God is in the Rescue Business
Last week at a Men’s Breakfast, we heard from one of our State’s most senior police officers. It struck me that people think about God as if he is in the law enforcement business. God is some kind of cosmic policeman and we have to obey his rules or it’s off to the slammer for eternity. The truth couldn’t be more different.
It’s true that God has rules. But their purpose is not to give God an excuse to come down hard on us, or to take away our freedom, or to impose restrictions on the way we can live. The bible says, “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were” (Romans 5:20). The purpose of God’s law is, quite simply, to make us aware that we can never be good enough for God on our own and we need help. We need to know that to make sense of what God is really on about.
We can be tempted to think of God’s law as being like a ladder, stretching up into the clouds, that we have to climb to reach him. Maybe we’ve tried to climb the ladder, only to have fallen off. Or perhaps we’ve been so overwhelmed by how high the ladder is that we’ve never taken the first step. Can I say this? Don’t bother. You’ll never make it any way. I’m not being defeatist, just realistic.
If God is not in the law enforcement business, what business is he in? As we come into the Easter season, I want to suggest that God is in the RESCUE business. Again, this is what the bible says, “Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live” (Galatians 1:4). Jesus has thrown us a life line. If we grab hold of it, he will lift us directly into the peace and safety of the presence of God.
Neil Percival
It’s true that God has rules. But their purpose is not to give God an excuse to come down hard on us, or to take away our freedom, or to impose restrictions on the way we can live. The bible says, “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were” (Romans 5:20). The purpose of God’s law is, quite simply, to make us aware that we can never be good enough for God on our own and we need help. We need to know that to make sense of what God is really on about.
We can be tempted to think of God’s law as being like a ladder, stretching up into the clouds, that we have to climb to reach him. Maybe we’ve tried to climb the ladder, only to have fallen off. Or perhaps we’ve been so overwhelmed by how high the ladder is that we’ve never taken the first step. Can I say this? Don’t bother. You’ll never make it any way. I’m not being defeatist, just realistic.
If God is not in the law enforcement business, what business is he in? As we come into the Easter season, I want to suggest that God is in the RESCUE business. Again, this is what the bible says, “Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live” (Galatians 1:4). Jesus has thrown us a life line. If we grab hold of it, he will lift us directly into the peace and safety of the presence of God.
Neil Percival