Humanly speaking, that was a massive ask. Moses baulked at the idea – “who am I to do this?” – to which God replied, “I am with you, it’ll happen”.

Moses’ next question is about who God is. He already knows that he is speaking with the God of Israel, but he needs something that will convince people that he hasn’t seen for 40 years, ‘I know you are God, but what is your name?’. 

In the Bible, a name was more than just a designation, but described a person’s character and personality. 

God’s reply gives a self-description. “I am who I am”, followed by his covenant name “Tell them ‘I am’ has sent you”. The ‘I am’ here is the YHWH name which appears as capital LORD in most English Bibles.

‘I am who I am’ is a statement of God’s being. He simply is. He always has been and always will be. He is the only being who has the power of being in himself – which means that he does not depend on, or need, anyone or anything else for his existence, rather that everything else that is derives that existence from God. 

This is known as Aseity – not an everyday word! But all about self-existence.

It was illustrated in the fire in the bush that did not consume the bush. The fire did not need or depend on the bush to keep burning – it was simply there. 

God has to be, otherwise nothing else could exist. RC Sproul put it this way: ‘If ever there were a time there was nothing, there would be nothing now’. Incidentally, this is one of the most straightforward ‘proofs’ of God’s existence. 

But more importantly, it helps us to grow in our knowledge of God. For us to worship truly, we must know who it is we are worshipping. We can only truly know God to the extent that he has chosen to reveal himself to us.

And reveal he does – in creation (Psalm 19:1); through his word, the ‘Writings’ of the Old Testament law and prophets; and finally through his Son (see Hebrews 1:1-3) who is the ‘exact imprint’ of God’s nature.

Our worship is primarily about two things – who God is and what he has done.

In Revelation 4 and 5 we are given a glimpse into the worship of heaven which have a mix of these two aspects. These are powerful words:

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev 4:8)

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Rev 4:11)

“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Rev 5:9,10)

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!” (Rev 5:12)

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever!” (Rev 5:13)

Simply saying these words (especially out loud!) can in a sense lift us up to heaven in worship. They put our focus on God himself, especially on his transcendence, those aspects of his nature that are ‘above’ us.

But we are also creatures made in the image of God, and while that image has been spoiled by sin, we can nevertheless reflect that image in love, creativity, communication, relationship, work and so on. Jesus was described as being the exact imprint (image) of God’s nature which radiated God’s glory (Heb 1:3). In a similar though imperfect way we too can show God’s glory – his character, his ‘name’ – as we live out these characteristics. Which are also called the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22,23).

It’s always interesting to me to watch people when they find a ‘hero’. They copy them and want to become like them. This happens particularly with young people when they find a sports hero or pop star, but is true of all of us – we imitate the thing or person we worship. 

Our highest calling is to know God, and as we do, we will become like him. Imperfectly for sure, but the day will come when we will do so perfectly (1 John 3:2).

None of us has experienced a burning bush in the way Moses did, but the eye-witness account he gives tells us a great deal about God, the self-existent one who calls us by name.

(For the avoidance of doubt – my all time favourite, and probably the greatest film ever made, is The Great Race. No discussion necessary, that’s simply a fact)

I recently came across this quote from C S Lewis, in the context of praising God, where he realised that enjoyment overflows into praise: “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.” (Reflections on the Psalms)

So the act of praise completes the enjoyment – that’s what was going on in our cinema trips. Our enjoyment of the film wouldn’t have been complete without ‘praising’ it, going over and re-telling the bits we liked.

When we apply that to praising God, it means that the act of praise completes our enjoyment of him. 

For many hundreds of year, the church has used Catechisms as a means of teaching – particularly with young people. They’re not so popular these days, but they’re an early form of FAQs on the Christian faith. The first question in one of the more well-known ones, the Westminster Shorter Catechism (written in 1647), is this: “What is the chief end of man?” And the answer is “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever”.

There a relatively new catechism called the New City Catechism (written in 2012 – so the language is up to date!). It arrives at the same answer via two questions.

The 4th question is “How and why did God create us?” answered with “God created us … to know him, love him live with him and glorify him”; and the 6th question is “How can we glorify God?” Answered with “We glorify God by enjoying him…”.

