There Is Nothing in Life of which We Need Ever Be Afraid. Part Three

Posted on April 18, 2013 by David

There is a twelve year old young man of faith whose story I have been following.  Since age nine Mark (not his real name) has been battling a fierce and horrifying giant, a cancer called neuroblastoma.  His suffering has been, continues to be, beyond my comprehension.  Mark has had a second relapse.  On a website his mother keeps us informed of Mark’s fight against this beast.   Often his mother’s words, and those precious times Mark writes his own post, his own words, describe a faith beyond this young man’s years.  In one recent post his mother wrote, “Our Lord knows Mark is suffering; He holds every tear we cry. My son never asked why, why could God allow his cancer to come back.  With unshakable faith, my son instead has held on tightly to his Lord through indescribable heartache.  You see, he knows this world isn’t perfect.  He knows even believers die from cancer.  He knows even little boys who delight in the Lord relapse with neuroblastoma.  He also knows that the glory to come far outweighs the horrors of this disease.  It’s reign of terror will come to an abrupt halt when it meets Ethan’s Lord Almighty.  My son is confident of that truth and so has no reason to ask why.  Instead, he is determined to glorify Christ through every tear and every step taken along this treacherous road.”

Mark and his family are confident of and sustained by the love of God in Jesus Christ.  Like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as a disciple of Christ twelve year old Mark knows that there is nothing in life of which he need ever be afraid, even death.  Mark knows that nothing, even the beast neuroblastoma, separates the disciple of Jesus Christ from the love of God.

The psalmist found sustaining confidence being in the house of God, in God’s very presence.  “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God” (Psalm 52:8).  There is nothing in life of which the disciples of Christ need ever be afraid for we are in the house of God.  We are ever in God’s presence.  The apostle Paul describes Christians as God’s people who in Jesus Christ are the house of God.  God’s house, not  a house, a temple, of mortar and brick, but a house built with living stones.  “Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20-22).

In Christ Jesus Christians, individually and collectively, are the house of God.  They are in the house of God, in his presence, safe and secure.  The psalmist describes his confidence in God as his being like an olive tree flourishing.  In God’s presence the tree, the psalmist, the disciple of Christ, is strong and persevering.  He is fruitful in faith, in hope, in love, in peace, and in holiness.  He is not plucked up or destroyed.  In the presence of God, dwelling in God, God dwelling in the disciple, he is like a flourishing tree “which out of the rock draws oil, and amid the drought still lives and grows” (C. H. Spurgeon).  “I am the vine,” Jesus said, “you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit” (John 15:5).

There is nothing in life of which the disciples of Christ need ever be afraid because of what God has done.  “I will praise you forever for what you have done” (Psalm 52:9).  The psalmist certainly remembered the story he heard all of his life, how God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, the Red Sea, Sinai, the Promised Land.  When I look at what God has done I remember all he has done in Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 1:3ff; 2:1ff).  In the midst of difficult times the follower of Jesus Christ finds strength in giving thanks to God, not for the difficulties, but for God, for what he has done in and through Jesus Christ.

When Mark learned of his second relapse he was devastated.  As he wept his mother shared with him what a friend had shared with her. “You know Mark, when we are in our darkest times, it really does help if we just worship God. Try talking to Him and praising Him, even though your heart is breaking.”

Not only during the dark times, but in the midst of good times give thanks.  Give thanks not as much for health and provision, though yes give thanks for these.  Rather especially give thanks for what God has done in and through Jesus Christ and for all the rich spiritual blessings we have in Christ.  C. H. Spurgeon, in commenting on Psalm 52, writes, “While others boast in their riches I will boast in my God; and when their glorying is silenced for ever in the tomb, my song shall continue to proclaim the lovingkindness of Jehovah.”  As God’s love is everlasting, so is to be our thanksgiving and praise.

