Who understands this mystery? Even the angels are baffled!
The Maker of the universe As Man, for man was made a curse. The claims of law which He had made, Unto the uttermost He paid.
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His holy fingers made the bough Which grew the thorns that crowned His brow. The nails that pierced His hands were mined In secret places He designed.
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He made the forest whence there sprung The tree on which His body hung. He died upon a cross of wood, Yet made the hill on which it stood.
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The sky that darkened o’er His head By Him above the earth was spread. The sun that hid from Him its face By His decree was poised in space.
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The spear which spilled His precious blood Was tempered in the fires of God. The grave in which His form was laid, Was hewn in rocks His hands had made.
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The throne on which He now appears Was His from everlasting years. But a new glory crowns His brow. And every knee to Him shall bow.
“The Maker of the Universe,” lyrics by Phil Keaggy, 1986
15 “And they brought unto Him also infants, that He would touch them; but when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
16 But Jesus called them unto Him and said, “Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of God.
17 Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”
Again we were wrong (like usual it seems). I guess that we were trying to maximize Jesus’ ministry. We meant well, but He needed organization. So that was now our “ministry.” We simply felt that Jesus’ time was our concern, and as His disciples we wanted Him to connect with those who really mattered.
The parents were bringing their children to be blessed by Jesus.
“It was the custom for mothers to bring their children to some distinguished Rabbi on the first birthday that he might bless them.”
Jesus made it clear that these children needed to be the focus of our ministry. Our efforts were not to be centered on adults, rather it was misguided thinking that we direct Jesus’ work to be focused and redirected. These little ones were in the way.
Up to now, Jesus’ work was for adults. There were lepers, demon-possessed, paralyzed, tax-collectors all waiting for His ministry. Somehow we overlooked the needs of little children. Again, we were wrong, misguided, and ignorant of the walk of the true believer.
And sure enough, Jesus explained what we were missing. Children were to become our focus. They were the ones who we were to emulate and esteem. The radical thing to us was understanding that these ‘little ones’ were that significant.
I must say that this was a powerful jolt.
“Let these children alone. Don’t get between them and me. These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.”
Luke 18:16-17, The Message
This was astounding! It was nothing less than another radical thought from our Teacher. Accepting this wasn’t easy, but Jesus was crystal clear. We dare not think otherwise, but to believe this was against all we thought we understood.
Jesus understood that childlikeness was the only way we could enter His Kingdom.
Trust me on this–we believed otherwise. Up to now, we assumed that maturity meant sophistication. It was all about right thinking and good theology that God was looking for. We assumed that being simple wasn’t quite what Jesus wanted from us. Rather we believed the opposite.
Children were now to be our examples. Their simplicity was to be our guide–it was the Kingdom of God’s doorway into true discipleship.
“Part of the exquisite beauty of salvation is its simplicity. Any man, woman, or child can come to Christ with absolutely nothing to offer Him but simple faith-just as they are. Salvation requires nothing more than childlike faith-believing that Jesus Christ died for my sins and accepting His gift of Salvation.”
As he was starting out on a trip, a man came running to him and knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get to heaven?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good! 19 But as for your question—you know the commandments: don’t kill, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, respect your father and mother.”
20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve never once broken a single one of those laws.”
21 Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him. “You lack only one thing,” he told him; “go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor—and you shall have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.”
22 Then the man’s face fell, and he went sadly away, for he was very rich.
My name is inconsequential. I suppose all you must know of me is I tried to keep God’s Law and that I was very wealthy. Many believed that being rich was evidence that God approved of me. Of that, I wasn’t too sure. I kept the Law out of fear I suppose, and at times I just knew it wasn’t quite enough.
As I studied I began to realize that riches weren’t going to make me righteous. There was enough Scripture in me to let me know that it wasn’t enough. The prophets, especially Isaiah spoke about the deadliness of wealth, but there was that one verse in Proverbs that really disturbed me:
“Your riches won’t help you on Judgment Day; only righteousness counts then.”
(Proverbs 11:4.)
This verse (and all of the others) were the cause of many a sleepless night.
I was tormented by the reality of standing before God with nothing but my money to cover me. Coming under God’s righteous judgment haunted me. I thought of it day and night. I was terrified of being damned. My own righteousness wasn’t enough, and I knew it.
I heard about Jesus (and who hasn’t), and some were boldly claiming that he was the Messiah. He was at least a wonderful teacher and many said he worked powerful miracles, and perhaps he had answers for me. I hoped so, but I needed to know. It was my questions that drove me to find him.
And finding him was easy–I just followed the crowd.
I got ahead of everybody. I knelt in his path and waited. I must know what he thought I should do. When he stood before me I asked the question that had haunted me my whole life–“Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”
Jesus looked right at me. I knew deep down that he loved me.
But oh those words, his words really disturbed me. He told me that I only lacked one thing, that I must sell everything and distribute the money to the poor. Only by doing that would I discover riches in heaven. And only then could I truly follow him.
But that was the thing I couldn’t do.
It was my idol, my golden calf, and it was a sacrifice that I could never make.
I’ve come to realize now, over my many years, that when I do finally stand before God, I will have nothing to save me. Jesus invited me to follow, and I couldn’t and I didn’t.
And that my friend meant I would die in my sin.
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
“The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:18, NLT
Our salvation often comes like a sudden bolt of lightning. It happens very fast, a flash of true faith, and we move from darkness to glorious light in an instant. I am absolutely confident about this.
When someone genuinely believes in Jesus and in repentance seeks forgiveness, they receive everlasting life. It never ends. Our salvation occurs in the blink of an eye. It’s like a switch that gets flipped on.
But Peter and Paul clearly write that we are “being saved.” I believe that our salvation has three tenses:
I believe that our faith and transformation are also continuous processes, a lifetime of dedication and progress. It is important to see that following Christ is an ongoing journey. Additionally, it is essential to understand that accepting Christ as our Savior does not automatically result in an immediate ascent to heaven. We must “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.”
We prefer convenience. Microwaves, K-Mart shops, fast food, ATM machines, credit cards, and so on. We quickly grab our protein shake (or coffee?) and rush out the door to keep up with our day. Things become faster and more convenient. We practically demand it.
We want patience and we want it now!
Most people don’t like the idea of a daily (and slow) commitment. We want quick and easy solutions, but having faith doesn’t work like that. Even though we want to make progress quickly, becoming a follower of Jesus takes time. It’s called “discipleship.”
I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if you’re a true believer, you have a challenging journey ahead of you.
Here are Philippians 2:12 in four different translations.
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (KJV, ESV)
Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. (NLT)
Keep on working to complete your salvation with fear and trembling. (NCV)
Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation. (GNT)
Some believers will find a deeper understanding of a “discipleship effort” that’s necessary. Others may not be ready to accept it. But the writers of the New Testament epistles effectively communicate this idea of being on a journey.
“Instant Christianity tends to make the faith act deadly and so smothers the desire for spiritual advance. It fails to understand the true nature of the Christian life, which is not static but dynamic and expanding.“
Alaska Bible Teacher 