A View From Above

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

When you think about all the great things that men and women have done over the centuries of human history it is hard to understand how we could be made from such a common substance as dirt. But that’s what the Bible says. It is humbling to realize that man is made from something so common. The word dust is mentioned in 102 passages of the Bible. The word means dry or loose dirt. God made man from dirt.

People who succeed at navigating life well and get to the end without having suffered great disappointment or great loss will still die. They may be able to look back and say “I did well for my wife and kids. I built a good business. I was a good man, and never even got a parking ticket.” I say hooray for those who can look back and say their life was a success. The flip side to this is the person who cannot make the same declaration. They were not good. Their goals were never met. They suffered much pain, sickness and disappointment. They might even have become a criminal in life and spent their years in a cage. No one plans for this to happen. They aspire for success, but the gravity of sin and weakness pulls them down and causes them to forget right and wrong and just do what seems right for the moment. Either path ends in dust.

This is where redemption comes in. When a person looks to Christ and believes in the power of His work on their behalf, this individual is no longer just dust, controlled by the wind of life, but an object of God’s grace, love and mercy.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-6)

As God breathed the breath of life in Adam, and brought him up from the dust, we who put our faith in Jesus are lifted up from this world system and made to sit together with Him in the heavenly places. In other words, though we might seem to be an insignificant speck, we are in fact made alive eternally, raised up, and seated above.

We can have a new view. We no longer have to look up at the hurts and sins that weigh us down, but we can look forward with a vision of a new life in Christ, knowing that old things are past away and all things have become new for the one who trusts in Jesus. Our position is not looking up at our problems, but looking down from above with a heavenly perspective that says, “Success in life is great, but do I want to come to the end of my life and be able to show all the stuff I was able to accumulate?” The answer is no. I want to say, “In this life I found freedom not to be controlled by the necessity to succeed, but by the need to know the Savior and make Him known.” That is a view that can’t come from the dust of the natural life but comes through the above life of Christ.

You Love Me, Jesus

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.  

A while ago during the congregational singing in a worship service, the worship leader exhorted everyone, “Tell Jesus you love Him.” This was a perfectly good thing to encourage people to do in a service where Jesus was the focus of our praise. For me though, it was one of those times where I just didn’t feel like participating. I don’t think I really wanted to be there. I had had a rough day, and I didn’t want to tell anyone I loved them, including Jesus

As the singing progressed I began to ponder the promises in the Bible about the love of God for me. I thought about the verse that says, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness I have drawn thee.” Wow, I thought, “He loves me.”

The next thing that rocked me was where the Apostle Paul writes, “God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Then bam! “We love Him, because He first loved us.” This was confirmation to my spirit.

At that point the thought was complete. Though I couldn't say to Jesus right then that I loved Him, I gladly began proclaiming out loud, “Jesus, You love me!” I repeated this many times that evening during the service. Over the next few weeks I began to understand in a fresh way that my feelings did not change God’s divine love and care for me. He is love, and that love is centered, and always will be, on me.

Now when I don’t feel like loving Him, I am comforted by the knowledge that no matter how hard my day may have been, or how inadequate I might feel in the face of the challenges that confront me, or how horribly I may have failed, He still loves me. That’s my comfort. That’s my assurance That’s my peace.

Scripture References 1 John 3:16, Jeremiah 31:3, Romans 5:8, John 4:19

No Condemnation

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. 

This sentence, written by Jesus's disciple John, speaks of two things: death and life.

Condemnation came about very early in the history of mankind. Adam and Eve, who were given free choice, decided to disobey God This resulted in their spiritual, and ultimately physical deaths. God said to Adam, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."  Adam died that day spiritually in that his fellowship with God was broken. He would have experienced separation from the Almighty forever, had he not accepted His offer of salvation.

This is the condemnation that humans find themselves under. The Bible says, “All have sinned.” No one is spared.

Sin keeps us from a relationship with God, and keeps us from abiding with God for eternity. None of us are immune from its effects. It not only causes physical death but it also affects our relationships. To deny it would be to ignore history. Condemnation is not widespread, it is TOTAL! God did not have to send Jesus into the world to condemn it. It was already condemned.

The understanding of condemnation is what gives real meaning to salvation. Good news! You must be a sinner to be saved, and it just so happens that you, along with every other member of the human race, are just that, a sinner. Though you can’t save yourself through good deeds and apologies, you can be saved through believing,. The Word of God teaches, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life” 

Though we are condemned by sin, we are saved by God’s grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” This has been termed “Unconditional love.” He said whoever would believe would receive eternal life. So though it is unconditional on God’s end, it is conditional upon us believing, and thereby removing the curse that came upon us through Adam’s disobedience.

It is God’s intention to save. He risked everything to rescue us from sin and eternal death by sending Jesus to die in our place. Though salvation is provided for all, not all believe. That is terribly sad. Jesus died not just for our sins, (those who believe), but for the sins of the whole world. Condemnation is removed for all who believe in Jesus.