Hope

The Boomerang of Justice

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Have you ever been wronged?

A question like this opens a floodgate of memories and emotions for many of us. Scars ache as we unravel the mental note that lists our offenders. We see their faces, hear their names, and remember how they made us feel in those dark times. Sadness turns to anger. Anger to contempt.

We all share this experience. We have all been wronged, and usually, it’s not hard to recite those instances because of the deep wounds they leave behind.

But the wounds we sustain are often felt more than the wounds we inflict.

Everyone who has been wronged has also done wrong. This is common ground we aren’t as quick to discuss.

Most of us would feel a bit awkward if asked about a time we wronged someone. If we’re honest, we struggle with that notion. Many will remember somebody being hurt by something they did or said, but this recognition is handcuffed to a caveat or justification of why it was an overreaction. Perhaps we see the conceit in claiming perfect innocence, so we try and come up with something “respectable” to show that we are self-aware but far from the criminal on the news.

The fact that we are wrongdoers doesn’t invalidate or silence the call for justice for what we have suffered. The wrongs we have done do, however, issue their own cry for justice.

Thus, we are not simply plaintiffs in this life with a pile of cases against our offenders. We are also defendants for whom there is a line of people out the courthouse doors ready to make their case against us.

This realization ought to be a wake-up call. The retribution price we rightly desire from others is a boomerang that comes right back for us.

That’s not the worst of it, though. We know that there are right and wrong present in this world only because of the One who has given us a conscience to detect them. So, our crimes are not only against the created but much more so against their Creator.

It is here where the impossibly dense weight of the cost we each owe is felt. A sinner sinning against a sinner is one thing. But one sinning against the sinless creator God? Surely, there is no payment they can make to adequately level the scales of justice. What they need is atonement.

Atonement is a strong word. It washes away the cosmetic deceit from the hideous face of sin. Biblical atonement demands death. Only death and torment, of the physical body and the eternal soul, atone for something so opposed to God and His holiness as sin. These cover what true justice says is lacking when any crime against the Almighty and His creation is committed.

Atonement means somebody dies because of sin – but not the sinner. Justice will be served – but not by the guilty.

Leviticus 16 describes a process God put in place in ancient Israel to provide grace and justice simultaneously. As Aaron, the first priest, approached God in the Holy of Holies to make atonement each year, he deserved to die for his sin. The people whom he represented deserved to die for their sins. Yet, it was the blood of an unblemished bull that Aaron presented for himself and the blood of an unblemished goat that he presented for the people of Israel that satisfied God’s wrath.

In His grace, God instructed Aaron and all the other priests after him to sprinkle the blood of these spotless animals on what He called the mercy seat. But one priest was different. He needed no bull blood. He had no sin of his own to atone. It was His righteous blood that the bulls and goats pointed towards. They were merely a placeholder until He arrived.

Jesus, the great high priest, shed His spotless blood for the sins of the world. That includes both the wrongs done to you and the wrongs that you have done.

God presents Him to be received by faith, as a gift.

He offers not only a better way to live, or an example to follow. He offers Himself. And in Himself, everlasting life, the forgiveness of sins.

Your sin means you deserve death and hell. But Jesus, in His death and resurrection, delivers your atonement. Your living hope, the anchor for your soul.

Have you received Him?

Check out the texts below for more!

Leviticus 16

Hebrews 9:11-28

Romans 3

The Implications of Existence

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Inspired by Psalm 14, 139, and Romans 1

There’s a rhetorical question that upon rumination sparks peace, perspective, and wonder in my spirit.

“Did you choose to be born?”

The answer for everyone, of course, is a simple “no.” We cannot speak ourselves into existence. While we recognize that someone doesn’t choose the context to which they are born, we ought to take that logic one step further by acknowledging the obvious.

You didn’t ask to exist.

Let that sink in for a moment. It’s an incredibly simple thought with some ginormous implications. Why?

Because you do.

Questions should fill our minds. How? Why? Is there a reason? We spend so much energy trying to control lives that we never asked for in the first place. When is the last time you took a step back and contemplated the fact that you exist at all?

In his song What’s It All About, Andy Mineo candidly sings,

“What’s it all about, why are we here?
If there’s no reason why do I care?
A lot of people put they thoughts in my ear
But I gotta know for myself
So, yo, God are you really there?”

