What Did Jesus Do?
...and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.
Revelation 21.21
With the birth of Christ the Father established a permanent lodgement, a beach head, if you will, whereby the Son planted and expanded the Kingdom of God on earth. God had tabernacled with Israel for more than a thousand years, had declared that Zion would be his “resting place forever.” (Psalm 132.14) But when the Son came, the foundations of a New Jerusalem, one not built by hands, were laid down. For nearly two millennia now the Church has been building on that foundation. Every soul saved represents territory annexed by the Kingdom, every place where believers tread extends the street of the holy city, so to speak, the golden street.
The New Jerusalem is embodied in the Son, manifest by the Holy Spirit, and present wherever and whenever believers gather. The light of God's glory, the brilliant transparency of the golden street, is born by the faithful when they stride the halls of a palace and address kings and emperors, and when they humbly enter a hovel and speak to the lowliest subjects. Glorifying God is not reserved for any particular people, class, or tongue; neither is God's glorification to be put off until the Day of the Lord. The Son came to glorify the Father, and that is what Christ's Church is to be about until he returns.
It matters not if we travel along the mean streets of a city, or a rutted rural dirt road, or a remote and narrow footpath, every highway and byway can and should be as the street of gold of the New Jerusalem. Thus, wherever we travel in this world as servants of Christ, the journey is a joyous one, even if the way should be difficult, disagreeable, or even dangerous. Grace and light illuminate this pilgrim way, evil and darkness are banished from it.
The sometimes bare, sometimes sandaled, feet of Jesus trod the dusty roads of Canaan, and everywhere he went those feet paved, as it were, the street of pure gold. As Christ's disciples our journey may take us just about anywhere in the world, yet everywhere we place our feet we travel but one road, the golden street of the city of God, paving the way for the lost to come to the Father through the Son. Paving the way for the lost to come to the Father. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Jesus Equalized
What Did Jesus Do?
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,
there is no male and female, for you are all
one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3.28
Not to sound like Yoda, but God created a balance to all things. Light and dark. An expanse under the waters and an expanse above the waters. Sky and seas. Humanity both male and female. Just about the only imbalance in creation was between God himself and his creation. God was definitely over and above all that he had made. At least he was until the serpent tried to insinuate that there was supposed to be a balance between God and man, “you will be like God...” (Genesis 2.5). So man tried to equalize himself with his Maker, and in so doing threw the whole of creation out of balance. Now evil contended with good for supremacy (It had been no contest up to that point.), the partnership between man and woman became full of contention and mistrust, there was a tragic disequilibrium. Inequality and discord seized the place of equality and harmony.
It took the work of the Son to equalize what the serpent had upset, and to restore the quite proper inequity between the Father and his children. All men may be created equal, as the Declaration of Independence proclaims; but man was not created equal with God. With man's proper relationship to his Creator restored, equality of man's relationship to his fellow man (and to woman) was also recovered.
So it was that Paul could write to the church in Galatia about the absolute equality and balance of the Body of Christ. This was, and is, quite distinct in a world where gross inequality, as initiated and fostered by the lies of Satan, still reigns in many places, in many hearts. Exploitation, oppression, and strife abide where there is patent inequity. The last place where one should find inequity today is the Church, yet, sadly, it does not take long to recognize that the Body of Christ often perpetuates inequality based on economic status, ethnicity, and gender. This is a scandal.
Yes, there are differences, but these are not to be the basis for division in the Church, but, by virtue of the spiritual equality of all who are in Christ, a means by which the world can see the great restorative work of the Son, who makes children of God out of Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female. Do you wish to do the Father's will? Then treat every man and woman as your equal. That's what Jesus, though fully God, did in becoming fully man and dying for our sins.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,
there is no male and female, for you are all
one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3.28
Not to sound like Yoda, but God created a balance to all things. Light and dark. An expanse under the waters and an expanse above the waters. Sky and seas. Humanity both male and female. Just about the only imbalance in creation was between God himself and his creation. God was definitely over and above all that he had made. At least he was until the serpent tried to insinuate that there was supposed to be a balance between God and man, “you will be like God...” (Genesis 2.5). So man tried to equalize himself with his Maker, and in so doing threw the whole of creation out of balance. Now evil contended with good for supremacy (It had been no contest up to that point.), the partnership between man and woman became full of contention and mistrust, there was a tragic disequilibrium. Inequality and discord seized the place of equality and harmony.
