If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them —John 13:17

Be determined to know more than others (about God). If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment.

When you know that you should do something and you do it, immediately you know more. Examine where you have become sluggish, where you began losing interest spiritually, and you will find that it goes back to a point where you did not do something you knew you should do. You did not do it because there seemed to be no immediate call to do it. But now you have no insight or discernment, and at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-controlled. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to continue learning and knowing more (about God).

Be obedient to God and His higher calling for us.

On our journey of faith, there are times when the “freedom” of sin that we left behind is more appealing than the restrictions of faith that lie ahead. We must trust the protective boundaries found in God’s Word as the only way to get to the place of ultimate freedom.
— Julie Ackerman Link

As my pastor would put it: the Christian faith is full of paradoxes. The first will be last, the last – first. You will your find life only when you lose it. And part of that list includes the very idea of freedom. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. (John 8:31-32)

Christians have been freed, yet the world – and sometimes even ourselves, as Christians – feel that there are a lot of rules to follow. ‘Freedom’ is defined as personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery. To be able to live without being slaves. Canadians (according to the Charter) has freedom of speech, freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of thought, belief, opinion, peace and association; even freedom55. Yet ironically the only thing we can’t choose to be free from is sin. The whole world acknowledges it. If anyone claims to have never sinned, they are only deceiving themselves.

The freedom that Christians live in – is freedom from the clutches of sin. Humans are sinful creatures and Christians believe that sin leads to death. (Rom 3:23) Without deviating from the topic at hand, it is this freedom that ultimately grants us life. (The mechanism that allows for how that freedom is obtained is another story/post.)

A fish is not free in the air. They are free in the environment in which they were designed to be in. A fish outside of its environment will eventually die. We as humans were not designed to be a part of sin. If we remain in sin, we will also eventually die. (This analogy breaks down if we try to dissect it, but if you find it useful – use it. If not then discard it.)

Likewise, let’s picture a fish inside a glass bowl of water. The fish peering out into a world of air may feel he would find more freedom if he were outside. But in reality he would only flop around; perhaps feeling mighty stupid – in hindsight – for jumping out. Humankind was designed to be set apart from sin; to be in the water. The “rules” that Christians live by are merely the boundaries of our fishbowl; it is what helps us stay in our natural environment. Christians don’t follow the rules blindly because they are told to, nor are they restricted to it; but rather Christians follow rules because they know what lies on the other side.

No earthly kingdoms can put in their charter of rights and freedom, to have freedom from sin. This is the ultimate freedom that Julie Ackerman Link mentions in her quote. So does Christianity stifle our freedom? Perhaps freedom from sinning, but what good will it lead to anyways?

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

There is a saying that goes: “show respect where respect’s due.” Which makes intuitive sense. If someone does something amazing,  we naturally show our respect. However, there is a thought that has been going through my mind for the last few days – which goes along the same lines:

Giving glory, where glory is due.

And it feels like – we’ve lost focus on what it means to give glory to God when glory is demanded of us. We convolute the glory of God with man’s own accomplishments. We value and glorify ourselves, instead of God. We neglect to see the amazing things God has done for us.

The cross is not about us, but it’s all about God. Our purpose in life is to glorify our Father in heaven.

We must realize that Jesus did not die in order to change God’s attitude towards us, but to change our attitude towards God. God who took the initiative of reconciling the world, does not need reconciling. It is in us that the decisive change is needed. The cross was not a sacrifice without which God could not love or forgive us; it was a sacrifice without which we would not have been able to accept forgiveness. The problem lies within us, not with God. He requires no sacrifice except a broken and contrite heart.  - Ibid

Today is good Friday. And as I’ve been reflecting today, I’ve come to appreciate and rejoice in how powerful and central the cross is to our faith. Because our Father is most glorified through Christ crucified by:

1. Magnifying God’s justice and mercy
2. Displaying God’s power
3. Uniquely demonstrating God’s holiness
4. Showing God’s faithfulness
5. pouring out God’s Perfect Love

How amazing is our Father, who would humble himself into that of a man and die on a cross for us. Sin demands atonement.

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.
1 Tim 2:5-6

Nothing was left undone. For “it is finished” through Christ alone (Rom 3:26). That is the glory of the cross. (2 Cor 5:19)

“Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my Exceeding Joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise Thee, O God my God.” - Ps. 43:4

“The joy of the LORD is your strength.” - Neh. 8:10

“Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.” - Ps. 51:12

I’ve been really humbled and broken this term. But as Good Friday approaches, I just wanted to write and reflect on something I was reminded of last Sunday – which is the Mercy and Justice of God.

From God’s mercy, mankind was redeemed. The weight of Jesus’ salvation is sometimes lost on words, or even human emotions.

Mercy (latin: ”price paid, wages”) can refer both to compassionate behaviour on the part of those in power or on the part of a humanitarian third party (e.g. a mission of mercy aiming to treat war victims). Mercy is a word used to describe compassion shown by one person to another, or a request from one person to another to be shown such leniency or unwarranted compassion for a crime or wrongdoing.

I can’t even imagine what it would feel like to unconditionally forgive and forget the wrong-doings of an enemy because of mercy. The notion of forgiveness is sometimes skewed, in the sense that we think everything is automatically made ‘right’ with God. As if, when we ask for forgiveness – God hits a reset button, and things go back to the way they were before the fall of mankind.

But in reality, a debt still needs to be repaid after forgiveness.

Early in the morning, a man rushing to work crashes into his neighbour’s car leaving an enormous dent. His neighbour – who sees the whole event – out of a loving compassion, shows mercy on him and says ‘dont worry about it, I forgive you.’ The man then drives off, but the neighbour is still left with this giant dent in his car. But because of his mercy, he takes on the cost to fix it himself.

The Dent doesn’t just disappear.

And like this man, we were all born sinners – indebt to God. We had no way to pay our own debts, ‘but .. while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Romans 5:8) So that we may be restored and made right with Him.

It’s not an easy reset button, nor an automatic thing for God. A high price was paid – and let us not forget that. This is God’s mercy.

God’s mercy is exemplified in His divine justice.