SEEK AND SAVE

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10

When we think about Jesus, do we think about Him or His mission? I know that I spend time mediating on Him … His person … His character … His example … His majesty. But I think it is important for us to spend time mediating on His mission. As our verse points out: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” And we, as born-again believers, are the evidence of His successful mission … a mission that was completed on the cross.

What we might on occasion overlook or forget is that His mission was for everyone … for the whole world. As the Apostle John so eloquently put it: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) The mission … the purpose for which Jesus the Son was sent to the world is salvation of man. It was through the redemption obtained by Jesus that God would reconcile the world to Himself. The goal was to bring light into the world … understanding and the wisdom of God … so that we might know the only true God and Creator … that we might reverence Him … that we might surrender ourselves to Him. When we think about Jesus, His Being is tied to His mission. And Jesus went to great lengths … even an undeserved death on a cross to complete and fulfill the will of God for us who believe. It is now our responsibility as the Church to continue the mission….

What we need to realize and remember is that every human ever born is lost…. Think about that for a moment. Every human ever born is lost and in need of salvation. It is not our human nature to seek God. The Father has set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what He has done from beginning to end. (Cf. Ecclesiastes 3:11) Therefore, the Father seeks us! And God does so in a personal way … through Jesus His Son! Indeed, God has revealed Himself … He has spoken to us through His Word … through His Prophets … and in these last days through His Son. (Cf. Hebrews 1:1-3) Through Jesus, we see the kindness of God seeking us; leading us to repentance; and reconciling us to Himself. (Cf. Romans 2:4) God implores everyone to believe in Him and to sanctify ourselves for Him.

In Romans 10:14-15, Paul asked: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” And, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (Romans 10:17) So, I pray that as we identify with the mission of Christ … we will join with Him in the mission. The good works for which we have been created in Christ is to seek and to save the lost on His behalf. (Cf. Ephesians 2:10) As Paul affirmed:

2 Corinthians 17-20 (NIV)

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

So Now You Know….

Have a Blessed Day!

Dual Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:20-22

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Our verse (last Sunday) presented some incredible theology regarding the resurrection of Christ … and I believe it prompts further examination for us. I have taken some time to let it penetrate my own heart and renew my thinking. I hope it will resonate in same way with you – to more deeply examine the implications of the resurrection both in the present and in the future. Let’s break down 1 Corinthians 15 and let it be the outline for some study:

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (NIV)

¹Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ²By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. ³For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. ⁶After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. ⁹For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

Here Paul begins with the affirmation of the Gospel and its salvific message. He then reviews the three pillars on which the Christian faith rests (Christ died, was buried, and was resurrected) – which is the core of the Gospel message and the creed of our faith. And then Paul recounts those who were witnesses to the fact of the resurrection … lastly including himself during his “encounter” with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul will contend it is the literal, bodily resurrection of Christ that supersedes the entire Gospel narrative as he continues to reason:

1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (NIV)

¹²But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ¹⁵More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. ¹⁹If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Paul is quite adamant that the resurrection of Christ has indeed occurred:

1 Corinthians 15:20-26 (NIV)

²⁰But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have died. ²¹For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²²For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³But each in turn: Christ, the first-fruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him.²⁴Then the end will come, when He hands over the Kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. ²⁵For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Indeed, in Verse 22, we see the theological implications of the resurrection from Genesis to Revelation. In one sentence, Paul contrasts Adam with his Seed who will strike (crush) the head of Satan under His foot. (Cf. Genesis 3:15) Paul explains this victory in further detail through his letter to the Romans:

Romans 5:12-21 (NIV)

¹²Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— ¹³To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. ¹⁴Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. ¹⁵But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! ¹⁶Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! ¹⁸Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. ¹⁹For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. ²⁰The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:30-34 (NIV)

³⁰And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? ³¹I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³²If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” (Cf. Isaiah 22:13) ³³Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” (Here Paul quotes the Greek Poet Menander) ³⁴Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.

I believe the point Paul intends to make here is that the preaching of the resurrection has brought extreme hardship and death threats to him. So if the resurrection did not happen, why would he put himself in such peril? If the resurrection of Christ did not occur, then there is no atonement … our faith is in vain … we are still in our sins and salvation is just some sort of myth. We might as well just eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we will die…. But Paul warns against such thinking; and he advises us to be careful not to listen to people who have no understanding or faith in the truth of the resurrection. In a sense, unbelief in the resurrection is tantamount to unbelief in the Gospel – the testimony or word of God….

Paul goes on to surmise that someone will ask, ““How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” (Verse 35) And while it seems that Paul finds these questions somewhat “silly,” he proceeds to explain the process of our own resurrections using “natural” examples to teach “spiritual” truths.

1 Corinthians 15:35-49 (NIV)

³⁵But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” ³⁶How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. ³⁸But God gives it a body as He has determined, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body. ³⁹Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. ⁴⁰There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. ⁴¹The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. ⁴²So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.

(Note: this quote is found in Genesis 2:7) ⁷Then the Lord God formed a man (Adam in Hebrew) from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Paul uses this contrast between the “first” Adam with the “last” Adam to highlight his following thought process:

⁴⁶The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. ⁴⁷The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. ⁴⁸As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.

