Moving the Formula

Galatians 4, verses 4-6:
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

The social media universe was buzzing yesterday about the Coca-Cola company moving its secret formula from a storage vault inside a local bank to a special exhibit inside the magnificent World of Coke in Atlanta.

In USA Today, PR expert Katie Delahaye Payne is quoted as saying:
"Coke now measures its success by customer expressions...They value this in terms of something that gets customers excited on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr."


Consumers are enamored of secrets. Coke is simply playing on our emotions, says consumer psychologist Renee White Fraser. "The idea of it being in a vault makes it seem more powerful than it really is," she says.

Now, we still don't know what those secret ingredients are that make Coke what it is, nor do we know KFC's 11 herbs and spices or McDonald's special sauce that goes on that sesame seed bun in Big Macs.   But the formula, however mystical, has power to generate curiosity.

Since the beginning of time, God had a formula, a plan - to bring humanity, whom He created with a free will, into a relationship with Himself.   Realizing that men and women would stray from His ways, He made a way possible to bring reconciliation.   Now, God continued to do His work as He revealed that formula through the writers of the Old Testament, and He made Himself and His heart known until the fulness of time came - just the right time, when God's formula FOR US was revealed through a child, a baby born in a manger, who grew into a man, was crucified on a cross, but because He was sinless, death could not hold Him.   And, now He calls us who have embraced that formula to not keep it to ourselves, but to tell everyone.

Coke's formula is in a vault, but I drank one today and enjoyed the flavor and refreshment.   God's formula has been released through His Son, but it's been multiplied and stored in our hearts - and now people can experience the flavor of Christ as He lives through us and be refreshed by the Holy Spirit.