Wonderfully Made

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 139:14

The complexity of the human body continually defies understanding. Each day that passes new journal articles and books are written charting the latest discoveries and observations about how the human body works and what the different parts do. Doctors of uncharted brilliance spend their entire lives in the study of one organ, piece or part of the puzzle and never fully unravel it's mysteries. As long as the Lord allows us to remain on this planet one thing is clear: we will never fully understand or appreciate the statement of the Psalmist. We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

However, as we turn to the New Testament we see further depth and intricacy to this reality. We read in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that if anyone is in Christ he is a New Creature, new in kind rather than new in time. If at all possible this new act of creation was more astounding yet. I order for this new creation to occur, Jesus Christ put on a tabernacle of flesh. He lived among us, died on the cross for us, and was raised from the dead. He was then ascended and seated at the right hand of the Father. When we put our faith in Christ we were identified with Christ. This new act of regeneration (Titus 3:5) forever placed us "in the Beloved". The very power used in resurrection Christ is used towards us as the saints (Ephesians 1:18-20), and it is by this very grace that He again is able to call us his workmanship, His beloved masterpiece. We are, once again, fearfully and wonderfully made.

Do You Have a Nose for Jesus?

The great play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand tells the story of a man names Cyrano who loves a girl. However, he feels he is unable to approach her because of his incredibly large nose (Remember the movie Roxanne with Steve Martin - same story). Another young man comes into the story who is handsome, though not as good with words, and who does not bear the same authentic love for the female lead. Not realizing that Cyrano loves the girl the handsome captain enlists Cyrano's help to write (and in a particularly comical scene - speak) on his behalf. I won't spoil the drama for you, but the point is plain, neither man counts himself fully qualified for the task of courting this woman on his own.

Is there someone in your life you have trouble loving? Some task that you are certain you are simply not up to? Perhaps there is a person (or more likely a number of people) whom you are simply unable to treat as you know Christ would have them treated. Perhaps their words, mannerisms and actions all make them difficult to love. Often we find ourselves able to be only civil with these people (if even that!). I imagine for many of us the person is already in your mind. Like Cyrano we find ourselves with a desire to love this person, but an inability of some defect within us that makes it impossible. I have some good, sound, Christian advice for you: Stop trying.

Your realization that you can't love them is quite true. Did you come to expect more from your flesh and your "best efforts"? Furthermore, does that person really need YOUR love if they are ever to grow, heal or draw nearer to Jesus? No, they have needed HIS love all along. And now for the great news!

Jesus Christ, who dwells within you, loves them immensely! When you remember that the One who gave Himself up to save you also saved them it will become more clear: you are to rest in Christ and let He who loves you so very much, love them through you. The very hardest part is getting out of the way.

Perhaps something to this effect would be appropriate:

"Lord, I can't love this person, but You DO. To me they are an annoyance, a hindrance, a difficulty. To You they are someone that they loved so very dearly that you sent your Son to die on a cross to bring them into a relationship with You. To me they are unlovable, as I am unlovable, but You are the One who loves us both. Use me as Your instrument, Your letter, Your pen, to show them Your amazing love for us in your Son Jesus Christ."

Perhaps it wouldn't be bad to have this goal for those whom we think we love very easily!

Identification and Train T's

Finn is just plain crazy for cars and trains. Nobody told him to be crazy for them, he just loves them. Most every outfit he wears has either a car or a train on it, including pajamas. One of the most difficult things I have to do in a week is to convince him to take off one train outfit for another. He just loves being identified with trains. It is so strange! He is too young to think about advertising for Thomas the Tank engine, and isn't really old enough to think about any desire to be professionally involved with them. He just loves trains. He can't even communicate why he loves them (as he is only 2 years old!).

So aside from cuteness why do I mention it? As humans we do long to be associated with what we truly love. Band T-shirts, bumper-stickers, hobby clubs and interest meetings, sports jerseys regularly turn big profits, and even posters for rooms and fences. We like people to know what interests we define ourselves by. As I write this I am wearing a t-shirt with my kids screened onto the front! (Thank you, April!) So what is the point?

I am not suggesting we all get more magnets, bumper-stickers and t-shirts with Christian messages on them (I'll let you make your own decision about those). I AM suggesting that we remember our close identification with Jesus every day. Finn can't wait to put on a new train shirt, what a great example for us. How thrilling that each day we are found in Christ! This wonderful garment of love, peace, hope and joy. We are to abide in Him, rest in His care, and believe that we are loved beyond our wildest imagination. Are you excited to wake every morning because you are identified, by His grace, with Jesus Christ, the source of love, joy and life? I hope you are...it is wonderful!