To me, the pertinent question here is: “What seed is it that we sow?” “What seed is it that we bury … to die … so that it will emerge in a new form … as God determines?” I believe that seed to be buried is our life … the life we now live in our body. And this brings to mind what Jesus taught:

Matthew 16:24-26 (NIV) (See also Mark 8:34-36; Luke 9:23-25)

²⁴Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

It is clear that we are to die to our sinful nature; and I believe this is the seed we sow! Our former life (our natural life) is to be buried with Christ Jesus through baptism into death in order that we too may live a new life … a resurrected life now (our spiritual life). Just as Christ Jesus was raised from the dead after His crucifixion, so we are raised to new life … a new creation … that does not bear the image of what was sown; rather, it bears the image that God has determined. Yes, He conforms us to the image of His Son! (Cf. Romans 8:29)

Romans 6:1-11 (NIV)

6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ²By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ⁵For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His. ⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. ⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. ¹⁰The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

What I think we need to understand is that there is a spiritual resurrection that occurs now when we die to self, repent, and place our faith in Jesus. And there will be a resurrection of our bodies after our physical deaths that occurs later when Jesus returns for the day of judgement and His rule. But Paul goes on to assure us that the image we will bear in our resurrected bodies will be the same as the resurrected body of Jesus Christ. Oh how I pray that we get the importance of this revelation … because it sets the foundation for what Paul declares next:

1 Corinthians 15:50-55 (NIV)

⁵⁰I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all die, but we will all be changed— ⁵²in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (Read Isaiah 25:6-8) Where, O death, is your sting?” (Cf. Hosea 13:14) ⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵⁸Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Before He was sentenced to be crucified, Jesus told Pontius Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not from here.” (Cf. John 18:36) This is an interesting statement Christ made; but it does confirm that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God? It is similar to what Jesus disclosed in His prayer for believers:

John 17:14-18 (NIV)

¹⁴I have given them Your Word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. ¹⁸As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

Although we are not of this world, we are still in this world. Even though we serve the Kingdom of God within our physical flesh and blood, its realm will not be of this world! As Jesus explained to the Pharisees, “The Kingdom of God does not come with observation; rather, the Kingdom of God is within you.” (Cf. Luke 17:20-21) Indeed, at the new birth (after we have died to ourselves and been resurrected in newness of life), the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us and we submit to His authority over us. Our citizenship is transferred into heaven – from which we await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. (Cf. Philippians 3:20) So even though the Kingdom of God is not of this world … our service to God IS within this world, and we are exhorted to continue the work of sanctification; that is, to set ourselves apart unto God and to lead others out of this world and into the Kingdom of Light. As Paul concluded in Verse 58: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

The concept of the Kingdom of God has its roots in the Old Testament – when YHWH (God) was thought of as the King of Israel … the ruler of His people. But with the birth of Jesus, the Kingdom of God entered with new power and redemption (i.e. the New Covenant – when God will put His law into our minds and write it on our hearts. See Jeremiah 31:31-34) Jesus clearly taught that the “Kingdom” is present through His life and through His Word; yet, we must enter it of our own free will. So how do we reconcile the tension of these two views? Well, my thought, is that we must recognize that the Kingdom of God “embodies” a spiritual dimension. Just as salvation has already been effectuated through the cross and we receive it in faith; the Kingdom of God was effectuated through the resurrection of Christ Jesus and we enter it through the Spirit! Both are available to us now. Both are realities in the future.

Death has reigned because of sin … from Adam until Jesus Christ. But we have been given victory over the sting of death and the power of sin. Sin no longer reigns; rather, Christ reigns in our hearts! Death from sin is being destroyed now by the preaching of the Gospel … it has been nailed to the cross! And when the Gospel has been fully preached to the ends of the earth, then the end will come. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” And the Apostle John tells us that when believers are resurrected (the first resurrection), we will reign with Christ Jesus in His Kingdom! (Cf. Revelation 20:4-6) Perhaps this is the Kingdom that Paul indicated would not be inherited by flesh and blood. Perhaps the Kingdom we enter now is not the same as the Kingdom we will enter after death. This is a mystery…. But we do know that Jesus Christ is the King Eternal … Immortal … Invisible. (Cf. 1 Timothy 1:17)

Jesus told us to pray: “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your Kingdom come … your will be done … on earth as it is in heaven.” (Cf. Matthew 6:10) What does this mean in the context of our study? Well, understanding that the will of God is for all people to come to a knowledge of the truth (Cf. 1 Timothy 2:3), there is a Kingdom where God Himself has sworn by His own mouth, and His Word will not be revoked: “Before Me every knee will bow; by Me every tongue will swear.” (Cf. Isaiah 45:22-25) Paul quotes this passage in his discourse regarding our individual spiritual journeys in Romans 14. And in Philippians, Paul asserts sovereignty of God is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus.

Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV)

⁵In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: ⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage;
⁷rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! ⁹Therefore God exalted Him to the highest placeand gave Him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the Father.

Yes, in the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ rules in our hearts … and we bow to Him and acknowledge Him as Lord! And God invites all people to enter His Kingdom through His Son because Scripture tells us that submission to Jesus as Lord is required. Jesus declared, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (Cf. John 14:6) This is what God has ordained for His plan of redemption before the creation of the earth! So even though the Kingdom of God to come will not be experienced by flesh and blood, it will be experienced by our souls … which are ever present within us even now. And it appears that our souls will indwell our resurrected bodies … which will be like the resurrected body of Christ. This should make us even more introspective of the question Jesus posed: “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

As we think through the issues of faith, I think it is important to note that this tension between the present and the future should not be viewed as a hindrance to our understanding of Scripture; rather, I believe the “dualism” flows from the truth we encounter each day. As Paul explained, “there is a natural body and a spiritual body. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.” But we should recognize that the spiritual is readily manifested in the natural even now. Perhaps this experience should be considered an “integration” because each one impacts the other without reference to time. There is a salvation now … and a salvation later. There is a resurrection now … and a resurrection later. There is a Kingdom of God now … and a Kingdom of God later. There is eternal life now … and eternal life later. Yet, for God, it is the eternal present. There is no time … and that is the mystery for us to reconcile.

So, I hope that we will see these patterns and relationships between the physical (natural) and the spiritual (supernatural) presented here. I pray that we will come to understand that what we do and how we respond to God impacts not only our spiritual birth and maturity within the physical reality of life we experience now, but I hope that we will come to understand how this impacts our inheritance of what God has prepared and declared for the new heavens and new earth to come. (Yes, even the heavens will experience a resurrection to come!) So while there is a reality of physical and spiritual integration in the present; there is a similar reality to be experienced in the age to come. This is the hope of our salvation to come! And I believe the challenge is this: To enter the kingdom of God now … to deny ourselves and the attachments of darkness now … in order to inherit the kingdom of God to come – when Jesus returns in glory to take us to the place He has prepared for us. Yes, the body of sin must be put to death so that a spirit of holiness will prevail in us. Perhaps, this is why we are admonished: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Cf. Luke 9:23) Yes, for the Christian, death to sin is a daily decision. But the promises of God and our inheritance through Christ Jesus is worth it all – both now and in the age to come.