In other words, we were created to enjoy God. Which in turn means that we were created to praise God.

There’s going to be a lot of praise going on in heaven. Take a look at Revelation 4 and 5. Here we see several reasons for praise – 

• “you created all things” (Rev 4:11)
• “you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God” (Rev 5:9)
• “and made them a kingdom of priests to our God” (Rev 5:10)
• “worthy is the Lamb who was slain: (Rev 5:12)
• “to him who sits on the throne” (Rev 5:13)

The praise here is not just a re-telling of what Jesus has done- though it clearly includes that in abundance – but is the giving of “power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing”. Pretty much everything that we are and have. Reminiscent of the greatest commandment “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27).

But not just in heaven. We have the privilege of being able to praise God in the here and now. That can, and should, take many forms. If we are fortunate enough to experience a miracle, we will certainly want to praise God in worship and in telling others. But most of the time we don’t experience miracles. That should not stop us praising God though. Jesus told us to consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. (Matt 6:25-30). Not just because they are praiseworthy as creations of God (though they are), but as an antidote to anxiety (if God looks after this things, how much more will he look after you) which releases us to enjoy God.

Our modern culture pulls us in the opposite direction, telling us that things just happen by chance or according to impersonal laws. But the Bible will have none of that. It is God who makes the grass grow (Psalm 147:8), God brings forth the wind (Psalm 135:7) and rebukes it (Luke 8:24), he clothes the grass and feeds the birds (Matt 6), he even oversees their deaths (Matt 10:29-31).  

Hebrews 1:3 and Colossians 1:17 speak of Jesus holding and upholding all things. It seems to me that the more we understand and see how God is intimately and always involved in his creation (including us!), then the more we will be driven to praise, and the more we will enjoy God.

(See also Psalm 16:11)

But I don’t think this is anything particularly new. I remember my grandparents talking about how they worried about things. This was often related to activities my brother and I would get up to (“ooh we did worry about you”), reaching a climax when I ended up in hospital – they wrote me a letter saying how much I’d caused them to worry.

I used wonder what they actually did and would imagine them having ‘worry times’, where they would go into their front room, sit upright, look as though they might cry and shake their heads. 

But anxiety can be, and often is, quite serious. It affects us both mentally and physically.

I suspect that no-one is immune from it, though we are all different in the way it affects us and in the way we react to it. 

The Bible takes anxiety seriously too. We’re probably familiar with verses such as Phil 4:6 (Do not be anxious about anything) and Matthew 6:25 (Do not be anxious about your life), which are presented as commands.

But there are also examples of what might be called ‘good anxiety’. Paul writes in Philippians about Timothy and how he will be genuinely concerned (or anxious) about their welfare. Paul himself refers to his ‘anxiety for all the churches’ (2 Cor 11:28). The Greek work translated as ‘anxiety’ is also translated as ‘care’ in, for instance. 1 Cor 12:25.

How might we distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ anxiety?

In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus is teaching at the home of two sisters Mary and Martha. Martha is busy serving while Mary is sat listening to Jesus. Martha is clearly overwhelmed, verse 40 says ‘distracted’, and asks Jesus to get Mary to help her. Jesus replies “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

So maybe that’s the clue – something, even a good thing like serving, that takes our focus away from Jesus himself is not good. Martha’s attention was on the task, not on Jesus. The task might have been important, but ‘one thing is necessary’ – focussing on Jesus.

I’ve heard it said that ‘all good theology starts in Genesis’, and it is good to look backwards, as well as forwards, to get a perspective on living in the here and now.

When Adam and Eve sinned, one of their first actions was to hide from God, because they were afraid of him. They didn’t know what lay ahead or how God was going to deal with them. They knew that death had been promised, but maybe didn’t realise what that really meant (after all they were still alive), but they were afraid and anxious. That’s where is all started, and we live with the consequences.

The consequences of the Fall were to bring all kinds of troubles and suffering – including anxieties – into the world.

When writing to a suffering, persecuted church, Paul, in Romans 8:18-30, refers back to the Fall, but also points to a future. A hope of freedom and redemption when sin and death are removed, and life is marked by glory. We may not know a great deal about the life to come, but we do know it will be better than we can imagine. It is also sure and certain, which give us hope.

