God is the Author of Amazing!
There has been an overwhelming amount of tragedy in the world these past few years and in the past few months it feels like it has accelerated. Elections seem to put a magnifying glass on the smallness of personal power and the ethical and idealogical struggles of those who would be leaders here and around the world. For the past several weeks, much of Christendom in the USA has used the social media to point out the problems and give warning to the impending calamity that crouches at the doorstep of humanity. I thought we could all use a simple reminder that with as much going sideways, God is not sleeping or slumbering, he has not forsaken nor forgotten, he will not fail and he has already won! He is the Author of all kinds of Amazing.
1) God our Father is AMAZING! – I have some friends who adopt kids. When a kid is adopted into their family they instantly go from abandoned to loved, without hope to hope filled and surrounded, hungry to fed, from ward of the state to son or daughter. When I was dead in sin, hopeless and helpless, God the Father, through Jesus Christ adopted me and today I am a child of God, an joint-heir with Christ with full access to my Father. God our Father is Amazing!
2) The Holy Spirit is Amazing – The moment I believed, God the Holy Spirit came to live inside of my life and His work is over the top. He seals my salvation, reminds me of Christ’s work, teaches me, guides me, convicts me, strengthens me, shapes and forms the life of Christ in me, comforts me, empowers my life and I could add about a hundred more. Say it with me, The Holy Spirit is Amazing!
3) Jesus Christ is Amazing – Jesus Christ is the name that we will all bow to, the great I Am, the Creator, the Redeemer. He gave up heaven, gave up his life, became sin on my behalf, defeated death, completed and fulfilled the Law, is filled with Grace and Truth, is seated at the right hand of the Father and WILL return to get all who trust in Him. He will dwell with his people, wipe the tears from our eyes, make all things new and he is the living bread and water. One more time, Jesus is Amazing!
4) The Gospel is Amazing – What other message carries with it the label – “It is the power of God”? The Gospel does. And even better, it is true because when the Gospel is spoken, the power of God is revealed and present. Moreover, the universal impact of the Gospel, for all peoples, in all languages, in all stations of life, in all ages, in all nations, in all situations, the most powerful, life giving and penetrating reality is the Gospel! Okay, what we are all thinking, The Gospel is Amazing!
5) The body of Christ is Amazing – Hospitals, Medicine, education, compassion, justice and much more can be either traced to the church or at the very least, overwhelmingly strengthened by the church. The uniqueness of this truth is that one of the Churches greatest impacting traits is that the church moved these gifts from the rights if the privileged into the opportunities for the poor. In addition, the Body of Christ’s impact is more than global, it is personal. The Body of Christ provides the place where we are transformed, we are discipled, we are loved, we are used by God, we are connected and we are commissioned to a life of purpose and meaning. You know it’s true, the Body of Christ is Amazing!
6) The Word of God is Amazing – The Bible is the kind of truth that shows us where our feet are and shows us where they are supposed to go. The Bible’s unique ability to both reveal our heart, heal our heart, instruct our heart while also renewing and shaping our mind and thinking is incredible. It is the wisdom of God revealed through and to mankind under the inspiration and power of God the Holy Spirit. It keeps us from sin, make us wise beyond our capacity and connects us to the heart of God. The Bible is Amazing!
7) Prayer is Amazing – Every time I hear someone say to me, “All I can do is pray” my heart soars because I know what prayer does. Prayer unleashes. It unleashes the power of God upon the lives and hearts of men. God interacts directly with mankind when people pray. He interacts with the person who prays, changing minds and hearts, comforting, pouring his presence into a reality that brings the name Emmanuelle – “God with us” to reality. Through prayer God interacts with those we pray for, supernaturally and divinely speaking, healing, comforting, guiding and being present with those for whom we pray. Through prayer, God interacts with the nations, bringing about his purpose globally. Prayer is Amazing!
8) God’s Creation is Amazing – And God said… it was good… and evening and morning were the first day. This is the rhythm of the creation account and in it’s beauty God reveals himself to us. Through the creation story we gain eight insights into our creator. 1) We gain perspective on what it means to fear God. 2) We gain key instructions about our purpose and relationship with God. 3) We gain several “designer” functions for marriage. 4) We gain an understanding of the Godhead’s power and relationship. 5) We gain the ability to grieve sin properly. 6) We gain a better sense of accountability to God. 7) We gain an ability to properly love and appreciate people. 8) We gain our understanding of how to relate to God. You know it’s true, God’s creation is Amazing!
9) God’s purpose is Amazing – GK Chesterton said, “A Saint is one who exaggerates what the world neglects.” God invites us to sainthood, to purpose, to meaning of life simply by paying attention and exaggerating what the world neglects. The sad/good news is that the world neglects much. When reading the above amazing list, we discover that by adoption, we become children of God and ambassadors of His kingdom, we are gifted and empowered by the God the Holy Spirit to bring his will there (heaven) down here. We join Christ in service to the Father, in bringing redemption to the world. We are given the Gospel to speak and share, the body of Christ in which to serve and build others, the Word of God to transform us into his likeness, the power of prayer to bring the interaction of God to our lives, our family and friends and our world and his creation for us to discover and live within. There is much purpose for all who believe. God’s purpose is Amazing!
10) God’s Promises are Amazing – I finished this list with God’s promises, realizing the list can keep going and going, infinity amazing is our God. But God has also made promises to us and the power of a kept promise is Hope. Because he promised to be with us always, to give us eternal life, to forgive us completely, to use our weaknesses as well as our strengths, to save us completely, to make us his very own, to love us forever and to return and take us to heaven… we have hope. Promises bring hope, hope is fuel for life, His promises are amazing!
There you have it, God is the author of Amazing. I hope you are encouraged in a difficult time to see how great the love the Father has poured out on us that we would be called children of God. We discover the love of God by staring at the cross and God not by looking at our circumstances and brokenness. That is all for now… Off we go…
OFF... we go now 