Thursday, October 22, 2009

What's in a Name?

There is a verse that I have always considered a harsh enigma where Jesus says, "If you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father in heaven." (Matt 10:33) This statement is right next to the pronouncement of the "unforgivable sin", and ranks right up there with it in provoking uneasy self questioning and uncertainty. What christian of fervent hope does not fear, that in weakness or persecution, they will not become like Peter and deny any knowledge or acquaintance with their Lord? That fear, when caught in physical extremity, they might succumb to cowardice?


Commendable though it may be to always be alert for opportunities to be a witness for the gospel, I don't believe that Christ is saying we need be legalistic about every word that comes out of our mouths. After all, oppostion is only an excuse to let the light shine in the dark, and we don't lose our relationship with our Lord when in uncertainty or doubt. Instead, an idea of what this denial is, is hinted at where Jesus tells of the sheep and the goats. Do you remember how some who say "We did it all in Your name!" are rebuffed? "I never knew you!" Christ responds.


They did it in His name? A name is the truth of who someone is. Titles are a part of this. "God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." (Phil 2:9,10) "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) Christ is "Mighty God" in Isaiah and "my Lord and my God" to Thomas the formerly doubting disciple. If you get the picture that Jesus is God in the flesh, with no others who could even hope to approach that position, then you understand the main part of my thinking.



Anyone who defines the identity of Christ Jesus differently is unacquainted with the genuine Lord. Attaching His name to whatever we happen to worship does not give the idol His identity, even if we call it by the same name. This is what denial of Christ means. Creating a christ in our own image with characteristics that fill our own desires is preaching another gospel. Paul said that anyone who did this is cursed, (Gal 1:8,9) because our salvation is dependent on who Christ is. "The essence of sin is substituting man for God, while the essence of salvation is subsituting God for man."

Salamander Grace

A signal sentinal of stone guards the center of the house, it's heart of fire reaching out to all the inhabitants with a living warmth.It freely bestows its glowing light on house residents. This closeknit communty of family is astonished and amazed by a flash of color emerging from the flames. A salamander, elemental of fire, is a reflection of the red and orange jewel tones of the flames. Merely human eyes observe and wonder at the mystery of a creature which lives in flame and is of flame. The creature represents the incomprehensable. The captive audience would love to emmulate the beauty and aquire the wisdom that dwells in the heart of the flame.

Just so is the christian that emerges from his fellowship with the Savior, our Rock with a heart of molten passion. Our souls reflect the jewel-like clarity of His character. We are bound, in mute wonder, to the unrelenting joy which is the immutable radiance of His being. Do others glimpse through us the unceasing glory of He through whom we "live and move and have our being?"

Or have we left ourselves out in the cold, without the knowing of the warmth of His acceptance? Do we squabble in the dark because our eyes refuse to see the light shining in front of us? Can we tell when our own passions, that we lay claim to as the most important virtues of our lives, are nothing more than "sentimental rot", and unruled by the eternal flame who is our Savior?

Friday, October 2, 2009

More Than This!

Here comes the question. It's the one capping off all of the most intermidable of sermons. You can recite the words before you hear them. You've already tuned them out because you've made your decision and you feel that the question no longer applies to you. "If you died tonight, do you know where you would spend eternity?" That's it. There it is, the end of the story.

"But wait, there's more!" What if the gospel is more than just a "get out of jail free card"? What if it is more than just the pass to get you through those pearly gates? What if it is the chance to change what you can only see as an ending, to a beginning that stretches into eternity on a cosmic scale? The book's ending can be changed. You can "rewrite an ending that fits", so that He is the start of the best part of the story.

If, without Jesus, man is no more than a project sabotaged, to be thrown on the scrap heap, how much more is a life in Him a new beginning that will see no end? Each and every weakness, surrendered to His keeping, every painful circumstance we decide to face with His praises, each conscious sacrifice done to glorify Him, becomes a permanent part of our destiny with Him. Because of what He has done, and in His name, we can choose to bring new life to wherever we are at right now. In Jesus, we can opt out of the ending of our story.