It took the work of the Son to equalize what the serpent had upset, and to restore the quite proper inequity between the Father and his children. All men may be created equal, as the Declaration of Independence proclaims; but man was not created equal with God. With man's proper relationship to his Creator restored, equality of man's relationship to his fellow man (and to woman) was also recovered.
So it was that Paul could write to the church in Galatia about the absolute equality and balance of the Body of Christ. This was, and is, quite distinct in a world where gross inequality, as initiated and fostered by the lies of Satan, still reigns in many places, in many hearts. Exploitation, oppression, and strife abide where there is patent inequity. The last place where one should find inequity today is the Church, yet, sadly, it does not take long to recognize that the Body of Christ often perpetuates inequality based on economic status, ethnicity, and gender. This is a scandal.
Yes, there are differences, but these are not to be the basis for division in the Church, but, by virtue of the spiritual equality of all who are in Christ, a means by which the world can see the great restorative work of the Son, who makes children of God out of Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female. Do you wish to do the Father's will? Then treat every man and woman as your equal. That's what Jesus, though fully God, did in becoming fully man and dying for our sins.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Jesus Forgave Extravagantly
What Did Jesus Do?
“Lord, how often will my brother sin...and I forgive him?
As many as seven times”Jesus said to him,
“I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Matthew 18.21-22
Jesus did not die for the righteous, but for sinners. Not one person has ever deserved God's forgiveness (See WDJD for 10/16/10). The realization of this, the “amazing grace” of God, is powerfully transformative. Among other things, it should make us exceedingly forgiving. When we consider how much God has forgiven us, it should encourage us to use a generous measure when we forgive others. Think about this:
“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.”
Luke 12.48
The Father has forgiven us beyond all reckoning, and the chief sign that we have fully grasped this truth is how we handle the matter of our forgiving those who we deem “undeserving.” If we, having been forgiven, still carry around the weight of unforgiveness towards our “debtors,” we weigh down our lives, we undermine our witness, we, if you will allow, scandalize Christ. How can we go around saying we are faithful followers of the One who forgave the undeserving while we go around forever indicting, convicting, and endlessly seeking to punish, those who have sinned against us? I'm not saying let murderers go free, or allow bank robbers to enjoy their ill-gotten gains. But, I believe, there are few of us who could not go out this day, and go up to a brother or sister who has hurt us and simply say to them, no matter how sure we are that they don't deserve it, “I forgive you.” I daresay, there are many of us who should make plans today to do this very thing.
God is an extravagant forgiver. One way we liken after the image of our Creator is to be extravagant in our forgiving. So it was, that when Peter, imagining himself to be pretty generous in the matter of forgiving those who had offended him, asked the Lord if seven times would be enough forgiveness to give to a brother or sister who was a “repeat offender,” Jesus's answer revealed how miserly such an attitude was. Then the Lord went on to tell a Kingdom Tale about a ruler whose extravagant forgiveness was not mirrored by an unforgiving servant (Matthew 18.23-35).
Is it hard to do? Certainly. You don't think it was easy for Jesus, do you? He had to endure the cross so that the undeserving should be forgiven. Whatever it might take for us to forgive, could it ever approach the price paid by the Lord? And, the thing is, the forgiveness we are talking about does not come from a decision in the mind to forgive, but from an irresistible desire in the heart. The Father's forgiveness was the very outpouring of his heart in the person of his Son. The Son's forgiveness is equally an expression of the heart, of the great love he has for us. And so Jesus warned his followers that they would experience the wrath of his Father if they did not forgive one another “from the heart.” (Matthew 18.35)
The thing is, the Father knows our hearts are not capable of sustaining any such extravagant forgiveness, so he gives us a new heart. By the agency of the Holy Spirit we can say that the heart of Jesus beats within our breast, and that heart forgives and forgives, even “seventy times seven,” and more. We don't need to think about whether or not we should forgive someone, and try and decide if they “deserve” it. Rather, we should examine our heart, and, if we find unforgiveness, there, we need to pray, as the Psalmist, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51.10) We'll be amazed at the rivers of forgiveness that flow from such a clean and new heart!
