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Printer Friendly VersionGod spoke
with His creative voice, and light and darkness appeared. God looked at everything
He had made and gave His verdict, “It is good!”
God spoke
with His creative voice, and the skies and water come into view. God looked
at everything He had made and He gave His verdict, “It is good!”
God spoke
with His creative voice, and the seas separated, land became visible. The
land produced tress, plants and grass. God looked at everything He had made
and He gave His verdict, “It is good!”
God spoke
with His creative voice, and the sun, the moon, and the stars came into sight.
God looked at everything He had made and He gave His verdict, “It is
good!”
God spoke
with His creative voice, and fish, birds, and animals of all kinds became
visible. God looked at everything He had made and He gave His verdict, “It
is good!”
On the sixth
day of creation God said, “Let us make humans in our image.” Now
this is the part of the creation story that gets to me. God created everything
we see with His voice, but on the sixth day the Creator comes to the earth
He has fashioned, He kneels in the dirt, He gets His hands dirty, and He moulds
the first human from the dust of the ground. Just stop and think: the Eternal
God gets His hands dirty to create humans.
We were on
vacation some years ago and as we walked along the beach we noticed a crowd
of people looking intently at something in the sand. We joined them to see
a sand sculptor at work. Who knows how long he had been there, but we could
see he was putting the finishing touches to his work, and we could see the
form of a man lying on the ground.
Picture that
with me as we contemplate God’s construction lying on the ground. The
human is lifeless. All of creation looks on. Heaven is awestruck. God is kneeling
in the dirt, and look what He has created. Then there comes a very holy moment.
God bends over the sand sculpture and breathes life into the being. What a
moment, as the breath of God gives life to the inanimate. The first human
rises from the dust of the earth.
Now God looked
at everything He had made and gave His verdict, “It is very good!”
What made the difference? For five days, at the end of each day God gave His
verdict on everything He had made: “It is good!” But on the sixth
day His verdict was, “It is very good!” The difference was that
the image of God was now on the earth.
From Genesis
3 we know humanity did not stay very good for long. In the Fall the first
humans sinned, and the image of God became marred in humans and humans became
egocentric.
We move very
quickly to a little town called Bethlehem. There in a manger, God deposits
all He has and all He is in the form of the Christ Child. Another holy moment
occurs as the Child takes His first breath and the perfect image of God is
now on the earth.
The God-Human
had come to earth. His mission was to destroy all the works of the devil and
to restore the image of God in humankind; to make it possible for sinners
to be forgiven and to be reconciled to God. That mission took Him to the grim
darkness of Calvary and death by crucifixion.
Now picture
this: to create humankind God came to earth and got His hands dirty. But to
redeem humankind, God came to earth and not only got His hands dirty, but
He had them pierced with rusty nails. What love! What compassion! I will never
be able to comprehend fully all Jesus did for me on Calvary. But my heart
cries out, “Hallelujah! What a Saviour!”
It is now
Sunday. Some women have been to the tomb of Jesus. They return to some of
the disciples with an unbelievable report, “Jesus is alive.” Some
of their number ran to the tomb. They saw the folded grave clothes. Mary told
them the risen Lord had called her by name. She thought He was the gardener.
There is confusion. Some believe some do not know what to believe. They are
afraid. The authorities know they were with Jesus. They are together. They
are in hiding. They have locked themselves away from the Jewish leaders.
How often
we, as the church, find ourselves behind closed doors, fearful and ineffectual,
living on the wrong side of the resurrection. At times the problems we face
can be so vast, and the task of reaching the world for Jesus can be so overwhelming.
What can we do but hide in the sanctuary and discuss how desperate the situation
is?
But then
Jesus came to these men and women, and “stood among them.” The
first word He spoke to them addressed their situation, “Peace be with
you.” At that moment I wonder how many of them went back to the night
on the boat in the storm, when they thought they were all going to drown.
Jesus had been sleeping in the back of the boat and they were so afraid. When
they woke Him, He addressed the storm, “Peace, be still.”
To prove
to them that He is worthy of trust and to dispel any doubts they have that
it is really Jesus, He shows them His scars and marks. Now they are convinced
the same suffering Jesus has become the risen Christ. With these incontrovertible
proofs their fear turns to joy.
But He has
come to do so much more than dispel their fear and put their doubts to flight.
