Job 19:25-26, For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth. I have many times heard a phrase used in Christian circles--perhaps you have heard it too--that refers to the historical Jesus. When I see or hear that phrase, it is a dead giveaway (pardon the pun) that the person employing it is unlikely to actually know the One to whom they refer. There is a world of difference between I believe Jesus lived and I know my Redeemer Lives; between I know about Jesus and I know Jesus. If Jesus remains historical, if He did not both die AND rise from the dead; if He is not now alive and making intercession for us; if He is not currently the Returning Bridegroom anxiously awaiting the Day when He comes for us, then we are fools who remain dead in our sin. IF HE IS NOT PRESENT LIFE RATHER THAN A VENERATED IDEAL, WE WASTE OUR TIME AND ENERGY. In Matthew 7:22-24, Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ I think about when my children were young, how strange it would have been if, when they stubbed their toe they came crying, stood in front of me and said, Oh thou august and respectable father, who sittith in the big easy chair in the living room, who bringeth home the paycheck and provideth for all my needs, who even now watchest football; if I have found favor in thy eyes, be pleased, Oh lord, to giveth me a bandaid. Hogwash! They jumped up in my lap and sobbed, Daddy, I hurt myself! There may be nothing more tragic than one who begins the race but fails to finish; one who gives of himself, but fails to give himself; one who relates, but stops short of relationship. Jesus invites us to relationship, knowing and being known. He is not an idea, He is a person. He is not a list of rules, He is Ruler of all. He is not a lifestyle, He is Life. He is not The Good Lord, He is good and He is Lord. He is not just One seated on a throne, He is Abba into Whose lap we crawl, and Whose lovingkindness we celebrate.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 13:01:03 +0000
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