Perspective

July 19, 2021 (Monday)

 

With our world coming out of a topsy-turvy “pandemic-normal’ with all the confusion and disorder, we are cautiously hopeful. In some ways we are relaxing, or want to relax. It seems sunrise is just on the horizon… Yet there are some rumblings of thunder that hint our hope may be premature or cut short.

 

Hebrews 13:20 – 21 suggests a couple of ideas to help us as we attempt to return to normal. “Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.” [NLT]

 

First notice that God is about peace. One thing we have to understand about “sin” is that it breaks the peace God intends us to have. We can use this in reverse to diagnose sin. When what we are doing shatters or threatens peace, it’s most likely sin. God’s intention in reconciling us through the blood of Jesus is to restore peace.

 

Notice the next point is the resurrection of Jesus. This is the proof of Christianity. Different ideas have been floated attempting to negate the truth of the resurrection. The first one, cooked up by the religious elite was the disciples stole the body. It doesn’t make sense the early disciples would, endure ridicule, be canceled by its culture, and die for a lie that gave them no advantage, no power, no bragging rights, no riches, no political clout. Another one people try to float is that Jesus did not die. This comes in various forms. The bottom line is if Jesus was resurrected from the dead, then His claims are true and absolute.

 

Third, Jesus is “the great Shepherd of the sheep.” Say, what? The image of a shepherd is loaded with tenderness, but I’m not sure that’s the point. Shepherd’s work is hard, smelly, and boring to the max. It takes a lot of patience to deal with stinky, stubborn, and stupid sheep. Every now and then, a shepherd has to use a big stick.

 

There is an eternal covenant, ratified, by Jesus blood. God did not have to send Jesus to die for our sins. He could have designed a different path. It is hard on human pride to understand we are completely helpless. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot create an organization that will save us. We cannot obey ourselves into heaven. The flip side is that being saved is easy, free, and available to all. Salvation is not dependent on our social or economic standing. Salvation has nothing to do with the color of our skin or where we were born. It’s all about Jesus.

 

Wait! There’s more!!! If all this was merely about salvation it would be great. But this deal God makes with us in salvation is the best. God intends to equip us and produce good things. We live in a diseased, dying, and decaying world. Those who follow Jesus are destined to bring healing to the diseased, life to the dying, and renewal to the decaying world.

 

The keeping with the theme of “best.” The last point is that God gets the glory. Too much of life is stuck in the mud of living for ourselves. We go nowhere of significance only working for ourselves. Sure we may stockpile stuff, but remember gold is nothing but pavement in Heaven.

 

Perspective.