The Redemption Plan

Church this weekend was good. It was the first talk I've heard on Noah that resonated with me. It began to encapsulate that the Bible isn't many stories, but one story. One story of redemption. Everything led up to Jesus, and everything after him points back to him.

Jesus is the culmination of all stories, whether they're in the Bible or not. He is the answer to everything - he's the way, the truth and the life.

The story of Noah is not so much a story of God flooding the earth, as it is a story of God rescuing humanity. So that one day they could be saved in body and spirit.

You can read the story here. In the time of Noah, there was wickedness everywhere. Not one person was good. Think fraud, thievery, betrayal, child abuse, human trafficking, genocide, kidnapping, arson, rape, and more. That was the norm, for everyone. Humans had so identified with evil that it became who they were. As my pastor Drew Williams said, they were on total 'self-destruct mode'.

When we hear the story of Noah we wonder how God could be so heartless as to wipe out thousands of people. I'm not even saying that these people deserved it, although it seems they did. They were en route to destroy humanity and in the process would destroy the love plan of their redemption that God had in store for the human race.

If they all killed each other, which they were doing (just think how many mass killings there are in the Old Testament, and that's after the flood) - there would be no remnant to save.

But God so loved the world ... that he sent a flood to stop humanity from destroying itself. Only Noah and his family had good in them, and God saved them to continue the world.

There is no sparing us from wickedness. God loves us emphatically, but he always gives us the choice of how we want to live our lives. Destruction is certain for those who chose wickedness for destruction is the very nature of wickedness.

Because God sent the flood and stopped humanity from wiping itself out, we are here today. Because God sent the flood, there was a line for Jesus to be born into. And because God sent the flood, Jesus lived his life as a message and died taking our sins with him.

Our lives aren't big bang accidents. You don't see, hear, taste, smell, think and feel only for this world.

We are all creations of God's redemption plan, a plan that was set in motion before the beginning of time. Your life? Was determined before the the clock began ticking.

Do you think you're here now, alive to please yourself and live only for your own pleasure?

You are a drawing on a cosmic map.

You are aboard a ship that has a destination.

You are character in a story with a culmination.

You are very much a part of The Redemption Plan.

You matter. Your choices matter.

They will determine your storyline.

Oh, How He Loves Us

I’m making a Bible study of Isaiah at the moment, and I continue to be overwhelmed by the message of love throughout the entire Bible. The more deeply I study it, the more I discover of God’s personality. Like one of those invisible ink pens that reveals the colours in a children’s colouring book. We don't always get the full picture from the first look.

It's significant to me that the book of Isaiah comes after the Song of Songs. Having just read chapters on a passionate love – an enthralling tale of romance and yearning that puts Disney and Shakespeare to shame – the Bible then moves on to Isaiah.

Isaiah was a prophet of God, with a message straight from God to his people.

You can read the chapter, here.

This is incredible. You can’t help but notice God’s  frustration, almost imagine him tearing his hair out like parents whose beloved child is going off the rails and rebelling against their authority.

‘The children I raise and care for have turned against me!’ (v. 2) he says in despair. ‘No matter what I do for them, they still do not understand’ (v. 3).

In our hearts, a lot of us have a sense of a God who is angry at us, punishing us and ignoring us, unable to forgive some of our sins. Perhaps we think he’s distant, disinterested. Perhaps we think he’s got a lot to answer for.

We carry this ‘sense’, even if we know better. We can’t help but wrestle with it, we ‘still don’t understand.’ It was us that turned from God, it was us that cut him out from our everyday lives. It was us that decided he was a bossy dictator who ruined our fun. It was us that decided that life could be fine without him. Even though we may know better in our heads, we often still carry that sense in our hearts.

We need to realise how warped this is before we can know who God really is. How completely different the reality is! And we need humility to accept that we will never be able to fully understand the whys and hows anymore than we can swallow a galaxy.

But there is one truth we must cling to.
Oh, how he loves us.

The people of Israel also had this warped sense of God, and remember all the 'impossible' things God had done for them! The many prophets they had, the miracles they saw, being rescued from Egypt, the battles God won for them where they barely had to lift a finger! But it wasn't enough. Because God also had rules that they didn't want to follow.

