Michael
continues that God has a different standard than we do. The good is the
enemy of the best. The best is that we turn to God for deliverance. The
best thing is that His people have such a longing for heaven that whether they
live or die doesn't matter, but rather that the Glory of God be done. This
is the prayer of the Apostle Paul who said that whether by death or by life,
that God may be glorified. “For
whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the
Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." Nothing
in this life can be compared with the glory that shall follow with the Lord. When
that which is perfect is come, then we
shall know even as also as we are known. For we know that when He shall appear we shall be like him for we shall
see him as he is.
Each
year around Easter, the culture presents stories about the "passion of the
Christ"; about the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some
people are moved to tears but others are not. His death and resurrection
was not about our glory, but rather about the glory of God our Father. The
significance of the suffering and death of our Lord is not the glory of God.
Many unbelievers have suffered and died for their convictions. Even the
terrorists who crashed the planes into the Twin Towers in New York City on 9/11
died deliberately for their convictions. Jesus was not your ordinary "martyr." What's
the difference about Jesus' death upon the cross? The "cup" that
Jesus asked God to take from Him in the Garden of Gethsemane was not the cup of
pain and suffering and death. The "cup" rather, was the weight
of the sin of the world that we inherited from Adam and every sin committed
after. The significance of His death was separation from His Heavenly
Father. Surely He hath borne our
griefs, upon him was laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He who was
without sin became the perfect sin sacrifice on our behalf that we may be made
the righteousness of God in Him. The significance of Jesus' death is that He
shed "innocent" blood. Jesus is the only One who lived a
sinless life. The wages of sin is
death. All we like sheep have gone
astray, we have turned everyone to his own way ... but upon him He hath laid
the iniquity of us all.
They
did not and could not kill Jesus Christ. He willingly laid down His life
for the joy that was set before Him. The strength of the gospel is that God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have
everlasting life. The death of Jesus Christ was the propitiation, the
full and acceptable payment, and the atoning sacrifice for our sins. When
God raised Him from the dead, the resurrection was to the glory of God the
father.
Paul
said, "I bear on my body the marks
of the Lord Jesus Christ." He also said, "thy strength is made perfect in my
weakness....thy grace is sufficient for me." The Apostle Peter
said, "I count it joy that I can
suffer for my Lord." In our lives filled with pain, pressure, and
tribulation, our prayer should not be "Lord deliver me from the
storm." Rather, our prayer should be, "Lord deliver me through
the storm."
We
cannot do anything to give God more glory. All we can do is reflect the
glory of God. He is the source of all glory. For we all with open face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord are changed from the glory of the flesh to the glory of God even by the
spirit of the Lord.
Philippians
2:14-16 “ Do all things
without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless
and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and
perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding
fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have
not run in vain or labored in vain.”
Our
goal is not to be "culturally relevant" but rather to be
"heavenly relevant." It's not about the glory of
deliverance. Instead it's about His glory. It's not about who we are, rather,
It's about Whose we are.
May
God richly bless you!
Your
brother in Christ, Michael
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