You don’t need a philosophy degree to ask these questions. You don’t even need a high school diploma. All you need is to exist.

So, what are the answers to those questions? What are those implications? Some say it depends on whom you ask. But if we didn’t even author our own lives, how canwe authoritatively answer such things for ourselves?

We better make sure we’re asking the right person for those answers and unless that person is responsible for your existence, why would you listen to them? What do they know?

I hope you’re thinking,

“Well, what do YOU know Brian?”

If not, then you aren’t hearing me. We need answers. Not from anyone, but from the one responsible for our existence.

Someone may respond by claiming nobody is responsible, but they exist due to random chance and scientific processes. While this claim has scientific problems on its own, is it not also an attempt to control the implications of existence?

By eliminating a creator from the equation and attributing their life to chance, one maintains that they are not responsible for their existence, but lays claim to personal autonomy as if they had been.

If an independent creator is responsible for your life, that means you are not the boss. There’s somebody higher than you. That which rules above you is not a voiceless, inanimate reality like chance. Rather, it is an all-powerful, sovereign maker who has answered the questions of your existence.

It shouldn’t be hard to envision how each path differs in practice. One who agrees with the former will subject themselves to an external authority only when it proves advantageous and will otherwise leave final decisions up to themselves. One who believes the latter knows they ought to submit to their creator as the ultimate authority, recognizing that they are not their own but belong to another. This is not to say that the creation is always in agreement with the creator. However, humbling oneself and surrendering the inner desire for control in reverent awe is necessary and resolves the dissonance.

The naturalistic western world scoffs at the “unscientific” notion of an intelligent designer. Is it not, however, the scientific method that requires a hypothesis to be tested? In the discussion of origins and existence, it seems that this step has been thrown out. Not only are we selectively skeptical, but hypotheses are crossed out before they even have a chance to be tested. My hypothesis is that the reason for this is not a lack of empirical reasoning, but a matter of the heart.

The idea of God disturbs many. Some believe he is a ruthless, unjust, cruel dictator who suppresses man from flourishing. Others think he is indifferent to the suffering of our world and that if he really was all-powerful, he would have stopped the many tragedies we see day in and day out.

When you open the Word of God, however, you see the opposite. You see the world’s problems come from man, not God. He is the only one with the solution, and that is through the bloodshed of His own Son. It is only through Jesus that you can come back to the one who made you, and only then will you begin to discover the true implications of your existence.

Don’t settle for my words. Go open a Bible and see for yourself. Hear the voice of the One who fashioned you in His image and paid the sin price to redeem you from your rebellion.  Come back to He who alone is qualified to answer the questions that leave you staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night.

I’m confident that when you meet Him, you’ll quickly see your limitations. In seeing those, you will begin to grow in gratitude that He is the one running things, not you. Finally, you will find yourself starting to become eager to obey as His instructions prove to be good and true as your best inclinations lead only to more questions and pain.

After all, we didn’t ask to exist. He spoke us into being.

In Christ Jesus

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Where are you?

One may read this and answer simply with their current location. Others may embrace a different approach to the question, searching themselves to identify “where” they are mentally or emotionally.

Depending on the context of the conversation, the question can be answered adequately by either of these options above. But I believe a greater and more accurate way to answer the question exists.

It is deeper than your mailing address or what you find upon introspection. It can encapsulate those things, but those things in and of themselves can’t fully answer what I mean when I ask,

“Where are you?”

Have you ever been somewhere, but not been there? All of us have days at work or school where we show up, but we’re simply a warm body in a seat. Our hearts and minds are elsewhere.  The opposite of this is “being present.” That requires us to fully engage wherever we may find ourselves. We aren’t distracted by our phones or things going on outside of the moment.

This sentiment implies that there is more to us than just our bodies or minds. It is with this understanding that the “where” question can be answered fully.

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church in Corinth saying that he no longer looked to the things that are seen when considering his life that outwardly was ”wasting away”. Discussing his afflictions, he observed that the things that are seen were transient and unreliable to determine his “where.” He asserted that the better and more accurate way to see oneself was by the unseen, eternal realities.

Paul put this into practice when he answered our question,

“In Christ Jesus.”

