"[God] hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me. He hath made me a polished arrow; in His quiver hath he Hid me...." Isaiah 49:2
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34
The Jewish hope that the Messiah would be a weapon in the hand of God was most certainly fulfilled, but not as they had imagined. The Romans did not fall; the Gentile empire did not crumble. Instead the Jewish beliefs about God crumbled (I Corinthians 1:23), and all precious loyalties were challenged (Matthew 10:35-38). The Messiah had come to kill, but apparently to kill His own followers (Matthew 10:39). It was the price that would have to be paid, and Christ demonstrated it in graphic fashion: the pathway of life lies through the gateway of death. All things must be made desolate before they become glorious.
"When the law came, sin revived, and I died." (Romans 7:9) "The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ." (Galatians 3:24) Salvation is an impossibility unless we realize that we are lost; glorious redemption is a myth if there is no desolate damnation. It is the stern claim of God that in order to feel wonderful, you must first feel dreadful; in order to find Him, the weapon of God must shatter us apart completely, until there are no more delusions left, no deceptions, no masks, just the wretched, blind, naked, miserable self handed over to God in surrender. If we are to be lifted up by God, we must step down from our pedestals, for it is the broken and dirty things that God has come to make His children (Luke 19:10). Only sinners can received grace; Pharisees cannot (Luke 18:9-14). Redemption belongs to the broken and desolate things of the world, for they alone recognize and accept it when it comes.
"Sword of Heaven,
Missile of God:
Shatter me! Batter me!
And make me whole..."
-Jon Vowell
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34
The Jewish hope that the Messiah would be a weapon in the hand of God was most certainly fulfilled, but not as they had imagined. The Romans did not fall; the Gentile empire did not crumble. Instead the Jewish beliefs about God crumbled (I Corinthians 1:23), and all precious loyalties were challenged (Matthew 10:35-38). The Messiah had come to kill, but apparently to kill His own followers (Matthew 10:39). It was the price that would have to be paid, and Christ demonstrated it in graphic fashion: the pathway of life lies through the gateway of death. All things must be made desolate before they become glorious.
"When the law came, sin revived, and I died." (Romans 7:9) "The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ." (Galatians 3:24) Salvation is an impossibility unless we realize that we are lost; glorious redemption is a myth if there is no desolate damnation. It is the stern claim of God that in order to feel wonderful, you must first feel dreadful; in order to find Him, the weapon of God must shatter us apart completely, until there are no more delusions left, no deceptions, no masks, just the wretched, blind, naked, miserable self handed over to God in surrender. If we are to be lifted up by God, we must step down from our pedestals, for it is the broken and dirty things that God has come to make His children (Luke 19:10). Only sinners can received grace; Pharisees cannot (Luke 18:9-14). Redemption belongs to the broken and desolate things of the world, for they alone recognize and accept it when it comes.
"Sword of Heaven,
Missile of God:
Shatter me! Batter me!
And make me whole..."
-Jon Vowell
No comments:
Post a Comment