253. The Divisiveness of Christ's Call

Luke 12:49-53

Key Verse: "Do you think I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but division."

Luke 12:51

We can see in this passage how frustrated God is with evil. Yet, we also see how patient He is to do what must be done, in the proper order, to conquer evil fully and completely. When we began this journey, and looked at the first sin that brought evil into the world, we said that God was faced with a choice. He could take what had been broken and sweep it into the garbage, or painstakingly put the pieces together again to make the creation whole. If God had taken the first choice and began over again, what would have prevented Satan from just destroying that creation as well, creating a cycle of frustration for God of creation and destruction? We said that God obviously made a different choice because of love.

Today, Jesus says, "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!" (Luke 12:49-50) If the fire were to come before Jesus had provided a means of escape through His death and resurrection, it would have been no different than destroying creation at the beginning. Christ first had to provide a means of escape for those who choose to follow Him, to rescue them and separate them from the evil around them.

Paul says: "Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:3-4)

That is how the division comes. We who have been made alive in Christ have become separated from those who are still dead in their sin. We do not get to heaven based on our family ties. We do not get to heaven based on our behavior. The only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ, taking on His death and being raised with him to new life. When you become a Christian, you become separated from those around you who are not. That's why it is so essential that all of us work to bring our loved ones to Christ. We must see ourselves on a rescue mission, bringing others to the throne of grace to receive the new life that He offers so that we can not only reign with Him, but live with them forever.

He is the dividing line yes, because He cannot live with evil. In love, however, He is also the way through the division for all who will receive and follow His lead.

Hymn: "Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul"