Does God Need Our Help to Fulfill His Plan?

[This devotion is a shortened form of a sermon preached February 24, 2019 in the series, Contradictions? How Delving Into Challenging Topics Unlocks the Riches of God’s Revelation. You can listen to the audio of that sermon via this link.]

Jesus said:

  • “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21).
  • He said: “Go … make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18).
  • Paul says: God has entrusted “to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).

These statements and commands raise the question: Does God need us?

God is spreading His Gospel to every tribe and tongue and people and nation

He tells us this Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and only then will the end come (Matthew 24:14).

So does God need us – His people, His church – in order to fulfill this promise?

Jesus also said: “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2).

Doesn’t that sound as if God needs laborers?

God commands us to go and proclaim the Gospel. But sometimes that biblical command is coupled with an implied picture of God in heaven, wringing His hands, just hoping that maybe someone would go and do the work that He needs done.

Now – most who read their Bibles regularly know that image is wrong. Nevertheless: Don’t the statements above imply that in some sense God needs us?

The biblical answer is quite helpful to us. In summary, that answer is: God gives us a tremendous task and a tremendous privilege. He gives us tremendous power to fulfill that task. Actively depend on Him – and never trust in yourself, or take pride in yourself.

Let’s see how Scripture fleshes out that answer.

God Doesn’t Need Us

That God doesn’t need us is simple to prove from numerous Scriptures. We’ll limit ourselves to only three.

First, John 15:5. Jesus says:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

This is not ambiguous! We can do nothing on our own.

But notice what Jesus says in John 5:30: “I can do nothing on my own.”

Thus: We can do nothing apart from abiding in Jesus. And He can do nothing apart from the Father. So in effect: We are like Jesus! Jesus was actively dependent on God the Father. We must be actively dependent on God the Son

So Jesus does not demean in saying we can do nothing apart from Him. Rather, He is saying that everyone who is fully human – including Himself – must depend on God at all times. Jesus lives out for us the type of active dependence we must have.

For our third Scripture, turn to Zechariah 4. Many Jews have returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon, and are beginning to rebuild God’s temple. This is a great work of God, a necessary step in God’s plan to redeem a people for Himself. It is also a difficult, expensive engineering task. So there is a need for laborers.

Yet what is word of the Lord? “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6). In effect God says: “You can’t even build a building apart from me.”

So: God has no needs that we could ever meet. He is the one with all power. He is the one who rules the world and controls all that happens. We need Him. He does not need us.

Fulfilling the Commission by Diligent Dependence

So: God commands us to go and make disciples, and God does not need us. How are these consistent? Let’s look more closely statements that call us to be God’s ambassadors.

  • Matthew 28:18-20: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore.… And lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
  • Luke 10:2: The verse opens with a statement of fact: the harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few. But the second part does not say: “So go out into the vineyard.” Rather, it says, “Pray!” He is Lord of the harvest. He will see that the harvest comes in. He will send the laborers. His power accomplishes the task.
  • 2 Corinthians 5.19-20: God has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation; we are indeed His ambassadors. But Paul then says, “God [is] making his appeal through us.” So He chooses to use us. But He is the one making the appeal.

Consider also 1 Peter 4:10-11. Peter tells us how to conduct all the ministries God gives us:

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies— in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (emphasis added)

The Apostle tells us why we must serve in God’s strength: So that He gets the glory! If we served in our strength, we could boast. But when we serve by His strength, we are humbled.

Thus,

  • We go out for the sake of His Name
  • We go in the power of His Name
  • We go diligently depending on Him for all that we do
  • We go in prayer, asking for His help every step of the way

Not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit.

Viewing the Paradox via the Bible’s Storyline

Let’s step back and remember how reaching every people group with the Gospel fits into the overall storyline of the Bible.

