Today, Selwyn continues his discussion on his second conviction: ‘the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ provides the most profound revelation in the universe.’

In terms of trusting in the relationship we have with God, I think that the cross provides us with the sure knowledge that we can trust God in all that He does.

If we go back to the verses set for reading and meditation last Thursday, 1 John 4:1-12, we can sense and feel the strong and dependable love, Jesus has for us, verses 7-12 follow: ‘Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who (unconditionally) loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.’

The above verses describe the nature of love.

If you have read the ‘My History’ pages on this blog – you have one example of how a person’s life (who at the time was far away and estranged from God) can be changed forever, by the simple words: “I am your God, who loves you“; such is the nature of God’s love.

I also found the last paragraph of Selwyn’s study to contain some inspirational thoughts: ‘When pure love meets sin or wrongdoing in the one who is loved, a cross of pain is inevitably set up at the point where the two meet. “All love“, declares one writer, “has the doom of bleeding upon it as long as there is sin in the loved one. And that love, when it meets the sin, soon crimsons into suffering.” Is it surprising, then, to discover that at the point where God’s love and our sin meet, a cross has been set up? It could not be otherwise; love being what it is.’

The one and only truth that I personally know to be true - is, that Jesus loves you -  the cross proves it!

I think we can all recall cases where someone has risked their life to save a stranger – and, it’s so much part of our nature that we admire the person’s actions but somehow are not surprised. On the contrary – if someone ignores the serious plight of another they are quickly criticised and condemned for their selfish inaction. Even today, where many people will ‘walk on by’ – they don’t want to become involved –  there are still people who will come, out of the crowd, to lend a helping hand.

As Selwyn says; ” … there is within us a sense of justice – a justice which causes us to feel it is right to save, even at a cost to oneself. If this ‘infallible law’, as some psychologists describe it, remains true up through the scale of being, but reverses itself when it gets to God, then laws are meaningless and the universe is without a Head. But, on the other hand, if this law holds good from the very lowest to the very highest, as the sacrificial spirit of the cross implies, then the universe is whole, laws are not enigmas, and God is not a disappointment.’ 

I’m not too sure about the infallible law discussion which Selwyn outlines as there are probably examples of enigmatic laws when seen by our limited understanding (what do you think?) – but I do agree that we have as our God – one, who will never disappoint us!

The following line out of today’s prayer – is worth some time in meditation: ‘I pray that the spirit of the cross may be seen in all my relationships.’  God’s Spirit of self-sacrifice, I think is the best medicine for broken relationships – do you agree?

I like the last third of Selwyn’s study for today: ‘When we come to humankind, we find beings who will not only sacrifice themselves for their young but will at times sacrifice themselves for someone whom they do not even know. Here life rises to its most elevated form. The highest being (on earth) is the one who is willing to sacrifice most for others.

If that is a universal law – and it seems to be – then when we come to God, who must represent the highest stage of being, we would expect to find the most highly developed expression of sacrificial love. And that is exactly what we do find. The cross proves it. The universe has a sacrificial Head.’

I think that this aspect of sacrifical love is what sets apart the Christian religion from most other religions – the cross, represents either foolishness or weakness to those who follow other ‘gods’ – yet, without this characteristic the nature of these other religions is such, that a loving relationship based on trust can never be demonstrated. Do you agree?

The prayer for today is also good: “Father God, I see that the highest in humankind is the deepest in You. Where could this spirit of self-sacrifice come from other than You? May this spirit be seem more clearly in me. For Christ’s sake. Amen.”

Selwyn introduces us to his second conviction: the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ provides the most profound revelation in the universe. The ‘cross’ was the theme an evangelist was expounding on the night Selwyn gave his heart to Jesus.

He says: ‘The redemptive, glorious mystery of it took hold of me … Now, 60 years later, my inmost being still glows when I think or talk about the cross. … It is here that we see into the depth of things, here the heart of the universe shows itself.’ And he concludes this study with: ‘The Almighty has shown Himself willing to sacrifice Himself for others. And nowhere in earth or heaven is self-sacrifice seen in such measure as in the cross.’

For me, I find it amazing that through Jesus all things were created, we read in Genesis 1:31: ‘God saw all that he made, and it was very good.’ Yet, the pain He would have experienced by looking down through history and seeing that what he had created would become estranged, the relationship would be broken, and we would all become His enemies. But before time began and before the physical universe was created He had in mind a sacrifice to bring about reconciliation. A plan fore-shadowered with Abraham, Issac and the pascal Lamb; a plan reflected in Psalm 22; a plan summarised in John 3:16.

Take time to read and think about, the following verses, Colossians 1:15-16,19-20; ‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. … For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross.’

Ephesians 2:13-18, ‘But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.’

Colossians 2:13-15; ‘When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailed it to a cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.’

The cross for us represents divine love, forgiveness, restoration, reconciliation; and so, enables a close relationship with our loving God – our imperfect ability to obey God’s commandments (the law) could never have achieved this outcome. God so loves us, that He himself destroyed the barriers between us, by His own self-sacrifice – how great is that! 

I pray that you too are overwhelmed by what the cross represents.

