What Did Jesus Do?
But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—
just as it has taught you, abide in him .
1 John 2:27b
I’m a piano player. Bet you didn’t know that about me. In fact, even my family will be surprised when they read this because they have never seen me actually play the piano. But, I am a piano player, honest. Look here—Got a piano. Have a bunch of music books. I listen and watch other piano players (Chico Marx is my favorite!). And, every once in a great while, I actually plink one or two of the old ivories...What’s the matter? I didn’t say I was much of a piano player, I just said I played.
The truth is, I’ve never taken the time to become a piano player, really, I’ve just very occasionally played around with the piano. One of the things that prompted the apostle John to write to his little children (That is the Church, to all who are Christians) was his fear that some believers would have the same kind of relationship with Jesus that I have with my piano. Just as it takes practice to become good at the piano, so too with our faith—if we don’t practice being a Christian, spend time at it daily, using the gifts Jesus himself has provided us, well, we may still be Christians, but we’d have as hard a time convincing others of our faith as I have convincing people I’m a piano player.
Becoming a Christian involves receiving and believing the truth about who Jesus is and what Jesus did—we accept the objective truths about God revealed in Christ and in the Bible by the Holy Spirit. Christian faith begins when we first hear what the Spirit has to say to us. But well begun is, at best, only half done, and John didn’t want any of his little children going around half-baked, as it were. So John urges, “Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.” (1 John 2:24) Hearing and receiving the Gospel is absolutely essential for us to become Christians. But, for us to keep going and growing as Christians, what we first hear about the person and work of Jesus (his Sonship, his atoning death, his resurrection), the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit, our sinfulness, the saving grace of the Father, and the promise of glory (eternal life, v. 25) has to remain with us, it has to abide in us, residing in the heart and the mind. This is the only way our relationship with the Father and the Son will deepen, become stronger, more intimate, and, more evident. Christians abide in the Word of Truth we’ve heard from the beginning of our new life in Jesus.
Abiding in the truth we first heard also helps to keep us on track, to resist being led astray by those trying to deceive us. (1 John 2:26) John had already warned his little children about antichrists who sought to supplant the revealed truth of God with what they might have called privileged information, but which John plainly called lies. (1 John 2:18-22; see WDJD for 11/26/11) Christians have no need to listen to self-appointed teachers of any so-called new truths because God has poured out his grace upon us, has anointed us with the Holy Spirit who remains with us, and who teaches us. (1 John 2:27) Christians abide in the Holy Spirit with whom we are anointed from the beginning of our new life in Jesus.
You know, even with shelves full of music books, and even with a gifted teacher, I can never become a real piano player if I don’t spend time with the piano itself. It’s rather the same thing with believers. We can have a Bible on the shelf. We can even go to church and Sunday School, and we can even attend rallies and revivals and listen to excellent preaching, but if we never actually spend time with Jesus, if we don’t abide in him (1 John 2:28), there won’t be any real growth, any real power, any real life in us no matter how much we claim to be Christians. Think of the time of the Lord’s appearing as a grand recital, when the faith of every believer will be revealed, sort of how at a big recital many students get to show off how they have been progressing on the piano. If we haven’t spent much time with Jesus we might very well feel ashamed at his coming, much as a piano student who hasn’t practiced suffers great embarrassment at the recital. But, if we practice our faith, if we meet with, talk with, walk with Jesus, every day—if we abide in him now, we can have certain hope and overflowing confidence as we look forward to his coming. Christians whose faith is alive and growing don’t sit around idly waiting for the Lord to return, we abide in Jesus now, even as when we first met him, and even as we shall forever and ever.
While the deceivers and liars, the antichrists whom John regards in sharp contrast to his little children, try to convince us that we must seek something more, something quite different from the Gospel we first received, John assures the Church we have already been given all that is necessary for faith to take root, then to grow and flourish, if we would simply abide in what Jesus has provided.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Jesus Answered the Worlds Worst Want Ad for Our Sake (Tuesday, Week 1 of Advent 2011)
What Did Jesus Do?
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.
Isaiah 53:3
Times are pretty hard. There are a lot of people out of work, many for so long that they’ve dropped of the radar and are no longer even counted in the government’s unemployment figures. Things are so bad that people are envious of the guy on television who takes on the “Dirty Jobs.” Yet, as bad as things are, were, or ever will be, I believe there’s one job none of us would ever be willing to apply for. Thankfully, though notice of the job opening was communicated in what has to be the world’s worst Want Ad, there was one who answered the ad. As it turned out, he was the only one qualified for the job.
You see, hundreds of years before his birth, Jesus read the posting for a Suffering Servant, a Redeemer, in Isaiah 53:
HELP WANTED—Are you willing to
be despised and rejected by men? Does being a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief, sound like something you can handle?
If so, there’s work waiting for you! We need someone who will
accept being wounded for the transgressions of others, and
submit to being crushed for the iniquities of people who will
reject him and scorn him. Please do not apply if you have a
problem with receiving stripes which will break your body while
bringing healing and redemption to those who deserve to be
condemned to death.
The truth is, the Son was fully aware of the job description ever since the Father had shared it with him in eternity past. Jesus had had a long, long time to think about the work he would be required to perform. There was no fine print in his contract, no vague “other duties as required.” The Lord knew exactly what was in store for him, and still he applied for the job of being our Savior.
I know that Advent is the time when we recall the Lord’s birth, and prepare for his coming, but I believe it would help all of us if we took some time to consider Advent from another perspective. Instead of thinking about our preparing for his coming, let’s try and put ourselves in his place, and reflect upon what it must have been like for him to prepare for going. Again, Jesus knew all that awaited him in the world; he himself had provided Isaiah the words for the job description. And still, he answered the Want Ad. Fully informed of what it would take for him to get the job done, the Lord let go of his equality with God and made himself nothing and became not just a servant, but the servant described in Isaiah, the one who alone was qualified and willing to be obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2.6-8)
Meditating on this makes me want to get ready to offer the Lord the highest praise on Christmas, and to give him unending thanks for Christmas, because it makes me shudder to think of where I would be if Jesus hadn’t answered the world’s worst Want Ad for my sake.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.
Isaiah 53:3
Times are pretty hard. There are a lot of people out of work, many for so long that they’ve dropped of the radar and are no longer even counted in the government’s unemployment figures. Things are so bad that people are envious of the guy on television who takes on the “Dirty Jobs.” Yet, as bad as things are, were, or ever will be, I believe there’s one job none of us would ever be willing to apply for. Thankfully, though notice of the job opening was communicated in what has to be the world’s worst Want Ad, there was one who answered the ad. As it turned out, he was the only one qualified for the job.
You see, hundreds of years before his birth, Jesus read the posting for a Suffering Servant, a Redeemer, in Isaiah 53:
HELP WANTED—Are you willing to
be despised and rejected by men? Does being a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief, sound like something you can handle?
If so, there’s work waiting for you! We need someone who will
accept being wounded for the transgressions of others, and
submit to being crushed for the iniquities of people who will
reject him and scorn him. Please do not apply if you have a
problem with receiving stripes which will break your body while
bringing healing and redemption to those who deserve to be
condemned to death.
The truth is, the Son was fully aware of the job description ever since the Father had shared it with him in eternity past. Jesus had had a long, long time to think about the work he would be required to perform. There was no fine print in his contract, no vague “other duties as required.” The Lord knew exactly what was in store for him, and still he applied for the job of being our Savior.
I know that Advent is the time when we recall the Lord’s birth, and prepare for his coming, but I believe it would help all of us if we took some time to consider Advent from another perspective. Instead of thinking about our preparing for his coming, let’s try and put ourselves in his place, and reflect upon what it must have been like for him to prepare for going. Again, Jesus knew all that awaited him in the world; he himself had provided Isaiah the words for the job description. And still, he answered the Want Ad. Fully informed of what it would take for him to get the job done, the Lord let go of his equality with God and made himself nothing and became not just a servant, but the servant described in Isaiah, the one who alone was qualified and willing to be obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2.6-8)
Meditating on this makes me want to get ready to offer the Lord the highest praise on Christmas, and to give him unending thanks for Christmas, because it makes me shudder to think of where I would be if Jesus hadn’t answered the world’s worst Want Ad for my sake.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Monday, November 28, 2011
Jesus Rooted His Father's Peace in His Righteousness, Not Ours! (Monday, Week 1 of Advent 2011)
What Did Jesus Do?
…and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
Isaiah 11:1
Have you ever noticed what bitter fruit grows from the seeds of peace planted by man? With the signing of the Armistice that brought an end to the hostilities of World War I in November 1918, the seeds of World War II were sown. In the Peace Treaty of Versailles the roots of the greatest and most horrible conflict the world has yet known were planted; the deadly fruit of the Peace of Versailles would be bitter indeed for France to swallow, and would threaten to all but destroy the whole earth. So it always is with the peace of men, for we judge and decide by what our eyes see and our ears hear. But, because of our fallen condition in this fallen world, we are blind to true justice and deaf to true righteousness. Our hearts, deceitful (faithless) and self-righteous (which is really unrighteousness), are simply incapable of establishing real and lasting peace. Thanks be to God that Jesus rooted his Father’s peace in his own righteousness and faithfulness and not ours! (Isaiah 11:3)
With conflict, both domestic and international, raging throughout the world again this Advent season, it is frightfully clear that a desire for peace is far from uppermost in our hearts still today. But peace remains the greatest longing in the Father’s heart. The Father desires nothing so much but that this fallen and sin-filled world should be transformed into a garden of peace abiding on the mount of his holiness. (Isaiah 11:6-9) Yet, unless and until we realize that peace can only grow from the root the Father brought forth from the stump of Jesse, which is Jesus Christ the Lord, there cannot and will not be peace on earth. In the perfect faith and righteousness of Jesus alone there is peace.
