Easter

...now browsing by category

 

#Lent#9

Monday, March 9th, 2020

Jesus’ time on earth, His death and resurrection, was a series of clashes.  It is easy to see the clash on the cross of God vs Satan. Not good vs evil. That’s too shallow and cartoonish. No, the clash was greater.  It was a clash between the King of kings and the Lord of lords , the ultimate Ruler, vs the usurper, the pretender to the throne. The rebel. The loser.

The life of Jesus was also a clash. It was a clash of grace, love, mercy, freedom and new life vs the force of laws, rituals, arrogance, shackles and death. Jesus battled the enemy His entire time on earth. From birth to the grave. The religious system that wanted to bind and keep people under its thumb.

Jesus came to give freedom. He came to give life.  He did not come to make people slaves to rules and regulations, to a religious system that oppressed. I like the way Piper worded it:

The cross means freedom from the enslavement of ritual. (p.45)

You can see it in Acts 15.  You can see it in Galatians. What? The early battle Peter and the other apostles fought; the battle Paul fought against the oppressive  regime of legalism. The cross set us free. Live like it!!

The quote from John Piper is from his excellent book The Passion of Jesus Christ.

Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, Easter, Legalism, Lent, Opinion, The Cross | 7 Responses »

#Lent#8

Friday, March 6th, 2020

“The great conclusion to the suffering and death of Christ is this: ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.’ To be ‘in Christ’ means to be in a relationship to Him by faith…Christ becomes our punishment (which we don’t have to bear) and our perfection (which we cannot perform).”  (p.42)

“Being ‘justified by faith’ and being ‘justified…in Christ’ (Gal.2:17) are parallel terms. We are in Christ by faith, and therefore justified.” (p.42)

It is hard to accept condemnation. When someone stands with their finger pointing at me, accusing me of something or condemning me of something, it is hard to accept it. I see my mortal enemy doing that: standing before the Father pointing his finger and like a prosecuting attorney rattle off this-n-that, counting off on his fingers all my wrong, sins, mistakes, and law-breaking. But Jesus rises in my defense and counters every attack with a simple “I took care of that.” Romans 8:1 comes hammering down: “There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to those who are in Christ Jesus.”

There is NO!!

Quotes with page numbers are from John Piper’s book The Passion of Jesus Christ.

Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, Easter, God, Lent, The Cross | 4 Responses »

#Lent#7

Thursday, March 5th, 2020

Grace. That is the theme of two very important events: the birth of Jesus and the death of Jesus.

The birth of Jesus is a picture of grace. More specifically, His lineage. I’m sure you have heard the analysis of the women in His lineage. If not, here it is:

  • Tamar- played the prostitute with Judah to have a child.
  • Rahab- was a prostitute who saved the spies.  She became the mother of Boaz.
  • Ruth- a Gentile who married Boaz and became the great grandmother of David.
  • Bathsheba- an adulteress the mother of Solomon.
  • Mary- the mother of Jesus. A virgin, yes, but not sinless. One of us.

PURE GRACE.

The death of Jesus is also a picture of grace.  Maybe it would be more accurate to say it was grace in action.  Grace is defined as “unmerited favor.”  Who of us can say we deserved that kind of love?  None of us. But that kind of love is grace in action. The King dying on a cross He didn’t deserve, for someone like me, who didn’t deserve that display of love. As the old hymn says, “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene/And wonder how he could love me a sinner condemned unclean/ O how marvelous, O how wonderful and my song shall ever be/ O how marvelous, O how wonderful is my Savior’s love for me.”

GRACE. PURE GRACE.

Posted in Death, Doctrine, Easter, Grace, Jesus, Lent | 9 Responses »

#Lent#6

Wednesday, March 4th, 2020

I’ve just finished reading The Creaking on the Stairs by Mez McConnell.  It is subtitled “Finding Faith in God through Childhood Abuse.” I have to admit I was sickened and angered by his stepmother’s treatment of him (and his handicapped sister), and the lack of compassion , even laughter, displayed by the so-called adults she surrounded herself with. The book is about him coming to grips with a God of love, grace, and forgiveness. It is his journey from childhood abuse; to teenage bullying and rebellion; to a life of drugs and crime; to prison; to eventual salvation, fatherhood and being a pastor.

Lots stuck out to me…this being one of the sharpest:

Jesus came for victims. For the helpless. For the abused. For the lost. For the wayward. For those without a voice. For those who’ve faced injustice. For those who’ve known only pain and hurt.  For the abuser. For the oppressor. For the violent. For the murderers. For the rapists. For the paedophiles. For those who have caused only pain and hurt.