I realize this has been quite lengthy; and I appreciate your patience with me if you made it through…. I may not have articulated the points very well; but I hope you have been intrigued enough to examine these Scriptures for yourself and to consider how they should engage deeper thought on key theological issues of the faith. I pray you and I will continue to grow in our knowledge of God through His Word and be changed by its truths….

So Now You Know….

Have a Blessed Day!

The Great Profession…

Romans 14:11 (NIV)

It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

So our verse today is a precursor to a larger study I have been working on and hope to post soon. But let me say, I believe this verse is quite prophetic in the context of what is happening in our world. I truly believe the Coronavirus Pandemic situation is setting the stage for more turbulent times than we have already experienced in the past couple of months. Note what the verse states: “EVERY knee will bow before me; EVERY tongue will acknowledge God.” Paul is quoting from Isaiah 45:23; and I would encourage you to read the entire chapter for context. But to me, the key word is EVERY. And looking at our world, our culture, and our society, I see very little reverence for God or the pursuit of holiness or righteousness among unbelievers. And this indifference … this lack of fear toward God and the Lord Jesus Christ is probably an issue for many who claim or profess to believe in Him….

Perhaps, this verse today is a reminder to us all that Jesus is sovereign … He is in authority … He alone is worthy of all honor, praise, and glory. Perhaps, it is a call today for repentance! Perhaps it is time for the church to return to reverence and worship of our awesome, loving God. Perhaps it is time to adamantly include the word LORD along with Savior in our profession of faith! Perhaps it is a call to humble ourselves before the Lord in deep repentance as individuals … as families … as communities … as nations … across the earth.

Philippians 4:5-11 (NIV)

⁵In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: ⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage;
⁷rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! ⁹Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Yes, EVERY person WILL fall to their knees before Jesus Christ and confess He is LORD! And the Church ought to be the best place to set the example. The Apostle Peter warned:

1 Peter 4:12-18 (NIV)

¹²Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed. ¹⁴If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (Cf. Proverbs 11:31)

Perhaps we need to revisit the words of the Apostle Paul who admonished: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (Cf. Corinthians 13:5) Likewise, the words of Jesus should cause us some introspection when He questioned: “But why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,” and not do the things which I say.” (Cf. Luke: 6:46) The presence of this unusual “pestilence” and the panicked reaction of the world should prompt us all to take note at what God is doing in His world right now. He is shaking the earth once more! (Cf. Haggai 2:21) But this shaking is not a physical earthquake like we might imagine; rather, it is the awakening of the Church to be a light unto the world! But how can The Church be a light to the world … if we too participate in its darkness? God is calling us once more to sanctification and holiness. These are not options. It is a command: “Be Holy, for I am Holy.” (Cf. 1 Peter 1:16) “For this is the will of God: your sanctification….” (Cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:3)

Ephesians 5:1-15 (NKJV)

¹ Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. ²And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. ³But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; ⁴neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. ⁵For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷Therefore do not be partakers with them. ⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of the Light (Spirit) is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), ¹⁰finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. ¹¹And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. ¹³But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. ¹⁴Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep. Arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” ¹⁵See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, ¹⁶redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Well, I pray these passages will stir our hearts … challenge our thinking … and create a personal revival in each of us! We need to wake up and realize we are in the latter days. This is the year for prodigals to return. This is the time of harvest…. The fields are wide open…. We are to be about the master’s business because His return will be soon. When Jesus taught His disciples about the end of age, He concluded: “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

Luke 21:25-36 (NKJV)

²⁵“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. ²⁶People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. ²⁷At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” ²⁹He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. ³⁰When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. ³¹Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³²“Truly, I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³³Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ³⁴“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. ³⁵For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

I sense we had better check our fear of God again. The Lord Jesus is not reverenced in our lives, and therefore, in the Church as He ought to be! We need to return to the cross … make our altar at the cross … return to the quiet place of prayer and intimacy … and equip ourselves for the work till to be done. I will say it again: “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So Now You Know ….

Have a Blessed Day!

A Foolish Message?

1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV)

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Our verse today is a wonderful message of hope and assurance. Let’s look at the context and explore “the message of the cross”:

1 Corinthians 1:17-31 (NIV)

¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. ¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” (Paul is quoting Isaiah 29:14) ²⁰Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²²Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.²⁶Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (Paul is quoting Jeremiah 9:24)

I think it is important to note that in the preceding Verses 10-17, Paul is addressing what he describes as “divisions” within the church … specifically a matter over which church leader(s) people should follow. Paul asks, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?” His point was that there is only ONE leader or head of the church … and that is Christ Jesus. For He is the one who was crucified on the cross for our sins. Even more … Jesus was resurrected from the dead to demonstrate the power and authority He received from God the Father. To Paul, and for us, this is the only message worthy of preaching. The Gospel is inseparable from the cross! In fact, the Gospel IS the message of the cross! So, what exactly is the message of the cross?

The message of the cross is light!

Think about it for a moment. What took place on the cross? Yes, suffering, agony, and excruciating pain. But what else did the torment of crucifixion entail? Absolute Humiliation! I think that aspect is one we tend to forget. Indeed, one of the reasons that crucifixion was used by the Romans was to use its horrific humiliation to discourage others from engaging in criminal acts – especially those of treason or insurrection. Those who were crucified were stripped naked to increase their shame since these spectacles were conducted in full view of the public. Yet, perhaps, the full exposure (the humiliation) is an aspect that we need to consider more when it comes to the message of the cross….

