Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Good Will

Who is this Jesus?  How is it that an encounter with His life sparks an invasion into the human conscience and atmosphere?  
“And Jesus cried out and said, ‘Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.  And whoever sees me sees him who sent me,” John 12:45.  “I and the Father are one,” John 10:30.  
Jesus Christ was our reintroduction to the God who first breathed into dust.  Centuries had dulled our memory of His character.  Contracts had replaced personal experience.  In our interactions with humanity, God’s goodness was questioned and denied.  And our goodness had all but passed away….
  Angels showed up on one magnificent night in history to make an announcement concerning the nature of the Israelite God: His will is good!  
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men,” Luke 2:14.
At great risk to His own person, God came to declare His good intentions towards humanity.  It shouldn’t surprise us that the human beings who encountered His Majesty did not always recognize Him as the good, covenantal God of their history.  In a world of great personal loss, God’s goodness was often put under scrutiny.  At least brave individuals like David and Habakkuk had the nerve to simply ask: “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?  Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?  Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong?” Habakkuk 1:2-3.  Our human friend was unsure of God’s heart and activity.  But how many of us have also been unsure?  We don’t always ask like Habakkuk and wait upon this Good God for an answer.  We are skeptical.  Suspicious perhaps.  We question.  And we accuse.  God gets the end of our finger.
But there is something amiss, I think, in all of this.  Humanity forgets that part of the burden is their own.  Fallenness has always been our fault.  And do we want it remedied?  Well we better get up under this load and work with a God who has showed up, in person, to declare His good will alive and active among men.
He is among us - making peace and declaring goodness.  We have a historical opportunity on the brink of every morning to receive what is true of His Majesty’s heart and make peace, offer good will among men!  Jesus Christ is among men - have you encountered His goodness?

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