We are somewhere in the middle of this. There’s a ‘already but not yet’ aspect to living as a Christian. We are already justified and sanctified, but we are not yet complete. Not yet glorified.

So how do we live with anxieties?

In the verses I mentioned earlier – Matthew 6:25 and Philippians 4:6 – we are told not to be anxious, followed by a ‘but’. ‘but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness’ (Matt 6:33); ‘but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God’ (Phil 4:7).

The point here is about doing something which takes our focus away from ourselves and our anxieties and puts the focus on God himself. 

One of my favourite Old Testament verses is Daniel 11:32b “but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.”

Actions might well include getting medical help for a chemical imbalance, or getting with others who can help with a biblical perspective. Spending time in prayer and the Word is important – vital even – with the aim of being with Jesus and getting his perspective on our lives. We’re back to our chairs!

None of this is a quick fix though. Some of us may have to learn how to live with anxiety for most of our lives. Interestingly, John Bunyan (author of Pilgrim’s Progress) suffered with ‘anxieties of the hart’ throughout his life, but he wrote this towards the end of his autobiography:

These things I continually see and feel, and am afflicted an oppressed with; yet the wisdom of God doth order them for my good. 1.They make me abhor myself. 2. They keep me from trusting my heart. 3. They convince me of the insufficiency of all inherent righteousness. 4. They show me the necessity of flying to Jesus. 5. They press mee to pray unto God. 6. They show me the need I have to watch and be sober. 7. And to provoke me to look to God, through Christ, to help me, and carry me through this world.

He firmly believed in Romans 8:28, that God orders our lives, including our anxieties, for our good. Like Paul he recognised that God’s grace is sufficient in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9).

The perspective comes from understanding that ‘one thing is necessary’.

Or as the Psalmist says:

"One thing have I asked of the LORD,
 that will I seek after:
  that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
 all the days of my life,
  to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
 and to inquire in his temple." (Psalm 27:4)

and again, Paul:

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:13-14)

The spacecraft is aptly named ‘Perseverance’. In it for the long haul.

In many ways it’s like the end of the pandemic – we can see light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s not here yet. So, we need patience, also conviction – a belief that it is indeed ending.

This is perseverance. And there is a strong parallel in the Christian life.

How do we keep going in the Christian faith? I remember someone asking the question at a Sunday evening meeting some years ago, “My biggest fear is that I’ll drop away. How do I know that I’ll still be walking with God in the future?”

It seems to me that our answers to that question can lie on a spectrum.

At one end there is presumption. At the other end, despair.

Presumption says – I made a decision x years ago. Once saved always saved. I don’t need to do anything.

Despair says – I have no assurance I’m saved, I keep trying, but I’m constantly anxious.

While it’s possible to find ‘proof-texts’ in the Bible for both of those views, that can only be done by ignoring other passages. The Bible actually teaches that both those views are incorrect.

The truth lies between.

 It is true that God works in us and will complete the work he started. But he also calls us to work out our own salvation. (Take a look at Philippians 1:6 and Philippians 2:12-13)

How do we reconcile that? Because it’s a relationship. And like any relationship it takes time and commitment from both parties.

On God’s side, this is a trinitarian work. The Father has loved us from all eternity. He sent his Son, who willingly came to suffer and die in our place in order to atone for our sins (that is to pay the penalty that was ours). The Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit to bring us into a new life, to sustain us in this life and to enable our growth in this new relationship with God.

For us, we respond to God’s call with faith, repentance and worship. We love God and demonstrate that love through obedience and trust.

We ‘spend time with one another’ through the Word and prayer.

And we are not left alone. As well as the Holy Spirit’s empowering and enabling, we are placed into a family of believers where we can encourage and build up each other.

The definition of perseverance has idea of something that is long-term and continues through difficulties. God has not promised us an easy life – in fact quite the opposite – but he has promised us an eternal home. He’s promised us that his presence will go with us. And he promises that all things will work out for our good.

So as we see that the end of the pandemic is coming, but we still have to live in a lockdown, in the same way we know that ‘the Day is drawing near’ so we should ‘stir up one another to love and good works’ and ‘encourage one another’ (Hebrews 10:24-25). That includes, of course, encouragement to spend time ‘in your chair’!

There seems to be a view that is growing in popularity that goes something like this: 

‘The earth, with all it’s life and ecosystems, has been around for millions/billions of years, evolving into something approaching perfection. Very recently (on an evolutionary timescale), human beings have appeared, and their principal impact has been to pollute and destroy the earth and its other life forms’.

This view has other manifestations: ‘we are all guests on this planet, only here for a brief visit’; and through the current pandemic ‘nature is teaching us a lesson’; and so on. 

At its core, there is an anti-Christian, long-age, evolutionary worldview which is in direct conflict with what the Bible teaches.

The whole subject of creation vs evolution is one I’ve looked into for many years – it’s a vast subject and no doubt will raise many questions.

But for now, let’s look at some of what the Bible does teach. Here are some key points:

• God created everything (Gen 1:1)
• More specifically, everything was created through and for Jesus Christ (John 1:3, Colossians 1:15–16
• The earth belongs to God (Psalm 24:1, 1 Cor 10:26)
• He made it for human beings (Genesis 1, 2; Isaiah 45:18), who were there at the beginning (Matthew 19:4
• After creating the man and the woman, God declared his creation “very good” (Genesis 1:31
• Men and women were tasked with dominion over the earth, but their Fall resulted in the whole creation being cursed (Genesis 3:17-18, Romans 8:20-22)

Of course, there’s much more than this, but it’s enough to show that the biblical view is entirely different from the story we’re being told on a daily basis.

One of the challenges I’ve faced when talking about this is ‘is it important?’, ‘does it really matter?’.

But the problem is that ideas have consequences.

If our young people are being told ‘there is no God, we’re here as a result of a cosmic accident, we have no more value than any other life form’, and then ‘actually, human beings are a scourge, they (we) are responsible for pollution, climate change, destruction of the forests, the cause of extinction of many species’ etc, then how can we be surprised when they develop mental health problems? Any sense of purpose or meaning has been taken away – yet those are the things we crave.

The logical conclusion of this line of thinking is to say that if humans are the problem, the world would be better off without them, and that can lead to appalling consequences. For those who don’t want to be that extreme, the only way forward is for a radical change in humanity, but if humans are late-comers to the world and we are what we are, then what are we trying to change ourselves into? There is no ‘model’, no example.

Biblically, the consequences of the Fall are not good. The worst, of course, are death and separation from God. But the fact that mankind was in a perfect world, and walked with God, means that there is hope of restoration. We are not what we were originally intended to be, nor is the earth, but that opens the possibility of a recovery to where we should be, where we were meant to be. 

Not that we can achieve that ourselves, but it is something our Creator has chosen to do for us. In Christ, God is bringing everything back to the place where it should be (Colossians 1:15-20). And in Jesus, we see a model of what we can be, a pattern of what is to come (1 John 3:2).

When I was at university, we’d go ‘door knocking’ to talk to other students about Christianity. Naturally, there were all manner of topics that were thrown up for debate. But we were told that wherever possible ‘talk about Jesus’. Keeping him central gets to the core of things (a good principle!).

The consequences of the Christian message are reconciliation, restoration, peace, as well as purpose and meaning. It also explains why we crave purpose and meaning.

So yes – this is important.

We are faced with an onslaught of ideas, worldviews and philosophies that will take us away from God. We need to stand up to them, sometimes that’s hard, but the best starting point is to go to the Person and Work of Jesus. 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says how this is all part of a bigger battle, but God has equipped us with powerful weapons. The aim isn’t just to win arguments (actually Paul here says we should destroy them!), but it’s to focus on Jesus. 

Because ultimately, he is the centre of all things (Colossians 1:17-18).

It didn’t finish with the usual celebrations, but there was one significant event that coincided with December 31st.

I finished the book of Revelation in my daily study. You may be tempted to stop reading here – but bear with me.

The book of Revelation is full of imagery and can be read in different ways – but however you read it, you’ll agree that there’s a battle going on. There’s a close relationship between what goes on on the earth (which we can see), and what goes on in heaven (which we can’t see). And it all comes to an end with a final battle, a final judgement and a new heaven and a new earth.

And it’s that last bit which coincided with the close of 2020 – somehow very appropriate.

One commentator writes this: “The whole terrifying conflict has been about the divine Husband’s jealous love for his bride, a love so jealous that he will fight all comers in order to have her all to himself, a love so sacrificial that he lays down his life to protect her from every threat and enemy” (Dennis Johnson – The Triumph of the Lamb). All that’s gone before – war, locusts, dragons (and, significantly, plagues) lead up to this moment when everything is made new.

I found that really encouraging. All the bad things that are going on in the world have a heavenly counterpart. They’re also a part of God’s purpose which has an end in view. We only see part of what’s going on, nevertheless history is moving towards a goal, under the control of God, which is both cosmic in proportion, but also personal because it’s about us. So it’s not just head knowledge, but a call to perseverance that can be put into practice every day. Focussing on our walk with God, putting his kingdom first, growing in sanctification.

Moving forwards, who knows what 2021 will hold? It’s not exactly had a great start from a pandemic point of view. On the other hand, it’s a year closer to that Day.

Isaiah 61 is a passage that looks forward to that time as well. There are promises of good news to the poor,  binding up of the brokenhearted, liberty for captives, comfort for mourners, and more, all summed up as ‘the year of God’s favour’ (Isa 61:1-3). These things are brought about by an anointed one. We know this to be Jesus – he picked up on the passage (see Luke 4:16-21) and effectively said “It’s me!”.

So the great thing is that the process which will end with everything being made new has already begun. We can start to experience these benefits and blessings, even while the battle is raging. Jesus is fixing what sin has broken, repairing us on the inside (we are new creations) while restoring our outward circumstances and preparing a place for us in the new creation.

So what of 2021? It is the year of God’s favour, so our response is to rejoice and be glad in him!

The timing could hardly have been worse. Lockdown in a matter of hours, with only a few days to go before Christmas. First thing for them was to arrange for sufficient food – then chat with the family.

I suppose the same phrase could have been used by Mary and Joseph. ‘The timing could hardly have been worse’. Mary was pregnant, out of wedlock. But as she approached the time for her delivery, the Government imposed a set of rules which meant they had to make a 70-mile journey to their ‘family town’, mostly on foot. 

(If that happened to me, I’d have to walk to Birmingham – a similar distance!).

They both knew that God was in this somehow, but after such a long journey they found that all the accommodation was full. And now Mary was in labour. The timing could hardly have been worse.

When Paul wrote a letter to the church in Galatia, he referred to Jesus’ birth, but with the perspective of God’s plan of redemption. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman” (Galatians 4:4). In other words, God had been orchestrating history up to this very point. The timing could not have been better. 

God had a plan for the salvation of his people that was set down before the foundation of the earth. It was made known to Adam and Eve and then throughout the Old Testament with many promises and prophecies foretelling the coming of the Messiah (or Anointed One) who would save his people from their sins. 

Everything was in place. The final part of the plan was that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. But his mother was in Nazareth. You or I might think of various ways of getting her to Bethlehem. But God chose a Government edict. The plan was perfect, the timing was perfect. 

And the result was that the Word became flesh. The second Person of the Trinity took on human form, but such that he was not born with a sinful nature. Rather he had both a human nature, so that he was like us in every way except for sin; and a divine nature, so that his sacrifice can be effective for many. (The Incarnation and the dual-nature of Christ are huge topics by the way – but certainly worth some study!).

We’re currently in the season of Advent, which means ‘the coming’. Obviously, this is related to Christmas and Jesus’ first coming. But we can’t look forward to that – it’s already happened. There is, however, something we can look forward to – and it’s another Advent which is Jesus’ second coming. 

Paul writes in Ephesians 1 (Eph 1:10) about another ‘fullness of time’. This is when God will ‘unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth’. This is not just an event in the future, but something that’s already underway which will ultimately conclude on what the Bible call ‘the Day’.

The point here is that God has his timing for everything that’s going on, and behind that is his purposes. We can often look back and see what those purposes are, but generally speaking, they’re not at all clear when we’re in the middle of things.