The good news this Advent is that the Father is eager to plant the seed of true peace in us. What better time to ask for the true gift of Christmas, the gift of peace that is found in Christ alone? This is the season for us to hope for and to seek the personal transformation that comes with the Spirit the Father is so ready and willing to pour out upon us: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD, the Spirit of joy in his presence now and forever. (Isaiah 11:2-3) In our surrendering to Jesus, never in our demanding another’s surrendering to us, is there peace.
We all need to ask ourselves, what kind of fruit do our lives produce? For peace to be the fruit of our lives, transforming our homes, our places of work, our neighborhoods, and the world, we must be rooted in Jesus, the Son, in whose faith and righteousness the very Shalom (Peace) of the Father is rooted and bears fruit.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
…and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
Isaiah 11:1
Have you ever noticed what bitter fruit grows from the seeds of peace planted by man? With the signing of the Armistice that brought an end to the hostilities of World War I in November 1918, the seeds of World War II were sown. In the Peace Treaty of Versailles the roots of the greatest and most horrible conflict the world has yet known were planted; the deadly fruit of the Peace of Versailles would be bitter indeed for France to swallow, and would threaten to all but destroy the whole earth. So it always is with the peace of men, for we judge and decide by what our eyes see and our ears hear. But, because of our fallen condition in this fallen world, we are blind to true justice and deaf to true righteousness. Our hearts, deceitful (faithless) and self-righteous (which is really unrighteousness), are simply incapable of establishing real and lasting peace. Thanks be to God that Jesus rooted his Father’s peace in his own righteousness and faithfulness and not ours! (Isaiah 11:3)
With conflict, both domestic and international, raging throughout the world again this Advent season, it is frightfully clear that a desire for peace is far from uppermost in our hearts still today. But peace remains the greatest longing in the Father’s heart. The Father desires nothing so much but that this fallen and sin-filled world should be transformed into a garden of peace abiding on the mount of his holiness. (Isaiah 11:6-9) Yet, unless and until we realize that peace can only grow from the root the Father brought forth from the stump of Jesse, which is Jesus Christ the Lord, there cannot and will not be peace on earth. In the perfect faith and righteousness of Jesus alone there is peace.
The good news this Advent is that the Father is eager to plant the seed of true peace in us. What better time to ask for the true gift of Christmas, the gift of peace that is found in Christ alone? This is the season for us to hope for and to seek the personal transformation that comes with the Spirit the Father is so ready and willing to pour out upon us: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD, the Spirit of joy in his presence now and forever. (Isaiah 11:2-3) In our surrendering to Jesus, never in our demanding another’s surrendering to us, is there peace.
We all need to ask ourselves, what kind of fruit do our lives produce? For peace to be the fruit of our lives, transforming our homes, our places of work, our neighborhoods, and the world, we must be rooted in Jesus, the Son, in whose faith and righteousness the very Shalom (Peace) of the Father is rooted and bears fruit.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Jesus Supplied the Crescendo (First Sunday of Advent, 2011)
What Did Jesus Do?
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
In the beginning God did not just dispel darkness, he shattered silence. Verse 3 of Genesis Chapter 1 sounds the opening notes of the divine symphony. That God is a music lover is inescapable, but he’s also the greatest composer ever. All creation is his cantata, his Word set to the music of the spheres (musica universalis—the ancient philosophical concept that perceived the divine hand in establishing the harmony that controls the movement and proportion of the heavenly bodies). Creation is God’s magnum opus which is still being performed. God employed many authors to write the libretto, more commonly known as the Bible. Nearly three thousand years ago the prophet Isaiah was called to contribute his part of the work. It was Isaiah’s task to begin to write down the notes of the crescendo, the climactic buildup of volume that would reach its apex with the sounding of a note that has reverberated for over two millennia now. And it was Jesus who supplied the crescendo.
With the calling of his prophets, God commenced the movement that would grow in its intensity, focus, and volume over several centuries, and reach its ultimate note when a celestial choir sang out the news of the Messiah’s birth (Luke 2:13-14). Isaiah, the first of the so-called Major Prophets, commenced the crescendo, and in the ninth chapter of Isaiah we read four names which, in rapid succession, grow louder and louder, as each one speaks of the person and work of the coming Christ:
Wonderful Counselor.
Mighty God.
Everlasting Father.
PRINCE OF PEACE.
With Advent’s arrival we can once again give ourselves over to the power of the crescendo of God’s Word to prepare our hearts to receive our King. Let the anticipation and intensity of the movement towards the coming of the Messiah build within us over the next four weeks. Then, when the heavenly host of angels again proclaims, with the single loudest note of all time, the birth of the Savior, may we reply, with an equally resounding chorus, our affirmation of the reign of Jesus in justice and righteousness from this time forth and forevermore!
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
In the beginning God did not just dispel darkness, he shattered silence. Verse 3 of Genesis Chapter 1 sounds the opening notes of the divine symphony. That God is a music lover is inescapable, but he’s also the greatest composer ever. All creation is his cantata, his Word set to the music of the spheres (musica universalis—the ancient philosophical concept that perceived the divine hand in establishing the harmony that controls the movement and proportion of the heavenly bodies). Creation is God’s magnum opus which is still being performed. God employed many authors to write the libretto, more commonly known as the Bible. Nearly three thousand years ago the prophet Isaiah was called to contribute his part of the work. It was Isaiah’s task to begin to write down the notes of the crescendo, the climactic buildup of volume that would reach its apex with the sounding of a note that has reverberated for over two millennia now. And it was Jesus who supplied the crescendo.
With the calling of his prophets, God commenced the movement that would grow in its intensity, focus, and volume over several centuries, and reach its ultimate note when a celestial choir sang out the news of the Messiah’s birth (Luke 2:13-14). Isaiah, the first of the so-called Major Prophets, commenced the crescendo, and in the ninth chapter of Isaiah we read four names which, in rapid succession, grow louder and louder, as each one speaks of the person and work of the coming Christ:
Wonderful Counselor.
Mighty God.
Everlasting Father.
PRINCE OF PEACE.
With Advent’s arrival we can once again give ourselves over to the power of the crescendo of God’s Word to prepare our hearts to receive our King. Let the anticipation and intensity of the movement towards the coming of the Messiah build within us over the next four weeks. Then, when the heavenly host of angels again proclaims, with the single loudest note of all time, the birth of the Savior, may we reply, with an equally resounding chorus, our affirmation of the reign of Jesus in justice and righteousness from this time forth and forevermore!
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Jesus Exposed the Enemy
What Did Jesus Do?
I write to you, not because you do not know the truth,
but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
1 John 2.21
The most dangerous enemy is not the one we can spot a mile away, but the one who we believe to be a friend, a brother; one who can walk right up to us, even embrace us, and then destroy us. One of the reasons John wrote to his beloved little children (2:1, 2:12, 13, 18), was to make sure that they could recognize the enemy. Interestingly, the way to know our deadliest enemy is to know our very best friend—Jesus. Knowing the truth about Jesus reveals the enemy and his lies. To put it simply: Christ=Friend; Antichrist=Enemy. Actually, I should have written Antichrists=Enemy, for, in fact, many antichrists have come (1 John 2.18) So we had better know how to recognize the enemy!
The first thing John tells us (the Church) is that at one time they (the antichrists) were one of us, or, more accurately, were among us. But along the way “they went out from us.” (1 John 2:19) At one time they were with us, among us, in the midst of the fellowship of believers, but then, something happened, and they split. I know that in most congregations people are coming and going all the time, but what John is saying is that the antichrists reveal themselves, not by moving from one congregation to another, but rather by effectively cutting themselves off from the rest of the Body of Christ. True believers remain forever in the Body, antichrists remove and isolate themselves from the Body. While some may argue that you don’t have to be part of a church to be a Christian, without question Christians must be part of the Church, and that means we must be in fellowship with all who hold to the essential and orthodox doctrines of the faith, the very core of which has to do with the person and work of Jesus. What John is telling the Church is, “Watch out for those who reject the fellowship of biblical believers in favor of a more select fellowship of those who claim to know better!” And this brings us to the second identifying mark of the enemy—faulty belief. In particular, faulty belief regarding Jesus.
If Jesus is the Christ, and he most assuredly is, then right belief regarding him is absolutely essential. And here is where the antichrist, or antichrists, expose the truth about himself/themselves—he/they are grounded in lies, in sharp and utter contrast to Jesus who is the Truth. (John 14.6) There is a very simple test, which Jesus himself used, to reveal whether or not one has received from the Father, via the Holy Spirit, the truth about the Christ. One question alone determines the whole issue, and it is this: Who do we say Jesus is? (See Matthew 16:13-19) Only by the Holy Spirit can we know and believe that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God, fully divine and fully human. Antichrist/antichrists is/are exposed by rejecting and refuting the truth about Jesus, to believe and propagate lies about him.
