Sovereign Lord

I've been thinking a lot about how we Christians should be responding to the situation this virus has put us in. One of my conclusions is that we should be different. We should be operating without fear of any kind. That means in our individual lives, and in our corporate lives. We are the body of Christ, and we fear not.

The biggest impediment to fearlessness is that, for many of us, our concept of God is too small. How do we depend on God to protect us if He is just an enlarged version of ourselves? We cannot really picture having all our needs met by a changeless, Mighty God who loves us with His whole heart; a God with unlimited provision for our every need. Reading the book of the Bible, Ezekiel, I was blessed by seeing how Ezekiel repeatedly addressed God as "Sovereign Lord".

Jen Wilkin in the book, None Like Him, shows us 10 ways that God is not like us:

He is Infinite.                      The God of no limits
He is Incomprehensible.     The God of infinite mystery.
He is Self-Existent             The God of infinite creativity.
He is Self-Sufficient           The God of infinite provision.
He is Eternal                       The God of infinite days.
He is Immutable                 The God of infinite sameness
He is Omnipresent              The God of infinite place.
He is Omniscient                 The God of infinite knowledge.
He is Omnipotent                The God of infinite power.
He is Sovereign                   The God of infinite rule.

With a God like this, nothing is impossible.

Living as a new creation in Jesus Christ means living without fear. And, as we put our trust in the Sovereign Lord for all our needs, we become fear-less, and shine like beacons to the world around us.

Good Friday

After two weeks on "lock down" this is starting to get old. I want my life back!  I want to go to church with my friends and neighbors. We have not seen any of our children or grandchildren since coming back from Florida. I want a haircut.  When does the precaution outweigh the harm to society. Who decides what I must to do be "safe"?  Some of you don't feel this way, and that's okay, but this is my rant!!!

Okay, enough of that. Today is Good Friday. People often ask, what's good about it? What is good is that this is the day of the Great Exchange. For the past several weeks we have been willing to stay in our homes to remain free of the Covid-19 virus, but, also, in large part, to keep from spreading this virus to our neighbors. Jesus went a step way beyond this type of sacrifice. He actually takes on the disease of everyone who is ill and bares all the suffering involved. And, in exchange, we gain His health.

 "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21 Jesus becomes infected, we become pure and holy. God's justice is satisfied. Christ has paid in full for all our offenses. "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and with His stripes, we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

 

Forget the lock down. Today, Friday, April 10, 2020 is a Good day.