Letter To Our Children

Hello friends!

Something happened to me last week, that was such a gain, I want to share it with you. I was playing around on my apple music app and came across a song that sounded kind of familiar to me. It was an old song, but I could not remember if I heard it before.

Immediately, I texted all my brothers and sisters with a link to the song, asking them, hey does anyone remember this? My oldest brother immediately replied. He wrote: the song you sent is from the soundtrack of a musical Dad listened to often when you were little. He loved it. Yes!

After reading his text, I searched for the soundtrack, found it, and had the best time listing to the songs and remembering my dad in warm ways that I never want to forget.

Remembering

As we listen to Bible lessons and sermons, we are often repeatedly reminded of many of the same themes and teachings, which is purposeful. Here are three reasons why this is so.

The first reason is that the Bible, under God, was written this way. When you study the Bible line by line, you begin to get an unmistakable repeated message. God is merciful. Human beings are sinful.

Now if we dug into the Bible in only the places we like, we are simply reading what we want to. In this way, we are standing over the Bible and not letting the Bible stand over us. Therein shaping the Bible into our image and not God's.

For example, in the vast majority of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, the fact that Jesus died for people's sins is mentioned in some way, directly or indirectly—often multiple times. Human sinfulness and the death of Christ as the only remedy are on a constant loop as a reminder of what we've been saved from.

The second reason is that we are prone to forget since we are human. Consequently, Peter wrote to his readers something on the order of, I know you know the truth, but I will keep reminding you repeatedly as long as I am alive, even after I have died. Peter wanted to ensure they would have the truth in their hearts, locked safely in their minds, so they would be keen to remember it long after he was gone.

The third reason is similar to the first, and another reason for the second. If we stop remembering these central themes, something dreadful could happen.

For example, if we forget about justification, that we are made righteous in God’s sight, only by Christ’s death and resurrection for our sins and received by faith, if we forget original sin—because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, all of us are fallen; we all come into this world from our birth in sin and guilt, corrupt by nature and unable to keep God’s law, then what might happen is something that happened in the late 19^th century.

Charles Finney (1792-1875) taught that Christian perfectionism was possible. He said if people walked close enough with God and tried hard enough, they would never sin—and they could achieve perfection. The Bible never taught this. Many dear lives were confused or ruined, as Finney was very popular. Unfortunately, this still happens.

Okay, so here is our big lesson; it’s what Peter was writing about in 2 Peter 1:12-15.

I am not telling you something new you need to learn. 

I am telling you something you know but can never forget.

Epilogue

The musical my dad loved to listen to was Camelot, based on the much-written-about myth of King Richard and the Knights of the round table. Sir Lancelot, Guinevere, Merlin, and the famed sword, Excalibur, were also part of the story of a perfect society gone wrong. A fitting way to end this letter.

Remember, the new heaven and the new earth is the only place where perfection will be—forever. It's a gift of God's grace, not earned by us.

God bless you as summer keeps rolling on. You are in my day and night prayers.

Pastor Joe