John could not have put it more plainly,
“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is
the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who
denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the
Father also.” 1 John 2:22-23
What moved John to send this warning to his little children was the very real and present danger within the Church of his day of those who rejected the truth about Jesus, and who sought to spread and gain acceptance of lies about him. The sad truth about the Church in our day is that antichrist/antichrists are still in her midst, still seeking to proclaim and gain acceptance of lies about Jesus. Were John here to write to us, his little children, in the 21st Century, he would still exclaim, “Watch out for those who reject any part of what the Bible reveals about Jesus, or who would add to what the Bible says. The Bible is true, and the truths of the Bible are revealed to the Church by Father through the Holy Spirit, who alone teaches us who Jesus is.”
The strategy and tactics of the enemy, of the antichrist, are all darkness and deceit. To know the enemy and overcome him we must know Jesus. Light and truth dispel all darkness and expose all lies. Jesus is the Light and the Truth who exposed the enemy.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
I write to you, not because you do not know the truth,
but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
1 John 2.21
The most dangerous enemy is not the one we can spot a mile away, but the one who we believe to be a friend, a brother; one who can walk right up to us, even embrace us, and then destroy us. One of the reasons John wrote to his beloved little children (2:1, 2:12, 13, 18), was to make sure that they could recognize the enemy. Interestingly, the way to know our deadliest enemy is to know our very best friend—Jesus. Knowing the truth about Jesus reveals the enemy and his lies. To put it simply: Christ=Friend; Antichrist=Enemy. Actually, I should have written Antichrists=Enemy, for, in fact, many antichrists have come (1 John 2.18) So we had better know how to recognize the enemy!
The first thing John tells us (the Church) is that at one time they (the antichrists) were one of us, or, more accurately, were among us. But along the way “they went out from us.” (1 John 2:19) At one time they were with us, among us, in the midst of the fellowship of believers, but then, something happened, and they split. I know that in most congregations people are coming and going all the time, but what John is saying is that the antichrists reveal themselves, not by moving from one congregation to another, but rather by effectively cutting themselves off from the rest of the Body of Christ. True believers remain forever in the Body, antichrists remove and isolate themselves from the Body. While some may argue that you don’t have to be part of a church to be a Christian, without question Christians must be part of the Church, and that means we must be in fellowship with all who hold to the essential and orthodox doctrines of the faith, the very core of which has to do with the person and work of Jesus. What John is telling the Church is, “Watch out for those who reject the fellowship of biblical believers in favor of a more select fellowship of those who claim to know better!” And this brings us to the second identifying mark of the enemy—faulty belief. In particular, faulty belief regarding Jesus.
If Jesus is the Christ, and he most assuredly is, then right belief regarding him is absolutely essential. And here is where the antichrist, or antichrists, expose the truth about himself/themselves—he/they are grounded in lies, in sharp and utter contrast to Jesus who is the Truth. (John 14.6) There is a very simple test, which Jesus himself used, to reveal whether or not one has received from the Father, via the Holy Spirit, the truth about the Christ. One question alone determines the whole issue, and it is this: Who do we say Jesus is? (See Matthew 16:13-19) Only by the Holy Spirit can we know and believe that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God, fully divine and fully human. Antichrist/antichrists is/are exposed by rejecting and refuting the truth about Jesus, to believe and propagate lies about him.
John could not have put it more plainly,
“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is
the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who
denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the
Father also.” 1 John 2:22-23
What moved John to send this warning to his little children was the very real and present danger within the Church of his day of those who rejected the truth about Jesus, and who sought to spread and gain acceptance of lies about him. The sad truth about the Church in our day is that antichrist/antichrists are still in her midst, still seeking to proclaim and gain acceptance of lies about Jesus. Were John here to write to us, his little children, in the 21st Century, he would still exclaim, “Watch out for those who reject any part of what the Bible reveals about Jesus, or who would add to what the Bible says. The Bible is true, and the truths of the Bible are revealed to the Church by Father through the Holy Spirit, who alone teaches us who Jesus is.”
The strategy and tactics of the enemy, of the antichrist, are all darkness and deceit. To know the enemy and overcome him we must know Jesus. Light and truth dispel all darkness and expose all lies. Jesus is the Light and the Truth who exposed the enemy.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Jesus Thanked the Father for What He Revealed to His Children
What Did Jesus Do?
“I thank you, Father, that you have revealed these things to little children.”
Matthew 11:25
It’s Thanksgiving Day, and, for those who are able to withstand the all but overwhelming cultural current sweeping us towards that most crass and mercantile of all days (That would be Christmas, which has become the one day which we seem to be supposed to spend the other 364 shopping for.), a few moments may be set aside to reflect upon and give thanks to God for the blessings he has graciously given. There will rightfully be many material blessings mentioned by those who will actually offer up sincere prayers of thanks today. But, noting what Jesus thanked the Father for, we might want to be sure to thank the Father most of all for what he’s shown us, rather than for what he’s given us.
The world has always had plenty of people full of wisdom and understanding of worldly ways. In fact, the world loves to reveal itself to those who are anxious to show off just how full of wisdom and understanding they are. And those who are full of wisdom and understanding are not ungrateful; they have been known to offer prayers of thanks for how they are so different from the rest of us (See Luke 18:9-14) But let’s consider a prayer of thanks that Jesus prayed. In his prayer, Jesus thanked the Father for what he kept hidden from those who were full of wisdom and understanding, but chose instead to reveal to little children. Little children is a New Testament term, which John in particular employed, to describe the Church, the body of believers. So, when Jesus offered up thanks to his Father, it was for what the Father had shown to the Church but kept hidden from the world, and the worldly.
The very core of the Father’s revelation to the Church, to the little children, is the knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, the Son of God, who came into the world to bear witness to the truth, and to lay down his life as atonement for our sins. This knowledge will not make us wise and understanding in the world’s eyes. On the contrary, we will come off as fools for believing it. (1 Corinthians 1:18-31) Yet this knowledge, above all else, is what Jesus thanked the Father for revealing to the little children.
God forgive the cynicism in me, but I am afraid there will be few this year who even take the time to offer a prayer of thanksgiving today, what with all the parades, and football games, and, most important of all, the pre-Black Friday sales. But, if you just happen to be one of his little children, may I suggest that you thank the Father most especially for what he has shown you about his Son? I am convinced that if Jesus were to sit down to dinner with us today he would most certainly thank his Father for what he has hidden from the wise but revealed to us.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
“I thank you, Father, that you have revealed these things to little children.”
Matthew 11:25
It’s Thanksgiving Day, and, for those who are able to withstand the all but overwhelming cultural current sweeping us towards that most crass and mercantile of all days (That would be Christmas, which has become the one day which we seem to be supposed to spend the other 364 shopping for.), a few moments may be set aside to reflect upon and give thanks to God for the blessings he has graciously given. There will rightfully be many material blessings mentioned by those who will actually offer up sincere prayers of thanks today. But, noting what Jesus thanked the Father for, we might want to be sure to thank the Father most of all for what he’s shown us, rather than for what he’s given us.
The world has always had plenty of people full of wisdom and understanding of worldly ways. In fact, the world loves to reveal itself to those who are anxious to show off just how full of wisdom and understanding they are. And those who are full of wisdom and understanding are not ungrateful; they have been known to offer prayers of thanks for how they are so different from the rest of us (See Luke 18:9-14) But let’s consider a prayer of thanks that Jesus prayed. In his prayer, Jesus thanked the Father for what he kept hidden from those who were full of wisdom and understanding, but chose instead to reveal to little children. Little children is a New Testament term, which John in particular employed, to describe the Church, the body of believers. So, when Jesus offered up thanks to his Father, it was for what the Father had shown to the Church but kept hidden from the world, and the worldly.
The very core of the Father’s revelation to the Church, to the little children, is the knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, the Son of God, who came into the world to bear witness to the truth, and to lay down his life as atonement for our sins. This knowledge will not make us wise and understanding in the world’s eyes. On the contrary, we will come off as fools for believing it. (1 Corinthians 1:18-31) Yet this knowledge, above all else, is what Jesus thanked the Father for revealing to the little children.
God forgive the cynicism in me, but I am afraid there will be few this year who even take the time to offer a prayer of thanksgiving today, what with all the parades, and football games, and, most important of all, the pre-Black Friday sales. But, if you just happen to be one of his little children, may I suggest that you thank the Father most especially for what he has shown you about his Son? I am convinced that if Jesus were to sit down to dinner with us today he would most certainly thank his Father for what he has hidden from the wise but revealed to us.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Jesus Warred for the World's Affection
What Did Jesus Do?
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:15b
American Greetings and Hallmark probably couldn’t sell many Valentine’s cards depicting war zones. And Russell Stover would likely be broke today if he had sought to market Kevlar body armor for February 14 rather than candy. But, the romantic trappings of Valentine’s Day aside, “Love is a battlefield,” at least according to Pat Benatar back in 1983. Actually, we don’t have to take Benatar’s word for it, all we need to do is read the Bible. Yes, the Bible is a love story, but it’s also the chronicle of a war. The hero of the Bible is, of course, Jesus, who warred for the world’s affection.
