Former Secretary of Education William Bennett quoted George Orwell as saying, “Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.” I intend to restate for you a truth so obvious that many Christians seem entirely to neglect it.
When you became a Christian, God might well have taken you directly to your eternal home with Him. Consider the blessings that would currently be yours if He had done so. You would now be in the presence of Christ, beholding His glory and enjoying His splendor. You would be in the assembly of the redeemed, delighting in the never-ending fellowship of the Bride of Christ. You would be experiencing all that your heart has ever longed for.
However, God did not take you immediately into His glory when you, by His grace, first repented of your sin and put your trust in His Son. He left you here. In fact, He did more than merely “leave” you here: He commissioned you to be here; and He had a well-defined purpose for doing so.
The Apostle Paul understood this purpose, and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he made it quite plain. In Romans 14:7-8, he wrote, “For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.”
First, God’s Word states in negative term why you are alive: “none of us lives to himself.” In other words, you are not the reason you are alive. The purpose of your existence emphatically does not focus on you. In the words of a song we often sing here at First Baptist, “It’s not about me, Jesus, as if You should do things my way.”
Can you say with conviction, “It’s not about me”? How much more complete and joyous your life would be if you could finally renounce your need to be at the center of all things and cease evaluating everything on the basis of how it effects your comfort!
“None of us lives to himself.”
Then there is the positive and straightforward declaration, “If we live, we live to the Lord.” That means He must be the center of your life, the focus of your thoughts, your daily preoccupation, your delight, the axis around which your life revolves. To “live to the Lord” is to dedicate your life to do his will and to promote his glory. Indeed, that is the definition of the truly Christian life.
Other people live to please themselves. Christians live to please the Lord.
At the moment you trusted Christ, God commissioned you to spend the rest of your life focused on Him and pointing to Him, so that others would see His glory and come to Him as well. Are you living up to your purpose for being?
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
THE GLORY OF RECONCILIATION WITH GOD
As we saw last Friday, though God made us in His image and for His glory, humanity in general and each of us in particular have broken God’s image in us. We have intentionally supplanted Him from the center of our lives and have set up our own kingdoms in an aggravated rebellion against His glory and rightful authority. His wrath against His rebel creatures is therefore just and right.
Thus, it is the wonder of the ages that God has not utterly wiped us out. Indeed, rather than destroying us, He has made provision for our salvation. This salvation is so miraculous and comprehensive that an eternity in God’s presence will no exhaust our reasons to praise Him. Among the millions of evidences of God’s grace, consider just these three that demonstrate the wonders of redemption.
First, is it not astonishing that God gathered His righteous wrath upon our sin and placed it fully on His own Son?! What wondrous love is this, that He “did not spare His Son, but offered Him up for us all” (Romans 8:32)! Though Christ was utterly sinless, “yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him” (Isaiah 53:10). Indeed, “He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Second, by pouring out upon Jesus His wrath against our sin, God affected for us a just forgiveness, meaning that when God forgives sin, He doesn’t simply overlook sin. The sin has actually been propitiated by the suffering and death of Christ. The penalty has been paid by Christ, and the punishment has been absorbed by Him so fully that there is no longer any sin-guilt between God and the redeemed. Therefore, in Christ “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7).
Third, perhaps the most glorious aspect of salvation is this: after pouring out His wrath upon Christ, and pardoning our sin in a grand act of forgiveness, God then graciously chose to transform His former enemies into His own beloved children. Speaking of Christ, John wrote, “to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). He reconciled us to Himself! He drew us into a relationship with Himself and injected into us Christ’s own resurrection life, thus making us new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). No wonder Christ explained this to Nicodemus as being born again (John 3:3-16)! It is new life, eternal life, God’s own life; and it makes us eternally His own dear children, “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).
By His own choosing, and at His own expense, God has called the rebels not only into His forgiveness, but into His family. For those who say yes to His call, it will take us the rest of eternity to thank Him for this reconciling salvation. It’s time we got started.
Thus, it is the wonder of the ages that God has not utterly wiped us out. Indeed, rather than destroying us, He has made provision for our salvation. This salvation is so miraculous and comprehensive that an eternity in God’s presence will no exhaust our reasons to praise Him. Among the millions of evidences of God’s grace, consider just these three that demonstrate the wonders of redemption.