So where does that leave us with our Christmas plans? From our perspective, ‘the timing could hardly have been worse’. But from God’s perspective ‘the timing is perfect’. To what end? We don’t know – but maybe, just maybe, when we’re forced to break with our traditions, we might spend a bit more time on the Incarnation.

Several years ago, we did a sketch for the children where a photographer wanted to take a picture of the nativity scene. At first it was just Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus at the centre. But that was not exciting enough, so the shepherds were brought in, then the wise men, angels, animals, Father Christmas, friends and family until finally there was no room for the baby – in fact the baby got in the way so was taken out of the picture altogether. It was a valid message at the time, and still is today.

Maybe this year, God is reversing that story so that Jesus once again becomes the centre of Christmas.

When the angels announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, they didn’t say “a baby has been born to Mary and Joseph”, but “a baby has been born to you”. Echoing the words of Isaiah’s prophecy: “for unto us a child is born”.

“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15)

The last blog post was about being renewed in love. I tried to define love as ‘seeking the best in another whatever the personal cost’.

When it comes to loving God, however, that’s not so easy to apply. How can we seek God’s best? He is already perfect, and has no need of anything, so what could we possibly do?

Jesus helps here. He says that if we love him, we will obey his commandments. On a human level, such a statement would set alarm bells ringing. “If you love me, you’ll do what I say” is the kind of statement associated with coercion or manipulation.

But when this statement comes from God it takes on a different meaning. God is the author of love; he is love and so is seeking our best. In his case, of course, he knows exactly what the best for us is. So, to obey God’s commandments is the best thing we can do.

But this is not an external ‘box-ticking’ exercise, done out of a sense of duty.

The Old Testament commands a total love for God (Deut 6:5) and is repeated by Jesus (Mark 12:20). We are to love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

In my daily readings, the studies I’m following are currently going through the book of Revelation. Interesting!

Chapters 4 and 5 are like a transition from our present world – the one we live in – to the heavenly one. The first chapters are letters to 7 churches and are written in terms we broadly understand and can relate to.

Then John gets a vision of heaven, which is followed by several chapters describing what’s going on there and how that relates to our world – and finally how it will all be drawn to a completion.

His vision in reminiscent of Isaiah 6 – where the very throne room of God is described. A place of awe and majesty where God himself is the centre. His character is proclaimed by worshipping angels with an emphasis on God’s holiness. In Revelation this is developed further with refrains of God’s worthiness. 

Rev 5:11 says that ‘the Lamb who was slain’ is worthy to receive ‘power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!’

Again, that speaks of total devotion.

Then in Rev 11:15 there’s a cry of: “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever”.

Now, God reigns over his creation and always has done (see Psalm 10:16 which uses the same phrase ‘forever and ever’). But this is talking about another kind of kingdom. One in which the subjects are willingly obedient to him. This is the Kingdom of God that Jesus frequently spoke about. It is the ‘kingdom of [God’s] beloved Son’ (Colossians 1:13).

You may have heard a phrase referring to this kingdom – ‘already but not yet’. What that means is that we have the privilege of entering that kingdom in the here and now, but there is a fulfilment, a completion, that is still to come when the effects and consequences of sin will have been dealt with and put away.

I remember one time walking back from a Christian meeting to the place I was living – a house I shared with three others. About that time my parents were moving. They had been running a children’s home for several years which they’d started just as I was finishing school. And now my dad was going into training for ministry, so they were not going to be ‘settled’ for some years to come. And wherever that was, it was never going to be my home. My childhood home, my place of security and memories, had gone forever.

As I was walking, I had this strong realisation that I really belonged with God. That was my real ‘home’, where I really belonged. No place on earth would ever be more than somewhere to live. 

While we wait for that Day (our hope), we live as citizens of the new kingdom. Living by its values – and of course that means being obedient to, in subjection to, its King. 

There’s a great passage in 1 John 5:1-5. It shows what it means to be ‘born of God’, namely people who:

• Believe that Jesus is the Christ
• Love the Father
• Keep his commandments
  • Which are not burdensome!
• Overcome the world

And the way this passage is written shows that these things are effectively the same.

We start by believing, actively trusting that Jesus (the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Saviour) has died for our sins, and that in so doing has enabled us to come as children into the very throne room of God. 