God created mankind for His glory, to show what He is like. Man rebelled, rejecting God’s purpose in creating him. God could have destroyed all mankind immediately, thus displaying His perfect justice. Instead, to show not only justice but also love, mercy, and power. He instituted a millennia-long plan to create out of rebellious humanity a people for Himself, a people who would fulfill the purpose of the creation of mankind, a people who would show He is ultimate, not them. So He promises that a descendant of the first woman will crush the head of Satan. Then after rebellious mankind tries to make a name for Itself by building a tower up to heaven He scatters people, confusing their languages, dividing them into many different people groups. But then He calls a man, Abraham, and tells him all these people groups will be blessed in his descendant. And Abraham fathers this promised child only by God’s mercy and miraculous power.

Over the centuries God shows time and again that apart from Him we can do nothing. Despite the disobedience of His people:

  • He rescues Abraham’s descendants from slavery
  • He chooses the youngest of Jesse’s sons to be king
  • He promises that HE will build an eternal kingdom with a descendant of this man David reigning as king
  • And He promises through Isaiah that He will lay all the iniquity of His people on a suffering servant – whom He will then raise from the dead

So in the fullness of time He sends Jesus into the world to be born to a poor teenage girl. Jesus then lives out how to depend on God every minute of every day, thereby displaying God’s power, majesty and authority. And while evil men and Satan try to destroy God’s plan by killing Jesus, God in His power, authority, and love uses their very plan to fulfill His promise to redeem His people by a suffering servant. He then show His might and the sufficiency of the sacrifice by raising Him from dead.

And this risen Jesus then commissions us to go, like Him, in the power of God to be His ambassadors. He reminds us that we can never do this on our own. God will use His weak, powerless people to accomplish His great work. The earth must be filled with the knowledge of His glory; every tribe and tongue and people and nation must be a part of His people. And He will bring it about.

This, reaching the nations is not some minor sidelight in God’s overall plan. It is a key part of that plan.

God doesn’t need us to fulfill that plan – He could raise up workers from dried bones (Ezekiel 37) or even from stones (Luke 3:8). But He gives us the task, the privilege, and the power to go in His Name. He delights to use us, as we depend on Him and thereby fulfill His plan.

What Do We Ever Accomplish?

So let’s step back from our commission and ask: Can we humans really do nothing apart from Jesus?

What do we accomplish?

We have abilities, intelligence, experiences, family backgrounds, and education. Through these, we think, we plan, we research, we produce, we work hard; we train our minds and bodies, we develop our talents, we start and grow businesses; we write books, we perform jobs, we love our families, we raise our children, we serve our countries, we help our cities; and thereby many – Christians and non-Christian – accomplish something of value.

  • Something valuable to us.
  • Something valued by our society.
  • Something that seems good, useful, and helpful.

But note two points.

First: God needs none of that. He gives us even the breath we need to live! (Acts 17:24-25).

Second: All that we accomplish is a gift from Him. This is true whether we are Christians or not, whether we actively depend on Him in the process or not. As Deuteronomy 8:17-18 tells us:

Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.

So apply that idea to yourself: Not one iota of your success, your hard work, your contribution came from you apart from God (1 Corinthians 4:7).

Reflect on your accomplishments and goals. What do you have to be proud of?

In my case:

  • I earned a PhD
  • I am a husband and father
  • I planted a church
  • I brought the Perspectives class to Charlotte

List with me all that you could conceivably be proud of. And then pray:

All this is from you, Father God. Whatever in my life is good, fruitful, productive, helpful, loving, or wise is from you. Whatever is messed up, wrongheaded, hurtful, hateful, or foolish is from me. If You had not given me life and breath each second I would have been dead. If You had not graciously given me abilities, perseverance, empathy, and love, my life would have been one fruitless hell-hole after another. Yet in Jesus You have chosen me, You have loved me, You have set me apart as holy. You call me your child and assure me nothing will separate me from Your love. And You call me along with all Your people to be Your ambassador! All praise to You, O Father – I love You. May I serve You with what You do not need, and so glorify You. Fulfill Your plan – in part through the way You use me. Here am I.