John 3:19-21 (NIV)

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

The cross exposes the hideous nature of sin in full detail. It reveals the justice of God against all sin, transgression, iniquity, rebellion, and evil. And I believe the full humiliation that Christ Jesus suffered for our sin should not be taken for granted at all. Yes, stop for a moment, and take an honest look at the disgrace and humiliation our own words and behaviors have inflicted upon the name of Jesus Christ. Yes, look at the cross and you will see what sin has done to us and our world…. God, in His wisdom, leads us to the cross in order to expose the condition of the human heart … the inclination of the thoughts of our hearts … to reveal the depravity of sin … and to convict us of our offense against the holiness of God.

The message of the cross is love!

While the light of the cross shows the entire world what the darkness of sin has done, the cross is where God revealed His mercy and grace … and demonstrated His love for us:

John 3:16-17 (NIV)

¹⁶For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Romans 5:7-9 (NIV)

⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!

Ephesians 2:1-5 (NIV)

¹As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ²in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

1 John 3:16 (NIV)

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.

1 John 4:9-10 (NIV)

⁹This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

The message of the cross is forgiveness!

The death of Jesus on the cross was far more than just an event in history … it was ordained for the forgiveness of sins … to purchase our redemption from the slavery or control of sin. Both the Apostles Peter and Paul preached this Gospel message to the early Church:

Acts 10:39-43 (NIV)

“³⁹We are witnesses of everything Jesus did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed Him by hanging Him on a cross, ⁴⁰but God raised Him from the dead on the third day and caused Him to be seen. ⁴¹He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”

Acts 13:32-39 (NIV)

³²“We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors ³³He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’ (Psalm 2:7) ³⁴God raised Jesus from the dead so that He will never be subject to decay. As God has said, “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’ (Isaiah 55:3) ³⁵So it is also stated elsewhere: “‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’ (Psalm 16:10) ³⁶“Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. ³⁷But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. ³⁸“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. ³⁹Through Him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.

Paul later affirmed, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸that He lavished on us.” (Cf. Ephesians 7-8) And again, “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Cf. Colossians 1:13-14) And the Apostle John wrote: “He (Jesus) is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (Cf. 1 John 2:2) No, we cannot escape the truth that the message of the cross is redemption … the forgiveness of our sins.

The message of the cross is reconciliation!

The forgiveness of our sins accomplished through the blood atonement, effectuated on the cross, cleansed us from all unrighteousness! Through faith in Christ Jesus, God declares us reconciled and restored. Through the cross, Jesus brought us the assurance of peace with God. As Isaiah prophesied: “Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. ⁵But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” (Cf. Isaiah 53:4-5)

Colossians 1:19-23 (NIV)

¹⁹For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Jesus, ²⁰and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross. ²¹Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²²But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the Gospel. This is the Gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Romans 5:10-11 (NIV)

¹⁰For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! ¹¹Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (NIV)

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made Him who had no sin to be a sin offering for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

The message of reconciliation is probably one in need of great emphasis at this moment in history. Every prodigal needs to be reminded that reconciliation with God was obtained through the cross. Yes, the prodigal needs to know that peace with God is still afforded through the cross. The offense of rebellion has been redeemed! The attitude of indifference has been covered. The time for restoration is Today! The cross is where liberty from darkness awaits and where the power to live in righteousness is found!

The message of the cross is liberty!

The cross ultimately brings us freedom from sin. The cross is where the sinful nature of our flesh is put to death before we are resurrected in our spirit to newness of life. Yes, the Old Rugged Cross is the emblem of suffering and shame; but I see its beams as the intersection of our bodies and our spirits – the crossroads from which the process of sanctification emerges. Indeed, God in His wisdom, requires us to confront our sinful nature at the cross! Why? Because the cross is HOW we are freed not only from the penalty of sin (death) also how we are freed from the power of sin (sanctification). The cross is where we are led by the wisdom of God to die to self … and to no longer be held captive by the sin that was crucified there….

Romans 6:1-14 (NIV)

¹What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ²By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ⁵For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His. ⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. ⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. ¹⁰The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Romans 8:1-4 (NIV)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ²because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set us free from the law of sin and death. ³For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Galatians 5:19-25 (NIV)

¹⁹The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

The message of the cross is power!

Indeed, as Paul implied, the cross represents the power of God. The cross displays the sovereignty of God to determine how His salvation and sanctification will be accomplished. Although God allowed His Son to be humiliated and executed on the cross; His resurrection as the third day disarmed the powers and authorities (and the spiritual forces of darkness behind them)! Jesus overruled their plans because ALL authority in heaven and in earth has been given to Him. (Cf. Matthew 28:18, John 17:2) Through the cross, God has displayed to all creation that He alone has the power to forgive sin … and His Word declares that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness! (Cf. Hebrews 9:22) And we can see this message of power in the preaching of the Apostles:

Acts 26:15-18 (NIV)

¹⁵“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ¹⁶‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. ¹⁷I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ ¹⁹“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.

Romans 1:15-17 (NIV)

¹⁵That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. ¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. ¹⁷For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Paul is quoting Habakkuk 2:4)

1 Corinthians 2:3-5 (NIV)

³I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

1 Timothy 1:6-8 (NKJV)

⁶Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-discipline. ⁸Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the Gospel according to the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, ¹⁰but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel, ¹¹to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher. ¹²For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

2 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)

³His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. ⁴Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

The message of the cross is triumph!

Through His death, Jesus has paid the penalty of sin – in full and once for all! And through His resurrection, Jesus imparts His Spirit to afford us continual power to triumph over sin … to give us victory in our trials and tribulations:

Colossians 2:13-15 (NIV)

¹³When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in Him by the cross.

1 Corinthians 15:54-56 (NIV)

⁵⁴When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Note here that Paul quotes from the Prophets Isaiah and Hosea; and I want to share these particular passages for the richness they bring to Paul’s conclusion:

Isaiah 25:6-9 (NIV)

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines.On this mountain He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; ⁸He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove His people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. ⁹In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

Hosea 13:14 (NIV)

“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?

