Awesome God!

December 27, 2009

So what will it be like in the year 2060? Can you imagine what the next 50 years will bring? This week we will enter a New Year. There are plenty of us who remember celebrating this 50 or even 60 years ago. At the time, you could not begin to comprehend what it would be like right now, as we prepare to enter the year 2010. If you had made predictions about the year 2010 back on New Year’s Eve 1959, how accurate would you have been?

At this time of year the media likes to seek out the so-called psychics to make predictions as to what will happen in the coming year. Have you ever heard of the media doing a follow-up on any of that to go back and see how accurate, or more likely how wrong, their predictions were? But year after year they continue to broadcast that nonsense. People are anxious to know what lies ahead, and they are often willing to look anywhere and everywhere for clues.

I’m going to make some predictions for you today that will be true for the coming year, and for 50 years from now, unless our Lord returns first. And you can be certain that they will be accurate, because they are not really my predictions. They are God’s Word.

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9

The same old problems will always be with us: Greed, lust, envy, hatred, jealousy, laziness, anger, idolatry. To put it another way, sin will continue to be a part of our lives. The devil will be just as much a part of the days ahead as he had been in the days behind. Temptations to trust in things other than God will continue to assault us from every direction. People will not be satisfied with what they have, and will often resort to dishonest means to improve their lot in life. The old sinful nature will continue to make its presence known in all of our lives.

Malachi 3:6 “I the LORD do not change.”

That is the Good News! Even though all the problems will still be with us, God, who does not change, is still with us. We are reminded of that in the Christmas season by the title Immanuel, which means “God with us.” And God does not change. He promised to be our Savior, and He did that. He promised to take care of the sins that separated us from Him, and He bridged the gap by becoming one of us, taking our sins, and paying the price for them all on the cross. His death was the necessary payment for the sins of the world, and His resurrection is the guarantee that everything we need to be forgiven was accomplished by Him! He is constant and faithful and will continue to be.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Even though sin will be with us, our Savior Jesus Christ remains constant, and will be with us. What about the particulars of the future? That is not ours to know. There is an old saying that we need to be reminded of from time to time: We don’t know what the future holds, but we know the one who holds the future. The one who holds the future is our God who does not change, our Savior who is the same yesterday and today and forever.

The end of a year is often a time for reflection on the past. Old acquaintances you have lost touch with, memories of loved ones who have died, momentous occasions in the life of your child. It can also be a time to reflect on what you have learned in life. Listen to some things that children wrote about what they had learned in their lives:

• Ignore people who put you down.  Andrea, 12
• If nothing is in the refrigerator, don’t eat dog food.
• Never cheat because it’s not worth it. Samantha, 9
• When your dad or mom slams the door when they come home from work, it is best to stay out of their way.  Michelle, 10
• Natalie, 12, gives some very practical advice: Check if there is toilet paper before you sit down.
• Laugh at your parents’ jokes.
• Alle, 8, sounds like she overheard a conversation in our house: “When my parents are talking, not to interrupt but wait until later. Unless, someone is bleeding or something.”
• Read the book before you have to go in front of the class to give a report.
• Never leave your little sister alone with your stuff. Amanda, 12
• Don’t judge people by their looks. Someone could be the ugliest person in the world and still be nice. Ashlee, 9
• When your mom is mad, hide the stuff that you don’t want thrown away. Katie, 10
• When you tell a lie you have to keep telling a lie. Ronnie, 10
• When you take off your sweatshirt your shirt comes up. Ben, 10
• You only have one life. So be careful.
• When your friends do something stupid, you don’t have to follow.  Maria, 9

We all learn things. Some more important than others. Something we should all know and remember is just how AWESOME our God is. Scripture attests to that:

Exodus 15:11 “Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

Deuteronomy 7:21 … the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.

Nehemiah 1:5 O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands,

Psalm 47:2 How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!

But our knowledge of the “awesomeness” of God is not limited to what His Word tells us. We have experienced it in our own lives. We have known firsthand the God who loves us and gave Himself up for us all. You and I have been claimed as His own dearly loved children when that water was splashed on our heads and His name, “Father, Son and Holy Spirit” was indelibly placed upon us. We experience and share in His awesome power each time we receive the sacrament of His Body and Blood to remind us that our sins have been paid for by what He did. We know how awesome our God is each time we see the cross and remember that when He died, He did it lovingly and willingly for each of us. He wanted to be sure that we had free access to heaven, which would not be possible without Him. This is the most important thing you will ever have to know in your life. Hopefully, this is a message that you have learned from the guiding of the Holy Spirit.

As you prepare to begin a New Year, if you want to be prepared and ready for whatever the future may bring, remember all that our awesome God has done for you in Christ Jesus. With that you are ready and prepared for anything.