Think about it. Jesus came on a mission of love, the Father’s love (John 3:16), but the Son did not come to bring peace (Matthew 10:34). How can this be? Because, love became a battlefield as a result of the Fall. The Tempter had sought to steal the affections of man and woman away from God, and he succeeded. But God was not about to surrender—he would fight, contending against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The Father refused to lose the love of those he had created in his own image.
Now, if you know the Scriptures, you know that the contest raged for generations, with much blood spilled. Yet, ultimately, the blood of the Lamb of God settled the contest once and for all. Yes, the fighting still goes on, but the war has been won. Though defeated, the enemy still seeks to hurt and wound, even kill, as many as he can. Love remains a battlefield.
The good thing is, Satan has never changed his tactics. Yes, he’s a liar, and he’s tricky, but we know how he works. John in fact spelled it out in verse 16 in words of warning to the Church two thousand years ago: 1) Because of the Fall our fleshly desires, our physical appetites, which God himself gave us, grow insatiable, demanding that we indulge them to excess, even if it means breaking God’s law. 2) Our eyes, by which we primarily take in the beauty and good things God created in the world, grow lustful to gaze for selfish sinful pleasure on that upon which we should not look. The eye is also the primary route by which covetousness gets a hold of us. 3) Rather than joy and thankfulness for the many gifts God gives us, we take pride in possessions we ourselves acquire; we’ve seen the silly bumper sticker that says, “He who dies with the most toys, wins.” Our delight is in the material, at the cost of the spiritual.
Jesus came to show us, and to teach us, another way. The Son came to war, and to woo, and to win back our affection, that we would again give it to the Father. The Church, called to live in the love of God, cannot not do so while having an affair with the world. And, like all affairs, that with the world is doomed to end, and end badly. For the world, and all its many desires and sinful pleasures will come to an end, along with all who choose to love it rather than God. (1 John 2:17a) Not so for those who know and love God, and do his will. For, like the Son, they have eternal life by the power of the Father’s love. (1 John 2:17b) Jesus warred, and won the battle for our affection. Following the Lord’s example, and heeding the warning of John, the Church gives its love, now and forever, to the Father.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:15b
American Greetings and Hallmark probably couldn’t sell many Valentine’s cards depicting war zones. And Russell Stover would likely be broke today if he had sought to market Kevlar body armor for February 14 rather than candy. But, the romantic trappings of Valentine’s Day aside, “Love is a battlefield,” at least according to Pat Benatar back in 1983. Actually, we don’t have to take Benatar’s word for it, all we need to do is read the Bible. Yes, the Bible is a love story, but it’s also the chronicle of a war. The hero of the Bible is, of course, Jesus, who warred for the world’s affection.
Think about it. Jesus came on a mission of love, the Father’s love (John 3:16), but the Son did not come to bring peace (Matthew 10:34). How can this be? Because, love became a battlefield as a result of the Fall. The Tempter had sought to steal the affections of man and woman away from God, and he succeeded. But God was not about to surrender—he would fight, contending against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The Father refused to lose the love of those he had created in his own image.
Now, if you know the Scriptures, you know that the contest raged for generations, with much blood spilled. Yet, ultimately, the blood of the Lamb of God settled the contest once and for all. Yes, the fighting still goes on, but the war has been won. Though defeated, the enemy still seeks to hurt and wound, even kill, as many as he can. Love remains a battlefield.
The good thing is, Satan has never changed his tactics. Yes, he’s a liar, and he’s tricky, but we know how he works. John in fact spelled it out in verse 16 in words of warning to the Church two thousand years ago: 1) Because of the Fall our fleshly desires, our physical appetites, which God himself gave us, grow insatiable, demanding that we indulge them to excess, even if it means breaking God’s law. 2) Our eyes, by which we primarily take in the beauty and good things God created in the world, grow lustful to gaze for selfish sinful pleasure on that upon which we should not look. The eye is also the primary route by which covetousness gets a hold of us. 3) Rather than joy and thankfulness for the many gifts God gives us, we take pride in possessions we ourselves acquire; we’ve seen the silly bumper sticker that says, “He who dies with the most toys, wins.” Our delight is in the material, at the cost of the spiritual.
Jesus came to show us, and to teach us, another way. The Son came to war, and to woo, and to win back our affection, that we would again give it to the Father. The Church, called to live in the love of God, cannot not do so while having an affair with the world. And, like all affairs, that with the world is doomed to end, and end badly. For the world, and all its many desires and sinful pleasures will come to an end, along with all who choose to love it rather than God. (1 John 2:17a) Not so for those who know and love God, and do his will. For, like the Son, they have eternal life by the power of the Father’s love. (1 John 2:17b) Jesus warred, and won the battle for our affection. Following the Lord’s example, and heeding the warning of John, the Church gives its love, now and forever, to the Father.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Jesus Lit Up the World (And So Should We!)
What Did Jesus Do?
"I AM the light of the world.”
John 8:12
“YOU ARE the light of the world.”
Matthew 5:14
Has this ever happened to you? There’s a severe electric storm going on, and, after one particularly bright flash of lightning your home is plunged into darkness. You go to find the flashlight you stored for just such an emergency, take it out of the cabinet, click the switch and—nothing—the power’s gone! On more than one occasion when I’ve needed it, I’ve reached for a flashlight that had fresh, fully charged batteries in it at one time, but it sat unused for so long that all the power in the batteries had long since drained out. The flashlight, contrary to its purpose, was quite incapable of illuminating anything. So, in the dark I remained. Though they had been filled with power, weeks and months of doing nothing had turned the batteries into nothing more than paperweights.
Many Christians are like those batteries, filled with power that goes unused for long periods of time, so that when, at long last, they try to shed some light in a dark place—nothing—the power’s gone! This is not a good thing for people who are supposed to be the light of the world. The power of faith, it turns out, can, like the power of batteries, be lost through nothing more than lying idle and unused.
Thankfully, faith can, like some batteries, be recharged. The thing is, recharging doesn’t just happen. To keep batteries, and faith, fresh and full, we need to plug in to a source of power. In the case of batteries this involves putting them in a re-charger, and putting the re-charger into an electrical outlet. In the case of faith re-charging involves several things: 1) Regularly meeting with the Lord in prayer, in reading the Scripture, and in worship. 2) Regularly meeting with other believers, who mutually “refresh” one another’s faith. 3) Regularly putting one’s faith to work, letting one’s light shine, so that there is a dis-charge of power—for unused faith in a believer, like energy unused in batteries, diminishes our capacity to receive and hold and use power. In short, allowing faith to remain unused for extended periods leaves us dim-bulbs at best, if not altogether in the dark, when bright and powerful light is needed.
And, make no mistake, when Jesus talked about “the light of the world,” he never meant tiny, weak light incapable of contending with and overcoming darkness. No, “the light of the world” is bright, powerful, and always dispels darkness. What do you think, did God say “Let there be light” in Genesis 1:3, or did he say “Let there be LIGHT!”? Considering what John says about the Light in the fifth verse of Chapter One of his Gospel, I have no doubt that the light of the world is big and bright almost beyond imagining.
This light, which John clearly reveals as none other than the person of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, the very Word of God come into the world (John 1:9), was made for shining, and, incredibly, for sharing! For, even as the Lord proclaimed himself the Light of the World (John 8:12), he also made the same declaration of his disciples (Matthew 5:14). And, pointedly, Jesus charged his followers, who have no little light in them but rather a great big light regardless of what the song says, to let their light shine, not just in emergencies, but at all times, to the glory of the Father. And, the more we let our light shine, the brighter and more powerful it becomes, as the Father continually renews us in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus lit up a world lost in darkness, so that life, true and everlasting life, would come to us. In the same way we are to let our light, our faith, shine, so that others may yet receive Christ’s gift of life.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
"I AM the light of the world.”
John 8:12
“YOU ARE the light of the world.”
Matthew 5:14
Has this ever happened to you? There’s a severe electric storm going on, and, after one particularly bright flash of lightning your home is plunged into darkness. You go to find the flashlight you stored for just such an emergency, take it out of the cabinet, click the switch and—nothing—the power’s gone! On more than one occasion when I’ve needed it, I’ve reached for a flashlight that had fresh, fully charged batteries in it at one time, but it sat unused for so long that all the power in the batteries had long since drained out. The flashlight, contrary to its purpose, was quite incapable of illuminating anything. So, in the dark I remained. Though they had been filled with power, weeks and months of doing nothing had turned the batteries into nothing more than paperweights.
Many Christians are like those batteries, filled with power that goes unused for long periods of time, so that when, at long last, they try to shed some light in a dark place—nothing—the power’s gone! This is not a good thing for people who are supposed to be the light of the world. The power of faith, it turns out, can, like the power of batteries, be lost through nothing more than lying idle and unused.
