THE “PROCLAIMER” Newsletter of PROVIDENCE BAPTIST CHURCH 1055 Lawyers Road; Red House, VA 23963 Church Phone: (434) 376-2719 January 2016 The Vulnerability of God Have you ever thought about the vulnerability of God? Or, rather, I should say, the vulnerability God chose when he sent Jesus to earth in human form? We serve an all-powerful God who is eternal and impervious to human illness and injury. THIS God CHOSE to send a piece of himself to his people not only in human form, but in embryonic form. Really, is there anyone more vulnerable on this earth than an unborn baby? Jesus was totally dependent on Mary taking care of her own body and protecting this unborn child of an unwed mother. Then, of course, he was a completely dependent infant counting on parents who essentially became social outcasts because of his birth. The child Jesus was subject to hunger, the grief of losing loved ones, and of course the sibling rival that I imagine would develop from younger siblings who literally had the perfect brother. As a young man at the beginning of his ministry, Satan tested him in the desert by asking him to use his godly power to improve his situation and Jesus again chose the vulnerability and hardships of humanity. At the end of his human life, he chose not to call down the powers of heaven and an army of angels at his disposal to rescue him from the cross so that he could fulfill his mission to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. I think that at the beginning of the New Year when we are prone to making New Year’s resolutions, we are more aware of our own vulnerabilities – we resolve to change those things about ourselves that we are weakest in – we resolve to have more willpower around food or exercise or smoking or bad attitudes. . . . We recognize our human frailties pretty quickly when we, more often than not, fail to attain those resolution goals. It is encouraging to me that it was in these very human frailties that God’s greatest work was accomplished through Jesus. Because of his human weaknesses, God’s power was all the more visible in and through him. So don’t be afraid to be vulnerable and set goals that are larger than your ability to meet. For we serve a God who has walked this road of vulnerable humanity and he accomplished his God-sized task. The power that he accessed, he gave to us. He told his disciples in John 14:12, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” The Apostle Paul also tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “Each time he [God] said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” So, in this new year, revel in your weaknesses, knowing that you serve a God who experienced them himself and, in fact, used them to do the most powerful work imaginable—saving us from the punishment of our sins and he gave us the victory over our own weaknesses in the process. Because of his vulnerability, his strength works through our weaknesses today to accomplish great things. Are you accessing his power in your life today? Blessings!
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THE “PROCLAIMER” Newsletter of
PROVIDENCE BAPTIST CHURCH 1055 Lawyers Road; Red House, VA 23963
Church Phone: (434) 376-2719
January 2016
The Vulnerability of God
Have you ever thought about the vulnerability of God? Or, rather, I should say, the vulnerability God
chose when he sent Jesus to earth in human form? We serve an all-powerful God who is eternal and
impervious to human illness and injury. THIS God CHOSE to send a piece of himself to his people not only
in human form, but in embryonic form. Really, is there anyone more vulnerable on this earth than an unborn
baby? Jesus was totally dependent on Mary taking care of her own body and protecting this unborn child of an
unwed mother. Then, of course, he was a completely dependent infant counting on parents who essentially
became social outcasts because of his birth. The child Jesus was subject to hunger, the grief of losing loved
ones, and of course the sibling rival that I imagine would develop from younger siblings who literally had the
perfect brother. As a young man at the beginning of his ministry, Satan tested him in the desert by asking him
to use his godly power to improve his situation and Jesus again chose the vulnerability and hardships of
humanity. At the end of his human life, he chose not to call down the powers of heaven and an army of angels
at his disposal to rescue him from the cross so that he could fulfill his mission to be an atoning sacrifice for our
sins.
I think that at the beginning of the New Year when we are prone to making New Year’s resolutions, we
are more aware of our own vulnerabilities – we resolve to change those things about ourselves that we are
weakest in – we resolve to have more willpower around food or exercise or smoking or bad attitudes. . . . We
recognize our human frailties pretty quickly when we, more often than not, fail to attain those resolution goals.
It is encouraging to me that it was in these very human frailties that God’s greatest work was accomplished
through Jesus. Because of his human weaknesses, God’s power was all the more visible in and through him.
So don’t be afraid to be vulnerable and set goals that are larger than your ability to meet. For we serve a God
who has walked this road of vulnerable humanity and he accomplished his God-sized task. The power that he
accessed, he gave to us. He told his disciples in John 14:12, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will
do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the
Father.” The Apostle Paul also tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “Each time he [God] said, ‘My grace is all you
need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power
of Christ can work through me.” So, in this new year, revel in your weaknesses, knowing that you serve a God
who experienced them himself and, in fact, used them to do the most powerful work imaginable—saving us
from the punishment of our sins and he gave us the victory over our own weaknesses in the process. Because
of his vulnerability, his strength works through our weaknesses today to accomplish great things. Are you