14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 (NASB)
I wonder if God has gotten so tired of repeating himself that there’s just a sign posted now at the entrance to Heaven; That’s Not What I Said.
In the Beginning, there was just God and Adam. If Adam wasn’t sure what God said, he could just ask Him. We messed that up and lost the Garden.
Fast forward a bit, we were fruitful and multiplied, (they know what causes that now by the way). We no longer were physically with God as in Him standing next to us, but he still talked to us. We fouled that up and got flooded out.
Go a little forward some more and we’d recovered from the flood, once again fruitful, (they hadn’t forgotten what caused it they just did it a lot). God didn’t talk to most of us anymore, just through the priests at the Holy of Holies. We messed that up so bad God came down Himself to show us how to live, and we killed Him.
Each time we failed to understand God there has been an escalation of force. Each time we failed to do it right, violence came down upon us. Except the last time.
The last time we failed to understand God, we were the violent force against Him. The last time we blew it we took it out on God. The last time we didn’t get it right we lost His presence…again.
The Old Testament has another theme running through it. The nation of Israel goes through an up and a down cycle. As Israel grows closer or further away to God the entire nation rises or falls.
Are we starting the cycle over? The first time we lost His presence we just had to live by the sweat of our brow, losing the easy lifestyle of the Garden. We escalated our rebellion against Him and the next phase of the cycle saw most of Mankind wiped out in the flood. Are we in that cycle now? Do we have a flood of destruction in our future?
Or can we step away from that cycle?
When “…the Word became flesh…” to show us how to do it was an out for Mankind by making sure the story was preserved? If you read the New Testament it uses words and phrases like Salvation, and All the World, Repentance, and Forgiveness of Sin.
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, they end up in a cycle. Some don’t consider the Bible to be history. Perhaps they are the ones trapped in the cycle. But what about the rest of us, are we trapped with them? Can we learn from our past mistakes? Can we take the example of God’s Word made flesh as one of us and step away from death and disaster?
I think we can break out of the cycle of failure and destruction. I think we can remove ourselves from the devastation our historical failure to learn from what our mistakes have wrought on Mankind. I think ALL of us are capable of this. Why do I believe this? Because God says You Are Worthy.
Questions for Reflection
- Is Mankind currently in an up or a down cycle as a whole? Why or why not?
- Does the sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross affect the cyclical nature of Israel’s relationship with God? Why or why not?
- Are we, as individuals, bound to this cyclical nature of Mankind as a whole or can we separate ourselves from it by working towards a different outcome? Why or why not?
This devotion relates to the scripture used in the book You Are Worthy by Mark Malcolm, coming to Kindle soon. To be kept up to date on the release of this, and other writings from The Cavalier, join us on Facebook HERE or follow us on Twitter @FirstChevalier.
You are not trash. You are not wasted. You are not broken. You are loved. You are pursued. You are wanted. Because God says…
