Tuesday, October 31, 2017

his and hers


He: O you who dwell in the gardens,
with companions listening for your voice;
let me hear it.
She: Make haste, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.
Song of Solomon 8:13-14

Lovers want to be with one another. And the Song of Solomon ends with the couple, Solomon and his lovely bride, singing out their longing for being together. It is romantic opera. The last verses of this grand love ballad casts the bride in a garden with her friends, awaiting with excitement for the arrival of her love. Solomon sings out asking for her to join him so he may hear her voice in the garden and quickly make his way to her. She encourages him in answer to make haste to come to the fragrant mountains of their love where they can finally be together.

The one clear theme repeated all throughout Song of Solomon is longing. And it is fitting that the book ends with one more expression of the longing for love. Love has at its root an aching need to care, to be with, to hold what is loved. The lover craves the beloved. And both Solomon and his bride constantly express this longing to be together all throughout the song. To love is to long. To be loved is to be wanted with an aching, passionate need.

The Lord Himself said at creation: “It is not good for man to be alone.” And when Adam first set eyes on Eve, he knew what God meant. So love and marriage between a man and his God-given wife is a good and holy thing. The love of a caring family is a good and holy thing. The need to love and to be loved is made in us by God and He gloriously created sexuality and marriage so we might know it, and be satisfied in His creation, and celebrate it all well. Love is worth singing about.

Monday, October 30, 2017

Do not fear.


“I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
You came near when I called on you;
you said, Do not fear!’
Lamentations 3:55-57

Timely words for any time my heart is afraid. I’m trusting God when things seem impossible or overbearing or out of my control. Fear is always around the corner... and not the creepy horror show kind of fear. That’s nothing... it won’t happen. I won’t get jumped by killer clowns or shadow monsters. But what is real is the fear that follows in sin’s wake. The broken system we live in that we inevitably trust in will let us down. That makes me at times afraid to trust anything. My own failures (rooted in by broken sinfulness) will lead me to fear.

Jeremiah wrote these words as Jerusalem burned in ruin around him. And even before then, as the rejected prophet, he literally prayed from the bottom of a muddy cistern where he was being punished and imprisoned. He pleaded with God from the depths of this emotional pit. And God came near when he called on Him with three words of strength: DO... NOT... FEAR.

Lord,
I’m comforted by Your words of encouragement... Do not fear. I am going to pray hard for my life today to apply this truth. You know what is going on. You know I can fixate on the future and start to fear. You know I can wallow in past failures and then fear. But I will trust that You are near me now and I will believe that You can bring relief. I will not fear.
Amen

Friday, October 27, 2017

like this man


The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
John 7:46

Jesus spoke
Truth
With authority
Challenging pride
And false religion.
No one ever spoke like this man.

Jesus lived
The truth
With sympathy
Challenging our sin
And bringing grace.
No one ever lived like this man.

Jesus loved
The truth
And sinners
Accepting their repentance
And giving forgiveness.
No one ever loved like this man.

Jesus died
On a cross
Giving Himself
Exchanging His holiness
For our sin.
No one ever died like this man.

Jesus rose
Victorious
From the dead
Challenging death
Giving eternal life.
No one still lives like this man.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

my source idols


But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
James 3:14-16

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit of God would use this truth from God’s Word to purge me of selfish ambition and jealous comparison of my life with others. It is a horrible thing to have those thoughts ruling my heart. With them come conflict, disorder, and sinful practices. I want to avoid this personally. I want to avoid this in my ministry. The wisdom that comes from above must rule my heart and I pray it helps me lead my flock in that same ruling wisdom.

Lord, I am a broken man for whom Christ died. And my sinful nature still has this disturbing proclivity toward driving self-fulfillment, even in what I want others to see as “holy” in me. O God, purge me from this source idol of approval! I only need to live for Your glory and the proclamation of the gospel in my life.

