A Round-trip Ticket

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efore I take a trip, I spend several days searching for an airline ticket that fits both my time schedule and my budget.  Usually, I start weeks before my departure so I can get the best deal on a good flight and make all the necessary arrangements traveling requires. 

The fastest and most expedient way to locate airline tickets is via the Internet.  Several services offer direct access to flight information and allow you to book and pay for the flight right online.  Moreover, you have the luxury of changing the dates, times, and locations of your departure and arrival in order to tailor the flight to your needs.  I just love to play with these buttons, changing the information just to see what will happen.  In all cases, though, I have noticed that purchasing a round-trip ticket is less expensive by far than traveling just one-way.

In recent weeks, I have spent time thinking about how this applies to the Christian life.  What does a round-trip ticket have to do with our lives in Jesus Christ?  Most often we see, hear, and share the fact that in order to come to God, we must have a one-way ticket and that one-way ticket is Jesus Christ.  This is so true and, in a nutshell, is the gospel.  However, today I want to concentrate on what Jesus did for us by his substitutionary death on Calvary.

The plan of salvation was made before the foundation of the world but the story of salvation begins in the Garden of Eden, in the book of Genesis.  Adam and Eve were created with no sin.  They had a perfect relationship with God enjoying direct access to him, talking with him, meeting with him in the garden, and living in complete fellowship with him on a daily basis.  All this was theirs until sin entered the picture.

Sin entered because Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  With one bite, they destroyed this wonderful relationship they had with God.  Gone was the closeness, the oneness, and the direct access to him.  No more could they walk with him in the garden or enjoy unhindered fellowship with God.  Sin, their sin, had erected a barrier between man and his God, a barrier that he could not remove because he was powerless to do so.

We see this truth in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.  Romans 5:17 tells us plainly, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. “  In this passage, Paul reminds us that by one man, Adam, death, the result of sin (Romans 6:23), became a reality for the entire human race.  From Adam down, mankind has lived with death, but more importantly, man has lived behind the veil of sin, separated from God.  Not until the coming of Jesus Christ was it possible for man once again to enjoy the relationship Adam had in the beginning.

This is why Paul refers to “God’s abundant provision of grace…” in this passage.  Through one man, Jesus Christ, the second Adam, salvation is available to all who ask for it.  This is wonderful news and the cause for great celebration!  Through the gift of his son, Jesus Christ, God makes it possible for man to be reunited with him and enjoy a fulfilling relationship with him.  Adam’s choice resulted in a one-way ticket away from God; Jesus’ gift of salvation to all who accept it offers a return-trip ticket back to God.  By accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we have direct access to God and can enjoy the relationship we were meant to have all along. Are you holding a one-way or a return-trip ticket today?

Up and Down and All Around

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ne evening I was reminded just how dependent we are on elevators.  My office at the university was in the basement of our building.  The main office and many of our classrooms are were the second and third floors.  To gain access to any of these, I would walk down the hall and join the long line of people waiting for the elevator to arrive and whisk us to any floor of our choosing.  The elevator usually took its own precious time.  This was especially true when I was in a hurry and needed to get to a classroom or the restroom!  The elevator provided an invaluable service but I definitely had to put myself on its schedule!  Rarely, if ever, did it put itself on mine!

When the elevator finally arrived and the magical doors opened, I stepped inside and pushed the button for the second floor.  The doors slid shut and the elevator began its upward ascent, carrying me to the second floor so I could make photocopies, visit with the secretaries in the main office, and check my mailbox.  While locked in the elevator, I came to the realization that my movement was taking place in only one direction.  The elevator could only transport me vertically; any horizontal movement had to be done on my own.  The elevator could take me to the correct level but it could not take me around the building or down the hall.  For that, I had to walk through the building and from side to side.  But one thing was sure: without the vertical motion, the horizontal motion wouldn’t have been possible.

Jesus found himself presenting the same truth to a teacher of Jewish law.  The teacher had asked a very important question and eagerly awaited Jesus’ response.  The teacher wanted to know Jesus’ opinion of the most important law on the books.  This was not the only time this question was put to Jesus and it was not the only time he gave the same correct answer.  Let’s take a look at Mark 12:28-31 to see the exchange between the teacher and the master, notice the profound difference in the titles!

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. ‘There is no commandment greater than these."

Please notice that Jesus’ answer contains both vertical and horizontal movement.  The command to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength was the greatest commandment.  God wants and expects nothing less than for his people to love Him completely, with every fiber of their beings. But Jesus does not stop here.  After securing the importance of the horizontal relationship between us and God, he ventures forth on the horizontal plane.  Jesus continues by requiring us to develop the horizontal relationship with those around us, those people who Jesus identifies as our neighbors.  So not only is it necessary to have a right relationship with God (vertical) it is also required of us to have a right relationship with those around us (horizontal).  Jesus concludes by stating that there are no greater commandments than these two.

The next time you have the opportunity to take the elevator, think about the application of its motion to your spiritual life.  The up and down relationship we have with God (vertical) is essential.  We must spend time locked inside this relationship so that our lives reach the level of spiritual maturity God intends for us.  He invites us to rise from the basement of our relationship with Him to the top floor, growing and maturing as we ascend.  But God also expects us to get out of the spiritual elevator and minister to those around us (horizontal). 

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e are to love our neighbors, those around us, with the same love we have for ourselves.  We have a responsibility to those around us to share the good news of Jesus Christ and to minister to their needs.  God expects us to spend our lives on both the vertical and horizontal planes.  However, we must keep these actions in the proper order.  Vertical relationship, the one between us and God, is the most important.  Without the vertical relationship, the horizontal relationship, the one between us and our neighbors, isn’t possible.  Listen carefully as you enter the elevator and you just might hear God whisper to you, “What floor please?”  Are you ready to leave the elevator and love your neighbor today?