December 5, 1995
Every election, disgruntled Canadians (and Americans) look for a special leader. They want improvements in every area from employment to Medicare — without increased personal cost.
The Israelites living in Egypt had the same wants. Joseph, their previous special leader, saved them from famine in their own land. He moved them to the fertile Nile delta where they enjoyed a lush lifestyle.
A few generations later, a new leader decided to make slaves of them. Although God blessed them with increased numbers, they continued to pray, sacrifice their lambs and look to Him for deliverance, both from forced labor and from this new Pharaoh who was ordering all their male babies tossed into the Nile.
One baby escaped. The Pharaoh’s daughter found little Moses, took pity and without knowing it, hired his own mother to nurse him. He was trained to be the next Pharaoh but God had other plans; Moses became the next special leader of Israel.
God’s people were excited. This man was going to take them out of bondage and back to the land God had promised them. Their excitement quickly faded when they faced the cost of freedom: a terrifying escape from Pharaoh and his armies, a dry trip across a barren desert with only manna to eat, and finally a need to battle “giants” before repossessing their land.
They provoked God’s anger by looking for another leader. They complained, “We sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you (Moses) have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Out of that entire generation, only two made it to the land of promise.
Hundreds of years later, their descendants were again looking for a special leader. They had experienced another exile and another bondage, this time in Babylon for seventy years. Their captors restricted their sacrifices and made rules against their praying, yet God heard their cries. With leadership of men like Ezra, they were able to rebuild their homeland.
By 400 B.C., the nation entered yet another bondage. God was silent. No prophets were on the scene repeating His promise of a great Deliverer. The Greeks arrived and changed their nation. Then Rome ruled with an iron hand. The people longed for deliverance from political oppression, prayed and sacrificed their lambs, but saw no sign of a special leader.
Finally, another baby was born. The shepherds found Him first. The magi (Persian king makers) gave Him gifts, but the Roman leader tried to kill Him. The child escaped and grew to manhood. One day, John the Baptist declared Him the promised One, the great Deliverer, “the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.”
This was their special leader, sent by God to save them from their greatest bondage — not the rule of Rome but the tyranny of personal sin.
This freedom comes at a price too. Jesus called for repentance. People must turn from sin and from ruling their own lives, and embrace Him as their Lord and Messiah. Most of them said, “We will not have this man rule over us.”
Israelites or not, people are still looking for a special leader — who can produce paved roads, free medical care, and all the benefits of high living without the cost of tightened belts and self-discipline. Many still reject Jesus because they would rather have free indulgence in their sin (and be in bondage to it) than serve Him.
Perhaps today’s leaders can find comfort in the fact that even the Son of God could not please disgruntled people — who want heaven on earth without cost or without change to their lifestyle.
Showing posts with label elections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elections. Show all posts
Friday, October 7, 2016
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Ambassadors for our country .......................... Parables 019
The election is over. Certain candidates are reverting to “plan B” while others are looking forward to four years of representing the people in their constituency.
A person who has been elected to the position of Member of Legislature has a high calling. They must give account to the people who they represent, and they must be deeply concerned for those people, making every effort to govern and legislate with a priority investment in the interests and concerns of the people. Any breach of this not only raises public outcries against any offender, it also determines the outcome of the next election.
Those who understand something of the Biblical doctrine of election know that God, in sovereign wisdom, has elected certain people too. While He does not use ballots nor make His selections on the basis of any campaigning, He does have a body of believers given the task of representing His interests here on earth. He calls them “ambassadors.”
The dictionary defines an ambassador as “an accredited diplomatic agent of the highest rank, appointed as the representative of one government to another.” God’s realm of government is called His Kingdom, the King is the Lord Jesus Christ. The ambassadors are those people whose sins have been forgiven and who have been reconciled to God. They are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2) and now belong to the family of God. Their citizenship is in heaven.
But even though that heavenly citizenship is an established fact, God leaves His citizens in their former homeland for a time. These are His agents, appointed as “ambassadors for Christ” with the high calling of bringing the message of reconciliation to those who do not know Him. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God was making His appeal through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf: be ye reconciled to God.”
During election, when most of us were making evaluations of the performance of those who sought to represent us, I was wondering what God thinks of the performance of His ambassadors? Have we looked to His interests, and sought to represent His Kingdom while living here as foreigners? Have we been faithful to give a clear understanding to others the reason for which we are here, or have we been too caught up with concerns of our own to fulfill the position of representation for which we have been given? And do we even bear the marks of one with a heavenly citizenship . . . so that we are recognized as ambassadors in the first place? We would not tolerate any such infractions in our political representatives, would we?
I didn’t become a citizen of the kingdom because of my record prior to office, nor can I keep it based on anything I do while in office. The love and mercy of God in the death and resurrection of His Son secures not only that heavenly citizenship, but secures my post for all of my life here. There will be no reelection based on any track record. Yet when I go home, I want to stand before my King and hear Him say, “Well done, you have served me well, you have been a faithful ambassador.”
(Note: These parables were written in "real time" but are reproduced here in order, not according to the events that were happening when they were written, like elections, holidays, disasters and so on.)
A person who has been elected to the position of Member of Legislature has a high calling. They must give account to the people who they represent, and they must be deeply concerned for those people, making every effort to govern and legislate with a priority investment in the interests and concerns of the people. Any breach of this not only raises public outcries against any offender, it also determines the outcome of the next election.
Those who understand something of the Biblical doctrine of election know that God, in sovereign wisdom, has elected certain people too. While He does not use ballots nor make His selections on the basis of any campaigning, He does have a body of believers given the task of representing His interests here on earth. He calls them “ambassadors.”
The dictionary defines an ambassador as “an accredited diplomatic agent of the highest rank, appointed as the representative of one government to another.” God’s realm of government is called His Kingdom, the King is the Lord Jesus Christ. The ambassadors are those people whose sins have been forgiven and who have been reconciled to God. They are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2) and now belong to the family of God. Their citizenship is in heaven.
But even though that heavenly citizenship is an established fact, God leaves His citizens in their former homeland for a time. These are His agents, appointed as “ambassadors for Christ” with the high calling of bringing the message of reconciliation to those who do not know Him. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God was making His appeal through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf: be ye reconciled to God.”
During election, when most of us were making evaluations of the performance of those who sought to represent us, I was wondering what God thinks of the performance of His ambassadors? Have we looked to His interests, and sought to represent His Kingdom while living here as foreigners? Have we been faithful to give a clear understanding to others the reason for which we are here, or have we been too caught up with concerns of our own to fulfill the position of representation for which we have been given? And do we even bear the marks of one with a heavenly citizenship . . . so that we are recognized as ambassadors in the first place? We would not tolerate any such infractions in our political representatives, would we?
I didn’t become a citizen of the kingdom because of my record prior to office, nor can I keep it based on anything I do while in office. The love and mercy of God in the death and resurrection of His Son secures not only that heavenly citizenship, but secures my post for all of my life here. There will be no reelection based on any track record. Yet when I go home, I want to stand before my King and hear Him say, “Well done, you have served me well, you have been a faithful ambassador.”
(Note: These parables were written in "real time" but are reproduced here in order, not according to the events that were happening when they were written, like elections, holidays, disasters and so on.)
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