Now, the Body of Christ, that is the Church, also has a heart. I would imagine that no few congregations would quickly experience a fresh and powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit if some extravagant forgiveness took place among their members. The name of Jesus will one day be exalted above all names, and most deservedly so, because he forgave the undeserving. Maybe his Church might start looking more like his spotless bride if it too started practicing the extravagant forgiveness of the undeserving. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“Lord, how often will my brother sin...and I forgive him?
As many as seven times”Jesus said to him,
“I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Matthew 18.21-22
Jesus did not die for the righteous, but for sinners. Not one person has ever deserved God's forgiveness (See WDJD for 10/16/10). The realization of this, the “amazing grace” of God, is powerfully transformative. Among other things, it should make us exceedingly forgiving. When we consider how much God has forgiven us, it should encourage us to use a generous measure when we forgive others. Think about this:
“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.”
Luke 12.48
The Father has forgiven us beyond all reckoning, and the chief sign that we have fully grasped this truth is how we handle the matter of our forgiving those who we deem “undeserving.” If we, having been forgiven, still carry around the weight of unforgiveness towards our “debtors,” we weigh down our lives, we undermine our witness, we, if you will allow, scandalize Christ. How can we go around saying we are faithful followers of the One who forgave the undeserving while we go around forever indicting, convicting, and endlessly seeking to punish, those who have sinned against us? I'm not saying let murderers go free, or allow bank robbers to enjoy their ill-gotten gains. But, I believe, there are few of us who could not go out this day, and go up to a brother or sister who has hurt us and simply say to them, no matter how sure we are that they don't deserve it, “I forgive you.” I daresay, there are many of us who should make plans today to do this very thing.
God is an extravagant forgiver. One way we liken after the image of our Creator is to be extravagant in our forgiving. So it was, that when Peter, imagining himself to be pretty generous in the matter of forgiving those who had offended him, asked the Lord if seven times would be enough forgiveness to give to a brother or sister who was a “repeat offender,” Jesus's answer revealed how miserly such an attitude was. Then the Lord went on to tell a Kingdom Tale about a ruler whose extravagant forgiveness was not mirrored by an unforgiving servant (Matthew 18.23-35).
Is it hard to do? Certainly. You don't think it was easy for Jesus, do you? He had to endure the cross so that the undeserving should be forgiven. Whatever it might take for us to forgive, could it ever approach the price paid by the Lord? And, the thing is, the forgiveness we are talking about does not come from a decision in the mind to forgive, but from an irresistible desire in the heart. The Father's forgiveness was the very outpouring of his heart in the person of his Son. The Son's forgiveness is equally an expression of the heart, of the great love he has for us. And so Jesus warned his followers that they would experience the wrath of his Father if they did not forgive one another “from the heart.” (Matthew 18.35)
The thing is, the Father knows our hearts are not capable of sustaining any such extravagant forgiveness, so he gives us a new heart. By the agency of the Holy Spirit we can say that the heart of Jesus beats within our breast, and that heart forgives and forgives, even “seventy times seven,” and more. We don't need to think about whether or not we should forgive someone, and try and decide if they “deserve” it. Rather, we should examine our heart, and, if we find unforgiveness, there, we need to pray, as the Psalmist, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51.10) We'll be amazed at the rivers of forgiveness that flow from such a clean and new heart!
Now, the Body of Christ, that is the Church, also has a heart. I would imagine that no few congregations would quickly experience a fresh and powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit if some extravagant forgiveness took place among their members. The name of Jesus will one day be exalted above all names, and most deservedly so, because he forgave the undeserving. Maybe his Church might start looking more like his spotless bride if it too started practicing the extravagant forgiveness of the undeserving. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Jesus Shined The Light
What Did Jesus Do?
The true light...was coming into the world.
John 1.9
I visited a church a couple of weeks ago and heard the pastor and the choir proclaim in word and in song that the congregation was like a lighthouse. In fact, the pastor challenged the building committee to figure out a way to put a light in the church steeple, the better to resemble a lighthouse. I remember thinking that this was all well and good, but light up in a steeple doesn't do any more good than light that stays in the lighthouse. The important thing for light is to shine out, to go into the midst of deep darkness and bring its illumination. From out of heaven with all its light and majesty, the Father sent the Son, the true light, into the world with all its darkness and sin.