So, always remember: It’s not about you, your ministry, your gifts, your calling – it’s all about God. It’s all about Jesus. You are here to show God’s image, to display Christ.

Thus we must have no pride and no despair. No self-exaltation. No church-exaltation. No country-exaltation. Only God-exaltation. Only Jesus-exaltation.

His is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Abide in His Love by Karl Dauber

[Karl preached this sermon on John 15:1-11 March 22, 2020]

At Desiring God Community Church, one of our stated core values is being “Joy-Pursuing”.  Specifically, we pursue joy in God.  Our Mission Statement reads: “We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples”.  So, the pursuit of joy is a big part of who we are as God’s people.

But we are broken people who live in a broken world.  As a result, life is often filled with disappointment and a sense of emptiness.  And very often, what we feel is a strong desire to just feel better.  And this impulse can drive us to worldly things that appear to offer satisfaction.  OK, maybe not really satisfaction.  Maybe just a way to escape for a while and get away from that sense of disappointment and emptiness.

I’ve seen a bad dynamic that can happen in my life:

  • I sin.
  • Then I feel disappointed in myself.
  • Then I hear the voice of the Accuser saying that God is disappointed too, and unhappy with me because of my sin.
  • Then the thought that God is unhappy with me makes feel even worse.
  • But I don’t want to feel bad – that’s what I was trying to escape in the first place.
  • So, I run away from God and toward something that promises to make me feel better, or at least makes me forget how bad I feel.

Does this sound familiar to you?  It’s like Adam and Eve in the garden.  They sin, feel guilt, and hide from God.

I have found that if the Accuser’s lies underlying this dynamic are not defeated, it is impossible for me to pursue joy in God.  If I am not convinced – not just intellectually, but at an emotional level – that God feels joy and delight when he looks at me, I will run away from him, rather than towards him.  Pursuing joy in God is impossible, unless I first know that he finds joy in me.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could say, like Jesus said in John chapter 8, that we always do what is pleasing to God, and therefore know that God is always with us?

Wouldn’t it be great if we could always hear God saying to us, as he said to Jesus: “you are my beloved child, with you I am well pleased”?

But how can this be possible, when we sin so much?  We certainly cannot claim, as Jesus did, that we always do what is pleasing to God.

The answer of course is the good news of the gospel.  Jesus became as one of us, a human being, and lived the perfect life that we should live.  And he died in our place on the cross, paying the debt we could not pay, receiving in himself the judgement we deserve.  Jesus took our sin and punishment and gave us his righteousness.

Therefore, we can say that we are always pleasing to God.  God’s joy in us is never interrupted or diminished by our frequent falling into sin.

This is not to say that our sin does not grieve God – it does.  But that is a very different thing than saying it affects God’s joy in us.  God can delight in us and be grieved by our sin at the same time.  We must make this distinction and hold onto both truths.  Otherwise, we will fall into one of two errors:

  • Thinking that our sin makes God unhappy with us, so that he is no longer “well pleased” with us. Our sin turns his smile into a frown.  That is anti-gospel, because it makes our righteousness, not Christ’s righteousness, the basis of God’s joy in us.
  • Thinking that our sin does not matter to God. Thinking that being saved is the important part.  Being obedient – well, it’s a good thing of course, but not absolutely necessary.  But we know from the scriptures that our sin is a very serious matter.  It is so serious that Jesus and the apostles warn us frequently that those who continue in sin have no reason to believe that they are in Christ and are saved at all.

