SO NEAR, YET SO FAR….
Sometimes in our Christian sojourn, really can we (God’s children) be far away from the very One we owe our physical and spiritual lives to, even though we may be mistakenly thinking we are close to him? Are there Biblical examples of some souls who were “so close, yet so far from Him”…Yes…in this message I would like to train the spotlight on some of them, even while gleaning lessons which are very much applicable to God’s people of the 21st century…
Tree…
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”-Gen 3:8-10
After the tragic fall, were the very first children of God in the revealed Biblical history well within the ear-shot distance (hiding behind the trees) of hearing the words of their Father so as to have a brief dialogue with Him when He came to fellowship with them that calamitous day? Yes. But were Adam and Eve emotionally and spiritually close to Him as before? No. Till that sad, sad day had they not felt spiritually “secure” in His presence, whenever the Lord came into that “Little Paradise” (Eden Garden) to fellowship with them? Oh yes, so much so they may have actually come running to Him in the manner a loved child comes running into the presence of a Doting Dad returning home after a long International tour!!!
So what really happened? What did they “lose” now to feel spiritually “so distant” and thereby “insecure” in the very presence of their Eternal benefactor?
To understand this subject more clearly, we need to understand how the Final Adam (the Son of God like Adam – 1 Cor 15:45/Luke 3:38) began His Earthly Ministry. No other issue was more close to His heart than this…let the Scripture take over at this stage…
Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”- Mark 1:14-15
What is that Kingdom of God, Jesus is referring to here? By any chance was this a reference to Heaven or Millennial Kingdom? No…not at all for they contextually were not “near” to His audience at that point of time either in terms of time or space. Let Scripture (to be more precise Romans 14:17-ESV) explain the Scripture…The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy of the Holy Spirit. Look at the amazing sequencing of words in the Holy Spirit inspired Scripture. It is said in Scripture, “B” never comes before “A” or “C” before “B”. It is righteousness first, followed by peace and joy of the Holy Spirit and not the other way around and what exactly is righteousness, if it is not right relationship or standing with God. Oh yes, Dear Friends…Adam and Eve having lost the right relationship with God subsequently lost out on peace and joy of the Holy Spirit too, which they presumably possessed. Kingdom of God Jesus is refereeing to in His maiden sermon, as it were is that precious right relationship with God (from which would stem peace and joy of the Holy Spirit) that the final Adam came to restore between the Creator and the fallen descendents of Adamic race who from birth inherit that same sin-marred nature. And how is that relationship restored? There is no other way other than by repentance (Acts 2:38).
So readers…are we amongst that lot, who are from birth regular Church goers…regular participants in Church activities…yet far from the Head of the Church (who is Christ-Col 1:18) having never entered into a right relationship with Him by way of genuine repentance? Time for introspection…
Tent…
And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at. - Numbers 11:4-5
How far was the presence of the Lord (in the form of Pillar of fire by night and pillar of cloud by day -Exodus 13:21-22) from the tent-dwelling Israelites during their journey towards the Promised Land from Egypt? Close enough for them to see it at any time. But were their hearts one with that of their Eternal benefactor who had not only redeemed from them their cruel Egyptian bondage but was day-in and day-out providing for their needs? No…otherwise there would not be any grumbling or complaining as is evident in the above-captioned Scripture. Our love for God is directly proportional to our humble acceptance of the circumstances He in His sovereign wisdom has placed us in…even if it were…hold your breath… the Cross itself!!!
Are you complaining about Cross-bearing despite having the perpetual joy of the Holy Spirit in your heart…time to take-out the spiritual compass and get back the right spiritual bearings…by…what else… repentance (Psa 119:59 –TLB)? Rick Warren the writer of that oh-so-popular Book “Purpose Driven Life” once stated “Christian life begins not only with repentance but is also sustained by repentance”.
Temple…
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
So he told them this parable:…-Luke 15:1-3
It is correctly said in connection with Bible exposition that a text without context is a pretext. Oh how often is our perspective distorted when we try to understand the true intention behind our Lord narrating the three “Lost and Found parables” enshrined in Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel among which is the most popular one of “The Prodigal Son”. Did Jesus really want to bring out the importance of only repentance in this parable? No way!!! He wanted the ones who prima-facie zealously work day-in and day-out right inside God’s Temple (the Pharisees and the Scribes) to grasp how distant they can be from God’s heart and its priorities as sadly personified by the contemptuous, hard-hearted attitude of the “righteous” Elder son (in that parable-Luke 15:25-32). This Elder son never left the Father’s house but was miles adrift in matters of properly understanding the father and his primary priorities!!!
Let it be said here…”he who hates his brother (whom the Heavenly Father has accepted) is a murderer at heart” (I John 3:15) even he is ministering right inside the temple.
Team…
Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!"- John 6:70
Now Judas was always, so to speak rubbing shoulders with Jesus 24*7*52*3.5 but where was his heart? On money obviously (John 12:6/Luke 22:3-5)!!! If to Adam and Eve benefits of eating the forbidden mattered more than right relationship with their Creator, if to most of the travelling Jews (en-route to Canaan) spicy and tasty fare meant more than their Redeemer, if to hard-core Law-teachers the mechanical adherence to it mattered more than a love-laced right relationship with the Giver of the Law (from which would emerge justice and mercy and faithfulness -Matt 23:23) then to Judas money appealed more than the Saviour.
Now welcome to the OT counterpart of “betrayer” Judas, Ahithophel the betrayer (may not be as well-known as Judas but just as devious all the same-Psa 55:12-14) who too was in the “team” of Jesus’ ancestor King David in the capacity of a counselor (1 Chro 27:33/ 15:12). If for Judas, money mattered more than the Saviour, then for Judas’ “fore-runner”, revenge against the anointed King (being Bathsheba’s grandfather, Ahithophel had a grouse against David because of latter’s immoral dalliance with her-2 Sam 11:3/23:34) mattered more than right relationship with the Wonderful Counselor stemming from implicit obedience to his statutes’ which state thus:“do not take Law into your hands, it is for the Lord to avenge” (Leviticus 19:18/Deu 32:35). What was the eventual tragic result of taking law into his own hands rebelling against the Lord’s anointed? Tragic suicide by way of hanging…a la Judas…. (2 Sam 17:23/Matt 27:5).
Folks, stay away from greed and the propensity to take the law into your own hands that would breed all types of regrettable (in hindsight) behaviour.
Testaments…
Are you carrying the Bible (Broadly speaking having two testaments of the Mosaic Law and the Gospel) in your hands always, whenever possible? Good. Is the Bible always with you…being part of your Smartphone now? Better. But please do not settle for good or better instead go for the Best…a la David.
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you. - Psalm 119:11
Somehow thanks to introduction of Chapters and verses in the Bible (courtesy Stephen Langton in the 13th century and Robert Estienne in the 15th century), Christians seem to have lost the art of memorizing the Scriptures and constantly meditating upon it (Psa 1:2). Yes, chapters and verses would help us refer the Scripture portions easily. But nothing quite like memorizing and chewing upon it, which would eventually facilitate obedience to it with the help of the ever-abiding, in-dwelling Holy Spirit, for what use is the “nearness of the Word” (in hands in printed or digital form) if it is not being adhered to with love (Matt 7:21/2 John 1:6-NLT)?
So Dear Friends more than saying we are near to the Lord, let us through our lives of constant obedience to Him in all matters, exemplify that truth and obtain the witness thereof from the Father Himself….
"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."-Matt 3:17
Suresh Manoharan
An Unworthy Servant