Lord, I am a sinner who can covet the stuff of other lives, doubting Your provision for me... and not just materialistically. I can read into the Instaglammed filtered images projected by others and then wish I had their experiences or their perceived happiness. I am covetous. I compare my circumstances and become a jealous, bitter judge. This poisons my heart for living in Christ’s counter-culture kingdom. It ruins my chance at really knowing community in Your church. O God, purge me from this source idol of entitlement! I only need Jesus and His remaking of my life into a new and better person for His glory.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

life together

And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:12

There is strength in friendships. This small segment of Ecclesiastes reminds us of the benefits of investing in good relationships with our friends in community (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). Two are indeed better than one. This holds true in friendships, in discipleship, in marriages, and in families. Life together is what people were created to enjoy. It was not good for Adam to be alone. Jesus even modeled community by pursuing relationship with disciples and with friends. We were never meant to be a solo act. And like the old song reminds us: One is the loneliest number. We need to pursue the God-designed strength found in community.

I think I first appreciated this truth while a young freshmen in high school. At that stage in my life, major changes were afoot. My old life had been uprooted. My family moved from suburbia to the inner city. My mother’s health declined rapidly. My father’s work hours and patterns of coping with all the difficulty kept him away from home a lot. I needed community to get me through, and God wisely and graciously placed me in the right place at that insanely difficult time to forge deep friendships that prepared me best for life. Those people are still strands woven into my life, and though I may not see them much, their impact remains deep in the fabric of my soul. I knew before the age of 18 that I’d never live without a community of relationships to sustain and nourish me, and with whom I was stronger. And I would give myself to strengthening that community as well. That is real church to me!

Lord Jesus,
Thank You for the call to live life together, with Your people, in the church. It is messy, no doubt. It is difficult at times. It is hard to obey You even while we are together. And we have to work out differences, and challenge our sinfulness together, and sometimes we hurt one another while trying to help. But it is still very much a good thing, and it is really good to be together in community with You, Lord!
Amen

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

justice and pardon


In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
Jeremiah 50:20

What an encouraging insight into the full scope of God’s forgiving mercies! In this prophecy by Jeremiah against Babylon, the prophet delivers God’s decree of judgment against the oppressors of His people. There will be a time when Babylon will be judged for cruel treatment of the Jews. And the remnant left behind in the land of Israel will rejoice not just in God’s justice, but in His forgiveness of His people.

The reason a nationwide search for sin by God comes up empty is not because sinners got their act together and finally stopped all their sinning. Rather, it is because God pardoned them, and thus there are no longer any transgressions of the commandments for which God holds them guilty. They are pardoned! God’s forgiveness of sin among His people is the unexpected turn to grace in this stern pronouncement of the doom of Babylon. To the oppressors God pours out His justice in total destruction. To the oppressed who have turned back in repentance to God, He forgives in bountiful mercy so that no more guilt remains in them. The wicked are completely punished. Those in covenant with God are graciously restored and forgiven.

In both cases, God does the work. God moves Persia to invade and defeat Babylon. God pardons Israel and Judah so that His people can return to worship and obey their God. God leaves a remnant whom He forgives. God brings great judgment on the nations who rage against Him. He is holy, righteous, and gets glory for His great name in both His judgment, and His pardon.


Monday, October 23, 2017

king by force


Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
John 6:15

This was the end result of Jesus feeding the crowd of five thousand plus by the Sea of Galilee. These people were so astounded by the miracle that they now saw in Jesus the perfect solution for a political leader. Imagine how great it would be to have a politician who could literally feed the masses. There would be no physical need if this kind of guy was your king. And the crowd was intent on a populist uprising to kidnap Jesus and “force” Him to be the king. What a weird ministry moment. Jesus just wanted to teach His disciples and to care for people by feeding the hungry that followed Him. The crowd instead wanted a revolution against Rome, with Jesus as their new Caesar.

Jesus easily refused this populist temptation to fame and earthly power. You do not “make” Jesus king by force of your own will. He is Lord alone by His own nature. You submit to His rule, You cannot force Him to do what You want. This was not worship that the crowd was intent on doing... it was actually rebellion that demanded that God give them what they wanted.

Jesus,
I cannot “make you Lord” by force of my will, as if any other rule could have legitimate claim over my life. I surrender my will to Your rule instead. I don’t believe You so that I can get my best life now in selfish greed! I don’t have a Lord I trust with my conditions met! I simply trust in You because I am nothing without You and only by Your Lordship do I have eternal life and anything here to call a life. O Lord, purge from me any sinful thinking that demands anything from You as a pretext to my trust in You. I submit to You, my King, solely on Your terms.
Amen

Friday, October 20, 2017

no dead faith


So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 2:17

Faith produces works that are pleasing to God. Faith does stuff in the world. It produces not just a positive energy, but new actions that do good things observable by others in the world. It changes our actions. It works because we now believe.

Now, works do not on their own save us from our sin. I cannot of my own suddenly do the right stuff and expect God to look at me in favor. My best actions, apart from salvation by Jesus, are still filthy garbage in God’s sight. I need Jesus to save me from sin. And by faith I trust His saving work in me and for my sin. From that faith procedes the proper actions that shows the change Jesus is making in me.

Just as I cannot find salvation in my works, I also cannot just live as I want if I claim to believe in Jesus. A faith that shows no change, that does not regenerate a life to do good things in the world, cannot be a saving faith. Belief is not just a cognitive intellectual exercise. Jesus changes our hearts and that transforms our lives, because the heart is the treasure chest from which we show all that we value in what we do. Faith to be real, must be known to others by how we live and not just in what we say we believe.

Jesus,
You have changed my heart. Through Your saving work in me, I am learning to love people as You do. You have helped me learn to live out a generous grace to know You, follow You, and love this world as You do. I can give myself to the gospel, to others by Your grace, and to the God I now love because of this change. By faith, I work!
Amen

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

nails and goads


The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd.
Ecclesiastes 12:11

This verse at the end of the book of Ecclesiastes is a key to understanding the book. It is a book that gives us observations about life that are both goads and nails. A goad is a pointed stick used by a herdsman to provoke livestock forward. It is not an elegant instrument. It has one job: make a reluctant beast uncomfortable enough to move along. It is the ancient tool used as a cattle prod.

The nails are a different kind of pointed instrument. They are used not to move with a sense of uncomfortability, but instead to fix something in place. Nails secure something down. They hold things together. Nails build stuff. They represent truths that hold together observations in a way that make sense of a larger, useful structure.

When reading Ecclesiastes then, it is good to realize that some of the statements are meant to be goads. They prod us by brute force and poke our sensibilities forward into movement with painful reality. Where we read terms like “under the sun”, “worthless”, or (most often and to great effect) “vanity”, we can see the goad is in the hand of The Preacher (the narrator of the book), pointing right at us. We feel the business end of the goad poking at us and making us quite uncomfortable in ways we don’t particularly like. And God wants us to have that response. It is one intention of Ecclesiastes.

But scattered among the goads are also some firmly driven nails throughout the book. These statements provide security and are frankly, a welcome relief from the constant poking of the goads. For instance, the last two verses of the book (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) are perhaps the strongest nails in all the book, firmly building a structure through which we discern the framework of the book and bring it all together. God wisely gave us this unusual book of Hebrew wisdom to get our attention with goads and nails. It is brutally straightforward with its observations about life. It is brilliant in its wise advice for living beyond the uncomfortable ragged realizations. God gave us nails and goads because He knows we need them both.

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

fire of irony


It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
Jeremiah 36:3

God’s heart is not to administer punitive judgment on sin, but instead in love to see sinners repent and turn to Him. This was the hope God gave to Jeremiah as He gave instructions to the prophet to carefully produce God’s Word on a scroll. The hope was that it would be read, heeded, and in repentance God’s people would turn from sin back to God, finding His forgiveness and halting the impending fall of Jerusalem and coming captivity in Babylon.

