Cells in the Body

At the moment of conception, two partial cells join into one complete cell. That cell immediately divides into two; the two into four; four into eight until the completed adult body contains around three trillion cells. At a certain stage in this explosion of division, cells reach a final stage. Here is a neuron in the spinal column; there a muscle cell and over there a bone cell. Each cell has its assigned location and function. Only in mutations or interrupted cell duplication do cells end up in the wrong place. Each cell lives only with extreme difficulty outside of its assigned place. Cells removed from the body tend to die rapidly even when supported with advanced technology. Each cell lives only to contribute to the whole body its special function and contribution. The digestive cells break down and absorb nutrients. Nerve cells convey messages and give the ability to think, remember and reason. Tongue cells "taste" the watermelon. Hearing cells carry the voice of the beloved to our brain. Each cell is bathed in a sea of blood which brings what the cell needs and carries away its wastes and products. We, the born-again individuals are like cells in the body of Christ. We have our own assigned places and functions. We can live only with great difficulty outside of the body of Christ. Our contributions support the life of the body and the body supplies the nutrients and other essentials for our growth and livelihood. And we are all bathed in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ who is our supply of nourishment and carries away the waste products of our life. He mediates our interactions and brings to us individually those things supplied by the other members of the body-the hormones of growth and function, the immunization others have learned from their contact with the world and themselves and the instructions for the second-by-second living that is our place in the body and in the world. Our purpose, our pleasure, our existence is based on being in the body. 06.1.07

My Daddy Can Lick Your Daddy!

“My daddy can lick your daddy.” “Oh yeah? My daddy can lick your daddy with both hands tied behind his back.” “My daddy is bigger ‘n yours.” “My daddy’s stronger.” So goes the age-old battle of kids trying to settle differences without resorting to fighting between themselves. Perhaps the same things, on a more sophisticated level happens between nations: “I have more nukes than you.” “I’ve got people who are willing to blow up your skyscrapers.” And so on and on we go. In my case, growing up, I could say, without fear of contradiction, “My daddy’s bigger than yours.” He was nearly 6’4” in a time when the average height for a man was 5’6”. He had played basketball and football and was quite strong. I think I may remember pulling that on at least one of my playmates when we were arguing over something. We humans need to have a trump card; a way to have it our way; to go into battle knowing we will be on the winning side. Some try to fix the game in some way-bribing an official or a player. Some get laws passed in their favor, tilting the money field in their direction. Beyond all the kids’ wranglings; beyond all the games and greed and war of adult life, there is an ultimate argument; a transcendental disagreement. Is my Daddy strong enough to defeat His enemy? Sometimes it doesn’t seems so. Am I held captive the “roaring lion?” Am I his legitimate prey-without recourse and subject to his whims? Much in the Christian press would seem to indicate this. Great amounts of ink are spilled in methods and means of overcoming, of defeating the enemy, of casting him out. But, in reality, my Daddy is bigger, stronger, smarter, wiser, better armed than the father of lies. He can truly defeat His enemies with a single word-the breath of His mouth is sufficient to overcome any challenge. We need have no fear, no dread of the defeated foe; he was laid low at the cross, never to rise again-a toothless tiger who can only roar in frustration. We can walk with confidence into any and all circumstances, places and be with anyone we choose. No eternal consequence can befall us. Note that I said no “eternal” consequence. I’m not saying we are always physically safe. Bad things happen to good people. Refer back to Job if you have forgotten. We can be murdered, raped, kidnapped, tortured. We have no guarantee against such things. But our eternal destiny is safe; we cannot be removed from His hand. Our Daddy is biggest of all. 1 John 4:4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. John 10:28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. (NASB) 1.15.13

Incarnation

In his book, The Shack Revisited, C. Baxter Kruger tells of observing a father waiting for his son in an airport. Suddenly the son came through the door and ran into his father’s arms. Telling this story later to a congregation, he was met by a young girl who told him, “When I heard that story, I saw God, with steps leading up to Him. People were trying to climb the steps, weeping and crying because they couldn’t make it. Then Jesus came and gathered them all together into His arms, carried them up the steps and sat with them all enfolded in His arms in His Father’s lap.” (Somewhat paraphrased) My own imagination suddenly soared, seeing the scene, perhaps as the young girl had seen it. For years I have been on a quest to understand the incarnation, the cross, resurrection and ascension. I know all the standard explanations: “to demonstrate His love for us,” “to take our sins,” “to defeat the devil,” “to appease His Father’s wrath against sin,” “to give us legal standing with the Father.” Right or wrong, none of these satisfied me. Some of them seemed blasphemous, some of them merely inadequate. My imagination “saw” the torment of all humanity, clawing and scratching our way up impossibly high stairs, the descent of Jesus and His ascent again, loaded with His glad burden of humanity; His nestling as a favored child into His Father’s lap carrying all of us with Him and we all relaxing into the warmth of Daddy’s loving embrace—the battle and struggle over, acceptance achieved. Seen this way, through a child’s eyes, the incarnation is the ultimate rescue mission, the joyous round trip of God bringing His lost sheep home again. It is not some complicated theological process; it’s a loving father doing what a loving father would do. It is Ephesians 2:4 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive with Christ (by grace we have been save), and raised us up with Him and seated us at His right hand in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. (NASB) All of our attempts to reach Him are doomed. No matter how religious we are, we are dead in our transgressions. No matter how long the pilgrimage, no matter how valued the alm, no matter how great the sacrifice, all is for naught-we cannot climb even the first step. Many there are who wound themselves on the religious journey to find Him. Many are the others who find it an impossible task and destroy themselves in pursuits which deaden their desire to find Him, or rather, the pain of not being able to find Him. We are all wounded in our deadness and are discouraged and defeated at our repeated failure. Then He stoops down and gathers us into His arms and we know His love and safety. We are home. 01.14.13