AN EVERLASTING RESOLUTION

#1 · January 2, 2008, 1:13 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on January 2, 2008, 1:13 pm
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
AN EVERLASTING RESOLUTION

Text: 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2

Even though a couple of days away, let me nevertheless wish you a Happy New Year! Have you made any resolutions yet? During this time of the year, we can count on our media to highlight certain annual topics: controversies over using the greeting Merry Christmas, the status of the retail sector during Christmas, and resolutions being made for the New Year. We are now in the resolution portion of this cycle. Within two weeks, the news will transform from resolutions made to resolutions broken.

Sadly, the human ability to be unable to stick to promises remains quite intact. Even promises we make to ourselves that result in self-improvement can be all too quickly forgotten. One study I have retained over the years reads, in part, that "good intentions barely outlast wilting Christmas trees, with one in four resolvers breaking their promises within a week. About half manage to hang on for a month. But by June, only about 40% can boast of sticking to their goal." (The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 23, 1990, B1) In spite of the tradition of making a resolution for the New Year, we know that many do not last the year. We probably each could share at least one resolution that did not make it in our own lives.

There is one resolution, though, that has not only made it through one year, but has been kept as an everlasting resolution. That is God's love for us. From generation to generation, God made His love known to His people. He called them to be His obedient people. But time after time, God's invitation was rejected. Selfishness and idolatry took the place of faithful service. Over and over, God implored His people to return. He spoke through prophets. Miracles were performed to prove God's presence. But the people refused to return, even when faced with obvious destruction from invading forces.

In spite of unconcealed disobedience, God refused to abandon His people because of His love. We know the story well, so here is the condensed version. He came among us as an infant and grew and lived and ministered and testified. He was mistreated and executed like a common criminal. Yet, in that act of hatred, the resolution of all resolutions was made and kept for all time. "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."

The miracle of this deliverance is that God provides the means necessary for salvation. Paul writes in verse 11 that "we know what it is to fear the Lord." One commentary states, "The fear of the Lord is not, of course, the fear of what may follow the judgment. It is the awe that comes from the vision of God's holiness, and the inexorable demands of his righteousness. The judgment of holy love is more terrible to face than the judgment of one who does not care about us." (The Interpreter's Bible, v. 10, p. 332)

I remember getting into trouble one school day as a sixth grader. Our teacher was very late one morning, and when the principal walked in with the substitute teacher, he caught some of us throwing erasers. Busted. We visited his office right then and there. In those days, all of us knew that the punishment likely included a paddle. I received my one or two licks from the principal and was relieved that there was not a phone call made to either of my parents. I didnt feel compelled that day to share everything that went on in school. The worst came the next day, however, when I had to face the teacher whom I respected. Her quiet admonition, "Charles, I'm disappointed in you," was much worse than the lick I took the day before. This is what Paul is getting at when he wrote here about fearing the Lord.

Paul knew well the history of his people, of the Gentiles with whom he ministered, and of himself. He knew that it was quite impossible for anyone to make themselves righteous enough for God. We cannot meet God's standards. We cannot, on our own accord, make ourselves holy enough to stand in the presence of God. God has always wanted His people to commune with him, but at the same time, our unholiness cannot abide the presence of His holiness. God told Moses in Exodus 33:20, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

In spite of this difference, God made available the way to come before Him. Since we cannot enter into His presence, God enters into ours. He does so in such a way that nothing any longer has the power to keep us away from Him. Just as no righteousness or piety on our part can bring us into his presence, so it is that no sin or rebellion is too great to keep us apart. God has bridged the gap Himself between our sin and His holiness. Paul says that, "therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Once again, a promise from God is fulfilled. Isaiah 43:18-19 tells us "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." God's ways are different than our ways, and when He appears to His people, new things always happen. When we accept Christ, we are not merely improved or altered or reformed, if these words imply only an external change. Much greater things happen to us. We are remade in God's image, just as we were intended to be. Philip Yancey, formerly one of the editors of Christianity Today, wrote that God's act of creation was rather simple. This seems a rather amazing statement for him to make given the increasing controversies between creation and evolution. Yancey continued that it is making Himself known in our re-creation that takes so much time.

