by Tim Baker
I have a lovely grandchild
Whose face I cannot see
At least not in this brief life,
But in eternity
I'll get to hear a "grandpa"
That my ears will miss for yet,
I’ll get to see a happy smile
My eyes cannot forget.
And all the questions many
About God's greater plan,
Will quickly melt to nothing
When first I hold your hand.
And we can run and laugh and sing
Together praising our great King.
And to the mountains we can fly
And look down at top of sky.
Oh precious one, whether girl or boy
What fun we'll have, what times of joy
When we can see God's greater plan,
When at last I hold your hand!
21 January 2010
Clearing the Confusion
by Tim Baker
There is a lot of confusion in this world about religion. This or that church or religion claims to be the only true one and the only way to heaven. Some teach their followers to spread their message by violence, some by love. Some say certain activities or rules are required to enter heaven. And within a given religion, there may be many branches that claim to have more of a corner on the truth than the other branches, ad nauseam.
So how does one sort all this out and get to the truth?
If God really exists and really cares about the human race He created, if He really wants us to know Him intimately, if He wants us to have a positive existence in this life and a perfect existence after this life, then why is religion so confusing?
The key element of the confusion revolves around the word “religion”. Religion was created by human beings and centers around human attempts to reach God through various means that are all related to human efforts. Religion involves many rules, regulations, forms, “do’s” and “don’ts” and a plethora of approaches.
The confusion began to clear up for me when I realized the key to all this is not “religion”, it is “relationship”. I began to realize that what matters most to God, for all time and eternity, is my personal relationship with Him. John 17:3 says, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” As parents have children so they can share and enjoy life with them, so God created the human race so He could share and enjoy life with them.
He wants very deeply to have a positive relationship with you and me and everyone; a relationship that allows Him to benefit us in every possible way. I firmly believe everything He is and does and communicates aims toward that one goal: the most perfect and positive relationship He can have with every individual.
Religion, with all its secondary trappings, hammers all around the nail of truth but never hits it on the head. That is why religion is so confusing—it never gets to the point of the one-on-one relationship. It is forever reaching and never grasping.
The question then becomes: “How do we find that personal relationship?” The obvious answer to finding a personal relationship is not through a form (in other words, religion), but through a person. God is seemingly “out there” and we are “here”. How do we bridge the gap?
We humans cannot bridge the gap from the finite to the infinite by our own efforts. So God does it for us. At an incredible personal cost to Himself.
His Son, Jesus Christ, is the intermediary, the bridge between God and people. It is not this or that church, or sect or religion or list of rules. It is a person.
Examine the information about God and Jesus and humans that is contained in the Bible. Examine it for yourself (not second hand). Examine it in its totality in context (not in isolated bits and pieces here and there). If you will do this, without prejudice, then things will begin to become clear to you, as they did to me. Then you will begin to make the life-transforming transition from religion to relationship.
I would like to recommend a simple prayer to pray whenever you read the Bible: “God, if you are real, please reveal yourself to me through the Bible. Open its meaning to me and open my heart to it.”
In addition to the Bible itself, I recommend the following books to help you on your journey. The booklet “Step Up to Life” may be found at stepuptolife.com. You can also find online More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict also by Josh McDowell, and A General Introduction to the Bible by Geisler and Nix.
There is a lot of confusion in this world about religion. This or that church or religion claims to be the only true one and the only way to heaven. Some teach their followers to spread their message by violence, some by love. Some say certain activities or rules are required to enter heaven. And within a given religion, there may be many branches that claim to have more of a corner on the truth than the other branches, ad nauseam.
So how does one sort all this out and get to the truth?
If God really exists and really cares about the human race He created, if He really wants us to know Him intimately, if He wants us to have a positive existence in this life and a perfect existence after this life, then why is religion so confusing?
The key element of the confusion revolves around the word “religion”. Religion was created by human beings and centers around human attempts to reach God through various means that are all related to human efforts. Religion involves many rules, regulations, forms, “do’s” and “don’ts” and a plethora of approaches.
The confusion began to clear up for me when I realized the key to all this is not “religion”, it is “relationship”. I began to realize that what matters most to God, for all time and eternity, is my personal relationship with Him. John 17:3 says, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” As parents have children so they can share and enjoy life with them, so God created the human race so He could share and enjoy life with them.
He wants very deeply to have a positive relationship with you and me and everyone; a relationship that allows Him to benefit us in every possible way. I firmly believe everything He is and does and communicates aims toward that one goal: the most perfect and positive relationship He can have with every individual.
Religion, with all its secondary trappings, hammers all around the nail of truth but never hits it on the head. That is why religion is so confusing—it never gets to the point of the one-on-one relationship. It is forever reaching and never grasping.
The question then becomes: “How do we find that personal relationship?” The obvious answer to finding a personal relationship is not through a form (in other words, religion), but through a person. God is seemingly “out there” and we are “here”. How do we bridge the gap?
We humans cannot bridge the gap from the finite to the infinite by our own efforts. So God does it for us. At an incredible personal cost to Himself.
His Son, Jesus Christ, is the intermediary, the bridge between God and people. It is not this or that church, or sect or religion or list of rules. It is a person.
Examine the information about God and Jesus and humans that is contained in the Bible. Examine it for yourself (not second hand). Examine it in its totality in context (not in isolated bits and pieces here and there). If you will do this, without prejudice, then things will begin to become clear to you, as they did to me. Then you will begin to make the life-transforming transition from religion to relationship.
I would like to recommend a simple prayer to pray whenever you read the Bible: “God, if you are real, please reveal yourself to me through the Bible. Open its meaning to me and open my heart to it.”
In addition to the Bible itself, I recommend the following books to help you on your journey. The booklet “Step Up to Life” may be found at stepuptolife.com. You can also find online More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict also by Josh McDowell, and A General Introduction to the Bible by Geisler and Nix.
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