By Peter Maddison

“The Great Spirit (God) loves this world of human beings so deeply he gave us his Son—the only Son who fully represents him. All who trust in him and his way will not come to a bad end, but will have the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony.  Creator did not send his Son to decide against the people of this world, but to set them free from the worthless ways of the world. John 3.16-17 (FNV)

I am coming into my 40th year in my relationship with Jesus and all that He has done for us. I had my first knowing encounter with God at a camp that I went on as an 11-year-old boy, 15 years before I made a public confession of my belief in Jesus. On the train ride home, I became aware of the unmistakable presence of God. It took many years to settle into that world more fully, and the journey has never stopped. It is a never-ending story that has fully engaged me. My spiritual goal has been simple enough. To know God better.

What I write in this post is some of the gleanings from this journey so far.

God was trying to tell me something back then, but I was tone death.

God has made me a trumpet for Him. My heart has always been to bring life to others (in my better moments I know this can be true), but as a human, I am not always good at that. If you have been at the end of my not-better moments as a human, then I apologise and please forgive me. My heart is to help people be closer to God.

The Real Great Reset

There has been a lot of talk about the ‘Great Reset’ in the last couple of years. You know that group of people who want to radically transform our societies, supposedly for good.

Well, I want to remind people that those who stand against God will always raise up a counterfeit. Why? It is in their DNA. If people have yet to identify their relationship with God, they will still try and fulfil that purpose without Him. This can and has led to some very ugly outcomes.

For those who have forgotten or who are not yet aware, the Real Great Reset took place over 2000 years ago. The birth, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ reset the relationship between God and us humans.

Jesus shifted the focus from religious obligations to a personal, relational understanding of God. Rather than adhering to the rules and structures of religion, he invited people into a relationship with God that is characterised by love, trust, and intimacy.

This invitation is as relevant today as it was when He walked the earth.

He is inviting us to live in constant relationship and awareness of God’s presence.

God is definitely present and active in all lives today. God has not abandoned us. I think some believe He stayed in the garden after Adam and Eve left. Or He is somewhere above, out of reach, playing chess with the enemy using us as the pieces? Well, He was outside the garden before anyone or anything. Remember, He is omnipresent! That means He is right here, right now! Everywhere

Corruption in Two Worlds

We are living in a world that is divided by fear and insecurity and where people are taught that we are abandoned by a vindictive God who does not care about us. He just tolerates us. It is easy to be overwhelmed and miss the awesomeness of what took place back in the day.

I believe the revelation and implications of what Jesus started are not fully understood yet. Our corruption has blinded us.

Simplistically, there are two groups of people who interfere with this knowledge.

• The secular world. We live in a predominantly secularist world that tries to ignore God. In fact, they try to hide Him wherever they can. They cannot. The constant propaganda from this section of humanity can make it difficult to discern the presence of God amongst the noise. God is the elephant in their room. Their confusion is obvious. God does not exist. Now don’t talk about Him. In fact, we will make it illegal to talk about Him. I can talk about the nonexistent stork in my garden that brings babies, but I can’t talk about a nonexistent God. Such folly.)
• The religious world. This is that group of people who belong to religious systems of all flavours that are still teaching people to try and earn God’s acceptance with their recommended rituals, behaviours, and offerings. This institutionalised approach to God is very rigid and transactional. In fact, it limits the life in our personal relationship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I know: these practices and teachings led me into a place of fear, guilt, self-condemnation, and ultimately unworthiness on my journey. It damaged my relationship with God. (If you feel you are in a place like this, I can probably help you.)

The story of the prodigal son (Luke 15) is played out with the previous two groups. The younger son basically says give me my inheritance so I can go and create life on my own terms. He went to live out as he wanted without reference to his father, or Heavenly Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. So lacking real wisdom off he goes.

The Scriptures define wisdom clearly.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,  And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding

Proverbs 9:10 (NJKV)

Two Sons in the Parable of The Prodigal Son.

Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, “Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, “Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ” Luke 15:11-32. (NKJV)

This parable has so much in it. First, let us define the word ‘prodigal.’ Using words like reckless, wasteful, and foolish,

prodigal  G0811  ἀσώτως   asōtōs 

The Greek word ἀσώτως (asōtōs) means “recklessly,” “immoral,” or “wastefully.” It implies a lifestyle of excess, indulgence, or lack of restraint, often associated with immoral or irresponsible behaviour. There is a seemingly lack of restraint or discipline, typically associated with extravagance, hedonism, or vice.

In the New Testament, asōtōs is used to describe the behaviour of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:13, where it says he “squandered his property in reckless living.” Here, it conveys the idea of living in a way that is wasteful and lacking in moral discipline.