Thankfully, faith can, like some batteries, be recharged. The thing is, recharging doesn’t just happen. To keep batteries, and faith, fresh and full, we need to plug in to a source of power. In the case of batteries this involves putting them in a re-charger, and putting the re-charger into an electrical outlet. In the case of faith re-charging involves several things: 1) Regularly meeting with the Lord in prayer, in reading the Scripture, and in worship. 2) Regularly meeting with other believers, who mutually “refresh” one another’s faith. 3) Regularly putting one’s faith to work, letting one’s light shine, so that there is a dis-charge of power—for unused faith in a believer, like energy unused in batteries, diminishes our capacity to receive and hold and use power. In short, allowing faith to remain unused for extended periods leaves us dim-bulbs at best, if not altogether in the dark, when bright and powerful light is needed.
And, make no mistake, when Jesus talked about “the light of the world,” he never meant tiny, weak light incapable of contending with and overcoming darkness. No, “the light of the world” is bright, powerful, and always dispels darkness. What do you think, did God say “Let there be light” in Genesis 1:3, or did he say “Let there be LIGHT!”? Considering what John says about the Light in the fifth verse of Chapter One of his Gospel, I have no doubt that the light of the world is big and bright almost beyond imagining.
This light, which John clearly reveals as none other than the person of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, the very Word of God come into the world (John 1:9), was made for shining, and, incredibly, for sharing! For, even as the Lord proclaimed himself the Light of the World (John 8:12), he also made the same declaration of his disciples (Matthew 5:14). And, pointedly, Jesus charged his followers, who have no little light in them but rather a great big light regardless of what the song says, to let their light shine, not just in emergencies, but at all times, to the glory of the Father. And, the more we let our light shine, the brighter and more powerful it becomes, as the Father continually renews us in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus lit up a world lost in darkness, so that life, true and everlasting life, would come to us. In the same way we are to let our light, our faith, shine, so that others may yet receive Christ’s gift of life.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Friday, November 11, 2011
Jesus Planted the Word of Love Deeply in His Disciples
What did Jesus Do?
I write to you…because the Word of God abides in you.
1 John 2:14
I’m not going to say it’s true for every home, but I would venture to say that in many homes, perhaps even in most homes, you will find a box (often an old shoebox) filled with old letters. They might be Dad’s/Grandpa’s letters to Mom/Grandma. Or they could be Father’s letters to his daughter, or Mother’s letters to her son. Letters, maybe some cards as well, the main thing is that they contain words of advice, words of encouragement, words of love. Words that took deep root in the heart of the one who received the letters, and which have been carefully stored and preserved by families for generations.
The Bible contains many different types of written expression. There is history, poetry, and law. Of course there are those very special sacred biographies which we call the Gospels. There are also letters. Letters lovingly written, and carefully held onto and passed down through the many generations of a family, God’s family. To the family they are words of light, words of life, words of love. Through the letters, no less than any of the other parts of Scripture, Jesus planted the Word deeply in His disciples, who were, and who are, his family.
The apostle John considered the Church his family. And, as part of the first generation of believers, John had a rather paternalistic way of looking at the Church—her members were all his “little children”—John’s beloved and cherished family. So John wrote to his children about core beliefs, formative values, that made the family what it was. Every one of the “little children”, every member of the Church, believed and knew that their sins had been forgiven “for the sake of his name.” (1 John 2:12) “For the sake of” should be understood as “on account of” or “because of” the name of Jesus. Forgiven because of his name, Jesus, which means “God saves.” More specifically than God, “Yah,” as in Yahweh, saves. John wrote to the Church whose members all knew the truth about their salvation. John’s “little children” all knew “the Father” as well as the Son. (1 John 2:13c) The Church knows the “how” of her salvation: through the forgiveness of sin. The Church knows the “by whom” of her salvation: Jesus, the Son. And the Church knows the “for whom” of her salvation: the Father.
John knew his generation was quickly passing away, that the Church would very soon have to look beyond the apostles for direction and leadership. So John also wrote to those he called “fathers,” the elders and overseers who had particular responsibility for the spiritual health, safety, and welfare of the family. (1 John 2: 13a, 14a) The faith of the fathers, was rooted in their knowledge of, and relationship with, “him who is from the beginning.” The fathers operated according to the truth about the eternal living God.
The elders were not alone, of course, in the Church. Close behind them were “young men,” and we can confidently add young women as well, to whom John was also speaking in the family. (1 John 2:13b, 14b) This young and rising generation was victorious and strong because, in Christ, it had overcome the devil (“the evil one”) by the power of the very Word of God planted and growing in them.
The cumulative effect of these verses is to assure the Church that we walk in the light and in love not only because of God’s Law (the old/new commandment mentioned in verses 7-8), not only because of our love for one another (verses 9-11), but also because of the power of what we know and believe in, the power of our Christian faith (verses 12-14). The faith of the Church is found and expressed in the Word, John’s letters included, the Word of Love which Jesus himself plants deeply in his disciples.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
I write to you…because the Word of God abides in you.
1 John 2:14
I’m not going to say it’s true for every home, but I would venture to say that in many homes, perhaps even in most homes, you will find a box (often an old shoebox) filled with old letters. They might be Dad’s/Grandpa’s letters to Mom/Grandma. Or they could be Father’s letters to his daughter, or Mother’s letters to her son. Letters, maybe some cards as well, the main thing is that they contain words of advice, words of encouragement, words of love. Words that took deep root in the heart of the one who received the letters, and which have been carefully stored and preserved by families for generations.
The Bible contains many different types of written expression. There is history, poetry, and law. Of course there are those very special sacred biographies which we call the Gospels. There are also letters. Letters lovingly written, and carefully held onto and passed down through the many generations of a family, God’s family. To the family they are words of light, words of life, words of love. Through the letters, no less than any of the other parts of Scripture, Jesus planted the Word deeply in His disciples, who were, and who are, his family.
The apostle John considered the Church his family. And, as part of the first generation of believers, John had a rather paternalistic way of looking at the Church—her members were all his “little children”—John’s beloved and cherished family. So John wrote to his children about core beliefs, formative values, that made the family what it was. Every one of the “little children”, every member of the Church, believed and knew that their sins had been forgiven “for the sake of his name.” (1 John 2:12) “For the sake of” should be understood as “on account of” or “because of” the name of Jesus. Forgiven because of his name, Jesus, which means “God saves.” More specifically than God, “Yah,” as in Yahweh, saves. John wrote to the Church whose members all knew the truth about their salvation. John’s “little children” all knew “the Father” as well as the Son. (1 John 2:13c) The Church knows the “how” of her salvation: through the forgiveness of sin. The Church knows the “by whom” of her salvation: Jesus, the Son. And the Church knows the “for whom” of her salvation: the Father.
John knew his generation was quickly passing away, that the Church would very soon have to look beyond the apostles for direction and leadership. So John also wrote to those he called “fathers,” the elders and overseers who had particular responsibility for the spiritual health, safety, and welfare of the family. (1 John 2: 13a, 14a) The faith of the fathers, was rooted in their knowledge of, and relationship with, “him who is from the beginning.” The fathers operated according to the truth about the eternal living God.
The elders were not alone, of course, in the Church. Close behind them were “young men,” and we can confidently add young women as well, to whom John was also speaking in the family. (1 John 2:13b, 14b) This young and rising generation was victorious and strong because, in Christ, it had overcome the devil (“the evil one”) by the power of the very Word of God planted and growing in them.
The cumulative effect of these verses is to assure the Church that we walk in the light and in love not only because of God’s Law (the old/new commandment mentioned in verses 7-8), not only because of our love for one another (verses 9-11), but also because of the power of what we know and believe in, the power of our Christian faith (verses 12-14). The faith of the Church is found and expressed in the Word, John’s letters included, the Word of Love which Jesus himself plants deeply in his disciples.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Jesus Showed His Disciples How to Let the Light of Love Shine
What Did Jesus Do?
Whoever loves his brother abides in the light…
1 John 2.10
If we were spelunkers (That’s a fancy word for folks who like to crawl about in caves), and delved deep enough into places that know nothing but perpetual darkness, we might come upon some curious creatures that have eyes, but do not see because they have not been exposed to any light whatsoever. The optic apparatus in these cave-dwellers is in fact so atrophied that even if they were to come into the light, they would be totally blind. There are some of these sightless creatures that have been in the darkness for so many generations that they have no eyes at all any longer, but only vestigial eye sockets.
But, it doesn’t take generations of being in darkness for our eyes to grow weak, even incapable of seeing. We all know how, after even a modest of time in darkness, coming into light can be so blinding that we literally stumble about for a few moments. And, when we are talking about our spiritual “vision,” even walking for a short time in darkness, deceit, and enmity begins to deteriorate our ability to see the light, to know the truth, and to live in love. The truth is, sightless troglodytes notwithstanding, that most every living thing on earth needs light in order to live. Yet, in this world darkness seems to always be striving against the light. That’s why Jesus showed his disciples how to let the light of love shine.
God is light (1 John 1:5), it is his very nature. God is love (1 John 4:8), love too is his very nature. In God light and love, though not equivalent, are inseparable. There can be no expression or manifestation of God without the presence and power of his light and his love. Thus, God’s Law is an expression of both his light and love. The highest and most complete expression of God’s light and love is in the person of Jesus; in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the light and the love of the Father are completely and perfectly revealed. Any and all who come to Christ come out of darkness into light, and from hatred to love. It was one of the Lord’s goals during his earthly sojourn to show his disciples how to let the light of the Father’s love shine in them and from them, so that the true light of God shines in the love of Christians.
John noted in his day, and, sadly, we may still note, that there are many, too many, who say that they are in the light (Have a personal relationship with Jesus), while evidencing not love, but actual hate, towards fellow believers. What is their true state? They are in darkness (1 John 2:9), quite as lost as if they had never even heard the name of Jesus. The tragic fate of such as these is that they eventually become as those cave-dwelling creatures—they have eyes, yet are blind to light, to love, to truth. (1 John 2:11)
Yes, we can say we stand in the light of Jesus, but if we don’t love our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are in darkness, as good as blind. Even as the light and love of God’s nature are inseparable, so too are they inseparable in the believer. And it is every believer’s calling to let the light of the love of Jesus shine. The Lord himself said that the only way the world can come out of darkness, and see the light of God’s truth in disciples, is by the love we exhibit towards one another. (John 13:35) We know neither the light or the love of the Father apart from the Son, which is why Jesus showed his disciples how to let the light of love shine in the world by loving one another.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Whoever loves his brother abides in the light…
1 John 2.10
If we were spelunkers (That’s a fancy word for folks who like to crawl about in caves), and delved deep enough into places that know nothing but perpetual darkness, we might come upon some curious creatures that have eyes, but do not see because they have not been exposed to any light whatsoever. The optic apparatus in these cave-dwellers is in fact so atrophied that even if they were to come into the light, they would be totally blind. There are some of these sightless creatures that have been in the darkness for so many generations that they have no eyes at all any longer, but only vestigial eye sockets.
But, it doesn’t take generations of being in darkness for our eyes to grow weak, even incapable of seeing. We all know how, after even a modest of time in darkness, coming into light can be so blinding that we literally stumble about for a few moments. And, when we are talking about our spiritual “vision,” even walking for a short time in darkness, deceit, and enmity begins to deteriorate our ability to see the light, to know the truth, and to live in love. The truth is, sightless troglodytes notwithstanding, that most every living thing on earth needs light in order to live. Yet, in this world darkness seems to always be striving against the light. That’s why Jesus showed his disciples how to let the light of love shine.
God is light (1 John 1:5), it is his very nature. God is love (1 John 4:8), love too is his very nature. In God light and love, though not equivalent, are inseparable. There can be no expression or manifestation of God without the presence and power of his light and his love. Thus, God’s Law is an expression of both his light and love. The highest and most complete expression of God’s light and love is in the person of Jesus; in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the light and the love of the Father are completely and perfectly revealed. Any and all who come to Christ come out of darkness into light, and from hatred to love. It was one of the Lord’s goals during his earthly sojourn to show his disciples how to let the light of the Father’s love shine in them and from them, so that the true light of God shines in the love of Christians.
John noted in his day, and, sadly, we may still note, that there are many, too many, who say that they are in the light (Have a personal relationship with Jesus), while evidencing not love, but actual hate, towards fellow believers. What is their true state? They are in darkness (1 John 2:9), quite as lost as if they had never even heard the name of Jesus. The tragic fate of such as these is that they eventually become as those cave-dwelling creatures—they have eyes, yet are blind to light, to love, to truth. (1 John 2:11)
Yes, we can say we stand in the light of Jesus, but if we don’t love our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are in darkness, as good as blind. Even as the light and love of God’s nature are inseparable, so too are they inseparable in the believer. And it is every believer’s calling to let the light of the love of Jesus shine. The Lord himself said that the only way the world can come out of darkness, and see the light of God’s truth in disciples, is by the love we exhibit towards one another. (John 13:35) We know neither the light or the love of the Father apart from the Son, which is why Jesus showed his disciples how to let the light of love shine in the world by loving one another.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Jesus Became A Curse
What Did Jesus Do?
Christ redeemed us by becoming a curse for us.
Galatians 3.13
(Thanks to my friend Richard White, who preached on Galatians 3:10-14 at the Montreat Presbyterian Church, EPC, on November 6, 2011, and planted the seed of this WDJD.)
It’s cliché, that most men have a hard time saying, "I love you.” Personally, I don’t know why women, or men for that matter, put so much stock in hearing those words. After all, talk is cheap. It is one thing to say you love someone, even love them a lot, and quite another to show your love for another. Now, the Father did something extraordinary to show how much love he has for us—he sent his beloved Son to become a curse for us. And, here’s the thing, the Son was willing to become that curse!
Just so we’re on the same page, let’s make sure we are all talking about the same thing. A curse, according to the dictionary, is “the expression of a wish that misfortune, evil, etc., befall another,” or, “the cause of evil, misfortune, or trouble.” Is that what was in the Father’s heart when he sent the Son? By no means! The truth is, the world, every life, has more than enough misfortune, evil, and trouble all on our own. There is no need for God, or anyone, to lay a curse on another. So what was the Father up to, making his Son become a curse?
Well, in his typical, turn-things-upside down, confound all-worldly-logic style, the Father employed the Son to transfer and to transform. The transfer involved taking the curse/penalty that rightfully was laid upon all who sinned (That would be you, me, everybody), and putting it on the One who alone was innocent of any evil/sin deserving of the curse/penalty (That would be Jesus, the spotless and unblemished Lamb of God): “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we should die to sin.” (1 Peter 2:24) Jesus, the servant of the Lord foretold in Isaiah, received all that was meant for us in order that we would receive all that he alone deserves (Isaiah 53). The transformation involved the One who alone was righteous becoming as one who was unrighteous, so that many sinners would be accounted righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). Both the transfer and the transformation were wrought upon the cross/tree whereby Jesus occupied the place of one cursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:23). In other words, Jesus, though he didn’t deserve it, became a curse in order that we could be blessed, though we don’t deserve it.
There is no other way at all that we can obtain the Father’s blessing than simply to believe in the Son, and in what he accomplished on the cross. No striving on our part, no amount of works, no offering or sacrifice can avail to begin to remove the curse our sins deserve, or evoke the slightest blessing, much less the incredible blessing of forgiveness and eternal life. As odd as it sounds, when someone asks when we were saved, the answer is, “When Jesus became a curse.”
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Christ redeemed us by becoming a curse for us.
Galatians 3.13
(Thanks to my friend Richard White, who preached on Galatians 3:10-14 at the Montreat Presbyterian Church, EPC, on November 6, 2011, and planted the seed of this WDJD.)
It’s cliché, that most men have a hard time saying, "I love you.” Personally, I don’t know why women, or men for that matter, put so much stock in hearing those words. After all, talk is cheap. It is one thing to say you love someone, even love them a lot, and quite another to show your love for another. Now, the Father did something extraordinary to show how much love he has for us—he sent his beloved Son to become a curse for us. And, here’s the thing, the Son was willing to become that curse!
Just so we’re on the same page, let’s make sure we are all talking about the same thing. A curse, according to the dictionary, is “the expression of a wish that misfortune, evil, etc., befall another,” or, “the cause of evil, misfortune, or trouble.” Is that what was in the Father’s heart when he sent the Son? By no means! The truth is, the world, every life, has more than enough misfortune, evil, and trouble all on our own. There is no need for God, or anyone, to lay a curse on another. So what was the Father up to, making his Son become a curse?
Well, in his typical, turn-things-upside down, confound all-worldly-logic style, the Father employed the Son to transfer and to transform. The transfer involved taking the curse/penalty that rightfully was laid upon all who sinned (That would be you, me, everybody), and putting it on the One who alone was innocent of any evil/sin deserving of the curse/penalty (That would be Jesus, the spotless and unblemished Lamb of God): “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we should die to sin.” (1 Peter 2:24) Jesus, the servant of the Lord foretold in Isaiah, received all that was meant for us in order that we would receive all that he alone deserves (Isaiah 53). The transformation involved the One who alone was righteous becoming as one who was unrighteous, so that many sinners would be accounted righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). Both the transfer and the transformation were wrought upon the cross/tree whereby Jesus occupied the place of one cursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:23). In other words, Jesus, though he didn’t deserve it, became a curse in order that we could be blessed, though we don’t deserve it.
There is no other way at all that we can obtain the Father’s blessing than simply to believe in the Son, and in what he accomplished on the cross. No striving on our part, no amount of works, no offering or sacrifice can avail to begin to remove the curse our sins deserve, or evoke the slightest blessing, much less the incredible blessing of forgiveness and eternal life. As odd as it sounds, when someone asks when we were saved, the answer is, “When Jesus became a curse.”
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Jesus Revealed the Old Truth of the Father's Love in a New Light
What Did Jesus Do?
…it is a new commandment I am writing to you,
which is true in him and in you.
