Who are you? Past all
the superficial answers to that question.
Past the façade we present to others.
Down deep in the recesses of our soul, where only God truly sees, and
the devil is intent to influence – who are you?
Are you happy with the answer a little introspection might reveal. I am not.
For years I wondered about the meaning of salvation. I had it wrong. I had been taught that salvation was about
God taking me to heaven. But I was
wrong. Salvation is not about where I
am. It is about “who” I am. Salvation is not about changing my
surroundings, or my physique, or the length of my life. It is about changing how I love, and who I
love. That does not need to wait for a
place called heaven. That kind of change
can begin in the here and now. As it
turns out, I do not need to be saved from Satan half so much as I need to be
saved from me. I sin, not because I am
influenced, but because it is what I want to do. And I am chained to those evil desires no
less than the children of Israel were chained up by Pharaoh in Egypt all those
years ago. I must be made free by Jesus,
no less than they were. My chains must
be broken by Jesus no less than they.
For without Jesus, I will never be saved from who I am.
Entry into the Kingdom of Heaven is a very real thing, a
very real phenomenon. And it too, is not
reserved for us only after we die and are resurrected. It is meant to be in the here and the
now. The effects then of the Kingdom of
Heaven upon who you are, are substantial, and undeniable. It is no small matter to change your
heart. It takes the power of Jesus to do
it. Only Jesus can. And what happens to you as you are changed is
life altering, not just for you, but like ripples in a quiet pond, it reverberates
out until everyone is touched by the changes made in you by Jesus. You will truly become someone else, someone
the current you can hardly recognize of the you, you used to know. Becoming someone else, is not so much running
away, as it is running towards our God. Yet
in its process, the chains that once defined who you were, fall away like
distant memories you can no longer understand, or desire again. Because the changes in you are not made by
you, they are wrought by the power of the Love of Jesus, through the Holy
Spirit. And who you are, is no longer
who you were.
Jesus had much to say about this. He came to save us. Not just in the afterlife to come, but in the
current life in which we live, in the here, in the now. And the effects of salvation, of the Kingdom
of Heaven, cannot be denied. Luke
records the words of Jesus on the this topic picking back up in the 13th
chapter in verse 18 saying … “Then said he, Unto what is
the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? [verse 19] It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and
cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the
air lodged in the branches of it.”
What begins in you is a change only the size of a grain of mustard, one
of the smallest seeds you can see. But
the change begun in you does not remain that size. It grows over time. As you submit your will and desires to Jesus,
they are re-created in you. You are
taught how to love, like God loves, and to focus that love on others. That kind of change has a profound
effect. It becomes so large, that what was
once only something the size of a grain of mustard, becomes a huge tree, that
even the birds of the air can rest in.
That kind of profound love for others changes not only you, it changes
your surroundings, your world. And it is
undeniable, by you, or by those who come in contact with you.
But Jesus wanted to try to get these ideas into our
understanding so He continues searching for another way to explain it to
us. Luke continues in verse 20 saying …
“And
again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the
kingdom of God? [verse 21] It is like leaven,
which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was
leavened.” It does not take much
leaven to make a loaf of bread. But the
difference in bread with leaven, and without is markable. You do not mistake the one, for the other. There is a hint of the mustard seed, in the
mustard tree that it becomes. As there
is a hint of bread from before it was leavened to the bread it becomes after
the leaven. Yeast has a profound effect,
it changes the nature of the bread.
There is a hint of who you were, in the person Jesus longs to re-create
you into. But only the reflection of
Jesus remains there throughout. Your
fitness for the society of heaven, for a society in which evil does not exist,
begins with small change that grows until it is overwhelming. Note too, that change is not instantaneous,
but happens over time, and its effects are undeniable.
The question then is how does this change occur? And can we know that the change is actually
happening, or that we are only fooling ourselves into thinking it is? The answer is Jesus. We do not change ourselves, only Jesus can do
that. And only as we submit ourselves to
Him. That is, to give to Him, our will,
our desires, even our thinking. We trust
in Jesus to do as He has promised with us.
And He does. 100% of the
time. Jesus is always faithful. The problem with our salvation has ever been us. My problem has ever been me. As I think I can do this myself, I get in
God’s way, wrest control of my fate from His hands, and then fail miserably. My partnership with God, is my recipe for
failure. God does not need my help. He needs my trust. He needs me to sit back, hand Him control,
and allow Him to do with me as He sees fit.
In His time, in His way. I am the
beneficiary of my salvation, not the active participant. It is His gift to me, not something I must
earn. Something I simply take. But giving God control, is much harder than
it sounds. Even for those who had Jesus
in front of them, right there in person.
Luke continues picking back up in verse 22 saying … “And he went
through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. [verse
23] Then
said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, [verse
24] Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I
say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” And there it is, the recipe for failure. Examine closely the words of Jesus on this
topic. There will be “many” who will
seek to enter in, and will not be able.
So what is the difference between success and failure? I answer, who is driving the car. When I begin to think His victories in my
life are actually my own victories. When
I start to think all the good in me, is a result of all my good works, deeds,
and will. I take my eyes off of
Jesus. I trust Him less, and me more. And my failure is a certainty. If I am to enter that strait gate, it will be
because I am carried through it by Jesus Christ Himself. I will be only the suppliant sheep, and He my
great Shepherd carrying me in His arms, back into the folds of His grace. This is the difference between success and
failure, and unfortunately many of us, do not see it, nor want our salvation
this way. We want to do it ourselves, be
in control, and masters of our own destiny.
And so we are, but masters of our own failure.
Jesus continues in verse 25 saying … “When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut
to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying,
Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not
whence ye are: [verse 26] Then shall ye begin to
say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our
streets. [verse 27] But he shall say, I tell
you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.” Pride begets our downfall. The Israelites had a strong sense of pride in
the ancestry of being of the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We modern Christians have a strong sense of
pride, in following the teachings our various churches, all founded by men and
women of great faith, put into action.
But our heritage is NOT our destiny.
When we take our eyes off of Jesus we lose. When we put faith in our traditions, and our
teachings, and even the Word of God, but absent Jesus, we lose. It is not our past that guarantees our
future. It is not the strength of our
deeds, or our self-proclaimed obedience to the Word, that can insure our salvation. For there is no obedience in deed, that does
not first begin in motive, in thinking, and in a foundation of loving others as
God loves others. Even dining with Jesus
Himself, and hearing His words and sermons, is not the same as trusting Him to
save you, or giving yourself completely to Him.
Association is not enough to save you.
Submission to Jesus is, and trust He alone will do, what He has
promised. The ancient Israelite and
modern Christian, put too much stock in where they come from, and who they
think they have made themselves already.
Jesus says, I know not whence you are, or where you come from. But it is not of Me, as the sin in your life,
remains a testimony to.
He continues in verse 28 saying … “There
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves
thrust out. [verse 29] And they shall come from
the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall
sit down in the kingdom of God. [verse 30] And,
behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be
last.” The ones of us who believe
we “should” be there, by right, or by deed, or by our self-sacrifice – are
likely to be found cast out. Abraham,
and the prophets, knew their place in the salvation of their own souls. They came to trust God to make them, into who
they were supposed to be. And Jesus did
make them, and remake them. It is trust
in Jesus that is the key to our salvation.
Trust in His salvation, of re-creating who we are to who He wishes us to
become. Too many ancient Israelites, and
modern Christians do not hold to this view.
And so are doomed to find themselves cast out with gnashing of teeth and
great sorrow as only then they will realize it is too late.
And instead of Israelites who believed bloodline would save
them, will enter into the Kingdom of God, races of Gentiles from all four
corners of the globe, who have come to see Jesus as their only means of escape
from who they have become. And modern
Christians will be dismayed to see prostitutes, and abortionists, drug addicts,
and homosexuals, all find solace in the Jesus who forgives and remakes and
recreates them into a perfection that cannot be matched. While Christians who believe they have
“lesser” sins find out that any sin, is too great to find admittance into
heaven, for love of self is at the root of every sin. It was love of self, that turned Lucifer into
Satan, and that same evolution would have the same result for any being who
embraces the love of self at the great dismay of our God. There is no comparative holiness, nor
wickedness. There is only those who
through Jesus have found a love of others.
And those (no matter the reason) who have not.
If I am to be saved, it will be Jesus who has saved me, or I
will perish. If you are to be saved, it
will be Jesus alone who will save you, or you too will perish. And there is hope too in the same words of
Jesus. Hope for me. For where I should be last in the kingdom of
God, Jesus may make me first in line, as He begins His process of re-creation
in this world, in the here, and in the now.
Waiting is a sucker’s game. For
it is in the transformation that Jesus longs to bring to us, that we find real
joy, real bliss, real peace that the world cannot take away. To want to wait to see that, is a foolishness
beyond reason. I am not perfect. I may never reach perfection before I enter
the grave. But the closer Jesus brings
me to His love, is the closer I see what heaven was meant to be. And the more I come to trust in Him, to see
me there, and see me fit for that society.
I ask again, who are you? And are
you happy with your answer? It can get
so much better than it is. Look to Jesus
and experience it for yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment