That shall turn their hearts to the right,
A story of truth and mercy,
A story of peace and light,
A story of peace and light.
For the darkness shall turn to dawning,
And the dawning to noonday bright;
And Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth,
The kingdom of love and light.
We've a song to be sung to the nations,
That shall lift their hearts to the Lord,
A song that shall conquer evil
And shatter the spear and sword,
And shatter the spear and sword.
For the darkness shall turn to dawning,
And the dawning to noonday bright;
And Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth,
The kingdom of love and light.
We've a message to give to the nations,
That the Lord who reigns up above
Has sent us His Son to save us,
And show us that God is love,
And show us that God is love.
Psalm 78:1-8
1 An instruction of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law; bow down your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will speak dark sayings of old,
3 which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their sons, showing to the generations to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He has done.
5 For He set up a testimony in Jacob, and ordered a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their sons;
6 so that the generation to come might know; sons shall be born, and they shall arise and tell their sons,
7 so that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments;
8 and might not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set their heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful with God.
This psalm, Psalm 78 (and other scriptures) brings to light the "generational-ness" of the God: "to you and your children" -- always multi-generational. Something that God required of his faithful people was to communicate him to their children:
- The history of his covenant (God has always worked with mankind covenantally starting with Adam and Eve - he doesn't do it any other way)
- The nature of his dealings with people based on his covenants
- The requirements (law) of living in fellowship with him and each other
- An ecosystem (modern buzzword but a very good picture - everything is interrelated)
- Like a colonial charter (how? King grants colony and terms under which life is to be conducted)
- Like marriage, not just a legal agreement, but tangled up with all of life, decisions, etc.
- What have we done with the story?
- The last couple of generations have made some mistakes with God's story
- We have started to think of God as someone who sits far off on the sidelines and only intervenes when we get in bind and decide to pray
- We have broken the "mainspring" out of the clock and forgotten that it's purpose and function is in relation to the clock as a whole.
- Worse yet, we have broken life into a bunch of pieces that have no relation to each other (compartmentalization) Example: I can be a serial adulterer but a great leader
- We have tried to make God's story fit into a Four Spiritual Laws pamphlet
- We have made it about following the right script (four points and a prayer) instead of trust and obedience and commitment
- We have tried to tell the "punchline" but didn't lay the foundation so it makes less sense
- We have broken the story into bite sized chunks instead of doing the hard work of study
- We have pulled out promises and principles and tossed out the rest like the gemologist
- We have made being disciples "something extra" (an optional add-on for salvation)
- We have made it activity-oriented (go and do and come home) instead of lifestyle (24/7)
Work at becoming "whole" in our thinking, perspective of life and actions
- God's story didn't start at Christmas and it doesn't end at Easter
- Many people think the message of the Bible is "how to get to heaven"?
- It includes that, but it really tells me the past, present and future of man's relationship with God and how my own life fits in with that
- There is a bodily resurrection and new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells and every believer will be there
- Like your marriage affects all your decisions -- how you spend your time and your money, where you go, what you do and who you do it with -- if God's kingdom is real, and your relationship with him as King is real, it is the same way
- John 1:14 says "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us"
- Jesus embodied and lived out God's every expression of God's law and promises perfectly
- You remember the old saying, "You may be the only Bible a person ever reads..."
- The apostle Paul said that "we have this treasure in earthen vessels"
- Though we are not perfect, we can bring the word to life
- Think of the difference between 2D vs 3D -- "in living color"
There is a magnificent story in Marie Chapian's book Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy. The book told of the sufferings of the true church in Yugoslavia where so much wrong has been perpetrated by the politicized ecclesiastical hierarchy. That which has gone on in the name of Christ for the enriching and empowering of corrupt church officials has been a terrible affront to decency.
One day an evangelist by the name of Jakov arrived in a certain village. He commiserated with an elderly man named Cimmerman on the tragedies he had experienced and talked to him of the love of Christ. Cimmerman abruptly interrupted Jakov and told him that he wished to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded Jakov of the dreadful history of the church in his town, a history replete with plundering, exploiting, and indeed with killing innocent people. "My own nephew was killed by them," he said and angrily rebuffed any effort on Jakov's part to talk about Christ. "They wear those elaborate coats and caps and crosses," he said, "signifying a heavenly commission, but their evil designs and lives I cannot ignore."
Jakov, looking for an occasion to get Cimmerman to change his line of thinking, said, "Cimmerman, can I ask you a question? Suppose I were to steal your coat, put it on, and break into a bank. Suppose further that the police sighted me running in the distance but could not catch up with me. One clue, however, put them onto your track; they recognized your coat. What would you say to them if they came to your house and accused you of breaking into the bank?"
"I would deny it," said Cimmerman.
"Ah, but we saw your coat," they would say," retorted Jakov. This analogy quite annoyed Cimmerman, who ordered Jakov to leave his home.
Jakov continued to return to the village periodically just to befriend Cimmerman, encourage him, and share the love of Christ, with him. Finally one day Cimmerman asked, "How does one become a Christian?" and Jakov taught him the simple steps of repentance for sin and of trust in the work of Jesus Christ and gently pointed him to the Shepherd of his soul. Cimmerman bent his knee on the soil with his head bowed and surrendered his life to Christ. As he rose to his feet, wiping his tears, he embraced Jakov and said, "Thank you for being in my life." And then he pointed to the heavens and whispered, "You wear His coat very well."
Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God, (Word Publishing, Dallas: 1994), pp. 101-102
We've a Savior to show to the nations,
Who the path of sorrow has trod,
That all of the worlds great peoples
Might come to the truth of God,
Might come to the truth of God.
