The Hands of God

The Hands of God How can you see into my eyes, like open doors Leading you down into my core Where I've become so numb Without a soul My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold Until you find it there and lead it back home (Wake me up) Wake me up inside (I can't wake up) Wake me up inside (Save me) Call my name and save me from the dark (Wake me up) Bid my blood to run (I can't wake up) Before I come undone (Save me) Save me from the nothing I've become Evanescence – Bring Me To Life Which are the hands of God? We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are The Talmud What do we mean by consent? In the garden of Eden, God laid down exercising His power (emptied/yielded) by providing space for man to make a choice. In doing this He was actually giving man an opportunity to become more like God. Satan’s lie: “No! You do not become like God by yielding. You become like God by taking what is yours!” The result: We became enslaved. Our freedom to choose became our master. Sin ripped the fabric of the very good creation. Creation felt the results of the choice… “its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21). God’s Consent: He watched us as we went about destroying ourselves, each other and the planet God assumed human nature (the Incarnation) to reveal God and to heal (reveal true) human nature. God rules by consent, not really control God’s consent as love allows for: Natural law Man’s choice & subsequent consequences Luke 13:1-5 Point: God’s consent can be viewed as His desertion or hatred… “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem…. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isa. 53:1-6 The Gospel: God did not just want to save/rescue individuals, but human society He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 God participates in the world through the Incarnation And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jn.1:14 God participates by entering into our complete human experience In his life and death Jesus bears the sins and sorrows, experiences our pain and suffering, endures the tragedies and crimes of the entire human race, from Adam forward. Jesus became a willing victim-participant in the human condition in order to heal humanity from the curse of sin and death What happened at the cross? John 6:14-15; 24-30 (context) John 11: 45-53 (context) John 12:12-22 …the people don’t “get” Jesus, the Pharisees don’t “get” him either But it’s time for the kingdom of God to be fully launched…John 12:23-33 What did Jesus mean “now is the judgment of this world?” In order to be a judgment, there must be a trial The Sanhedrin before Jesus Pilate before Jesus Herod before Jesus “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” He answered them, “You say that I am.” Luke 22:67-70 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. Dan.7:13-14 (context) Pilate before Jesus…John 18-19 Herod before Jesus…Luke 23:6-12 The world says, “You deal with problems with power and violence is your weapon of choice.” On the cross as Jesus was “lifted up”, as King, he revealed how in God’s kingdom problems are dealt with…. Love expressed through forgiveness (reconciliation and peace) Luke 23:26-43 How was the prince of this world cast out by the cross? “ The New Testament writers report in various ways the remarkable sign of evil doing its worst and being exhausted.” N T Wright “ To triumph fully, evil needs two victories, not one. The first victory happens when an evil deed is perpetrated; the second victory, when evil is returned. After the first victory, evil would die if the second victory did not infuse it with new life.” Miroslav Volf And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Col.2:15 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. 1:1-4 With the launch of the kingdom of God, Jesus revealed the new axis on which his kingdom operated….not and axis of power manifested in violence, but an axis of love expressed in forgiveness But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, John 14:26-30 What is the gospel we preach? Acts 1:1-8 Acts 4:23-31 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance! Acts 28:30-31 Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you. II Cor.5:17-20 (The Message) We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are The Talmud