We’ve been adopted into his family; we call him Father. Our response is one of gratefulness, of repentance – turning away from our old ways – and seeking to know his ways and follow them. We develop the ‘family likeness’, becoming like him as we think, speak and behave like him. Which means spending time with our Father, as Jesus did; and loving others, as Jesus commanded.

And so we are able to ‘overcome’ the world, live in a hostile environment, a place that is ‘groaning’ as it waits for Jesus’ return. Because our real home, our real citizenship is not here, but with God.

How can we not love him?

We’ve been looking at being renewed in Love. I wonder what you think about when you hear that? Maybe we’ll end up feeling better – feeling more loved? Maybe that will make us feel more like loving others.

The Bible has a lot to say about love. It tells us that God is love. How he loved even before the foundation of the world, of a love that existed within the three persons of the Trinity. 

That he is the origin of love, so that we love because he first loved us. 

That’s massively reassuring – because it means that when we love we’re doing something that has always been there.

And the love that the Bible talks about in these grand terms is more than romantic love. More than friendship or a relationship based on mutual attraction. Those types of love tend to be reactive – how we respond to another person, and how we feel.

The love that finds its origin in God is proactive. So it can be commanded. In fact, Jesus sums up the whole Old Testament law in two commands – Love God (with all your heart, strength and mind), and your neighbour as yourself. He later adds a new commandment – to love one another.

A definition of this kind of love might be something along the lines of ‘seeking the best for another, whatever the personal cost’.

Now we may find that we feel an affection for another person, and so want to seek their best. But we may not. When Jesus tells us to ‘love our enemies’, it’s unlikely he was expecting us to have much affection for them. Which means it’s possible to love someone we don’t like.

And that reflects the character of God. He made us in his image, but we have all turned away. We’ve rebelled, we’ve sinned. Sin causes a separation between God and us. Our essential problem is that God is holy and we are not. God’s holiness means he cannot even look upon sin. But despite that, he still loves us. Look at Romans 5:8. He loves us so much that he sent his Son, who willingly came to take on the penalty for our sin so that we might be reconciled. 

Many of us have probably heard that a thousand times, which carries a danger that we become overly familiar with it. I remember someone once saying to us that as a church we ‘never seemed to move beyond the Gospel’. I don’t think it was intended as such, but I took that as a compliment! Because we should never move beyond that Good News. I think maybe that’s what Paul had in mind when he prayed in Ephesians 3:18 that they might

“have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge”.

Taking this on board, thinking it through, meditating on it will have consequences. The first is that when we appreciate the great love that God has for us, we will want to love him back. Our feelings will change. How do we love God? Jesus said this “If you love me you will keep my commandments”. We obey as a response of love to an initiative of love.

And a further consequence is that we will love God’s people. In my first year at university a guy called Roger used to come and try to talk to me about Christianity. I didn’t exactly push him away, but I found his visits a little irritating. But it was at the end of that year that I became a Christian. 

At the start of the next year, I’d moved to a different hall of residence, and Roger had moved off campus. A few weeks into the term I bumped into him at a local shop and was really pleased to see him. I was actually surprised at my own reaction! It did not come from me, but was my first taste of the Holy Spirit giving me a love for God’s people.

That doesn’t mean that I immediately get on with everyone – far from it! But in a sense though, that’s important. Because it’s easy to love people we like. But when we don’t agree with, or particularly like another person, we have to decide to still look out for their best. And the strange thing is that often, when we ‘do good’ for them, and pray for them, God will turn our hearts, and our feelings towards them change.

And the additional, or extra-special, love for one another – other Christians – is important. Francis Schaeffer called love ‘the mark of the Christian’. Jesus said that our love for one another will be evidence to the world that we belong to him (John 13:35). For people to see love for one another they have to be able to see actions (see 1 John 3:18).

So a renewal in love has to start with a good look at God – who he is and what he has done for us. As the Holy Spirit burns his Word into our hearts, they will change. Instead of being hostile to God, we will warm towards him. And we will begin to see the world and its people through his eyes and begin to understand (or ‘see in a mirror dimly’ 1 Corinthians 13:12) the love that God has for his people and the world.