When we turn from God, we think we will find our freedom - but instead we find our destruction. This is true for those who do not accept God, but is also true for those of us who do know him and wander off at times. Just like the Israelites  Every time I focus on me and my problems, I am looking to myself instead of God. And I have never experienced true joy, peace and strength during those times. Only attempts at them.

The Lord loves us, and knows that our wounds fester without him.

Why?!? He implores. ‘Why do you continue to invite punishment? Must you rebel forever? Your head is injured and your heart is sick’ (v. 5).

When we turn from God, we get sick (mentally, spiritually and physically) because he is our maker. So here’s our warped-view conundrum: it’s not so much that God is punishing us for turning from him, but that life without God is not good. When we turn from the source of goodness, we invite calamity.

God wants good things for us because he loves us deeply. This is why we see him angry here. For those of you who are parents, how would you feel if your child chose to do heroin? You know it’s bad for them, you’re angry not because they’re ‘breaking the rules’, even though 'don't do drugs' may be a rule. You're angry because you love them so much, you want the best for them and you know that drugs will harm them.

‘“I am sick of your sacrifices,” says the Lord. “Don’t bring me any more burnt offerings! … even your pious meetings – are all sinful and false. I want nothing more to do with them … Even though you offer many prayers, I will not listen. For your hands are covered with the blood of your innocent victims.”’ (vv. 11, 13, 15)

The Israelites were presenting public offerings to the Lord, they were having festivals in honour of him and holding meetings to discuss living righteously. Except that they weren't living righteously. They professed love for God but in their spare/private time, they ignored him. They did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted without thought to what the Lord had instructed them.

Imagine a husband cheating on his wife. She finds out, and now the boxes of chocolates every week and flowers have lost their value. She sees them for what they really are, acts to appease her but mean nothing. She doesn't want flowers! Or chocolates! What she wanted was her husband’s faithfulness, a more accurate indicator of real love.

It’s the same with God. We see the same hurt, frustration and anger. It’s not the religious bits and bobs that God really cares about. It’s our hearts he wants. Our faithfulness. For our love to grow, love for him and for one another.

“‘Give up your wicked ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Fight for the widows.’” (vv. 16, 17)

In other words – ‘Let me see your love!’ It’s easy to talk about righteous living. And though it’s a good start, without love in action it’s worthless, hot air that does no real good to anyone.

‘“You are sick from head to foot – covered in bruises, welts and infected wounds … your country lies in ruins and your cities are burned”’ (vv. 6-7)

Without God, without listening and obeying him we get ourselves into such a mess. Into wars – international and in the family. We let jealousy and anger run rife. It tears apart our mental health and relationships.

“‘If you will only obey me and let me help you …”’ the Lord says. (v. 19)

Let's say you had a foot infection and you went to your doctor, who said ‘Rub this cream on it three times a day and refrain from any sports activity for at least a week.' Would you reply, 'Don't tell me what to do!! That sounds like effort and I want to play football!'? It sounds childish, doesn't it? Or would you realise that he knows best, and it was said to help not hinder you?

And what if you bought a sleek new car and the mechanic said, ‘Don’t drive it over streams and rocky surfaces, you need smooth roads’ but then you did it anyway? What would happen to your car?

It’s this type of ‘obeying’ God that we must do. Not because he’s an angry, distant power telling us what to do, but because he is our doctor, our ‘manufacturer’ – who knows how we are made, what we really need, and what will bring us long-term freedom, joy and satisfaction.

‘“… if you keep turning away and refusing to listen, you will be destroyed by your enemies …”’ (v. 20)

A world that has turned away from God, now asks: ‘Where is God?’

He’s where we left him, waiting for us to turn back to him so he can help us.

‘“No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow.”’ (v. 18)

What I love about that verse – and this whole chapter – is that we see how much God wants to forgive us. How clear his personality and thoughts are in this chapter. You can almost imagine God saying to Isaiah:

Why they can’t see how much I love them? Everything I tell them to do is to keep them safe and happy. When will they realise their troubles come from ignoring what I say? I can't bear to listen to another song about how much they love me when it's clear they don’t. When they’re spreading vicious gossip about one another, ignoring those in need around them and wishing they had what someone else has. They are doing the very things I have asked them not to do! I want to help them but if they insist on ignoring me, I don't think I can watch them hurt themselves like this.