What the church that thought of itself as a lighthouse needs to do, actually, what every church needs to do, is not set up a beacon and wait for people to come, but send out the light to those who dwell in deep darkness, and let it shine! (Isaiah 9.2) And do you know how a church shines the light of Jesus out into the world? It sends its members out to be the light, which is exactly what Jesus charged his followers to do (See Matthew 5.14-16). People walking in darkness, who see a far off light, may very well never make it to the light, after all, there is a lot of dangerous, even deadly, stuff, in all the darkness that lies between those who are lost and the source of the light.
It is not enough to keep your lighthouse all ship shape, the lamp oiled, the light burning. You have to shine the light, send it out, project it over dark, rocky, and stormy seas so that it reaches the sailors. If a church isn't intentional about sending out all of its members in mission, to be the light of Christ in their homes, schools, offices, neighborhood, community, there is little reason to celebrate being a lighthouse, because the dwellers of the dark will never receive the life-saving light.
Think about it. Just how many of us do you think would be saved if the Father had not sent the light of the Son into the world? Come on, just take a guess! That's right—ZERO. Zippidee-do-dah. Not one. All of us would remain lost, dead in our sin, with no hope whatsoever. But, praise God, the True Light has come. And the Holy Spirit has given us eyes to see the True Light. And ears to hear the True Word of God. And new hearts to receive and respond to the Light and the Word. It remains for us to do what we were told to do, be the light, shine the light, bear the light out into the darkness, which might be a son or daughter's room just down the hall, or a neighbor's house across the street, or the desk next to ours in school, or the office water cooler. Sad to say, the darkness is deep and pervasive. But, take heart, the light overcomes. Always. So be bold, turn up your candle-power, and let the light shine! That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
The true light...was coming into the world.
John 1.9
I visited a church a couple of weeks ago and heard the pastor and the choir proclaim in word and in song that the congregation was like a lighthouse. In fact, the pastor challenged the building committee to figure out a way to put a light in the church steeple, the better to resemble a lighthouse. I remember thinking that this was all well and good, but light up in a steeple doesn't do any more good than light that stays in the lighthouse. The important thing for light is to shine out, to go into the midst of deep darkness and bring its illumination. From out of heaven with all its light and majesty, the Father sent the Son, the true light, into the world with all its darkness and sin.
What the church that thought of itself as a lighthouse needs to do, actually, what every church needs to do, is not set up a beacon and wait for people to come, but send out the light to those who dwell in deep darkness, and let it shine! (Isaiah 9.2) And do you know how a church shines the light of Jesus out into the world? It sends its members out to be the light, which is exactly what Jesus charged his followers to do (See Matthew 5.14-16). People walking in darkness, who see a far off light, may very well never make it to the light, after all, there is a lot of dangerous, even deadly, stuff, in all the darkness that lies between those who are lost and the source of the light.
It is not enough to keep your lighthouse all ship shape, the lamp oiled, the light burning. You have to shine the light, send it out, project it over dark, rocky, and stormy seas so that it reaches the sailors. If a church isn't intentional about sending out all of its members in mission, to be the light of Christ in their homes, schools, offices, neighborhood, community, there is little reason to celebrate being a lighthouse, because the dwellers of the dark will never receive the life-saving light.
Think about it. Just how many of us do you think would be saved if the Father had not sent the light of the Son into the world? Come on, just take a guess! That's right—ZERO. Zippidee-do-dah. Not one. All of us would remain lost, dead in our sin, with no hope whatsoever. But, praise God, the True Light has come. And the Holy Spirit has given us eyes to see the True Light. And ears to hear the True Word of God. And new hearts to receive and respond to the Light and the Word. It remains for us to do what we were told to do, be the light, shine the light, bear the light out into the darkness, which might be a son or daughter's room just down the hall, or a neighbor's house across the street, or the desk next to ours in school, or the office water cooler. Sad to say, the darkness is deep and pervasive. But, take heart, the light overcomes. Always. So be bold, turn up your candle-power, and let the light shine! That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Jesus Forgave The Undeserving
What Did Jesus Do?
And he said to her (A woman “of the city, who was sinner”),
“Your sins are forgiven.”
Luke 7.48
The Lord's forgiving of a woman with a bad reputation did not sit well with Simon, the Pharisee, in whose home the incident took place, because, well, she was so undeserving of forgiveness. Of course, Simon and the other guests thought it rather impudent for anyone other than God himself to presume to forgive sins. But then, they never really got Jesus. When we get Jesus, we realize that his forgiveness has nothing to do with anyone's deserving it, which should make us personally eternally grateful if we are honest with ourselves about how richly we don't deserve to be forgiven.
Just yesterday my latest copy of Sports Illustrated arrived, and it had a column debating whether or not Tony Dungy, a former NFL player and coach, and current football analyst (It's a ball, of rather unique shape that variously gets carried thrown, and kicked around. What's to analyze?), deserves to be castigated as a self-righteous wag (SI's verdict was “No.”). Perhaps the trouble with Dungy is, SI wondered, that his virtue (Which he doesn't go around shoving in anyone's face) makes others uneasy. I don't want to digress too far into Tony Dungy, but there was a line in the column that asked “Does Michael Vick deserve forgiveness?” Dungy's answer was “Yes.” But I don't agree. Vick doesn't deserve forgiveness. I don't mean to sound like old Simon, because I am probably a worse sinner than Michael Vick (I know he's a much better football player than I ever was), but, the thing is, no one deserves forgiveness.
You see, I don't believe it really is forgiveness if we deserve it, earn it, or should in anyway expect to be forgiven, or demand forgiveness. Understand this, if any of us truly deserve to be forgiven, than we would have no need whatsoever for a Savior, and his death on the cross would be for naught. Think about it, where's the grace in the salvation of the deserving? Do I “deserve” to be forgiven? Absolutely not! Am I forgiven? Praise God, I am!
I hope you can accept this teaching, because if you have any sense at all that you must do something, anything, to deserve forgiveness, you are carrying around awful, and totally unnecessary, burden that you will never be able to unload. In Christ God has, as it says in Psalm 103 verse 12, removed our sins as far away as east is from west. If the Father has, through the Son, so far cast away our sins, what are we doing trying to hang onto them. It is as if, having someone unlock our shackles, we lock them back up and continue to shuffle along through life.
You see, understanding that we are forgiven by the grace of the Father through faith in the Son by the working of the Holy Spirit in us should be the most transforming truth we can ever learn. Think of it this way: You are on “Death Row.” You know you are guilty, and deserve to die for your crimes. The State knows it too, which is why you have been convicted, sentenced, and now wait for your execution. Then one morning a man walks up to your cell, unlocks it, opens the door, tells you that you have been forgiven, “Go, and sin no more.” And, when you step out of that cell on Death Row, you are not the same person you were. The transformation is complete—from guilty sinner to forgiven saint! I remember when it happened to me. Overnight, acquaintances said, “You're not the same person I met yesterday.” My own children asked my wife what had happened to Dad, he wasn't the same. When the undeserving receive forgiveness it changes them completely from the inside out.
Hoping that you have already experienced this, I have a request to make; and know that I ask nothing of you that I do not ask of myself. It is not a big thing, yet it is huge. It is not hard, yet it is perhaps the most challenging thing we could ever do. I make this request in the name of Jesus because, well, it is what he desires from his disciples. In fact, it is implicit in the prayer the Lord taught his followers to pray, “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” (Matthew 6.12) Think of someone who has hurt you, cheated you, lied to or about you. Now, undeserving though they are, forgive them. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
And he said to her (A woman “of the city, who was sinner”),
“Your sins are forgiven.”
Luke 7.48
The Lord's forgiving of a woman with a bad reputation did not sit well with Simon, the Pharisee, in whose home the incident took place, because, well, she was so undeserving of forgiveness. Of course, Simon and the other guests thought it rather impudent for anyone other than God himself to presume to forgive sins. But then, they never really got Jesus. When we get Jesus, we realize that his forgiveness has nothing to do with anyone's deserving it, which should make us personally eternally grateful if we are honest with ourselves about how richly we don't deserve to be forgiven.
Just yesterday my latest copy of Sports Illustrated arrived, and it had a column debating whether or not Tony Dungy, a former NFL player and coach, and current football analyst (It's a ball, of rather unique shape that variously gets carried thrown, and kicked around. What's to analyze?), deserves to be castigated as a self-righteous wag (SI's verdict was “No.”). Perhaps the trouble with Dungy is, SI wondered, that his virtue (Which he doesn't go around shoving in anyone's face) makes others uneasy. I don't want to digress too far into Tony Dungy, but there was a line in the column that asked “Does Michael Vick deserve forgiveness?” Dungy's answer was “Yes.” But I don't agree. Vick doesn't deserve forgiveness. I don't mean to sound like old Simon, because I am probably a worse sinner than Michael Vick (I know he's a much better football player than I ever was), but, the thing is, no one deserves forgiveness.