If you open up a Bible to the New Testament, or second half of the whole book, you’ll find this phrase peppered throughout. Paul uses this phrase or others that convey the same idea over 160 times. It’s used in a variety of contexts, but the thread running through each is what – or who – the preposition points towards.

Being “in Christ Jesus” is a position that cannot be marked with GPS coordinates. It isn’t often something that is immediately visible to the physical eye, though I am convinced that over time, it becomes clear.

This position, though veiled for a time from our mortal eyes, does in fact define everyone. There are ultimately two places you can find yourself.

In Christ, or not in Christ.

Metaphors only can get us so far in illustrating the supernatural, but this sort of union with God’s Son is likened to a limb being attached to a body, or a branch attached to a tree. Cut your hand off, it decays. Cut a branch off a tree, and it will wither to dust in the course of time. Similarly, there is no spiritual life outside of Christ. Only death and destruction.

So, what’s all this religious jargon mean? How does someone get to be “in Christ Jesus?” And what is “spiritual life?”

John the disciple is credited with writing the gospel of John, the last of four corroborative accounts of Jesus’ life. Near the end of his account, John writes what seems like a modern-day thesis statement:

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” – John 20:30-31

He makes his intentions in writing clear. He wants people to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He doesn’t write so people only know his name or become better people through listening to teachings in the account. He is after far greater things. He published this account that belief in Jesus would bring people to life.

How can write to people who are alive about having life?

Paul builds on this as he writes to the Colossian church when it seems they were tempted to forget who – or where – they were.

“Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” – Colossians 3:2-4

Once again, life, as Paul describes it, is the byproduct of being “in Christ” which John established is actuated by faith. Faith, put another way, is agreeing with Jesus in such a way that you then begin to follow Him with obedience. The life Paul talks about can only be traced back to Jesus, who is in and of Himself, the life of those who believe Him.

Just like it’s possible to be somewhere but not be there, it is possible to be alive without ever really living. We find ourselves in this situation by nature, born physically but dead to the one who gives life. This death came through our first ancestor’s sin, or rebellion against God, and it’s in this sinful condition that everyone irrespective of nation, gender, or political persuasion finds themselves.

Time and time again however, God’s word shows us the route to life. Jesus himself said as much when correcting the religious leaders of His day:

“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you have life.” John 5:39

He follows that up later with this word to the disciples before He was crucified:

“…I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

In the work of Christ, culminating with His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection from the dead, our belief has a home. We, through the reception of this gift of Jesus, move from death to life as the cost of our sin is paid in full. Once dead in our sin, we become dead to sin. Our whereabouts no longer can adequately be described by mere physical observations. We are now in Christ Jesus.

 Maybe the question makes you squirm because, truthfully, you have no idea where you are or where you are going! I would encourage you that you aren’t the only one and I am convinced that to have no idea where you really are is the first step to finding yourself “hidden with Christ in God.” And from one wanderer to another – there is no greater place to be.

In Christ Jesus is redemption, eternal life, freedom from the law of sin and death, the immeasurable love of God, family closer than blood, purpose, grace, hope, and ultimately, a reunion with God who made you.

Find yourself in Him.

Scripture references:

2 Corinthians 4:18 – Look to what is unseen

Romans 3:24 – Redemption

Romans 6:23 – Sin brings death, Jesus brings eternal life

Romans 8:2 – Freedom from the law of sin and death

Romans 8:39 – The immeasurable love of God

Romans 12:5 & Romans 16 – Family in Christ

Ephesians 2:10 – Created in Christ Jesus for good works

1 Corinthians 1:4 – Grace of God given in Christ Jesus

1 Corinthians 15:19 – Eternal hope in Christ

2 Corinthians 5:19 – Reconciliation with God through Christ

The Servant King

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Inspired by Philippians 2: 1-11

All my allegiance belongs to the servant king

Who died that death might lose its sting

Emptied and weary, He comes for the lost

My soul on His heart, my life in His thoughts

What king gets his hands dirty and leaves his throne

Living like a servant, dying for his own?

With power in His hands the world has never seen

The lame walk, the deaf hear, the leper is made clean

Obedient in agony and submissive in sorrow

King Jesus secures the sinner’s tomorrow

There has been none as humble, none more meek

Than the one who also formed the highest peaks

God then exalted Him above every name

Risen and ascended, as death lays slain

Come to Jesus and leave everything

The Lamb of God, the Servant King

Winning By Losing

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How do you know when you’ve won?

