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From: "Suryadi Wijaya"
<catha...>
God
Little
Ajoy Varghese If we were asked to describe God, many of us would describe Him with superlatives. We would say that God is great, all-powerful, all-knowing, and present everywhere. Growing up in India, I heard many stories and legends about gods and goddesses doing heroic deeds and vanquishing evildoers with their awesome supernatural power. For many of us, there is widespread belief that if God is on our side, we will win every battle. To believe that "God is great" does not require much imagination. Yet the Christmas Story is the astounding announcement that God has become little and powerless. In the words of the Greek physician Luke, "Today..a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger" (Luke 2:11-12). Phillip Yancey describes the scene aptly, and perhaps uncomfortably: "The God who roared, who could order armies and
empires like pawns on a chessboard, this God emerged in Palestine as a baby who
could not speak or eat solid food or control his bladder, who depended on a
teenager for shelter, food and love."(1) Why did this happen? Why did the
Omnipotent one become so vulnerable?
According to the writers of Scripture, God desires to have an intimate relationship with us. But He wants us to respond freely to his love. If God had given us merely a glimpse of his power, we would have feared Him. If God had given us a glimpse of his brilliance, we would have admired Him. If God had given us a glimpse of his immensity, we would have been awestruck. He has done all these things. But God also desires to give us a glimpse of his love-by becoming vulnerable, defenseless, and dependent so that we understand that we can relate to Him without fear. Nothing is as vulnerable as a human baby. In his adult public life, Jesus remained vulnerable. Though he did miracles to heal people of physical and spiritual ailments, he steadfastly refused to use them for his own benefit. He often instructed those who were healed to keep the matter to themselves. Even when he was insulted, tortured, stripped and crucified, he refused to draw on his power and respond in like manner; he chose to surrender. The one at whose spoken words hard-nosed and well-trained soldiers fell back restrained himself from reacting to the hecklers who tried to provoke him to prove himself. Even today, he refuses to frighten us by appearing to us as the living, all-powerful Christ but chooses to knock on the door of our hearts so that those who want to relate to him freely and intimately might do so. Herein lies a great secret of relationships: intimacy goes hand in hand with vulnerability. It explains why Jesus insisted that we must become like little children (who are naturally vulnerable) to enter the kingdom of God. In the movie Bruce Almighty, Bruce Nolan (played by Jim Carrey) is granted the powers of God for a few days. In spite of his supernatural abilities that enable him to settle some scores, he realizes that the thing that matters most to him is the love of his girlfriend, Grace. He also discovers her love cannot be manipulated or coerced, but must be freely given by her and gained by him. Unable to force his way into her heart, he continues to woo and wait. The process is painful, but cannot be bypassed. For it is the nature of love. In Jesus, God bares his heart so that He can win ours. For the human heart to respond freely and willingly, God woos and waits, coming as God in all his immensity, incarnate in the vulnerable life of a child. (1) Philip Yancey, The Jesus I never knew (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 28. ===================================================
From: Bayo
Afolaranmi
Dear Beloved, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? (Psalm 22:1, NIV). Psalm 22 is one of those psalms sometimes called Passion Psalms. Jesus Christ used the opening cry on the cross and the amazing choice of words of verses 6-8 and 13-18 have made the psalm especially important to Christians. There is within the psalm a extraordinary combination of praise and complaint. The psalmist found himself in a difficult situation that made him think that God had forsaken him (verses 1-2). Because of his situation and the fact that God did not act for him at that very point in time made people to mock him (verses 6-8, 12-18). However, in the midst of this protest of seemingly neglect, he could still praise God for who He is and what He has done, and is still doing (verses 3-5, 22-31). It is noteworthy that there is no reference to sin as the cause of the trouble, no plea of innocence, no claim of righteousness, and no vengeance. The psalmist just cried to God for help (verses 19-21). Jesus Christ also found Himself in
similar situation, and He also acted like the psalmist: He cried out to God (see
Matthew 27:46; Mark What situation are you passing through?
Have you prayed and God has not answered your prayers? Does it seem as if God
has forsaken you? Are people around you making jest of you because of your
predicament? Well, GOD In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Mailing List Jesus-Net Ministry Indonesia - JNM - Daftar : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Keluar : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Posting: [email protected] JNM Mailing list are managed by : Indonesian Pentecostal Revival Fellowship (IPRF) Denver, USA (or GPdI Denver) If you have any comment or suggestion about this mailing list, to : [EMAIL PROTECTED] or If you want to contact IPRF Denver USA, to : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web Site : http://www.iprf.us -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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