The reason He has come to them is then made clear. Jesus shows them they are
worthy of His trust. He has a mission for them to accomplish. He delegates
His work to them. As He earlier sent Mary forth with the message of life,
so He now sends the disciples. They are assigned the same mission to which
the Son was appointed by the Father: the mission of restoring sinful humankind
to God.
This is a
very holy moment. He shows them His scars and in so doing informs them He
can be trusted. But further, by handing over His life’s mission to them,
He lets them know He trusts them.
There is
an apocryphal story of Jesus returning to heaven. He is met at the gates of
heaven by the Archangel Gabriel. Gabriel asks Jesus how His mission went on
earth. Jesus informs him that the mission was successful. “So what is
the plan now?” Gabriel asks.
Jesus replies,
“I have left some men with a message that will change the world.”
Gabriel is
astonished and enquires, “And if they fail, what is the backup plan?”
Jesus responds,
“There is no backup plan. They will not fail, I have confidence in them.”
In the room
everything goes quiet. Jesus has just expressed His belief in them to carry
out the mission, and there comes a very holy moment, and He breathes on them
and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He breathes new life into
them. He breathes resurrection life into them. Not only does Jesus trust them
for the mission, He equips to undertake the mission. There is one further
point to note before we move from v. 22. Jesus places His call to ministry
in light of the call to receive the Holy Spirit. They go hand in hand. If
a ministry is going to be fruitful, it has to be Spirit led.
We move forward
to the Day of Pentecost. The disciples are all together with one accord and
there comes another one of those very special holy moments. There comes a
sound like a mighty rushing wind and they are all filled with the Holy Spirit.
Now their ministry has begun. Peter preaches a very simple message and 3,000
converts believe in Jesus. The church is born. These spirit-filled disciples
go everywhere at the command of Jesus, and everywhere they go they see signs
and wonders following their preaching.
We get to
Acts 17. The gospel has already gone beyond Judaism. Gentiles are responding
to the Good News. Paul and Silas travel to Thessalonica. After preaching in
the synagogue many people, Jews and Gentiles, become believers. The Jewish
leaders stirred up trouble. They grabbed Jason, who had hosted Paul and Silas,
and took him to the city authorities. Here is their commentary on the mission
of the apostles, “These men have turned the world upside down.”
At that point I want to jump into the scene and shout, “No! These men
are turning the world the right way up! They are restoring the marred image
of God in men and women through the power of the risen Christ!”
The apostles were in the business of rectifying humankind. And so are we.
Their ministry has been handed down to us. Our mission is to preach repentance
and remission of sins through the Victorious Risen Christ. Our task is to
rectify humankind; to help as many as we can to come to faith and have their
crazy, upside-down worlds turned the right way up.
Amazingly,
Jesus entrusts this ministry to us. We know we can trust Him. He has been
faithful in building His church for nearly two millennia. But His call comes
to us, to take Him into our world and to make Him known. He trusts us. Now,
if the call comes to us, as it did to the fearful disciples, in association
with the reception of the Holy Spirit, then I have a question. Have you received
the Holy Spirit? Have you received the enablement to live for Jesus in this
world? Have you felt the breath of God upon your life? Have you sensed His
presence with us today? Do you desire a fresh encounter with the Breath of
God? Come and receive His Holy Spirit.
God knelt
in the dirt to fashion the first human, and breathed His breath to make a
living soul. Jesus held out His hands to receive iron nails to redeem us,
and breathed His resurrection breath on His disciples to equip them to continue
His ministry.
What we need today is a fresh breath of God in our beloved church.
Bessie Porter
Head (1850 -1936) was an Anglican who wrote a hymn that could not be more
appropriate for our church today.
O Breath
of life, come sweeping through us,
Revive Thy church with life and power;
O Breath of life, come, cleanse, renew us,
And fit Thy church to meet this hour.
O Wind of God, come bend us, break us,
Till humbly we confess our need;
Then in Thy tenderness remake us,
Revive, restore, for this we plead.
O Breath of love, come breathe within us,
Renewing thought and will and heart;
Come, Love of Christ, afresh to win us,
Revive Thy church in every part.
O Heart of Christ, once broken for us,
'Tis there we find our strength and rest;
Our broken, contrite hearts now solace,
And let Thy waiting church be blest.
Revive us, Lord! Is zeal abating
While harvest fields are vast and white?
Revive, us Lord, the world is waiting;
Equip Thy church to spread the light.