07/01/2008: "God's call to Pastors and the forgiveness of sins"

When dealing with the works of God, it is important to notice that throughout all of the scriptures, He (meaning God) has consistently revealed His extraordinary powers through very non-extraordinary means. In Genesis, we see that man himself came from a very humble beginning, namely dust (Genesis 2:7). From our humble beginnings, do we scoff that because it was dust we cannot be flesh? No, the Scriptures tell us by God’s power He formed us in His image and it was His breath or spirit (ruach in Hebrew) which gave life to the form that God made from the dust. God did not just “zap” Adam into existence; He used a very humble thing like dust to display His power of creation.
Consider God’s plan for releasing Israel from the bondage of Egypt. Did God walk in and crush Egypt with His mighty hand or did He use a stuttering prophet, guilty of murder to be His instrument of their deliverance? Moses even asks the question: “Who am I that I should Go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 3:11)?” God assures Moses it is His work that will be happening when He answers Him “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. (Exodus 3:12)” Already we see God using people to serve in His stead and by His command. When Moses tried to use his own authority to save that single Hebrew being beaten by an Egyptian guard (Ex 2:11-12), it just left him an outcast and a murderer. When God looked on His people He sent Moses by His authority and all of Israel was rescued from slavery. God gave it to a simple sinner to display His power of deliverance.
In the New Testament, we see Jesus sending out the seventy (Luke 10). When He sent them, it was with authority to not only preach, but to “heal the sick” (Luke 10:9). Why did Jesus send out these people to preach and perform miracles? Was it because He was spread too thin to be in all of these places at once? Of course not! As we read in Luke chapter seven, the Centurion confessed that Jesus need NOT be physically present in order to heal his servant; rather it was the will of Christ which makes such a thing possible. This brings us back to the seventy that Jesus sent out to perform these great works in His name. What was their response when they returned? They boldly claimed that “Even the demons are subject to us in Your name. [emphasis mine]” (Luke 10:17) Once again we see that God Himself has taken seventy unremarkable men and by His Word and promise, gave them the ability to do things in His name. God once again is showing us His use of the non-extraordinary to display His power of restoration.
Let’s review John 20:21-23 again with all this in mind. Here we have the Apostles of Christ gathered together after our Lord’s crucifixion. Why are they gathered? They are gathered together because they are afraid of the Jews (John 20:19). Once again we see the same situation being unfolded. Sinful people are gathered together and it is Christ who is resurrected at this point speaking to them. The first thing He does as the Prince of Peace is to announce “Peace to you” (John 20:19). The next thing He did was show the disciples His wounds to prove it was really Him. Only after they saw these wounds did they even believe it was Him. From here is where we see the commissioning. He tells the Apostles the Father who has given Him all authority (Matthew 28:18) has sent Him with this authority. As certainly as Christ sent His followers to Baptize people (Matthew 28) “for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3) is also telling them that they have been authorized to proclaim the forgiveness and remittance of sins NOT by their authority, but rather by His. For God to do this is directly related to how He has worked throughout all of all the scriptures. God is once again doing something remarkable when He uses his sinful and broken followers to carry out His perfect and divine will. There should be no contradiction or confusion when we see this as a continuation of God’s works and plan for salvation. The only comfort a Christian can ever derive from hearing “your sins are forgiven” is if it comes from the same God who is still doing extraordinary things through very ordinary people to show His power of forgiveness.
As a Pastor, I am proud to be one of those "ordinary" things.
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Soli Deo Gloria
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