Perhaps we should begin by
simply considering the Creator’s expectations for humanity. Certainly, this is a primary awareness that
is obviously necessary to a successful friendship with Him. The following scriptural glimpses easily
demonstrate the kind of response that God has always sought from mankind and
the response that He continues to look for today. We can clearly see, in these excerpts, His
expectation of a relationship that is faith-expressive,
that consistently results in a humble obedience from an elevated people.
Also, we should note that the
following excerpts from scripture are by no means the only ones available to
us. But, this small sampling will be
more than adequate to demonstrate God’s vision of relationship, a high and
noble vision, indeed.
In The Old Testament
Genesis 2:15 "Then the Lord God took the
man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying,
'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely
die.' ''
So obviously, from the very beginning, God placed man in a daily
reality of responsibility and accountability.
Ezekiel 18:20 "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of
the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the
righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon
himself.
"But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, says the Lord God, and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
"But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, says the Lord God, and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
"But, when a righteous man turns away from his
righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations
that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has
done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is
guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.
"Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair. ' Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair?
"Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair. ' Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair?
"When a righteous man turns away from his
righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity
which he has done that he dies. Again,
when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does
what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all
the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not
die.
"Yet the house of Israel says, `The way of the Lord
is not fair.' O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your
ways which are not fair? Therefore I
will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord
God. Repent, and turn from all your
transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.
"Cast away from you all the transgressions which you
have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should
you die, O house of Israel? For I have
no pleasure in the death of one who dies, says the Lord God. Therefore turn and
live! ''
These verses indicate God’s very
straight forward way of accounting. It
is a way that obviously keys on a personal
accountability.
Ezekiel
36: 23 "‘And I will sanctify My great name,
which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their
midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,’'' says the Lord God,
"‘when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations,
gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.
" 'Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you
shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your
idols. I will give you a new heart and
put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh
and give you a heart of flesh. I will
put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will
keep My judgments and do them.’"
Here, God gives us a very inspiring glimpse of His vision for His
people. It is clear that He intends to
have a very elevating impact upon His people.
In The New Testament
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are
His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Obviously, this verse demonstrates
the clear redemptive expectation of faith-expressive works and a reality based
righteousness as a result of the believer’s renewal in Christ.
Matthew 5: 17- 20
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not
come to destroy but to fulfill. For
assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle
will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
"Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these
commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of
heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven. For I say to you,
that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
These words of Christ bring emphasis
to God’s intention for a Christ-empowered, reality-based righteous. And, they call to mind His promise in the Old
Testament for these New Testament times, to no longer write his laws on tablets
of stone, but rather, now, in Christ to write them in our heart so that His
values are truly and naturally shared by us.
Romans 8:3 (KJV) "For what the law could
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
In this juxtaposition of those who
are flesh driven and those who are Spirit driven, we are shown, not only
the source, but also the extent of Christ’s renewing impact – the righteous
essence of God’s value system is now empowered in the believer by the
indwelling Spirit of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11
(KJV) "And he gave some,
apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and
teachers; For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ: till we all come in the unity of
the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect [mature] man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we henceforth
be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in
wait to deceive; but speaking the truth
in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.
"
These verses paint a beautiful
picture of God’s anticipation of our maturity in Christ – the here-and-now of a
life empowered and directed by His Spirit.
Galatians 5:19 "Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft,
hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying’s,
murders, drunkenness, raveling’s, and such like: of the which I tell you
before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. "
Again, we see a no-nonsense,
straightforward, Godly accounting and the simple expectation that sinfulness
will be expunged from the life of the believer.
Matthew 22:8
"Then he said to his servants, `The wedding is ready, but those who were
invited were not worthy. Therefore go
into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.' So those servants went out into the highways
and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding
hall was filled with guests.
"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw
a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, `Friend, how did you
come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, `Bind
him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness;’ there will
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For
many are called, but few are chosen.''
This parable indicates that the
universal invitation offered to humanity through Christ does not absolve those
who respond of the obligation to participate in a responsible way. The opportunity portrayed here is obviously
universal; but, it is also obvious that it is not without requirements for
those who respond.
Summary and Conclusions:
All of these references indicate the Father’s
expectation of a people who are truly responsive and faith-expressive. From the very beginning, God has anticipated
and called to a people who are willing to experience a truly renewing
friendship with Him.
Realizing this, we should also
realize something else. God did not start out looking for a people
who would truly and thoroughly embrace his values and directions, only to abandon
that desire out of frustration. The
redemptive workings of the New Testament do not represent some divine fallback
position, where God suddenly becomes willing to embrace an “acceptable
brokenness” in His people in exchange for a statement of faith.
And, Christ is not an after-thought,
a Band Aid to cover the unsightly
boo-boo of humanity’s chronic waywardness.
He represents God’s carefully planned and very effective remedy for that
waywardness. He is the cornerstone of a
redemptive process which gives final reality to God’s oringinal vision of a deeply intimate
and completely fulfilling friendship with His consistently faith-expressive people.
[Continue to Section 3]
[Continue to Section 3]