Jesus’s words to his disciples in John 15 addresses this issue, and it helps us to see the importance of why our fight against sin is supremely important, and how we can fight sin, and how we can have joy.  The setting is the evening of the Last Supper.  Later that night Jesus would be arrested and next day crucified.  This is Jesus’ last opportunity to spend extended time with the 12 disciples.  Looking at this passage, we see:

  • Four truths
  • One command
  • Five results

Four truths

  1. (vs 1) Jesus is the true vine. There is only one vine, one source of life.  This entire passage is a picture of our dependency on Christ.  We are completely dependent on him. In verse 5 Jesus emphasizes this.  Without his life in us, we can do “nothing”.  It’s not that we will be less fruitful – we will be completely unfruitful, like a dead branch.
  2. (vs 2) All people are branches, both the fruitful and unfruitful. All people owe their very existence to Christ.  As we recently saw in Hebrews 1:3, Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power, and that includes all of us.
  3. (vs 3) We have been made clean by the word of the gospel. Notice the word “already”.  Jesus doesn’t tell us to abide so that we can be made clean.    We are already clean.  Earlier in this gospel of John, Peter said to Jesus: “you have the words of eternal life”.  We heard the word of the gospel: the promise of Jesus that his sacrifice to pay our debt will save us from God’s judgment, redeem us from slavery to sin, give us life and set us free, and bring us into his Kingdom.  We heard that word, and by God’s grace we believed it, and that has made us clean.  This passage is not about how we can be saved.  It is about how we who have been saved should live.  How we can have joy.  How we can fulfill our purpose to magnify the glory of God.
  4. (vs 2) Our Father in Heaven is at work. He does two things:

First, He removes.

What does he remove?  The unfruitful branches. The unfruitful branches are unfruitful because they do not believe and therefore do not abide.  In verse 4, Jesus describes such a branch as being “by itself”.  What does this mean?  During winter, you can’t tell which branches are alive and which are dead.  But when Spring comes and it’s time for the leaves to come out, then you can see.  There are branches that produce no leaves, no flowers, no fruit.  They are connected to the tree physically, and are supported by the tree, but they no longer have any connection to the life of the tree.  This is a picture of those who were created by God, and continue to exist only by God’s gracious provision, and yet do not acknowledge their dependence on him.  In rejecting their Creator, they reject the very purpose of their existence – which is to enjoy and magnify the glory of God.  It’s like a branch of an apple tree that stubbornly insists that it does not want to bear apples!  Such a branch no longer has any purpose.

What is the destiny of these unfruitful branches?  They are like the branches that fall to the ground in a strong wind because they are dead and have no strength.  Psalm 1 says that “the wicked will not stand in the judgment”.  In verse 6 of this text, Jesus says the dead branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  In the Bible, fire is always a picture of judgement.

Secondly, our Father in Heaven prunes.

What does he prune?  The fruitful branches.  Now, if you are someone not familiar with agricultural life, and most of us are not, this seems a bit unexpected.  If a branch is bearing fruit, why would you mess with it?  Leave it alone.  Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

And pruning sounds painful, doesn’t it?  It involves cutting and removing.  That doesn’t sound pleasant. In Hebrews chapter 12 the author says, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

Verse 2 explains the purpose of the pruning:  the pruning produces “more” fruit.  What does this tell us about fruitfulness?  It tells us that fruitfulness is a progressive process.  The farmer sees a branch with some fruit on it, maybe just a little bit, and he thinks “Aha!  This branch is alive and well.  It’s worth keeping.  Therefore, I will prune it so that it reaches its full potential.”  This should be encouraging to us.

On his 20th anniversary sermon, John Piper said that upon looking back and reflecting on the spiritual growth he saw in himself and in the congregation, he was not impressed.  Our faith is not impressive.  But he also once asked: “If you are not running the race of faith, are you walking?  If not walking, are you crawling?  If not, are you at least facing the right direction?”

John Freeman of Harvest USA once visited our church.  And I remember he compared Christians to a glass of beer, in which there is just a little bit of beer in the bottom of the glass and rest is just foam.  But at least there is some beer in the glass.

