"God Wills It!"

What Did Jesus Do?

Jesus Did The Father’s Will, And Accomplished His Work

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me.”

                                                                        John 4: 34

“God wills it!”  I don’t know if you have ever seen Kingdom of Heaven, a fictionalized account of the Crusades.  “God wills it!” was the repeated cry of people who were tragically flawed, terribly misguided, pretty much clueless about God’s will, and eager to slap the label of God’s will on their own in order to justify the spilling of a whole lot of blood.   The truth is, when it comes to the spilling of blood, we can be certain of this alone: it was the Father’s will that his Son’s blood be spilled for the sake of sinners.  Beyond this it is extremely risky to ascribe to God’s will the spilling of any other blood.

Think about it.  Jesus spent his entire time on earth doing the will of the Father.  The Lord literally nourished himself on the Father’s will.  Also, before he offered up his spirit to God on the cross, Jesus made sure to accomplish all the works his Father had ordained for him.  And none of this involved/required the shedding of any blood other than that of the Lamb of God.  So, before unsheathing our swords, or locking and loading our high magazine firearms, we would do well to consider whose will we are intent on accomplishing with such weapons (You may recall that our weapons are not supposed to those typically employed by flesh to wage war according to the flesh—see 2 Corinthians 10:3-4).

Before I go any further, let me assure you that this is not an anti-2^nd Amendment diatribe.  While I do not own a gun I support 100% the right on citizens to keep and bear arms.  But, please, let all restraint be exercised before being tempted to cry out “God wills it!” and switching off the safety and pulling the trigger.  I must confess that it troubles me that gun-toting images far outnumber Bible-toting images in social media.  Has the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God—the Bible) become so dull and rusty as to be unreliable?  Have we come to believe that any other weapon can be better employed to accomplish the works of God?  Have we lost our faith in the blood of the Lamb having completely and perfectly fulfilled the Father’s will?

Here’s what I believe.  Blind Bartimaeus cried out to the Lord and received his site.  God willed it!  A father believed enough to ask for help beyond his unbelief, and his son was set free.  God willed it!  A poor woman whose body and finances had hemorrhaged for years dared to reach out and touch the robe of Jesus and was healed.  God willed it!  An angry and indignant Jesus stood before the tomb that held the dead body of his friend, and summoned Lazarus back to life.  God willed it!  Jesus bore the sins of many in his body on the cross, literally becoming sin though he knew no sin, so that we should become righteous in the Father’s eyes.  God willed it!

Christ died on the cross according to the will of God.  The Lord’s death is also the means by which the Father revealed to us his most gracious and merciful will for us.  Whenever I am angry, bitter, or upset with another, or have hate begin to well up within me against someone, I would only be kidding myself to ascribe these things to the Father’s will.  Is not our calling to do whatever it takes to let others know how lavishly beyond measure in and through Jesus they are loved by the Father, and by us?  God wills it!

Christ IS All!

Jim

Marion, NC

PS 37.4

Jesus Put An End To "Hide And Seek"

What Did Jesus Do?

Jesus Put An End To “Hide And Seek”

“But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.”

                                                                        2 Corinthians 3:16

Remember playing “Hide and Seek” as children?  It was critical to hurry and find a good hiding place because, when the “Seeker” got to 100 it was, “Ready or not, here I come!”  It was no fun getting caught, was it?  But is sure was great to be able to evade being found, and to shout “Home Free!”

There was a time when people had a kind of “hide and seek” relationship with God.  Why? Well, it all started the first time people felt compelled to hide from God, and he had to seek us out.  Recall that terrible incident in the Garden?  Man and woman disobedient, ashamed, hiding…God seeking, discovering, and cursing.  And so, the hiding and seeking began, but it wasn’t a game, and it sure wasn’t fun.