First, is it not astonishing that God gathered His righteous wrath upon our sin and placed it fully on His own Son?! What wondrous love is this, that He “did not spare His Son, but offered Him up for us all” (Romans 8:32)! Though Christ was utterly sinless, “yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him” (Isaiah 53:10). Indeed, “He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Second, by pouring out upon Jesus His wrath against our sin, God affected for us a just forgiveness, meaning that when God forgives sin, He doesn’t simply overlook sin. The sin has actually been propitiated by the suffering and death of Christ. The penalty has been paid by Christ, and the punishment has been absorbed by Him so fully that there is no longer any sin-guilt between God and the redeemed. Therefore, in Christ “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7).
Third, perhaps the most glorious aspect of salvation is this: after pouring out His wrath upon Christ, and pardoning our sin in a grand act of forgiveness, God then graciously chose to transform His former enemies into His own beloved children. Speaking of Christ, John wrote, “to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). He reconciled us to Himself! He drew us into a relationship with Himself and injected into us Christ’s own resurrection life, thus making us new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). No wonder Christ explained this to Nicodemus as being born again (John 3:3-16)! It is new life, eternal life, God’s own life; and it makes us eternally His own dear children, “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).
By His own choosing, and at His own expense, God has called the rebels not only into His forgiveness, but into His family. For those who say yes to His call, it will take us the rest of eternity to thank Him for this reconciling salvation. It’s time we got started.
THE BROKEN IMAGE OF GOD
Last Friday we took a second look at the biblical truth that humanity is made in the image of God. As Scripture declares, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). This makes humanity entirely unlike the rest of creation: far from being highly-evolved animals, we are distinct and unique, the exclusive and personal product of God’s own creative genius.
As God’s image, our reason to exist is to reflect God’s nature and glory. In relationship to the rest of creation, this involves displaying and living out the truth about God. We are called to be stewards of creation under the authority of God, demonstrating His grace and holiness, His kindness and love to everything else that exists. In relationship to God Himself, being made in His image means that we reflect Who He is back to Him in worship, in love and in joyous obedience.
Thus, our very being should focus on Almighty God, as we seek to live into our purpose for being by glorifying Him and enjoying Him forever. Made in His image and for His glory, we are wondrously designed to find unfathomable joy simply by knowing Him and showing Him to the world around us.
However, we have refused this joy He offers us. Ever since Adam and Eve, we have shouted a firm and rebellious, “No!” to God’s generous offer to enjoy the promotion of His glory. We, each and all of us, have chosen rather to seek our own glory by making ourselves the center of the universe. Though we were made to mirror His glory, we’ve willfully broken His image in us.
Since Eden, the cry of the human spirit has echoed the lie of Satan, who, in his temptation of Eve, made the false promise, “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5). Following the devil’s prideful lead, humanity now boasts, “We are our own masters, accountable to none! We exist for ourselves, and no one may tell us otherwise!”
Seen in its true light, our sin is obviously no trivial matter. We have broken God’s image in us, and turned from Him Who made us. We have intentionally supplanted Him from the center of our lives, and sought to set up our own kingdoms in an aggravated mutiny against His glory and rightful authority.
His wrath against His rebel creatures is just and right. Thus, it is the wonder of the ages that God has not utterly wiped us out. However, rather than destroying us, He has made provision not only for the forgiveness of our sin, but also for the restoration of our relationship with Him as His image on earth. By virtue of His amazing grace, and at His own expense, He has chosen to reconcile the rebels to Himself, making His former enemies nor merely His chattel, but His own beloved children. The glory of this reconciliation is the most astonishing fact in the entire universe, and the elect will spend eternity praising Him for it.
Next week: The Glory of Reconciliation With God
As God’s image, our reason to exist is to reflect God’s nature and glory. In relationship to the rest of creation, this involves displaying and living out the truth about God. We are called to be stewards of creation under the authority of God, demonstrating His grace and holiness, His kindness and love to everything else that exists. In relationship to God Himself, being made in His image means that we reflect Who He is back to Him in worship, in love and in joyous obedience.
Thus, our very being should focus on Almighty God, as we seek to live into our purpose for being by glorifying Him and enjoying Him forever. Made in His image and for His glory, we are wondrously designed to find unfathomable joy simply by knowing Him and showing Him to the world around us.
However, we have refused this joy He offers us. Ever since Adam and Eve, we have shouted a firm and rebellious, “No!” to God’s generous offer to enjoy the promotion of His glory. We, each and all of us, have chosen rather to seek our own glory by making ourselves the center of the universe. Though we were made to mirror His glory, we’ve willfully broken His image in us.