If it seems like there isn’t much fruit in your life, don’t fret about that – the Father is working in you.  Instead, be thankful. Praise God that there is any fruit in you at all.  In this passage Jesus said that apart from him there would be no fruit.  So, the presence of even just a little shows that you are indeed in the vine, and the life of Christ is in you.

One command

There is only one command in this passage, and that command is not “bear fruit”.  The command is “abide”.  Specifically, abide in Christ.  Jesus uses the word abide 10 times in 11 verses.  You don’t have to be a Biblical scholar to see Jesus’s main point here.  There is only one command, but it is apparently really important.  Jesus wants us to abide in him.  Therefore, that should be our focus, not fruitfulness.  We should be looking at Jesus, not looking at ourselves.

But what does it mean to abide?  Consider verse 10:

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

For a long time, this statement by Jesus troubled me.  On the surface this verse seems to imply that we earn Christ’s love by obeying his commands.  But our obedience is not constant.  Is Jesus’ love for us therefore not constant?  Is our righteousness the foundation of our relationship with Christ?  But this is clearly contrary to the gospel.  In fact, this is no gospel at all.

Jesus’ love for us is constant.  Why?  Precisely because it is not contingent on our obedience.  In verse 16 Jesus reminds his disciples that Jesus chose them, not the other way around.  In Ephesians 2:1-6, the Apostle Paul writes that we were chosen when we were still sinners in rebellion against God.  Jesus’ righteousness, not ours, is the foundation of the love that He and the Father have for us.

Consider also Colossians 3:1-4 that speaks about us being united with Christ.  According to that passage, two things happened to us:

  1. We have died with Christ. This means that in God’s eyes, our sin has been punished just as surely as if we ourselves had died on the cross.  As our advocate, Jesus does not ask for mercy from the Father, he asks for justice because our sin has already received its due punishment and the debt has been paid.
  2. We have been raised with Christ. And where is Christ?  Seated at the right hand of God – the place of greatest honor before God!  That is where we are.  That is who we are.

In God’s eyes, we have the righteousness of Christ, and therefore he can continually delight in us as he delights in Christ, even though our obedience is not continual, as Jesus’ obedience is.

With that understanding then, let’s look more closely at verse 10.  Jesus is clearly expressing some kind of contingency that is dependent on our obedience. That’s clear from the word “if”.  “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love”.  What does this mean?  What is Jesus telling us?

In thinking about the word “abide”, the word “abode”, or residence” comes to mind, and what it means for Christ and the Father to be our abode.  Psalm 61 David said, “for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy”. This is a very helpful word picture.  Think of disobedience as leaving the strong tower of God’s love.  In vs 10 I think Jesus is saying: “when you continue in obedience, you are in effect staying within the strong tower of my love, where you will experience the full joy of that love.  When you fail to keep my commandments, you are in effect leaving the tower (no longer abiding in it) and therefore you forfeit the enjoyment of that love.”  Christ’s love for us is constant, but our enjoyment of that love is not constant because we do not constantly abide in it. You can’t enjoy a relationship which you walk away from!

Do you see what Jesus is saying?  He is urging us to remain in his love because that’s where life and joy are found.

So, what does it mean to abide in his love?  It means making a conscious decision about where you are going to seek life and joy.  Obeying Jesus’ commands is the outer result of an inner decision.  It is the outworking of a heart-felt conviction that I’m not going to find joy in this thing, or that thing, over there, or over there – but here, and only here, in Christ.

But this is not a one-time decision, is it?  It’s a decision we need to make continually, step by step, day after day, hour by hour.  How can we cultivate this together?

In 1 John 4:19, the Apostle John says “We love because He first loved us”.  God’ love for us comes first and our love for him is a response to that love.  By intentionally and prayerfully reflecting on the magnitude of God’s mercy and love for us, we cultivate a response of love for God.  In Colossians 3, Paul writes at length about putting to death earthly desires and instead living holy lives.  But he doesn’t start with that, does he?  First, he tells us to set our minds on things that are above.  Our joy in God is the power to overcome the competing allure of the things of the world.

So, ask yourselves: what do you desire?  And I mean, really think about it.  The question is not what the objects of your desire are, but why you want them.  You have to look deep down to find the desire beneath the desire.  What are you really looking for?

Do you want to be accepted and loved by someone who knows everything about you?

Behold Jesus, who knew everything about you before you were born, and chose you for himself before the foundation of the world.

Do you want affirmation that you matter?  That you have value?

Behold Jesus, who died on the cross and endured the punishment of Hell.  Why?  So that he could have you to be with him for eternity.

Do you crave security in a world where nothing seems certain?

Behold, he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Behold, your life is hidden with Christ in God.  Jesus said he has given us eternal life, that we will never perish, and that no one can snatch us out of his hand.

Do you want rest and peace?

Behold Jesus, who frees us from all that would enslave us, and calls us to himself that we might have rest for our souls.

Do you hunger to see justice and righteousness in the world?

Behold, Jesus the King is coming, and he is going remove all causes of evil from the world.  He is going to destroy Satan with a word from his mouth, and he will rule in righteousness forever.

Do you hunger to finally be finished with your struggle against sin, and to be perfect in holiness, just like Jesus?

Behold, Jesus is coming, and the scriptures say that when he does we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is, and he is going to present us faultless and without blemish before the Father.

Do you long to be thrilled and amazed?  To see great wonder and beauty that brings tears to your eyes and makes you shout?

Behold, Jesus is coming and when he does he will come in clouds with great power and glory, and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

We need to set our minds on these things.  We need to see the big picture.  In this way, we will increasingly treasure what is invisible and eternal, rather than what is visible and passing away.  This is how we abide in Christ.

Five results of abiding

  1. We will bear fruit. Look at verse 5.  Note that this is a promise, not a command.  We don’t make this happen.  The life of Christ in us makes the fruit happen.  That’s why Paul refers to the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-23.  And how does Paul say that this will happen?  He tells us in verse 16 to “walk by the Spirit”.  That’s just another way of saying: “Abide in Christ”.  The New Testament scriptures have much to say about this fruit and what it looks like, but generally this fruit will show itself in 2 ways:
    • As an increasing conformity to the character of Christ
    • And an increasing love for God and others.
  1. Our desires will be conformed to the will of Christ. Look at verse 7. This is implied by the certainty that we will be given what we ask for.  We will be given “whatever we wish”, because when we are abiding in Christ, our desires are in alignment with Christ’s desires.
  2. We will have the full joy of Christ. See verse 11.  This is not like the “joy” that the things of the world offer.  The joys of the world are very temporary, always enslaving, and ultimately destructive.  In contrast, the joy we have in Christ is lasting.  It can never be taken away.  Finding joy in Christ liberates us from whatever else is trying to enslave us.  And joy in Christ is life-giving, not soul-destroying
  3. We will prove to be Christ’s disciples. See Verse 8.

Who needs this proof?  Not God – he knows those whom he chose (vs 16).  So why is proof is needed?

    • For our own reassurance. In Romans 5 Paul taught that God’s pruning in our lives results in fruit that proves we belong to Christ and that this increases our hope and joy.
    • In Matthew 7 Jesus said that the fruit that comes from abiding is an important way to distinguish between good and false teachers.
    • At the judgment our fruit will bear witness to all of creation that we are indeed in Christ. And this leads us to the 5th result…
  1. God will be glorified. (Verse 8) The Father is glorified when we bear fruit.

By his rebellion, Satan declares that God’s glory is worthless, and he is constantly trying to use us to support his case.  Remember how he trued to use Job this way?  Satan claimed that Job feared God only because he gets worldly benefits.  Satan claimed that Job did not worship God for who God is.