Revelation 12:10-11 (NIV)

¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. ¹¹They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

The message of the cross is hope!

Going back to the discourse Paul had before King Agrippa, we see that he proclaims the hope of the resurrection as it relates to the cross of Jesus Christ. It is because the resurrection is true that we now have hope in all the promises of God….

Acts 26:4-8 (NIV)

⁴“The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. ⁵They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee. ⁶And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. ⁷This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. ⁸Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

Romans 8:19-25 (NIV)

¹⁹For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope. ²¹For the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. ²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

We have, I think, fully examined the message of the cross. And so I wonder, “Why is the message of the cross considered foolishness to anyone?” If a person is unable to “hear” the message about Christ Jesus, they will not come to faith. (Cf. Romans 10:17) Although we can see and understand the power of God demonstrated through the cross to bring us salvation, the fool has said in his/her heart, “There is no God.” (Cf. Psalm 14:1) And so I pray. I ask all of us to pray … that God would open the spiritual eyes and ears and hearts of prodigals and all those whom God is calling to respond to the message of the cross! Oh, how I pray, the veil of darkness will be removed from the eyes of their hearts … that the light of the cross will go forth and illuminate minds to receive and understand the Word of Truth … so that the kindness of God will lead them to repentance! (Cf. Romans 2:4) I pray that we as believers will understand that our prayers are mission critical in this hour as never before! The message of the cross is the power of God to save! I pray we will live out its message as a testimony to those who consider it foolishness. Oh may our lives bring conviction and desire to embrace the message of the cross…. Amen.

So Now You Know ….

Have a Blessed Day!

A Taxing Situation

Romans 13:6-7 (NIV)

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

I’m pretty sure this verse comes around on Income Tax Day each year…. While none of us really like paying taxes (and there are too many to count); taxes are quite necessary for the functioning of our society. And understanding the necessity of taxes to fund needs for the common good and welfare, probably none of resent taxation itself. Yet, I believe our disgruntlement and frustration stems from how our tax dollars are allocated or spent. My personal criticism is how I feel tax resources are wasted by our government. Nevertheless, let’s look at our verse in the surrounding context and similar passages with this theme in mind:

Romans 13:1-8 (NIV)

¹Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ²Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. ⁴For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. ⁶This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. ⁷Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. ⁸Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Thus, we are to submit to the authorities over us. This has been a principle for the people of God since the time of judges and kings being appointed over the people of God … and different forms of government have been forged over the millennia of history:

Ecclesiastes 8:2-6 (NKJV)

²I say, “Keep the king’s command for the sake of your oath to God. ³Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.” ⁴Where the word of the king is supreme; and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” ⁵He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; and a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment, ⁶because for every matter there is a time and judgment, although the misery of man is great upon him.

Titus 3:1-3 (NIV)

¹ Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, ²to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. ³At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

Yet, we find that even kings and government authorities can abuse their roles and fail to fulfill their appointments by God:

Isaiah 10:1-4 (NASB)

Woe to those who enact evil statutes and to those who constantly record unjust decisions, ²so as to deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of My people of their rights; so that widows may be their spoil and that they may plunder the orphans. ³Now what will you do in the day of punishment, and in the devastation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your glory or wealth? ⁴Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away and His hand is still stretched out.

And there can be conflict when we disagree with those authorities. Here is an example that illustrates that tension:

Acts 4:18-22 (NIV)

¹⁸So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, ²⁰for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” ²¹And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.

So where does this leave us? What is the application?

1 Peter 2:11-17 (NKJV)

¹¹Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from sinful desires which war against the soul, ¹²having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. ¹³Therefore submit yourselves to every human authority for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, ¹⁴or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. ¹⁵For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— ¹⁶Live as free people, yet not using liberty as a cover-up for evil, but as bondservants of God. ¹⁷Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (NIV)

¹ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— ²for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

So, today, Father, I lift up and pray for all those in authority over us. I pray that they will seek You, O God, for wisdom and understanding … to make laws and regulations that will conform to Your will for all people … that honor and protect widows and orphans … that will not oppress the poor … that will preserve the sanctity of life You have given … that will honor Your Word in all truth. Protect and bless those in government who administrate your will for the peace and well-being of your people. Rebuke, correct, and disciple those authorities who do evil in your sight and do not uphold Your Word. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven through those You have appointed to govern over us. And, Father, in all things, may we conduct ourselves in a manner that honors and glorifies You and Your Name … that we might expose darkness and bring light and hope to those around us. In Your Name I pray. Amen.

So Now You Know!

Have a Blessed Day!

The Simple Gospel

1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-4

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

I really like our passage for today. The Gospel! Yes, the Gospel … the Good News that has been preached since the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what is that Good News? Well, Paul shares that the most important aspects of that Good News are as follows:

1. Christ died for our sins – according to the Scriptures

2. Christ was buried – according to the Scriptures (emphasis mine)

3. Christ was resurrected – according to the Scriptures

I put according to the Scriptures for all three points because Isaiah 53 address all three issues of the message:

1. By arrest and judgment He was taken away. Yet who of His generation protested? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people He was punished.

2. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death, though He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

3. He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in His hand. After He has suffered, He will see the light of life and be satisfied;

But there are numerous Scriptures that address this succinct presentation of the Gospel. Indeed, Jesus Himself declared, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Cf. Matthew 5:17) And after He was resurrected, Jesus explained to His disciples: He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” (Luke 24:44) Everything must be fulfilled … and it was fulfilled … including His resurrection. It is the resurrection that distinguishes Jesus from any other prophet or religious figure in history. To reject or deny His resurrection is to reject His authority over sin and forgiveness … over life and death. Consider the following passages which expound upon the authority of Jesus:

Matthew 9:6a; Mark 2:10 (NIV)

But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.

Matthew 28:18 (NIV)

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Mark 1:22-27; Luke 4:32-36 (NIV)

²²The people were amazed at His teaching, because He taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. ²³Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, ²⁴“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” ²⁵“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” ²⁶The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. ²⁷The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey Him.”

Luke 12:5 (NIV)

But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him.

John 5:26-27 (NIV)

²⁶For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. ²⁷And He (the Father) has given Him (the Son) authority to judge because He is the Son of Man.

John 10:17-18 (NIV)

¹⁷The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

John 17:1-2 (NIV)

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ²For you granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those you have given Him.

I especially love the verse from John 10 where Jesus explains that He laid down His life of His own accord. And He declared, I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. Jesus had the authority to raise Himself from the dead! And I think it is imperative that we understand – He exercised that authority … that power!

Romans 1:1-4 (NIV)

¹Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart (sanctified) for the Gospel of God— ²the Gospel He (God) promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures ³regarding His Son, who according to the flesh was a descendant of David, ⁴and who through the Spirit of Holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

You cannot find anyone else in history that has exercised the power to raise their own dead body from the grave. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the apex of the Gospel! His resurrection is the Great News because it confirms the promise of eternal life. It confirms that His death was sufficient to atone for our sins. Yes, we have been forgiven and redeemed! Our salvation is true because the resurrection affirms it! His resurrection is proof that Jesus is Lord and Savior … and that He is every I AM statement ever uttered from His lips. The resurrection proves the authority of Jesus Christ who declared: “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Cf. Revelation 1:18) And this is what should fill the heart of every person with reverent fear. In short, Jesus is who He said He is….

With these convictions of Truth in mind, I want to reflect on the impact His resurrection has on our faith:

1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (NIV)

¹²But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ¹⁵More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But God did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. ¹⁹If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is essential for our faith in Him to have any relevance or any hope at all. Without the resurrection, there is no assurance of anything. And assurance is what unbelievers long for the most … assurance of eternal life … which is the desire of every human heart. Oh, the resurrection is our assurance that God loves His Son … loves us … and wants us to be reconciled and restored to fellowship with Him. This brings to mind the lyrics of an old hymn written by Fanny Crosby: “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God. Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.” This is my story; this is my song…. Indeed, this is THE Story to be told all the day long! It is the Gospel! So, I will close with this thought:

Romans 8:10-11 (NIV)

¹⁰But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.

I pray the power of the resurrection will impact our faith and our hearts now more than ever. May it revive our prayer time and bring greater intimacy with our Lord Jesus. Indeed, I pray we will experience the power of His resurrection and the newness of life through His Spirit. For we are called to be alive in Christ! Since we have been raised with Christ, we should set our hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (Cf. Colossians 3:1) There, Jesus is interceding for us! (Cf. Romans 8:34) Because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, He is able to save forever those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. (Cf. Hebrews 7:24-25) Indeed, Jesus the Living One, is our blessed assurance!

So Now You Know!

Have a Blessed Day!

Just The Right Time

Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This passage from Romans 5 is still as powerful today as it was when the Apostle Paul penned it for the Church. Verse 8 is quite profound, and it gives us a clear understanding of the depth of God’s love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us … the ungodly … those without hope of salvation! Indeed, Jesus was crucified because we are all sinners! “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Cf. Romans 3:23)

Psalm 14:2-3; Psalm 53:2-3; Romans 3:11-12

The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. ³They have all turned aside. They have together become corrupt; there is none who does good … No, not one.

God saw our condition … our state of darkness … our need for salvation! But we are assured: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Cf. John 3:16) “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (Cf. 1 John 4:9-10) And as Paul concluded: “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Cf. Romans 8:38-39)

God has manifested, demonstrated, and confirmed His love for us! The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us! (Cf. Romans 5:5) How could anyone ever doubt the love of God? The love of God provided His own Passover Lamb as a sin offering for us! You can readily see this presented and prophetically revealed in Genesis 22 which tells the story of when God tested Abraham with the sin offering (sacrifice) of Isaac (his first-born and only son of Sarah) on Mount Moriah. The narrative reveals the intense faith Abraham had in God … a faith demonstrated by a sincere love and trust in God such that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son in obedience to the command he had received:

Genesis 22:6-13 (NIV)

⁶Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” ⁸Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. ⁹When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. ¹²“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” ¹³Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram (behind him) caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

But unlike Isaac, who was bound by his father and then placed on the altar for sacrifice, Jesus was willing to die. Indeed, it was for this purpose that He was sent by His Father. And Jesus was not bound and then placed on the cross of sacrifice; He was nailed to it after He had been violently abused, brutalized, and humiliated. And here is the explanation that Jesus gave before the betrayal and trial and execution ever occurred:

John 10:14-18 (NIV)

¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

A thought just came to mind. There is a song by a band named Foreigner entitled: I Want to Know What Love Is. The chorus goes: “I want to know what love is, I want you to show me. I want to feel what love is, I know you can show me.” If a person made this his/her prayer to God, I believe God would respond: “I have shown you what love is. You can know what love is. You can feel what love is. I have demonstrated my passionate, everlasting love to you and for you. I have made known my love for you. His name is Jesus!” The Apostle Paul prayed that believers would know this love:

Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)

¹⁶I pray that out of His glorious riches He (God) may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Yes, we can know the depth of His love … even though it surpasses our comprehension…. The Apostle John affirms this same knowledge:

1 John 4:10-16 (NIV)

¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. ¹³This is how we know that we live in Him and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. ¹⁶And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

Indeed, “God has delivered us from the power (dominion) of darkness and transferred (brought) us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He (Jesus, the Son) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” (Cf. Colossians 1:13-15) And this is the reason for the cross. Jesus is the revelation of the heart of God: of rescue … of redemption … of resurrection … of reconciliation. God sent His Son to accomplish ALL of these things because He loves us! Yes, the cross of Christ was ordained! It was commanded by the Father. It was His will. The Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the world. (Cf. Revelation 13:8) And what does He require? A Response. Repentance. Reformation. He says to us: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Cf. Romans 12:2) And, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when He is revealed. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. Instead, just as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct;for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (Cf. 1 Peter 1:13-16)

We remember the cross because it is an eternal symbol of God’s love for His creation. We remember the cross because it is where Jesus was sent by the Father to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins … even the sins of the whole world. (Cf. 1 John 2:2) We remember the cross because there is, therefore, now no condemnation for our sins. (Cf. Romans 8:1) But I pray we are reminded: “Jesus Himself bore our sins in HIS Body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.” (Cf. 1 Peter 2:24) As Paul asked: “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Cf. Romans 6:2) And Paul exhorted: “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Cf. Colossians 3:2-4)

I truly want us to remember the purpose of the cross … the crucifixion … that God would send His Son to die for us. I believe the purpose is evoke a response; and I think Paul articulates the response that God desires from each of us quite well:

Romans 6:1-14 (NRSV)

¹What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? ³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴Therefore we have been buried with Him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For whoever has died is freed from sin. ⁸But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. ⁹We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. ¹⁰The death He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. ¹³No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

So, I will close with this passage:

Luke 9:23-24 (NIV)

Then Jesus said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

So Now You Know!

Have a Blessed Day!

Radiance of God

Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

I love our Verse of the Day … especially in the full context of the passage that opens the Book of Hebrews:

Hebrews 1:1-4 (ESV)

¹ Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ²but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. ³He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact image of His nature, and He (Jesus) upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴having become as much superior to angels as the name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

If we continued into Verses 5-9, we would understand that the name Jesus inherited is SON. God sent His Son … His ONLY begotten son … into the world to speak to us and to show us the Father. And the Gospel of John affirms this postulation:

John 14:1-11 (NKJV)

¹ “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ²In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴And where I go you know, and the way you know.” ⁵Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. ⁷“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” ⁸Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” ⁹Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. ¹¹Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

John 3:17-18 (NKJV)

¹⁶For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Jesus, the Son of God, was sent to provide purification for sins, so that the world might be saved through Him. This is the only means of salvation: To believe in Jesus and the atoning power of His blood – which was shed on the cross! Those who believe … who put their faith in Him will not be condemned. (Cf. Romans 8:1) But those who do not believe in Him remain under the condemnation of their sin. Yes, this is how God the Father views sin! His holiness condemns it! “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Cf. Romans 6:23) Note the contrast: Forgiveness versus death. The outcome is predicated upon our faith … and the transformation that faith causes in us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit when we are born of God. Yes, this is hard to explain to the unbeliever, but Scripture demonstrates it is true nonetheless. As Paul observed:

1 Corinthians 2:12-14 (NKJV)

¹²Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. ¹³These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

To believe in Jesus is to believe the Father who sent Him. Indeed, this is the work of God … to produce faith within us. When we resist Jesus … we are resisting the work of God to bring us to Himself … to purify us from sin … and reconcile us to fellowship with Him.

John 6:29-40 (NKJV)

²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” ³⁰Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? ³¹Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” ³²Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” ³⁵And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. ³⁶But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. ³⁷All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. ⁴⁰And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

We can only see Jesus through the eyes of faith! And when we see Jesus … we see the Father. It is a straightforward message; yet those who physically saw Jesus in the early 1^st Century still did not believe His Word … His Testimony. This is hard to fathom, but Jesus gives us some insight on why this was the case: “All that the Father gives Me will come Me.” Jesus will expound on this matter further:

John 6:43-48 (NKJV)

⁴³Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. ⁴⁴No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ (Cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34) Therefore everyone who hears and has learned from the Father comes to Me. ⁴⁶Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life.

Here Jesus quotes what is known as the New Covenant. We find it in writings of the Prophet Jeremiah and it has great theological significance when we understand it in the context of the crucifixion:

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NKJV)

³¹“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— ³²not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. ³³But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ³⁴No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Matthew 26:26-28 (NKJV)

²⁶And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” ²⁷Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus IS the New Covenant! Through His blood our iniquities have been forgiven and our sin is remembered no more. We have been washed. We have been made clean. We are now clothed in white linen and acceptable to God the Father because we have been made holy unto God. The New Covenant is the knowledge of God. “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (Cf. John 17:3) “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” (Cf. 1 John 5:20)

Jesus was sent to give us understanding! “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own people, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (Cf. John 1:10-13) Therefore, let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Cf. Hebrews 12:2)

I pray we will bring all these things to remembrance on this Good Friday … on this day that the New Covenant was forged through the blood of the Son of God and confirmed by His resurrection on the third day as He promised. May we continue to prepare our hearts for that Day! Amen.

So Now You Know!

Have a Blessed Day!

Hypocrisy – The Enemy of Grace

Romans 5:10

For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!

As we move closer to Good Friday and the remembrance of the crucifixion, this verse caught my attention in the context of what we see happening in the world right now. I have shared my thoughts that while the Coronavirus Pandemic is being weaponized by the enemy to bring more darkness and deception in the world; I am certain that God will cause all things to work for the good of those who love Him – who have been called according to His purpose! (Cf. Romans 8:28) And I believe God is shaking the earth once again in this time to stir up His people … to wake us up! And I sense this shaking is especially for believers … for those who profess Jesus is Lord and yet forsake Him through their complacency, their faithlessness, and their hypocrisy.

