25 January 2011

25 January 2011

Psalm 45; Isa. 48:12-21; Gal. 1:18-2:10; Mark 6:1-13

Why is the appeal constantly made in reference to God being creator? Why does that matter? This passage begins with “My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.” It is important to everything else in the faith that God be creator. If He is the One who created all things then He is truly God. If He did not then we should continue our search for God. We need a God who can say of Himself “I AM”, everything else in the universe flows from Him, finds its being and identity with respect to Him and He simply is, was and shall ever be. He is pure existence, never having not existed. We and all else exist because He is and freely chose to create. His name and His choice to create all else matters because it answers the central question of life, “Does life, my life, matter?” God’s appeal to the Israelites and to us is based in His loving-kindness to us, we matter to Him and if we matter to Him, then our lives are incredibly important. He pleads with them to come and join their lives to His, their story to His story, hitch their wagon of hope to Him and if they will, they will enjoy His protection and blessing. Who could say no?

If Jesus is just the carpenter, the son of Mary then they should be offended at Him. The first questions, however, "Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?” would seem to demand further inquiry. How indeed. The works reveal the truth. The carpenter could not possess this wisdom and cannot do such mighty works but if He is indeed the Son of God (notice Joseph isn’t mentioned here) then perhaps that would be the real explanation, but no one expected God to become man and dwell among them. It is interesting that here He could only do a few miracles and then He marvels at their unbelief. Is there a connection between the level of our faith and the movement of God among us? Do we believe He still works miracles today? The twelve seem to have taken Him at His word and believed that they could do the things He commanded. The Spirit of God is given to us, do we believe He can work through us?

Paul continues his appeal to the Galatians by defending his own apostleship as having come directly from God and was confirmed by those who are apostles and leaders of the church. They agreed that his preaching was truthful and Paul says he wasn’t trained by them, got nothing further from them, and was not corrected by them in any way. He is also arguing that he was given a different mission but the same Gospel. Circumcision adds nothing to the Gospel, is not required to receive it, and the covenant is not dependent on it. The Gospel is not about circumcision, it is about Jesus and faith in Him. Is the work of salvation ours or His? When it comes down to it, the sovereign Lord has declared it and sealed it in the blood of His Son, we add nothing to it. He is and we are because He is.

Lord of all creation
of water earth and sky
The heavens are your Tabernacle
Glory to the Lord on high

God of wonders beyond our galaxy
You are Holy, Holy
The universe declares your Majesty
And you are holy holy