You see, I don't believe it really is forgiveness if we deserve it, earn it, or should in anyway expect to be forgiven, or demand forgiveness. Understand this, if any of us truly deserve to be forgiven, than we would have no need whatsoever for a Savior, and his death on the cross would be for naught. Think about it, where's the grace in the salvation of the deserving? Do I “deserve” to be forgiven? Absolutely not! Am I forgiven? Praise God, I am!
I hope you can accept this teaching, because if you have any sense at all that you must do something, anything, to deserve forgiveness, you are carrying around awful, and totally unnecessary, burden that you will never be able to unload. In Christ God has, as it says in Psalm 103 verse 12, removed our sins as far away as east is from west. If the Father has, through the Son, so far cast away our sins, what are we doing trying to hang onto them. It is as if, having someone unlock our shackles, we lock them back up and continue to shuffle along through life.
You see, understanding that we are forgiven by the grace of the Father through faith in the Son by the working of the Holy Spirit in us should be the most transforming truth we can ever learn. Think of it this way: You are on “Death Row.” You know you are guilty, and deserve to die for your crimes. The State knows it too, which is why you have been convicted, sentenced, and now wait for your execution. Then one morning a man walks up to your cell, unlocks it, opens the door, tells you that you have been forgiven, “Go, and sin no more.” And, when you step out of that cell on Death Row, you are not the same person you were. The transformation is complete—from guilty sinner to forgiven saint! I remember when it happened to me. Overnight, acquaintances said, “You're not the same person I met yesterday.” My own children asked my wife what had happened to Dad, he wasn't the same. When the undeserving receive forgiveness it changes them completely from the inside out.
Hoping that you have already experienced this, I have a request to make; and know that I ask nothing of you that I do not ask of myself. It is not a big thing, yet it is huge. It is not hard, yet it is perhaps the most challenging thing we could ever do. I make this request in the name of Jesus because, well, it is what he desires from his disciples. In fact, it is implicit in the prayer the Lord taught his followers to pray, “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” (Matthew 6.12) Think of someone who has hurt you, cheated you, lied to or about you. Now, undeserving though they are, forgive them. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Jesus "Missioned"
What Did Jesus Do?
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will
but the will of him who sent me .”
John 6.38
Jesus didn't come to earth for a vacation from heaven. In fact, it wasn't the Lord's idea at all to come to earth, it was the Father's doing. The Father needed someone to fulfill his will on earth, because all the children of Adam and Eve sinned and fell so far short of the glory of God, so the Father sent the Son. Jesus was the Messiah on a mission. There was a plan for and purpose to everything he did. There was some urgency too, for Jesus did not have forever to get his work done. The Lord knew that he was headed to Jerusalem, and he knew what awaited him there. So he stayed focused on his mission right to the very end, and then he reported his mission status to the Father, “It is finished.” (John 19.30)
But before he returned to the Father, the Son commissioned (co-missioned) his Church:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”
Matthew 28.19
As it turns out, mission is not merely something the Church does, it is what the church is. Now, if everyone in the world was a believer, this would not be so, the world would not be an outpost, but a fully integrated and holy part of the Kingdom of God. But, as things stand, there remains an incredible amount of work to be done. No church, anywhere in the world, can say “Mission accomplished!” Mission, if you will, is “Job #1” for the Church. None of us have to look far to find a field for mission, it begins just beyond the end of our nose. At home, at school, at work, in the community, at church(!), mission opportunities surround us; none can make the excuse that they can't “go” and do mission, for all of us can do mission, should do mission, must do mission, right where we are. The Church is in the world to make a difference in the world, and in all the world. And remember, the world is right past the end of your nose.
Yes, the majority of folks in the pews are never going to go on an overseas mission trip. And relatively few of them will ever even travel to another part of their own country on mission. But there is not one single community in the United States without great need, and this means that every member, of every local congregation, everywhere, has countless mission opportunities at hand right in his or her own neighborhood.
