You all know what a remote control is. We take them for granted. We use them to lock and unlock our cars. We use them to open our garage doors. We use them to guide toys, like cars and helicopters and drones and game consoles. But perhaps the most common remote controls are those that operate our “home entertainment centers” or at the very least our TVs. We have become so accustomed to having these things and using them that we don’t even give them a second thought. Some of them are very complex, some of them are very simple. But remote controls are a part all of our lives in one way or another.

A memory popped up on my Facebook page recently from eleven years ago. A former member of my congregation sent me the picture above along with this comment: “Michael Mattil, As a theologian, what do you think the button below search does?”  By tagging me in this post, he publicly called me out and challenged me to come up with a reply. I should also point out that the picture is sideways because that is how he posted it on Facebook, and it plays in to my answer. Here is what I wrote:

The one that says STATUS? It tells you that you are a poor, miserable sinner. If you push MORE it tells you that you deserve to go to Hell. RECOMMEND suggests that you listen to God’s Word and repent. That happens when you RETURN, turning away from your sins and to the Lord. You want to STOP (white square) sinning and move forward (white triangle) doing things God’s way. God says that for those who repent, there is no RECORD (red dot) of sin. They are forgiven and forgotten. The colored buttons with letters on them don’t do anything. Lots of folks put their confidence in things that seem like they will work, but are false, empty promises. Or were you asking me about E-MANUAL? Although spelled differently, that button is all you really need: God with Us, come to us to bear our sin and be our Savior, take our place in punishment and rise from the dead in victory for us. Pushing that button puts him in control of your life. With faith and confidence in Him, you know that when you EXIT you will go to be with Him which is better by far. Here ends the lesson of the remote control.

I had some fun coming up with that reply. I’ve thought of a few more things I could have said since then, like you need to PAUSE to take time to read God’s Word and pray to Him. But you get the idea. A remote control can give us a pretty good object lesson for the message of God’s Word.

The big question, though, in all of our lives is this: “Who has control of the remote?”

Romans 8:5-11 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

When writing to the believers in Corinth, Paul put it this way:

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (ESV) For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

It is a control issue, but for those who have been led to faith in Jesus, the issue has been settled. God is in control. His Spirit leads and directs and controls our actions in response to knowing His love and forgiveness and mercy. The love of Christ controls those who know that He is our Savior. There is comfort and security in knowing that He is in control. Just remember to push the “Emmanuel” button on the remote.