Since Eden, the cry of the human spirit has echoed the lie of Satan, who, in his temptation of Eve, made the false promise, “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5). Following the devil’s prideful lead, humanity now boasts, “We are our own masters, accountable to none! We exist for ourselves, and no one may tell us otherwise!”
Seen in its true light, our sin is obviously no trivial matter. We have broken God’s image in us, and turned from Him Who made us. We have intentionally supplanted Him from the center of our lives, and sought to set up our own kingdoms in an aggravated mutiny against His glory and rightful authority.
His wrath against His rebel creatures is just and right. Thus, it is the wonder of the ages that God has not utterly wiped us out. However, rather than destroying us, He has made provision not only for the forgiveness of our sin, but also for the restoration of our relationship with Him as His image on earth. By virtue of His amazing grace, and at His own expense, He has chosen to reconcile the rebels to Himself, making His former enemies nor merely His chattel, but His own beloved children. The glory of this reconciliation is the most astonishing fact in the entire universe, and the elect will spend eternity praising Him for it.
Next week: The Glory of Reconciliation With God
IN HIS IMAGE FOR HIS GLORY
Over 3,000 years ago, King David asked some questions about the nature of humanity. His inspired ponderings are very much on point in contemporary war of worldviews.
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:3-5).
Through David (and through the rest of Holy Scripture), God revealed Himself to us as our creator, the source of our being and reason we exist.
As we saw last Friday, God made us with two primary purposes. First, as with the rest of creation, we exist for the glory of God. However, existing for the glory of God does not set humanity apart from the rest of creation, since glorifying God is the purpose for which all things exist.
Second – and this is what makes humanity utterly unique in the created universe!– we are created in God’s image. In the creation account, God declared, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). The following chapter in Genesis goes on to indicate that unlike the rest of creation, which was made by God’s speaking it into existence, humanity was created by God’s shaping and molding. His personal touch is upon us.
It is astonishing to consider what this means for us.
Made in God’s image, we possess a moral similarity to God. This means that we are created to make decisions based not on personal preferences and trained responses, as animals do, but based rather on considerations of moral right and wrong. We have the capacity to understand good and evil as objective categories that are beyond ourselves, not simply the projection of personal wants and wishes.
One implication of our moral similarity to God is that attempts to redefine morality as if it were something determined by culture really amount to redefining humanity. Think with me about this. To say, “Right and wrong is what I want it to be for me” is a rejection of one’s personal accountability to the God Who created us and gave us the capacity to know Him as the source of all moral truth. Moreover, this kind of moral relativism dehumanizes us, by asserting that we are just like other animals, who do what they want without reference to an objective moral standard.
This means that submitting our wills to God’s revealed moral truth is a primary way we achieve our reason for being. We were created to glorify God by learning to enjoy obedience to Him, as we reflect to Him our complete reliance upon His love and grace.
We are not self-existing: we exist from Him, by Him and for Him. Indeed, we are made in the image of God for the glory of God.
Next week: The Broken Image of God
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:3-5).
Through David (and through the rest of Holy Scripture), God revealed Himself to us as our creator, the source of our being and reason we exist.
As we saw last Friday, God made us with two primary purposes. First, as with the rest of creation, we exist for the glory of God. However, existing for the glory of God does not set humanity apart from the rest of creation, since glorifying God is the purpose for which all things exist.
Second – and this is what makes humanity utterly unique in the created universe!– we are created in God’s image. In the creation account, God declared, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). The following chapter in Genesis goes on to indicate that unlike the rest of creation, which was made by God’s speaking it into existence, humanity was created by God’s shaping and molding. His personal touch is upon us.
It is astonishing to consider what this means for us.
Made in God’s image, we possess a moral similarity to God. This means that we are created to make decisions based not on personal preferences and trained responses, as animals do, but based rather on considerations of moral right and wrong. We have the capacity to understand good and evil as objective categories that are beyond ourselves, not simply the projection of personal wants and wishes.
One implication of our moral similarity to God is that attempts to redefine morality as if it were something determined by culture really amount to redefining humanity. Think with me about this. To say, “Right and wrong is what I want it to be for me” is a rejection of one’s personal accountability to the God Who created us and gave us the capacity to know Him as the source of all moral truth. Moreover, this kind of moral relativism dehumanizes us, by asserting that we are just like other animals, who do what they want without reference to an objective moral standard.
