2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
While Jehovah will not tolerate rivals [EX 20:5], He is not a selfish God. Nowhere is that better demonstrated than in RO 8: 30-32. “And so those whom God set apart, He called and those He called, He put right with Himself, and He shared His glory with them. In view of all this, what can we say? If God is for us, who can be against us? Certainly not God, Who did not even keep back His own Son, but offered Him for us all! He gave us His Son-will He not also freely give us all things?” No immediate physical gratification or material gain can even begin to compare to what our unselfish Lord offers believers who endure in their faith. No offer of power and prestige backed by evil intent can ever offer advantages that are everlasting. Throughout the Scriptures, the message is loud and clear. God, through Christ, will be victorious over Satan. However, presenting this information is obviously not enough to explain why so many people reject it. At the bottom of this problem is unbelief. The answer to the question asked in verse 31 can only bring comfort if the individual realizes the truth of God’s ultimate power for victory over Satan.
Ultimate power is never wedded to ultimate justice except with God. This can be seen in RO 8: 33-34, “Who will accuse God’s chosen people? God Himself declares them not guilty! Who, then, will condemn them? Not Christ Jesus Who died, or rather, Who was raised to life and is at the right side of God, pleading with Him for us!” For those of us who believe, this is a great provision of comfort as we face the challenges presented to us by disease and a humanistic, often cruel, world. It is a reason to feel that Easter is the most significant event of the year to celebrate, even more than Christmas.
These are the Scriptures upon which Handel in his great musical work, the “Messiah” based his # 52 air for soprano, “If God Be For Us, Who Can Be Against Us?” Here are the actual words sung: “If God be for us, who can be against us? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is at the right hand of God, Who makes intercession for us.”
It may be because I am helping our congregation to coordinate the e-mail portion of our prayer chain that God brought to my attention this year the importance of Jesus Christ as an Intercessor for us. Because of the litigious nature of our society and greed on the part of some lawyers, there is an element of distrust brought about by this situation. That makes the whole subject of human advocates pretty sensitive. But, our faith sets the Advocate, Jesus Christ, apart from any other one who may stand up for us. When we know Jesus Christ for Who He is, we know that our cases are in righteous hands holding God-given authority to act for us with Him. While the word, advocate, suggests a lawyer pleading our cases, the word, intercessor, has a different connotation. It implies a transmitter of prayerful petitions to the only One Who can answer them. No doubt there have been some excellent human intercessors. One that comes to mind is Daniel who prayed for the Jewish people in exile in Babylonia [see DN 9:1-19]. However, there has never been an Intercessor to surpass Jesus Christ for us. HE 7: 23-25 reveals why, “There is another difference [in addition to Christ’s authority to be a High Priest forever]; there were many of those other priests, because they died and could not continue their work. But Jesus lives on forever, and His work as priest does not pass on to someone else. And so He is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through Him, because He lives forever to plead with God for them.”
Those who labor in unbelief reject the assistance that comes our way from the Holy Spirit as well. RO 8: 26-27 shows what they are missing. “In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit Himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express. And God, Who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of His people and in accordance with His will.” So, when you return to the question above, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” it begins to take on a much larger and more permanent meaning.
At last, Handel reaches the ultimate message of his great musical essay. It is based on RE 5: 11-13, “Again I [John] looked, and I heard angels, thousands and millions of them! They stood around the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders, and sang in loud voice: ‘The Lamb Who was slain is worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, and strength, honor, glory, and praise!’ And I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, in the world below, and in the sea-all living beings in the universe-and they were singing: ‘To Him Who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise, honor, glory, and might, forever and ever!’ “ The chorus rises to sing # 53 chorus, “Worthy Is The Lamb Who Was Slain,” to these words: “Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by His blood, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. Blessing and honor, glory and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb, forever and ever. Amen.”
PRAYER: O Lord, through this marvelous work by Handel about our beloved Messiah, You have revealed another depth of argument for using our free agency to choose the pathway you have given us by Christ’s blood shed for us and come to faith. For those of us who already made this decision, You provide a salient and irrefutable argument for why we should endure whatever persecution, even to the point of martyrdom, to hold on to our faith and live by it. Nowhere is there such great protection and love for us to be found than in living in Jesus Christ. Our limitations as humans keep us from giving You the depth of adoration and praise that You deserve. But, in Your compassion, You understand that and expect only that of which we are capable. We dedicate ourselves to showing You the full extent of the love, obedience, faithfulness, humility, and reverence for which You created us. You gave us our lives and made a way open for us to keep them for eternity. For that and so much more, we offer You our eternal thanks. In Christ’s name, amen.
And now, we have completed this series of messages on Handel’s “Messiah.” It is my sincerest hope that it will change the way you experience the Lenten and Easter seasons toward understanding in greater depth why it is so important for us to annually revisit the events of the last week of Christ’s life, His death, and His resurrection. We are a truly blessed people. We are blessed to have Him as the Lord of our lives, and we are blessed to have each other. Be ever encouraged in your faith as I am. Know that we bask in the love each person of the Trinity has for us, love that will see us through the trials and challenges of our lives. Know that there is an effective Intercessor in heaven taking our prayers right to the Father. Understand that His answers to our prayers are always in our best long-term interests. Peter and I also send you our love.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn