Tuesday, August 16, 2005

The Essence of Redemption

The fabric of God's Redemption...HIS essence...is this:
Romans 8:28 KJVAnd we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
and this:
Genesis 50:20 NLTAs far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people.

So, when we submit to God's Mark of Slavery, we receive in return a promise. That promise is that Evil will not only be defeated, but that Evil's intent be redeemed into God's purpose. That God's power is so great that his plan cannot be defiled by being touched by sin, or decay. Instead it cures sin and decay when it is touched by it.

I'll be honest. There is no magic formula for this. And from the Parable of the Four Soils, there is the hint that it is MORE than simply putting trust in Jesus for salvation. I don't believe it is something more that WE accomplish...I believe it is something more that HE accomplishes in us.

We allow him to accomplish more by giving up. We give up the right to ask "why me?" We give up the control over our circumstances. We give up the hope of a "normal" life...perhaps the hope of marriage...perhaps the hope of children...perhaps the hope of living long.

We permit Satan to take his shots at us, often through others. And then we commit to love them back. We commit ourselves to not give up, to not give in, hoping for a glory that outweighs our "light and momentary troubles."

You know. I'll be honest. It was the tough passages in Job and the Psalms and even Paul's persecutions that got me through the last few years. Their honesty and their vulnerability before God...their willingness to endure and to tell it like it is...provided salve for my open wounds. I can't claim to have accomplished what they accomplished (my faults are more obvious and more enduring, I am afraid), but my hope is the same in spite of my failures.

In fact, when I submit myself to be Marked by God, I also submit willingly to the adventure he has planned for me. I submit to not being an everyday, mundane person. I submit to being asked to stand out clearly. I submit to being publicly humiliated. I submit to being bent and even broken.

I submit with this ENORMOUS promise in mind: that redemption is sure. That it will not fail. That life finds its meaning in God's redemption of the intention of those who are evil. He will frustrate their plans...not by stopping them from acting, but by reversing the intent of their actions.

The prophets couldn't see this. I can barely grasp that God allows me to see it. But I'm pretty sure it's True.

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