Never Not Safe, For the Light

Last Thursday I wrote about Eliana, that she was hurt at the playground, and how I was worried about how hurt she was. I was more than worried; I was anxious, even afraid. That night, I tried to remind myself that what we hear throughout the entire Bible is,"Do not be afraid." The angels say it, the prophets say it, Jesus himself says it, over and over again. We are encouraged in this way, and not that we might be unafraid blindly, or without knowing why. We are given the reason; we are his very own. We belong to the Creator of the universe, to the heavenly Father, himself.

John begins his Gospel with shocking news: "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God." (vv. 12-13)

John reminds us that Jesus had revealed his Father's great love for the world, in that "he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (v. 16) Later in Jesus' ministry, Jesus speaks to the Pharisees, calling himself the shepherd and the gate for his sheep. He explains this further to those that are following him,"'I give them [my sheep] eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.'" (vv. 28-29)

Our Senior Pastor, Ron, reminded us parents on Sunday that these words, no, these promises are true today if we sincerely meant what we vowed when our children were baptized, for God is faithful. He went on to offer his personal witness "that the promise that we and our children-as believers caught up in God's covenant-- are never not safe" is true, no matter what it looks like from the perspective of the world. He spoke as a father who has buried one child and survived cancer with another. He repeated it, and it bears repeating: we are in the hollow of the Savior's hand, and we cannot be taken from that place of shelter and refuge. We are never not safe. Each one of us is held fast, and as Paul says:

What, then, shall we say in response to these things [present sufferings]? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (vv. 31-39)

When Ron does baptize, children and adults alike, he always ends with,"And whether you live or die, you belong to the Lord." These are powerful and comforting (to me) words. It reminds me that I need to understand every Scripture through the cross of Christ. How is it possible that God can make a promise like,"'For I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" (Jeremiah 29:11) What does it mean when Jesus says,"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10: 10) We don't have to look far to see the theives. They come in the form of insane people, cancerous cells, drunk drivers, tsunami waves. But what about having life, and abundantly? What about hope and a future? The discrepancy between what we read in the Bible, the promises that we count on, and what we see in this broken world can seem confusing and devastating. It can seem like there is no possible bridge for the chasm between the suffering we see each day and that glorious future that we hope for. 

But there is a way. And there is a hope. And a future, and an abundant, full life. We get glimpses of it here. What was that rush on your wedding day? How did you feel the first time you saw a newborn child? What did your heart do when your kid first said,"Mama," and then never stopped? How joyful were you when you saw the face of your adopted, beloved child? How high did you want to jump when your child graduated from college, or got that first job, or had the first grandchild? What excitement did you feel when you saw the well-water flowing fresh for the first time in that dry and barren land? How many tears did you cry when you heard of the women and children who were freed from slavery and oppression? 

Ann Voskamp wrote a blog post for today that speaks some wonderful words of peace in a time of great sorrow. Among the most comforting of the words that she shared were the Scripture verses (and rightly so). These verses from Hebrews 2 are as a trumpet resounding: "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." (vv. 14-15) She also reminds us that from beginning to end, the Scriptures promise the eventual and everlasting demise of the Serpent. In Genesis 3, God tells the snake that the offspring of the woman will crush his head and he (the Serpent) will strike his heel. And then Ann Voskamp takes us to Revelation, where John tells of his vision: 

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.

When I read this word-picture I was amazed. I stared wide-eyed at what was written there in black and white..."her child was snatched up to God and to his throne." I thought of what Pastor Ron had said, that we are "believers caught up in God's covenant," and I couldn't help but smile through tears. God catches us up, we are snatched up just like his own Son, and nothing can ever snatch away what God has taken to himself. 

John ends his Gospel with these words,"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John saw the Messiah, he shared his life, his death, and his resurrection with us, and he did that so that we might "have life in his name."

Life...not slavery!

Life...not fear!

Life...not death!

Sometimes it seems like we live in a very dark place. But one day? One day there will be only light! We will be face to face with God! And oh, the light!

"There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever." Revelation 22:5

Comments

[Elaine]

Beautiful. Thank you.