Tag: God
Flip a coin
As a fan of the Batman movie franchise, I'm reminded of one of my favorite villains, Two-Face. Originally a moral hero and combatant of crime, Harvey Dent suffered a horrible fate when half of his face was burned off. As a result, he was not only left with a badly scarred face, but a loss of sanity as his mental instability caused him to waver between good and evil. In an effort to settle his indecision, he carried a coin in his pocket that was scratched on one side, and pristine on the other from which all of his decisions, good and bad, derived. Whenever a situation presented itself, he would flip the coin. If it landed on the marred side, he would commit the crime, and if it landed on the shiny side, he would refrain from the offense. Interestingly, the fate of the coin flip did not have any affect on the very character of Two-face. No matter which side came up, he was still a demented threat to society because it takes only one crime to make a man a criminal regardless of all the right decisions he makes along the way.
The natural man faces a similar dilemma in the pursuit of goodness. Likewise, he carries a coin defined by the two sides of legalism and moralism. The legalistic side is scarred perhaps because his soul has been crushed not only by its excess of human requirement, but also an accompanying attitude that enjoys it! Although he is already naturally blinded to the glory of Christ, he is tragically driven deeper into darkness by the venomous spirit of legalism. Superstition seems to be his disposition as the "things he wears" and the "places he goes" equate to the broken mirrors and black cats of divine acceptance.
By grace alone, he will wake up and escape from this satanic philosophy, but in an unwitting attempt to run and never look back, the moralistic side of the coin inevitably appears which is usually preceded by a season of liberation. Indeed, in his desire to be freed from legalism, he goes to great lengths to decontaminate himself as he engages in the activities once considered iillegal. One thing is for sure, he has no intention of going back to the dark side of the coin again! Eventually at the end of short-lived freedom he will be entranced by the allure of the shiny side of the coin. It's moralistic identity assures a kinder and gentler human striving. It doesn't focus as much on impermissible action but rather on pragmatic action. It preaches the need to reach his human potential as opposed to a lingering of human failures. This philosophy often proceeds (behind the guise of Christianity) with a technique for goodness, but ultimately it is proved to be mere human endeavor and the result is not unlike that of legalism! Why? Because moralism and legalism are just different sides of the same coin! Legalism promises acceptance through rule-keeping while moralism promises self-improvement through pragmatism. Both in stark contrast to biblical Christianity, legalism views the Bible as a rule book while moralism uses the Bible as a handbook. However, the damning effect is not attributed to either side of the coin, but to the coin itself! For no matter where the coin lands after it is cast, the exertion is innately human, and until then it remains deep-seated in the pocket of human raiment.
Conversely, the Gospel is a completely different coin where divine revelation is rendered from both sides. First there is the revelation of our spiritual non-existence that is the sheer human inability to achieve divine goodness. By it, we are informed of our corrupted nature with which we have no chance apart from grace to cause our own existence. Just as an infant cannot bring about the cause of his own conception, we are not the cause of our own spiritual birth! The other side of the coin affords us a glimpse of the Glory of Christ displayed predominately on the Cross. Together, the two sides illumined by the Holy Spirit give us true spiritual sight! When you begin to really "see" the glory of Christ against the backdrop of the ruined human soul the Gospel increases in focus, igniting faith, and leads to genuine goodness!
Sincerely, God
The picture shown here is believed to be the last photograph of Abraham Lincoln. The photo was recently discovered in a family photo album of Ulysses S. Grant. His great-great grandson suspected that the tall human figure in the center of the picture could be Lincoln and that the structure in the background was the White House. Keya Morgan, a Lincoln Historian, was brought in to determine the truth of the matter. He deduced that several things in the picture pointed to the fact that Abraham Lincoln was indeed the central figure in the photograph including the height, the hairline and facial hair, and of course the general surroundings. Finally, he asked a very important question of the Grant descendant. He encouraged him to take the photo out of the album and look at the back of it to see if the original photographer had signed his name. Morgan explains, "If you don't know who the photographer is, it's like not knowing who your father and mother are," When he did, he turned it over he saw the seal of photographer Henry F. Warren with the following inscription, "Lincoln in front of the White House". Astounding!
Indeed, it is astounding to think that something as obvious as reading the back of a photograph was overlooked in the identification of the central figure in the image. I wonder how many times General Grant's family members gazed at the picture in curiosity. As they examined the photograph over the years, did they engage in fervent discussion and debate over the identity of the tall figure? If so, how amazing is it that no one ever thought to remove the picture from the album and read the back of the photo? Surely, the questions would have been settled in their minds long before the historian came along.
This historical discovery reminds me of our search for God. In our curiosity and wonder, we observe the innumerable evidences that surround us. We marvel at the natural creation, and engage in the beauty and artistry of this world. In doing so, there is a natural yearning within us to worship! So, we do. We worship everything in the created order with only a tip of our hat to the creator.
Yes, we acknowledge the existence of God. We even find great comfort in discussing and analyzing Him. We read our Bibles and use it like a handbook for good living. We even acknowledge the Bible as the very Word of God. We wear t-shirts promoting His causes, and bracelets espousing His moral value. We know the story of the cross and can recite it with ease. Still, despite our saturation in Christianity, we ask deep questions regarding His identity. We might not ask them out loud, but they ring incessantly in our ruined souls. Who is this Christ?
Just as the curious soul fails to flip the photo and have His questions answered once and for all, the ruined soul ignores the very documentation that he holds in his possession. It is in the sciptures, that we find God's signature. He has authenticated His identity from Genesis to Revelation. From the moment He reveals the plan of redemption to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, to His future expectation of the great Revelation, we are overwhelmed with God's Gospel.
If we have eyes to see, we realize that Jesus Christ is the central figure in Genesis, Isaiah, Revelation, and every book in between! Though not as obvious as the 4 gospels, when we look for Christ in any part of the Bible we will find Him. We see Him as Lion, Lamb, Judge, Saviour, Creator, Redeemer, and King! He is the leading actor in this unfolding drama, and we're bit players.
If we have eyes to see, we will be broken and humiliated when we discover that nothing in the Word is about us. It is about Christ.
If we have eyes to see, we will rejoice in the truth that is not about us. If the Bible was about our forgiveness, our fulfillment, our hopes and dreams, our righteousness, ironically none of those things would be possible!
If only our eyes would be opened to the truth of God's glory! We would see that His glory is everything we could ever hope for. His glory is our hope for redemption! His glory is our hope for eternal fulfillment! His glory is our only shot at righteousness!
We should rejoice that God revealed Himself and His desire for glory. I don't know why He chose to do so in an ancient document. Maybe that's all we can endure. I do know that when it comes to the Word of God, if you don't know who the author is, it's like not knowing who your Father is.
Grace Breaks 