I guarantee, you have never been loved like God loves you. It isn’t a love that lets us get away with murder – it’s a love that fights for what we really need. That loves us unconditionally. That died to protect us from being swallowed up by evil.

His love pushes us towards what we never realised we've always wanted most.

And if I've learnt nothing else from Isaiah – it's a love that watches over us with despair mingled with hope. 

!*@/$*!!!

When I was in secondary school, the boys used to play a little game called, ‘Who Can Make Susie Swear?’

They would try and persuade me to say certain things, until they got bored. But at the end of the game there would be unmistakable admiration in their eyes. Let me be clear, I’m not trying to boast about my steely resolve against the ‘F-word’, nor am I saying that I think I’m going to go to hell if I swear. I don’t think that. What I am saying is, swearing is such a common thing in society, people notice if you don’t do it. And they also recognise it as a positive thing.

Why don’t I swear?

• Because the Bible tells us it’s not a good thing: ‘Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them’ (Ephesians 4:29)
• Because I understand why God says this. Hearing people swear is never a positive thing, whether it’s a throwaway comment or more hate-filled. How do you feel when you hear/see a child swear? (Take the picture above for example.) Let’s call a spade a spade, everyone knows swearing is ‘bad’ language
• There are many ways a Christian should act differently – swearing is a very easy, basic one. If I cannot be faithful to God in the basic ways, how can I expect to be faithful in the bigger things? Every choice I make shapes me and takes me in a certain direction. I’ve always found whether a Christian swears or not to be a good indication of their spiritual maturity
• ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress’ (Hebrews 12:1). We often wonder how we can share our faith, how we can be shown to be different. Well, what a simple way to distinguish yourself as a Christian!
• I have made sure not to develop a habit of swearing, therefore it's just not part of my vocab now

I’m not saying I never slip up – when everyone is swearing around you it can feel like the norm. There’s no tally chart, no earning brownie points with God. I don’t not swear because I want to be a ‘good girl’. Neither do I steer clear of swearing at all costs – it’s not something that holds any power over me. It’s not a ‘rule’ I’m trying to keep and I don’t think God is going to punish me if I swear. It’s just a stupid and unnecessary weight that slows me down on my Christian walk. Besides, swearing’s not the point.

Here’s the point. When you realise how much God loves you and how everything he directs you to and from is for your benefit, you have no desire to swear. In fact, you probably have a general aversion to it. Just like you have no desire to get wasted or sleep around. You see all those things for what they are, and it’s not a pretty or appealing sight. And anything else you know to be unhelpful that maybe does appeal still, is something you want to exercise self-control over. 

One way is to test your life choices against these three points:

1. Is it good for me? (Good for my physical/mental/spiritual wellbeing)
2. Is it good for others? (Good for their physical/mental/spiritual wellbeing)
3. Does it glorify God?

Can you answer ‘no’ to one of them? If so, you might want to spend a bit of time thinking and praying about that one.

Then we'll be on our way to our real goal:  To live a life of love.

Suffering & Love 2

Another struggle for my faith in the realm of suffering, is that God is all-knowing and he created this world. I’ve heard all the preaching and teaching on the fact that when God created the world, it did not have evil in it yet.

Except that, my logic tells me that evil was created then, it just didn’t have that nature or go by that name. The enemy was once a perfect angel, who became jealous of God. And we as humans were also created – we were to make a choice that would cause the beautiful, ageless world around us to become a place of anguish mingled with glory.

I often wonder how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden before they were tempted by the fruit. In the Bible, it seems like it was just the next week or so – on to the next chapter – but in reality it could have been years, decades, centuries! Who knows? I don’t. How long did that tree shimmer in the breeze before they gave into temptation? Were they tempted for years? How strong was Adam and Eve’s resolve before the snake came along? Perhaps they’d hardly given the tree a second thought up until then!