The secular world is represented by the prodigal son. The son who stayed home is representing the religious world. The son who stayed home had not recognised his true position and so was not free. Jesus came with a message for both groups of people.

• The religious: Jesus said I have come so you may know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.
• The secular: I have come that you may have life and have life abundantly.

God’s Approval cannot be Earned

We need to recognise we cannot earn God’s approval, nor do we need to. The gospel of Jesus Christ is insistent that God does for us what we could not do for ourselves. If we could do it, then Jesus didn’t need to be here. Our future is secure, not because of what you and I do. It is secure by what Jesus has done!

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2.8-9 (NKJV)

People will often ask about good works. Good works and obedience to God’s commands are seen as evidence of a genuine relationship with God.

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2.26 (NKJV)

The younger son represents those (secularists) who abandon traditional values, structure, and morality in search of personal freedom, pleasure, and self-fulfilment. This is often characterised as a rebellion against authority or religious teaching. This son symbolises people who believe they can find happiness and meaning outside of God. They leave “home” (a symbol of God’s presence) to pursue their desires in the “far country,” which ultimately leads to emptiness.

The elder son represents those (the institutionalised religious) who try to earn their worth and acceptance through religious practices, moral rigour, and good behaviour. These people believe that staying obedient and dutiful will guarantee God’s favour. However, this son’s attitude reveals a misunderstanding of God’s love. He is resentful and entitled, believing that his loyalty deserves rewards, but he misses the essence of the father’s grace, which is unconditional and cannot be earned.

We need to recognise that whether someone has strayed from God through secular living (like the younger son) or is entrenched in a misguided sense of religious superiority (like the older son), Jesus is present with both. He is not only with those in the far country but also in the heart of Jerusalem (a symbol of religious tradition). Jesus is there, calling both the secularist and the institutionalised back to the true relationship with God, which is based on love, not achievement or rebellion.

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” John 1:6-9 (NJKV)

True realisation of the Real Great Reset comes when people awaken to the reality that Jesus is present and active in their lives today. Many people live as though the reset hasn’t happened either caught up in secularism, where God is ignored, or they are trapped in religious systems that still try to earn God’s favour. Recognising the presence of Jesus in every moment and in every person is key to experiencing the fullness of the Real Great Reset.

Tolerance vs Total Acceptance from God

Many are indirectly taught that God tolerates His creation. Ashamed of what they have done. This in turn destroys us as a people. Yes the human condition is corrupt, but that is not our natural state. We were made in God’s image. We need to remember this.

Many years ago, a good friend and preacher from Queensland help me on the journey to understanding God’s acceptance of me as a man living in corruption in this world. Billy (Pryor) said to me one day as I was struggling with my life and my relationship with my Heavenly Father “Peter, with all that is happening in the universe, do you think God is judging you for what you do wrong? Do you think the mistakes you have made are a surprise to Him? On the contrary Peter, He loves you warts and all. After all He is your Heavenly Father.”

This truth has been amplified within me time and again. Not by institutions that require my behaviour and appearance to adhere to their set of rules.

Rather by other Christians, authors, movies and songs that reveal the true nature and heart of God, where Holy Spirit has spoken to me.

In closing this post, on the first retreat that I ever went away on, to Lorne, I took a book, Holiness, Truth and the Presence of God written by Francis Frangipane. I had set aside three days down by the seaside. Lynne blessed me, looking after our 3 boys while I was away.

I finally got to the book on the morning of the third day. Why it took me so long is another story.

This book was life changing for me.

Frangipane makes the point: ‘Why do we think holiness is so full of gloom? The images of strict, joyless rules surrounding the holy life are inconsistent with both the Word and nature of God. God is love. A holy life is a life alive with love, compelled by love, filled with love.’ He adds perspective with the following statement. ‘There is only one thing that keeps most churches from prospering spiritually. They have yet to find God.’

I can testify to the truth of both these statements.

A central aspect of the Great Reset is freedom from fear.

Baxter Kruger emphasises that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection demonstrate that we do not need to live in fear, fear of the future, fear of judgment, or fear of failure.

The Great Reset that Jesus accomplished has already secured our place in God’s love, and this should transform how we live. Instead of living anxiously, trying to control the future or earn salvation, we are invited to rest in the security of God’s grace and presence.

The Incarnation is an ongoing reality, not just something that happened once. God’s presence in Jesus continues through the Holy Spirit today, meaning that God remains intimately involved with every individual every life. The Incarnation was not just a single event but a revelation that God will always be with humanity, actively participating in our journey and leading us out of darkness. Jesus is The Eternal Son.

This will do for now…