gets all the credit.

You picked up a homeless man under a bridge today and bought him lunch. Praise God! God is saving you!.

You cheerfully volunteered at Fortress this afternoon. Congratulations! God is saving you!Being transformed into his image

You didn’t criticize other disciples and other churches today. Yes! God is bringing your salvation to completion!

You’re putting other people first. You’re realizing it’s not about you. Your needs don’t count. Hallelujah! God is perfecting you!

You didn’t argue when sister Smith moved your things in the workroom. You didn’t complain when brother Jones said something weird in his prayer. Amen! God is purifying you for the Day of Christ!

Our view of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, what it means to be a Christian, must be shaped by an understanding that our salvation is a process initiated and carried out and completed by God. But it is a process. It’s a process of becoming more and more like our Lord.

Peace,

Allan

The Process Of Salvation

“It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” ~Philippians 2:13

Being SavedOur Father is the one who shapes our wills and renews our minds and transforms us into the image of his Son. God is saving us by making us like Jesus. Being saved, the process of salvation, is the on-going work of becoming like Christ. Acting like Christ. That’s our salvation.

And our God gets all the credit.

You picked up a homeless man under a bridge today and bought him lunch. Praise God! God is saving you!.

You cheerfully volunteered at Fortress this afternoon. Congratulations! God is saving you!Being transformed into his image

You didn’t criticize other disciples and other churches today. Yes! God is bringing your salvation to completion!

You’re putting other people first. You’re realizing it’s not about you. Your needs don’t count. Hallelujah! God is perfecting you!

You didn’t argue when sister Smith moved your things in the workroom. You didn’t complain when brother Jones said something weird in his prayer. Amen! God is purifying you for the Day of Christ!

Our view of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, what it means to be a Christian, must be shaped by an understanding that our salvation is a process initiated and carried out and completed by God. But it is a process. It’s a process of becoming more and more like our Lord.

Peace,

Allan

Our Lord Is Faithful

Our Lord is FaithfulOur Tuesday morning men’s Bible study group dove into 1 Corinthians this week. And we were struck by Paul’s comments at the beginning of this powerful letter. He’s writing to a church that’s completely eaten up with pride and divisions and arrogance and immaturity. The leaders of this church are abusing the very gifts God’s given them to prove his holy presence. They’re running the church with worldly methods according to worldly standards. This church is a mess. It’s a wreck. It’s doing more harm for the Kingdom than good.

Yet, Paul writes:

“Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.”

Huh?

Paul gives thanks for this church. He praises this church for their enriched speaking and knowledge. He calls them the “sanctified.” He claims that this whacked-out church in Corinth has just as many spiritual blessings and potential as any church that’s ever been established.

Huh?

How can he write that? How can he be positive and thankful? How can he, with a straight face, affirm anything good going on here?

“He [Christ] will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” ~1 Corinthians 1:8-9

God himself provides the guarantee. He will remain faithful to his promises to ultimately perfect his chosen people. No matter how immature they are, regardless of the ways they act toward one another and in their community, God is making his Church wholly blameless. We are forgiven of our sins and are in the process of “being saved.” We’re being remolded, transformed, even if it comes with great swings and dramatic ups and downs.

We’re always going to see the blemishes in God’s Church. His Church is made up of humans. Some days, those blights on the Bride of Christ are all we can see. It can be discouraging. It can bring us down. Especially when we recognize that, a lot of the times, we ourselves are actually part of the problem.

The key is to focus not on the unfaithfulness of God’s people but, instead, on the eternal faithfulness of our God. We are Christians still awaiting perfection, still awaiting the final revelation and completion and arrival of the Kingdom of God. It’s coming. And he promises that when it does, he will have made us ready.

That includes you. And me.

Peace,

Allan

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