03.24.09
“LOGIC OF REDEMPTION”
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LOGIC OF REDEMPTION
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Psalm 103:8-12 NIV
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
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Isa 44:21-22 NIV
22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”
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An eye for an eye, tit for tat; quid pro quo: the law of equivalent exchange is a cruel master when it comes to the culpable. It is an earth shattering experience to find that one is in arrears for debt which can only be paid through death; and the reaper has come for what he is owed.
But the scriptures declare that a higher law is simultaneously at work, one which transcends the two dimensional dynamics of sin and penalty. The laws of love and mercy are at work in the universe; for the God of Creation is none other than the God of Redemption.
For those who would fall under this God; who would make application of the higher laws, God redeems by personal fiat. Because of His covenant love, He extricates the upwards of three felony strikes from our rap sheet. Because of His compassion, He lifts the cloud of guilt, shame, and depression. With His blood sacrifice, He utterly bleaches our sin stained souls to wedding dress white.
Beauty for ashes, healing for offense, eternal love for rebellion… the logic of redemption makes no earthly sense. Thanks be to God that this mystery is revealed in none other than in Christ, and in the cross. Every obstacle removed, every excuse debunked; the logic of redemption demands that we return to Him, for He has already redeemed.
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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- This morning, will you fear and revere the one who chooses to not merely punish, but forgive? Will praise Him for His abounding grace which can outstrip any measure of sin?
- Will you reflect: have you applied the logic of redemption fully in your heart & life? Is there any sin or shame which you have said God wouldn’t or couldn’t forgive? Have you worked to atone, ultimately telling God that the cross is not enough? Will you yield to His law of love, rather than your faulty logic
- Will you pray for those who are either in denial to the law of sin and penalty; or oblivious to the logic or redemption? Will you ask that God removes the veil of obfuscation & separation; and brings them to Himself?
This devotional written by Pastor Martin
12.08.08
“THE PURSUIT OF LOVE”
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Gen 3:1-9 NIV
3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
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True love pursues, even when spurned. God whose love is the truest, has pursued us from the beginning.
Here in the story of Adam and Eve, the original family succumb to the diabolical doubts planted in their hearts by the serpent. In grasping for the forbidden fruit, they spit on God and His rule. As advertised, their eyes are opened. But to their surprise; instead of divine clarity, now they are blinded by the vision of their previously unknown brokenness and shame. Sin has swiftly claimed their eyes and hearts.
God who knows and sees all is not unaware. Though able to rain down righteous, retributive wrath on the spot, instead He chooses to make a personal visit. He comes to the garden during the cool of the day, and calls out, “Where are you?” Despite the immediate response of His beloved to hide, He continues to call and press in. Wading through their lame excuses and blaming, His redemptive quest results in the vicarious death of an animal to clothe their shameful nakedness.
God’s pursuit of Adam and Eve is paradigmatic of His pursuit of our hearts. Relentless and unabashed, God sacrifices his Son on a cross of shame; to win us back to Himself, and to clothe us with His robes of righteousness.
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REFLECTION/RESPONSE
- This morning will you once again register God’s heart of love for you and for us? God whose love is the truest, has pursued us from the beginning. He is not tired, or weary in His passionate pursuit of your heart. Will you see your day, your week, your life as an echo…a pursuit of the one who has pursued you from the beginning?
- Would you imagine yourself in the garden. You hear God coming in the cool of the day, calling out your name. What is your immediate response ? Is it to hide, or run to Him? Will you remember that God’s desire is to commune with you.
- Is there anything in your life which causes you to repel from His pursuit of your heart? Are there any “fig-leaves” you are using to construct clothing to hide your own shame? Will you let Him clothe you this morning, with the righteousness of His own son; through confession and faith?
11.10.08
“SOVEREIGN POWER”
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Gen 1:1-2 NIV
1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
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Ex 14:21-22 NIV
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
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In Genesis, God creates everything that exists; with the Spirit-wind of God brooding over the chaos waters. For He is the only one who has the sovereign power over the primeval sea; splitting and subjugating it in an act of creation.
In Exodus, once again the Spirit-wind of God splits and subjugates the water in an act of redemption, i.e. new creation. He delivers His people through, and wipes out their dogged enemies with His sovereign power.
What is there that God cannot do? He rules and reigns over the universe, and over the church.
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REFLECTION/RESPONSE
- This morning, will you spend a few moments reflecting on the sovereign power of God? Will you declare in your heart by faith that there is nothing; absolutely nothing He cannot do!
- How big is your faith? Does it approach the largeness, and might of the one in whom we are called to put our faith? Will you ask for a greater measure of faith, to split and subjugate the chaos waters that we find ourselves surrounded by?
- God’s reign is not only because He is mighty; but because He is righteous. Will submit your heart, your life, and VCF to His rule and reign? Is there anything you/we’ve tried to retain sovereignty over, rather than yield it to God?