This means that submitting our wills to God’s revealed moral truth is a primary way we achieve our reason for being. We were created to glorify God by learning to enjoy obedience to Him, as we reflect to Him our complete reliance upon His love and grace.
We are not self-existing: we exist from Him, by Him and for Him. Indeed, we are made in the image of God for the glory of God.
Next week: The Broken Image of God
DEFINING HUMANITY
Point: a New Jersey couple sued their doctor for allowing the “wrongful birth” of their Down Syndrome child. Sadly, they are not the only ones: over 300 such cases have been filed in recent years.
Point: in Louisiana, embryos conceived “in vitro” (i.e., by joining sperm and egg in a laboratory, rather than in the womb) are protected by law. However, as soon as an “in vitro” embryo is successfully implanted into a human uterus, it can be aborted legally until the moment of birth.
Point: a pregnant Indianapolis woman was charged with attempted murder because she shot herself in the abdomen trying to kill her unborn child. Ironically, she lived not far from an abortion “clinic” where she could have had the child killed legally.
These three points typify our society’s efforts to redefine humanity. Because we seem incapable of determining what a human being is, we are at a loss to state when real human life begins. “What is humanity?” we ask, but we just can’t seem to find the answer.
King David asked the same question over 3,000 years ago. Listen to his inspired ponderings about human existence and meaning.
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:3-5).
The basis for understanding humanity is right there. Did you see it?
“Thou hast made him . . .” There’s the key: we are created. We are not independent beings. We owe our existence to our Creator.
Because we are not self-made, we are therefore not self-defining. Only He Who made us has the right to define our existence. He has, in fact, already done so in Holy Scripture. He has told us two basic truths about why we exist.
First, we are created for His glory. We hold this purpose in common with the rest of creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). God plainly declares His intention for those He formed and made, stating, “I have created [them] for My glory” (Isaiah 43:7). Therefore, the Apostle Paul exhorted believers to live up to their created purpose: “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
However, existing for the glory of God does not set humanity apart from the rest of creation, since glorifying God is the purpose for which all things exist. Our uniqueness is founded upon the fact that we are created in God’s image. In the creation account, God declared, “Let Us make man in Our image” (Genesis 1:26). Nothing else in the entire universe can claim this attribute. Only humanity has this distinction.
We are creations of God uniquely designed to reflect His image back to Him in worship and to the rest of creation in stewardship. Once we understand that, it changes everything about our lives, from conception to death. We’ll look at this in more detail next Friday.
Next week: In His Image for His Glory
Point: in Louisiana, embryos conceived “in vitro” (i.e., by joining sperm and egg in a laboratory, rather than in the womb) are protected by law. However, as soon as an “in vitro” embryo is successfully implanted into a human uterus, it can be aborted legally until the moment of birth.
Point: a pregnant Indianapolis woman was charged with attempted murder because she shot herself in the abdomen trying to kill her unborn child. Ironically, she lived not far from an abortion “clinic” where she could have had the child killed legally.
These three points typify our society’s efforts to redefine humanity. Because we seem incapable of determining what a human being is, we are at a loss to state when real human life begins. “What is humanity?” we ask, but we just can’t seem to find the answer.
King David asked the same question over 3,000 years ago. Listen to his inspired ponderings about human existence and meaning.
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:3-5).
The basis for understanding humanity is right there. Did you see it?
“Thou hast made him . . .” There’s the key: we are created. We are not independent beings. We owe our existence to our Creator.
Because we are not self-made, we are therefore not self-defining. Only He Who made us has the right to define our existence. He has, in fact, already done so in Holy Scripture. He has told us two basic truths about why we exist.
First, we are created for His glory. We hold this purpose in common with the rest of creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). God plainly declares His intention for those He formed and made, stating, “I have created [them] for My glory” (Isaiah 43:7). Therefore, the Apostle Paul exhorted believers to live up to their created purpose: “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
However, existing for the glory of God does not set humanity apart from the rest of creation, since glorifying God is the purpose for which all things exist. Our uniqueness is founded upon the fact that we are created in God’s image. In the creation account, God declared, “Let Us make man in Our image” (Genesis 1:26). Nothing else in the entire universe can claim this attribute. Only humanity has this distinction.
We are creations of God uniquely designed to reflect His image back to Him in worship and to the rest of creation in stewardship. Once we understand that, it changes everything about our lives, from conception to death. We’ll look at this in more detail next Friday.