Surely God knew that Adam and Eve would one day make that terrible choice? After all, they had an eternity’ worth of time to decide one day to eat from the tree. God knows everything, right?

This question haunted me, pulling me out of the sustaining connection of love and trust that I had built up with the Lord. I had never stopped to think about suffering much before, and now I did, it just didn’t add up.

If God loves us, why would he leave an open door to the terrible inevitable?

I think the answer goes back to what I was saying in my last post, that there is something greater than the existence of suffering.  And for our purposes now, that something is freedom. Freedom to make our own choices. Without it, we would be living a pre-programmed life – one that screams out to our senses that we are trapped and our life doesn’t really matter or have any individuality. How could we ever be authentically loved for who we are if nothing about us was our own choice?

But even more life-changing than this, what brought it all together, was the thought that struck me one day:

If God is all-knowing, then yes he knew giving us free will would cause us to be tempted and the world to fall. BUT he therefore also knew that he himself would step into the consequences of that: die a brutal, human death and experience the agonising separation from his Trinity for the first time since time immemorial.

All to rescue us from the pitfalls of free will. God loves us so very passionately, that he found a way to give us two precious things – the best of both worlds: our freedom to make our own choices and a rescue plan at his expense to deliver us from the worst consequence of making bad choices. And he sent his Spirit to dwell on the earth to comfort us in our present troubles until one day, he will unfold and complete the rest of his glorious plan of true love.

The Lord calls us to be his hands and feet in this world for now, as his children of love, to live to  ease the sufferings of each other – to put love before everything else.

As always, the choices is ours.

Suffering & Love

I've been wrestling a lot lately with the question of suffering. What I have been wresting with, as C. S. Lewis puts it, is that 'If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty, He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.'

I have also been wondering why I suffer with the seemingly pointless things I suffer with. And it struck me today - If my suffering is for the purpose of refining me to love people better; to become a better person for others and therefore to change the word for the better – then my suffering can have profound meaning: to help ease the burden of suffering of others. The very thing that distresses my spirit and calls me to question God's goodness.

I have a quote on my wall, by Elizabeth Kubler Ros, that says this:

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.

I read this and I'm reminded of my question: why does a loving God allow suffering?

In my assumption that a loving God could not allow suffering, I am saying that (the absence of) suffering is The Most Important Factor in the expression of pure love. That there is nothing higher, nothing is more important.

However, what if there is something more important for pure love than the absence of suffering, and that the existance of this 'something' unfortunately requires the existence of suffering? Perhaps real love allows free will (which can create suffering), and the existence of real love is worth the existence of suffering.

And perhaps my experience of love is so diluted and flawed, that I cannot comprehend the meaning of this statement.

This may in part explain why a loving God would permit suffering, but why he would also weep when we weep. When I was feeling particularly low one day, and couldn't stop crying over my troubles, I opened my Bible. This is the first thing I read: 'They soon arrived, weeping and sobbing, and the king and all his servants wept bitterly with them.' (2 Samuel 13:36)

Our suffering brings God much pain – for he really is a loving God – but there is something that exists that is greater than this great evil of suffering, something that is the ultimate expression of pure love. And that thing is partially hidden from us. Proverbs 25:2 says 'It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but to search out a matter is the glory of kings.' Where God hides, we question. Why? Why is there suffering when our God is loving? And where we question, we search. Jeremiah 29:13 says, 'You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.'

We see glimpses of this hidden thing; what might be higher and a greater expression of love than the absence of suffering. We see reflections and glimpses that point to it; when men lay down their lives to fight for their country, when people cry out to God for the first time amidst their pain, when the family of a cancer victim sets up a foundation that saves many lives.

God is all powerful, but there seems to also be a logic that the world is created by and in. It is the same logic that required Jesus to die in order for our sin to be dealt with. Why God couldn't just say, 'Never mind, all's forgiven, swept under the rug!' In order for the beauty, the riches, the freedom, the joy and the intimacy to happen in the scenario of sin and separation from God: something seemingly terrible had to also happen. An exchange took place, a suffering that released more power than we fully understand.

I believe the profound mystery of suffering is linked to the profound mystery of the cross.