There was a mixed response to this scroll of prophetic preaching from Jeremiah. In the temple it was well received by the religious leaders who kept it and cautioned Jeremiah and his scribe, Baruch, to hide because they knew the message would not sit well if it reached the palace. And indeed, it went bad when the king fetched the scroll from the temple to be read to him in his chambers.

There, to the worst fears of the priests, Jehoiakim was shockingly dismissive and disdainful of the Word of God. As his scribe read the scroll to him, the king sliced off each finished section with a knife and dropped it into a fire (Jeremiah 36:23). This was more than just disinterest. This was an outright contempt for God’s message. He understood the prophecy from God clearly knowing it said that Babylon would destroy Jerusalem. And in the end that was exactly what happened as the king’s actions set in motion the final rejection of God and His prophet.

But the Word of God did not fail. Jeremiah again dictated a second scroll and Baruch faithfully wrote it down. God’s Word survived while the king fell and his city burned in a fire that really started with the king burning holy scripture in contempt. 

Monday, October 16, 2017

spirit and truth


But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
John 4:23-24

God is spirit. He is not limited or localized in a physical body. He is everywhere present, above, beyond and in the created universe. He is the only being this way. He made this universe yet He can be known, but those who worship Him must realize this about God. He is always with us and we cannot escape His presence or person. We worship God in spirit, which means that we can acknowledge or turn to Him anywhere. There is no need to pilgrimage to any one holy place according to Jesus. Our worship comes from anywhere we are, and the sanctuary of worship must first be our own hearts. That is how we begin to worship God in spirit.

God is truth. When we look for a standard, a rule of life, we must look to God. And that truth is known in what He has revealed, most clearly in the Holy Scriptures — the Bible, and in the Living Word — Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Jesus, the Word (the truth) became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory (John 1). In the Holy Bible we have clear, understandable, searchable, readable truth in its pages, and they always point in some way to Jesus and the story of our salvation brought in Christ. To worship God in truth means that the Bible saturates our time in worship, the gospel comes into focus, and Jesus is praised, believed, and obeyed.

In spirit and truth, I worship You, my God. And in Your Word I see You as spirit and truth. And from my heart’s sanctuary I give You my praise, confession, dedication, and love, O God of spirit and truth known in Jesus my Lord and Savior.
Amen

Friday, October 13, 2017

wandering sinner


My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
James 5:19-20

This admonition to go after wandering sinners with the gospel give unique insight into the make-up of the early church. James was perhaps the first epistle written chronologically to the Christian community. And it ends with this admonition to go after anyone “among you” who “wanders from the truth”. This would seem to have been a known sinner, not a hypothetical illustration, and this was important enough to caution the entire church with a precedure to assist in this type of situation. It seems this type of thing was something Christians faced. Apparently the very early church welcomed people who weren’t quite settled into Christian belief but were under the preaching of the gospel.

I see two classes of people addressed in this passage: brothers and sinners. The “brother” is exhorted to go after a wandering “sinner” who had once been a part of Christian community and the brother is told to seek to restore the wandering one with the gospel. It is clear this “sinner” is not a believer because his soul is in danger of death, and that can only be the second death, or hell, that is the peril. After this restoration a “multitude of sins” is covered, which implies atonement by Jesus at conversion.

The early church did not take for granted that all among them were truly converted. They had this admonition to follow in cases where clear gospel conversion needed still to take place. And the way such people were “brought back” was through the gospel being believed resulting in true forgiveness of sin, release from their guilt, and deliverance from hell. The gospel is how we deal with wandering sinners. It is our only message and hope.

Thursday, October 12, 2017

patience, not pride


Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Ecclesiastes 7:8

At the start
of something new
my foolish heart
may not trust God through
but try to do
a thing alone
and caught up in the new
stray far from my home

But the end comes
all too soon
and if my plans run
ahead of God, Who
sees all things and knows
their end for His name
I can miss what He shows
is His glory and fame

Better is the end
of a thing I see
for God can send
comfort and security
from start to finish
Jesus is Lord
nothing should diminish
His power and Word

Future glory awaits
me if I will see
that heaven’s gates
will open to perfect glory
God made beginning and end
for the praise of His grace
my will should then Ben
to look at His face.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

faith and faithfulness


I have not run away from being your shepherd,
nor have I desired the day of sickness.
You know what came out of my lips;
it was before your face.
Jeremiah 17:16

These statements come in the middle of a prayer by Jeremiah asking God for deliverance from persecution. The people of Judah just despised Jeremiah. The whole of Jerusalem seemed set on opposing the messages that God gave to the prophet. And his response was to run to God for the counsel, care, encouragement, and refuge that he needed at that time.

