CP 267 Worship on the wallaby: You can say that again... and again

CP 267 Worship on the wallaby: You can say that again… and again

Hello fellow travellers. We are marking time just south of the big smoke because I still have a specialist appointment in Sydney next week. I have a heavenly story to tell you in next week’s blog about a young mum, whom I’ll call Belinda, who heard the voice of Jesus in a completely left field way. It changed her life and turned it upside down. Better said, turned her life right way up. But that’s next week.

This week my spirit urges me to repeat a couple of truths I’ve been on about for a few years. The first was triggered by a question Belinda asked me about prayer. The second was triggered by what I heard 'between the words' about what a Christian ‘must’ do.

First, Belinda’s question: To whom should I pray?  She said she was confused. Should it be God or Jesus? I hate that choice because it makes it sound as though there is God and there is Jesus and the two are mutually exclusive. I’ll keep saying it, again and again, the whole point of the scripture, and especially the coming of Jesus the Christ, is that we are brought into the embrace of our heavenly Father. And here’s the mystery… The one we know as the ‘Lord your God’ in the Old Testament is revealed as God our Father and Jesus our Lord through the New Covenant. He came so we might know the Father and know him as our Father. Jesus taught the disciples to pray like this, ‘Our Father…’ Again and again Jesus teaches things like, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name…’ or ‘No one comes to the Father but by me…’ Pray to the Father! Pray to your Father. Speak with your Father!

I’m 100% OK with praising Jesus and thanking him. I also ask the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit to be involved in my doings, my comings and goings every day. I’m grateful to God always but I’m addressing him as Father. I’d love to be in a church service sometime where no one said or prayed, ‘God this’ or ‘God that’ or ‘God whatever’, during an entire worship time. We know there is God but we know this God as our heavenly Father, and this human we know as Jesus we also know as King of kings and Lord of all other lord pretenders, and there are plenty of them. But in my heart I’m always coming to God my Father through Jesus Christ my Lord.

(If you need convincing about this do yourself a favour and read the opening verses of each and every epistle in the NT and see for yourself what it says about God and Jesus. Go on. Don’t be lazy.)

The second thing on my heart is about the ‘musts’ which are continually thrust into our ears by well-meaning preachers. My spirit rebels against many of those musts. How to explain? Do you remember Jesus’ last words as he hung between heaven and earth on that Calvary cross? Simple, ‘It is finished.’ But do you remember the first words Jesus is recorded as speaking as an adult? Thought so. They come as he joins the queue of repentance and walks into the Jordan to be baptized by John. As it comes to Jesus’ turn, everything in John is screaming, ‘This is wrong, this is wrong, is wrong!’ This was one baptism he didn’t believe he should even be happening. But hear what Jesus says…

“Let it be so now. It is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15) It is proper… to fulfil all righteousness… To fulfil all righteousness… Fulfil… All righteousness!

Between his baptism and that last breath, in his thinking and doing, his teaching and praying, his care and compassion, his confronting and his constancy, all his words and actions, in what he allows to happen to himself, in his obedience and faithfulness, even into death, all the requirements of godly righteousness have been fulfilled. All. Yes, all. So? Here’s the law-smashing truth…

At 3.00pm on Good Friday afternoon, God our Father in heaven had to acknowledge something. “Everything I have ever wanted or desired or required from the human race has been completed to perfection. It is finished.”

To believe in Jesus as Lord and Christ is to be in Him and is to be righteous as he is righteous. To be baptized in Jesus name is to be baptized into him, is to be baptised into his righteousness. From the moment the Holy Spirit works that convicting faith in us His righteousness is ours. His story, by the gracious action of God, becomes my story, our story. When he gives me faith in Jesus Christ all the musts of salvation are dispensed with. Jesus has lived them to perfection before me and for me.

Therefore, a struggling prostitute who believes is in a far better place than a scheming Pharisee who does not. Equally a believing bastard is right with his heavenly Father and an unbelieving Bishop is not. Those losers in life who have all their eggs in one basket labelled Jesus Christ are established on rock, whereas life’s perennial winners who are ‘above’ Jesus and have no need of him are building on sand. Anyone, absolutely anyone ‘in Him’ is right with the Father and anyone who scorns Him is in danger.

And this means? Two things…

First, something I hope we all know: Our sins have been paid for. The cross = forgiveness.

Second, from Good Friday the only ‘track record’ the Father considers worthy is that of his Son. There is only one ‘must’ for salvation and that is to be ‘in Him’ which means we are replicas of Him with identical track records. That, my friends, is the Gospel. Nothing less and not a single thing more. Let no one add to this.

And this means? Two things…

First, salvation, life within Father’s embrace is pure, unadulterated gift =grace.

Second, in the power of the Spirit of Jesus I must reveal his life in me through my life. In the power of the spirit of Jesus we must reveal his life in us through our lives. All by grace.

Have a good week. Fred