The normal Christian worships God
Chapter 9
The normal Christian worships God
God, having spoken many times and in many ways in another time to the parents by the prophets, in these last days has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all, and by whom he also made the universe; which, being the the radiance of his glory, and the exact representation of his nature, and who sustains all things by the word of his power, having effected the purification of our sins by in the midst of himself, he sat at the right hand of the Majesty in the heights, made so much superior to the angels, as much as he inherited more excellent name that they... But of the Son it says: Your throne, oh God, for the age of ages; The scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved justice and hated wickedness, for which God anointed you, your God, with the oil of joy more than your companions. companions. And: You, oh Lord, in the beginning founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you you remain; And all of them will wear out like a garment, And like a garment you will wrap them, and they will be changed; But you are the same, And your years will not end.
Hebreos 1:1–4, 8–12
What kind of Christian should be considered a normal Christian? That the question deserves more attention and debate than it usually receives. Some people claim to be normal Christians when in reality what they mean is nominal Christians. My old dictionary provide the following definition as one of the meanings of the word nominal
That exists only in name; something that is not real or true; therefore it is so small, light or things like that, as to deserve the name given to it.
Taking that definition into account, those who know that they are Christians only by name should never pretend to be Christians. normal ones. Is the Lord Jesus Christ your most precious treasure in this world? If your answer is affirmative, you can count yourself among the normal Christians.
The moral beauty that is only present in Jesus leads him. constantly worshiping and praising the Lord? If your answer is positive, you are truly one of those who the Word of God they identify as normal and practicing Christians.
However, I am sure that some are already formulating some objection. If a person experiences that kind of delight and fervor for the person of Jesus, is that person rather an extremist and not a christian normal? To which I respond with another question. Are the christians teachers have really reached a point in their perspective humanist and secular who insist on saying and believing that loving Jesus Christ With all my heart and with all my strength, is that something abnormal? It seems to me. that we are not reading and studying the same Bible.
How can someone profess to be a follower and a disciple of Jesus Christ and not feel amazed by the attributes of the Lord? They are his attributes that confirm that He is indeed the Lord of all and is completely worthy of our praise and worship.
As Christians, we like to say that 'we have crowned Him as Lord' about everything." However, it is difficult for us to explain what we mean. I have always been interested in the way one of our is written. wonderful hymns:
Lord of all creation, crowned from the heavens,
Your glory surpasses the sun and the stars;
Sustenance and foundation of all that is created,
And even so, you are close to every loving heart.
The Lord of all beings is not only the Lord of all people; He is also the Lord of everything that exists. He is the Lord of all kinds of
to be: of spiritual, natural, and physical beings. Therefore, when it we adore, we must give our entire being. When the young they are beginning to understand this truth that teaches us that Jesus is Lord of everything and holds the highest position in the universe, they also begin to to feel the importance of your calling to a life of full service loving.
Many young people fully dedicate themselves to science, others to the technology and some more to philosophy, music, or the arts. Without embargo, when we worship the Lord Jesus Christ, we encompass all the sciences, philosophies and possible arts. This is our answer to those who they belong to other religions and are willing to accept that Jesus was a man but they do not accept the statement made by the Lord of being One with the Father in His position as eternal Son of God.
People who follow another religion assert that when we worship Jesus Christ the man, we are guilty of idolatry because we we also confess that He was a man. We do believe that Jesus came to earth as the Son of Man. But we believe the complete teaching, and that teaching informs us that He was the only begotten of God. Therefore, Jesus was also God.
Through the mystery of the incarnation, Jesus Christ was fully joined to the men and women of the human race. The eternal plan was not to lower God to the level of man, but the Son will elevate the humanity at the level of God. Therefore, we must unite with beauty and to the astonishment of the theanthropic union: God and man in one person.
The synopsis of this unique mystery involving man and God is Simply the following: all that God is, Christ is as well. When you worship the Lord Jesus Christ, you do not offend the Father because Jesus is the Lord of all beings and he is also the Lord of all life. the apostle John clearly taught us in his first epistle that none of us would know anything about the meaning of life if Jesus he would not have come from the Father to show us the true meaning of
eternal life. But Jesus came and as a result, John assures us that Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
The fact that Christ is the source of life for the redeemed and for the worshipers were expressed in a simple way in the profound Hymn called Jesus is the Love of My Soul, written by Carlos Wesley
In you there is fullness of grace,
Grace that covers all my sin;
Let the currents of healing flow,
Make me and keep me pure inside.
You are the source of life,
Let me drink freely from you;
A source that springs from my heart,
And it extends throughout eternity.
We know that there are many kinds of life but we can be sure that Jesus is the Lord of them all. In spring we see the new cocoon that peek out from the trees and shrubs. They are ready to to bloom and to become the perpetuators of floral life. Soon we see the birds returning. I cannot easily forgive the birds. They are friends of good weather. On dark and stormy days when but we need them, they are in Florida. But they return every spring and they express their way of life by chirping and whistling their songs.
We started to see rabbits and other animals that also have their form. of life. Christ is the Creator and Lord of them all. Beyond these manifestations of intellectual life; for example, the life of the imagination and dreams.
We also know something about spiritual life. 'God is Spirit and those who...
they worship him, they must worship him in spirit and in truth(John 4:24).The eternal Son of God is our Lord. He is the Lord of the angels and He is also The Lord of cherubim and seraphim. Jesus is the Lord of all forms. of life.
In our time, it is important to learn that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all wisdom and all justice. The total sum of the profound and eternal the wisdom of all times is in Jesus Christ as a treasure hidden. There is no kind of true wisdom that is not find in Him. All the eternal and profound purposes of God they reside in Him because His perfect wisdom allows Him to plan towards the future. The whole story begins to unfold slowly for fulfill their eternal purposes.
God in His wisdom is making the wicked men and the good men, adverse and favorable things work in the necessary direction for your glory to shine on the day when all the things will come to pass just as He has planned. Scripture teaches us many precious concepts about the way Jesus is the Lord of all justice.
Justice is not a word that the lost world easily accepts. Some people say: "The truth is that I feel satisfied" "Just by reading a good book that talks about ethics." Outside of the Word of God, there is not a single book or treatise that gives us an answer. satisfactory about justice because the only one who is Lord of all justice is our Lord Jesus Christ. The scepter of his kingdom is a scepter of justice. He is the only one in the entire universe who has loved justice to the perfection and has hated wickedness.
In the period of the Old Testament, there was an image of justice in the system of worship that existed in the temple. The high priest had to enter the Most Holy Place once a year to offer sacrifices. He wore a garment on his forehead and the words in Hebrew that were written about that garment could be translated today as: "Holiness to the Lord". Our Great High Priest and Mediator is the unique just and holy, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was resurrected from among the dead. He is the only just one and is the Lord of all justice.
He is also the Lord of all mercy. Who else would establish his kingdom in the midst of rebels whom He Himself redeemed and in whom did he renew a right spirit? Let's think together for a moment about what it is.
the beauty and in Him who is the Lord of all beauty. We know from our our own reactions and for the delight we feel that God has deposited in the heart of human beings, something that has the capacity to understand and appreciate beauty. God has placed in us the love for forms harmonious, the love and the taste for color and beautiful sounds.
What many of us do not understand is that all things beautiful ones that bring so much pleasure to the eyes and to the ears, are only the external counterpart of a deeper beauty and durable, which we call moral beauty.
Regarding Jesus Christ, we can say that the uniqueness and the the perfection of her moral beauty is what has enchanted even those who claim to be their enemies throughout the hundreds of centuries of history. There are no records that Hitler said anything in against the moral perfection of Jesus. One of the philosophers most brilliant, Nietzsche, who was a powerful instrument of the forces anti-Christian in this world, died by hitting his forehead against the floor And stating: "I love that man, Jesus. But I don't like Paul."
Nietzsche objected to Paul's theology of justification and salvation through faith but felt strange and deeply attracted inside him by the perfections of moral beauty that were part of life and of character of Jesus, the Christ, the Lord of all beauty.
We see this perfection in Jesus but when we observe with detainment of the system of the world and society, we see the terrible and be the scars produced by sin. Sin has destroyed and marked obscenely this world, turning it into a place asymmetrical, ugly and lacking harmony, in such a way that even the Hell is full of ugliness.
If you love beautiful things, I recommend you stay away. from hell, because hell will be the ultimate expression of everything that it is morally ugly and obscene. Hell will be the ugliest place of all the creation. When the men whose language is grotesque say that something is "as horrible as hell," they are using a
correct and valid comparison because hell is that reality that turn into the parameter to measure all ugliness.
That is an unpleasant and negative image but we can be thankful. to God for the positive promise and the perspective of paradise that it is place of utmost beauty. The sky is the most harmonious spot; it is the place where love and charm dwell. That which is absolutely beautiful. He is over there because He is the Lord of all beauty.
My brother and sister in Christ, the earth is in the midst of everything that is ugly in hell and everything that is beautiful in heaven. As long as we live in this world, we will have to consider the extremes. Light and darkness. Beauty and ugliness. Things that are good and things that are bad. Matters that are delightful and others that are tragic and harsh. Why? Because of the fact that our world is located in the midst of the beauty of paradise and the ugliness of hell.