Jeremiah remained faithful, proclaiming messages that God gave him that were extremely unpopular and pressing on despite the hatred he received in response. He did not falter. He bravely stayed the shepherd God made him. He did not even take a sick day (to use a modern equivalent) during this difficulty. He may have felt like giving up, but he did not give up.

A big reason why Jeremiah stayed faithful in persecution can be found in the last half of this verse: He knew God knew His faithfulness. God knew His prophet had declared His message exactly as God desired. God knew that every word that came out of Jeremiah’s lips was faithful to what God had sent him to say. All that Jeremiah had done was not hidden. And that is why he could pray for deliverance with such confident passion. He believed God would be righteous in all things, even toward Jeremiah’s faithfulness under persecution.

Faith believes God and is not distracted by circumstances. Faith commits to being faithful to God’s Word. Faith trusts God despite outward difficulties, knowing God is faithful to those who trust Him for salvation.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

two responses


Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
John 2:23-25

Jesus shows His power and His authority early on in John’s gospel. His creative power over the natural world is shown when He turns water into wine and the guests rejoice at the wedding in Cana. His first miracle is at a public party and His disciples are drawn to believe in Him as a result. His authority is shown later at the Passover in Jerusalem where on the largest possible public platform in the city, Jesus clears the greedy money-changers out of the temple in passion for God’s holiness and the pure worship of the Lord.

Two separate lines of response to Jesus now can be traced from this point on throughout the gospel of John. First, the leaders of the religious establishment begin to confront Jesus with increasing hostility. After the cleansing of the temple they demand a “sign” from Jesus in order for Him to warrant His authority for doing what He did there. He simply prophecies of His eventual death by their hands and resurrection from the dead. In essence the gospel is His authority warrant.

The second response broadly is a growing crowd of enthusiastic followers. But it seems clear from the context that most of them are following Jesus because of the miracles (they saw the signs), and not necessarily because of His mission or His message. That is why John shows us the caution Jesus exhibited by not entrusting Himself to the crowds who merely believed the miracles more than the man or the message. Believing Jesus for the sake of His mission and trusting the gospel must by our motivating responses to Jesus in order to truly have faith in Him. It would seem that “Jesus is cool” is not enough for Jesus to find faith in us.

Monday, October 9, 2017

stumble tongue


For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
James 3:2

Words show the world what is in the heart. And sooner or later what we struggle with internally will come pouring out of our hearts. The tongue paints a picture of the heart then... and it is usually not a pretty one. We all stumble in many ways. And it is usually the tongue that trips us.

The words we say not only are pretty good indicators of what is on our hearts, but they also have the power to do so much more than we think they can do. The tongue is thus small, but powerful (James 3:3-5). It can be an unruly, fire-setting, poisoner of people, raging with fire from hell itself (James 3:6-8).

Our words can testify to our hypocrisy and besetting sins. We can worship God and curse people, sometimes within the very same breath (James 3:9-10). And this duplicity, though spoken aloud by the lips, originates in our sin-defective hearts. This is why we must be careful with both 1) “following our hearts” no matter what romantic lies our culture tells us, and 2) “speaking our minds” no matter how much the words burn at us, beating on the doors of our lips, demanding to be let out. The worst advice out there is to “follow your heart” and “speak your mind”. This is because our hearts and our words will generally be hurtful when not subjected to the control of obedience to God’s Word and sensitivity to God’s Holy Spirit.