In sports, it’s easy. The final buzzer sounds, and you check the scoreboard. Arguments can be won in the courtroom based upon the ruling of a jury. A promotion at your job might even be won by your performance.

But how about in life and death? Can you “win” at life?

I’m not suggesting that life is a game, but I do get the sense that many of us believe it is. We are told to “play with the cards you are dealt” and a variety of other idioms exposing this undertow of philosophy. Since this perspective prevails, we must have some sort of definition for what constitutes winning.

It’s an interesting activity to consider what one would need to happen or accomplish to consider life a “win.” I imagine having healthy, enjoyable relationships with our loved ones would be on the list. Being financially literate and creating generational wealth may also cross our minds. Perhaps there’s even a list we have started that literally states all the things we want to do before we die. The thought of a life with many of those things left unchecked may bring on a panicky depression, motivating us to “live life to the fullest” while we still can. A life with unfulfilled aspirations is not typically chalked up as a win.

This question has been on my mind as I’ve been challenged by what has recently transpired in Afghanistan. I think about what certain members of the Taliban consider a winning life. Or, how members of Al-Qaeda or ISIS would answer such a question. These three groups can undoubtedly differ in their belief systems and complexity is richly interwoven within their history, but it’s well documented that many would declare their life a “win” if it brings many other lives to an end.

This horrific reality has once again been pushed to our frontal lobe. While one celebrates victory by blasting an AK-47 into the sky, another mourns as they hide for their lives. There is no simple way to neatly package such a situation and I don’t intend to speak on behalf of anyone. I simply look to call to attention that “winning at life” certainly isn’t relative like we often claim it to be.

If winning isn’t relative in sports, court, or the workplace, then why would it be in matters of life and death? It’s here that I am comforted in the renewing power of God’s word to reveal to us the truth of this world. He shows us that life is won not through acquiring, building, or even enjoying. Rather, it is won by losing.

God’s son, Jesus, tells us that the one who loses his life for Christ’s sake will find it. He tells us that the greatest among men is actually the one who serves the most. He showed us that a winning life doesn’t look like we often think. Moreover, Jesus didn’t live as some detached religious figure who merely espoused things He didn’t actually do. His words always point to His own actions.

It was the worst moment in human history that God chose to also be the greatest. As the Roman soldiers laughingly mocked Him, the religious leaders looked on in pleasure as Jesus’ righteous blood flowed onto the  Golgotha soil.

Jesus let out His last breath, and victory was far from His disciples’ minds. They scattered, afraid for their lives. Yet it was in this moment, that their victory – and the victory of all those who place their belief and hope in Jesus – was secured. Jesus rose from the dead three days later in triumphal procession.

Many more have made the decision to follow Jesus and suffer with their Lord. Yet they not only consider their persecution a win, but actually rejoice that it is happening to them and pray for the souls of those who plan their slaughter. Their eternal hope in Christ’s atoning work for their sin is a victory no bullet can rip through, or knife can decapitate.

For my brothers, sisters, and I, we know our lives have already been won for us. The closest thing to winning in this life we now know, is if in our death, many are pointed to the one who also offers them true victory. Especially those who commit such acts and think they’re pleasing God.

In the coming weeks, as reports continue to surface, my hope is that you reflect upon your own understanding of a winning life and then run to the only One who offers true victory.

 

Scripture References:

Luke 9:24 – Lose your life for Christ’s sake and find it.

Luke 22:26 – The greatest is the one who serves.

Philippians 3:8-10 – All is counted loss compared to knowing Christ Jesus

Acts 5:41 – Rejoicing to be counted worthy of suffering for Christ

Matthew 5:44 – Pray for those who persecute you

Victory

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The heat of battle melts many souls

Death is almost certain – who will be among the toll?

Warfare wages onward as the enemy rolls

A rubble city smolders like coal

The white flag lures us since it’s easier to fold

Our eyes water from the smoke

Visibility flees as we begin to choke

All we can see is the absence of hope

The enemy mocks and laughs at his jokes

Surely, we’re at the end of our rope

It’s in the midst of the fight of our lives

That the heart of the battle we can no longer deny

Our course is far from “easy as pie”

In fact, it sometimes feels easier to just die

As the battle rages, does anyone hear our cries?

