I know him so well - Part 1

Last week we looked at how God partners with us to help fulfill the desires he places in our hearts and his desires for this world.

In April 2009 when Susan Boyle, a middle aged ‘socially awkward’ lady from Scotland, appeared for the first time ever on our television screens she said that her ‘dream’ was to be the next Elaine Paige (known as the First Lady of musical theatre). Most people watching Susan Boyle before she sang, based on first impressions, would have thought ‘that will never happen’.

Maybe ‘that will never happen’ you speak in your mind over your life because of past disappointments, sadness, resignation to circumstances, a sense of being unloved and/or regrets from your past.

In December 2009, one of Susan Boyle’s desires came to pass only eight months after her first appearance on screen she sings a duet with Elaine Paige live on television, see the youtube clip above. Forty-seven years of loneliness and obscurity may have been temporarily forgotten as Susan sang with Elaine that night to an audience of millions.

Whatever you face today you too, through your relationship with Christ, can overcome negative emotions and experiences but not just as a temporary release but an on-going relief from the sorrows of this world.

The duet Susan Boyle and Elaine Paige sang that night was ‘I know him so well’ from the musical ‘Chess’.

The song is about two women in love with one man and how they both come to realise that a long-term relationship with him is not possible for either of them.

The lyrics of the song purvey disappointment, sadness, resignation, loneliness and regret.

In this week’s blog by looking at some of the ‘lines’ from the song and rewriting them in the context of our relationship with Jesus we will look at how that connection with our living saviour gives us comfort, joy, hope, love and peace in our hearts and minds.

“Nothing is so good it last eternally. Perfect situations must go wrong”

Our relationship with Jesus is eternal (John 17:3) and the Kingdom of God (his presence, his power and authority, his purposes, his provision of blessing, his peace) resides in our hearts and minds now (Luke 17:20) and we are a people called to help bring more of his Kingdom on earth in our lifetime in the world around us before the Kingdom is fully realised in the New Heaven and New Earth (Revelation 21:1-5).

I love Revelation 21 because this is God’s vision of how this world will be transformed and depicts the reality of a perfect eternal situation to come in which nothing will go wrong (verse 27 nothing unclean, detestable or false will enter this world) and we, his people, will worship him in a place of no darkness ruling together with Jesus (Revelation 22:3-5).

However, we all face on a daily basis the battle with sin and many in this world fight against, sickness, hardship and/or poverty every day. Situations are far from perfect!! Nevertheless, we see from the Gospels Jesus healed all who were brought to him (Luke 4:40), delivered people from demonic oppression (Luke 4:31 & 41), multiplied meagre resources (John 6:1-14) and he defeated the biggest enemy of all of us DEATH (John 11:25-26).

So, if we know Jesus we can sing:

“Jesus is so good he loves eternally. Perfect situations will come to pass”

(sometimes now but always eternally)

We can also sing “Jesus is with us constantly” (Matthew 28:20), unlike the two ladies from the stage play ‘Chess’ who sung “No one in your life is with you constantly”.

Their lyrics communicate a sense of loneliness as they go on to sing “No one is completely on your side". How often have you complained to a close friend or a loved one “but you don’t understand”, perhaps you are communicating it does not feel like they are on your side BUT “Jesus is completely on your side” he dwells in us by his Spirit (John 14:16-20) and is always interceding for us (Romans 8:34 & 1 John 2:1) before God the father.

The reality of the above is something that we may struggle to feel in our daily walk because we look to experience and emotions, perhaps we are striving in our own strength to get closer to God maybe like the ladies in ‘Chess’ we feel like “we have moved our world to be with him but the still Gap between us is too wide”. Can I suggest rather than look to our own experience and emotions look to the experience and emotions of Jesus who moved from his perfect world (heaven) to this world mankind messed up, took on the form of a servant and being found in appearance a man humbled himself even to death on a cross (Philippians 2:1-11). He hung on that cross and died for our sin and as an innocent man bore the wrath of God the Father towards our sin, allowing the gap between us and a Holy God to be closed once and for all for everyone who trust in Jesus. We can sing:

“He moved his world to be with us and now the gap between us is always closed”.

For the characters in ‘Chess’ it felt like ‘madness’ that he couldn’t be either of theirs (“Isn’t it madness he can’t be mine”), the real ‘madness’ in this world to those who do not know Jesus is the certainty that we know from the word of God of the wonderful ‘mystery’ that the creator of this world dwells within us (Colossians 1:27).

Whatever you are facing this week through your relationship with Jesus sing this song, rebuking the lies of the devil:

“Jesus is so good he loves eternally. Perfect situations will come to pass... and he is with me constantly, Jesus is completely on my side. He moved his world to be with me and the gap between us is always closed.

Isn’t is good

Isn’t it fine

Jesus is mine

I can know him so well"

Next week I will look at how we can know Jesus better and for those of you who don’t know him how you can come to know him.

#Eternity #sadness #joy #hope #resignation #loneliness #regret #love #peace