Mark’s mother wrote of Mark’s hope in Jesus Christ. Mark “also knows that the glory to come far outweighs the horrors of this disease.”  There is nothing in life of which the disciples of Christ need ever be afraid because of Him in whom we hope.  “In your name I will hope, for your name is good” (Psalm 52:9).  The esv translates this portion of the verse, “I will wait for your name, for it is good.”  The certainty of hope in God through Jesus Christ brings a calmness to the heart, the patience to be still while waiting for God.  This calmness of hope is seen in a twelve year old cancer patient’s faith, in Dietrich Bonhoeffer as he was imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps, and in the lives of martyrs in the early church and throughout the centuries.  It is the hope which comes from the faithfulness of God.  This hope in Jesus Christ is real.  It is not an escape from life.  Rather it is the source of strength, of perseverance, of being still before God.  Whether life is blessed with blessings of this life or enemies surround and oppress us, God’s name, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, is good.  He is good, holy, and righteous.  The love of God is unfailing.  He will vindicate us.  Our hope in Christ is true and sure.  In faith we wait.  We are able to be still.  Hope calms our hearts.

The apostle Paul, in prison and knowing his life was nearing its end, wrote, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).  In Romans 8:15 he wrote, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.  And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”

“Men must not too much fluster us; our strength is to sit still.  Let the mighty ones boast, we will wait on the Lord; and if their haste brings them present honour, our patience will have its turn by-and-by, and bring us the honour which excelleth” (C. H. Spurgeon).  My faith tells me there is nothing in life of which I need ever be afraid.  Bonhoeffer and Mark instruct me by the faith seen in their lives. There is nothing in life of which I need ever be afraid.  Lord when the tests come, and they will, help me not to be afraid.  Help me to be still and wait for you.  If there is to be relief in this life I will be grateful.  If not, help me to be still and wait for the honor which excels, the honor of being glorified with Christ when he comes in the fulness of his kingdom.

Posted in Bonhoeffer, Faith, God, Good and Evil, Hope, Love of God, Psalms, Sovereignty of God, Suffering and Faith | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

There Is Nothing in Life of which We Need Ever Be Afraid. Part Two

Posted on April 16, 2013 by David

The psalmist, in Psalm 52, describes an evil man who, for his own selfish benefit, is seeking the destruction of good.  The description of this enemy serves as a portrayal of evil.  Evil is strong, boastful, and arrogant in its wickedness and in its oppression and destruction of good.  Skillfully, forcefully, evil attacks and twists truth with deception.  With lies evil oppresses and defeats truth and good.

“Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man?  Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?  Your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor, you who practice deceit.  You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth.  You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue!” (Psalm 52:1-4).

The psalmist is confident God will bring his judgment against this evil man.  “Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living.  The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at him, saying, ‘Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!’” (Psalm 52:5-7).

In the ancient city of Thessalonica Christians were being persecuted.  Evil people were oppressing and destroying them.  Yet these disciples of Christ held fast to their faith though by all appearances good was defeated, evil was overcoming the Christ and his followers.  Often so reads the New Testament account of the followers of Christ.  And so reads the history of the followers of Jesus Christ throughout the centuries.  The story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is but one example of a disciple of Christ oppressed, facing destruction, with no apparent hope.  The Allies were within range, but not in time to save Bonhoeffer from execution.  Yet within those early disciples, the followers of Christ through the centuries, modern martyrs like Bonhoeffer, there is found peace, a boldness of faith and of hope, in the midst of darkness and seeming hopelessness.  This peace is expressed in their words, in their stedfast faithfulness to Christ, and in their perseverance.

From the first Christians to this very day the hope which sustains Christ’s disciples is the promise of the fullness of salvation in the resurrection when Christ comes in judgment against the wicked and to be glorified in His faithful followers.  The persecuted church in ancient Thessalonica is encouraged to persevere in faith in the midst of the darkness of persecution.  The apostle Paul writes, “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.  This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.  He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).

The confidence and hope of Christians throughout the centuries is more than the confidence of God’s judgment coming against the wicked.  The psalmist writes, “The steadfast love of God endures all the day” (Psalm 52:1 ESV).  He is confident of the steadfast love, the loving kindness, of God which endures continually. “I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever” (Psalm 52:8). God’s love, his lovingkindness, is unfailing, faithful.  Confident of the love of God the psalmist does not fear but confidently hopes.  It is the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ which has sustained and strengthened Christ’s followers in the midst of the darkest times. The apostle Paul is emphatic in telling us there is nothing which “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).  God, in Christ Jesus, will not fail his people.  God’s love overcomes fear.

 

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There Is Nothing in Life of which We Need Ever Be Afraid. Part One

Posted on April 14, 2013 by David

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested on April 5, 1943, for his role in the resistance efforts in Germany and the attempted assassination plot against Hitler.  He was imprisoned in a Gestapo prison in Berlin until February 1945.  Then he was transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp.  In April he was transferred to Flossenburg where he was hanged on April 9, 1945, days before the camp was liberated by the Allies.  He was executed under the direct order of Hitler through Himmler.