God,
Forgive my failing, stumble-tongue. I am so guilty, particularly with my closest loves, of letting words flow from my sin-darkened heart. Those words can destroy. Give me words that honor You and the people made by You. I must let You guard my lips, and think and pray about what I choose to say.
Amen

Friday, October 6, 2017

sacred sin


Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.
Ecclesiastes 3:16

There isn’t an institution touched by human hands that isn’t tainted by depravity. Sin is pervasive. It can dirty even the most noble concepts. From a strictly human perspective (that is what “under the sun” implies each time you see it in Ecclesiastes), sin infects human truth, human justice, and human standards of right and wrong. Our falleness brings even our highest and brightest aspirations down into darkness and sin.

So we should not be shocked when we hear of police or court officials whom we have tasked with bringing justice instead caught in some scandal themselves. Sin will taint what we try to do well. Even the human leadership of the church without exception will bring shameful sin into what God is making holy. And sin keeps lowering standards of morality away from God-given, scripturally revealed holiness. Societies will always find a way to wriggle out of truly obeying God’s Law. And in the place of righteousness, wickedness in some form will be heralded as good, noble, or free. Human hearts are naturally sympathetic to sin and will always lower aspirations into wickedness. And then the sin will be treated with a special kind of respect bordering on the sacred.

The standards of human behavior lauded in human society, when uncorrected by God’s wisdom, will pervert justice and fall far short of righteousness. New virtues replace true holiness. Abhorrence of sin will be replaced by acceptance of sin. Tolerance of what is wrong will be a new standard of human achievement. Obedience to the rule of a holy God will be dismissed as harmful and instead the mandate to follow one’s own heart and inclinations will be the noblest and most buzz worthy philosophy of life. Actually, that is what has been going on for thousands of years of human history. 

As our wicked imaginations remove all rules from the game, the resulting free-for-all will continue to bring chaos and pain. Don’t be surprised then to find that mass killing, war, hate, and abuse continue unabated... they are the children born of the new virtues hooking up with our ancient depravity. And humanity will applaud our wicked freedom... yes we will... even as it spawns a generation of sin that kills us. The wages of sin is... death.

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Truth has perished.

And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.’
Jeremiah 7:28

This chapter of Jeremiah is really hard to read without cringing at the harshness of our sin. These words were part of a public sermon that God commanded Jeremiah to preach at the gates of the temple in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 7:2). In it he takes the nation of Judah to task for superstitiously holding to temple rituals while simultaneously personally neglecting the heart and lifestyle changes that God’s Law was meant to make within them. They said God lived among them at His temple. They did not live like it mattered at all. And in this way they defied and disobeyed a holy God.

They went after false gods in their deliberate disobedience (Jeremiah 7:18). They did not obey when God repeatedly used His prophets to call them back (Jeremiah 7:24-26). And this pattern would just keep cycling through generations, even with this very sermon as Jeremiah preached to them (Jeremiah 7:27). They had rejected God’s truth, killing it by their idolatry. They had become the generation of God’s wrath by rejecting repeatedly His tender, passionate, strong calls to repentance (Jeremiah 7:29).

When God reveals His truth to people, they are responsible to Him with that knowledge. Rejection of His revelation is rejection of God. And when God’s merciful call to repentance is rejected, there is only His wrath and judgment upon sin left for those who refuse Him. God is generous in His revelation of the truth and His offer of salvation. He persistently called out to Israel to repent for generations before the truth finally perished and His judgment was all that was left for them. How we must learn to quickly heed His Word, repent of sin and neglect, and receive His grace!

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

unimaginably good news


The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1:29

This is how John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the world. Right from the beginning, John was clear that Jesus came to save us. He heralds the gospel in pointing to Jesus, the Lamb of God, Who takes the world’s sin away. Any Jew hearing these words from John knew what he was saying. Jesus would be a perfect, sinless, holy, atoning sacrifice, given by God for the entire world.

