so i didnt know about urbana 09 until it was too late for me to rack up the cash for it, but i did get to listen to some of the sermons that are up on vimeo. if you dont know what it is, its a big conference that is geared towards college kids where they have seminars, worship, and speakers. the one that made me think about who we are as evangelists in the Body of Christ is this guy:
oscar muriu, a pastor from nairobi, kenya who talked about money and power in his sermon at urbana. you should chek it out before reading this. he touched on a lot of key issues and answered some of my tough questions about the life of Christ and God's decisions, both indirectly and directly.
but of all the things that came to mind, one thing that resonates in me is how God shows His omnipotetence through the life of Christ. some of the questions that i eventually had a small but meaningful revelation that lead to the answer were these: why didnt God make Christ a man of power and prestige, someone who warriors and nobles could rally behind instead of fishermen and tax collectors? and why didnt God take Christ down from the cross?
the first part of mariu's sermon hit hard. i had the same thoughts. why didnt God send Jesus as a man of political, military, or financial power? why werent there flashing lights, billboards, and news cameras at His arrival? i remember what drew me to the wwe(f) was the sparks and all that other blinding and expensive stuff when guys like shawn michaels and rey mysterio came out to there theme songs. The birth of Christ lacks that power, that prestige, that excitement in the Gospel that we read.
why didnt God do that? why didnt He shut off all the ligts of the earth and play His song while His son descended through sparks and illuminated clouds? think of how many people would believe? when Christ asked his disciples "Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:53) why didnt he just do it? most of all, when those who were mocking him said to "come down from the cross and save yourself!" (Mark 15:30) why didnt He just come down? even those haters would have believed. why didnt God open the sky and say "STOP! THIS IS MY SON!!!!" to all the high priests, pharisees, and roman soldiers when they we're crucifying Him? didnt Christ say that EVERYTHING possible with God? then why the flesh? why the life of suffering? why the flogging? why the cross? tough questions that i carried for a long time.
it is true, as "Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."" (Luke 18:27). but one has to understand that it was possible for God to send the angels and take His son off the cross. but how is it possible that an all powerful God, God Himself, confined Himself to flesh? it is more impossible for a God of all comfort to live a life of earthly suffering. that God would decide not to call upon His angels to save Him. more impossible that Christ would willingly die a hellish death for His creation.
how many the stories that are out there in which a god comes to earth with military and physical dominance. our God isnt just some god, He shows how He does the impossible through His Son. to me, it is a given that our God can do all the spectacular things that would make fireworks look like birthday candles but what seems impossible is that God, who was in all the comforts of heaven; angels waiting on and glorifying Him, would step down and become a man as
"He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Isaiah 53:2-3)
God made the impossible possible. He saved us.
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