Many settle for quick illusions

Which are never a substitution

For joining the revolution

By embracing our destitution

And accepting the King’s solution

He lays His life down

While wearing His crown

The opposition celebrates looking around

“The battle is won!” they say, “He is in the ground!”

“This self-proclaimed King will never again utter a sound”

The moment they thought they had won

Was the moment they longed would never come

The war was over long before it begun

The plan was fixed and the King’s will done

Even in the midst of their victory song

Our King rose and overcame

Death itself has been slain

“Believe in me,” “Give me your shame”

“Freed are those who trust my name.”

Grace falls like summer rains

His saints follow Him

Which means war on sin

Our road isn’t easy and often we feel pinned

Cry to King Jesus, our overcoming kin

Through faith in the victory for us He did win

What’s temporary doesn’t compare to that which is eternal

Battle horns may sound, but we aren’t without our Colonel

Listen to His instructions, don’t go in circles

Even now, you’re clothed in purple

Already your head is donned with the laurel

Scripture References:

1 John 5:4

1 Corinthians 15:56-57

Romans 8:18

Romans 8:37

Aphthartos, Amiantos, Amarantos

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What do you truly have?

It’s a question concerned with possession or affiliation. We frequently use the word “have” to describe our relationship to something. There are a variety of subjects in which we kick off our discourse with the words “I have.” Family. Employment. Romantic relationships. Material possessions. Wealth. The list goes on.

But do you truly have any of these things? This is a question that’s been heavily on my mind of late. I am not questioning the basic fact of relation or possession. I am more concerned with the longevity of that relationship. The things we comfortably say are ours – will they always be?

Shockingly, the answer is no for everything listed above. Think about it. A tree limb may fall on your car and total it in a matter of seconds. Your 401k account could be depleted in a single day of trading. You can lose your job at any time. Most tragically, those you love the most could perish in the blink of an eye. Every one of these things in a literal sense, are perishable.

Consider your very life. You can and will “lose” your possession of it.

This certainly isn’t a pleasant thought. Just the idea of losing these things breed our most paralyzing fears. This can drive us to several different places. To remedy the thought of losing something near and dear to us we may hold on to it so tightly so that it can’t conceivably be taken from us. Or maybe to save ourselves from any hurt, we don’t get attached to things and keep our distance. I think many of us fall somewhere in the middle, however. We try to “live life to the fullest” and go with the flow. But, if we’re honest, the fact that all things are temporary is a source of agony deep within our hearts.

It is here that we can begin to see the majesty of God’s promises in Jesus Christ. Through some simple comparing and contrasting, we see that there is something different about God’s promise of salvation and restoration in Jesus. I find the words of Peter in his first letter particularly encouraging:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” – 1 Peter 1: 3-5

Peter uses three adjectives to describe the “inheritance” a believer in Jesus is given through His death and resurrection. The first is imperishable or aphthartos in Greek. This word is often used to describe something that is not liable to decay or corruption. The next is undefiled or amiantos which often speaks to being free from natural deformation or the impairment of power. The last is unfading or amarantos. The main idea is something that is not simply long lasting but a thing that can’t cease to exist in any capacity. This word is also used to describe a certain type of flower that blooms every year. We know them as perennials!

The hope believers in Jesus have is alive as Peter states because it is in the one who rose from the dead after offering Himself as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. He lives and so does our hope. We have this hope not because we toiled long and hard to take possession of it. Rather, we have this because it has been given to us. A gift from God. It anchors the soul of the born-again believer.

Woefully, the hope those who reject Jesus have is dead and false. It is in things that perish. While they may be visible, they are not eternal. They are not sworn on by the Most High as He has His promised salvation through Christ’s blood. We were made to need the true, living, everlasting God. Anything that falls short of Him is no possession at all.

Imperishable, undefiled, unfading. Is there anything we know that can be described in such ways? To the praise of God alone, the only one thing I have to my name qualifies. That is the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ, my living hope. This promise is for you too. Come to Him.

Scripture References:

1 Peter 1: 3-5 – Imperishable, undefiled, unfading

1 Peter 1:18-19 – Redemption with the imperishable & precious blood of Christ

Hebrews 6:13-20 – The highest oath, an anchor for our souls.

Matthew 24:35 – God’s words will never pass away

Romans 8:35,38-39 – What shall separate us from the love of Christ?

For Him

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Sometimes the smooth gradient of everyday life is confronted with a question.

These questions are rarely the sort that demand an answer in the moment, making them easy to limbo underneath. These sorts of questions threaten to rattle our comfortable way of life. So, we naturally avoid contemplation because it often brings friction.

Eventually though, the questions become unavoidable. Life circumstances have a way of continually bringing us back to the same questions no matter how good we are at avoiding them.

This is especially the case with one question that has resided in my mind since my early adolescence.

“Why do I exist?”

This is a question that I am confident most ask at some point in their life.

Some try to do the most good they can in hopes that it will somehow positively benefit them in whatever happens after death. Others see pleasure as the ultimate goal of their existence and reject any notion of an afterlife. Many even believe there is no reason for their existence, they just exist.

These are only several of the many explanations we come up with for the “why” of our existence.

How often do we say “why” to that why?

What I mean is, are you truly satisfied with the understanding of your existence? Do you ever question it, even if you are confident you have it figured out? One genuinely seeking truth questions and is not afraid to place their own preconceived notions under the microscope.

I have found great comfort in what the Bible teaches regarding our existence and the more I live, the more I see its truth. Rather than existing simply for our own sake, our existence is not ultimately about us. As Colossians 1:16-17 states:

“For 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.”

Not only are we told how we exist in this verse – which is a whole other conversation – we are taught that it is not only us, but all things that exist for Him. “Him” refers to Jesus Christ, who is called “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” just a verse prior to the ones above.

Essentially, we are shown here that the entire package of our existence is wrapped up in God Himself. It is He that is our significance, security and purpose. In other words, when He is receiving glory, then we are fulfilling our purpose.

I find it ironic that often the biggest names of the Bible are people who actually did very little when all is said and done. It is common knowledge to our culture that Moses parted the Red Sea. But did He really hold up the two banks of water? No, God did! He simply walked across dry land.

We can reflexively admire and revere the men and women of the Bible who God used to carry out His purposes. Naturally, we do the same with ourselves, regardless of our view of God. We want the glory of God. We want to be revered. We want to have influence. We want to be admired. We are duped thinking its why we exist.

When we believe we exist for anything but God himself, we are attempting to walk upstream as a raging rapid flushes against our legs. It results in hopes that produce nothing but empty accomplishments. Yet when we agree with what God says about us – that we are His creation in existence for His glory – we flow with the current. Things are as they should be.

This does not mean that your existence suddenly becomes a cake walk when you submit it to the will of God. It does mean that you can walk with true purpose that exists outside of yourself. You can walk in works the God has prepared in advance for you to do, that HE might receive glory.

Everything is already set-up – we just need to ask Him to help us to follow Him.

I hope that the words of God will penetrate your heart and soul and you will give your answer to the question of “why do I exist” a serious second or third look.

Scripture references:

Colossians 1:15-17 – All things exist through Him and for Him.

Exodus 14 – The Israelites cross the Red Sea.

Philippians 2:13 – It is God who works in us to glorify Him through good works.

Galatians 2:10 – God prepared these good works in advance for us to do.

Thirsty

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In northern Chile rests a place so dry, that it has been used by NASA to test instruments for future Mars missions. Mars on earth is the Atacama Desert, also known as the driest place on earth. A small number of organisms can live within its expanse, but certain parts are completely uninhabitable.

It almost never rains in the Atacama. Some researchers believe that there was not any “significant” rainfall between 1570 to 1971. In other words, if you thought your hands were dry after all that hand washing to prevent COVID-19, this desert puts the definition of dry into perspective.

Here in Pennsylvania, we live in what is classified as a humid continental climate with hot humid summers and cold winters. Seldom is our soil arid. In fact, I think we here in Southeastern PA must have received about ten times the amount of rainfall this past week than the Atacama has in decades!

This area is one with streams of fresh, natural spring water travelling through blossoming, early-spring banks. Fishing is one of my favorite springtime activities and while I love the thrill of getting a hit on my line, it’s a great excuse to spend an afternoon outside soaking in the beauty of creation.

When streams run dry, however, life itself is not far behind. Those living near the Atacama know this well. It will only be a matter of days till the living beings that once depended on the water source shrivel up just like the cracked soil where life giving water once flowed.