Bonhoeffer, the man and his faith in Christ, during his imprisonment and leading up to his execution, is portrayed in the newest biography of Bonhoeffer, Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas.  The following relies on this biography.

Payne Best, a British Secret Intelligence Service agent who had been captured by the Nazi SS, met Bonhoeffer at Buchenwald concentration camp.  Of the prisoners at Buchenwald Best wrote, “We were all far too hardened to surroundings where sudden death was the order of the day.  At any moment an order might come for some or all of us to be gassed, shot, or hung [sic], and subconsciously we were all so much engaged in the struggle for survival that no one had the energy to expend in sympathy for the sufferings of unknown and anonymous people who, after all, were already dead” (514).

In contrast Best described Bonhoeffer as “all humility and sweetness; he always seemed to me to diffuse an atmosphere of happiness, of joy in every smallest event in life, and of deep gratitude for the mere fact that he was alive….He was one of the very few men that I have ever met to whom his God was real and ever close to him” (514).

In 1951 Best wrote to Bonhoeffer’s sister Sabine.  He described her brother as “different; just quite calm and normal, seemingly perfectly at his ease…his soul really shone in the dark desperation of our prison.”  Especially important to what I am wanting to express in this series of posts is Best telling Sabine that Bonhoeffer “had always been afraid that he would not be strong enough to stand such a test but now he knew there was nothing in life of which one need ever be afraid” (515).  How often have I asked myself will I be strong enough to stand the tests life gives me?  Will I be strong enough when I know my life is nearing its end?  Though I will encourage the reader to know that in Christ there is nothing in life of which you need ever be afraid, will my faith overcome my fear?

April 8, 1945, was the first Sunday after Easter.  Bonhoeffer led his fellow prisoners in worship.  He prayed.  The Scripture readings he shared were Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 1:3.  From these texts Bonhoeffer spoke words of encouragement.  No sooner had he finished a final prayer then he was taken to be transferred to Flossenburg.  He was hanged the next day.  His parting words to Payne Best, “This is the end. For me the beginning of life” (528).

At Flossenburg the camp doctor was H. Fischer-Hullstrung.  He did not know the background of Bonhoeffer.  Years later he wrote of seeing Bonhoeffer minutes before being led to be hanged.  The doctor wrote Bonhoeffer was “kneeling on the floor praying fervently to his God…so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer.  At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the steps to the gallows, brave and composed…(he died) so entirely submissive to the will of God” (531-532).

So much about Dietrich Bonhoeffer humbles me.  I noted above Payne Best’s observations of Bonhoeffer which Best shared with Bonhoeffer’s sister Sabine.  Bonhoeffer “had always been afraid that he would not be strong enough to stand such a test but now he knew there was nothing in life of which one need ever be afraid” (515).

Like almost every age in history ours has become for many a time of fear.  Fear of the enemies of our nation, especially radical Islamists.  Christians voice fear of politicians, atheists, and humanists, who are perceived as bent on a moral shift in the nation’s religious and moral foundations.  They fear the destruction of the nation, of freedoms, of what is good.  They fear the destruction of Christianity.  There is the fear of various forms of evil which oppress and seek to destroy–illness, broken marriages, financial struggles, life changing and life destroying accidents and criminal acts.  Fear, in many forms, grips the hearts and lives of Christians.

Is the reality of evil reason for fear within the disciple of Christ?  Are evil’s oppression and seeming victories reason for fear within those whose faith is in Jesus Christ?  Is there ever reason for hopelessness within followers of Christ?  Or as Bonhoeffer learned in prison, the concentration camps of the Nazi SS, and as he stood before the gallows, is there “nothing in life of which one need ever be afraid”?

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The Resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, The Keystone of our Faith

Posted on March 31, 2013 by David

In the Roman Empire crucifixion sent a message that Rome was in control.  The crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth sent a clear message.  This man was not the Christ.  The evidence was irrefutable.  In weakness Jesus was defeated by his enemies.  Publicly he was executed in the cruelest and most demeaning fashion.  His body, dead, was laid in a tomb.  Jesus’ closest disciples huddled together in fear behind locked doors in Jerusalem.  The clear choice for these men was to go home, grateful they escaped with their lives, and forget about Jesus and his unfounded claims.  Like any other man, he was dead.  They all witnessed his death.  It was finished.

