Month: May 2014

Living for a Legacy

/ adamrenken / Leave a comment

As I’m taking a mental break from working through Romans 9, God has pressing a question into my heart about how best to live life.  What if we lived each day with our hearts focused on eternity, and purposed out each day towards the legacy we would leave behind?

Psalm 90:12 – “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom”

Ephesians 5:15-17 – “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

What peace we would have knowing that whatever our lot in life, it is being lived for eternity.  Psalm 39:4-8 – “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!  Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you.  Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah  Surely a man goes about as a shadow!  Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!  “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?  My hope is in you.  Deliver me from all my transgressions.”

Our lives are short, yet they are infinite in value if lived for the glory of God.  Man’s deepest need for purpose and affirmation are met in Jesus.  The world can fall around you, but if you are in the will of God, you will always have peace.  Hebrews 12:1-3 – “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Even as He was led to the cross to die an agonizing death, there was joy in the heart of Jesus for the joy that was set before Him.  There are battles every day as a Christian.  There are temptations to shrink back from our faith.  There is sin that must be repented of and be run from.  There is a submission of selfish desires for the Kingdom of God.  In all this, however, there is joy.  The joy God means for us to carry with us is the joy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in displaying the Glory of God, in being the mouth, the hands, the feet of God’s laborers to ransom the dead to life, and in manifesting Jesus in righteousness in our own lives.  These are the weighty things of life that will echo into eternity.  God is calling you to greatness for His glory.

So what should we do?  My exhortation is simple.  Consider what legacy you want to leave behind as a follower of Jesus in life.  What would you want said about you at your funeral by those you love?  Write it down.  As you are tempted towards the busyness of life and confront temptation that would draw you away from God, push back, knowing that in pursuing the will of God, you are always pursuing God’s best for you.  There is no greater legacy than to have our Heavenly Father say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”   There is no greater legacy than being able to look back and see a life lived for the Glory of God.

 Grace and Peace,

Adam

Reconnecting with the Gospel pt. 54 – The Rights of the Potter

/ adamrenken / Leave a comment
Today we’re going to continue our walk through Paul’s Letter to the Church of Rome.  Last time we discussed the supremacy of God’s glory above all things.  Specifically we noted that God chooses whom to set His love upon in a special way for salvation, and that in a way we cannot see now, this is the greatest good and for the greatest measure of God’s glory to be known.  Many people (myself included) the first time walking through Romans 9 will say, “this isn’t fair!  Everyone should be saved!”  God’s answer back is not going to satisfy most people asking that question.  God basically answers back and says that you don’t get to question Him.  Further, it is implied that the most just thing for God to do would be to instantly judge all those who are in their sins, who are not covered by the blood of Christ.  Romans 9 does not leave most people feeling warm and fuzzy, but it should give people a sense of awe before an omnipotent and holy God – to understand the depth of Christ’s atonement for sin, that God’s mercy is precious, the blood of Jesus is precious, and Jesus is a treasure far greater than anything the world could offer.
Romans 9:19-24 – “You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault?  For who can resist his will?”  But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?  Will what is molded say to its molder, “why have you made me like this?”  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make our of the same lump on vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?  What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory-even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?  

It always amazes me that so many people try to “get God off the hook” for certain things in the Bible.  God never asks for that.  He is clear, there are some things that are higher than we can understand and He makes no apologies for His actions, and neither should we.  Isaiah 55:9 -“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  Man is born a sinner, and unless He is granted repentance from sin to embrace in faith the pardon of Christ through His atoning work on the cross, that man will die in his sins and bear the wrath of God eternally in hell.  Man will never come to God on his own, God in His mercy must come to the man – in Spirit and Truth, the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus being received and the Spirit of God granting faith to believe.
To wrap our heads around what is being said in Romans 9, we must first lay down our desire to be the center of everything in the universe.  We’re not.  God created us for His glory.  Colossians 1:16 – “by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”  It’s not about us, it’s about Him.  It isn’t about making much of ourselves, but displaying the glory of our Creator.  That is the end for which man was created.
Most people will never submit to God, they will never feel the weight of their sin against a Holy God and be truly broken in repentance and they will never grasp on to trust in Jesus alone for salvation.  These people will still glorify God, but in a different way than those whom God saves.  These unrepentant people, who sin against God all the day long, never acknowledging their Creator, let alone worship Him, will glorify God when they are judged for their sin.  God’s justice, God’s wrath, God’s infinite holiness will be on display for eternity in the punishment of these people.  Some of these people we rejoice in their judgment, like Hitler, Stalin, child molesters, etc.  Some people we cannot fathom God judging, like gandhi or the person who volunteers their whole life for good causes.  These are “good” people, we say.  To this, we have to understand that as the universe is infinitely greater than we can measure or understand, so is the holiness of God.  Isaiah 64:6 – “our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” 
To be counted as righteous before God required God Himself to take on flesh, live a perfect life, and bear the eternal wrath of God for our sin.  It is the infinite love and mercy of God on display for eternity in the salvation of man.  Both the judgment of a people and the salvation of a people were necessary for the full glory of God to be displayed.  This is as much as we can see as finite beings, reaching into the purposes of our eternal God in creation, judgment, and salvation.  God does not give us every answer, but gives us every answer necessary for eternal life and living in Jesus Christ.  God has clearly shown that He has from the very beginning, purposed some unto salvation to display his glory as vessels of His love and mercy.  Therefore, if know know God, if we trust in our Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation, we should rest in the peace of that eternal salvation.  God never acts out of surprise, but out of a fullness of His perfect will, and even if we cannot understand fully why God does everything as He does, we can rest in the love and mercy of our God displayed in the gospel of Jesus.  He has demonstrated His love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.  That is enough for us all.
Grace and Peace,
Adam