For broken people like me.

For broken people like you.

For broken people like them.

(The above quote was taken from page 168)

It’s the you that got to me. Mez was including himself in the “me.” He was including me in the “you.” He is including us all.

We are all sinners before a holy God.  I. AM. A. SINNER. BEFORE. A. HOLY. GOD.

You need the cross. I. NEED. THE. CROSS.

 

Posted in Doctrine, Easter, Grace, Jesus, Lent, Story, The Cross | 3 Responses »

#Lent#5

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020

In my years as a pastor I have heard more than once (okay often) people say, “I figure as long as my good deeds outweigh my bad ones, I’m good to go.” They are, of course, presuming several things: their good deed will outweigh they bad; and two, God operates that way.

News Flash!! NOPE.

For one, our good will never outweigh our bad.  What part of “There is none righteous, no, not one” do they not understand?  What part of “By grace are you saved by faith.  And this is not your own doing;  it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one can boast” do they not understand?

We are not saved because our good deeds “outstack” our bad ones. We are not saved because there is any merit in what we do. There is no balancing act. The reality is this: one sin throws the whole scale off.  We are not judged-weighed- on good vs bad deeds.  We are judged on only one thing: have we come to Jesus and had our sins washed away by His blood. Nothing more; nothing less.  So don’t waste your time looking in the mirror at your deeds and do the comparison game.  It won’t work; it won’t matter.

Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, Easter, Grace, Lent, Opinion | 10 Responses »

#Lent#4

Monday, March 2nd, 2020

It is common to talk about the blood of Jesus as we come to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. As it should be. I mean, the whole Good Friday thing is about the death of Jesus and the shedding of blood. The whole resurrection three days later is about victory over death.

John Piper wrote:

When the Bible speaks of the blood of Jesus, it refers to His death. No salvation would be accomplished by the mere bleeding of Jesus. His bleeding to death is what makes his blood-shedding crucial. (p.26)

A couple of pages later he writes:

What the shedding of blood shows is that we deserved divine punishment, not divine sacrifice. (p.29)

Two actions were in the works- death and resurrection.  His death paid for our salvation; His resurrection confirmed it. His death took the punishment which was ours; the resurrection said, “Victory!”  It’s like a two-fer. You can’t have one without the other.

Posted in Doctrine, Easter, Jesus, Resurrection, Salvation, The Cross | 4 Responses »

#Lent#3

Saturday, February 29th, 2020

The way the story of the Bible, the way the truth weaves its way through the whole Biblical narrative has never ceased to impress me.  It starts in Genesis 3 with the Fall and God’s judgment on the serpent-the animal and the force behind it.

  • “On your belly you will go and eat dirt”
  • “And I will put enmity between you and woman and between your seed and her seed.”
  • “You will bruise His heel; He will bruise your head.”

And then this!  “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (I John 3:8)

Satan would only bruise Jesus’ heel (cause Him to suffer), but Jesus would bruise Satan’s head (destroy him). Unless you are Achilles, a blow to the heel won’t kill you.  A blow to the head can and, if it lands just right, will.

The cross was that place.  Jesus suffered (His heel was bruised) but Satan was defeated by suffering a fatal blow (head slammed).  Thank God for the cross and the resurrection!

Posted in Death, Doctrine, Easter, Lent, Resurrection, Sin | 2 Responses »

#Lent#Number2

Friday, February 28th, 2020

I’ve noticed lately that there is a movement to get rid of God’s wrath. What I mean by that is that we want to talk about God’s love and patience and kindness and goodness and forgiveness. The risk is that we want to excuse and escape talk or even thinking about God’s wrath.

What is strange though is the whole Easter story-the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection focus on God’s wrath. Oh, not as we think. God’s wrath predicted. God’s wrath fulfilled. God’s wrath satisfied. The biblical word is propitiation.  Consider these verses:

“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” I John 2:2

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” I John 4:10

“Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” Rom.3:25

*Propitiation refers to the removal of God’s wrath by providing a substitute…The substitute, Jesus Christ, does not just cancel the wrath; he absorbs it and diverts it from us to himself. God’s wrath is just, and it was spent, not withdrawn.*

And you know what’s amazing? It was God’s idea. Think about that! Chew on it. Then remember, it was His plan all along.

