The light of dawn

Search the Scriptures has now moved onto Proverbs, and this verse stood out at me a few days ago more than it ever has before:

Proverbs 4:18 - 'But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.'

Now I got to thinking about this and came up with all sorts of different ways of looking at it, some of which are more helpful than others. But the one thing that really struck me, and encouraged me, was the absoluteness of this statement. It shines brighter and brighter until full day... this is a fact. The light will not flicker one day as life goes through ups and downs. It will not be extinguished by the hard times. No, if we are walking in God's ways then we are walking nearer and nearer every day towards his glory and being made like him. How encouraging! So next time you have a bad day just remember that even that day has been one more step towards 'full day'.

Handel's Messiah

I went to see/hear this for the first time this week. It was amazing to hear the story of Christ from the Old Testament through to Revelation - great theology, and to hear it sung just made me want to be standing there in front of the heavenly host when we all sing it so much louder with perfect voices! Anyway, I've been reliving some of my favourite bits via YouTube and thought I'd share it with you.

For Unto Us A Child Is Born

The Hallelujah Chorus

Galatians 2:20

Onward bound with STS and we're off to Galatians now. Chapter 2 today, and one verse whacked me round the head and the heart (in a good way):

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Wow! How does Paul manage to pack SO much into so few words? In the context - the upholding of Gospel truth over the issue of circumcision and whether Gentiles should follow the law - it is extremely powerful.

If you are a Christian, this verse IS true in your life. (I was going to say 'is true for you', but that smacked too much of postmodernist overtones, albeit unintentionally.) It is not any more true if you have a better "spiritual" week than last week. It is not any more true if you do your quiet time every day and don't miss any. It is not any more true if you actually want to go to the mid-week meeting instead of dragging your feet to it. It is not any more true if you take 100 opportunities to share the Gospel instead of avoiding them.

We were crucified with Christ. Christ lives in us. These statements are true, all day, every day, forever.

A friend once said something extremely helpful to me. It was a while ago but I will paraphrase:

"Ask yourself 'What does God think of me today?' Most people start compiling lists of their day. Well, I did my quiet time, but I rushed the prayer... and I got annoyed with someone at work, and yelled at the kids... The real answer is, God looks at you and sees Christ, his righteousness and his glory."

We are clothed with Christ's righteousness. That's not the kind of garment you can take on and off. It's here to stay. So next time you beat yourself up because you think God's opinion of you has gone down this week, remember Galatians 2:20. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives me. Christ loved me and gave himself for me.

NB: I am not advocating not bothering with becoming more sanctified. On the contrary, the fact that we know our salvation is safe, won through Christ and Christ alone, should motivate us on to holiness even more as we know we are empowered by Christ, rather than trying to attain Christ by our works!

Joshua

I've recently studied through Joshua, thanks to Search the Scriptures (highly recommended by the way). Today, as the last day in the book, was a 'revision' time of looking back over the book and seeing the big lessons. There are many, but I just wanted to write about one particular theme that has helped and challenged me.

People often puzzle over the relationship between God's sovereignty and our responsibility. God is not a passive God, but neither are we his puppets. How does this work in practice, and what does it mean for our lives? Joshua, I think, presents a very clear picture of how this works itself out. It doesn't give us textbook answers but it shows us what it looks like.

God gives the land to Israel

Chapter 1:2-4, Chapter 2:9, Chapter 6:2, etc. etc. The Israelites do not conquer the land in their own strength - God gives it into their hand. Even though they are a small people with no cities of their own, the other nations 'melt away' before them in terror because they know that God is with them. Likewise, our salvation is God's work. We cannot rescue ourselves from our sin-induced death (Ephesians 2:1,5). God's sovereignty and power is unquestionable.

Israel had to take action and work hard

Yet although God's grace gives us these blessings, that does not mean that we are to relax and be passive. The Israelites had to fight to take possession of the land that God had given them. This is clearly seen in Chapter 10, where Joshua and all Israel fight city after city in Canaan. But why do they have success? Verse 42: 'And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel'. God's sovereignty worked out through our responsibility. Later on, even when the tribes are receiving their inheritance, the people of Dan have to fight against Leshem for the land. What does this mean to us? Even though we have been saved and the Holy Spirit is now living in us, we must fight the sin that is within. Each city the Israelites conquered is echoed by a sinful habit that we must purge, through God's grace and his Spirit. In short, we must 'work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God works in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure' (Philippians 2:12-13).

Maybe that doesn't make the technicalities of this theology any clearer. I don't think we can ever understand just how God's power and our responsibility co-exist. But Joshua shows us how it looks. We need to be ruthless with the sin inside us, just as Israel had to be ruthless in purging the land of idolotrous nations. The reason we can do this at all is because God enables us to, but we need to be strong and courageous in this knowledge and get on with it!