Confirmation is found in 2 Corinthians. Continuing his thought, Paul writes, "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them." Paul emphasizes here and in his other letters that God took the initiative and time necessary to do all this. Placing this in the context of Pauls own life highlights just how much Paul had given up to identify so completely with the Lord. Paul had been a member of the Pharisees. It is believed that Paul could have been one considered for the position of High Priest at some time in his life. One of the Pharisaic doctrines stressed that it was up to man to make the world ready for the Messiah to appear. In fact, I think that traditional Judaism still teaches that if humans, or at least the Jews, live morally then the Messiah will come. This is what Paul would have accepted as doctrinally pure truth. How much did Paul change when he met and accepted the living God? Well, he no longer lived according to that vital doctrine. Instead, he recognized that if that was the truth, then we would never know the Messiah. Instead, he teaches that "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Because of His love, God makes us into His new creation.

Finally, Paul goes on to write that God "has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." We have heard the term ambassador used frequently in both our church and our secular lives. It would be quite a task to count all the Sunday school classes or Christian fellowship groups throughout the country that have named themselves the Ambassador's class.

What Paul writes is of great importance. In spite of how we learn about God's will, the Bible makes this clear: God has given His believers the responsibility to speak and live His truth. It is the task of the Christian to transmit God's love to others. As ambassadors, we must be firmly grounded in and committed to God's will for our lives. We have to attend to our spiritual growth through prayer, Bible reading and study, worship, and fellowship. The wise ambassador knows the needs of the nation before going to represent it.

A nation's best ambassadors are those who love the people and the land they serve. I can't imagine anyone doing his or her best who couldn't respect the people with whom he or she works. So it is with Christians. We have to love others. We have to see them as important. We have to see them as God sees them: His very own children whom He loves. We love God first and most, of course, but we live for and serve others on His behalf. In so doing, we persuade men and women to believe and to commit their lives to God, who is reconciling the world to Himself.

Our New Year's resolutions may last. I hope they do if you have made one. Statistically speaking, they probably won't. This, if nothing else, should serve as living proof of our complete inability to present ourselves as righteous before God. More often than not, we cannot change enough to improve our lives for a single year. We cannot hope, therefore, to change enough to walk into the presence of God. Thank God, then, that He has done it for us, and that His resolution is everlasting. This is the source of Paul's joy; let it also be the source of ours. Resolve to grow closer to God this year, but not as a result of our personal strength and will-power. These will unfortunately fail us. Let us succeed as Paul succeeded: by giving our lives so completely to the Lord that He fills us with His righteous presence. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. There is no other way. Let us all believe and live that which Paul implores us to accept: I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." This becomes, then, our everlasting resolution because its sole source is from God.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

170 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

www.bhfirstbaptist.com
-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org   

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

Text: 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2

Even though a couple of days away, let me nevertheless wish you a Happy New Year! Have you made any resolutions yet? During this time of the year, we can count on our media to highlight certain annual topics: controversies over using the greeting Merry Christmas, the status of the retail sector during Christmas, and resolutions being made for the New Year. We are now in the resolution portion of this cycle. Within two weeks, the news will transform from resolutions made to resolutions broken.

Sadly, the human ability to be unable to stick to promises remains quite intact. Even promises we make to ourselves that result in self-improvement can be all too quickly forgotten. One study I have retained over the years reads, in part, that "good intentions barely outlast wilting Christmas trees, with one in four resolvers breaking their promises within a week. About half manage to hang on for a month. But by June, only about 40% can boast of sticking to their goal." (The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 23, 1990, B1) In spite of the tradition of making a resolution for the New Year, we know that many do not last the year. We probably each could share at least one resolution that did not make it in our own lives.

There is one resolution, though, that has not only made it through one year, but has been kept as an everlasting resolution. That is God's love for us. From generation to generation, God made His love known to His people. He called them to be His obedient people. But time after time, God's invitation was rejected. Selfishness and idolatry took the place of faithful service. Over and over, God implored His people to return. He spoke through prophets. Miracles were performed to prove God's presence. But the people refused to return, even when faced with obvious destruction from invading forces.

In spite of unconcealed disobedience, God refused to abandon His people because of His love. We know the story well, so here is the condensed version. He came among us as an infant and grew and lived and ministered and testified. He was mistreated and executed like a common criminal. Yet, in that act of hatred, the resolution of all resolutions was made and kept for all time. "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."

The miracle of this deliverance is that God provides the means necessary for salvation. Paul writes in verse 11 that "we know what it is to fear the Lord." One commentary states, "The fear of the Lord is not, of course, the fear of what may follow the judgment. It is the awe that comes from the vision of God's holiness, and the inexorable demands of his righteousness. The judgment of holy love is more terrible to face than the judgment of one who does not care about us." (The Interpreter's Bible, v. 10, p. 332)

I remember getting into trouble one school day as a sixth grader. Our teacher was very late one morning, and when the principal walked in with the substitute teacher, he caught some of us throwing erasers. Busted. We visited his office right then and there. In those days, all of us knew that the punishment likely included a paddle. I received my one or two licks from the principal and was relieved that there was not a phone call made to either of my parents. I didnt feel compelled that day to share everything that went on in school. The worst came the next day, however, when I had to face the teacher whom I respected. Her quiet admonition, "Charles, I'm disappointed in you," was much worse than the lick I took the day before. This is what Paul is getting at when he wrote here about fearing the Lord.

