Seeing Clearly

November 11-13 is a special time at Antioch Community Chrurch, as we have the privledge to welcome Norm Wakefield from Spirit of Elijah Ministries presenting a series of talks to encourage and challenge all comers.  Spirit of Elijah Ministries focuses on relationships and especially on relationships in families between parents and their children.  They have some excellent resource material available and Mr. Wakefield does a wonderful job as speaker and personal testimony with his own children and fifteen grandchildren.

The first session, on the evening of the 11th, was on eternal perspective.  Background information for the talk included a basic review of systematic theology from creation through the fall of man, Jesus' arrival on earth as the promised sacrifice, His death, burial, resurrection, appearance to many witnesses and return to Heaven as our advocate, the entry of the Holy Spirit and the promise of an eternity with God in perfect relationship.  The three main points, which followed and stemmed from the introduction was as follows:  Teach your children that (1) they always live in God's presence; (2) they only see clearly from an eternal perspective; (3) if they believe they may continually go to (live with) Jesus every day here on earth.

My thoughts following the talk were on two things.  First, about how marvellous it is that God created us of His own volition, in His image so that we can bring Him glory through relationship.  Even more amazing that even now that we have disobeyed (yes we - Adam sinned originally but each one of, given the choice would have done the same {chosen to play God ourselves in lieu of being obediant} See also Romans 5:12-21) God wants to be near to us.  He also provided the means for that to happen by way of Jesus' shed blood, burial and resurrection.  God is always near, not looking on with a huge stick and a sinister grin standing in anticipation that we will slip up so that He can bring down the thunder.  Rather it is analagous to how badly I want to be at home with my children, because I love them.  I have loved them since before they were born and I want to be near them, hold them, read to them, talk to them, instruct them in the way they should go.  Discipline is necessary as a part of love in a fallen world, but is not the primary reason for being close.  Relationships is primary.

Secondly is the idea of seeing clearly on when looking at things "from above and not from below."  If we look "horizontally" and attempt to determine for ourselves what is right and wrong then we will always be managing special situations and working individually within our own mind, justifying our own behavior and choices with good reasons why what we did wasn't really wrong in our case.  The problem is that the law is written on all our hearts.  We hear and read of situations exactly like the case at Penn State and are hit with it directly in the face.  None of us know every specific detail of everything that occurred over a 20-year timespan.  However, every single one of us knows (not guesses, or suspects, or feels) that what that man did to that boy in the shower was WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.  Nothing subjective, nothing left to the situation or condition of either individual.  Just plain wrong.  Always the case, no exceptions.  Absolutely, objectively wrong.  Why is that the case if everything came from nothing, no ultimate purpose or meaning, no personal Creator determining right and wrong, good and bad, based on His own nature, without being ultimately arbitrary and capricious?  Right and wrong can be known and has been recorded and clearly modeled.  It is true that we can only see situations clearly, see our own faults and sins clearly, see our own needs clearly, see situations and relationships clearly if we look at them through the perspective of the One Creator who is Righteous and Holy.  We can and will continue to look "horizontally" to analyze all the previous and will continue to see muddled and make mistakes and misjudgements that will continue to do harm to one another and ourselves, until we decide to look "vertically" to see things clearly.  We can know things by what is written and clearly modeled in Scripture, our personal experiences that demand perception of those absolute and objective truths, and the Spirit testifying with our spirit.

It is our responsibility to understand we were Created by a Holy and Righteous and Gracious and Merciful God and live our lives in light of that.  Constantly forgiven and constantly cognizant to desperately fight for the Truth and not to grieve the Spirit or place stumbling blocks before others who we should be encouraging in the assurance of their own ability, through the Spirit, to see things clearly.