1 John 2.8a
A lot of folks these days are into things “retro.” NFL teams take the field in 1950s or 1960s style uniforms. Bell bottomed pants again fill the racks at trendy clothing stores. It seems as if half of the programs on television are re-runs or re-makes of shows 10, 20, 30 years-old. Automobile manufacturers have been resurrecting old favorites like Ford’s classic two-seater Thunderbird and Dodge’s well-muscled Challenger. There’s no doubt that modern day retakes on old favorites is big business. In the end, though, retro is nothing more than a look, it’s not the real thing, but just a facsimile. Such was not at all the case with Jesus. His incarnation of the Law, “an old commandment that you had from the beginning,” (1 John 2:7) was in fact the absolute, complete, and true fulfillment of the Father’s original instructions to his children as to how they were to live. Yet, at the same time John wrote of “no new commandment,” he could honestly say to the Church that he was writing about “a new commandment.”
It might be helpful to think of it this way. What are the first words of God recorded in the Bible? “Let there be light.” (Genesis 1:3) Other than God himself, there is nothing older than light. So, when Jesus, the true light (John 1:9), came into the world on that wonderful night when he was born in Bethlehem, it was the new and startling appearance of that which was in fact older than the world itself. That which was all but immeasurably old had been manifest in a radically new, yet absolutely true to the original, way. Starting “in the beginning,” the word of God’s Law was a “lamp to our feet and a light to our path” (Psalm 119:105). Yet, in Jesus, the old light shined in a way it never had before, and it will continue shine in that radically new way until the ending of the age. Though the Son is now seated at the Father’s right hand, the light of the old/new commandment in Jesus still shines in the world because the light is also in his Church (“in you” 1 John 2.8a).
What was so radical and new about the way the light of the Law shone in Jesus? In Christ the light revealed, completely and perfectly, the love of God which is the wellspring of the law of God. The commandment God had given from the beginning was love: love of God (Deuteronomy 6:5), and love of neighbor (Leviticus 19:18), yet, in Jesus, the law of love was so perfectly embodied and fulfilled as to appear new. The light by which God had first dispelled the darkness when he had decreed in the beginning, “Let there be…” was nothing other than his love. And John tells the Church that, since the light of the Father’s love was revealed in a new way in and through the Son, we are to let that same light shine in us by loving as Jesus loved.
As it turns out, the only thing that makes darkness pass away is love. God’s love shining from the words of his Law. The Father’s love shining from the Incarnate Son. The Son’s love shining from his Church. The Church’s love shining from her members as they love one another. John wanted believers, the Church, to know that we are to live in love, and walk in light. We can so live, and so walk, because Jesus revealed the old truth about God’s love in a new light.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
…it is a new commandment I am writing to you,
which is true in him and in you.
1 John 2.8a
A lot of folks these days are into things “retro.” NFL teams take the field in 1950s or 1960s style uniforms. Bell bottomed pants again fill the racks at trendy clothing stores. It seems as if half of the programs on television are re-runs or re-makes of shows 10, 20, 30 years-old. Automobile manufacturers have been resurrecting old favorites like Ford’s classic two-seater Thunderbird and Dodge’s well-muscled Challenger. There’s no doubt that modern day retakes on old favorites is big business. In the end, though, retro is nothing more than a look, it’s not the real thing, but just a facsimile. Such was not at all the case with Jesus. His incarnation of the Law, “an old commandment that you had from the beginning,” (1 John 2:7) was in fact the absolute, complete, and true fulfillment of the Father’s original instructions to his children as to how they were to live. Yet, at the same time John wrote of “no new commandment,” he could honestly say to the Church that he was writing about “a new commandment.”
It might be helpful to think of it this way. What are the first words of God recorded in the Bible? “Let there be light.” (Genesis 1:3) Other than God himself, there is nothing older than light. So, when Jesus, the true light (John 1:9), came into the world on that wonderful night when he was born in Bethlehem, it was the new and startling appearance of that which was in fact older than the world itself. That which was all but immeasurably old had been manifest in a radically new, yet absolutely true to the original, way. Starting “in the beginning,” the word of God’s Law was a “lamp to our feet and a light to our path” (Psalm 119:105). Yet, in Jesus, the old light shined in a way it never had before, and it will continue shine in that radically new way until the ending of the age. Though the Son is now seated at the Father’s right hand, the light of the old/new commandment in Jesus still shines in the world because the light is also in his Church (“in you” 1 John 2.8a).
What was so radical and new about the way the light of the Law shone in Jesus? In Christ the light revealed, completely and perfectly, the love of God which is the wellspring of the law of God. The commandment God had given from the beginning was love: love of God (Deuteronomy 6:5), and love of neighbor (Leviticus 19:18), yet, in Jesus, the law of love was so perfectly embodied and fulfilled as to appear new. The light by which God had first dispelled the darkness when he had decreed in the beginning, “Let there be…” was nothing other than his love. And John tells the Church that, since the light of the Father’s love was revealed in a new way in and through the Son, we are to let that same light shine in us by loving as Jesus loved.
As it turns out, the only thing that makes darkness pass away is love. God’s love shining from the words of his Law. The Father’s love shining from the Incarnate Son. The Son’s love shining from his Church. The Church’s love shining from her members as they love one another. John wanted believers, the Church, to know that we are to live in love, and walk in light. We can so live, and so walk, because Jesus revealed the old truth about God’s love in a new light.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Friday, November 4, 2011
Jesus Advocated
What Did Jesus Do?
…we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
1 John 2.1b
The Boy Scouts have this little thing called a Totin’ Chip Card, which all Scouts and leaders are supposed to earn before they can carry and use woods tools (axes, knives, and saws). The intent is to instruct Scouts in the safe and proper handling of these tools so as to ensure no accidents occur and no one gets hurt. But if someone should get hurt, every Scout troop and every Scout camp also have first aid kits and trained responders to deal with the emergency. In reality, the “But if” really means “when,” because sooner or later accidents are bound to happen.
In a similar way, the canonical letters of John are his Totin’ Chip Card to the Church, if you will. By carefully and thoroughly instructing the Body of Christ regarding the message he and the other apostles had heard from Jesus himself (1 John 1.5), John seeks to ensure that the Church will walk in the light; essentially, that her members maintain fellowship with one another and with the Father and Son (1 John 1.3), and that they “may not sin.” (1 John 2.1a) Yet, like the Scouts, John realizes that sins, just like “accidents,” is inevitable, so he too provides for the inevitable “when” by inserting his own “But if…” clause. (1 John 2.1b)
Having made it abundantly clear that it is only the worst sort of self-deception for a believer, or the Church, to say that we have no sin (1 John 1.8-10), John adds “But if anyone does sin,” because he knows everyone, even the Church herself, will sin. The key is that John, and all believers, and the Church at all times in all places, have an answer, a response, first aid in the form of our great First Responder—“Jesus Christ the righteous”—who has, and who continues, to deal with sin. We have in the Son, John tells us, an advocate with the Father.
By advocate (Greek parakletos), we should not think of Jesus as merely some kind of divine defense attorney who goes before the Father to plead on our behalf. Yes, Jesus truly does intercede, pleading for us before God’s mercy seat (Romans 8.34; Hebrews 7.25), but as our advocate Jesus has done something more. A paraklete was one who physically came and stood alongside others, sharing their affliction and burden, even to the point of bearing it. Christ’s advocacy on our behalf must be understood in this way—he came into the world, literally came alongside us, and laid down his sinless life in exchange for our lives full of sin. It was and is the sacrifice of the Righteous One for all the unrighteous that gives us hope when we sin. For it is his own sacrifice, the shedding of his blood which alone cleanses from all sin (1 John 1.7), that the Son lays before the Father on our behalf.
We make no pretense of our perfection (1.8-10), nor do we imagine that sin does not matter since Christ died once and for all to forgive our sins. Forgiven in and through Christ Christians practice advocacy, in that we come alongside and pray for and forgive one another. It is with great thanksgiving that we receive and believe, and as the Church, testify to, the great gift of forgiveness the Father has given us through the Son, Jesus Christ, who was perfectly willing to be our Advocate.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
…we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
1 John 2.1b
The Boy Scouts have this little thing called a Totin’ Chip Card, which all Scouts and leaders are supposed to earn before they can carry and use woods tools (axes, knives, and saws). The intent is to instruct Scouts in the safe and proper handling of these tools so as to ensure no accidents occur and no one gets hurt. But if someone should get hurt, every Scout troop and every Scout camp also have first aid kits and trained responders to deal with the emergency. In reality, the “But if” really means “when,” because sooner or later accidents are bound to happen.
In a similar way, the canonical letters of John are his Totin’ Chip Card to the Church, if you will. By carefully and thoroughly instructing the Body of Christ regarding the message he and the other apostles had heard from Jesus himself (1 John 1.5), John seeks to ensure that the Church will walk in the light; essentially, that her members maintain fellowship with one another and with the Father and Son (1 John 1.3), and that they “may not sin.” (1 John 2.1a) Yet, like the Scouts, John realizes that sins, just like “accidents,” is inevitable, so he too provides for the inevitable “when” by inserting his own “But if…” clause. (1 John 2.1b)
Having made it abundantly clear that it is only the worst sort of self-deception for a believer, or the Church, to say that we have no sin (1 John 1.8-10), John adds “But if anyone does sin,” because he knows everyone, even the Church herself, will sin. The key is that John, and all believers, and the Church at all times in all places, have an answer, a response, first aid in the form of our great First Responder—“Jesus Christ the righteous”—who has, and who continues, to deal with sin. We have in the Son, John tells us, an advocate with the Father.
