MSS

In the earlier Gulf War, Iraqis shot down the plane of pilot Michael S. Speicher. Historians say that the war left much on the table and one item of business was Speicher. Those who classify such things put him in the "Killed in Action" category. Later, doubts surface when some said that the Iraqis captured the pilot and as time passes, they military declares Michael S. Speicher to be legally dead. His wife remarries.

But now, the bombshell: on the walls of an Iraqi prison we find three carved letters: MSS. Authorities now reclassify Speicher. He now becomes "missing in action," perhaps held captive.
Three letters, MSS, bring hope and elation to friends and relatives, and even to those who don't know him. They view the initials as proof that Michael Speicher was there, that he is alive, that he's not incapacitated. Search efforts intensify. They believe they're getting close.

If they find him alive, if they rescue him, and he finds release, can you imagine the uninhibited ecstasy, the wild jubilation? Can you imagine the amount of information he'll have, information we've never possessed? We can see the hometown parades the national moment spent in ceremonies at Washington D. C. Ticker tape. Various keys to various cities. His picture on Time Magazine. A host of books will roll off the presses. An eager press and public will record and read his every word, parsing his every nuance.

Reporters wouldn't be able to record it all fast enough; readers wouldn't be able to read it fast enough. We would feast on every word, relish every sentence, paragraph, and page.

A soldier carves three letters on a wall, and "MSS" uplift a nation. He was there! He is alive! He can communicate!

God has carved His initials on our planet and those initials tell us He's there! He's alive! He communicates! He's been here! God has carved His initials in four ways.

He embedded them in creation (Psalm 19:1-4 and Romans 1:19-20) and He did it so deeply that by that one carving, He renders man "without excuse" (Romans 1). Creation shows us He's there! He's alive! He's powerful! He's eternal! (Romans 1). As beautiful and varied as creation is, God has imprinted His initials into the climax of His creation-the human being. He created man in His image and His likeness, possessing some (but not all) of His attributes (Genesis 1:26-28). All human beings bear this inescapable imprint, an imprint by which "He has set eternity in their hearts" (Ecclesiastes). Man looks outside and sees the God of the carved creation initials. Man looks inside himself and sees the same initials.

But God has carved more than twice and He's carved much more than just initials. He's carved His full name: Jesus of Nazareth who "was in the beginning with God and was God" (John 1:1). Not only is God there, He has been here! He passed through Bethlehem, went into Judea, Samaria, and into Jerusalem. On His way, He stilled storms, created bread, raised the dead, made some hopelessly sick people well, some hopelessly blind and deaf people able to see and hear, and He changed some of the world's water into wine.

To say that Jesus of Nazareth is a "carving" of God's initials is like saying that what we see on Mount Rushmore is a stick figure drawn in water. Jesus of Nazareth is "God, very God," as the old creeds have said for centuries.

Then God has carved His initials in a book when He condescended to become an author. What we need to know, He put inside the Bible, His book.

Emily Dickinson said that Jesus is the Man who knew the news. Jesus knew the news about forgiveness and eternal life and how to attain them through faith alone in Him alone. Jesus is the Man who knew the news.

Can you imagine, if they find Speicher alive, will the military, the press, and we ignore him? Unthinkable. Impossible. That's why, for two thousand years now, Jesus is the most written about Person in the world. There's no ignoring Him. That's why, when people come to be persuaded of who He is, they can't get enough of Him, they can't read enough about Him in the Book, they can't stop studying His every word, the tense of every verb He used, and they can't get their fill of hearing again and again about what He did while He was here, especially how that He went to a cross and died for their sins. We just can't be satiated; we want to hear more and more about the One who knew the news.

God has carved His name on this planet. We are the visited planet. Visited by the God who is not only there, but who also has been here; the God who communicates with power.

Dr. Mike Halsey, Pastor