July 14, 2013
There is universal truth and there is truth that is appropriated.
Universal truth is a fact. Something that is true is true, whether you believe
it or not. But even though it’s true, if it is not appropriated by you, it
doesn’t do you any good. It is good, in and of itself, but it still doesn’t do
you any good personally.
The sun rises every day. That is truth, and it is universal. But what
if you close your eyes to that fact, literally. What if you say, “I am going to
cover my eyes my whole life just to prove that the sun doesn’t rise every day.
I can’t see it rise every day, and therefore it is not true.” The truth
remains, but you have not appropriated it. The fact of the sun rising every day
is not a fact, a truth, for its own sake. God didn’t create the sun to operate
that way for the simple action of it rising every day. He created the sun to
shine its light. The sun rises so that we may see and work and enjoy the beauty
of this world. Making use of the sun’s light, opening your eyes and using them,
appropriates the truth of the rising of the sun to your personal life.
It is universal truth that God has accomplished salvation for everyone.
It is also true that not everyone is saved. The reason is that the universal truth
of God’s salvation for everyone is a fact, but it is not appropriated by
everyone. Just as a person closing his eyes to the rising of the sun does not
get the benefit of the rising of the sun, so the person closing his eyes to
God’s salvation doesn’t receive the benefit of that salvation.
Now we can see the sun rising each day. There’s not much faith involved
there. I know it rose today, just as it has every day of my life, and I am
confident it will rise again tomorrow. I am equally confident it will continue
every day for the rest of my life. Now somewhat more difficult to grasp this is
with the person who is blind from birth. This person has never seen the sun
rise. He must take it on faith that what everyone tells him about the sun, that
it rises every day and gives light to the world, is true. The fact of it is
true even though that person cannot see it. It is also true that that person
cannot appropriate the truth of it as far as some of the benefits of it, as he
cannot see to make use of the light. The warmth of the sun, the balance it
gives to the maintenance of the solar system, those are benefits even the blind
person receives even though he has never seen this thing we call the sun.
Regarding the universal truth of salvation, we are not just blind—like
a person who is blind and cannot appropriate some of the benefits of the sun—we
are utterly blind in that we cannot appropriate any of the benefits of the
salvation God has secured for us. The blind person can’t see by the light of
the sun, but can live comfortably because of the warmth of the sun. We are spiritually
blind from birth and therefore not only cannot see the light of salvation, we
can’t experience any of the warmth or balance it provides for our life now and
eternally. Far from being blind and not being able to get around as easily in
this life, spiritually we are blind and in a cave with no way to get out and no
source of any help or benefit.
This is the universal truth, and most people deny it. Truth be told,
all of us deny it, for we are sinful from birth. Our sinful nature does not see
this truth and does not wish to acknowledge it. The disciples exhibit this in
their response to Jesus. He knows the people are hungry. They’ve been with Him
for some time. They’re hungry, they won’t be able to make it back home unless
they are fed. The problem is that they are out in a place where there’s no
food. The disciples recognize the simple fact that there’s no way these people
can be fed in this situation.
But Jesus truly sees. He is spiritually aware. The disciples are blind.
They are seeing things in their sinful flesh. They deny the plain truth that
Jesus is Lord and brings salvation. He tells His disciples that He has
compassion on the people. God’s salvation for everyone is in body and soul. It
is with temporal blessings as well as eternal. It is with the things we need in
this life as well as for what we need eternally. He has compassion. This is how
God sees. He sees in compassion. We see through our sinful eyes, which means we
don’t see at all. We deny the plain truth of God’s salvation in His Son. “How
can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” the
disciples said to Him.