Pooh-line Theology

If I had to choose a favorite literary character it would undoubtedly be Winnie-the-Pooh. I have loved A.A. Milne's children's tales my whole life and have continually enjoyed them. And I think there is a very good reason why. Remember the time that Pooh and Piglet were tracking a woozle? As they walked around the spinney in the snow they continued to rediscover their own tracks thinking that they were chasing a whole pack of "woozles" and "wizzles". Finally, Piglet runs home and Christopher Robin comes down out of the tree, having watched the whole thing. After Christopher Robin explains things to Pooh we read:

He sat down and though, in the most thoughtful way he could think. Then he fitted his paw into one of the Tracks...and then he scratched his nose twice, and stood up.

"Yes," said Winnie-the-Pooh.

"I have been Foolish and Deluded," said he, "and I am a Bear of No Brain at All."

"You're the Best Bear in All the World," Said Christopher Robin soothingly.

"Am I?" said Pooh hopefully. And then he brightened up suddenly.

"Anyhow," he said, "it is nearly Luncheon Time." So he went home for it.

This is one instance of what happens in nearly every chapter of Milne's masterpiece. Pooh finds his entire identity, value and importance in Christopher Robin. Though he has been proven "Foolish and Deluded" he wastes no time with his own embarrassment. All self-centered thoughts are wiped away Christopher Robin's evaluation of him. Isn't that grand?

Brothers and Sisters, have you been back to find how your caring Lord sees you? Read John 10; Ephesians 1:3-14; Romans 8; and 1 John 4:9-19. Then answer the tough question. Do I believe it? Do I trust in His power, His ability, His character, to love me like the Bible says?

Jesus Loves Me this I know...For the Bible tells me so.

A Free Gift

Romans 6:23 tells us: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." This verse gets used when explaining salvation to people all of the time. After this verse is brought out we follow the usual steps through how we have a choice to either put our faith in Jesus and recieve the full life which he gives (John 10:10) or we can reject Jesus and face the judgement of eternal separation from Him (Revelation 20:15). While this is true, it is not actually what Paul is thinking about when He wrote the verse. (Note: I am not saying it is wrong to use this verse when explaining salvation. I am merely saying that the context points to a more direct application.)

Romans 6 isn't addressing non-believers telling them why they should come to Christ, here the Holy Spirit is addressing people who have already put their faith in Jesus, been identified in him in His death, burial and ressurrection. So what is this death that can be reaped by someone who is already saved? Is our salvation in question? Is our hope of eternal life to be dimmed by the chance that we may be reaping death for our actions constantly? No.

This chapter is telling us about the Christian life in very exciting terms. We are given the piciture in Romans 6 that the believer has two choices. We have been freed from the power of the Sin Nature that ruled us, and now we can present ourselves to God or to Sin. What happens if we present ourselves to sin? Sin pays wages!

Wages are earned. If someone recieves wages it is because he worked for them. After a week of work the employee doesn't have to beg for his wages, and then thank the benevolence of His employer for paying him. He earned the money and it was payed to Him. So what are the wages that we recieve for living as slaves to sin? Death.

Death in scripture is a powerful and complicated word. Death doesn't just mean physical death in Scripture. Death means separation. When Adam and Eve at the apple they were told that they would die on the day that they ate of it...yet they didn't physically die on that day. On that day they did die spiritually: they were separated from God. This rings true with what Jesus would say later in the true Lord's Prayer: "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) So, when the believer presents himself to his Sin Nature to obey it the results (wages) are separation from God. Though that believer is still saved by the work of God, because of His faith in Christ Jesus, He is out of fellowship. The thing that is needful in this situation is confession and repentance (1 John 1:9). This, however, is not the main thrust of what I hoped to address in this posting.

There is more great news yet here. The natural conclusion that we are bound to make from looking at, and understanding, Romans 6:23 in context is to say something to the effect of: "OK, I get it sin means death. So, I'm going to try super hard not to ever sin again and then I won't get death! Then I will earn life!" The trouble with this logic is that you can only earn one thing in this verse. If you want to earn something you have only death to choose from. If you want life (again, this is talking about the christian life, NOT salvation) we must accept it as a free gift from Jesus Christ. We must believe that real life only comes from him and recieve it! Trusting in Jesus fully is the way to be saved (we don't contribute even .0000001 percent of the process), living the Christian life successfully is trusting in what He has done and is doing (again, we don't contribute even .0000001 percent of the process). That's bad news for legalists, but GREAT news for Christians!