Yet some fifty days after the crucifixion and burial of Jesus his disciples were gathered together in Jerusalem, not in fear, not behind locked doors.  They were standing before the crowds gathered for the Pentecost festival.  Surprisingly Peter boldly proclaimed, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).  Without fear Peter made this claim because, he said, after Jesus’ crucifixion, after his death and burial, the disciples had seen Jesus alive.  It was not a ghost or a battered and bleeding survivor of the cross they had seen.  They saw Jesus raised from death, and more.  They watched him ascend to heaven where he was exalted to the right hand of God.  Peter claimed, “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.  Exalted to the right hand of God” (Acts 2:32-33).

PIcture the truth of the gospel message of Jesus Christ as an arch.  The keystone of an arch, the center stone, keeps the arch standing.  Remove the keystone and the arch crumbles.  That God raised Jesus from the dead to never taste death again, to be exalted by God as both Lord and Christ, this is the keystone that keeps the arch of the gospel message standing.  If Jesus did not rise from the dead, take away the keystone, the arch collapses, faith in Jesus Christ is a hoax.  “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” (1 Corinthians 15:17).

The resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord is the keystone of Christian faith for it is the crowning evidence that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  At the center of Peter’s argument in Acts 2 is the resurrection of Jesus.  The resurrection is the key evidence of the identity of Jesus as the Son of God, as Lord and Christ.  Peter reasoned that the ancient king of Israel, David, prophesied “of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay.  God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact” (Acts 2:31-32).

The resurrection of Jesus was God’s vindication and affirmation of Jesus, that he is the Son of God.  He was raised with the power of God.  God exalted him with power as Lord and Christ, sovereign over all power and authority in heaven and on earth.  “And who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:4).  

The resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord is the keystone of Christian faith for it is our salvation.  Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his death has no power over sin.  “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:17).  Jesus Christ is risen and with his resurrection comes justification and salvation.  “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification (Romans 4:25).  “Baptism that now saves you…it saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21).

Salvation is forgiveness.  Salvation is more.  It is life.  Salvation is being rescued from death.  It is being rescued from the death of sin which separates us from God.  It is being rescued from the power of death and the grave which would destroy life forever.  Salvation is life, being dead to sin and alive to God.  Life is only possible through the resurrected Jesus Christ.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord is the keystone of Christian faith for in the resurrected Christ we are raised to a new life.  Of this resurrection to new life the apostle Paul writes, “having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12).  We were raised with Christ so that “we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4).  Risen with Christ, “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11).  The new life is a life committed to righteousness.  It is a life committed to doing what is right in the eyes of God.  The new life, the resurrection life, is a life of becoming less and less sinful, becoming more and more righteous in living.  “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).

The resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord is the keystone of Christian faith for the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord is our hope of resurrection from the grave to life eternal.  “By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also” (1 Corinthians 6:14).  “We wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved” (Romans 8:23-24).  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).

This hope sustains our faith.  It is a living hope as surely as Jesus Christ is a living Lord.  As a living hope it is real, sure, and true.  It is a living hope lived out in faith and love for God and for one another.  A living hope lived out in lives committed to pleasing and glorifying our Lord in all we do.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord is the keystone of Christian faith for the risen Lord assures us that God is at work for his people.  “Who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).  The apostle Paul speaks of God’s “incomparably great power for us who believe.  That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given” (Ephesians 1:19-21).

Whatever twists and turns we experience in life, seeing the empty tomb of Jesus, our faith is sustained. The resurrected Jesus Christ, our living and exalted Lord, gives us confidence that God in Christ is working to preserve us, to shield us, and to bring us to the fullness of our salvation in Jesus Christ.

Let us hear the words of our risen Lord Jesus Christ and live lives of faith, hope, and love.  Let us live righteous lives filled with joy and peace in our living and exalted Lord.  “Do not be afraid.  If am the First and the Last.  I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!  And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

(For more on the evidence for the truth of the resurrection of Jesus, see the post “Why Jesus?” on February 20, 2011.)

