Jesus is honored by our knowing … him for who he really is. He is a real person. A fact. A fixed, unchanging reality in the universe, independent of our feelings. —John Piper, The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World
I don’t know if you’ve noticed this or not, but our culture is changing: The winds are blowing, and sometimes, the gusts knock us off our equilibrium. We start asking questions like, “How does a person be about grace while also standing for holiness?”
As new covenant people, we desire a voice in our culture—we want others to know His grace while experiencing His best for their lives. But these conversations risk being only theoretical, so how can we bring them out of the clouds and into everyday life?
Our neighborhood had garden plots you can rent for a year. For my birthday, Libby gifted me one of these plots. We were so excited that we planted twelve cucumber plants—twelve! It should have resulted in a cucumber jungle, but unfortunately for us, Noah’s flood came to north Texas. One storm after another pummeled our garden and only two seedlings survived.
How did those two survive, you ask? They were planted near the fence and hung on for dear life with their little green cucumber tentacles. While the ground washed out beneath the other ten plants, these two stood strong.
Our culture is like this—it washes the ground out from beneath us in fast and furious ways. If we’re going to stand as people of grace, we need something to hold onto.
Hebrews 13:8 says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Who do we cling to? Jesus.
Jesus does not change His mind, His position, or His focus. His love stays the same. The way He views people stays the same.
Jesus, be my voice of truth in an ever-changing society. Enable me to hear You speak words that have been true since the beginning and will remain true to the end. Amen.