Solus
Christus - Through Christ alone
There is no other mediator – The latest spiritual
craze will be yesterday’s news! Of course, not until after they endorse your
check for all the stuff you bought at the last well hyped, over-rated event
someone promoted.
Today we focus on the centrality of Christ. In other
words, at the center of all that we do is Jesus! Our focus is on Christ and
Christ alone.
God has given the ultimate revelation of himself to us
by sending Jesus Christ. He is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Colossians 1:15. Only
through God’s gracious self-revelation in Jesus do we come to a saving and
transforming knowledge of God. The aim of
our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a
sincere faith.-1 Timothy 1:5.
Because God is holy and all humans are sinful and
sinners, “That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we
looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life--
1 John 1:1;
“Consequently,
he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him,
since he always lives to make intercession for them.” -Hebrews 7:25;
“Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one
who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who
indeed is interceding for us.” - Romans 8:34.
Neither religious rituals nor good works mediate
between God and us. ”And there is
salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among
men by which we must be saved." -Acts 4:12 by which a person can be
saved other than the name of Jesus.
“The
former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from
continuing in office,” -Hebrews 7:23. Only Jesus’ sacrificial death alone
can atone for sin. Christ is the center of our faith. - SOLUS CHRISTUS we are
redeemed by Christ alone!
Amidst the brokenness of our lives. Amidst the power
structures and manipulation. The violence. Racism. The hurt. Comes the
Christ. Who breaks in. Who shares our
flesh. Who carries our burdens. Who bears our sins. Who will suffer the scars
of evil. Who exchanges our shame for His glory.
And calls us to be the very light of the world.-A
light that is not ours but His. Gifted
to us. For us to undermine the darkness. Which cannot stand against it.
St. Paul would remind us,” So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and
especially to those who are of the household of faith.” –Galatians 6:10
Luther’s
Seal copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things
________________
Did you
know… that Time magazine once
declared Henry Ford “the soybean’s best friend”? In the midst of the Great
Depression when grain crops were failing, animal feeders discovered that
livestock fed on an oil-rich soybean diet bulked up quickly. To Ford, it made
perfect sense to subsidize research into the uses of farm products. Numerous
auto parts were made from petroleum-based plastic, and of course, all of Ford’s
engines ran on diesel and gasoline refined from petroleum crude. “If we want the farmer to be our customer,”
he said, “we must find a way to be his
customer.”
Ford authorized dramatically expanding the
agricultural laboratory in Greenfield Village at Ford’s headquarters in
Dearborn, Michigan. To encourage production, he made 400 Fordson tractors
available for free use to Michigan farmers and offered gas and diesel at a
penny per gallon – less than a quarter of what it cost at the pump. He bragged,
“There is a bushel of soya beans in every
Ford car,” in Fortune magazine.
Farmers put more than 35,000 acres of land into growing soybeans, and
Ford bought their entire output as promised.
Ford even switched the company commissary over to
baked goods made with soy flour and ice cream made with soy milk. In the spring
of 1935, farmers planted soybeans in record numbers. In preparation for the
coming harvest, Ford spent $5 million to construct his own soybean mill with
solvent extraction at the Flagship River Rouge plant in Dearborn – and boasted
that he had jumpstarted demand for soybeans nationwide.
That year roughly 70 million bushels would be
harvested. In the absolute depths of the Great Depression, soybeans were hailed
as a godsend. Cargill, which specialized in milling grains as feed for
livestock producers eagerly built new soybean-producing plants, along the
rivers and the Great Lakes from Minneapolis to Chicago, where the great
stockyards were buying unprecedented quantities of soybean meal as animal feed.
–Read this
fascinating book, “This Blessed Earth” by Ted Genoways
“A universal
story of family farmers and all they’re up against.” – Willie Nelson
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