Romans 14:8–No Matter What: We Belong to Him!

Romans 14:8: "For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.  So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's."

I find this verse incredibly profound as it remains wholly comforting.  It must be stated upfront, though, that while this is a true statement it is a statement solely for those of us who belong Christ.  Part of the nature of God's relationship with mankind is that He has given human beings a choice.  There are two possibilities: either we will belong to Christ in faith and obedience or we will claim ownership of ourselves.  Now while the latter possibility may seem like a positive thing, it is merely a facade, a dire and eternal facade.

The reality, however, is that the same God who created the vastness of the universe by the power of His Word also created every person by that same modem.  It is then inescapable that we belong, ultimately, to God.  When we refuse to accept that truth and we live our lives in foolhardy reprobation and utter disregard for who we are in Christ, then it is no wonder that God is just to 'leave us to our own devices.'  In a sense, it would be unjust of Him to bring us into His presence kicking and screaming!

Therefore, it is a great and lovely joy to be reckoned as a child of God and to be counted as His.  Let us take joy in this reality: that by the blood of the lamb, who is Christ Jesus, we have been permitted to enter into the holy Kingdom of God.

Amen!

All the World is God's

When in various discussions with a diverse group of people, both inside and outside of the church, one of the recurring statements or terms used is when people start talking about "the real world."  Like, there is a world outside of the confines of the church that is more real than any other socio-cultural construct.  Normally, I shrug my shoulders as if I could smell the smoke resonating from the barrel just fired, however, what I want to do is say this:

There is no real world that is not under the sovereign supervision and sustaining power of God.  And there is no place in all existence in which the Lord Almighty is not God over all.  Although some people would like to say that there is a world apart from what goes on in the body of Christ, there is no such place in which Christ's name is not the highest and most exalted name.

The issue at hand is God Himself.  He, the Holy Lord Almighty, is ultimate reality.  The profundity of this theology carries forward through every nook and cranny of existence.  For without God's willing and creating and sustaining, not one thing would or even could be.

Thus, the real world is the one in which the true and living Lord is worshiped and praised on high for who He is and all that He does.  Because of this basic and fundamental truth about reality, God is the same in church as He is outside of the hallowed halls and sanctuary doors.  There is no "other" real world, because all the world belongs to Him.  Let us then take this mind among ourselves when we consider thinking that anything lies outside of His sovereign hand.

No Substitutions for the Truth of God

Mister Rogers, one of the most well-known people to ever grace the television screen, says this about  the world: "Life is deep and simple, and what our society gives us is shallow and complicated."

For a man who made a career of entertaining and teaching simple life truths to children, this is such a great way to describe a simple but profound truth.  With the widening spread of the internet and the growing-by-the-moment access to the global network of the world's information, the person is becoming less personal and ever more shallow.

This being a true assessment of the state of the world, it is essential to note that when the world continually seems like a swirling whirlwind of data and stuff that spins vertiginously like a billowing tornado that sweeps away humanity into meaninglessness, reality, in its utterly truest sense, stems from a different source altogether: God.

The Holy Lord Almighty, the giver of life and source of all wisdom, is ultimate reality.  Thus, ultimate truth and ultimate reality stem from God.  And, apart from God, reality is but a vale, a mist compared to the solidity and certainty of God Himself.  Because of this basic and fundamental truth, any attempt by the world at large to make or create any semblance of reality outside of God's is counterfeit and, quite frankly, sin.

As Christians, we need to be on guard against the potential snares of the world which attempt to replace the reality and truth of God with forgeries.  The world is an ocean of information that is an inch deep, while the truth of God is infinitely vast and infinitely deep.  This, God, should always be the truth that we rely upon as it is, ultimately, the truth.  Not a truth but the truth.  Let us then always keep this at the center, always.