Posted in Cross of Christ, Easter, Grace, Hope, Jesus Christ, Resurrection, Resurrection of Jesus, Salvation | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Grace and the Call of the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Posted on March 24, 2013 by David

In the March 2013 issue of Christianity Today magazine, Jordan Monge shares her journey, as a student at Harvard, from atheism to faith in Jesus Christ (“The Atheist’s Dilemma”, pages 88, 87).  She first came to belief in the existence of God.  Then she was confronted with the cross of Christ and the Christian teaching of love.

Jordan writes, “The Christian teaching that ‘love is a commitment of the will to the true good of the other person.’  This theme–of love as sacrifice for true good–struck me.  The Cross no longer seemed a grotesque symbol of divine sadism, but a remarkable act of love.  And Christianity began to look less strangely mythical and more cosmically beautiful.”

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  The message of the cross of Christ is the message of the love of God and of Christ.  It is the message of God and of Christ making the willing sacrifice for the true good of those they love, their creation, humankind.  In religion and philosophy this message is unique–the Creator, God, the Son of God, moved by love for his creation, came in the flesh for the purpose of experiencing death, a humiliating death.  “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son…” (1 John 4:10).

Jordan writes that being drawn to the Christian message of love, drawn to the cross as a remarkable act of love, she began to read the Bible.  “At the same time, I had begun to read through the Bible and was confronted by my sin.  I was painfully arrogant and prone to fits of rage.  I was unforgiving and unwaveringly selfish.  I passed sexual boundaries that I’d promised I wouldn’t.  The fact that I had failed to adhere to my own ethical standards filled me with deep regret.  Yet I could do nothing to right these wrongs.  The Cross no longer looked merely like a symbol of love, but like the answer to an incurable need. When I read the Crucifixion scene in the Book of John for the first time, I wept.”

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10).  There is a footnote in niv1984 providing an expanded translation of “atoning sacrifice”: “sent his Son as the one who would turn aside his wrath, taking away our sins.”  “He was delivered over to death for our sins” (Romans 4:25).  “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18).  “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins” (1 Peter 2:24).

The cross of Jesus Christ is an act of love that takes our breath away.  Divinity, the Son of God, in the flesh, dying for us, the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate expression of God’s love.  Then there is the reason for God’s love, for the love of Christ, acting in such a manner–the sins of humankind.  Doesn’t this go against all human reasoning?  There was, still is, in the biblical understanding of God, every reason for God to turn his back on humankind, to punish, to destroy–sin, rebellion, unbelief.  Instead, God sent his Son to deliberately and purposely take our sins upon himself on the cross!  (cf. Romans 5:6-11)

“By (Jesus’) wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).  “In (Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:7).  Jesus took upon himself our sins and guilt.  He experienced God’s just wrath in our place.  Christ did this so that we might experience God’s forgiveness and redemption.

Forgiveness–our sins taken away, purged from our hearts, from our accounts, no longer held against us, no guilt, no blame.  Redemption–Christ paid the price, the shedding of his blood as the sacrifice for our sins.  Forgiven and redeemed in Christ we are freed from the bondage of our sins, given new life and a new relationship with God.  In Christ we are God’s beloved children, at peace with God, and one with him.

As Jordan continued her journey confronted by the cross, by the love of God and of Christ, she writes, “I committed my life to Christ by being baptized on Easter Sunday, 2009.”  She committed her life to Christ!

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24 emphasis mine).

The cross confronts us with our sins, not simply to cause us to ask for forgiveness and to enable God to forgive us.  Christ died on the cross to lift us out of the miry muck of a sinful life.  He died so that we might die to sins and be healed of the wounds and disease of our sinfulness.  Christ bore our sins in his body on the cross to enable us to live for righteousness.

It is easy to slip into the deceptive comfort of resting in the cross of Christ for forgiveness without listening to the call of the cross to live for righteousness.  The cross, yes, is the symbol of God’s grace and love for humankind expressed in his forgiveness.  The cross is equally the call of God’s grace and love to redemption from the bondage of sinfulness, to freedom in a new life committed to righteousness and to obedience of God in Jesus Christ.

I will use Jordan’s openness and honesty to illustrate.  As I write this and as you read it, let us be open and honest with ourselves about our sins.  Christ died so that Jordan might be forgiven and that she might die to her arrogance, to her fits of rage, to her unforgiving spirit and selfishness, and to her sexual impurity.  Christ died on the cross so that Jordan, forgiven and redeemed from the bondage of her guilt and sin, might learn the way of God and obediently live with humility and a calm, peaceful, and forgiving spirit.  Christ died so Jordan might learn the way of God and obediently live unselfishly and in purity.