A witness is somebody who testifies what they’ve seen and heard. And it seems to me that, Biblically, there are two strands of evangelism or witnessing. There’s the evangelist, the one who is gifted in evangelism in the proclamation of the gospel. Not only do those individuals have a gift but they’re also seen as a gift to the church. There’s a verse in Ephesians 4 about how God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to build up the church. But then there’s also the evangelism of everyday life. Sometimes that’s been called ‘gossiping the gospel’. I think that’s a great phrase, and that’s brought about by living lives that shine; lives that stand out, so that people ask questions. 

Paul brings this out in Colossians.

Colossians 3 is all about how to live the Christian life – the qualities of a disciple. Then there’s a summary at the beginning of chapter 4 where he says this in verses 2-6:

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Paul’s making a distinction between his ministry: where he needs a door for the word, so he can declare the mystery of Christ and proclaim the gospel with clarity of speech;

and the ministry of the church: who are to continue in prayer, to pray for Paul, to walk in wisdom towards outsiders, to have gracious words and to know how to answer people. 

Peter says something similar in 1 Peter 3:15 where he says: 

In your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

So the evangelists proclaim, and the believers are to give answers. 

At the moment in our current environment, engaging with anybody is quite difficult.

But it’s also the environment where people are asking about what’s going on. There’s a certain hopelessness around, which I think is a God-given opportunity for us to ‘show off’ our hope. Maybe something to do with making most of the time.

It’s interesting to see how our 40 days topics tie together. We have to be filled with the Spirit to empower us, not only to speak but to live the kind of lives that that are growing in Christlikeness. We have to have the word of Christ dwell richly so that we know what we believe in why we believe it. 

There’s an opportunity at the moment because people want to talk a bit more, and it seems to be easier to engage slightly deeper. 

The importance of these one to one conversations is something I learned many years ago.

I had just started work in a small computer department at Bostik in Leicester. I’d been talking with my boss, who was called Bill, in his office and he’d asked what I’d been doing the weekend. I felt very brave and said I’d been to a Christian meeting. He asked me about it, wanting to know what that was all about, and what I believed in. 

So I shared the Bridge Illustration (Look at it here). Bill listened quite intently to this and watched as I drew it out.

When I got to the end, he thought a bit then said, “Well, that’s all very well. But first of all, you have to believe in that.” 

And he pointed at the word ‘God’ on the drawing. That brought it to a close, and we never really talked much about Christian things again. 

I felt it was a failure. I’d done it wrong. I should have tried to listen to where Bill was before launching out. 

Some time later we moved to Macclesfield, and eventually lost contact with Bill. 

We’d got involved with young people’s groups and whenever we talked about the Bridge Illustration, I’d use that experience as an example of how not to do it. Because I just thought at the time that I’d been a failure.

But some years later, we had a phone call from the Down’s Syndrome Association. They’d had a call from someone called Bill who said he knew me, could I call him back.

I called him straightaway, and he said he’d remembered that one of the last things before we lost contact was that we were in the process of adopting a child with Down’s Syndrome. So he called the association on the off chance that they might know us. 

But his big message was “Mike, I’ve become a Christian!”

Wow!!

He went on to say that it had happened some while before that phone call, but they’d had a session at his church where they were thinking about the influences that led up to them becoming Christians. He said his story had started with that conversation we’d had in his office where I shared the Bridge. He said what I didn’t know was a lot of things had been going on in his life. And I’d unwittingly, stirred them all up, which he couldn’t talk about, but I’d put them into a context – the gospel – and it began to fall into place for him. But he wasn’t ready, so he had to push back to give himself time. 

But a seed had been planted, and now he’s involved in a Christian support ministry down in Leicester helping people who have mental health problems. 

Often we don’t know the results of our conversations, but in the process of a person becoming a Christian, they’re like links in a chain. 

This time God was very gracious and gave me the privilege of knowing how that conversation, years ago, actually bore fruit. 

That’s not to say other conversations don’t, in fact quite the opposite. It’s just that we don’t always know.

I want to close with a couple of verses. 

One is Isaiah 55:10-11 where God says this:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

And a great verse from the New Testament where Paul ends 1 Corinthians 15 with this verse (1 Cor 15:58)

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.