What
is God like? Well, we can rely on guesswork and our own opinions about
this – or we can turn to His Word, the Bible, that He has given to us.
Through the Bible God reveals Himself to us in the stories and records of
people’s experience of Him throughout history.
“These
things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for
us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.”
1 Corinthians 10:11 (NIV)
1.
He
is a God who calls
"Then
the Lord told Abram, “Leave
your country, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the
land that I will show you. 2 I
will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you
and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others.
3 I
will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the
families of the earth will be blessed through you.””
Genesis 12:1-3 (NLT)
This
calling is not some kind of privilege, or special ness, that sets us out
as better than anyone else. It is in fact a responsibility. He has chosen
us – to be His instruments – to communicate Him to the rest of
humanity. God chose Abraham
so that - through Abraham – all nations would be blessed. The
same line of thought continues with Jesus through His church …
“You
didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit
that will last...” John 15:16 (NLT)
2.
He
is a God who sends
“Now
the Lord said to Abram, “Go
from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land
that I will show you."Genesis 12:1 (NRSV)
God
sent Abraham out. This Abraham was expected to respond to, if he was to
fulfill his calling.
Throughout
the Bible we never find God sitting around. He is always walking – on
the move. And He expects His disciples to do the same.
“And
Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. 19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 28:18-19 (NRSV)
Go! Go out into the entire world! Go and show people what I am like! Go
out and tell them!
In John’s
version of the great commission we find the simplicity stunning… and
deeply challenging.
“As
he spoke, he held out his hands for them to see, and he showed them his
side. They were filled with joy when they saw their Lord!
21 He
spoke to them again and said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent
me, so I send you.”” John 20:20-21 (NLT)
Jesus
shows them His scars, and then basically says, “Now you go do the
same!”
“Peter,
follow me, and I will make you a fisher of men!”
3.
He
is a God who is coming
“But
when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then
he will sit upon his glorious throne.
32 All
the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them as
a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
Matthew 25:31-32 (NLT)
There are many parables in the Gospels about the Master leaving his
tenants or stewards in charge until he returns – and then he does
return, and expects things to be in order – and progressing!
These parables
are meant to mirror the return of God to His people – whom He has left
to get on with the job of reaching and blessing all nations with the news
of His Lordship. What will He find when He returns? And how will He
respond? The following passage in Ezekiel is quite sobering.
“Son
of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the
word I speak and give them warning from me.
18 When
I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him
or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life,
that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for
his blood. 19 But
if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or
from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved
yourself. 20 “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does
evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did
not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will
not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.
21 But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he
will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved
yourself.”” Ezekiel
3:17-21 (NIV)
Now
we can throw our hands up in horror and say, “What’s the use?” –
or we can get started and make a valiant attempt at doing what He has
asked us to do. What kind of person will you be?
Details of how to get to our church,
and a map, can be found on the page "about
us". We would love to see you!
We promise that you
……..
will not be bored
will not be pressured
will not be
embarrassed
David Rowe [Rector]
You
can read more about Jesus on our permanent article on this site called
"What
do we make of Jesus Christ?"
If
you want to know more about the impact that Jesus Christ can have on
your life send me an email - email
David Rowe
Remember,
there
is something for all the family at Wilford Church
Details
of our Services can be found
here on our Web Site.
Why not come and join us.
Thank
you for taking the time to read this.
David
Rowe
