Today, we have in our spotlight, Evangelist William Joseph Seymour, an African-American holiness preacher who was the catalyst and leader of the Azusa Street Revival (“Revival”). The peak years of the Revival occurred during the period of 1906 through 1909. Evangelist Seymour was influenced by Rev. Charles Parham and adopted his belief that speaking in tongues was the sign of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Evangelist Seymour would later move to Los Angeles, California, and continued to preach this message that initiated the Revival. The Revival drew thousands and was known for its controversial message and religious practices as well as its interracial worship services. The relationship between Evangelist Seymour and Rev. Parham unfortunately ended over religious differences as well as Parham’s disapproval of the integrated revival services. We should ask ourselves what is the color and/or race of the body of Christ? May those in Christ transcend rudimentary thoughts of tribalism and embrace the unity of being a member of His Body.
For the past several days, we have seen the awful impact of a significant and deadly winter storm upon our family and friends in Texas. Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and if you know of others that we can bless, please let us know who and how. As I watched the coverage of the events continue to unfold and become increasingly politicized, I am so glad that the Heavenly Triune God found no occasion to point a finger or blame anyone for the sinful condition of man. Rather than focus on what was wrong, God, who is Love Almighty, looked beyond our faults to see our need which is Christ Jesus. Love covers a multitude of sin and sent to us His only begotten Son to pay the ransom for our atonement and to rescue us as a kidnapped people from the bondage of sin and death.
Please go with me to St. John 1:14:
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
I am sure that it is difficult to comprehend the eternal existence of the Triune God by those who are not enlightened and have yet to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I am also certain that it is also difficult to acknowledge what it means that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among men. The carnal and unenlightened man and woman simply cannot grasp the pre-incarnate existence of Jesus Christ who is identified by John as the Word, the Logos, who was with God before the beginning. In verses 3 and 4 of Chapter 1, John reveals that:
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
In other words, all things that we see and know were created in the beginning by Jesus Christ as the Pre-incarnate Word of God’s power. However, at the appointed time, the Word was made flesh as the True Temple of God and took on the form of humanity to show us that God’s love is real and forever. In heaven, the Word understood clearly that He had a single mission as the Lamb of God to be the eternal and final sacrifice to forever blot out our sins. As the only begotten of the Father, He understood the depth of God’s love for us such that He submitted His will, like Abraham and Isaac, to the will of the Father knowing the humiliation and beat down to come.
It is clear that in order for God’s perfect will to be accomplished the beautiful present that He would give to the world had to be appropriately gift-wrapped in flesh (i.e., the Word was made flesh) to satisfy the undaunting demands and unrelentless obligations of the law. It is also evident that the gift of complete atonement and eternal reconciliation could not be accomplished by the yearly sacrifices under the Mosaic law. The Old Testament sacrifices were completely powerless and the Father knew that we needed a better sacrifice to free us from the condemnation of sin. The Father also knew that the answer could only be accomplished by His love. Indeed, the Father knew that reconciliation could not be effected by amending the law or creating a new law so He purposed in Christ to fulfill the law.
In America right now, especially as I hear so many ongoing discussions about race relations in our country, at some point in time I pray that all Americans will come to understand that love, justice, respect, equity and acceptance will never come through legislation, reparations or passage of some new state or federal law. Love does not come from the law. Love comes from God because God is love. And if it’s not Love, it’s not God. All praises be to God that we have something better than a presidential pardon but a heavenly pardon because of the atoning work of Christ on the cross.
Too often, we have yet to spiritually mature and grasp the reality that the Father has called us to do more than just pray about the real needs and real crises facing our brothers and sisters. When nothing else could help, the Word, God’s love manifested in real time, should be made flesh in our lives. God’s love should become a tangible loving reality and should touch, heal, feed, clothe, and deliver those who are in need of being rescued from the circumstances of this life. Even the Triune God understood that the condition of man was not simply something that could only be answered by prayer. We needed a better sacrifice. So, the Word became flesh and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
In our times of predicament, in our moments of crisis, in our hours of desperation, I believe that God has equipped us to do more than just pray. God has called us to come to each other’s rescue. In Christ, we are to edify one another, support one another, and represent the strong who are bearing the infirmities of the weak. When nothing else could help, love responds to the issue in a real way and in real time. I recall a conversation by a brilliant medical doctor who happens to be both Harvard educated and of Korean descent. The good doctor summed up the Gospel like this and told me that the real message of Christ is leaving a situation better than you found it. Jesus Christ left the world better than he found it. Jesus Christ left me better than He found me. Jesus Christ will leave you better than He found you.
We have in Him the awesome example of a living and loving sacrifice (as the final-once-and-for-all payment) that we who were in former times enemies to God can come to know grace (God’s unmerited favor) and truth (which is in Jesus Christ). Family, hear this, the death of Christ was to fulfill God’s will and to show us God’s love by offering up his own fleshly body in sacrifice. I am so thankful that the Lord Jesus, as the Pre-incarnate Word, did not have the mind to condemn us but He had the passion and compassion to save us. Thank you Jesus for running to the fight when you hung on the cross from the sixth to the ninth hour until you could say at the appointed time it is finished.
It is through the Word being made flesh that the Father touches us and we are now reconciled to Him in a redeemed, deeper and more intimate relationship as His sons and daughters. In Hebrews 10: 5 – 10, the writer shares with us a conversation between Jesus Christ and the Father, and reveals that in Him we have a better sacrifice. He is the Word gift-wrapped in the flesh that offered up His body once and for all time to save us from our sins. I am so glad that Jesus while struggling in the Garden of Gethsemane declared “not my will but thy will be done.” To become Christlike, means that we too, moment by moment, are bringing our wills, minds and bodies under subjection to the will of God. And not because we have to but because we want to! As we are becoming more Christlike, there is a completely different evaluation and property appraisal, if you will, of how priceless our bodies are to God.
So, I beseech you brothers and sisters by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. Note here that the Word reminds us to present our bodies (not just our memorized bible verses, our religious cliches, our we will keep you lifted up in prayer dismissals). The Word commands us to present our bodies, which requires tangible undisputed evidence of God’s love in real time. Our bodies were not given to us to just do our own thing. The Father has not given us a license to subject our bodies to the addictions of this life or to become addicted to the pleasures of sin for a season. In fact, Paul wrote in First Corinthians 16: 19 – 20:
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
I believe that the Father through the Holy Spirit is asking each of us this simple question: Is it your body or My temple? Well, if it is My temple, live in My perfect will. If it is My temple, love them that hate you. If it is My temple, bless them that curse you. If it is My temple, pray for them that despitefully use you. Let the world behold in you, as My temple, the glory of Jesus Christ as the only begotten of the Father, and continue to proclaim this ministry of reconciliation that God was also in Christ reconciling man back unto Himself.