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Posted in Cross of Christ, Faith, Forgiveness, God, Grace, Jesus Christ, Love, Repentance, Salvation | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jesus Set His Face to Go to Jerusalem

Posted on March 17, 2013 by David

“When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51 ESV).

The time was drawing near for the completion of the mission and the purpose of Jesus’ life. Yes, there was to be his resurrection from the grave and his ascension to heaven. Before these, however, there was betrayal, rejection, beatings, and the cross. The time was drawing near for Jesus to take upon himself the sins and the guilt of the world. He was going to know a suffering beyond the severe physical suffering of the cross, a suffering beyond our comprehension.  The Son was going to cry out to the Father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Earlier Jesus told the disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Luke 9:22 NIV1984).  Jesus knew what was waiting for him in Jerusalem.

Yet he set his face to go.  He resolutely set out for Jerusalem.  He determined nothing was going to deter him from accomplishing what he came into this world to accomplish.  Willingly, voluntarily, Jesus determined to brave the suffering soon to come.  So he set his face towards Jerusalem, to go into the midst of his enemies–to die.

Luke’s words paint a picture in our minds and hearts of Jesus’ face filled with resolve.  We see Jesus strong with faith and determination to set out on the journey to the cross, to laying down his life for us.  Looking at his face we see in his eyes and in his heart such courage and unselfish sacrifice.  In awe of this man, of the Son of Man, the Son of God, our hearts are filled with a mixture of praise and tears.  His courage to make such an unselfish sacrifice came from the depths of his faith and love.

In the picture Luke paints for us we see our Lord’s face, are able to look into his eyes and into his heart.  In his heart we see his faith in his Father.  Revealed is his confidence in his Father’s love for him, and his confidence of his own love for his Father.  His face and eyes reveal his unrelenting determination driven by his faith and love to obey and please his Father.

The apostle John records Jesus’ words of faith in and love for his Father.  “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38 NIV1984).  “I love the Father” (John 14:31 NIV1984).  The apostle Paul speaks of Jesus’ faith in and love for his Father as revealed in his journey to the cross.  “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!”  (Philippians 2:8 NIV1984)

 

Jesus knew the suffering that was waiting for him, knew what he was walking into when he entered Jerusalem.  Yet there he is, standing, looking south towards Jerusalem.  There is on Jesus’ face resolute determination to go to Jerusalem, to go to the cross.  In his face we are able to see the concern, perhaps some anxiousness, in his eyes, in the creases caused by the firmness of his face.  There was no turning back, only a resolute going forward.  Looking at his face and into his heart, within his faith in and love for his Father, we see something puzzling and unexplainable, his deep love for humankind.

Jesus expresses his love for humankind.  “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 NIV1984).  The apostle Paul sets the love of our Lord Jesus Christ before us as an example to imitate.  “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2 NIV1984).

When Jesus’ love is truly seen our hearts are filled with joyous thanksgiving for such love for us.  There rises within our hearts a joy mixed with tears at the thought of Jesus’ love for us costing him and his Father so dearly.  A joy mixed with tears, because the Son and the Father loved so deeply as to see us worthy of such undeserving sacrifice, grace, and love.

Reflecting on the determination of Jesus to go to Jerusalem, the eighteenth century preacher and commentator Matthew Henry exhorts his readers.  “How should this shame us for, and shame us out of, our backwardness to do and suffer for Christ: we draw back, and turn our faces another way from his service who stedfastly (sic) set his face against all opposition to go through with the work of our salvation.”

How deeply moved our hearts should be to live with determination to take up the cross of self-denial.  As disciples of Christ let us resolutely set our faces toward Christ, to walk the journey of life in his footsteps in love for and obedience to the Father.

“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV1984).

 
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“The Lord will rescue me!”

Posted on February 26, 2013 by David

“The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (2 Timothy 4:18).

The apostle Paul wrote the above words in a letter to his precious son in the faith Timothy. He desired Timothy to visit him. “I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy” (2 Timothy 1:3). You see, Paul was a prisoner in Rome. He knew his death was imminent. Tradition, dating back to the second century, holds that Paul was beheaded during this imprisonment. He wanted to see Timothy one more time.

