It Is Finished.. (lol)

In my last post I talked about being a hypocrite and covered a story from the Bible in which Abraham gives the low down to someone that didn’t make it to heaven.  The guy is trying to warn his family about the truth and Abraham sets him straight.  In this story, Abraham himself said that the Word was the way for people to believe and know the truth.  Not miracles.  Not the walking dead.  Not some super experience.  The Word alone.  If they believe and know and have a relationship then they’ll end up in heaven as Lazarus did.

The Eternal Word
(Gen. 1:1-2:3)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not [fn1] comprehend it.

The Word Becomes Flesh
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

I believe this.  I really do.  So then, if I believe how can I not study the Bible?  How can I not study the Word?  How can I not open up this thing that is Jesus?  How can I not stop to learn about the One that has now taken up residence inside me?  It’s easier to neglect Him than you might think unfortunately.  But, if I don’t study it, if I don’t seek to glean information about my creator from it, how do I succeed?

I don’t.

I’m a failure without it.  Ask any of my family members.  Ask my wife.

I’ve got friends that are failing right now, going to parties, abusing their bodies and minds, that shouldn’t be.  They’re throwing their witness down and trampling it in the mud like it’s some common worthless thing.  I’ve got friends that are trying to fight their way out of those situations.  Ones that are trying to fight the temptations to join the ones already lost in the lust.  All of them are in this because they’ve failed to take their part in their lives seriously.  They’ve failed to study God.  They’ve failed to learn about Him, and who He really is.  They’ve left all of their education up to Sunday School and youth groups, worship sessions, life experiences and whatever other wind of change came their way.

You see, way back several posts ago, I started with a mock argument.  In the argument one person was defensive about not studying the Bible, kind of trying to justify not getting to know God.  How in the world can anyone argue against studying the Bible.  Against reading it more.  Against talking about it more?  How was I able to justify that in my head?

In that conversation, the instigator didn’t even get a chance to finish his sentence.  He started with saying “I think you should study the Bible more.” But was really cut off before he could finish.  He was going to say “I think you should study the Bible more so you can learn more about Jesus, and though that knowledge you can see how far you’ve come in your walk already, and how much more Jesus still loves you.”  Why would we say no to that…

I’m going to start digging in.  Seriously.  I’ve got ideas, and passion stirring again in me.  It’s been a long time.  It’s exciting.

Poser?

I can say that I’m a hunter.  It’s true; I’ve hunted.  I know a little about it.  I’ve killed several animals.  But, if you asked my step-dad if I were a hunter, he’d laugh at you.  The same goes with me calling myself a fisherman.  Same deal, I know a little bit, caught several fish, cleaned even more; ask my step-dad though and hahaha… the bellows would shake the house.  You see, even though I know something about the topics, and I was brought into the “club”, I don’t have any real intimate knowledge about them.  I’m not dedicated to them.  I don’t sacrifice my time for them.  I don’t enjoy them really.  I’d call myself a “poser”.  It’s what we called kids that pretended to be cool skateboarders, when we were really the cool skateboarders.

So, as I talked about before, if I agree that I need to have an intimate relationship with Jesus, I mean a real one, then how does it happen?  If I don’t build this relationship, do I really want to be “half way” with God?  The One I’ve already admitted was the creator of the universe?  Am I okay with being a poser?

Nope, well, I don’t want to be a poser when I put it like that.

So, if I agree, what do I do about it?  How do I get an intimate relationship with Jesus? I know the Bible says you can hear His voice, but it’s hard for me to have a literal conversation with Him.  I’m a physical kind of a guy, and really benefit from being able to use my senses to learn about a thing.  See it, Hear it, Touch it, Smell it, Taste it.  So, anyway, look at this parable Jesus shared:

The Rich Man and Lazarus
Luke 16:19-31
19 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with [fn4] the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”

This is one of my favorite parables.  Here it is, one of the most obvious indications as to how we’re supposed to solve our dilemma.

When the rich man understood his fate he asked that Abraham would send Lazarus to his family to make them understand the truth, the truth of the Bible, the truth of who God is, the truth of it all so they might not fall into the same fate as he.  The Rich Man finally understood that following status quo didn’t get him to heaven.  He didn’t take the relationship seriously.  He knew the answer, but didn’t commit to the relationship.  This state will find many people.

True Disciples
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as `Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. 22 On judgment day many will tell me, `Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, `I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized. [fn5] ‘

Now this is awesome, because Abraham could have left him be.  Just ignored it.  But he didn’t, and Jesus gave us this story, so we can go through it now.

Abraham responded with “Nope, they’ve got Moses and the Prophets”, IE the written Word of God.  The rich man was like “No really, if they see a dead man rise then they’ll believe” and Abraham is still saying “Nope, trust me, if they don’t believe the Word, then they’ll not believe the dead being raised.”

The Word, the written Word, the Law and the Prophets is what Abraham said would be the key to the living relatives of the rich man.

I can make some assumptions that I feel pretty safe with.  I’m assuming the rich man was educated.  I’m assuming he knew what the truth was.  I’m assuming he knew who God was, and what the deal was supposed to be.  And, following that line, that superficial knowledge didn’t help him at all.  His money, his success, his family, none of that kept him from his fate.  This passage doesn’t speak to why Lazarus and the Rich Man ended up where they were.  It only shows where they ended up.  I’m not trying to pass judgment on any rich people.  Far from it.

But, when we’ve come to the point of acknowledging ourselves, and our place, and our possibilities, and we’re wanting to learn how to live for Jesus; when we’re wanting to learn how to love people as Jesus does; when we’re trying to learn how to be angry without sinning, when we’re looking at how we can complete this journey we’re on successfully, why not go to the Word for our examples?