In Christ Alone?

As I have been preparing for this Sunday's message and reflecting on the last two weeks' messages, it has struck me that the overall theme of these first 13 verses of 1 Corinthians 10 is the sufficiency of Christ and our lack of the capability to recognize and accept this sufficiency as truth. The question that rolls over and over in my head is this, "Is He really all I need?" I know that I have managed to convince myself of other things that I need at least as much, if not more, than Christ. Can God be right? (A no-brainer!) Is He sufficient? There must be other things I need!

Here's the problem with that line of thought....those needs are all about me! All about what I want to make me happy. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think God struggles with my desire to be happy. I think He wants the same thing for me. The real battle is over how I get happy. My way or His? I keep trying to get there my way and He is patient to wait as I exhaust myself trying to push a huge rock up a steep hill.

God knows the way to true joy and peace is through Him and the gift He's provided, by His grace, through His Son. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” He keeps telling us this through His Word and we keep trying to find it elsewhere, in relationships, material goods, our jobs, our homes even our families.

I was sitting at Panera (my office away from the office) this morning and began reading Alistair Begg's re-editing of Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening", a great devotional it itself albeit, at times, a difficult read. Begg has modernized the language making it much easier to digest as a devotional. It can be subscribed to as a daily email,
Daily Devotional

Here's the devotional, the verse from Revelation is referring to the New Jerusalem, the city of God that rises up as God's holy city at the End Times. If you have time read, this carefully and slowly, absorbing all it says and all it means about what we will need when we are there with him in heaven. Can it be that this is all we need now, while we are here on Earth?

Thursday, August 9, 2007
THE CITY HAS NO NEED OF SUN OR MOON TO SHINE ON IT.Revelation 21:23 Further on, in the better world, the residents are not dependent upon creature comforts. They do not need new clothes; their white robes never wear out, nor do they become soiled or tattered. They don't need medicine to heal diseases, for no one will ever say, "I am sick." They do not need sleep to restore their strength-they do not rest by day or night as they praise God in His temple. They do not need social relationships to grant comfort, and whatever happiness they may derive from association with their fellows is not essential to their bliss, for the presence of Jesus is enough for their largest desires. They do not need teachers there; they doubtless commune with one another concerning the things of God, but they do not need to be instructed; they will all be taught of the Lord. We receive donations at the King's gate, but they feast at the table itself. Here we lean upon the friendly arm, but there they lean upon the Beloved and upon Him alone. Here we need the help of our companions, but there they find all they need in Christ Jesus. Here we look to the food that perishes and to the clothing that decays before the moth, but there they find everything in God. We use the bucket to fetch water from the well, but there they drink from the fountainhead and put their lips down to the living water. Now the angels bring us blessings, but then we will not need messengers from heaven. They do not need angels there to bring their love-notes from God because they see Him face to face. What a blessed time it will be when having moved beyond every secondary cause we rest upon the bare arm of God! What a glorious hour when God, and not His creatures-the Lord, and not His works-will be our daily joy! Our souls will then have attained the perfection of bliss.
Please note: Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright (c) 2003, Good News Publishers and used by Truth for Life with written permission. Scripture quotations are taken from Holy Bible: English Standard Version, copyright (c) 2001, Good News Publishers.