By advocate (Greek parakletos), we should not think of Jesus as merely some kind of divine defense attorney who goes before the Father to plead on our behalf. Yes, Jesus truly does intercede, pleading for us before God’s mercy seat (Romans 8.34; Hebrews 7.25), but as our advocate Jesus has done something more. A paraklete was one who physically came and stood alongside others, sharing their affliction and burden, even to the point of bearing it. Christ’s advocacy on our behalf must be understood in this way—he came into the world, literally came alongside us, and laid down his sinless life in exchange for our lives full of sin. It was and is the sacrifice of the Righteous One for all the unrighteous that gives us hope when we sin. For it is his own sacrifice, the shedding of his blood which alone cleanses from all sin (1 John 1.7), that the Son lays before the Father on our behalf.
We make no pretense of our perfection (1.8-10), nor do we imagine that sin does not matter since Christ died once and for all to forgive our sins. Forgiven in and through Christ Christians practice advocacy, in that we come alongside and pray for and forgive one another. It is with great thanksgiving that we receive and believe, and as the Church, testify to, the great gift of forgiveness the Father has given us through the Son, Jesus Christ, who was perfectly willing to be our Advocate.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Jesus Forgave and Cleansed Sinners, Not Those Who Are "Basically Good"
What Did Jesus Do?
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1.9
Halloween, a day when, many celebrate darkness, evil, and wickedness in the name of “fun,” has come and gone. Personally, I don’t find anything funny, or comforting, about darkness, evil, and wickedness. And, I don’t know how people who like to believe that they are “basically good,” can honestly celebrate, even in “fun,” darkness, evil, and wickedness.
You know, don’t you, that there are many, way too many actually, who like to both believe and proclaim that people are “basically good.” Right! (As Bill Cosby used to say) That’s why there is so much very real darkness, evil, and wickedness in the world—all those “basically good” people going about being “good.” In fact, the exact opposite is the case. Rather than “basically good” we are all totally depraved. Instead of goodness and light we’re all full of evil, filthy, smelly, darkness. Take a good, honest look inside people—inside yourselves—and you’ll find a reasonable facsimile of a cesspool. Not pleasant to contemplate, but what’s the alternative? To go about complimenting one another on our “basic goodness” while we cheat and steal and rape and murder? We desperately need an extreme makeover from the inside out, to be cleansed, and filled with light. Thankfully, the Father sent Jesus to forgive us and cleanse us.
To claim “basic goodness,” is to deny the reality of the sin nature within each one of us. It is the grossest self-deceit. Oh, we’re all full of something all right, but it’s not goodness, and, as long as we say we are without sin, it is certainly not the truth. There is no greater darkness, than that of a soul that deceives itself into believing in its basic goodness. In short, there is no truth to the claim to “basic goodness,” and those who make and believe that claim are filled with lies. And a lie, no matter how fervently it is believed, can never be the truth. John put it plainly and simply enough, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1.8) No truth, no light, and, ultimately, no life.
But there is great good news for all of us whose interior landscape would otherwise be a land of deep darkness—on us (and in us) light can shine! (Isaiah 9.2) If we would but confess that, rather than “basically good,” we are afflicted with a dark and sinful nature, the God of the Bible is altogether ready to forgive and cleanse us (1 John 1.9). The key is trusting in the faithfulness and justice that are part of the very nature of God. Where we are faithless and fickle, God is absolutely constant and true, completely and perfectly faithful to who he is, and to his promises. When God says that he will forgive the sins we confess to him, we can count on it as a certainty.
Our confession is made to God who is not only faithful, but who is also just. Justice requires that sin must be punished, which would be very bad news for sinners like us, except for the fact that Jesus has already taken the full measure of the punishment for sin upon himself. The penalty for sin has been paid on the cross—justice now dictates that those who formerly were charged with, and guilty of, sin be set free of sin and its curses. Sin’s stain has been thoroughly cleansed by the purging flow of Christ’s blood, our unrighteousness has been washed away, and we now stand, in Jesus, as righteous, which is not just to be “basically good,” but rather radically, totally, and perfectly good, as God is good so far beyond “basically” as to be immeasurably more so.
There’s another aspect of sin that must be confronted and dealt with. As noted above, there is much very real darkness, evil, and wickedness in the world. This is to admit that we are not talking in the abstract about human nature, but in actuality. Sin happens, it is real, and we are, if not its authors, then certainly its perpetrators. Even if we concede that we have a nature that inclines us to sin, but claim that we have somehow overcome our nature and not sinned, then there is great deceit again being practiced (1 John 1.10). In fact, we make God out to be a liar when we claim not to have sinned, for his Word declares that all of us have sinned, and fallen short of his glory. (Romans 3.23)
The glare of headlines may, if we are willing to surrender the false teaching of “basic goodness,” convince us of the reality of sin in the world. But, all of us need to let the light of Christ, the light of God’s Word, illuminate what we would rather remain hidden in the darkness inside us—our own sins—if we would be forgiven, cleansed, and filled with the light and the Word. To confess our sin is painful, but it is not risky, when we understand the faithfulness and justice of the one to whom we confess. Then, we are truly filled through God’s gift of the Holy Spirit with light, with truth, with love, thanks to Jesus, who forgave and cleansed not those who were “basically good,” but sinners.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1.9
Halloween, a day when, many celebrate darkness, evil, and wickedness in the name of “fun,” has come and gone. Personally, I don’t find anything funny, or comforting, about darkness, evil, and wickedness. And, I don’t know how people who like to believe that they are “basically good,” can honestly celebrate, even in “fun,” darkness, evil, and wickedness.
You know, don’t you, that there are many, way too many actually, who like to both believe and proclaim that people are “basically good.” Right! (As Bill Cosby used to say) That’s why there is so much very real darkness, evil, and wickedness in the world—all those “basically good” people going about being “good.” In fact, the exact opposite is the case. Rather than “basically good” we are all totally depraved. Instead of goodness and light we’re all full of evil, filthy, smelly, darkness. Take a good, honest look inside people—inside yourselves—and you’ll find a reasonable facsimile of a cesspool. Not pleasant to contemplate, but what’s the alternative? To go about complimenting one another on our “basic goodness” while we cheat and steal and rape and murder? We desperately need an extreme makeover from the inside out, to be cleansed, and filled with light. Thankfully, the Father sent Jesus to forgive us and cleanse us.
To claim “basic goodness,” is to deny the reality of the sin nature within each one of us. It is the grossest self-deceit. Oh, we’re all full of something all right, but it’s not goodness, and, as long as we say we are without sin, it is certainly not the truth. There is no greater darkness, than that of a soul that deceives itself into believing in its basic goodness. In short, there is no truth to the claim to “basic goodness,” and those who make and believe that claim are filled with lies. And a lie, no matter how fervently it is believed, can never be the truth. John put it plainly and simply enough, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1.8) No truth, no light, and, ultimately, no life.
But there is great good news for all of us whose interior landscape would otherwise be a land of deep darkness—on us (and in us) light can shine! (Isaiah 9.2) If we would but confess that, rather than “basically good,” we are afflicted with a dark and sinful nature, the God of the Bible is altogether ready to forgive and cleanse us (1 John 1.9). The key is trusting in the faithfulness and justice that are part of the very nature of God. Where we are faithless and fickle, God is absolutely constant and true, completely and perfectly faithful to who he is, and to his promises. When God says that he will forgive the sins we confess to him, we can count on it as a certainty.
Our confession is made to God who is not only faithful, but who is also just. Justice requires that sin must be punished, which would be very bad news for sinners like us, except for the fact that Jesus has already taken the full measure of the punishment for sin upon himself. The penalty for sin has been paid on the cross—justice now dictates that those who formerly were charged with, and guilty of, sin be set free of sin and its curses. Sin’s stain has been thoroughly cleansed by the purging flow of Christ’s blood, our unrighteousness has been washed away, and we now stand, in Jesus, as righteous, which is not just to be “basically good,” but rather radically, totally, and perfectly good, as God is good so far beyond “basically” as to be immeasurably more so.
There’s another aspect of sin that must be confronted and dealt with. As noted above, there is much very real darkness, evil, and wickedness in the world. This is to admit that we are not talking in the abstract about human nature, but in actuality. Sin happens, it is real, and we are, if not its authors, then certainly its perpetrators. Even if we concede that we have a nature that inclines us to sin, but claim that we have somehow overcome our nature and not sinned, then there is great deceit again being practiced (1 John 1.10). In fact, we make God out to be a liar when we claim not to have sinned, for his Word declares that all of us have sinned, and fallen short of his glory. (Romans 3.23)
The glare of headlines may, if we are willing to surrender the false teaching of “basic goodness,” convince us of the reality of sin in the world. But, all of us need to let the light of Christ, the light of God’s Word, illuminate what we would rather remain hidden in the darkness inside us—our own sins—if we would be forgiven, cleansed, and filled with the light and the Word. To confess our sin is painful, but it is not risky, when we understand the faithfulness and justice of the one to whom we confess. Then, we are truly filled through God’s gift of the Holy Spirit with light, with truth, with love, thanks to Jesus, who forgave and cleansed not those who were “basically good,” but sinners.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
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