Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear ones.

Becki will come out any minute to join me on a walk/jog excursion. Then a bunch of miscellaneous work is to begin.

My experience with the internal cleanout followed by the colonoscopy went OK…I guess. It’s probably a good thing that I don’t remember anything about the procedure itself. They knocked me out pretty good…and made me kind of groggy for most of the rest of the day. The good news is they found nothing in that chamber that resembled a polyp. It was all like it was supposed to be.

OK…Becki is here waiting. Bye. Have a great day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

It’s like Jesus Christ has dual citizenship—He is both humanly and heavenly related. Paul establishes that status by stating, “…who as to his human nature (human citizenship/orientation) was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness (heavenly citizenship/orientation) was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead” (vv. 3-4). That right there is cause for rejoicing. After all, my status hangs on His status. If Jesus is, as some like to think, just a historical human—an ancient nice guy who was commissioned to show us confused guys how to also be nice guys, then my security is based on little more than a nice ideology—and that security sure doesn’t feel very secure. But if He is truly the GOD/MAN composite of Biblical revelation and has so profoundly proven that status by wielding control over humanity’s most out-of-control enemy—DEATH—then I am presented with a very substantial SAVIOR Who is abundantly qualified to be my LORD.

That is exactly the idea proclaimed by the author of Hebrews. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Question: If you and I are truly natural sinners in desperate need of a Savior, yet required to live for a period of time in a sinful fallen world, when in the world do we NOT have a “time of need”?!?!

Here’s another question that would be good to ask everyone on this planet: “What kind of a Savior and Lord do you want?” The most popular answer would probably boil down to this: “One like me.” What?—One like you?—when you know good and well that you are powerless to avoid eventual certain death? What a wimpy savior and lord that would be!

Please agree with me: I’ll take the Biblical Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord any day!