I was headed to downtown Sacramento for a show recently. If you know anything about me, you know that I am a Geotard. A Geotard is someone with little to no understanding of where places are, where things are, and often where they are. Thats me. So, when I heard that I was driving my friends and I into downtown Sac, you can imagine my sense of panic.
The only thing that saved me was Mapquest. Thats right, the most usefull tool on the internet. That one site has changed my life entirely. I can now arrive safely at nearly any destination in America with the ease of filling out an online form. Genius. Long story short, Mapquest got us to the show but it wasn't everthing we needed.
There was the question regarding which vehicle would get us there. My family cars are kinda lame and not exactly fun to ride in. There was also the question of fuel. Who had it and how were we going to pay for more of it if needed?
And finally there was the initial question of what our destination really should be in the first place. A concert? A movie? Dinner? Both.....?
Once we had all decided on the destination (concert) it was just a matter of thinking before we put together the other pieces of the puzzle. Namely vehicle and fuel. And hey, we had our Mapquest map.
The funny thing about life in Christ is that it is nothing like this. Life in Christ is definitely not plug and chug. I sure wish it was, that would make it a whole lot more natural to me. I began to think of my understanding of God in those three terms: Vehicle, Fuel, and Destination.
Vehicle, Fuel, Destination. Although the analogy is not perfect, I was able to come to a basic conclusion about God and His relationship to me by relating Him to my road trips.
If our great goal, our Destination, is heaven, then what we are really saying is that God the Father is our goal. He resides in heaven. If our goal is heaven it is only because we desire to spend eternity with our Father.
If our Father is our Destination, then what is our vehicle? Well, Jesus Christ said "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." That has always struck me as a rather narrow statement. Aren't there many ways to God? Not according to God. And why would there be? If God is truly sovereign then why should He be anything less than blunt and strait forward about what it takes to have a relationship with Him? He is Holy Almighty God. We must have a righteousness to match His own. Otherwise we could never even be in the same building, so to speak.
Christ gave us that righteousness that we needed by trading His righteousness for our lack thereof. He was shamed with our shame that we might be glorified in His righteousness. We had non of our own with which to stand before God, and so He gave us His. Jesus Christ took our sin and shame and paid our price in the fires of Hell. And on the third day He rose again to usher us into the heaven He had paid so dearly to unlock.
If the Father is our Destination then Jesus Christ is our one and only vehicle to get to Him.
Finally, what will be our fuel for this journey from lifeless death to deathless life? The Holy Spirit is our Great Help. Our Father granted His Son to save us, and He sends us the Holy Spirit to sustain us. The Holy Spirit reminds us of the Way, the Truth, and the Life constantly that we might be strengthened by His power and freed by His grace on a daily basis.
Christ is our great encouragement, The Spirit is our great encourager, and The Father is the author and lover of our soul, our Great Desire.
Vehicle, Fuel, Destination.
God, God, and God.
ETA?
"Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come."
