Scripture Makes the Difference
Good night everyone, the topic of my sermon is scripture
makes the difference. Before I start, let us pray...
Choosing a new home is relatively easy. Life, however, is
filled with many decisions that are far more challenging. “My
wife has been offered a three-year contract to work in another
country. She will be able to come home only twice a year. But
it will pay for our children’s education. Is it a good idea?”
“Should we become pioneer missionaries?” “I’m in love with
an amazing man! How will I know if God wants us to get
married?” “My husband beats me and our children. How can I
keep us safe?”
How can we make the “best” decisions when enmeshed in a
web of conflicting information, beliefs, and ideas? And the
“best” decisions from a human perspective are not always the
best from God’s perspective.
The Bible does not give clear, step-by-step instructions for
every life challenge. It would be impossible to write a manual
for every situation, from the beginning of time until now.
People, cultures, and dilemmas change as the world changes.
The Bible is far richer and more useful than a do-it-yourself
manual for life. It is an invitation from God to search for Him
and find Him in every story and every situation. The Bible is
filled with detailed pictures of His loving character. These
snapshots are like separate frames of a brain scan. Only when
we put all the images together can we build a virtual model of
the brain and start to understand it as a whole.
The Bible helps us discover the many dimensions of God’s
loving character and understand how central He wants to be in
our lives, and how to love Him and each other.
We asked our children to help us create a list of adjectives
describing God’s character. “Almighty!” “Accepting!”
“Brave!” “Bountiful!” “Creative!” “Caring!” We scribbled
down the almost 200 words as fast as they could call them
out. The atmosphere exploded into joy. We knew that God
was incredible. While our human vocabulary was barely
adequate to describe His wonder, glory, and love, we
suddenly had a much richer picture of our breathtaking God.
“The whole Bible is a revelation of the glory of God in
Christ,” wrote Ellen White. “Received, believed, obeyed, it is
the great instrumentality in the transformation of character. It
is the grand stimulus, the constraining force, that quickens the
physical, mental, and spiritual powers and directs the life into
the right channels.”
By reading the Bible, and by focusing on the character of God
perfectly expressed through the life of Jesus, we come face to
face with the Source of all the love in the universe, and we
become changed into His likeness. The more closely we
become acquainted with Him, the more closely we can listen
to His guidance in our lives.
The more intimately we know God, the more deeply we
experience how much He loves us and everyone else. When
we view our messy lives from God’s loving and patient
perspective we are more likely to make wise decisions.
When we face complex situations and we have no idea what
to do, we can try listing the names of everyone involved. Then
imagine that we are looking at each person, including
ourselves, through God’s eyes, and ask:
What are this person’s spiritual, emotional, relational, and
physical needs?
What is the best way to show this person God’s love?
Which aspects of His character does God want me to develop
in this situation?
How will my responses inspire others to come closer to God?
We can use prayerful reflection to guide us through the
complexity of the situation. Remember, even if we don’t
make the perfect decision, God still loves us and wants the
best for us. He will continue to work His loving purpose
through our imperfect choices, just as He did with Abraham,
Sarah, and Hagar; Joseph and his brothers; David and
Bathsheba.
Of all the magnificent characteristics of God, love is the
greatest. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God;
and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He
who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Beloved if God so loved us, we also ought to love one
another” (1 John 4:7-11).
The most important reason for becoming more closely
acquainted with God is that we can experience His kind,
patient, forgiving, comforting, accepting, generous love, and
fall in love with Him. Once we experience this amazing love
for ourselves, we are much better equipped to share His love
with the world and to help others fall in love with Him too.
When life is unbearably painful and our hearts break, our
greatest comfort comes from our experience of God’s loving
character. We discover that He cares deeply about our
tragedies and struggles (Ps. 34:18); He notices every tear we
shed (Ps. 56:8); and He understands our vulnerabilities (Ps.
103:13-18). He longs for the day we can live with Him in
heaven and He will wipe away all our tears (Rev. 21:1-4).