Think about it.  In the beginning, there was nothing at all between God and Man.  They took delightful strolls together in the Garden in the cool of the evening.  They thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.  But, with the Fall, something came between God and us.  Well, not something, let’s call it what it is—SIN.  An impassable barrier was erected, a deadly barrier.  For the glory, the holiness, of God simply cannot abide by sin.  So, for sinners to come into the very presence of God, our Creator with whom we once enjoyed unfettered intimacy, meant death.

Therefore God would mute his presence, tone it down so to speak, into something like a burning bush, or a pillar of fire or column of smoke.  These contained his glory, but not in its fullness.  The other thing God did was shield people from his holiness by commanding the crafting of curtains and veils, as in the tabernacle and temple, to screen people and spare them from the unbearable presence of his glory.

At best, all this muting and shielding was an expedient, a makeshift.  It was a kind of “work around” that permitted a certain intercourse between God and sinful humanity, but which never actually resolved the issue of sin itself.  So it was that the “hiding and seeking” that had begun in the Garden continued.  And the intimacy which God had always intended to exist between himself and the ones he created in his own image remained unfulfilled.

Then the Father sent the Son.  And Jesus put an end, once and for all, to the hide and seek relationship between God and Man.  By his atoning death Christ brought about the tearing asunder of the curtain, the removal of the veil.  The himself bore in his flesh the stripes of our sins, his body was crushed, as it were, for our iniquity.  Through the obedience of the Son, even unto death, the Father accomplished the words of Psalm 103 Verse 12, removing our transgression from us “as far as the east is from the west.”

As hard as it is for us to accept, as difficult as it is for us to believe, as challenging as it is for us to trust, the Father has, in the Son, restored the intimacy which had been forfeited in the Garden.  So long condemned to hide from God, who yet sought us in our estrangement, we now have, in and through Christ, been set free!

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image (HIS!) from one degree of glory to another.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Christ IS All!

Jim

Marion, NC

PS 37.4

Jesus Did All That Was Needed

What Did Jesus Do?

Jesus Did All That Was Needed

“It is finished.”

                                                                        John 19:30

How much that needed to be done did Jesus leave undone?  Nothing.  Trust me, the Lord’s final words upon the cross were not hyperbole!  The Father did not send the Son to get 50% of his plan for redemption and restoration accomplished.  Not 75%.  Not even 99.9%.  The Father sent the Son to do everything necessary for the his will to be done, for righteousness, for the salvation of the world, and when Jesus said the work was finished, it was.  So, then what is there for us to do?  Nothing at all, and much!

Here’s the thing, if we can do all things through him who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13), then there is much that can, and should, be done—in Him!  But, apart from Jesus, what is there for us to do?  Well, nothing.  At least nothing worth doing.  Without Christ all we do amounts to so much vain effort, so much chasing after the wind (see Ecclesiastes Chapter 1).  The very best humanity can accomplish, all our most “righteous” works apart from the Lord, amount to nothing more than a foul and filthy wardrobe (Isaiah 64:6).  In this fallen world, it is, to put as fine a point on it as possible, all or nothing—and Christ is ALL!

Joshua didn’t just challenge the Israelites who had taken possession of the Promised Land, he challenges all of us who have received the promise: Choose daily to live for the Father in and through the Son, or invest the day in, well, nothing. Either we do all things in, through, and for Him (Colossians 3:17), or what we do is nothing,  isn’t worth doing at all.  After three score years I have to confess that most of my life has added up to nothing because so much of what I’ve done has been me, and not Him.  Of course, that’s why the Father sent Jesus in the first place.  None of us could live for Him if He hadn’t died for us!  None of us could live in Him if the Father didn’t send the Spirit of the Risen Christ to live in us!   None of the Father’s will can be done through us, but through Christ we can do all things, even the will of the Father!  How and why can this be?  Because Christ finished his work, he did all that was needed.  Therefore, we can feed the hungry today because in Him—it is finished.  We can house the homeless because in Him—it is finished.  We can visit those who are sick or in prison because in Him—it is finished.  The lost can be saved through our proclamation of the Gospel because in Him—it is finished.

