This last Easter Sunday, Pastor Kyle stated that there are some events that are so central to our existence that if they get taken out, like the isolation and social distancing caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, our very foundation begins to feel shaken. There are other events in our life that when they get taken out, they are less central to who we are and what we are doing. We noticed that they are gone, but they are something that we can easily deal with and work around; an example being entertainment during the COVID pandemic. Many people didn’t realize just how foundational some in-person things were in their lives until they were taken away and the impact experienced, finding that other linked foundational needs that were being met by them and together worked on the mental, psychological and emotional health. It was found that physical closely and appropriately touch is more important than we ever imagined, as we socially are designed to connect foundationally with family and friends. The good news is that God specializes in foundation repair. No need is so big that God cannot fill the hole and make it strong again.
In 1943 Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Psychological Health was published; a motivational theory in psychology on human decision making comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are: physiological (food, water, shelter and clothing), safety (protection and job security), love and belonging needs (friendship), esteem (feeling good about yourself), and self-actualization (having purpose). Needs lower down in the hierarchy must be satisfied before individuals can attend to needs higher up. Many levels of this hierarchy have been impacted and shaken this last year, but we stand on the providence, protection and promises of God as our solid foundation.
At Easter, we celebrate the atoning death of Jesus Christ for our sins and the reality of His resurrection from the grave defeating death forever for He is risen and the tomb is empty. Our church has been in a sermon series going through the book of Exodus, and Metaphorically, in God’s house that He was building, Exodus is the bottom block in God’s Word (the Bible) to understand who God is and how God’s people are to respond, relate and live. We rightly identify the Cross of Christ as our foundation event as Christians. Yet, Jesus was fulfilling a set of Laws and prophesies at the Cross in a work that God had set up and begun in back in the book of Exodus. In the final analysis, all of Holy Scripture points to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and fit so powerfully.
Hebrews 3:1-6 “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.”
God was building a structure, God’s house and Moses was used by God as a servant to build up the structure, but Jesus was the One creating the whole structure. We get to be a part of this structure of God’s story, if we hold fast to Jesus, the Creator, laying the foundation of our faith and understanding how to relate to God, for in Him we live, move and have our being.
Let's continue Pastor Kyle's Easter message in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment