Wednesday, 08 July 2009

• THAT'S THE TICKET

  I was listening to John Piper’s sermon on the Supremacy of Christ in ministry from the “Together for the Gospel” conference this morning during my run.  The message is rich in so many ways, but one particular point stuck out to me.  John made mention that Christ is not the “ticket” to anything:  wealth, prosperity, health, peace, etc.  Those things may very well be given to you by Christ, but He is not the ticket to them.  Christ is the goal.  He is the aim.  He is all and supreme.  Almost in a throwaway comment, John says something like, “A ticket just gets you into the show, but once you are in the show, you just throw the ticket away.”  That struck a chord with me.

   

  Presently, so many people that I know, practically everyone really, is being pushed to the breaking point.   There are financial difficulties, physical challenges; marital strife, work (or lack of work) stresses everywhere.  Now, before I go forward, I know some very Godly people who are walking through these challenges seeking God’s glory and praising Him in the midst of it all.  However, so many folks are struggling, at the end of their rope, and completely bewildered.  One of the reasons for that is that Jesus has been the ticket to the show and not the show itself.

   

  This was once again impressed upon me over the last week as 1.2 million people registered for the lottery to the Michael Jackson worship…err…memorial service.  I’m sure some folks will keep their tickets for mementos or maybe sell them on ebay for $300, but what folks really wanted was access to the event.  I probably have a couple of old tickets to some old heavy metal shows from the 80’s but I can’t tell you where they are.  The ticket is just access to something else.

   

  Well, if Jesus is not supreme, if He is not the purpose and goal of your life, if you don’t live and strive for His glory, but instead make Him your ticket and means by which you hope to acquire all the things you want, then you will suffer and grow bitter when you see those dreams fall apart.  Who knows, maybe God gives you all of those things, but if Christ was the mere means for you to get them, your acquisition will be your god and that god will disappoint.

   

  Our goal, our scriptural purpose is to make Christ preeminent in all things.  He is not a means to anything, but He is instead the end of all things, our glory, our hope, our God.  We will not reduce Him to a lotto ticket, an insurance card, or anything else.  We must worship Him who is lifted high above all else and trust Him for the wisdom and provision of those things that we ask for and need.

   

  Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

   

   

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