Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear people.

Nice summer day. During this season it’s sure fun to put the processed dirt from our little garden into my mouth. That’s what a tomato, cucumber, radish, or squash really is, you know—a reconstructed, sterilized, capsule of just plain old dirt that has been transformed via the miracle of LIFE—a phenomenon that only God can impart. Think of it—no other force of science, technology, or government can create or replicate what the Creator has created the force of LIFE to do effortlessly. So why shouldn’t I let my chowing down on a fresh cucumber stimulate another worship experience? My hunch is that those of us who recognize the Creator’s craft along with worship have a lot more fun living than those who don’t.

I need to get moving. Blessings on what you have going.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Who in the world am I anyway? I think that really is an important question to both ask myself and answer. It only makes sense that my self-identity will have huge influence on my values, behavior, and general life course. If I view myself as a self-sufficient independent entity with no more purpose than achieving my own designs and pleasures, everything else will naturally follow in that path. And that self-deceiving view flowing from my NATURAL SIN NATURE is the one I will automatically embrace if I make no effort to seek my Maker for a more accurate and authoritative answer. After all, He Who knows everything about everything knows who I am and who He wants me to become. In view of HIS VIEW as revealed through His Word, I glean a better question to ask myself: By His standard, who am I supposed to be?

To begin with, Sovereign God knows that I am a sinner in desperate need of a Savior. But do I? Not by myself. I may struggle with some gnawing sense of guilt, but I don’t really get it till I am enlightened to connect the dots of my experience with the dots of His revelation. And His revelation highlights “the gospel”—a word Paul is inspired to use six times in this reading—describing His call to me—a call I am free to heed or reject—a call that offers deliverance from being who I’m not supposed to be to who I’m supposed to be. It’s like Peter’s description—“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who CALLED you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

This GOSPEL calls me to be “an apostle” (a servant on assignment—vv. 1, 5), “to the obedience that comes from faith” (conducting my life according to what I know and believe as opposed to what I feel—v. 5), “to belong to Jesus Christ” (rather than regarding myself as belonging to me, or belonging by default to the evil one as indicated in 1 John 3:12—v. 6), and “to be saints” (separated from ordinary sinners to serve and represent a Holy God—v. 7).

There you have it. That’s what the GOSPEL is all about. It presents such a vital opportunity and prompts such motivation as to cause Paul to exclaim, “I am not ashamed of the GOSPEL, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (v. 16). A worthy motivation indeed!