Paul knew well the history of his people, of the Gentiles with whom he ministered, and of himself. He knew that it was quite impossible for anyone to make themselves righteous enough for God. We cannot meet God's standards. We cannot, on our own accord, make ourselves holy enough to stand in the presence of God. God has always wanted His people to commune with him, but at the same time, our unholiness cannot abide the presence of His holiness. God told Moses in Exodus 33:20, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

In spite of this difference, God made available the way to come before Him. Since we cannot enter into His presence, God enters into ours. He does so in such a way that nothing any longer has the power to keep us away from Him. Just as no righteousness or piety on our part can bring us into his presence, so it is that no sin or rebellion is too great to keep us apart. God has bridged the gap Himself between our sin and His holiness. Paul says that, "therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Once again, a promise from God is fulfilled. Isaiah 43:18-19 tells us "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." God's ways are different than our ways, and when He appears to His people, new things always happen. When we accept Christ, we are not merely improved or altered or reformed, if these words imply only an external change. Much greater things happen to us. We are remade in God's image, just as we were intended to be. Philip Yancey, formerly one of the editors of Christianity Today, wrote that God's act of creation was rather simple. This seems a rather amazing statement for him to make given the increasing controversies between creation and evolution. Yancey continued that it is making Himself known in our re-creation that takes so much time.

Confirmation is found in 2 Corinthians. Continuing his thought, Paul writes, "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them." Paul emphasizes here and in his other letters that God took the initiative and time necessary to do all this. Placing this in the context of Pauls own life highlights just how much Paul had given up to identify so completely with the Lord. Paul had been a member of the Pharisees. It is believed that Paul could have been one considered for the position of High Priest at some time in his life. One of the Pharisaic doctrines stressed that it was up to man to make the world ready for the Messiah to appear. In fact, I think that traditional Judaism still teaches that if humans, or at least the Jews, live morally then the Messiah will come. This is what Paul would have accepted as doctrinally pure truth. How much did Paul change when he met and accepted the living God? Well, he no longer lived according to that vital doctrine. Instead, he recognized that if that was the truth, then we would never know the Messiah. Instead, he teaches that "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Because of His love, God makes us into His new creation.

Finally, Paul goes on to write that God "has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." We have heard the term ambassador used frequently in both our church and our secular lives. It would be quite a task to count all the Sunday school classes or Christian fellowship groups throughout the country that have named themselves the Ambassador's class.

What Paul writes is of great importance. In spite of how we learn about God's will, the Bible makes this clear: God has given His believers the responsibility to speak and live His truth. It is the task of the Christian to transmit God's love to others. As ambassadors, we must be firmly grounded in and committed to God's will for our lives. We have to attend to our spiritual growth through prayer, Bible reading and study, worship, and fellowship. The wise ambassador knows the needs of the nation before going to represent it.

A nation's best ambassadors are those who love the people and the land they serve. I can't imagine anyone doing his or her best who couldn't respect the people with whom he or she works. So it is with Christians. We have to love others. We have to see them as important. We have to see them as God sees them: His very own children whom He loves. We love God first and most, of course, but we live for and serve others on His behalf. In so doing, we persuade men and women to believe and to commit their lives to God, who is reconciling the world to Himself.

Our New Year's resolutions may last. I hope they do if you have made one. Statistically speaking, they probably won't. This, if nothing else, should serve as living proof of our complete inability to present ourselves as righteous before God. More often than not, we cannot change enough to improve our lives for a single year. We cannot hope, therefore, to change enough to walk into the presence of God. Thank God, then, that He has done it for us, and that His resolution is everlasting. This is the source of Paul's joy; let it also be the source of ours. Resolve to grow closer to God this year, but not as a result of our personal strength and will-power. These will unfortunately fail us. Let us succeed as Paul succeeded: by giving our lives so completely to the Lord that He fills us with His righteous presence. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. There is no other way. Let us all believe and live that which Paul implores us to accept: I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." This becomes, then, our everlasting resolution because its sole source is from God.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

170 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

http://www.bhfirstbaptist.com

-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org