Quotes to Ponder

Winston Churchill:

A lie makes it halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its shoes on in the morning.


Robert Jastrow, the founder and director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and author of God and the Astronomers, reaches this conclusion when considering modern scientific research:

For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.

Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers



Samuel Adams, in a letter to his daughter, Hannah, in 1780:

If you carefully fulfill the various duties of life, from a principle of obedience to your heavenly Father, you shall enjoy that peace which the world cannot give nor take away...you cannot satisfy me so much as by seeking most earnestly the favor of Him who made and supports you--who will supply you with whatever His infinite wisdom sees best for you in the world, and above all, who has given us His Son to purchase for us the reward of eternal life.

Philip Yancey/C. S. Lewis

During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Some religions had accounts of return from death.

The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What's all this rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among the world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace."

After some discussion, the conferees had to agree. The notion of God's love coming to us, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, and Muslim code of law--each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God's love unconditional.

From What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey

What was Harder: Creating Us or Redeeming Us? Bernard of Clairvaux

 

                What was harder: Creating Us or Redeeming Us?

Profound words written almost a thousand years ago by Bernard of Clairvaux:

"I owe all that I am to Him who made me, but how can I pay my debt to Him who redeemed me?

Creation was not so vast a work as Redemption, for it is written of man and things that were made, 'He spoke the word and they were made' (Psalm 148:5).

But to redeem that creation that sprang into being at His word, how much He spake, what wonders He wrought, what hardships He endured, what shames He suffered!

In the first Creation He gave me the gift of myself; but in His new creation He gave me Himself, and by that gift restored to me the self I had lost.

Created first and then restored, I owe Him myself twice over in return for myself.

But what have I to offer Him for the gift of Himself? Could I multiply myself a thousand-fold and then give Him my all -- what would that be in comparison with God?

[In creating me He gave me the gift of myself....in Redeeming me He gave me the gift of Himself --- Wow!]

The Really Big Picture - Becoming the Gift

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves -- it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:9

The lost sinner who hears God's Word that Christ died for his sins and places his trust in Him receives the gift -- the supreme gift of all -- restoration to God and eternity with Him.

And then one day, that redeemed sinner catches a glimpse of the bigger story.

Note these words from Christ's prayer, just before His arrest and crucifixion, to His Father, in John, chapter 17.....

"I have revealed You to those whom You gave Me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to Me....

"I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those You have given Me...

"Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My Glory..."


So this is the really big picture....

Once we receive the gift, we become the gift!

We come to God through Jesus Christ's atonement for us -- it is His gift to us -- and then God presents us as a gift to His Son!


Once we receive the gift, we become the gift!



            And this is the biggest story of all!

What Makes Angels Celebrate? (Part 2)

 So what do the angels know that we don't know that makes them celebrate with such exuberance when a sinner repents?

Back to Max Lucado --

"They know what heaven holds. They've seen the table, and they have heard the music, and they can't wait to see your face when you arrive.

When you arrive and enter the party something wonderful will happen. A final transformation will occur. You will be just like Jesus. Drink deeply from 1 John 3:2: 'We have not yet been shown what we will be like in the future. But we know when we see Him we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.'

Of all the blessings of heaven, one of the greatest will be you! You will be God's magnum opus, His work of art. The angels will gasp. God's work will be completed. At last you will have a heart like His.

You will love with perfect love.

You will worship with a radiant face.

You will hear each word God speaks.

Your heart will be pure, your words like jewels, your thoughts will be like treasures.

You will be just like Jesus. (And so will all the people around you!)

You will, at long last, have a heart like His.

There is another reason for the celebration. Part of the excitement is from our arrival. The other part is from our deliverance. Jesus rejoices that we are headed to heaven, but He equally rejoices that we are saved from hell.

One phrase summarizes the horror of hell: 'God is not there.'"

---From Just Like Jesus

What Makes Angels Celebrate?

In Luke 15 we read Jesus' parables about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost boy. 

The point is clear -- all of heaven rejoices when the lost is found. 

At the end of each one Jesus describes a party, a celebration. The shepherd throws a party for the lost-now-found sheep. The housewife throws a party for the lost-now-found coin, and the father throws a party in honor of his lost-now-found son.

The shepherd, when he finds his sheep, happily puts it on his shoulder and goes home. The housewife tells her friends, "Be happy with me for I have found the coin I lost." And the father of the prodigal tells his other son, "Be happy. He was lost but now is found."

Jesus speaks about the great rejoicing in heaven when the lost is found!

Max Lucado comments on this -

"We don't always share such enthusiasm, do we? When you hear of a soul saved, do you drop everything and celebrate? Do we call out a band, cut the cake, and throw a party?

When a soul is saved, the heart of Jesus becomes the night sky on the fourth of July, radiant with explosions of cheer. 

Can the same be said about us? Perhaps this is an area where our hearts need some attention.

Why do Jesus and His angels rejoice over one repenting sinner? Can they see something we can't? Do they know something we don't?"

(Will continue in my next writing...in the meantime, think about your own heart...do you respond like Jesus and His angels? Why or why not?)