God Came Himself
God came down Himself to lift us, making it possible for us to reach Him without relying on our own efforts.
Selwyn Hughes emphasizes that both philosophy and moralism have failed in leading people to find God. Despite the noble efforts of philosophical reasoning and moral systems, they fall short in reaching the kingdom of God. Jesus highlighted the insufficiency of self-effort in attaining righteousness and entering the kingdom. However, God's ultimate solution was to send His Son into the world so that through Him, we might find true life and salvation. Hughes encourages us to rely on God's down-reach of grace, as our feeble attempts to reach Him are insufficient compared to His reaching down to lift us up.
Text
"... God ... sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him." (v. 9)
For reading & meditation:
1 John 4:7-21
There have been two great attempts to find God throughout the ages," said Dr. E. Stanley Jones, "one, philosophy, the other, moralism." The attempts of philosophy to find God are represented by the three great philosophical nations - Greece, India, and China. These three nations have taken men and women about as far as it is possible to philosophical reasoning. Philosophy has strained itself to the utmost and yet it has not been successful in finding God. Lao-tzu, the Chinese philosopher, said the final word about God is Silence, and Shankaracharya, the Indian philosopher, said the final word about God is not that. They both concluded at zero. Moralism, likewise, cannot lead to God. The attempt to find God through the law was the noble effort made by the Jews. Never was such a moral system devised as theirs, nor an end result so disappointing. It produced, for instance, the Pharisee who stood in his pride and said: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men" (Luke 18:11). Jesus pronounced doom on the Pharisee's attempt to find God through moralism when He said: "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:20). They could not reach the kingdom by even their greatest self-effort alone. Both philosophy and moralism fall short. When our best was not good enough, when our highest attempts could not lead to the kingdom, God came down Himself to lift us. Now no one need say in his or her quest for God: "Not that."
O God, Your down-reach is my only hope. My up-reach is feeble and goes little higher than my head. Your down-reach, however, goes to the lowest of the low-it reaches me. I take hold of Your grace and I am lifted - to You. Blessed be Your Name forever. Amen.
Sermon Outline
- The Failure of Philosophy
- The Failure of Moralism
- God's Solution
- Our Response
- Taking hold of God's grace
- Lifting us to Him
Key Quotes
“God came Himself to lift us.” — Selwyn Hughes
“My up-reach is feeble and goes little higher than my head. Your down-reach, however, goes to the lowest of the low-it reaches me.” — Selwyn Hughes
“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” — Selwyn Hughes
Application Points
- We must recognize the limitations of human reason and self-effort in reaching God.
- We can respond to God's solution by taking hold of His grace and allowing Him to lift us to Himself.
- Our up-reach may be feeble, but God's down-reach is sufficient to reach the lowest of the low.