What Jesus does next is feed the people. Here you see that your
spiritual blindness can only be conquered by the Light of the World, Jesus
Christ. Here you see that in taking a few loaves of bread and a few small fish,
your inability to feed yourself, both physically and spiritually, can only come
by your Lord feeding you. It is when those who don’t believe in Jesus deny this
that they do not appropriate the truth of it. In other words, they go along in
this life, perhaps even just fine by human standards, but never receive the
benefits of what their Lord gives in salvation. They will claim, I am able to
feed myself by having a job and working and doing what is necessary to live a
very good life. And that is true as far as it goes. But it doesn’t go very far,
because it goes only as far as themselves. Or perhaps even as far as all people
in history. But the fact is, what they are denying is the God who brought them
into existence. The God who created them and gave them all the blessings of
this life. Without Him and without His creating all of this, those people would
have nothing.
So often we who should know better take for granted the blessings God
gives to us in this life. Yes, we do all the things we do to eat and make a
living. But it is all from God. It is because of His compassion on us, His love
for us. His salvation of us is not just far off into the future, it is here and
now. It is in body as well as soul. He gives you food. He gives you a home. He
gives you leaders. He gives you family. He gives you many blessings in this
life. It is all from Him. Anything we do to bring these things about is also
from Him. He gives us the ability to do what we need to do to take care of
ourselves and our family.
There’s another blessing that comes along with this and it is one our
sinful nature also does not see. It is that because our Lord gives us so much
that our focus and energy does not constantly need to be on ourselves; what we
need, what we need to do. It can be on others. It can be on helping and serving
others. It can be on giving to others in their needs. If my focus is always on
myself, what I do to provide for myself, then I am denying that it is my Lord
who gives me everything I need. If my focus, rather, is on my Lord, who gives
me what I need, I can see from that Light that there are many people in this
world who have needs and who need help and that God calls me to serve and love
them.
The Bible says that for us Christians this begins with the Household of
Faith. If we cannot love and serve our own brother and sister Christians, how
do we expect to love and serve those outside the Christian Church? As a
congregation, this begins with our own congregation. We love each other. We
help each other. We pray for each other. We encourage each other. We use the
time God has given us to do these things, the talents He has given us, and the
treasure He has given us. Individually, we cannot carry on the mission of
Prince of Peace. But collectively, we can. Each of us giving of our offerings
enables the mission and ministry of Prince of Peace to continue. Because God
has blessed us so much, our focus doesn’t always need to be on ourselves
individually, but rather, it can also be on us collectively, as congregation.
That’s where it starts, with the Household of Faith. It continues on
from there. We love and serve our family members, our neighbors, those in this
community, those we work with, those we socialize with, and many other people
in our lives and who come into our lives. Whether they see it or not, God is
working through us to love and serve them. Just as Jesus used simple things
like bread and fish to feed many people, He uses simple things like our time,
our talents, and our treasure to feed people physically and spiritually.
All of this is God in action. When He looks out at the people He has
created, He has compassion on them. He loves them. He serves them. He feeds
them. He nourishes them. Jesus came for this purpose. When He fed the crowds
that day, He showed that this is why He came. They were unable to feed
themselves, because they had been taking in the Word as He was preaching and
teaching it to them. The disciples did not see that His salvation He was making
known was all-inclusive. And so He feeds the crowds with food. How much more
was He yet to give! His very life. His very body. His very blood being shed.
Looking back on it now, we see that it was a great miracle Jesus did in
feeding thousands with a little bit of food. We see it was a wonderful blessing,
as He desires to feed us in our need, and have us live a life in which we may
enjoy His blessings. Looking back on it now, we see with new eyes, new sight;
eyes that have been enlightened by the Light of the World. Our sinful flesh
having been crucified with Christ. A new man rising forth. We now become a new
creation in Christ. As Jesus fed thousands with a little bread and fish, He has
fed everyone with Himself, He has given His life on the cross for our sin.
As He gave His life on the cross He continues to feed and nourish us.
With simple bread and simple wine He feeds us with His body and blood. He
nourishes us with Himself, the Bread of Life, the Light of the World. Now we
can see what He sees. Opportunity. Blessings. Gifts received, gifts to share.
Eternal life even in the midst of this earthly life. Blessings in body and
soul. Amen.
SDG
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