During certain seasons of our lives, a similar dehydration takes place deep within us. Where vigorous life once dwelled now sits a dusty pile of bones. The things we once looked to for significance and pleasure disappear.

In this time of uncertain quarantine, most of our lives have drastically changed. We’re scared. We’re frustrated. We’re bored! In all of it, there is an overwhelming sense of drought. People are literally dying around us. Jobs are being lost. The greenery of our lives is being replaced with brown decay. It’s starting to feel like we’re in the middle of the Atacama.

But it’s in the driest times that we can sometimes see the clearest. We see what really matters and what our real needs are when the things we once thought we needed no longer exist. As things evaporate, our thirst intensifies, and along with it, the search to quench our parched soul.

King David of ancient Israel knew this quest well.

 “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1

On multiple occasions in scripture including this specific verse, David writes of a cotton-mouth soul. The focus of his searching does not change amidst the shifting circumstances of his writing. He thirsts for God and that thirst leads him to seek God “earnestly.” Just like a dehydrated person seeking water.

But why? Why did David seek God in this way? Undoubtedly, David experienced equal to, if not more than the amount of grief and “dehydration” that every human being throughout history has faced. What made Him seek God and why does it matter for us?

David’s description of God here contains a truth that is easy to overlook but too profound to ignore. Hundreds of years later, this truth would be shared with a large group of Israelites, Samaritans and other people groups who in hearing it were polarized.

“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.’” John 7:37

Jesus Christ, a carpenter from Galilee, was not offering the people at the feast free Dixie cups of water on a hot day. He spoke in the same metaphoric vein as David. Yet here, Jesus proclaimed to be the God David thirsted for all those years ago. By equating himself with water, Jesus said that apart from knowing Him, all men were dead and as dry as a desert.

Sandwiched between these numerous statements (see references below!) were miracles that also fulfilled prophecies about the one God would send to make an atonement for sins. Jesus matched the description during every stage of His life. Yet tragically, as Jesus tells the crowd in John 6:36 “But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.”

Was it just Jesus’ miracles that made Him water to those who believe in Him?

No.

What makes Jesus indispensable is that He is the only one who can pay the penalty for our sins. We can’t right our wrongs before God. We can’t ignore Him and make the price for our sins go away saying He doesn’t exist. Each one of us needs Jesus more than we need our next glass of water.

When we recognize that we are indeed a sinner deserving hell for our rebellion against God, then we can truly begin to understand why Jesus is like water to us. It was His death that satisfied God’s required payment for our sin.

“For our sake He (God the Father) made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin (Jesus), so that in him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

In every calamity, many are brought to a place of deep despair. Blind hope that things will soon get back to normal offers fake refreshment that we can see through. Real security is knowing that whether the worst case scenario happens or not, my soul’s needs are covered.

So, whether you’re feeling like your world is the Atacama or a luscious green meadow right now, I pray that you’ll drink deeply of the water only Jesus provides through His death and resurrection. It’s virus proof. It’s war proof. It’s even death proof.

 

Scripture References:

Isaiah 55:1 – “Come everyone who thirsts…”

John 7:37 – “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink…”

John 6:35 – “Whoever believes in me shall never thirst…”

Psalm 42:2 – “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God…”

Psalm 63:1 – “My soul thirsts for you…”

Psalm 143:6 – “My soul thirst for you like a parched land…”

John 4:13 – “Whoever drinks of the water I give will never thirst again…”

Revelation 21:6 – “To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment…”

Revelation 22:16 – “Let the one who is thirsty come…”

Because I Said So

/ brianhilton9 / 1 Comment

No child enjoys hearing these four words. They form a sentence that sends the son or daughter spiraling into a flurry of frustration, no matter the situation.

“Because I said so.”

I remember hearing these words and hating them. They made it impossible to get what I wanted. My plans didn’t prevail because a higher authority said otherwise. If I went ahead and ignored those four powerful words, I knew I could expect some sort of painful discipline.

It’s no mystery that when we’re told we can’t do something, that becomes the thing we want to do the most. But to be told we can’t do something because a certain someone said so? That’s where things get ugly.

We don’t like that because it shifts our perceived authority over our lives to someone else. It makes us feel enslaved and oppressed. We rebel and throw tantrums to try and take back some semblance of control, no matter how self-destructive.

