A good friend sent me this story the other day….
At the time he was manager of the campus radio station at Oral Roberts University and a seminar speaker on campus in the late 1960s. One of the best sermons he ever heard happened one morning in chapel from Campus Chaplain, Tommy Tyson:
Brother Tyson got up and read from 1 Cor. 1:30-31. “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”
Then he said this: “I do not believe in redemption, I do not believe in healing, I do not believe in deliverance, I do not believe in salvation.”
As he said his the student body and faculty present gasped. He let a few moments pass before finishing, “Here’s what I believe. I believe in a Redeemer, a Healer, a Deliverer, a Savior and much, much more!”
Never settle for theologies apart from the person of Jesus Christ! Wayne, I never forgot that moment.
I love that!
It gave me goose bumps to read it.
Whenever we separate the Gospel from our relationship to the Living Christ, we are left with empty doctrine, true though it be! The purpose of the Incarnation was not to start a Christian religion with finely-tuned doctrine and rituals, but to unveil a mystery—”Christ in you, the hope of glory!”
Get to know him and watch his glory unfold. Don’t settle for substitutes.
I recall from the caverns of my mind a story about a well off person who had
an invaluable piece of jewelry that she assumed she had “lost”. After some period
of time had passed it occurred to her that it might have been stolen.
So off to the hyways and byways she went, from this used item store to that. After
a long time she wandered into a place far away where she had previously not been.
THERE IT WAS! She knew that she knew it was this exact item for which she had been
looking.
Proceeding to the proprietor, he asked some specific questions to confirm that she
was certain of what she already knew. Everything confirmed that this was indeed her lost treasure.
Now came the bargaining. Safe to say that the original owner was willing to pay whatever
price that might be. Yes, it was a very high price, but with a smile on her face she doled out
the money.
REDEMPTION is essentially buying back at any price that which was stolen from us. And did not
our loving Lord and Savior do exactly that for us?
This fits in perfectly with a passage I was studying this morning – John 6:25-35. After Jesus fed the 5000+, the crowd found him looking for more. He challenged them to do work for food that endures to eternal life, and not simply what will meet basic physical needs. They were tracking with him and asked what they “must do to do the works God requires”, probably assuming he was referring to living according to Torah. Instead, Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
It must have been shocking to hear the whole of a life lived according to the Law made instead dependent on being faithful to Jesus as an individual!
Later in the conversation (vs. 32-33) Jesus says that the manna sent to the Israelites via Moses had always been more than physical sustinence – it was “true bread” that fed the spirit and kept alive the people’s faith and hope, that “gives life to the world.”
To me, this seems to be exactly Tommy Tyson’s point – belief in Jesus the Redeemer, Healer, Deliverer and Savior is what our “work” is.
Amen and amen.
Someone once said do not pray for patience. Do not pray for peace. Do not pray for love. Do not pray for wisdom. Do not pray for righteousness. And yet these are common prayers for most believers.
God will not answer those prayers.
Why not?
Because He has given us His Son, the Lord Jesus. And the Lord Jesus IS ALL THOSE THINGS TO US. He is our peace. He is our love. He is our wisdom. He is our righteousness.Etc. God will not cut up His Son and give Him to us in pieces. He has given Him to us fully, completely – he is our All-in-All.
We will never have or receive any of Christ’s attributes – apart from Him.
Instead, pray, “Lord – YOU are my peace!” “Lord, YOU are my righteousness!” “YOU are my love, my patience, everything I am not – YOU ARE!” That prayer God answers.
Christ Who is Our Life
“I Am” Who art Thou, Lord?
I Am – all things to thee;
Sufficient to thine every need;
Thou art complete in Me.
I Am – thy Peace, thy Joy,
Thy Righteousness, thy Might.
I Am – thy Victory o’er sin,
Thy Keeper day and night.
I Am – thy Way, thy Life;
I Am – thy Word of Truth,
Whate’er thy lack, I Am – to thee
El Shaddai, Enough.
I Am – thy Life within,
Thine Everlasting Bread;
Eat of my Flesh, drink of my Blood,
I Am – What dost thou need?
– Adah Richmond
Great hymn, can you provide more information about it? Music?
Redeemer, The One who buys back that which was taken from Him.
Thank you Wayne.
That was brilliant!
I find I often see the Israelites as really missing the point. However, we were/are no different!
I’m reading through Romans.
Romans 9:30-31 (The Message)
We were so absorbed in our God projects we missed God.
So I’m relearning and making sure each moment that I’m not getting distracted! God first! No longer is the desire/goal to look around Him, I just look to Him!
Goose bumps in Spain, too. YES YES YES
Thank you Wayne.