While reading ps 104 i couldn't help but meditate on the grandeur of God.

"Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak,
Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. 

 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;

He makes the clouds His chariot;

He walks upon the wings of the wind; 

He makes the winds His messengers,

Flaming fire His ministers."

ps 104:2-4 

Our God has far more power than we could ever imagine.  The thing that struck me was not his might and power but his gentleness.  God is powerful.  He created everything, he has done great works of might and power in history, but he is heard in a soft breeze...

 So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” ¹⁴ Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” 1 kings 19:11-14

The Gospel

From the aspect of knowledge and understanding i am no expert in the gospel, in the same way a unschooled farmer is not an expert in botany.  It is still funny though how someone with 2 Phd's on the subject could spend a lifetime and never know as much about plants as that farmer.  The farmers knowledge, in this case, comes from living a life reliant on knowing his plants.  Although i have never had formal teaching on the Gospel and the list of what i don't know is much longer than the list of what i do know, in the words of John Newton "i know 2 things, i am a great sinner, and Christ is a great savior."  No i say all this to get to the point we must all know the gospel.  not in a sense of having all the right answers but getting our life from it in the same way the farmer does. 

So here we go....

In the beginning God.... We must start here.  In solving a problem you always start with assumptions,  like throwing a football you assume gravity will bring it back to the ground so you can worry about trajectory to get it where you want it.  But why can we assume the gravity will be there?  Because there has never been a point to prove it wont provide the 32.2 ft/s^2.  In the same way God has never been proven unfaithful and non-existent. This is why we must start with the Gospel here.  Rather you believe in God or not, he exist in a glorious loving sovereign matter.  Back to the gravity analogy.  If you fall off a building, rather you believe gravity is true or not, you will still hit the ground. 

Secondly, once on the foundation God exists, in order to be God he must contain certain attributes.  He must be sovereign.  He must be all knowing.  He must be all powerful.  He must be ever ware.  Therefore he created this earth, for his own glory.  The crown of that creation however is humans.  We are created in God image, wonderfully and fearfully made!  Each of us is a unique, beautiful creation...whether we are in a state of bearing Gods image or not.  This is why Jesus spent so much time with the prostitutes, crippled and tax collectors.  He saw them as created in Gods(His) image.

Soon after creation mankind fell into sin by disobeying the one thing God commanded them not to do.  And with this sin and death entered the world.  This was not just a bad thing or a slap on the wrist for humanity, but an act of outright hatred and contempt to a Holy, Perfect Creator.  God knows all though, and knowing we would choose our pride, knowledge, selfishness and idols over Him, He used our chose to give Himself the most glory possible.

The logical question then is how could God get the glory due His name by creating a creation he knew would fall into sin?  The answer to that is Jesus Christ!  Jesus came to live the life that we could not (perfectly submitted to God the Father's will in everything), in order to die the death we deserved due to our hatred to the Holy, Just God.  In doing this not just Gods justice and sovereignty are seen, but His grace, mercy and love are.

And this is the glorious news of the gospel.  God created for His glory; man rejected for their own glory; and then God saves and restores all of creation unto Himself for His glory!  And what do we need to do to obtain this great salvation?  Repent and believe.  Which is only possible by Gods grace in opening your eyes to your NEED of Him!





 

My Testimony

A testimony is an interesting thing to think about.  It is a personal story about the writer, but in a way it is not about the writer one bit.  Its much bigger than the story of a person; the story of the God, His creation, His glory and our eternal dependence upon Him! So here we go...

I Daniel Bernard Cartwright am not my own, but I have been bought with a price.  Being born into a christian family with loving parents was a huge grace given to me by God.  However, being born to christian parents, and attending church with them does not save you.  I attended church and did my best to be a good kid and by most peoples standards i was.  But on the inside i was as lost as could be.  I did not Love the Lord my God.  I simply behaved because in doing so i got the freedom and things i wanted from my parents.  I had the attitude i would use God to make my life better for eternity.  We must remember that our God is sovereign, and this time of rebellion and hatred toward Him was in His perfect plan.  I did learn parts of the bible, simple doctrine and memorized parts of the bible through the church AWANA program.  All part of God's training me and drawing me to Himself!

Once at MTU i finally had the uninhibited freedom i always wanted, and how did i use it?  The same way i had in high school; acting like a christian by working my way to heaven.  At this point i was involved in Cru and was asked by a friend if i wanted him to disciple me.  I said yes because it was another good thing that would put me in the good graces of God.  But through this God opened my eyes to His glory.  I knew from a young age that God sent His son Jesus into this world to die for the world, and i had even "asked Jesus into my heart."  There were many things that i was unaware of though.  I never realized Jesus died for ME... and that MY sins alone were enough for Him to need to die.  I learned that i could do nothing to merit His grace, but it was a free gift from God.  I also learned that without the supernatural rebirth it is impossible to understand who Jesus was, what He did on the cross, why He rose, and what this means for His bride (the church).  I also learned that saying a prayer does not save you but Jesus taking God's wrath opun Himself on the cross does!

So, from a young age God drew me and had grace upon me, and as i grew older He opened my eyes to His glorious salvation for me.  And if that doesent make Him gracious enough he then sent His spirit to live in me that i may fight the fight that would be impossible with out His presence in my daily life.  And if that wasent enough grace, someday soon He will return and bring His bride unto Himself that He might show me the surpassing riches of His grace!!!!

Now being a christian does not make me perfect.  If it does then Jesus blood was no needed.  But on this earth i strive to glorify Him and run from the sin that so easily entangles me.  But the sufferings and shortcomings are as Paul says are light and momentary compared to the eternal weight in glory that awaits Christ's bride!