Good Wednesday morning, my friends.
The gospel is often seen as offensive by those who reject it. But as John Fischer explains, "What makes the gospel offensive isn't who it leaves out, but who it lets in." The only people we should be surprised to see in heaven is ... ourselves.
'O my God, it found out me!'
by John Fischer
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain-
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
This hymn by Charles Wesley has long been one of my favorites, and to understand its meaning you need to hear it a certain way. To hear it one way is to hear that last line without any real inflection. That Christ should die for me along with everyone else is a grand enough thought. But to make it even grander you need to add an embellishment on that last "me." That Thou, my God, shouldst die "for ME?"... and the question mark is appropriate.
"ME?" meaning the least likely for anyone to love. "ME?" meaning the worst of sinners. "ME?" as in: "I can maybe see Him dying for somebody else, but not me." Or as Paul says it in Romans: "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:7-8).
While we were still messed-up, lost, unlovely, unlovable, selfish, conniving jerks, Christ died for us! It's preposterous! The idea is not only that you are messed up, but that you see yourself as more messed up than anybody else.
When you think about it, it makes sense. We should all think of ourselves as the worst sinner we know because ... well ... we don't know anybody else well enough to make any comparison. I'm the worst sinner because I know my sin intimately. I don't know your sin that well. I can't even judge it. That's not up to me, but I do know myself and I am amazed that "Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?"
I ran across a great statement yesterday on someone's Twitter account and I apologize for stealing it, but I had to share it with you. "What makes the gospel offensive isn't who it leaves out, but who it lets in." And at the bottom of the list of who it lets in would be you (to you) and me (to me).
If there's anybody you'd rather not have in heaven, then you need to check your Pharisee monitor, because that kind of thinking registers high on the Pharisee chart. If I think there is anybody out there worse than me, I'm engaging in wrong thinking.
Besides if there's someone you don't want in heaven because of something you don't like about them, or something they've done to hurt you, just remember: whatever they've done, in heaven, will be gone.
We need to hold onto this perspective and never let it go. The person I should be most amazed about finding in heaven should always be me.
He left His Father's throne above
So free, so infinite His grace-
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race:
'Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
John Fischer
Fischtank.com
Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Bruce
Father, You’ve appointed us to live in a decadent age where the hearts of men are turned away from the true living God and live instead by the world’s principles.
But we who have the indwelling Holy Spirit must continue to build our lives on the foundation of our holy faith as we spread the gospel message, “Jesus is the first and final answer to all of life’s problems.”
We seek to be directed by Your Spirit and live in such a way that we honor You even as scoffers ridicule us.
May we show mercy to those whose faith is wavering and rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment.
In the process of daily living, as we reach out to the lost and dying, help us not to stumble so that on Your appointed day we will be brought into Your glorious presence innocent of sin.
Prompted by Jude 22,23