Jesus had much to say about the hypocrisy of religious people. He rebuked the Pharisees and scribes for their hypocrisy. Here are some excerpts from Matthew 23:

¹Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples: ²“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

¹³“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. ¹⁴They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

¹⁵“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

²⁵“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

²⁷“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

I find it interesting that after these rebukes found in Chapter 23, we find Jesus speaking about the signs of the End Times in Chapter 24. I do not think that this organization of the narrative is coincidental because Chapter 25 affords us the Parable of the Ten Virgins, the Parable of the Talents, and His discourse on the separation of the sheep and the goats at His Second Coming! So do you see the progression? Jesus rebukes hypocrisy and both its deception for believers and its destructive effect on unbelievers or those who are seeking the Kingdom of God. Then He declares there will be an end of this present world and that He will return. As Jesus warns us:“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him. (Cf. Matthew 24:42-44) And finally, Jesus addresses the outcome of our faith … those who are prepared for His return and those who are not prepared: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. ³²All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.” (Cf. Matthew 25:31-33)

Perhaps we should back up a few chapters and recall the events of Easter Week. Consider for a moment: In Matthew Chapter 21, Jesus rode in triumphant procession … on a donkey and was hailed as King when He entered Jerusalem on what we celebrate as Palm Sunday. He entered the temple courts; and to His provocation, Jesus saw the place filled with commerce … like a marketplace … buyers and sellers … and moneychangers (ancient ATMs) throughout. Filled with righteous anger, Jesus drove them all out of the temple courts and rebuke them all – declaring “My house will be called a House of Prayer (Quoting Isaiah 56:7), but you are making it a den of robbers!” (Quoting Jeremiah 7:11) Jesus exposed the insidious effects of religious hypocrisy and declared it MUST stop at the temple of God … and more metaphorically … it WOULD stop at the temple of His Body! And we know that His zealous actions sealed the decision of the religious rulers to plan His assassination within a few days.

Yet, we need to keep in mind that all these events had been foretold … they had been ordered by Father God. For God ordained that the sacrifice of His Son would be the final atonement … the eternal propitiation for the sin of the world. So here in our Verse of the Day, we find Paul expounding on the implications of the crucifixion beyond the atonement we received from God: “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!” How much more does not pose the question; rather, it is the conclusive exclamation of the blessing of salvation which surpasses the act of reconciliation! Indeed, there is no greater cost to be imagined. “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Cf. Matthew 16:26)

And so, we are being shaken in this Easter Season. The cross of Christ reveals how God deeply abhors sin … any and all sin … and perhaps, especially the hidden sin that we attempt to conceal from others under the guise of hypocrisy. Indeed, we are being called to rid ourselves of religious and spiritual hypocrisy! We are to remove it from our inner beings – our spiritual houses. Just as Moses commanded the people when he instituted the Passover: ^“So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. ¹⁵Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. (Cf. Exodus 12:14-15) Remove the leaven! And what is the leaven we should remove in preparation?

Luke 12:1-5 (NKJV)

He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ²For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. ³Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. ⁴“And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!

Why is this important? What is the application for us as believers? As the Church?

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 (NKJV)

⁶Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷Therefore, clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. ⁸Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Amen. We simply cannot tolerate hypocrisy within ourselves! We cannot allow the leaven of sin to destroy the temples of our bodies! As Paul asserted in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” In this season right now, God is calling believers to get rid of the leaven in our houses! He is calling us to holiness! He is calling us to return to the cross of Christ! I believe God wants us to identify again with the blood shed on the cross and proclaim: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Cf. Galatians 2:20) Yes, Jesus died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. (Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:15)

If God has shaken you during the past few weeks … if God has stirred your mind and heart about the return of His Son and the glory of His Coming … then I pray all of us will listen to and respond to His Word. Jesus will soon be coming for His Bride … the Church! Through intercession at the right hand of God, He is sanctifying and cleansing us … with the washing of water by the Word … that He might present us to Himself a glorious Church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Cf. Ephesians 5:26-27) Yes, let us return the cross this Easter and remember the holy price paid for our redemption! Perhaps this old hymn will speak to your heart:

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did ever such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Yes! Let us gaze at the wonderous cross on which the Prince of Glory died! Let us return to our first love! We have been afforded the opportunity in this moment. So let us stop to reflect … to reconsider … to repent … to return. God our Savior, who loves us beyond our ability to conceive, wants us to give Him our attention … our undivided attention … our uncompromised devotion! Let us remove all hypocrisy and be sincere. As Jesus said to the woman at the well, “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in the Spirit and Truth.” (Cf. John 4:23-24)

So Now You Know!

Have a Blessed Day!

The Blood of Redemption

Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace….

In my prayer time this morning, I felt a deep sense of the need for us to focus on the core message of the Gospel … the foundation of our salvation … and for us to look neither to the right or to the left of what our verse here declares: In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace…. But I think we would do well to see this verse … this declaration of redemption in Christ within the full context of the opening section of Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus:

Ephesians 1:1-10 (NIV)

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: ²Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴For He (God) chose us in Him (Christ) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love ⁵He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— ⁶to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. ⁷In Him (Christ) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸that He lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹He (God) made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, ¹⁰to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

By the grace of God we have been saved. This is not of ourselves … but through the lavish gift of grace given to us. And this grace is received through the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. Yes, redemption … salvation … is the will of God … and we can know it without fear or doubt! Everything else given to us by God can be understood once this foundation of truth has been laid within our souls. As Paul instructed believers: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. (1 Corinthians 2:12) But before the Spirit of God can give us this discernment, the testimony of God in Jesus Christ must be believed. As Paul addressed the believers in Corinth:

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NKJV)

¹And I, brothers and sisters, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. ²For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. ³I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Why is this so important? Because there is a spirit of deception permeating, enveloping, and encircling the world right now. There is a veil of darkness that is blinding people to the truth concerning Christ Jesus. People are searching for answers and seeking truth; yet there are world powers and their false prophets who cloak the truth with a lie. The seeds of doubt are being sown and watered under the cloud of the Coronavirus. The spirit of deception is spreading just as rapidly as the pandemic. But the voice of the Lord cries out: “Do not be deceived!” Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice; I know them, and they follow Me!” (Cf. John 10:27) Even now, Jesus declares: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Cf. Revelation 3:20)

I feel quite impressed there is a fierce battle for the Truth to be unfettered and released! And our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. And within this spiritual war going on … and we need to hold fast to this truth: In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us. We need to remain steadfast and confident … to trust God at His Word. Yes, even now I feel compelled to quote Jude 3-4:^“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”

I pray for each of you to remain safe and protected as this pandemic continues. I urge you to pray for health care providers and caregivers everywhere to be protected from harm and to have the strength to endure the unrelenting strain on them and their resources. Please pray like never before for perseverance and for this tribulation to cease! This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14)