Next week: In His Image for His Glory
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The Spectacular Opportunity of Hardship
At the community Lenten Tryst (an inter-church worship service each Wednesday noon in Lent, here in Sterling, CO) Pastor Gene Zeller of Peace Lutheran Church used the words of Thomas Paine to characterize our nation’s current difficulties: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Paine penned those words in 1776 in the first of a series of 16 pamphlets titled “The American Crisis.”
Many consider that our current situation would warrant a similar description.
I, however, choose to see it as a spectacular opportunity.
Christians are given the privilege of seeing our situation as God sees it. The fact is, God has either allowed or designed the circumstances in which we are now living, and His purpose in these trying times is what we must discover and pursue.
That discovery and pursuit is not as difficult as we might imagine. It involves asking God three basic questions in these tough days. The first question is, “God, where are You in these circumstances?”
Sadly, hardly anyone ever listens to God’s Word for the answer. Where is God in trials? Right in the midst of these trials with us. God’s Word says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). Jesus promised His disciples, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). In the midst of hardship, God is with His people. Do we pay attention to His presence?
Another question to ask God is this one: “God, what are You doing in this hardship?” While the specifics may vary, one thing you may be sure of: God wants to use the hardship to make you more like Jesus. Indeed, that’s His plan in everything that happens in your life, good or bad. He is intent on producing Christ-like character in you, so that you can live for His glory just as His only-begotten Son did.
The third question to ask God is, “How can I live out the Gospel in this circumstance?” The answer to this one is simple: by giving glory to the Father for salvation! After all the joys and trials of this life are over, there is waiting for us a place of wholly-undeserved splendor, in which we will praise forever the Lamb Who was slain! Hardship demonstrates to Christians the astonishing privilege we have of being heirs to this miraculous promise!
What a spectacular opportunity hardship affords us! Jesus said to His followers, “You are the light of the world . . . people do not light a lamp and put it under a basket . . . In the same way, let your light shine before others” (Matthew 5:14). How much more visible is the light when the world is dark, and how much more attractive it is to those in the gloom.
Get your faith out from under the basket! Stop hiding the Gospel as if it were something to be ashamed of. Point to Jesus. Take these circumstances and point to Jesus in them!
Many consider that our current situation would warrant a similar description.
I, however, choose to see it as a spectacular opportunity.
Christians are given the privilege of seeing our situation as God sees it. The fact is, God has either allowed or designed the circumstances in which we are now living, and His purpose in these trying times is what we must discover and pursue.
That discovery and pursuit is not as difficult as we might imagine. It involves asking God three basic questions in these tough days. The first question is, “God, where are You in these circumstances?”
Sadly, hardly anyone ever listens to God’s Word for the answer. Where is God in trials? Right in the midst of these trials with us. God’s Word says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). Jesus promised His disciples, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). In the midst of hardship, God is with His people. Do we pay attention to His presence?
Another question to ask God is this one: “God, what are You doing in this hardship?” While the specifics may vary, one thing you may be sure of: God wants to use the hardship to make you more like Jesus. Indeed, that’s His plan in everything that happens in your life, good or bad. He is intent on producing Christ-like character in you, so that you can live for His glory just as His only-begotten Son did.
The third question to ask God is, “How can I live out the Gospel in this circumstance?” The answer to this one is simple: by giving glory to the Father for salvation! After all the joys and trials of this life are over, there is waiting for us a place of wholly-undeserved splendor, in which we will praise forever the Lamb Who was slain! Hardship demonstrates to Christians the astonishing privilege we have of being heirs to this miraculous promise!
What a spectacular opportunity hardship affords us! Jesus said to His followers, “You are the light of the world . . . people do not light a lamp and put it under a basket . . . In the same way, let your light shine before others” (Matthew 5:14). How much more visible is the light when the world is dark, and how much more attractive it is to those in the gloom.
Get your faith out from under the basket! Stop hiding the Gospel as if it were something to be ashamed of. Point to Jesus. Take these circumstances and point to Jesus in them!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Jesus Saves By His Victorious Resurrection
For the last few weeks we’ve been considering the three atoning aspects of Christ’s work of redemption: that Jesus saves by virtue of His perfect life in fulfillment of God’s law, His substitutionary death under God’s wrath, and His victorious resurrection over the powers of hell and death.
