God Does Not
God does not drive
He draws
God does not coerce
He convinces
God does not force
He forgives
God does not require
He redeems
Latest Posts
Identifying Christ – Part 2
Below is part 2 of the article written by our guest author, Rev. Dave Rodgers
As “Who is Jesus?†is a significant question, so is the question, “Why did He come?†Scholars agree Jesus came to usher in the “Kingdom of God.†Jesus came to embody and introduce God’s Kingdom: God’s way of doing things in the world God created. Every key point along the way in the life of Jesus, from His unusual birth to His tragic death, to His glorious resurrection and ascension, became key elements in understanding and experiencing the Kingdom of God in all its fullness. Jesus came so that man can share in the Kingdom of God. Jesus came as God’s provision, to atone for the sin of man and to set man free from the penalty of sin. This penalty, which man is saved from, is death eternal.
Through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, on the cross of Calvary, God atoned for the sins of all those who will believe and call on the name of Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus did more than simply proclaim salvation. On the contrary, he creates salvation as we share in His life, death, and resurrection. The result is that Jesus is Savior, not only from the penalty of sin, but from the power of sin as well. The salvation process we enter into when we first believe is carried through to completion throughout our lives unto glorification. As Paul states in Colossians 1:13, “God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His beloved Son.†This transference is the fullness of why Jesus came.
In conclusion, Jesus is the revelation of God himself in both person and purpose. It is through God’s revelation that we know Him, and it is through a personal knowledge of Him that we can be saved. Revelation comes in the form of enlightenment. The term enlightenment points us to the fact that our knowledge of God is the result of God’s grace, not of human inquiry. Jesus Christ ushers in God’s Kingdom by ushering in God’s grace.
God Makes Sense Podcast
Recently the author of this site spent some time with ‘The Podcast Answer Man’ recording a podcast titled ‘God Makes Sense’. The Podcast Answer Man, Cliff Ravenscraft, has a number of podcasts, one of which is called ‘About the Church’ Reverend Raney has begun joining Cliff as a guest host from time to time. Listen to the podcast below. You can listen to it online or you can download it for listening later.
Identifying Christ – Part 1
This article is submitted by a guest author, Rev, Dave Rodgers.  It is divided into two parts. Below is part 1. Part 2 will post later this week.
Who is Jesus Christ? This question has intrigued humanity since the Angel Gabriel first appeared to Mary. In fact, it is within the birth narrative that we find our first glimpse of who Jesus is. Within the first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel, we find Jesus is the Son of Mary (Luke 1:31), He is great and will be called the Son of the Most High (Luke1:32). We read about His Kingship is verses 32 and 33 and that he is conceived through the power of the Most High. The Anthanasian Creed clarifies the conception as “The Son was neither made nor created; He was begotten from the Father alone.†In Luke 2:11, the angel again appears and tells the shepherds Jesus is a Savior, born to them, and He is Christ the Lord. In the first chapter of Matthew, the Prophet Isaiah is quoted; “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means God with us.†However, what does all this mean – who is Jesus the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth?
The study of who Jesus is is called Christology. Simply stated, Christology is the study of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of the person Jesus Christ. With God’s Holy Scriptures as the primary source, Christology attempts to uncover the mystery of who Jesus Christ is. Christology, however, does not terminate into an exact statement. While it certainly uncovers much about Jesus Christ and His purpose, one must not overlook the conclusion of the study; that much of the “how†of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection remains a mystery. This mystery is not a limit of an infinite God, rather a limit of finite man.
Christology begins with the study of Jesus’ birth. As stated earlier, Matthew’s Gospel quotes the Prophet Isaiah in chapter one verse 23; “Jesus…will be called – Immanuel – which means God with us.†The first verse of John’s Gospel emphasizes and reinforces this point:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.†(1:1) The fourteenth verse of John’s Gospel (chapter 1) states: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory of a Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.†What John is stating is referred to as the Incarnation; the belief that Jesus is God incarnate, or God embodied in flesh. This belief, within the limits of the human mind, remains a mystery. In fact, the study of the incarnation of God is both fully God (His divinity) and fully human (His humanity). Jesus Christ is the eternal Logos (the Word), who has assumed and personalized a human nature. The two natures did not join to form a composite person; rather the Son added humanity permanently. The Son is eternally God – yesterday, today, and forever – and remains so. In the Incarnation, He chose to lower himself, adding human nature, in which He was obedient to the Father, while simultaneously, ruling the universe. Jesus himself, throughout His teaching, reaffirmed this fact. In John 14:9, Jesus states, “Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father as well.†Jesus’ humanity assures us that He understands our hopes and fears. Jesus’ divinity assures us of all else God has promised. One final thought worth noting is that Jesus is the most accurate representation we have of God the Father, but Jesus is not the complete representation of God. No Christian would say the fullness of God has been revealed. As stated earlier, our finite mind cannot fully comprehend an infinite God. Understanding this, one realizes that what we do know about God, we find in Jesus Christ.
