Fear is a very effective means for motivating fallen people who care for nothing more than their own self-interest and avoiding hurtful consequences. But it is a poor basis for sharing what is supposed to be good news. A far better way for revealing gospel is to demonstrate the love of God, just like Jesus did. His was a show-and-tell gospel. He preached good news to the poor, proclaimed freedom to the captives and the recovery of sight to the blind. He announced the year of the Lord’s favor. There is no fear in love yet many Christians are trying to balance the two. They say you have to love God yet be afraid of Him at the same time. The root problem is that we are uncertain of our Father’s love for us. We look right past the cross into the old covenant and conclude that God will not love us unless we first please Him. Never mind that Jesus gave us greatest demonstration of unconditional love the world has ever seen. Never mind that He told story after story about lost things being restored even though they had done nothing to save themselves. Never mind that He went around healing and forgiving the sick and undeserving. A classic sign that a believer has missed the Father’s heart is that he talks more about obedience than love. Doing the right thing – and being seen to be doing the right thing – is paramount. Live like this and you’ll make “serving God” your god and miss knowing the real God. Obedience is not the bottom line. God is far more interested in whether we will love and trust Him. You can obey without trusting, but you can’t trust without obeying. Cast your mind back to the Garden of Eden and that tree. This was not primarily an obedience test, but a trust test: If obedience had been God’s only issue, don’t you think he would have made the whole scenario far clearer? He told them not to eat from that tree or they would die. He didn’t describe that death in detail… If he had they might have been obedient, but not because they trusted him. They would have obeyed only because it served their self-interest. God would merely have become a tool for their own fulfilment. Self would still have been at the centre of their choice, and self would prevent them from discovering the full vitality of life in him. No, God didn’t tell them because he wanted something far better. Adam and Eve chose independence over trust and we repeat their mistake whenever we rely on our own strength or understanding. Doing good is just as sinful as doing bad when our motive is to prove ourselves worthy and therefore in no need of grace. Trust His grace for an uncommon favour this weekend and you will receive same IJN!
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 09:00:30 +0000