So we should not despair, in Him our work is not in vain.  Yes, doing the will of the Father, righteousness, salvation, these are “mission impossible” for us.  But. what is impossible for us is possible for Him (Luke 19:27).  Which means that, for all who are in Christ, what needs to be done, the will of the Father, righteousness, salvation, is not just possible, it is, and continues to be fact—it is accomplished.  For we are his workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), and, even though it continues on us, and through us, believe it:  His work is finished!

Christ Is All!

Jim

Marion, NC

PS 37.4

Jesus Stretched Credulity

What Did Jesus Do?

Jesus Stretched Credulity

“What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

                                                                        Mark 4:41

I was watching a JAG rerun the other day—you remember JAG don’t you, the saga of  a team of Navy lawyers like no Navy lawyers to ever sail the seas—and there was a courtroom scene where an Iraqi Muslim general commented on how strange he found Christianity, particularly its God.  He just could not understand how God could be one god, yet three persons, it made no sense to him, it was beyond anything he could get his mind around.  It got me to thinking.  I mean, shouldn’t God be beyond our capacity to size up, categorize, describe, and understand completely?  Shouldn’t God, even when he goes to great lengths to reveal himself to us, remain something of a mystery we cannot solve?

I know, God has always had a hankering to hang with us.  From the late-afternoon strolls in the Garden that he took with Adam and Eve, to the burning bush and pillars of fire and of smoke in which “I AM” appeared to Moses, God made it evident that he enjoys being with people.  The most sublime evidence of this was of course when God put on our flesh and literally became Immanuel (“God with us”) in the person of Jesus Christ.  God as man, yes, but so much more.

The truth is that man-gods have been around, well, practically forever.  From emperors of China, to Pharaohs of Egypt, to the Caesar’s of Rome, the world has hardly ever lacked for someone claiming to be something more than a man.  But people have always had a pretty good handle on these man-gods, they have always understood what emperors and pharaohs and Caesars have been about because, well, man-gods are, in the end, nothing more than worldly.  In the end, men as a god in the person of earthly rulers  are nothing the world hasn’t seen many times.  But God as man, well, he’s something, someone, who stretches our credulity, our ability to believe, to a place beyond familiarity, beyond complete comprehension, beyond mortal ability to quantify, to fit into any kind of category that would make him somewhat manageable for us.  If God as man doesn’t leave us ultimately speechless, fearful, marveling, wondering, then we haven’t really encountered him. 

The apostles who witnessed Jesus calming a storm on Galilee with three little words, “Peace! Be still!” were utterly confounded.  This was a man like, well, like no man they’d ever seen or heard of.  This was no pharaoh or Caesar, the apostles knew what manner of men pharaohs and Caesars were.  But Jesus, he defied any and all attempts to fit him, to make complete sense of him.  Jesus was a manner of man like unto himself alone.  Actually, he is a manner of man like unto the Father and the Holy Spirit.  In other words, he is God. 

That this may be beyond the credulity of Muslims (And Buddhists, Hindus, and Jews, and all manner of unbelieving secular types), doesn’t surprise me, it has always stretched the credulity of Christians!  But this is as it should be.  As amazing as the Incarnation was, as beautiful and transforming was Immanuel-Jesus, God is beyond us even as he is with us.  I love God for all that he has done to make himself known to the world, to you, to me as Immanuel.  But I also respect and reverently fear him for being  “I Am,” so much more than I can know this side of eternity.  And I thank God every day for the gift of faith to believe in him beyond my incredulity.

Christ IS All!

Jim

Marion, NC

PS 37.4

Jesus Submitted to Being Hurt by the One/Ones He Loved

What Did Jesus Do?

