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GWR
08 Religion:
A Cistern
G-d
has always desired to close the gap between
himself and the human family upon the earth.
The story of how G-d has dealt with this objective,
makes up the scope and substance of scripture
-- the Bible. In a certain place it is written
that G-d was at work in Jesus Christ, reconciling
the world to himself.(2 Corinthians 5:19)
There is another side of the equation about
the matter of knowing G-d; that there is an
ongoing force and authority resisting this
program. This resistance too is spiritual,
unseen, but none the less potent in its effects.
Just
as G-d uses human resources and requires "a
yielded vessel" to minister His grace to others;
so also does our adversary. The first of the two spiritual kingdoms is the Kingdom of G-d where the King of glory is enthroned in a heavenly place; and the second, the kingdom of darkness, where the "G-d of this world --the prince of the power of the air, the great deceiver, Satan exercises his dominance.. Because we live in a Spiritual world we have to have spiritual knowledge. A secular religion limited to material interests and understanding, speaks to strictly human potential. Secular religion is inadequate to deal with the forces which will impact us for an eternity. We need more than teaching about "goodness" as positive choices or positive social attributes and evil as bad choices which have bad consequences. G-d is not a G-d of psychological wellness and feeling good about ourselves, He is a G-d of spiritual restoration and reconstruction which is forged not by human will, nor human wisdom but by the power of Spiritual life generated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. When G-d does the work of renewal it is deep and eternally effectual. If we try to reconstruct ourselves, it is an act of the will and is good only as long as our own energies prevail. The end result of G-d's hand at work in a human soul surpasses anything that counseling or self-will could ever achieve, Joy unspeakable and full of glory. RELIGION: LEAKING CISTERNS "A G-d of Past Glories" The
title heading describing cisterns comes from the
writing of G-d through Jeremiah the prophet, He
states, "my people have committed two evils, they
have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and
they have hewed for themselves cisterns which do
not hold water" Jeremiah 2:13). What meaning does
that have for us in relation to the question of
the detriment of religion? Viewed in a shallow way,
we may think the prophet is giving a discourse on
the best kind of water supply to have, flowing wells
versus stored water; but it goes deeper than that.
Speaking figuratively, G-d expresses this: the worst
thing which a people who call themselves G-d's people
can do is to forsake the fellowship and intimate
closeness of G-d's immediate presence (G-d said
He was the fountain of living waters.) and to exchange
that intimacy with something totally without freshness,
movement, life and vitality. Stored water is still
water though it has become stale in time and has
lost the zest of freshness. Religiously speaking
cistern water might be yesterday's water, or it
could last year's water, or even water of many generations
past. This kind of situation is bad enough, but
G-d says further, that those cistern also leak and
are actually going dry.
The cistern allegory has a wide range of application
to religious tradition. The question might be, "How
long has the water been allowed to stagnate?' Was
it a year ago, a generation ago, or multiple generations
ago that the presence of G-d was manifested and
alive in the midst of the congregation of His people.
If there is no sense of G-d living and moving in
the center of our lives or our church fellowships,
we have evidence that He has been forsaken by a
religious people. Traditionalism
thrives on memories of some bygone day, or accounts
that G-d had come by and left an historical token
of his glory "way -back- when." That however, is
not enough for the people who have deep spiritual
needs, who have been wounded, bound, afflicted,
imprisoned, enslaved by some lash of oppression.
(We speak figuratively.) What force can set us free,
what force can soothe or pains and sorrows? What
can touch and salve the wounded spirit? It must
be something full of life and power and compassion.
It must be living fountain which flows from G-d.
G-d
is always a G-d of now, not a G-d of tomorrow, yesterday
nor of decades past. He is the I am who Is, now.
A grave danger of religion is that it risks the
separation of the believer from the present manifestation
of a living G-d. A Heavenly Father who wants to
continue to make His presence known to His special
people. NEXT
CHAPTERE Book 1: The
Gospel Without Religion |