The idea that there is something greater than suffering, and that we must go through fire to gain it, may make our eyes flinty, our resolve steely and renew our ability to be the heroes we are called to be.

There is a reason that epic, heroic movies like Braveheart, Gladiator, Batman, Spiderman, Superman – and the rest – move us in our core. Why our skin ripples and our hearts beat a little faster and our muscles flex. 'Deep cries out to deep' as our souls reconnect with the hidden thing, the thing blurred by blood, sweat and tears.

I still don't fully know why we suffer, especially in circumstances that seem particularly pointless. The midst of suffering feels like the greatest injustice. And the pain of great suffering seems to consume everything else. Will we ever discover a satisfying answer to this?

I don't know what God's grand plan is, but he promises to give us the strength to endure whatever we are called to endure but we need to trust him in order to do this. We may well not have the strength to endure and trust him, unless we remind ourselves frequently that with God, nothing, NOTHING is ever in vain. That he stores every tear, will redeem every ache, and will resurrect life from death.

And somehow we must trust, that if we could see what we are unlocking by enduring this fallen world, we would go through it all over again to help attain this full revelation; the astonishing, secret plan of pure love.

Love Really Is All You Need

I’m reading a brilliant book at the moment, called The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. I was looking for a book on striking the balance between living in freedom from the law and living in obedience to God. The two seemed at either ends of the spectrum to me, so reading the New Testament felt like riding a rollercoaster ride: ‘WOOOHOOOO, WE’RE FREE!!! …. Ok so I need to obey all these commands otherwise I will …. WOOOHHOOOO JESUS HAS DONE IT ALL FOR US! …. Ok so I’m not really a Christian unless I do all … WOOOHOOOO!’ (etc.)

I asked God to help me understand this apparent contradiction. And I’ve found that the secret lies in the greatest commandment.

‘“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
Jesus replied, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

Love.

(By the way, ‘to love’ is a verb.)

I wonder how many of us are living in the truth of this?

It’s my natural inclination to read the Bible and see all the rules and instructions and strive to obey them. I’m a perfectionist - meaning my first thought is ‘do the right thing’ and not make mistakes. As a result, I tend to do things out of a need to please and experience anxiety or shame if I fail to keep every last one of them. But if the driving force of your life is keeping the rules, you'll probably be quite a serious and anxious person – more inclined to think that the sky might fall down if you’re not careful. And fear can bind you.

I think this is what Paul had in mind when he wrote: ‘… you are trying to make yourself right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace … For you have been called to live in freedom – not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love.’ (Galatians 5 v 4 & 13)

If we’re trying to keep the law, we’ve completely missed the point of what Jesus did for us. Eternally, he’s saved us - but within this life, Jesus has taken on the responsibility of the law and sin so that we are free to love more. This is what Jesus meant when he said, ‘“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.”’ (Matthew 5:17)

We are no longer bound to the law as we once were. And the secret to understanding this lies in the greatest commandment. We must swap our driving force from the need to be ‘right’ (law), to love. Living under the law impedes our ability to love better because we’re constantly preoccupied about ticking the boxes and our performance. This results in a more self-gratifying person, as opposed to an altruistic person. The law tends to wrap us up in ourselves and make us self-righteous and judgemental.

It is love, not law that transforms us. Love radicalises our thinking and gives us a fresh
perspective that can change the world and lead to greater freedom in our lives.

Love changes everything.

So our concern should be living a life of love. It’s Jesus's concern to deal with the law and sin. That’s why we’re ‘cut off from Christ’ if we preoccupy ourselves with rules. Besides, ‘our love to God will always manifest itself in obedience to him’ (TDOG p.118).

I am not lowering the bar for holiness; I am swapping it for a different bar. From law to love: a new perspective.

So how about from today, we decide every morning when we wake up to live a life of love. To make it our goal to live not by 'what is right' but 'how can I love more?’

Paul summaries all this perfectly in Romans 13 v 8-10:

‘Pay all your debts, except the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbour, you will fulfil all the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing and coveting – and any other commandment – are all summed up in this one commandment, “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
Love does no wrong to anyone, so love satisfies all of God’s requirements.’