Brown's Daily Word: Brown's Daily Word 1-3-12

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Brown's Daily Word 1-3-12

Good morning,

Praise the Lord for this brand new year. Praise the Lord for the way He invaded this world of time and space with His truth and grace. We will be studying the Gospel according to St. John during our Wednesday Evening gathering starting tomorrow.

In John we see Jesus as the very God, becoming flesh and dwelling among us. His dwelling with us and among us gives us courage, confidence, boldness, and blessing to live our lives on earth without fear or any trepidation. In the words of Eugene Peterson, Rev 21 ^3-5,"I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: 'Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.' The Enthroned continued, 'Look! I'm making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.'" God’s entrance into the world reveals the heart of God. In the person of of Jesus Christ, we see the heart and nature of our God revealed.

I came across the following story some time ago. On March 5, 1994, Deputy Sheriff Lloyd Prescott was teaching a class for police officers in the Salt Lake City Library. During a break he stepped into the hallway, where he saw a gunman forcing 18 hostages into a nearby room. Prescott, who was dressed in street clothes, fell in line with the group and became the nineteenth hostage. The gunman had not noticed him, and Prescott followed them into the room, and shut the door. The gunman announced the order in which hostages would be executed, and then it was that Prescott identified himself as a police officer. A fight ensued, and Prescott, in self-defense, shot the gunman. All of the hostages were released unharmed. The officer placed himself at great risk, but he was not thinking of himself, he was thinking about the danger the hostages were in. Like Lloyd Prescott, God dressed himself as one of us and entered our world. He joined us because we were held hostage to sin and in danger of spiritual death. He rescued us from eternal danger. Imagine it! God, who could have crushed the world because of its sin, came into the world to be crushed for our sin. The very One who said that everyone who sinned would die, came to the world to die in our place. He both pronounced the judgment and took the judgment upon himself. We did not even understand the danger we were in. We were too ignorant and stubborn to ask for his help, but he came to save us from that danger anyway.

    The Bible says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). This is an incredible mystery, and an incredible story of love.
    “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). Here is the Word made flesh — God becoming a real man so that he would experience what it was to be human. He was God. The Bible says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). But he was also fully human. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).      “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). In Jesus Christ, God did not just reveal his will or his laws, but he revealed himself. Jesus steps out of the pages of the written word and into our lives.     Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish theologian of another century, told the story of a prince who was running an errand for his father one day in the local village. As he did so, he passed through a very poor section of the town. Looking through the window of his carriage, he saw a beautiful young peasant girl walking along the street. He could not get her off his heart. He continued to come to the town, day after day, just to see her and to feel as though he was near her. His heart yearned for her, but there was a problem. How could he develop a relationship with her? He could order her to marry him. It was in his power to do so, but he wanted this girl to love him from the heart, willingly. He could put on his royal garments and impress her with his regal entourage, and drive up to her front door with soldiers and a carriage drawn by six horses.  If he did this he would never be certain that the girl loved him or was simply overwhelmed with his power, position and wealth. The prince came up with another solution, giving up his kingly robe and symbols of power and privilege. He moved into the village dressed only as a peasant. He lived among the people, shared their interests and concerns, and talked their language. In time, the young peasant girl grew to know him, and then to love him.
   This is what Jesus has done for us. The Word became flesh. The King of heaven put aside his heavenly robes and divine prerogatives. He came to us as one of us. He lived among us, ate with us, drank with us, and felt with us — all to win our love. He could have forced us. He could have overwhelmed us, but he chose to win us with His love. He will be with us through out this brand new year.. He is the God who became real so that we could experience his transforming love. Jesus is not just a truth to believe in, he is a person to be experienced.