Questions
I’d love to hear the questions that are on your mind. This site has a page and a simple form for you to submit questions if you would like. Simply click on the link to the questions page above or to the right (“Questions – Ask Here”) and fill out the form to submit your question. Your questions can provide good discussion points for many to learn from. Your email address will not be shared and you can provide a user name or screen name in place of your real name if you would like.
“Click here to submit your question”
Desire or Duty
While traveling recently I observed a young husband and father pause to pray prior to enjoying his continental breakfast at the hotel. It gave me a good feeling to watch him do so.
While certainly not judging the motives of this man, it also brought a thought, or question, to my mind. How often do we do such things out of duty rather than desire? Many of us are taught from a very early age practices such as praying before a meal. Discipline is good for Christians. The word disciple is at the root of the word discipline. Discipline helps build good character. It helps us grow and mature when put to practice.
But when doing something purely out of duty, it is no longer a service or a sacrifice or a praise, but merely an obligation. Where is the glory in “giving thanks” if there really is no thanks? Where is the power in prayer if it is merely “what we do at an appointed time”?
Is it truly our heart’s desire to pray? Is our giving thanks really driven by gratitude swelling in our hearts? An active, loving relationship with God will produce such feelings and desires. Then our actions, even those that are disciplines will be pure, holy, and menaingful.
What was the Purpose of the Birth of Christ?
Just finished watching a program titled “In Search of Christmas”. It was certainly an interesting look at the history of the birth of Christ. It contained the usual attempt to provide a balanced look at the events as interpreted by skeptics and supporters and in reality did a pretty good job.
One thing I found intriguing was the viewpoint of several of the learned scholars and experts regarding the purpose or result of the coming of Christ, even those who profess to be Christians. Most interpreted the purpose and the desired result of the coming of Christ in light of the impact it has on how we live with each other. One after another they spoke of how the life and message of Christ was about teaching us to treat one another better and defining what humanity really should be; teaching us how to live in peace with one another.
I certainly cannot, nor do I desire to, deny that Christ’s message spoke of and showed us a better way to live with our fellow man. But was this the sum of His message? Was it the ultimate purpose of His coming? To believe so dilutes who He is and what He accomplished.
Christ is the Son of God. He is God. We are the creation of God and through sin had become separated from God. We had become his enemies (Romans 5:10 says “For if, when we were God’s enemies…”).  God desired to reconcile us to Him; to no longer be separated, but to be at peace with him. To again be the children of God. This is what was ultimately accomplished through the coming of Christ; not a “can’t we all get along” message to be nice to your fellow man.  Being made children of God, being forgiven and renewed, will certainly carry with it expectations of conduct in regard to how we live with each other, but it is the product of what Jesus came for (to save us from our sin and give us eternal life) not the purpose.
How did we get to the point where our learned scholars, along with so many of us, believe the ultimate purpose of Christ’s coming was to teach us how to live together as humans? Do we resist the idea that we are enemies of God, sinners in need of grace? Do we so not want to face the fact that without the sacrifice of Christ at the crucifixion we will remain as enemies, as sinners separated from God? Are we so resistant to the message that we cannot save ourselves from this plight? That we cannot merely listen to and try our best to conform to and live by some code of conduct taught by Jesus and thus find ourselves ‘okay’?
Nay, without faith in the grace of God as provided by the sacrifice of Christ and our belief in His resurrection, and our need for this provision, we cannot see God.  It is not, nor will it ever be, enough for us to conform to a standard of living. We must acknowledge the state of our soul and seek the forgiveness of Christ and accept His gift of life for us. Then we shall be the children of God, and not a moment sooner. Then we can live this standard of living in sincerity and truly we will impact how we live with our fellow man.