Let me tell you the story of a person who called me to ask me the following question: "Mr. Tozer, do you believe that a "Can a true Christian hurt another Christian?" I found myself forced to Responder: "Yes, I think so."
How is it possible for a man to be on his knees one day, praying fervently, and the next day be guilty of offending or hurting another Christian? I think the answer is the fact that we we find ourselves right between heaven and hell; that is to say, by the fact of that the shadows and the light fall upon us.
We will never fully understand the terrible and tragic price. that the Lord of all beauty had to pay to obtain our redemption. The prophet Isaiah referred to the Messiah who was to come and He said, "There is no beauty in Him... that we should desire Him" (Isaiah 53:2). I don't think that artists have been able to offer us until now. a correct concept of Jesus the man. They portray him as a man I bet with a cute face and feminine features. They ignore what he said. prophet, "There was no beauty in Him that we should desire Him."
Jesus was completely like us; he was a strong man in the midst of the other men and apparently looked so much like his disciples that Judas Iscariot had to make a special deal to obtain his thirty pieces of silver. 'The one I kiss is the one' (Mark 14:44). We can assert with certainty that when the eternal Son took on the form of a man, only his soul was beautiful. Only by transfiguring suddenly on the Mountain, "his face shone like the sun, and his dresses turned white like light" (And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.). Only then his closest disciples saw how beautiful he truly was. master. As he walked among the men, his perfect beauty was evening.
There is an effective illustration in the figures of the Old Testament that reminds us of the ornaments of grace and beauty that will characterize the body of Christ, the church, as it prepares like a bride and waiting for her heavenly boyfriend. It is the memorable story of Isaac and Rebekah In Genesis 24, Abraham sent the servant he trusted to his land. Natal with the goal of choosing a wife for Isaac. We know, Of course, Rebeca passed all the tests that the servant of Abraham presented him. There is no statement indicating that Rebeca was beautiful but it is very likely that she was.
The adornments of her beauty consisted of the jewels and the shine that it came from the loving gifts sent by the boyfriend, to whom still I hadn't seen. That scene is a figure of what God is doing. in the midst of us today. Abraham typifies God the Father; Isaac represents our Lord Jesus Christ, the heavenly groom. He a servant who was sent with gifts to a distant land with the aim of getting a wife for Isaac clearly symbolizes the Holy Spirit, our Master and Comforter.
I ask, what is our true beauty when we are called one by one to take our place in faith in the body of Christ that awaits the coming of the Lord? God has not left this matter to chance. He He imparts to us one by one the beauty, the gifts, the graces of the Spirit.
Saint, imperfectly typified by those jewels and gems that the servant delivered in the name of Isaac.
We are being prepared in that way and when we find ourselves with Jesus Christ, when he comes as Lord and King, our adornments they will be the gifts imparted by the grace of God and the beauty that The Lord has given us. Only in that way will it be possible for us to stand. before Him who is the Lord of all beauty.
If you do not know Him and adore Him, if you do not long to be where He is, if you have never experienced wonder and ecstasy in your soul at cause of the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord, His assertion of being Cristiano has no foundation. It is not possible to relate his life to the true Christian life and experience.
In the meantime, I believe that Christians should be willing to crucify. anything that is not beautiful in our days. We must adore sincerely to the Lord of all beauty in spirit and in truth. This truth is not very popular because many Christians insist on the the need to be entertained while being built up.
For a long time I have studied the life and ministry of Albert B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. I want to give you the warning that he makes about the fact of being careful not to fall so much in love with the good gifts granted by the Lord that we stop worshipping those who have given us those gifts.
Dr. Simpson was invited on one occasion to preach at an event in England on the topic of sanctification. Upon arriving, he discovered that I was on the platform alongside two other Bible teachers. The three of us were they had been assigned the same topic. The first presenter used his time to clarify his position that sanctification meant eradication. "The sanctified person has had an experience that has moved them. its old carnal nature, just as when the weeds are removed from garden; that is to say, it has been eradicated.
The second speaker stood up and expressed his perspective, according to which sanctification meant the subjugation of the old
nature. "The 'old man' will always be there present," he said, "and the Victoria depends entirely on how you feel about it and not on it. unravel. In other words, it must be subdued.
That situation was not easy for Dr. Simpson, who had been scheduled as the third speaker. He told the audience that only I could present Christ as God's answer. "Jesus Christ is your sanctifier, His sanctification, His all in all things. God wants that you keep your eyes away from the gifts, the formulas, and the techniques. The wants his gaze to be fixed on the Giver, Christ Himself. He is his Lord. Worship him.
That is a beautiful teaching for those who want to worship in the way correct.
Before it was a blessing; Now it is the Lord.