As we noted last Friday, Jesus came to earth not only to die on our behalf under the righteous wrath of God for our sins, but also to obey God’s righteous requirements on our behalf. Thus, those who trust in Christ are given the same right standing with the Father that the Son obtained by His obedience.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the first two aspects of Christ’s atoning work (His righteous life and substitutionary death) that we forget the ultimate reason for His coming to earth. It was, like everything God does, primarily for the sake of His own glory. The resurrection is the clearest evidence of this: after dying in our place under the Father’s wrath, Christ rose from the dead to declare God’s victory over all the powers of death and hell (Romans 6:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 54-57).
Now Christ is alive forever, to live His life in union with all who trust in Him. One goal of His coming to earth is that you would be united to Him and He would be united to you, with the result that His life flows through you and produces His character in you.
The central text that teaches about union with Christ is John 15, where He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4). The life of Christ flows in and through the believer, so that His life “takes over,” and bears the fruit of Christ’s life. (This process of “taking over” the believer’s life is how Christ accomplishes the believer’s sanctification; but that’s another series of articles!)
Because Christ rose from dead to live His life out in His followers, Christians are blessed to enjoy all of the blessings that are in Christ (Romans 8:32; 2 Corinthians 1:20). God loves the Son, and so He loves us, because we are united with Christ. Because Christ lives in believers, everything He accomplished for us is counted as ours: we died with Him, we were raised with Him, and we have a place in heaven with Him (Ephesians 2:5-6; John 14:1-6). Because Christ was resurrected and lives in His followers, His presence with us is not temporary or transient, but permanent and constant (Matthew 28:18-20; Hebrews 13:5).
If you are a believer, Christ is not somewhere “out there.” He came out of the tomb to come into your life and live His life out in you and through you. As the song puts it, “You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!” It is my earnest prayer that those words are more than song lyrics to you, but rather that they are the genuine testimony of your salvation!
As we noted last Friday, Jesus came to earth not only to die on our behalf under the righteous wrath of God for our sins, but also to obey God’s righteous requirements on our behalf. Thus, those who trust in Christ are given the same right standing with the Father that the Son obtained by His obedience.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the first two aspects of Christ’s atoning work (His righteous life and substitutionary death) that we forget the ultimate reason for His coming to earth. It was, like everything God does, primarily for the sake of His own glory. The resurrection is the clearest evidence of this: after dying in our place under the Father’s wrath, Christ rose from the dead to declare God’s victory over all the powers of death and hell (Romans 6:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 54-57).
Now Christ is alive forever, to live His life in union with all who trust in Him. One goal of His coming to earth is that you would be united to Him and He would be united to you, with the result that His life flows through you and produces His character in you.
The central text that teaches about union with Christ is John 15, where He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4). The life of Christ flows in and through the believer, so that His life “takes over,” and bears the fruit of Christ’s life. (This process of “taking over” the believer’s life is how Christ accomplishes the believer’s sanctification; but that’s another series of articles!)
Because Christ rose from dead to live His life out in His followers, Christians are blessed to enjoy all of the blessings that are in Christ (Romans 8:32; 2 Corinthians 1:20). God loves the Son, and so He loves us, because we are united with Christ. Because Christ lives in believers, everything He accomplished for us is counted as ours: we died with Him, we were raised with Him, and we have a place in heaven with Him (Ephesians 2:5-6; John 14:1-6). Because Christ was resurrected and lives in His followers, His presence with us is not temporary or transient, but permanent and constant (Matthew 28:18-20; Hebrews 13:5).
If you are a believer, Christ is not somewhere “out there.” He came out of the tomb to come into your life and live His life out in you and through you. As the song puts it, “You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!” It is my earnest prayer that those words are more than song lyrics to you, but rather that they are the genuine testimony of your salvation!
Jesus Saves By His Righteous Life
For the last couple of weeks we’ve been considering the three atoning aspects of Christ’s work of redemption: that Jesus is able to save us by virtue of His perfect life in fulfillment of God’s law, His substitutionary death under God’s wrath, and His victorious resurrection over all the powers of hell and death.
As we noted last Friday, the most obvious aspect of Jesus’ atoning work is His crucifixion. The New Testament clearly presents Christ’s death as the key to our salvation: He died under the Father’s holy wrath, which is His just and rightful response to the rebellion of humanity.
Somewhat less widely understood is how Jesus’ perfect life plays a role in saving people. If the death of Christ for our sin were the only aspect of His saving work, it would not have been necessary for Him to have lived among humanity for over thirty years: He could simply have appeared as a full-grown man and died a short time later. We get a hint as to the purpose of His living when He is standing in the Jordan River about to be baptized: when John protests that Jesus does not need baptism, Jesus replies, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
Clearly, Jesus came to earth not only to die on our behalf under the righteous wrath of God for our sins. He also came to obey God’s righteous requirements, or as He put it, “to fulfill all righteousness.” The glorious thing in which we can rejoice is that Christ did this for us. He was already righteous before the Father, so His fulfillment of the law was not something He did for Himself: instead, He did it on our behalf.
