But those who turn aside to their crooked ways the Lord will lead away with the evildoers! Peace be unto Israel! (Verse 5)
"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God and there is no other. By Myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return. To Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance." God Isaiah 45
When our daughters were young, maybe five and seven, we went to see "Gospel Road." It was the Johnny Cash version of the New Testament with a blond-haired, frolicking Jesus who wandered the desert with his disciples while Cash's song, "Follow Me Up and Down," played in the background. Yes, Jesus turned the tables over in anger at the temple when he saw the moneychangers defiling His Father's house. Yes, He healed the sick, touched blinded eyes, taught in the synagogues and forgave the gravest of sinners. But what was captivating about this particular Jesus was that He was so engaging. He tousled the hair of the disciples and wrestled with them as though they were brothers. Instead of the pious and stodgy Jesus that some Renaissance art makes Him out to be, the Christ of "Gospel Road" was lovable. A child would want to sit on His lap. Ask Him questions. Touch His curls. And so, in the end, when Jesus hung alone and bloodied on a cross, Vanessa wailed. Wailed with such grief I was shocked. "No!" she screamed into the church pews. "No, Mommy! They are killing Him!" And the tears were for One she loved. For a death she only partly understood. For a Savior to Whom she'd just that summer given her precious tiny heart.
Can you imagine giving your child for people such as we? I can't. I've tried to think it. I don't get very far. To offer up the children of my body to save people who would spit on them while they die. Knowing they don't understand in the moment the gravity of salvation and that they might turn away from it though the sacrifice was made. Could I, like Mary, listen to the moanings of a child whose blood dripped on the sand in front of me and not implode? No! No, I couldn't. But if I did...If I gave my Will to save others, I would have no patience, no mercy, if they turned away and spat upon that sacrifice. Ridiculed the blood. Laughed at the name. No. If my child died for you, you would need to own it.
So when those who call God cruel because some will be judged in the end to be unworthy of heaven, I would challenge them with this: What would you expect from a God Who gave His Only Begotten Son to die as the sacrifice for your sin? There is nothing more God could possibly do to show His great love. There is nothing more valuable God could possibly offer so we can be saved forever. If we decide to turn away and reject His provision for our eternal salvation, He's got nothing left. Jesus gave it all. God will either be our Savior or our Judge. And He has the right to decide our fate based upon what we do with Jesus. The Son wasn't simply a good teacher. He actually taught heresy if He isn't God the Son. Jesus wasn't simply a prophet who prophesied His own sacrificial death. God's Son is a liar if we make Him only a good person. Good people don't make up stuff about being God. Jesus is either Who He said He is...or He's no one. And His-tory bears out the truth of Jesus's life.
The heart of God cries out: "Turn to Me and be saved!" If we turn aside to idols, other gods, or our own philosophies (which become idols as well), we will be judged by our dismissal of the unprecedented act of love our Father was willing to go through in order for us to be with Him forever. One day, whether we follow Jesus today or not, all knees will bow in acknowledgement of His great sacrifice. Some of us to His glory. Some of us to our shame. To reject such a sacrifice, wave it off, ridicule it as beneath our intellect, use the very name of Jesus to spice up our cursing is abhorrent to the Father Who watched the writhing work of our salvation. Up from the grave, in power and might, Jesus orchestrates the end of all things here. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ if Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2
Peace be to us. He is our peace with God. Ephesians 2
"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God and there is no other. By Myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return. To Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance." God Isaiah 45
When our daughters were young, maybe five and seven, we went to see "Gospel Road." It was the Johnny Cash version of the New Testament with a blond-haired, frolicking Jesus who wandered the desert with his disciples while Cash's song, "Follow Me Up and Down," played in the background. Yes, Jesus turned the tables over in anger at the temple when he saw the moneychangers defiling His Father's house. Yes, He healed the sick, touched blinded eyes, taught in the synagogues and forgave the gravest of sinners. But what was captivating about this particular Jesus was that He was so engaging. He tousled the hair of the disciples and wrestled with them as though they were brothers. Instead of the pious and stodgy Jesus that some Renaissance art makes Him out to be, the Christ of "Gospel Road" was lovable. A child would want to sit on His lap. Ask Him questions. Touch His curls. And so, in the end, when Jesus hung alone and bloodied on a cross, Vanessa wailed. Wailed with such grief I was shocked. "No!" she screamed into the church pews. "No, Mommy! They are killing Him!" And the tears were for One she loved. For a death she only partly understood. For a Savior to Whom she'd just that summer given her precious tiny heart.
Can you imagine giving your child for people such as we? I can't. I've tried to think it. I don't get very far. To offer up the children of my body to save people who would spit on them while they die. Knowing they don't understand in the moment the gravity of salvation and that they might turn away from it though the sacrifice was made. Could I, like Mary, listen to the moanings of a child whose blood dripped on the sand in front of me and not implode? No! No, I couldn't. But if I did...If I gave my Will to save others, I would have no patience, no mercy, if they turned away and spat upon that sacrifice. Ridiculed the blood. Laughed at the name. No. If my child died for you, you would need to own it.
So when those who call God cruel because some will be judged in the end to be unworthy of heaven, I would challenge them with this: What would you expect from a God Who gave His Only Begotten Son to die as the sacrifice for your sin? There is nothing more God could possibly do to show His great love. There is nothing more valuable God could possibly offer so we can be saved forever. If we decide to turn away and reject His provision for our eternal salvation, He's got nothing left. Jesus gave it all. God will either be our Savior or our Judge. And He has the right to decide our fate based upon what we do with Jesus. The Son wasn't simply a good teacher. He actually taught heresy if He isn't God the Son. Jesus wasn't simply a prophet who prophesied His own sacrificial death. God's Son is a liar if we make Him only a good person. Good people don't make up stuff about being God. Jesus is either Who He said He is...or He's no one. And His-tory bears out the truth of Jesus's life.
The heart of God cries out: "Turn to Me and be saved!" If we turn aside to idols, other gods, or our own philosophies (which become idols as well), we will be judged by our dismissal of the unprecedented act of love our Father was willing to go through in order for us to be with Him forever. One day, whether we follow Jesus today or not, all knees will bow in acknowledgement of His great sacrifice. Some of us to His glory. Some of us to our shame. To reject such a sacrifice, wave it off, ridicule it as beneath our intellect, use the very name of Jesus to spice up our cursing is abhorrent to the Father Who watched the writhing work of our salvation. Up from the grave, in power and might, Jesus orchestrates the end of all things here. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ if Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2
Peace be to us. He is our peace with God. Ephesians 2
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