For those under the Old Testament Law this was an unimaginable, breathtaking, even scandalous announcement. For at least three reasons, this was groundbreaking news. First, Jesus was a man who was the Lamb. The sacrificial system given to Moses explicitly forbade human sacrifice, as animals were substitutionary. That meant that Jesus was the substitute for us, dying in the place of sinners. It meant He was spotless, perfect, and would give up His life for sinners. 

Secondly, Jesus was the Lamb sent from God, not provided by us. Every other sacrifice was provided by sinners to offer on the altar to God. This time, God Himself provided the Lamb. God was making the effort to save because we could not save ourselves. God did what sinners could not do.

And finally, and most unexpectedly, Jesus would take away the sins, not just of Israel, but of the world. His atonement for sin would be global. That meant that the Gentiles would be included in this sacrifice, a concept totally new to those who heard it and offensive to the ethnic sensibilities of the Jews that guarded their exclusive relationship with Yahweh. God was in Jesus reaching all the world, atoning for all sin, for all people, for all time, everywhere!

O Lamb of God Who takes away the world’s sin,
I come to You, Jesus, thankful for Your sacrifice, knowing You took my sin upon You on the cross so that I can be forgiven, have life, and follow You, my Lord!
Amen

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

stand the test


Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12

Jesus warned His disciples that they would know trials and difficulties in life. Part of life involves unforeseen and unwanted hardships. Jesus Himself had to endure opposition from those who did not understand Him or want His message to be known. They eventually tried to kill Him, not knowing He was giving His perfect life by His own choice for their sins. He remained steadfast and brought eternal life to all who will believe.

Here, in this passage, a blessing is offered for those Christians who remain strong under enemy fire. And the trials being endured by those First Century believers to whom James was writing were severe. They were being persecuted, imprisoned, and some were killed for their faith in Christ. This hardly compares to even the hardest trial I have ever known. The biggest test I have ever stood was being complained about by a self-proclaimed atheist co-worker once decades ago. And she was complaining to a Christian boss who knew well what was going on, and wound up commending me.

As we live in a culture that needs Christ in a growing intolerance to Christian teachings, we are seeing a rise in the opportunity for the church to know, love, and heed this promise to stand the test and receive the crown of life. And there are parts of the world where Christian faith is a crime punishable by imprisonment, even death. None of this opposition negates this firm promise of God. We know that enduring any trial or difficulty that confronts our faith will find the blessing of God coming to us, stronger in comfort than any trial ever would be in difficulty, and holding us close to Christ our victorious Savior and Lord.

Monday, October 2, 2017

contentment in Christ


All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
Ecclesiastes 1:8

I am always appreciative of the insights from the book of Ecclesiastes. The way in which Solomon directly approaches the insights about life, with the harsh light of his sometimes jaded observations, pulls me into a very real appreciation for the regenerative work of the gospel. From certain worldly points of view, this life is so imperfect and disappointing. If we did not have God’s Word, His grace, His Holy Spirit and were left only with “life under the sun”, we would be stuck in the misery cycle that Ecclesiastes so starkly, repeatedly, and efficiently points out to us.

Life has a hard, bitter edge. It is tough. We work hard to enjoy a few things, but wind up wearied in our work. And the search for joy beyond our work adds to the weariness. As an end in itself, without God in the picture, life can become a senseless, exhaustive, unsatisying cycle of sameness. We may try to numb that dull pain with new experiences, but the exhilaration is brief and ultimately we cannot see or hear enough with our senses to keep our lack of satisfaction at bay. Without Jesus, our incompleteness keeps gnawing at our souls, never finding relief. It keeps Ambien at the top of pharmaceutical sales.

But I know in this: in the saving life of Christ, I am born again! And in the worship of my Savior and Lord, I am always filled with new joy. In His grace and mercy I am forgiven and made new, and every life joy and experience finds true purpose, not as an ends in itself, but in fulfillment in Christ! And with the glory of God in Jesus as the focus, my joy is overflowing. I am most satisfied when I seek my life’s satisfaction in Jesus! All that my eyes now see and my ears now hear and my hands now touch are filled with the pleasures of contentment in Christ!