The wonder of grace is that for all who trust Christ, His righteous life and fulfillment of God’s law is credited to us. Because of His life of sinlessness and perfect obedience on this earth, God legally credits believers with the righteous acts that Christ performed on our behalf. Thus, those who trust in Christ are given by God the same position or standing with the Father that the Son obtained by His obedience.
This position of “right standing” before the Father is the source of tremendous benefits to the believer. Because God imputes Christ’s righteousness to us, we can come boldly before God in prayer, knowing that He accepts us as He accepts His Son (Hebrews 4:14-16); we are assured of peace with God because Christ’s perfection earned our peace (Romans 5:1-3); we have the child-blessings of God’s family established for us by Christ (Romans 8:16-17); and we are free from condemnation (Romans 8:1-4).
And how do you receive this righteousness of Christ? Only by the instrument of faith alone, plus nothing; and even this faith is a gift of God, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-10). Trust in Christ’s atoning work, and His righteousness is given to you.
Next Week: By His Victorious Resurrection
As we noted last Friday, the most obvious aspect of Jesus’ atoning work is His crucifixion. The New Testament clearly presents Christ’s death as the key to our salvation: He died under the Father’s holy wrath, which is His just and rightful response to the rebellion of humanity.
Somewhat less widely understood is how Jesus’ perfect life plays a role in saving people. If the death of Christ for our sin were the only aspect of His saving work, it would not have been necessary for Him to have lived among humanity for over thirty years: He could simply have appeared as a full-grown man and died a short time later. We get a hint as to the purpose of His living when He is standing in the Jordan River about to be baptized: when John protests that Jesus does not need baptism, Jesus replies, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
Clearly, Jesus came to earth not only to die on our behalf under the righteous wrath of God for our sins. He also came to obey God’s righteous requirements, or as He put it, “to fulfill all righteousness.” The glorious thing in which we can rejoice is that Christ did this for us. He was already righteous before the Father, so His fulfillment of the law was not something He did for Himself: instead, He did it on our behalf.
The wonder of grace is that for all who trust Christ, His righteous life and fulfillment of God’s law is credited to us. Because of His life of sinlessness and perfect obedience on this earth, God legally credits believers with the righteous acts that Christ performed on our behalf. Thus, those who trust in Christ are given by God the same position or standing with the Father that the Son obtained by His obedience.
This position of “right standing” before the Father is the source of tremendous benefits to the believer. Because God imputes Christ’s righteousness to us, we can come boldly before God in prayer, knowing that He accepts us as He accepts His Son (Hebrews 4:14-16); we are assured of peace with God because Christ’s perfection earned our peace (Romans 5:1-3); we have the child-blessings of God’s family established for us by Christ (Romans 8:16-17); and we are free from condemnation (Romans 8:1-4).
And how do you receive this righteousness of Christ? Only by the instrument of faith alone, plus nothing; and even this faith is a gift of God, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-10). Trust in Christ’s atoning work, and His righteousness is given to you.
Next Week: By His Victorious Resurrection
Jesus Saves By His Substitutionary Death!
Last Friday we took an overview of the three atoning aspects of Christ’s work of redemption. We were reminded of the classic orthodox understanding of His redemptive ministry: that Jesus is able to save us by virtue of His perfect life in fulfillment of God’s law, His substitutionary death under God’s wrath, and His victorious resurrection over all the powers of hell and death.
As we noted last Friday, the most obvious aspect of Jesus’ atoning work is His crucifixion. The New Testament clearly presents Christ’s death as the key to our salvation.
To understand how Christ’s death works for us, we first need an accurate view of sin. From the account of our first parents’ sin in the Garden of Eden, until the New Testament, Scripture teaches that sin is intentional rebellion against God’s will as well as against His right to rule our lives.
The depravity of this rebellion is measured not merely by the act itself, but also by the nature of Him against Whom it is committed: because God is eternal and infinite, the rebellion is eternal and infinite as well. Let me illustrate.
