February 3, 2011

Acts 17
Paul’s 2nd Missionary Journey

“From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live” Acts 17:26

"For in him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:28

No matter how things seem, you cannot live apart from God.
You can choose to ignore Him. You can’t get rid of Him.

God is actively reigning over the cosmos right now. God is doing so through Jesus as the actively involved ruler of the world, doing so from heaven. He rules through the church which influences and transforms people and society from the bottom up and from the margins in through love. Obviously this is quite different to top down leadership through exercise of power. It also means evil and sin still have room to flourish--- for now.

The following quote gives a terrific picture of the God we are dealing with.

“It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. “look out!” we cry, “it’s alive”. And therefore this is the very pont at which so many draw back –I would have done so myself if I could – and proceed no further with Christianity. An “impersonal God” – well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own heads – better still. A formless life-force surging through us as a vast power which we can tap – best of all. But God Himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps, approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband – that is quite another matter. There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion (man’s search for God) suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meant it to come to that! Worse still, supposing He had found us?”
CS Lewis, Miracles, chap 11

Do you follow the God who is real, active, alive, the God in Jesus who just won’t leave you alone?