Jesus Submitted to Being Hurt By the One/Ones He Loved

“Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to

Jerusalem and suffer many things…”

                                                                        Matthew 16:21

Pop songs are not always the best source for truth, but some times they get it right. Take, for instance, the Mills Brothers’ song, “You always hurt the one you love.”  Biblically, I would have to say that song is absolutely on target.  Of course, if I had collaborated with Doris Fisher (who wrote the music), my lyrics would have been a little different than those actually written by Allan Roberts.  My song would go like this: “Your sin ALWAYS hurts The ONE who loves you.”  Think about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cTxNlxPasw

It’s one thing to rejoice and give thanks that Jesus went through hell for us (literally).  It’s another thing to confess and repent of our putting him through hell (literally).  If we get the one thing, but not the other, than we’re really not getting it/Him.  And, though we might enjoy the rejoicing and thanksgiving a whole lot more, the confessing and repenting is just as, and very likely more, important.  At least if we care about hurting our Lord.

Oh, I know, Christ indeed completed the work of atonement on the cross, and so declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30), but in a way that only God and maybe Einstein can understand eternity and time, the suffering of Jesus goes on even as it was finished two thousand years ago.  Paul was not employing hyperbole when he told the Colossians that there was something lacking in Christ’s afflictions which he (Paul) was determined to fill up  in his (Paul’s) flesh by suffering for the sake of his (Christ’s) body—the church.

You see, Paul got it/Him (Boy did he get it!).  And so Paul set out to not hurt the One who loved him, but rather to intentionally and consistently position himself to be afflicted for the sake of the beloved (That is, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of the one/one’s [His Church/disciples] Christ loves).  (Colossians 1:24)  In fact, Paul understood that the wisest and most worthy eternal investment he, or anyone, could make was to give up/lose all for the sake of sharing in the Lord’s sufferings (Philippians 3:7-10).

Not that Paul was exhorting anyone to be a masochist for Christ!  But the knowledge that our sin indeed hurts the One who loved/loves us should act in us in the same way that antabuse works in alcoholics, which is to say we develop a physical and spiritual revulsion to sinning.  And, at the same time, in the power of Christ’s own righteousness imputed to us by the Holy Spirit, we, like Paul (Who sought to follow the example of the Lord) do well to interpose ourselves between others and suffering, to accept in our bodies (And even in our pocketbooks!) pain and sacrifice in order to spare another.  It’s a turn-the cheek/cross-bearing thing, and Jesus would have us understand that in this way alone can we sincerely and truly follow him.

Jesus did not come to add to the world’s suffering, but in his flesh to bear it away.  Every day each of us gets to choose to add to or take away from suffering.  Only one choice glorifies our Savior.

Christ IS All!

Jim

Marion, NC

PS 37.4  

Jesus Accepted the Consquences of OUR Sin

What Did Jesus Do?

Jesus Accepted (And Still Receives) the Consequences of OUR Sin

“He was wounded for OUR transgressions;

He was crushed for OUR iniquities…

And the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of US ALL.”

                                                                        Isaiah 53:5-6

I took some time over the weekend to re-watch The Passion of the Christ.  My wife asked me to mute the sound when the movie arrived at the scene of Christ’s scourging at the hands of the Roman soldiers.  There were eyes shut as well for those terrible minutes depicting the fulfillment of the words of the prophet Isaiah captioned above.  Even our son, who has no trouble watching river of blood being spilled in horror films, averted his eyes from, well, the most horrible scene in all of history.

We shook our heads at the barbarity and sadism of the men who wielded the fiendish tools of torture with such apparent pleasure in the awful work.  But I could not heap condemnation on the legionnaires who were “just following orders.”  No, instead I said to my wife, “It wasn’t those soldiers, but we, who apply every one of those brutal stripes to Christ’s flesh.”  Did you notice that I said “apply” rather than “applied”?

You see, it has been troubling me for some time now, and finally struck me with stunning force as we watched that disturbing scene, that, even though Christ’s Passion was nearly two-thousand years ago, and, even though the Lord said of his work of redemption, “It is finished” (John 19:30), there is a present reality of the Lord’s suffering as a consequence of our sins.  It is too easy for me to think of the risen Jesus in glory now at the Father’s right hand, and remove the terrible consequences of my sin to the far distant past.  If Christ’s suffering is over, and the penalty for sin (Mine and yours.) has been paid (And it has!), then, somehow, my sin, my sinning doesn’t seem so bad.  I mean, even if I my transgressions hurt somebody, or if they impact my own life negatively, at least He no longer has to suffer for it.  If it (Christ’s being wounded for my transgressions and crushed for my iniquities.) is finished, then the real consequences of sin can almost be muted as simply as clicking a button on the remote; I can fast forward past the horror.

But, and I have really been struggling to understand this (Not to mention how to put it in writing), I am convinced that the sins I commit today add stripes to Christ’s back then.  I have to confess this, failing to see and feel the present reality of the Lord’s suffering as the direct consequence of my sins, well it permits me to sin, if not boldly, then (even worse) carelessly, casually.  Don’t misunderstand me, I get it, I don’t have to suffer the penalty for the sins of today (nor yesterday’s sins, nor tomorrow’s) because Christ as already paid the penalty in full.  But, even though Jesus finished the work of redeeming me, the work goes on, He suffers still, every time I sin.

There is something to be said for the Crucifix of the Roman Catholic Church which depicts the suffering Lord, over and above the empty Cross we Protestants favor.  A Crucifix is a present reminder of the ultimate, real, and present consequence of all sin—Christ’s Passion—a horror unimaginably worse than you or I could bear. 

Oh, I celebrated Resurrection Sunday with all my heart yesterday.  Christ is risen!  Jesus is alive.  He who promised never to leave or forsake us is present.  And if present, then still quite capable of feeling the terrible pain as He accepts the consequences of my sin.  Therefore,

Lord, keep back your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me!  Then not only shall I be blameless and innocent of great transgression, but neither shall you anymore have to deal with the consequences of my iniquity.  For, by dying and rising from the grave,  you have broken my heart and my spirit.  You have brought me into your presence, never to cast me away, and restored to me the joy of your salvation!  Amen.

Christ IS All!

Jim 

Marion, NC

PS 37:4

Jesus Clothed His People In (His) Righteousness

What Did Jesus Do?

Jesus Clothed His People in (His) Righteousness

“He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”

                                                                        Isaiah 61:10

God takes no pleasure in, is not impressed with, our raiment.  So who are we to take a quick glance, or a lingering gaze, in the mirror, and take satisfaction in how we are dressed?  Tie straight.  Shiny shoes.  The most flattering style.  The hottest designer label.  Damn, we look good!  Or do we?

When I was a boy most people who went to church still made kind of a big deal out of putting on one’s “Sunday Best.”  It was only years later when I realized that God wasn’t pleased with, much less fooled by, our “put-ons.”  While many folks, myself sometimes included, now dress in a much more casual manner on Sunday mornings than would have been acceptable when I was growing up, I am pretty sure many of us still have that approving moment or two in front of the mirror before we head out to worship at least somewhat pleased/proud/satisfied with ourselves.

But you know what?  I don’t believe God is any more pleased with or impressed by our raiment these days than he was 50, or even 2,000 years ago.  Why?  Well, unlike us, God doesn’t look on the outside.  We get all excited over attractive packaging, but God looks deeper.  It’s the content, not the cover, that matters to God.  And, um, sorry, but there are way too many of us whose Christianity isn’t much more than a nice looking cover inside of which hides, well, stuff we’d prefer no one gets a good look at.

Here’s the thing, no matter how dazzling the outside, true colors will eventually, and always, show out.  And, in truth, they show much more than we seem to realize.  Think about it.  Christ’s disciples were mightily impressed when they beheld the Jerusalem temple.  But the Lord cautioned them that it wasn’t anything more than a condemned building soon to be torn down, and those who frequented it were like so many freshly painted mausoleums (Matthew 24:1-2; 23:27).

What do others see when they look at us, look at our churches?  Sure, we may have a tall steeple and priceless stained glass.  And we might be dressed up in comparatively formal attire or the latest from L.L. Bean.  How could anyone not want to come and join us, isn’t it obvious that we are, as they used to say, the “in” crowd?  But God isn’t the only one who can see past the wrapper.  Sure, people can be taken in by attractive appearances.  But reality sooner or later, and usually sooner, reveals itself over and above appearances.

The truth is, many of the people now unchurched were not always so.  Most people have a reason they don’t attend worship Sunday morning.  Lots of them might well accept an invitation to visit a friend’s church.  But, this is painful to say, when the formerly churched come back for a visit after a long absence, they quickly remember why it was that they stopped coming, and the one visit is more than enough to reaffirm that there are better things to do, better places to be, than sitting in a pew with us on Sundays.  Ouch!

Now, I’m not saying we shouldn’t check out the image in the mirror, not just Sundays, but every day.  But we have to have the determination, the courage even, to look deeply at, not just the wardrobe, but the person staring back at us.  How is his/her mind clothed?  What sort of attire adorns the heart of the person in the mirror.  Is he/she dressed merely for worldly success, or dressed for kingdom service?

You see, even better than Joseph’s amazing Technicolor dreamcoat, the Father has a garment for each of his sons and daughters to put on daily.  The cut and style are exactly the same as the very character of Christ.  The fabric is an unbeatable combination of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, which come together to make for an ever-present forgiving perspective towards our brothers and sisters.  And, completing this out-of-this-world-because-it’s-of-the-Kingdom ensemble, is the most breathtakingly beautiful and transformingly captivating “accessory” of all time because it is eternal—LOVE (see Colossians 3:12-14).

The truth is, if we only think to put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-18) every day, we’re very likely going out the door less than half dressed.  Forget about “Sunday Best,” God would have us put on Christ every day!  I tell you, the world wouldn’t see bunch of “new Georgey girls” (and guys) in the latest from Carnaby Street, but the daughters and sons of the Father, the brothers and sisters of the Son, the Body of Christ, the very family of God,  and they would want to be a part of it!

I am not pasturing at this time, but if I was, I believe I would get a full body length mirror to set up at the entrance to the church.  The mirror would be framed with “Compassion,” “Kindness,” “Humility,” “Meekness,” “Patience,” “Forgiveness,” and “Love.”  And everyone who passed the mirror would be reminded to put-off any and all facades of self-righteousness, and be clothed from the inside with the righteousness of the risen and glorified One, even Jesus Christ,

Christ IS All!

Jesus Bore Our Sins Away

What Did Jesus Do?

Jesus Bore Our Sins Away

“He bore the sins of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors”

                                                                        Isaiah 53:12

Yep, no doubt about it, Jesus compassionately ministered to people’s infirmities, pains, and suffering.  He even offered it as evidence to the disciples of John the Baptist when they came to inquire on behalf of their master, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3):

            “Go and tell John…the blind receive their sight and the lame walk,

            lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up,

            and the poor have good news preached to them.” (Matthew 11:4-5)

BUT, make no mistake, Christ came to deal with our sins, to bear them away “as far as east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).  And the Lord’s ceaseless intercession is on behalf of transgressors (that is, sinners), not folks with problems in need of therapy.  If therapy was all that we need, there would have been no cross, only a physician’s exam table and an analyst’s couch. 

The problem is, there are a lot of people proclaiming what amounts to a “therapeutic gospel.”  There are preachers all too willing to talk about the symptomatic suffering (be it physical, mental, emotional, maybe even spiritual) we all experience, and offer us relief by way of affirmation and encouragement.  But there are fewer and fewer pulpits where the matter of sin is openly put before the people, and our utter wretchedness and wickedness exposed.   At best, people may come away with their hearts strengthened for a time, but what we really need is a heart transplant!  That’s not therapy, that’s radical spiritual surgery.  What we need is not help “fixing” what’s wrong with us, or “repair” of what’s broken; we need to die! Die to sin.

The only place where this radical surgery can take place is the cross, and only those who come confessing their sins and abjectly repenting of them can hope for and count on the forgiveness purchased by the blood of Christ.  The best therapists can offer is a “makeover,” a clean up,  an aspirin or a band-aid.  What we need is not cosmetic improvement and symptomatic relief, but rather to become wholly new creations as our root problem (Sin) is admitted and surrendered to the Lord.

Pain-relieving therapy may help us when we complain of headaches.  But if the headaches are caused by a tumor which, if undiagnosed and untreated will kill us, how much does the therapy really help us?  In like manner, the Gospel of Jesus Christ refuses to stop at addressing our symptoms, our complaints, but pours divine light upon the deep and deadly reality of sin.  Jesus while he relieves our pain, did not come to be a pain-reliever, but the one who alone could bear away that which causes all pain and suffering—the sins of the world.  Jesus is not “Curer” and Lord, but Savior and Lord!

Christ IS All!

Jesus Pioneered And Perfected Hope-Filled Faith

What Did Jesus Do?

Jesus Pioneered And Perfected Hope-Filled Faith

Which Is The Only Path To REAL And Lasting Life

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,”

                                                                        Hebrews 12:1-2

“Life could be a dream,” so the song says (“Sh-Boom” by the Crew-cuts c.1954).  I would guess there are no few people who have wished, during hard times, that their life was a dream which they could wake up from.  A good many others spend considerable time dreaming of what they’d like or hope their life to be.  Believers do not have to live in, or wish for, a dream world because faith is about assured hope (Hebrews 11:1), as opposed to wishing-on-a-star/one-in-a-gazillion lottery ticket hope.

Do you think that Jesus ran his race, enduring the cross and despising the shame, based on a dream or a wish?  He ran by faith, faith built on hope, assured hope in the steadfast love and promises of his Father.  These promises, set before the Lord, produced a joy that fueled his faith so that he could endure the hostility of the world.  The same faith, the faith which Jesus founded and perfected, enables us to run and complete the marathon race of life, sustained every step of the way by hope, certain hope, assured hope, hope built on a promise rather than a dream or wish.

Here’s the thing, people today are starved for reality.  Why do you think so-called “Reality Television” is so popular?  The irony is, everyone of these “reality” shows is staged!  Cameras don’t just happen to be there to capture what’s going on spontaneously.  And there’s a whole lot of editing going on after the filming is finished.  But the truth is life, REAL life, is only to be found in and through Jesus.  Dreaming and wishing leads nowhere;  believing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ will bring us “to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,” to “receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:22, 28).  That’s a hope we can be sure of!

Christ IS All!

Jim

Marion, NC

PS 37.4

Jesus Made A Selfless Choice To Grow And Love

What Did Jesus Do?

Jesus Made A Selfless Choice To Grow And Love

“You did not choose me, but I chose you…”

                                                                        John 15:16

While the context of the quote from John 15 is the Lord’s address to the eleven remaining apostles (Judas by that time had absented himself in order to go and “do quickly” what the Lord knew his betrayer was going to do.) regarding their calling and appointment to “go and bear fruit,” I believe it is quite legitimate to expand Christ’s declaration to describe the manner by which all who will be saved come to the knowledge and love of Jesus as Savior and Lord—It’s His choice.  And we can hardly begin to grasp just how costly a choice it was.

The choice was, is, all about love.  And love, agape love, always involves choosing to let go, to sacrifice, to give up something of the self  for the sake of the beloved.  Any selfish choice in the name of love, isn’t love at all, and in truth arrests, rather than contributes to the growth of, the self.   Jesus, in choosing us, made a selfless choice, determining to go all the way for us, to so abandon himself, to deny himself completely for our salvation.  In choosing us, in choosing you, in choosing me, the Lord consciously and unreservedly chose the cross.

In return, Jesus asks each of us who would follow him to deny our selves, to lose ourselves in him, to go all the way for him, and to take up our own cross. (Matthew 10:38-39).  It  is choice, you see, to take up or not take up, our cross.  And Jesus would not have anyone fail to understand how costly it is to follow him.  To follow Jesus we must be prepared to set aside even the closest of our relationships, with mother and father, husband or wife, son or daughter, should they come between us and the Lord.  The Lord would even have us choose to sacrifice the one we love most, our self to follow him.  Only faith in Jesus, only trusting that he has, and will, take care of us, permits us to let go of others, of our self.  In the end, it is the selfless choice which permits the self to grow, to love.  That’s what Jesus did, and that’s what he calls all who follow him to do—grow and love.

Jim

Marion, NC

PS 37.4

Jesus Supplied The Light Of Life

What Did Jesus Do?

Jesus Supplied The Light Of Life

“I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,

but will have the light of life.”

                                                                        John 8:12

There are many ways the world may be separated into two groups.  The wise or the foolish.  The rich or the poor.  The strong or the weak.  The good or the, …wait a minute!  There are no good (Mark 10:18).  Well, you get the idea.  Today, if I may, I would like to argue that there are two kinds of people in the world: Those who see and those who are blind; those who have the light of life and those who are in utter darkness.  Jesus is THE Light.  And those in darkness, those without Jesus, will surely perish.  Without vision, without seeing, without light there is no life, only the certainty of death.

I don’t think I will ever forget the time I was plunged into stygian darkness.  It was about 36 years ago on a tour of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.  After warning us that the light was about to be extinguished, and reassuring us that it would only be for a few moments, the National Park Ranger transferred us all back in time, if you will, to eternity past, to what it was like before God said, “Let their be light!”  We were awash in darkness.  It was as if we were suspended in the midst of the void of Genesis 1:2.  Only the pounding of my heart assured me I was still alive.  Thankfully, the Ranger was as good as his word, and light quickly flooded the cavern and we were able to make our way to the exit.  The world, without Jesus, well it would be kind of like being in Mammoth Cave with no light and no exit.  Just darkness, and inevitable death.

And Jesus was quite clear about it, there is either life and light in and through him, or its Mammoth Cave now and forever.  It’s kind of funny, in a tragic way, how those who are blind (I am speaking of spiritual blindness, not physical), who have never known anything but darkness, believe they see (John 9:40-41); there is but woe for those who call darkness light (Isaiah 5:20).

We are not talking shade here.  No degrees of grayness.  There is light and life, or there is utter darkness, complete blindness, death.  This does not sit well with the majority of the world, which has always been caught up in the celebration of darkness as light, evil as good, bitter as sweet.  Proclaim the light and you’ll find no few hands eager and willing to cast you out (John 9:34).  And the truth is, it is painful to be pulled suddenly from darkness into light.  Yet, the pain is but momentary, light and life are eternal.

The challenge faced by the Church, by every member of the Body of Christ, is not to add to the sting, the offense if you will, of the light, but to let the light of Jesus alone shine forth.  Christ, his light and his life, must increase and we must decrease.  The good news is, even a little light shatters the darkness, while no amount of darkness can ever overcome the Light.  This is why we can sing with great confidence and hope, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!”   Jesus has supplied us with light and life, and has charged all who follow him to be, in turn, the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16).  It turns out that the temple of God, that would be us, fellow believers (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) is a lighthouse.  There is no other hope for those who are blind and in darkness.  Shine!

 

Jim

Marion, NC

PS 37.4