(P.S. I’ve had problems with my Internet Service Provider – hence, why I’m late with these postings.)

 

Selwyn provides for us today some advice on how to approach the Bible. He says: ‘We should come to the Bible believingly. … [The Bible] can be trusted, just as God can be trusted. … We should come to it expectantly. The Bible is alive with meaning. Expect it to speak and it will. We should also come to it unhurriedly. …

And we must come to the Bible willing to surrender to the truth it reveals. The Scripture says that those who are anxious to do the will of God will discern the divine character of His teaching (see John 7:17). In a moral universe the key to knowledge is response. The moment we stop obeying is the moment that the Holy Spirit ceases to reveal things to us.’

I think that the above statement, in bold, is one of the key thoughts for today – there is not much point in reading the Bible and having a truth revealed to us by the Holy Spirit if we don’t respond to God’s message.  Do you agree?

Another good point, is made by Selwyn in his concluding remarks on today’s study: ‘Finally, we should continue to come to the Bible even if nothing apparently results from it. Just to expose yourself to the BIble is infinitely worthwhile. For where Love is, silence may be the only language. To be with Him, though unseen and unheard, is in itself a great reward.’ I really like the imagery that the above, highlighted sentence brings to mind – there is a feeling of something safe and warm about being in the presence of our loving God. A heart-felt longing to be permanently with Him.

The prayer is a fitting end to the first of Selwyn’s convictions: “O God, just as the unfolding of Your words gives light, so disbelief or neglect of Your Word brings darkness. May Your Word be a lamp to my feet and a light for my path every day of my life. In Christ’s name I ask it. Amen.”

I’ve just looked ahead at the various convictions we are going to be looking at, some look quite interesting, here’s a list:

1. The Bible is true and absolutely trustworthy.
2. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ provides the most profound revelation in the universe.
3. God’s way is the only way that works.
4. There is a great deal of mystery in life, and simply accepting this is better than striving to find explanations.
5. Deep spiritual change comes not so much from the outside in, but from the inside out.
6. There will be little or no advance in the Christian life without a disciplined spirit.
7. Life on this planet is exceedingly painful and difficult.
8. The most important issue in the universe is that of relationships.
9. Love is indeed the strongest force in the universe and will ultimately prevail.
10. Everything that happens to us – good, bad or indifferent – contributes to life if we know how to use it.
11. God has more to give us, His Church, in terms of the Holy Spirit than we have seen in this generation.
12. God’s glory must be the point of everything we do.

So, something to look forward to – what are your thoughts?

 

I’m finding it hard to provide much in the way of comment on this topic because I think it’s so obvious that Scripture is an accurate representation of God’s word. Where, logically does the path end, if you doubt the Bible’s authenticity? I agree with Selwyn – you end up with a usless, empty Bible – and, where else can you go to find out about God?

You either believe verses like 2 Timothy 3:16-17: ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’; or you don’t believe what Paul is plainly saying – which, probably means that you are not currently following God’s plan for your life!

I also agree with Selwyn when he says: ‘I have noticed that people who de-emphasise the work of the Spirit in illuminating the Word, and emphasise only critical skills, turn out to be Bible tearers rather than Bible teachers.’ I think that one of the indicators of a theologian going past a point of no return (in regard to their spiritual journey), is when they start to doubt the miracles of Jesus and put forward ‘natural’ explanations of these events. What do you think?

The prayer for today: “O God, how it must hurt You when men and women water down Your Word. Strengthen my conviction that the Bible is Your Word written. I ask this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.”

 

I like the way Selwyn introduces today’s study: ‘Without the aid and illumination of the Holy Spirit it is no more possible for a person to understand the Bible than it is for a blind man to judge a beauty contest.’

The analogy is useful, because it does not matter how intellectually gifted the blind man is, and how much study he does on the concept of beauty, or how much detail he learns about the background of the people in the beauty contest – he will be useless as a beauty contest judge as compared to a sighted person with a fraction of the blind person’s knowledge.

Selwyn, in the last paragraph, uses John 3:16 as an example of one of the glorious truths that can be found in the Bible and those who question the reliability of this verse (and similar verses) must find it hard to find meaning in anything they do: ‘But what is the basic message of the Bible? It can be summed up in three words: love, law, life. They are all discoverable in our Lord’s sublime cameo of Christian truth found in John 3:16. ‘For God so loved the world [that's the love] … that whoever believes in him shall not perish [that's the law or devine principle] but have eternal life [that's the life].’ 

The verses from 1 Corinithians 2:6-16 (Reading and Meditation) are also excellent in helping us understand the role of the Holy Spirit, verses 11b - 14, follow: ‘In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak (and what Paul has written down as a record of what the Holy Spirit taught through Paul) , not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because thet are spiritually discerned.’

One sentence that stands out for me is; ‘ … we have received … the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.’ The significance of the ‘freely given us’, is something so great, it’s hard to fully comprehend and appreciate – do you agree?

The prayer for today is worth repeating here: “O Father, I see that without the Holy Spirit’s illumination the Bible cannot be properly understood. It remains deep, dark and mysterious. But with His help it comes alight and alive. May Your Spirit be with me every time I read it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”