We tend to think that our daily choices are a small thing. It’s just about us.  It isn’t.  Our choices have cosmic implications.  When we choose the world instead of the one who created it, we take Satan’s side of the argument, showing that we consider God’s glory worthless, and we join in the rebellion.  But when we reject the promises of the world and instead choose to find joy by abiding in Christ, we uphold the superior worth of God’s glory and our fruit bears witness that we have made that choice – and that magnifies God’s glory.  Nothing we do gives God greater glory than the day-to-day decisions we make to choose to abide with Christ rather than running off to find joy elsewhere.

How can we apply this?

First of all, based on this passage, what should you do when you sin?  The Father’s delight in you does not change.  What changed was that you walked away from his love.  So, go back – immediately.  There’s no reason to wait. No reason to hide.  Go back to Jesus’ love.  Go back to joy.

Secondly, think deeply and prayerfully with the help of the Holy Spirit on the following questions:

  1. When am I not abiding?
  2. What is hindering me or distracting me from abiding in Christ?
  3. Where am I abiding instead of in Christ? What captures my imagination and thoughts when I’m free to think about what I wish?  Where do I go to get a sense of well-being, or to escape?

And then, share this with a close brother or sister in Christ.  This is a fight, and we do not fight alone.

From the song “Stay” by Big Daddy Weave

I’ve seen the flash of lightning
I’ve heard the rolling thunder
I’ve felt the crashing of the waves
And though I’ve known Your presence
And been filled with wonder
Still there are many things that pull me away

I’ve felt Your hand of mercy through my darkest failures
And on the other side You’ve covered me with grace
And like a child lost and afraid, You come and find this runaway
And in Your loving arms You bring me home again
What’s it going to take to make me stay?

Break my heart with what breaks Yours
Until You’re all I’m living for
Show me what it means
Not just to believe but to remain

I don’t want to hurt You anymore
I don’t want to waste another day
‘Cause it breaks Your heart, it breaks Your heart
When I keep walking away

You know what it means to sacrifice
But You tell me that it’s better to obey
You’ve giving me a thousand brand new starts
Jesus, give me what it takes to stay|
Give me what it takes to stay
Let me stay, I want to stay

What Can We Accomplish?

[This devotion is taken from the concluding section of the sermon, “Does God Need Our Help to Fulfill His Plan?” preached February 24, 2019. Audio will be available at this page soon.]

“Apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

So says the Lord Jesus (John 15:5).

Really, Jesus? Nothing?

It sure seems like we do things apart from Jesus.

So, think: What can we accomplish?

Consider: We have abilities, intelligence, experiences, family backgrounds, and education. Building on those, we plan, we research, we produce, we work hard, we train our minds and bodies, we develop our talents, we start and grow businesses, we write books, we perform jobs, we love our families, we raise our children, we serve our countries, we help our cities. And so, we – that is, many hardworking and successful people who on a human level are good workers, good neighbors, good citizens, and good friends, Christians and non-Christians – accomplish something of value. Something valuable to us. Something valued by our society. Something that seems good, useful, or helpful.

But note two points:

First: God needs none of that. Remember the story in Ezekiel 37. God commands His prophet to preach to dry, dead bones – and God creates a huge army. He needs none of our efforts to accomplish His purposes, to fulfill His desires. As the Apostle Paul says:

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, … is [not] served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. (Acts 17:24-25, emphasis added)

Second: As stated in those verses, all that we accomplish is a gift from Him. All of it – whether we are Christian or not, whether we actively depended on Him in the process or not. As Deuteronomy 8:17-18 tells us:

Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.

So apply that idea to yourself:

Not one iota of your success, your hard work, your contribution came from you apart from God. Hear the Apostle Paul once again:

What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? (1 Corinthians 4:7)

So reflect on your accomplishments. What might you be tempted to be proud of?

For myself: I might be proud of:

  • Earning a PhD
  • Publishing numerous economics articles
  • Leaving a good profession to become a full-time minister of the Gospel
  • Being a husband for nearly 40 years
  • Being the father of six children
  • Planting this church
  • Bringing the Perspectives Course to Charlotte, etc, etc.

