What is the purpose of God’s law?

Well, a short answer is that we need guidance, whether we realize it or not. We need rules to live a righteous life.

Do you have a sun shield that you put up on your car’s windshield to keep the car cool while it’s parked in the sun? If you look at it closely, you’ll probably see a tag with the warning, “Do not use while driving”. Maybe some people need more rules than others, but we all need God’s laws to realize how blind we can be.

Through the law we become conscious of our sins and being close to God requires purity. God wants to lead us to Christ. God’s expectations FOR us make possible God’s relationship WITH us.

We need a relationship with this compassionate, gracious, slow to anger God, this God who abounds in love, maintains love to thousands, and forgives our wickedness and sin! Let us follow God’s laws so that Jesus can remove our blindfolds. “Twas blind, but now I see!”

Our most frustrating times may well be when it seems that God is being silent, not hearing our prayers. But Josh’s message on Sunday told us that we must never take God’s silence as inaction. In those moments, during those hard times when we’re learning some of the hardest lessons of our life, that’s when God is preparing us. God uses our trials to prepare us for what is to come. So, even when we are in the midst of suffering, He is always with us, and if we know Him, He will catch us.

There are four points we should always keep in mind:

1. God sees our misery.

2. God hears our cries.

3. God cares about our suffering.

4. God rescues.

Above all, God loves us. Whatever we’re going through, He loves us, always, and if we have faith, if we know Him, we will receive the blessed relief and the joy that He has in store for us!

The story of Joseph is an epic story. Imagine a 17-year old having a dream about the sun and moon and 11 stars bowing down to him! Today, we’d tell him to ‘get over himself’ but his brothers sold him into slavery (where he thrived), he went to jail (and thrived), and he ended up becoming the 2nd most powerful man in Egypt because he deciphered the Pharoah’s dreams. Perfect examples of “blooming where you’re planted”. Now that’s a butchered summary of this complex story but, as Josh pointed out, Joseph’s story is not just about him. It’s entwined with many other people’s stories. And it could have gone so many different ways! What if Joseph hadn’t told his brothers about his dream? What if his brothers had killed him instead of selling him into slavery? What if the Pharaoh didn’t like Joseph’s interpretations of his dreams?

Joseph was a character in a much bigger story and God was working His plan throughout it. Today, we are all characters in bigger stories, and God is working His plan through our stories, too. God uses peace and turmoil; feast and famine; freedom and slavery. God even uses our wickedness as well as our goodness. God’s actions, or inactions, are serving His plans - always. The question is, will we trust him? Will we believe in His plans and trust Jesus to be the savior of our lives?

Josh’s message about the Power of God’s Promises emphasized the word ‘non-contingent’. That is to say, God's promises to Abram were NOT contingent upon Abram’s deeds. In fact, Abram was quite a flawed human being and made some poor choices in his life. But God established a steadfast relationship, a covenant, with Abram. Abram’s main duty was simply to believe the Lord with all his heart and to give glory to Him. Abram did that, and God’s promise to him in Genesis 12:2-3 was, “... I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Let’s read that again: ALL peoples on earth will be blessed! God fulfills His promises because His plans are NOT contingent. He will see His plans through regardless of our shortcomings. In spite of our imperfections, we are all part of God’s plan. He will restore us and our broken world! How glorious is that? Will you put your trust in Him today?

We shouldn't think of the Bible as a rule book or textbook. (Who wants to re-read a textbook?) The reason we can read the Bible over and over is that its stories never lose their significance. So think of it as a storybook where WE are a part of the story -- because God created us in His image and likeness. Why did He do that? It was no flight of whimsy. He created us to reflect His image, to be His image bearers of love and goodness in this world.

Once Adam and Eve sought the glory of God for themselves, they no longer reflected His image; they could no longer glorify Him. Whenever we see bad things happening today, we need to know that those people are reflecting darkness because they have turned their backs on God’s light. Maybe sometimes we can’t see our own glory (which is a reflection of God’s glory), but God sees our glorious best in us, always. We need to know deep in our soul that our purpose is to glorify God. If we stop fulfilling that purpose, we become useless to this world.

So keep reading the Bible and remember that God’s story declares God’s glory!

Dave Schulze poses the question, what does it mean to be a ‘great’ Christian? What attributes are great in God’s eyes? It’s certain that a person’s social status and prestige are not important to God. We need to strive to be like Jesus -- to accept those who most need God, to welcome those of low status with humility and extend God’s love to them.

This lesson is powerful and it can have magnificent results. When you entertain a stranger, you may be entertaining an angel. It may not be easy for us to approach new people or to join into a group. But if we approach them with the spirit of God’s love, it will work. We don’t always know who we are blessing when we welcome someone but, if we do it with humility and love, that’s when we’re being a great Christian.

Looking ahead to the New Year, what should we be reflecting upon? Paul’s writings in the Bible often talk about spiritual maturity - something which, because we are imperfect humans, needs to be continuously polished. Our spirits grow as we emulate Jesus’ behaviors and we then live in gratitude for all that God has done for us. Colossians 3:15-17 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts… and be thankful … singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

This year, one goal could be to strive for a more grateful life, to always be aware of how much there is to be grateful for. It’s become much too easy to take things for granted. And it’s not just about being grateful for what we have, but being thankful for how we can use what we have to bless others. Not out of obligation, but out of love as Jesus would have us do.

What’s your 2021 goal? Will you have a goal towards spiritual maturity?

Does the year 2020 seem to parallel what God’s people suffered for hundreds of years? We’ve lost our freedom and we’re exiled into isolation. Like they did so many years ago, we wait and hope expectantly for our exile to be lifted.

But let’s remember how Jesus lived. Like an animal, he was born in a manger. Unlike earthly kings, he was not welcomed with pomp and circumstance. And when he died, (Isaiah 53:7) “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

Jesus didn’t want pomp and circumstance; he only wanted us - every one of us. He surrendered himself for us, he became poor so we could become rich, he suffered so we could have the ultimate gift of everlasting life. Will we accept the gift? Will we accept him into our lives and gain release from our exile? Or will we dig in and keep our tenuous control over our lives? It’s time to lay it down. Lay it down and receive the greatest gift.

Herod was a great and powerful king who was credited with many good works, including having a magnificent temple built. But as soon as he heard that a child was born who would become all powerful, he ordered the murder of all boys under age two. With this action, he hoped he could keep his own power. He wouldn’t accept that God is always more powerful.

Josh gave us an interesting quote about power that came from Nobel prize winning Aung San Suu Kyi: “It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it ...". Let’s think about ourselves for a moment. When have we felt like we were losing our power? How far were we willing to go to keep it?

The problem is that when we cling to our own fragile power, we close our hearts to Christ’s power. We forget that, after all, Christ is here to save us. He will carry our burdens, if only we’ll let him. What a wonderful blessing!

What hopes, plans, or dreams do we have for ourselves? We can throw ourselves whole-heartedly into a plan that we think will create our best future. But what if God has a different plan? When our plan, for whatever reason, goes off track, can we accept it? Can we trust that God is trying to point us towards His plan? Will we put our confidence in His (undoubtedly) better plan?

It’s hard for our mortal brains to “get out of our own way” sometimes. It may take awhile to realize that God is sending us something we need to see, something we need to experience, because He knows us better than we know ourselves.

So when God brings unlikely people or difficult circumstances into our lives, will we walk towards His plan or run away? Shall we go all in when God calls us? Let’s say yes to the unknown, surrender to Him, and trust that our loving God will guide us every step of the way!