Unpacking Why
Three months later, and I'm still fighting the call to being a pastor. I really will write sermons on this blog, but I know I am not the only one with this crap from their creator. But instead of just fighting this call, I'm trying to figure out why I'm fighting it. Why me as a pastor? I'm not the typical caring, nurturing woman. I can speak in public, but no on can understand me. I'm blunt-sometimes overly blunt-, sarcastic, and love a good beer. I do what I can do, but often try to do more that that. There's something about being outside that makes me giddy-camping, gardens, living off of the earth. This pastor shit might really make me unpeal my layers of my onion, learn more about my inner workings and then be emotional and all with people and feel and yeah... meh. It's not that I'm not emotional, its that I'm deeply emotional. To truely feel paralyzes me. To truely pray brings me to tears. This world is so fricken incredibly beautiful that to survive in it, we need to ignore the incredible beauty.
My experience in appalachia (Evarts Kentucky) is what I needed to kick my butt in gear. It allowed me to SLOW DOWN to truely open my heart to God, to feel, to cry every other day and begin to unpack what that all means. It's one thing to live the Christian life, do the Christian things, but its that fricken acceptance of being unconditionally loved by your creator that is humbling, healing, life changing.
To be unconditionally loved by my creator. How do I begin to unpack this... What is love? What does unconditionally mean? How do I know it's unconditional? Where's the fine print? I'm created? How am I created? What am I? Who is this creator? What does it mean to be created? If God is perfect and created me, how come I'm not perfect? But it's not the logical part that gets me... it's the emotional crap that does. But my creator created me, and loves me... thats a huge fricken responsibity. Now what do I do about it.
posted by Kalit @ 8:26 AM
1 Comments:
What is Love?
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
13:4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. 13:6 It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. 13:7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
What does unconditionally mean?
Rom 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
What does unconditionally mean?
Unconditional: Not limited by conditions; absolute
Example found in the prophecy of the suffering Savior given by Isaiah:
Isaiah 53:3-6
3 He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. 4 But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done. 5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed. 6 All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him.
How do I know it's unconditional?
Ezekiel 18:4
Indeed! All lives are mine – the life of the father as well as the life of the son is mine. The one who sins will die.
Romans 6:23
For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, 10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God.
We have all sinned just as it says there is none righteous and all have fallen short of the glory of God. You and I are in the same boat; we deserve the wrath of God and we have been promised that death will be our punishment yet God has willingly given the price of His very own Son, Jesus Christ who created all things, to die in our place as stated in Isaiah 53 and asks nothing of us. We earned the payment of death for our sin and Christ paid it voluntarily to bring us to Himself just as it says in John 3:16. He came as Savior and was reject by those He came to save then put on a cross and He died willingly knowing it must be done. That is the epitomy of unconditional.
Where's the fine print?
Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.
1 Corinthians 6:20
For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
1 Corinthians 7:23
You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men.
The fine print is this; we were bought for a price. The price was the blood of the Son of God. We were dead in sin and redeemed by His blood so those who claim to have repented, which is simply to stop thinking what we think and agree with God that what He thinks is correct, must prove we have started agreeing with God what He says is correct by changing our actions in response to what He says. John said to the pharisees who came to receive the baptism of repentence, produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Practical application of this might be if I steal and then read God saying do not steal I agree with God that stealing is wrong and the fruit of that is I stop stealing proving I have truly repented. If I believe Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved and that I am a sinner unable to to save myself as God says then the proof of that is that I will place my faith in Him and do as He asks. As a man thinketh so he is says Solomon in the proverbs and Christ said out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. What we think in our hearts determines our actions so a change of heart should produce a change in action. We must stop living for ourselves and start living for God because this is why we were created.
I'm created?
Genesis 1:27
God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.
How am I created?
Psalm 33:6
By the Lord’s decree the heavens were made; by a mere word from his mouth all the stars in the sky were created.
What am I?
Gen 1:26
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”
Who is this creator?
1 John 1:5-6
1:5 Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. 1:6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.
God is light and will not tolerate darkness. Those who walk in darkness cannot fellowship with God because He will not associated with darkness. If they say they have fellowship they are liars.
What does it mean to be created?
bara'
1a) (Qal) to shape, fashion, create (always with God as subject)
1a1) of heaven and earth
1a2) of individual man
1a3) of new conditions and circumstances
1a4) of transformations
Something non-existent suddenly being brought into being. In this case man by God.
If God is perfect and created me, how come I'm not perfect?
Romans 5:12-14
5:12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned – 5:13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin when there is no law. 5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the coming one) transgressed.
But it's not the logical part that gets me... it's the emotional crap that does. But my creator created me, and loves me... thats a huge fricken responsibity. Now what do I do about it.
Romans 10:9-13
10:9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10:10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. 10:11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 10:12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. 10:13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
We must admit to God Christ is Lord and everything that implies; He is God, Creator, Yahweh incarnate, you must obey Him, etc. we must believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead and everything this implies; we are a sinner, we deserve death, we cannot make ourselves right with God, Christ died to pay the penalty for our sin, Christ was raised from the dead after being in the ground for 3 days which was the sign given by God the Father that His sacrifice for sin was accepted, and we must make place our faith in His death alone as the payment for our sin accepting it is all that is necessary for forgiveness of sin. The gift is open to all but we must accept it before it may be applied to our account, if we do not accept we have made the choice to pay for our sins ourself and we will die for that is the payment and live in seperation from God for eternity for that is the penalty; no one who is not righteous may be with God. We must accept the righteousness of Christ as the free gift it is (Ephesians 2:8-9).
I hope this answers your questions at least in part. This is what God's word has to say on the matter of sin, death, salvation, creation, our place in the universe, grace, love, God, etc. There is much more but it could not be covered in such a short writing.
Post a Comment
<< Home