BACKGROUND:
The book I.D. CRISIS by Kurt Koppetsch deals with the spiritual, intellectual, and social conflict of people in modern times. Confusion about the past and uncertainties in the present prevent us from knowing our true nature. As a direct consequence of such confusion, visions of the future are clouded. Some of the diversions that prevent people from realizing their true identity as children of God are philosophies, politics, economics, and falsehoods such as religious cults. The solution is remembering that human beings are dependent creatures of God.
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE:
Each series of the book I.D. CRISIS will conclude repeatedly with the poem "Rays of Hope and Freedom" to assure readers that God is in charge of human lives and we are his children of hope. Hope is the From/to process at work in the modern Era of Faith repairing life and circumstances. Hope is making the impossible come true.
This week's topic:
INTRODUCTION
I.D. CRISIS was written to alert all people everywhere about a better way of life, God's way. The purpose of the text is to help diligent readers get started on the personal road of discovery to eternal truth and universal salvation.
No writing, however eloquent, can prescribe a step-by-step procedure for this search. People must learn to appreciate for themselves the way of truth. Such is the beginning of an everlasting relationship.
And the authority for guidance belongs to God. In human ideas, what may be totally acceptable to some is highly objectionable to others.
Even though attitudes and behavior may vary from culture to culture, the essence of life, nonetheless, is changeless. The model of the godly life has been given to the world. The message about the Kingdom of God and the will of God is clear in Christ's teaching.
Much confusion is nourished by ignorance. And evil enters in when theories are declared as facts and dogmatic pronouncements attempt to protect doctrines and traditions. This is typical when ecclesiastical organizations feel threatened and try to perpetuate themselves. But such defensive moves are not always necessarily in the interest of truth.
There is no need to speculate concerning the truth about God. The teaching of Christ is God's summary. The message given explains the Kingdom of God and the will of God. Nothing more is required for the short human pilgrimage on earth of seventy years more or less.
Christ affirmed God's expectations of faithfulness and obedience. The call to worship and service--the ancient Shema Yisrael--is confirmed for all people everywhere as a primary event in everyday life: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37)
No additional explanations is needed. The human race is the height of God's creation. And God has definite expectations of people.
Eternal truth is further enhanced by Christ summarizing the historic Law of Holiness and Justice. This divine command stands as the foundation of all human relationships: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:39)
Prior to Christ's confirmation of these standards for human behavior, God's prophet Micah provided the divine reply to the age-old question as to what God requires of people. The subject again concerns holiness and justice: "He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)
The direction is straightforward. There are no hidden meanings.
Yet Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest Americans, lamented about the sad condition of ecclesiastical religion. The prophet Micah's detailed summary to "walk humbly with your God" was compared by Lincoln to the workings of the institutional church.
This is how Lincoln saw the problem: "When any church will inscribe over its altar, as its sole qualification for membership, the Saviour's condensed statement of the substance of both Law and Gospel, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor, as thyself' that church will I join with all my heart and all my soul."
What otherwise may appear as sarcasm on the part of non-committed people are actually cries of desperation--sometimes even calls for reform. The vacuum within an empty soul is the greatest imaginable abyss. It is as consuming as the bottomless pit.
--Where is God in times of war?
--Why all the starvation in the world?
--Why do people suffer?
These outcries are real. Death and suffering are in the world. Where is God in all this trouble? Assuredly, with the faithful believer! God is right in the center of war, starvation, and suffering to support and uphold the faithful.
Faithful believers live in the world according to divine promise. What God ordains, God also sustains. This message of hope has been given many times. But it must be repeated again and again.
God has already demonstrated his perfect record of performance. He has proven to be faithful and steadfast. Therefore, any demands for new themes in the teaching of eternal truth are mere tactics of arrogant people. With their demands they wish God's creation to march to their tune. Anyone more concerned about the ways of the world than the Kingdom of God does not have a working relationship with the Living God at heart.
Biblical writings are sufficient evidence about the concerns of a righteous God for sinful people. The Bible, indeed, is a text on relationships. It is a true God-and-people book.
But eternal truth is a matter of revelation by the Holy Spirit. The written word, indeed, is human, but its inspirational message is divine.
God inspires believers by means of divinely ordained channels. The Bible is the means by which the Holy Spirit makes known the truth about God.
Education is a continuous process of learning. But somehow people have conceived the unfortunate notion that formal education ends the learning process. Nothing is further from the truth.
A worse situation exists in religious education. It is truly sad to see children elated at having been freed from the burden of learning about God at the day of their confirmation. They have learned fast to follow the example of elders.
With the exception of some sporadic programs, no responsibility has been exercised by either teachers or adults to maintain the learning process of knowing all the truth about God.
Good behavior is a matter of faithfulness and obedience to God. The quality of our response to God is not subject to human consideration, for the will of God is the purpose of our being. Christ taught and demonstrated God's intent for people. When people live and act accordingly, they have achieved true greatness. Then they also have something to boast about--because of what God through Christ has done--and not brag about worldly achievements.
The Word of God in Jeremiah encourages our concern for the Kingdom of God. "Thus says the LORD: 'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practice steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the LORD.'" (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
RAYS OF HOPE AND FEEDOM
My life was in chaos.
Darkness clouded my senses,
My heart trembled in fear.
I prayed to God:
"Father, help me!"
And God transformed my life.
The world is still the same.
But I am now secure:
Christ is my Savior!
His love fills my heart,
His faith is my faith.
Rays of hope now light up my soul.
Rays of hope and freedom
Show me the way to God,
And where Christ lives I too will live!
NEXT, November 30:
Are we existing in an identity crisis?
(Excerpt from the book I.D. CRISIS by Kurt Koppetsch, published by Shepherd News Trust, Inc.--www.shepherdnewstrust.com)
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