I wonder, rather than receiving people as “members” of a local church by virtue of public profession of faith, or reaffirmation of faith, or letter of transfer, it might be better to commission them as missionaries of Christ's Church. How might a congregation's understanding of itself change if it was reinforced over and over again that it had no “members” to receive, but only missionaries to send? Imagine what might occur if each Lord's Day the worship service included the commissioning of missionaries who were going to serve the local schools, the community library, the Department of Social Services, the Police Department, the YMCA, the Housing Projects. Somehow, I think the number of missionaries commissioned week after week by local churches might have some impact, not only on the needs and problems of their community, but ultimately on the number “day by day who were being saved” in the local community. The Church as a mission. I believe it make sense for the Body of Christ, after all, mission is what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will
but the will of him who sent me .”
John 6.38
Jesus didn't come to earth for a vacation from heaven. In fact, it wasn't the Lord's idea at all to come to earth, it was the Father's doing. The Father needed someone to fulfill his will on earth, because all the children of Adam and Eve sinned and fell so far short of the glory of God, so the Father sent the Son. Jesus was the Messiah on a mission. There was a plan for and purpose to everything he did. There was some urgency too, for Jesus did not have forever to get his work done. The Lord knew that he was headed to Jerusalem, and he knew what awaited him there. So he stayed focused on his mission right to the very end, and then he reported his mission status to the Father, “It is finished.” (John 19.30)
But before he returned to the Father, the Son commissioned (co-missioned) his Church:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”
Matthew 28.19
As it turns out, mission is not merely something the Church does, it is what the church is. Now, if everyone in the world was a believer, this would not be so, the world would not be an outpost, but a fully integrated and holy part of the Kingdom of God. But, as things stand, there remains an incredible amount of work to be done. No church, anywhere in the world, can say “Mission accomplished!” Mission, if you will, is “Job #1” for the Church. None of us have to look far to find a field for mission, it begins just beyond the end of our nose. At home, at school, at work, in the community, at church(!), mission opportunities surround us; none can make the excuse that they can't “go” and do mission, for all of us can do mission, should do mission, must do mission, right where we are. The Church is in the world to make a difference in the world, and in all the world. And remember, the world is right past the end of your nose.
Yes, the majority of folks in the pews are never going to go on an overseas mission trip. And relatively few of them will ever even travel to another part of their own country on mission. But there is not one single community in the United States without great need, and this means that every member, of every local congregation, everywhere, has countless mission opportunities at hand right in his or her own neighborhood.
I wonder, rather than receiving people as “members” of a local church by virtue of public profession of faith, or reaffirmation of faith, or letter of transfer, it might be better to commission them as missionaries of Christ's Church. How might a congregation's understanding of itself change if it was reinforced over and over again that it had no “members” to receive, but only missionaries to send? Imagine what might occur if each Lord's Day the worship service included the commissioning of missionaries who were going to serve the local schools, the community library, the Department of Social Services, the Police Department, the YMCA, the Housing Projects. Somehow, I think the number of missionaries commissioned week after week by local churches might have some impact, not only on the needs and problems of their community, but ultimately on the number “day by day who were being saved” in the local community. The Church as a mission. I believe it make sense for the Body of Christ, after all, mission is what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Monday, October 4, 2010
Jesus Peopled
What Did Jesus Do?
...what sort of people ought you to be in loves of holiness and godliness...
2Peter 3.11
The Father first “peopled” the earth with, well, the first people—Adam and Eve. By virtue of the Fall the earth was thereafter peopled by sinners. By the time of the generation of Noah the Father had grown so fed up with man that he actually regretted having created them, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land...for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Genesis 6.7) Yet, the Father would re-people the earth, exclusively from the descendants of Noah, for Noah, alone among his generation, found favor in the eyes of the LORD (Genesis 6.8). Sadly, the effect of the Fall corrupted Noah (A drunk!) and his sons (One, a voyeur; the other two, kind of “backwards.” See Genesis 9.21-23)
So, the world was all too soon again peopled with sinners, bold sinners, bold enough to aspire to build a tower to reach all the way to heaven, thereby giving man the opportunity to ascend to essential parity with God himself (See Genesis 11.1-9). Yet again, there was the world, peopled full of sinners pretty much everywhere the Father turned. That is until Abram so believed and obeyed God that it was reckoned unto him as righteousness (Genesis 15.6). Notwithstanding the gift of this imparted righteousness to Abram/Abraham, the descendants of Abraham, who were to be saved by the law, proved to be sinners like all the other nations.
Thus it came to pass that the time Father had ordained for his Son to be sent into the world arrived, so that the Son might re-people the earth with sinners saved by grace. And so a new people began to people the earth, Jesus people, if you will. Oh, they were sinners like everyone else, but unlike everyone else, they had been saved by grace through faith in Jesus as God's Son, the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ. This is how the Jesus people came to be known as Christians, making the answer to Peter's question, “what sort of people ought you to be,” Jesus people, Christians who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, live lives of holiness and godliness after the example of Christ himself. People diligently working out their salvation, living at peace, and hastening the coming day of God by fulfilling the mission appointed to the Church by the Lord. There's was a calling to be a people constantly sent out into the world to make disciples, to reproduce themselves, to people the world with sinners saved by grace through faith, who would be found without spot or blemish, and at peace among themselves in that fateful day of God that would come suddenly and unannounced like a thief.
You see, it had always been the Father's plan to people, or, more accurately, to re-people the earth in and through the Son. Jesus came on a peopling mission, so to speak, and he charged his Church to be a missional Church that would perpetually go about the business of peopling the world, so that all God's elect should reach repentance as they wait for new heavens and a new earth to come and take the place of the old heavens, and the heavenly bodies, and the earth itself, all of which will be dissolved by fire and the judgment of God (2 Peter 3. 12-13).
If you, who are reading this, already have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ it is because you have been “peopled” by the Holy Spirit through the ministry of Christ's missional Church. If you don't yet have such a relationship with the Lord, today might be the very day Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is going to make you one of his people. As for we, the people of Jesus, our call is simple: follow the Lord, and make a new people for the Father in and through the Son. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
...what sort of people ought you to be in loves of holiness and godliness...
2Peter 3.11
The Father first “peopled” the earth with, well, the first people—Adam and Eve. By virtue of the Fall the earth was thereafter peopled by sinners. By the time of the generation of Noah the Father had grown so fed up with man that he actually regretted having created them, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land...for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Genesis 6.7) Yet, the Father would re-people the earth, exclusively from the descendants of Noah, for Noah, alone among his generation, found favor in the eyes of the LORD (Genesis 6.8). Sadly, the effect of the Fall corrupted Noah (A drunk!) and his sons (One, a voyeur; the other two, kind of “backwards.” See Genesis 9.21-23)
So, the world was all too soon again peopled with sinners, bold sinners, bold enough to aspire to build a tower to reach all the way to heaven, thereby giving man the opportunity to ascend to essential parity with God himself (See Genesis 11.1-9). Yet again, there was the world, peopled full of sinners pretty much everywhere the Father turned. That is until Abram so believed and obeyed God that it was reckoned unto him as righteousness (Genesis 15.6). Notwithstanding the gift of this imparted righteousness to Abram/Abraham, the descendants of Abraham, who were to be saved by the law, proved to be sinners like all the other nations.
Thus it came to pass that the time Father had ordained for his Son to be sent into the world arrived, so that the Son might re-people the earth with sinners saved by grace. And so a new people began to people the earth, Jesus people, if you will. Oh, they were sinners like everyone else, but unlike everyone else, they had been saved by grace through faith in Jesus as God's Son, the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ. This is how the Jesus people came to be known as Christians, making the answer to Peter's question, “what sort of people ought you to be,” Jesus people, Christians who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, live lives of holiness and godliness after the example of Christ himself. People diligently working out their salvation, living at peace, and hastening the coming day of God by fulfilling the mission appointed to the Church by the Lord. There's was a calling to be a people constantly sent out into the world to make disciples, to reproduce themselves, to people the world with sinners saved by grace through faith, who would be found without spot or blemish, and at peace among themselves in that fateful day of God that would come suddenly and unannounced like a thief.
You see, it had always been the Father's plan to people, or, more accurately, to re-people the earth in and through the Son. Jesus came on a peopling mission, so to speak, and he charged his Church to be a missional Church that would perpetually go about the business of peopling the world, so that all God's elect should reach repentance as they wait for new heavens and a new earth to come and take the place of the old heavens, and the heavenly bodies, and the earth itself, all of which will be dissolved by fire and the judgment of God (2 Peter 3. 12-13).
If you, who are reading this, already have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ it is because you have been “peopled” by the Holy Spirit through the ministry of Christ's missional Church. If you don't yet have such a relationship with the Lord, today might be the very day Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is going to make you one of his people. As for we, the people of Jesus, our call is simple: follow the Lord, and make a new people for the Father in and through the Son. That's what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
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