The apostle had endured much suffering as a disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ. He faced death on more than one occasion (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-29). The Lord had rescued him again and again. No rescue was coming this time. Death was to have its way. “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure” (2 Timothy 4:6).

Knowing his death was imminent, death by execution at the hands of the mighty Roman Empire, how was the apostle able to write, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack”? His faith, his trust, was in the Lord Jesus Christ. The hope in the promise of the eternal kingdom of Christ was the rock on which his faith found a firm foundation. Even in death the apostle believed the Lord Jesus Christ was going to rescue him from the intended outcome of his execution. Christ, Paul believed, was going to bring him through death safely to His heavenly kingdom! “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).

Trusting in the faithfulness of God and of Christ to this promise Paul faithfully lived his life in obedience to Christ and to the ministry to which he was called. The apostle was faithful even though his faithfulness to Christ resulted often in suffering and was the cause of his present imprisonment and coming execution. He entrusted his life, his very being, his past, his present, his future to Christ. He did so because he trusted Christ. “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day” (2 Timothy 1:12).

Lord, help me to trust you with the same trust as the apostle. Give to me, to the many who believe in you and hope in you, the confidence and peace such trust brings.

“The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (2 Timothy 4:18).

In memory of Jim, of Sully, of Dad, of Marcia’s parents, of so many children, and other family and friends.

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“He was heard.”

Posted on January 6, 2013 by David

The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews writes of the suffering of Jesus. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Hebrews 5:7.

“He was heard.” He was heard by God, by him “who could save him from death.” If we did not know the rest of the story we would conclude, out of our wishful view of God, he was saved from death on the cross. Only “he was heard,” and he died the next day. How could God hear his anguished pleas, his cries and tears, and not save him from the cross? How could the Father hear his cries for life and not save him from death? The Father’s will was not the torture and death of his Son, but the salvation of his Creation. The path over which the love and grace of Father and Son led them, was the path of suffering. Both Father and Son were driven by their holiness and love, love for each other and love for their Creation, for mankind. Jesus was heard. The Father answered, “Go to the cross. For the sake of those we love, die the death of sacrifice for their sins.”

It does not lessen the intensity of the pain or the grief of the loss. The suffering continues. The cries are not silenced. The tears are not dried. Yet to know that like Jesus, we are heard gives strength to persevere. We are heard. God is present. The throne of grace hears our prayers. The Father may answer, “Continue to suffer.” It doesn’t satisfy. Fairness seems so far away. Yet, remembering the Son learned obedience from his suffering strengthens our faith to persevere (Hebrews 5:8).

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The Dilemma of Righteous Joseph, Matthew 1:18-25

Posted on December 24, 2012 by David

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly”  (Matthew 1:18-19 NIV84).

The customs of first century Palestine are strange to us. A pledge to be married that is as binding as marriage, though the couple is not yet married. It could only be broken by a divorce, though the couple is not yet married. They were often called husband and wife, though they were not yet married.

So here is this couple, pledged to be married. They had not had sexual contact with each other. Joseph discovers Mary is pregnant. He knows he is not the father. As readers we are told the pregnancy is “through the Holy Spirit.” Joseph does not know this at first. If Mary told him that was a difficult story to believe. So Joseph has a dilemma. The strong implication is he believed Mary had been unfaithful to him, to her family, to God. His conclusion, Mary had committed adultery.

I will not take the time to discuss why, but I believe Joseph’s dilemma is more than concern for Mary’s reputation and honor, more than protecting her from the disgrace of public scorn. He very possibly was concerned for Mary’s very life as her perceived infidelity was worthy of her death (see John 8 and Deuteronomy 22:21). The story of the birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew is not the sweet story of a young couple and their first child. It is the story of perceived infidelity and betrayal worthy of death. In Matthew’s story we read, though so briefly, of the struggle within the heart of Joseph, a righteous, a just, and a good man who wanted to be faithful to the law of God. At the same time he wanted to be merciful toward Mary. He decided to quietly divorce her and so somehow protect her.

Joseph made up his mind. “But just when he had resolved to do this” (Matthew 20 NRSV). Confident of the righteousness of his decision Joseph was able to sleep. But then “an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife” (Matthew 1:20b, 21, 24 NIV84).