At 25 years old, I seldom hear those words anymore but am still tempted to throw those same tantrums. It seems our world has a great way of mutely cutting us off with a wagging finger saying, “Because I said so.” How we long for the day when we can freely declare “Because I said so” and go about our business with no outside interference. Some believe that they have a self-governing life where all their decisions are made with those four simple words.

It shouldn’t take long, however, to see that we are not in control. One untimely diagnosis, one stolen credit card, one little spark catching your house on fire can all derail life as we know it. The reality of our powerlessness really tends to sneak up on us in the catastrophes. It shouldn’t have to, though.

Consider the fact that you must pay taxes. If you don’t, you’ll be thrown in prison. Does anyone really want to pay taxes? Or, take your emotions for example. Can you control how you feel? Look at something as simple as breathing. Is there a fresh air supply for your every moment because you said there would be?

What we say often doesn’t go. Even if it did, I’m not so sure we’d love the destination. I find that my way is often a way to more losses than wins.

This is why I’ve been becoming more and more okay with the truth that virtually nothing is “because I, Brian Hilton, said so.” Of course, I’m not saying that we have no ability to make decisions, but I am saying that there is one who can say those four words with no room for anyone’s rebuttal.

A lot of people don’t like that idea, which is what turns people off to God. Many have an understanding of God that is similar to their view of tyrannical dictatorships. He’s restrictive, harsh and doesn’t serve our best interests.

But if I may ask respectfully, what is the source of that understanding? Because when I open up the Bible, I see that God saves me from myself. When I look at my life, I see that I have no good thing apart from Him. When I look at my heart, I see that the only reason I can have any hope or joy at all in this life is because He says so.

Consider Romans 8:31-32 which says,

“…If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will he not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”

When we know God and walk with Him, we can’t lose. It is that fear of loss or being kept from something good that fuels our rebellion of His authority. But shown here, God’s absolute authority over all things is our best-case scenario.

However, it’s clarified that this is true “if God is for us.” This naturally begs the question – how do we get God to be for us? The answer to that is found in verse 32 as the author, Paul the Apostle, notes that God did not “spare his own Son but gave Him up for us all.” Why and how would God give up His Son?

The “why” is found many places throughout scripture, but pretty profoundly in the oft-quoted John 3:16 which reads,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His One and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

It’s because God loved the world that he gave His only Son. A decision prompted by love for us and the desire for our ultimate good, not some sort of power trip.

The “how” of God’s giving up of His son is well described earlier in Romans. Consider Romans 3:25-26:

“God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice because in His forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

So, God’s love for the world motivated him to offer His son, Jesus, as a “sacrifice of atonement” which in turn “justifies…through faith,” sinners. Every one of us falls in this “sinner” category. Evidence of sin can be found in our natural position against God. Again, we want to be the ones to say, “because I said so.”

Thankfully, we are not in authority. God is. We deserve to be judged for our sins, but through faith in Jesus Christ, we have an atonement because God said and did so. We simply must believe in Jesus and turn away from our plans, to His.

This is where I’ve found a new love for this phrase. No longer does it matter what others say about us, or even what we say about ourselves. Remember, if God is for us, who can be against us? What He says about us is what goes – and He says I’m forgiven in Jesus through faith. He says I’m His child. He says I have all that I need in Him.

While our feelings might not always grasp this due to the inevitable hardships we will still face in this life, I’m thankful for the firm foundation that what God says goes. This brings freedom, security, and true comfort that isn’t shaken by circumstance.

There’s nothing that can rival the joy I partake in considering a clamoring voice listing all my inadequacies, flaws, past, present and future sins questioning God on how I could be saved. In a calm yet firm voice, God says through Jesus –

“Because I said so.”

 

Scripture References:

Isaiah 50:8-9 – “…Behold the LORD God helps me; who will declare me guilty”

Romans 8:31-39 – “…if God is for us, who can be against us?”

1 Corinthians 4:3-4 – “…I don’t even judge myself…it is the LORD who judges me…”

Daniel 3:6 – “…we have no need to answer you in this matter…”

1 John 4:4 – “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world…”

Romans 8:28 – “…all things work together for good for those who are called…”

Psalm 118:6 – “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Revelation 12:10-11 – “…the accuser of the brethren has been thrown down…”