Make your own list. And then if you are in Christ, pray something like this with me:

All this is from you, Father God. Whatever has been good, fruitful, productive, helpful, loving, or wise in my life is all from you. Whatever is messed up, wrongheaded, hurtful, hateful, or foolish is from me. If each second You had not given me life and breath, I would have been dead. If You had not graciously given me abilities, perseverance, empathy, and love, my life would have been one fruitless hell hole after another. Yet in Christ Jesus you have chosen me, you have loved me, you have set me apart as holy. You call me your child and assure me nothing will separate me from your love. And you call me along with all your people to be Your agents, Your  ambassadors! You make Your appeal through us: “Be reconciled to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:20). All praise to You, O Father. I love you. Though You do not need me, I gladly serve you. Use this service for Your glory. Fulfill Your plan through me and the rest of Your Church.

So, always remember:

It’s not about you, your ministry, your gifts, your calling – it’s all about God.

You are here to show God’s image, to display Christ. And Christ is both the suffering servant  and the conquering King, both the sacrificial Lamb and the majestic Lion. As we display Christ, we may display Christ- as-Conqueror or Christ-as-Sufferer. Or both. That’s God’s choice. He apportions gifts and outcomes as He chooses. But it is all working together to sum up all things in Christ, pointing to that final day when Jesus returns, and those from every tribe and tongue praise His Name (Revelation 7:9-12).

So there is no place for pride. And there is no place for despair.

Nor is there any place for self-exaltation or church-exaltation or country-exaltation.

Only God-exaltation. Christ exaltation.

May we acknowledge in our hearts what is true in reality: To Him alone belong the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

 

 

Where is Your Confidence?

[As we contemplate this Sunday whether or not God needs us, consider this devotion on Jeremiah 17, edited from the original version written in 2011.]

Where is your confidence? Where do you find hope? Where do you find security?

Consider Israel in Jeremiah’s day. The prophet has said time and again that judgment is coming upon the nation. No one, however, pays attention to his warnings. The political and religious leaders do not want to believe in a God who would exercise judgment on His chosen people, and they look to military strength and their foreign allies for protection. So, echoing Psalm 1, Jeremiah writes:

Jeremiah 17:5-9: Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.  6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.  7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.  8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”  9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Who can understand a heart that voluntarily turns away from the only source of true security, from the only source of true sustenance? What tree would send its roots away from a nearby water source instead of towards it? Yet that is what the people of Israel were doing.

And the lesson holds for us. If we abandon the source of all good, no matter how wealthy or powerful or successful we become, we have no security. We have no true accomplishment, for we will never become what we were created to be or do what we could have done by His power. Indeed, we can only expect loss. But the one whose heart is changed so that God alone IS his confidence will be fruitful always (there is wordplay in the Hebrew text of verse 7 to emphasize this point – we might capture that partially through this translation: “Blessed is the man who is confident in The One Who is; the One Who Is is his confidence”). For to know the source of all being is to be certain of becoming what you are intended to be.

Jeremiah continues a few verses later:

Jeremiah 17:13-14  O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.  14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.

There is only one way to quench our deepest thirst, and that is through the water fountain that is the Lord. There is only one source of healing, only one source of rescue, only one sources of strength: and that is God Himself – so if we turn away from Him, if we praise and depend on anything else, we will lose everything we think we are gaining, and thus will be put to shame. But if we instead come to Him for healing – if we cry out to Him for salvation, looking only to His offer of Christ for our confidence and joy – then we shall be truly healed. Then we shall be truly saved. Then we shall fulfill His great purposes for us, His people.

Father, it only makes sense to have confidence in you, the source and the generator of all life, of all goodness. Wean us from what leads us astray, all these false sources of joy and fulfillment and strength, so that you indeed might be our confidence, our sustenance, our power, and our joy.