…Now, unto the more important line. Which I think is one of the most understated lines in all of Scripture. Here’s what we’ve been building up to. Are you ready?
Render to God the things that are God’s.
Giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s as directed by God and under his authority is good. What is better, and far more important and inclusive, and all encompassing, is rendering to God the things that are God’s. Remember whose image was on the denarius? Caesars.
Now, whose image is on you, on me, on all humanity? Remember way back in the beginning? God created the heavens and the earth. And he created everything in the heavens and on the earth in six days. And at the end of the sixth day, he created something special. Man and woman. And he created them in his own image.
So, if we are to deliver the denarius coin back to Caesar to pay the tribute toll tax, since the coin bears his image, then what are we to deliver back to God since we bear his image? Before you answer. Remember at the very beginning of this message, I told you to prepare yourself, to be ready, so you didn’t miss it. This is it. This is what God is after. If he wants you to honor the emperor of the world with their due honor, then what does the God who created it all want from you?
The honor of your life being delivered to him as tribute. That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less. The whole person, delivered to God, in service to him, to his honor. Duane recently covered Romans 12. How does that start. Present yourself as a living sacrifice to God. The whole person. In service to God.
How would you know if the whole person was in service to God? Well, you’d need to know what God required of you. And you’d have to be doing it. The first part is all in here (point to bible). The second part simply needs to be put into practice. There’s a lot of confusion over this, these days. There’s this idea that since God is love, it means you don’t actually have to do what God wants. Or you can be slow about doing what God wants, and what matters is your timeline. Not God’s demand on your life…