Note: All statements made by John Piper are highlighted with an * outlining his statement. They come from his book The Passion of Jesus Christ.

Posted in Doctrine, Easter, God, Lent, Opinion, Story | 6 Responses »

#Lent#Number1

Thursday, February 27th, 2020

Have you ever been to a Passion Play? I have. We visited some friends once who lived in Missouri. They took us to the “other side” of civilization to see a Passion Play in Arkansas. Fascinating!

But it sure seems strange to call something a Passion Play, given our current idea of passion. Until you know it derives from the Latin word which means suffering.  Then it makes total sense. It relates to the suffering and death of Jesus.

Can anyone deny the passion-the depth of being-involved in that death? The pain. The suffering. The agony. The resolute heart and mind. A conviction that led to His death and subsequent resurrection? *The controversy about who killed Jesus is marginal. He chose to die. The Father ordained it. He embraced it.*

Did you catch that? He embraced it. Ugly though it was. Painful though it was. Lonely though it was. He embraced His death. He embraced the passion of His life and death.

There are those who want to deny the crucifixion. I’ve been reading enough about that lately. They may grant that Jesus lived. It is hard to deny history. But they may say He never died (if they agree He lived). *But to deny Jesus was crucified is like the denial of the Holocaust.*  Unbelievable. I knew someone who did.  Respect for that individual ended. Wipe my hands of that nonsense.

During this Lenten season, think anew about the passion of Jesus.

Note: All statements made by John Piper are highlighted with an * outlining his statement. They come from his book The Passion of Jesus Christ.

Posted in Doctrine, Easter, Lent, Opinion | 11 Responses »

#Ashes#Lent

Wednesday, February 26th, 2020

I want to start out this post with a confession, something you need to know right up front.

I come from a tradition that does not observe Lent. When I was in high school I would see teachers, and maybe a classmate or two, walk around with this black spot on their forehead. I remember one teacher, Mr. Bano, who had this dark spot on his forehead. I almost…almost…went up to him and said something about having a black smudge on his forehead. But I didn’t. I’m glad because he had been to his Catholic church that morning before school.  I didn’t know.  Strangely, I grew up with a large contingent of Catholic people in my school and I had no clue what was going on.

Fast forward to the early ’70s when I was in Bible college (yeah I’m that old) and I was being taught the “evils” of other beliefs-of denominations, cults (agreed), and other faiths (agreed). We were above the others in that we were not a denomination. (I now say hogwash to that theory). Anyway, I was still not taught the idea of Lent.  I also do not consider myself a part of that particular group any more. And haven’t for multiple years.

It wasn’t until I was here in Spencer that I decided to stop being ignorant of something so widespread.  I found out Lent was (supposedly) a solemn time of religious observance that began on Ash Wednesday until what is called Maundy Thursday.  For more you can read here  or here.  I still have to confess that I am not much into special day observances like Lent. Resurrection Sunday (Easter) and Christmas are different.  What I never grasped was this whole idea of giving up something for 40 days for what? One year I tried it. I gave up caffeine pop. The day it was over I had my Diet Dr. Pepper. What did it accomplish? Ummmm nothing, except I didn’t drink caffeine pop.  One year I gave up chips. That wasn’t so big of a deal. At one point I had given up fries and chips for 7 years for my health. I am now into month 15 of giving up pop (soda to some of you).  I can’t say it is a spiritual thing because it is not. It has been a health thing. I’ve been drinking water with extra lemons at restaurants (it does make the bill cheaper), but like I said there is no spiritual significance attached to it.  I don’t drink coffee at all. Can’t stand the taste of it. We are a coffee-less family, except for one member of our extended family.

All that to say (finally! you must be thinking) that I am challenging myself during this Lenten season. Not to give up something, but to add something. As much as I can, I am going to challenge myself to blog some type of Lenten thought here on this blog. I also have to say there might be some cross-pollination between this blog and my “Shadow” blog.  That nature of the beast requires some “shortcuts” along the way. I will also tell you that I will be using John Piper’s excellent little book, The Passion of Jesus Christ, as a way to “seed” my thoughts. I have read it twice before (I have the colored underlines to prove it) but it has been a couple of years since I have. I’ll give credit where credit is due.

I hope you will join me as I try this self-imposed challenge.  In fact, if you would like to get “meaty” with me and take up the challenge on your own blog, then I welcome it and will link to your post as well.

Posted in Doctrine, Easter, Jesus, Miscellaneous, Story, The Cross | 12 Responses »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »