From the mouths of babes...wow!

(So I had intended to be more regular about these posts.  Well, there is no time like the present...)

We were sitting together at home the other night, and my daughter Chrissy was next to me sitting on the floor, and she mentioned that Jesus died on the cross.  So my wife asked her what did it mean when Jesus died on the cross.  I was really surprised by her answer.

Before I tell you what she said, let me ask what you would have said.  Why did Jesus die on the cross? I know what I was trained to say, and probably what I would have thought of first.  My answer would have been first of all that Jesus died so that our sins would be forgiven.  Probably yours too.  And let me say that that answer would be impeccable.  There is nothing wrong and everything right with that answer.  Except for the fact that in light of my daughter's answer it seems a little off.  It puts the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLABle (as a old friend of mine would say).

Chrissy told us that Jesus' death on the cross "tells us about Jesus loving us."  Wow.  Why did Jesus die?  Was a response to our sin or initiated by God's love?  Is it about God correcting our mistakes or is it about God displaying his love in a powerful way?  Is it about us causing God pain and suffering or is it about God suffering so that we could experience true love?  Both are right and each amounts to the other.  However, I was struck by the depth of insight that the cross "tells us about Jesus loving us" means we focus on him, rather than our own sin.  

1 John 4:9-11 (New International Version)

⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son^[a] into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for^[b] our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Personally, I would much rather focus on the goodness of God than my own faults.  I have a tendency to focus on myself in so much of life.  I wonder if I am a recovering self-addict?  However, I think that we will succeed more often following the grace that Jesus gives us, than focusing on what occasioned our need for that grace.  I am not saying we should forget it, just where do we put the emphasis?

Psalm 8:2 (New International Version)

 ² From the lips of children and infants 

       you have ordained praise ^[a] 

       because of your enemies, 

       to silence the foe and the avenger.

Now, I am not sure where she got that was of telling about the cross from.  Perhaps it is because she has awesome preschool and Sunday school teachers (both of which are very superb!) or if it was a God-ordained inspiration.  But I thank my God and my daughter for refocusing how I will explain the meaning of the cross in the future.  Hallelujah!

The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me!

My daughter has learned the B-I-B-L-E song in her preschool, and I am sure her Sunday school class as well, and I have been thinking of the lyrics of that song. (Easy to do when its stuck in your head!)

The B-I-B-L-E,
Yes that’s the book for me
I stand alone on the Word of God
The B-I-B-L-E

Veggie Tales B-I-B-L-E on Amazon.com

The part of the song that had me going though, was "I stand alone on the Word of God." So here's the question: what does that mean?  Does it mean that it is upon the Word of God alone which we stand?  Or is it that we stand alone when we stand on the Word of God?  And should we really be standing on our Bibles?

Well, I was thinking that by any interpretation of that line you don't get a good picture.  We are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).  We are told that God's words are important to us, but are they what makes us stand?  From my experience this is partially true.  There have been times when I have felt discouraged or really down and have read scripture that lifted my head and reminded me of the faithfulness of God, of his love and grace and mercy.  But in reality it is those things that the Bible reminds me of which I am standing on.

I also don't think we stand alone on God's Word.  The "church" or community of God's people stands together holding God's Word.  This is something we do together.  It is when people do it alone, thinking that they have a better interpretation or version of God's Word that we get cults and false teachers leading people away from the real meaning of God's truths.

I will say that it is the teaching of the Bible which I would hold as more true than anything else offered in our world.  So in that respect, I wouldn't stand on the teachings of the Koran, or Buddha, or Harry Potter, or Twilight, or anything else, just the Bible.  We are told that the Bible is useful for correction and instruction, and I will be the first to say that many of the things that bug me in this world, even in our grand 'ole country of the USofA, could be made better through the corrections offered in the Bible, but even then that is really the work of the Holy Spirit through the Bible and through we the people.

In the end, I think that an edit to the lyrics would be in order: "I stand up strong by the Word of God"

What do you think?