Matthew Marohl, in his book Joseph’s Dilemma (page 65), describes the story of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew as “not a modern story of a quiet divorce. This is an ancient story in which the expected outcome is death. While the expected out come is death, it is the unexpected that occurs–Joseph, Mary, and Jesus experience new life. Joseph takes Mary as his wife, she gives birth, and they name the child Jesus.” It is a story of the “dramatic reversal of fortunes.”

Isn’t this what we see in Jesus, from the story of his birth, his life, his miracles, his teachings, his death, and his resurrection?  Marohl sees a principle of faith in Jesus Christ, a principle of God’s grace in the lives of his people. “From expected death comes unexpected new life.”

At the grave of Jesus the angel told the women, “He is not here. He is risen!” As each person stands before God in the guilt of his sins, he is dead (Ephesians 2:1ff). The expected outcome is death, God’s judgment and condemnation. In Jesus Christ, through faith in him, the sinner is united with Christ in his death to sin on the cross. He is also united with Christ in his resurrection to new life (Romans 6). From expected death comes unexpected new life. It is a new kind of life energized by the Spirit of God, shaped in his righteousness, mercy, and love.

With this new life in Christ comes hope that from expected death will come unexpected new life. When death comes, the body is buried. Everything that is touchable and visible tells us death is the end. This life is all there is. In Christ, however, we have the hope and we trust it is true, the unexpected will happen, resurrection to new life, a new kind of life without expectation of death, eternal life. “The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:42).

From expected death comes unexpected new life. “Expected death” is not limited to  death. The apostle Paul experienced a form of “expected death” which greatly troubled him. He calls it a thorn in his flesh, “a messenger of Satan, to torment me” (2 Corinthians 12:7). Three times he plead with the Lord to remove that thorn. The Lord answered, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). From that thorn, that expected death, came “unexpected new life,” the grace and power of the Lord in the midst of Paul’s weakness.

Disciples of Jesus Christ are called to surrender their lives to God in Christ Jesus. They are to live their lives trusting in God. In trust they are to seek and obey God’s will, living justly, loving mercy, walking humbly with God in Jesus Christ. The assurance the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior gives is the promise that from expected death comes unexpected new life. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Merry Christmas and God’s blessings.

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A Very Different Scene of the Birth of Jesus

Posted on December 22, 2012 by David

In Revelation 12 the Apostle John describes a very different scene of the birth of Jesus than Matthew and Luke. John uses bold, vivid, striking, and startling images. His is a story powerfully and imaginatively revealing the spiritual reality of God’s invasion into his creation through Jesus Christ. The physical images are larger than life. A pregnant woman about to give birth is clothed with the sun, the moon the rest for her feet—a rather immense image. An enormous seven headed red dragon whose tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky. The dragon stood in front of the woman waiting to devour the baby when he was born. When the woman gave birth to her son he was snatched up to God and to his throne, where he will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. The images are not the reality but powerfully represent the reality of Satan’s failure to defeat God’s purposes in Jesus. Jesus came to save, to redeem, and to free all who will put faith in God through Him. John’s message to a persecuted church—it may appear that Satan, that evil, is dominating and victorious. The reality—Christ is on the throne. He has been victorious over Satan. The dragon still rages, like a wild animal unleashing his fury as he is dying of his mortal wounds. Even the martyrs who have died because of their faith in Christ, they have not been defeated. Rather they overcame [the dragon] by the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12:11a). John is encouraging the Christians of his day to hold to their faith in hope.

I consider this text a good metaphor for the difficult and tragic times of life. As I write this my mind and heart are especially thinking of our grandson Sully who battled A.L.L leukemia from age two months till his death at fifteen months. I think of the countless children and their families who are ferociously attacked by the great and horrible dragon of pediatric cancers. This great and horrible dragon seeks to devour the children he attacks. With every effort to oppose him he is enraged. At times he appears to be accomplishing his hideous and horrific purpose. He is thwarted at every turn by courageous children who, encouraged, supported, and loved by their parents, fight with strength beyond their years. Medical staffs and researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research hospital and other hospitals fight valiantly to drive back the dragon. At times he is defeated. Children recover. The dragon loses all power over them. At other times, all too many, the dragon appears to win, to devour his victims. Death, the dragon beats his breast and his seven heads mock with a hideous shout of victory. Contrary to appearances, however, Sully and the other children, even in death, have overcome the great and hideous dragon. They have been snatched up to God, to his Son, and to life.

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