Do We Get Him?
He Gets Us!
An attempt to connect people to Jesus showing that Jesus understands our concerns. You could say that they are attempting to filter through all of the conflicts related with Christianity by focusing on the founder of Christianity.
The Asbury Revival
This recent revival has drawn a significant amount of response and general attention where nothing too weird related to the holiness movement is happening, but prayer, confession, and even repentance followed by baptism.
- Awareness (God, Righteousness)
- Conviction (man, unrighteous)
- Repentance
- Baptism
- Holy Spirit
- Fruit of the Spirit
Quickly, let’s review a very symbolic event related to awareness of God and what God does to prepare us to be convicted of sin so that we may repent.
Exo 12:13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Exo 12:23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.
1Co 5:7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
Rev 5:12 saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
Though Israel was a poor example for giving God the credit for initiating their freedom from slavery and nor did they properly acknowledge God’s righteousness, we still get to see God’s deliverance from death of all of their firstborn, because at least they obeyed in the matter of the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. We still get to see the deliverance of the entire nation of Israel from slavery as well during the Days of Unleavened Bread. This was all initiated by the LORD to make Israel AWARE of Him and all God stands for.
And, we also learn of its symbolism toward us, the firstborn, or firstfruits, of the Kingdom of God, following in the footsteps of the very first of the firsts, our Lord and Master, Jesus the Christ.
Act 2:36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
Act 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
Act 2:38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
So, it is not just becoming aware of God and His righteousness, nor does it end with our conviction of our own sinfulness, because this must all be followed by true repentance, a COMPLETE turning away from ungodliness, the outward sign of Baptism, and the receiving of God’s Spirit as a down payment on salvation.
We can look at the word of God and see how God bears with those He loves…
Psa 103:10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
Psa 103:11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
Psa 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psa 103:13 As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
Psa 103:14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
But we can also look at that same word to learn of the limits to that forbearance…
Rev 2:18 "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, 'These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass:
Rev 2:19 "I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.
Rev 2:20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
Rev 2:21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.
Rev 2:22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
So, we can read the following and apply both situations above to it.
Jas 2:10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
Jas 2:11 For He who said, "DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," also said, "DO NOT MURDER." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
On the one hand, God understands our frailty, our weakness, and He bears with our transgressions if we are repentant. On the other hand, if we continue in sin, even in only one aspect of the law, we can lose our place in line.
This makes me think of some examples we find in our history, where people justified wrongs for their definition of a greater good or simply because they benefitted from doing or allowing the wrong to happen.
https://www.npr.org/2017/04/17/523964584/in-the-1920s-a-community-conspired-to-kill-native-americans-for-their-oil-money
"In his new book, Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann describes how white people in the area conspired to kill Osage members in order steal their oil wealth, which could only be passed on through inheritance. "This was a culture of complicity," he says, "and it was allowed to go on for so long because so many people were part of the plot. You had lawmen, you had prosecutors, you had the reporters who wouldn't cover it. You had oilmen who wouldn't speak out. You had morticians who would cover up the murders when they buried the body. You had doctors who helped give poison to people."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1997/09/27/the-irish-famine-complicity-in-murder/5a155118-3620-4145-951e-0dc46933b84a/
THE IRISH FAMINE: COMPLICITY IN MURDER
This author, in his opinion piece, makes an argument that, Ireland was exporting a huge amount of food wealth to Britain during the time of the Irish famine, and his claim, something I can’t verify readily, is that the wealthy of Ireland and the recipients of the goods in England did not care if Irish Catholics suffered, because this ethnic religious group was disdained at the time.
So, the proposition is that civilized people of import and wealth turned a blind eye to the suffering of others because they benefitted from the outcome.
We, as Christians, don’t ever want to be a people who would turn a blind eye to an outright sin simply because of a claim that the results of that sin would benefit us. Health. Wealth. Survival.
There is not a single thing, even if offered the greatest health or wealth on earth that can compare to the promise God gives those who wholly submit to and trust in Him.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
1Co 15:20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
Heb 2:18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Heb 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
The last point I provided in itemizing our relationship with God and the promise of salvation, was fruit of the Spirit. We know that receiving God’s Spirit is not actually enough, because if we don’t take full advantage of Its presence in our lives, we will not be there to rise up to meet Christ at His return. Following is not a typical fruit of the Spirit passage, but it is a beautiful generalization of the effect of living life in that Spirit.
2Co 5:18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
2Co 5:19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2Co 5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
2Co 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
I certainly wouldn’t mind if the “He gets us” movement initiated a response to God that would lead people into a full relationship with Him. Maybe, if people understood how Christ has experienced all the temptations we have, but did not sin, they can be led eventually to find the truth as we have.
I certainly wouldn’t mind if the Asbury Revival led to the same outcome.
I was raised in the Church of God, but many were not. They actually came out of false Christianity, at first, believing they were obeying God and doing His will. In that place is where a better understanding of obedience entered their hearts and they realized they needed to embark on a totally new path. Let us pray, as the call goes out to let people know that Jesus gets them, that those who hear will be led to getting Jesus. By getting Jesus, they can then also get our Father God, and seek to obey completely in Spirit AND all truth.
I also pray earnestly that God’s people not lose site in any single matter of obedience to God, heeding the warnings given, making sure we diligently seek God’s way in all things.
