Friday, May 4, 2012

Our God is QUICK

We have an interesting aspect of the Lord to consider today:  He is Quick!  It is not the quick we think of—hurry, hurry, hurry.  The rushing quickness of modern life brings death, but the Quickness of Christ is life giving.  As the Messiah, He has quick understanding of reverence for the LORD.  That quickness allows Him to be joy-filled, wise and just.  As the Last Adam, He is a quickening spirit—the One who gives life.  Without His Quick-ness, we have earthly life, which gives us a grand illusion of fullness.  However, it is only when we receive the Quickening Spirit that we actually have abundant, lasting life.  As the Word, He is quick, powerful and sharp—dividing our soul and spirit perfectly.  The Quick Word gives us the understanding to discern between God-life and man-made life.  We need to have the Quick-ness of Christ to live well.

Isaiah prophesied of the coming Savior that He would be of Quick Understanding (Isaiah 11:3); the essence of this Quickness is reverence of God.  The Messiah’s Quickness of Understanding is the source of His wise judgment…and salvation does not come without judgment.  At the time of Christ’s coming, the nation of Israel was feeling the pain of judgment.  They had gone their own way and landed in subjection to Rome…captives to cruel rulers because they refused reverence for Jehovah.  The Spirit of Christ brings the character of God to life; His Quick Understanding gives vitality and freedom to God’s children.

The Spirit that ‘quickened’ Jesus in the resurrection is the Spirit dwelling in every believer.  Because the Spirit quickened Christ, He lives.  That resurrection life is available to us.  His life gives us the potential for life.  That Jesus is quickened—and willing to quicken all who will trust in Him—is the hope we all need.  The Quickening Spirit is the key not only to living; it is the key to living in a way that brings life to others.  Man-made life offers temporary pleasures and blessings; God-made lives bring hope to a world under judgment and captivity.

Finally, the Quick-ness of the Word allows us to understand the difference between delusion and truth.  The human soul finds great delights in physical life; the Spirit, though, longs for eternal meaning.  The Word dissects our lusts and our longings so that we can choose life.  Just as Joshua offered the people of Israel a choice:  blessing or cursing, life or death, God offers us a choice:  live for ourselves or live for Him.  Christ, the Quick, gives us the understanding, the freedom and the discernment to choose wisely—to choose Him!



1 comment:

  1. What a great blessing to contemplate the "quick-ness" of the Lord! Thanks!

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