The God Box

Jeremiah 2:11 "Has a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit." The above verse speaks of putting God in a man made box. Here are some of the boxes I have observed God being stuffed into. I. The ritual box. God is a distant presence who only wants to be honored by patterned worship. II. The fairy godmother box. Whenever we have a need we can run to him, expecting him to wave his hand and make everything better. III. The Burger King box. God will do it our way. We treat His truth like a smorgasbord. Flannery O'Connor said "The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it." IV. The generic box. Churches today compete for attendance by making Christianity as watered down as possible. Such Churches never face a call to discipleship that befits the Lord of glory and transforms their lives. V. The self help box. Ben Franklin said "God helps those who help themselves." Robert Schuller said "You can be anything you want to be, you can go anywhere if your are willing to dream big and work hard." The idea is you are the master of your own destiny; God only helps out as a silent partner. VI. The formula box. The most evident result of scientific thought on theology. We serve God by obeying principles such as six steps to a more vital prayer life, five steps to deal with anger. We must never miss the Person of the principle. VII The God told me to box. This box allows us to pursue our own ambitions by stamping them with God's endorsement. Its amazing how many people today God has called to be rich and famous, and how few He has called to self-sacrificing ministry. In conclusion: these boxes motivate people to action, and those actions can produce temporal results. Extra effort can make significant temporal change for many people, but they never learn to trust God, to hear His voice, to submit their lives to His ways and find true life in Christ. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Our High Priest

"For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence" (Hebrews 9:27). We have a High Priest in heaven who intercedes for each of us. The above verse will give us some insight concerning this subject. There was a man made holy place, the tabernacle on earth, was merely a copy of the true one in heaven. There, in the presence of God, Christ intercedes for us, as the high priest below interceded before the Shekinah. While He was on earth Christ never entered the holy of holies at Jerusalem. Aaron, the Levitical high priest for the people stood before the ark and only saw the cloud, the symbol of God's glory (Exo. 28:30). However Christ appeared before the Father in the heavenly tabernacle. The very sight of Jesus satisfied God on our behalf. His offering at Calvary does not need renewal, His offering is good for eternity, for Jesus is our permanent, eternally present offering before God. The shed blood of Christ is infinitely greater than those sacrifices offered under the law which could not pardon sin. Christ by one sacrifice destroyed the works of the Devil and through the new birth made us righteous and complete in Him. After His work on the cross He entered heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father always making intercession for us. Have you noticed we all lean strongly toward rule keeping. Someone has used the illustration of humanity being like a man who fell into a empty well. He naturally cried out for help and a passer-by heard his cry. He leaned over the edge of the well and asked the man what he wanted. The man said he was desperate to get out and needed help in doing so. The passer-by thought about this for a while, then he took a piece of paper and wrote on it "Ten rules on how to keep out of wells" and dropped it down to the man. A greater problem emerges when a man does not know he has fallen into a well. He thinks he was made for well living, and he cannot comprehend why he is so unhappy living in the well. The giving of the Ten Commandments made him realize his plight but they can't help him out of the well. Jesus is the rope dropped into the well, the winch to pull man out, and the guide to keep him from falling back in. Oh, how we need Jesus in our lives. For you see the earthly tabernacle was just a picture of the real one in heaven. I have a picture of my wife in my wallet. I look at it some times and find it to be comforting, but quite inadequate. Its not really my wife, just a picture of her. I can't have a conversation with it, we can't laugh together, I can't kiss it, (I could but it wouldn't be all that satisfying), and it can't cook any meals. Though its an accurate representation of the real person, its a far cry from it. Jesus is real, He lives in our lives and He abides in heaven. He is our Perfect Sacrifice and He appeared to the Father for us in heaven. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.