Here this blogger, trying (in vain) to look relevant

Saturday, October 29, 2011

What does it mean to "accept the terms"?

A story: The representatives of mankind had a meeting with the high god to negotiate a basis for their relating to him.  The high god started by referencing an old arrangement, in which he had promised to make it rain on their gardens and generally take good care of them IF they kept some good rules he gave them (10 big ones and hundreds of smaller ones).  In the end this plan actually prevented the high god from being able to love on his people, because they couldn't keep the rules.  (The high god knew this would be the result of the old arrangement; in fact, his purpose in giving it was to demonstrate the people's inability to keep the rules.  It worked well to this end.)
 So, the high god decided to make another arrangement for relating.  This new arrangement had only three points.  The three points were, this time, not conditions but promises.  The first promise was that he would change them down deep in their inner being, to give them the ability to keep the main rules of the old arrangement (which were good for the people anyway).  This promise included a most remarkable provision: that the high god would actually come and live inside each person, instead of symbolically inside a building, which had happened under the old arrangement.

 The second promise was that instead of an elite class of people (who constantly sacrificed many animals to picture how serious their rule violations were and how costly a new arrangement would be) standing between the high god and the people, under the new arrangement EVERY person would have immediate access to him, if you can imagine.
 The third promise made the first two possible: it was a most amazing blanket removal of guilt for all their past, present and future violations of his good rules.  This is the only way they could relate to him and he could live inside them. 
What the high god did not mention, but of course knew at that very time, is what it would cost him (and his son) to fulfil these promises.
The representatives of mankind left the negotiating table and filed out into the hallway, where their friends were waiting.  They relayed the three points of the arrangement.  When asked at last what they had to do to experience such awsome promises, the reps replied: JUST ACCEPT THE TERMS.

Below is a good example of new covenant preaching by my friend Sebastian Dorsch:

http://calvarystp.org/living-word-media/teaching/index.cfm?tape_id=NT3490

No comments:

Post a Comment