If you were to punch a friend, your punishment might be as simple as losing that friendship. If you were to punch a police officer, you would spend some time in jail. If you punched the United States President, you would spend the rest of your life in a mental institution. In each case, the same act is committed: a punch. But the punishment varies with the authority of and respect due to the person you punch: the greater their position, the greater your punishment.
When we sin, we are actively rebelling against the highest Authority in the universe, One Whose nature rightly demands infinite and eternal respect. Our sin, therefore, dishonors God infinitely and eternally, and rightly places us under His righteous wrath.
It is this eternal and infinite rebellion that Jesus came to remedy, this wrath He came to suffer. In His death, Christ willingly submitted Himself to the just penalty which we deserved. He received it on our behalf and in our place so that we will not have to bear it ourselves. The penalty for our sins was removed from us and placed upon Christ, our substitute.
The benefit of this substitution is that we are no longer under God’s wrath. Irish poet Charitie Lees Bancroft wrote of this miracle of grace in 1863:
Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free,
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
God’s righteous wrath was poured out on the Son, Who, because He is also infinite and eternal, could receive the infinite and eternal measure of that wrath. Our pardon is made possible by His punishment.
Or, as Peter put it, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
Aren’t you glad He died in your place, to take God’s punishment for your sin?
Next Week: By His Righteous Life
As we noted last Friday, the most obvious aspect of Jesus’ atoning work is His crucifixion. The New Testament clearly presents Christ’s death as the key to our salvation.
To understand how Christ’s death works for us, we first need an accurate view of sin. From the account of our first parents’ sin in the Garden of Eden, until the New Testament, Scripture teaches that sin is intentional rebellion against God’s will as well as against His right to rule our lives.
The depravity of this rebellion is measured not merely by the act itself, but also by the nature of Him against Whom it is committed: because God is eternal and infinite, the rebellion is eternal and infinite as well. Let me illustrate.
If you were to punch a friend, your punishment might be as simple as losing that friendship. If you were to punch a police officer, you would spend some time in jail. If you punched the United States President, you would spend the rest of your life in a mental institution. In each case, the same act is committed: a punch. But the punishment varies with the authority of and respect due to the person you punch: the greater their position, the greater your punishment.
When we sin, we are actively rebelling against the highest Authority in the universe, One Whose nature rightly demands infinite and eternal respect. Our sin, therefore, dishonors God infinitely and eternally, and rightly places us under His righteous wrath.
It is this eternal and infinite rebellion that Jesus came to remedy, this wrath He came to suffer. In His death, Christ willingly submitted Himself to the just penalty which we deserved. He received it on our behalf and in our place so that we will not have to bear it ourselves. The penalty for our sins was removed from us and placed upon Christ, our substitute.
The benefit of this substitution is that we are no longer under God’s wrath. Irish poet Charitie Lees Bancroft wrote of this miracle of grace in 1863:
Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free,
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
God’s righteous wrath was poured out on the Son, Who, because He is also infinite and eternal, could receive the infinite and eternal measure of that wrath. Our pardon is made possible by His punishment.
Or, as Peter put it, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
Aren’t you glad He died in your place, to take God’s punishment for your sin?
Next Week: By His Righteous Life
Jesus Saves! But HOW?
How glorious it is to know that God, the One against Whom humanity has steadily rebelled since Eden, has chosen to make peace with us rebels through His Son! His grace truly is amazing: that the offended would take upon Himself the responsibility of forgiving and reconciling the offenders is more wonderful than we can imagine.
And yet, it is true! Jesus saves us from our sins and restores us to relationship with God.
But how? How is it possible that what Jesus did 2,000 years ago and 5,000 miles away would save you, here, today?
The orthodox understanding of Christ’s saving work presents His redemptive ministry in three basic parts. For the next three Fridays, we’ll look more closely at each of these three parts of Christ’s atoning work. For today, here’s an overview of how Jesus saves.
The most obvious aspect of Jesus’ atoning work is His crucifixion. As the incarnate second person of the Triune God – and thus both fully God and fully human – Jesus was able as a man to die, and as God to do so perfectly. In His death, He took our place under the righteous wrath of His Father. Indeed, as Isaiah prophesied in the famous text about the suffering Messiah, “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all . . . the Lord was pleased to crush Him” (Isaiah 53:6, 10). Those who trust Jesus are no longer under the Father’s wrath, because that wrath was fully poured out on the Son. Forgiveness is accomplished because the God’s wrath upon human sin has been satisfied.
But if Jesus came only to die, why would He spend over three decades living among sinful humanity before dying for our sins? Jesus Himself told us why: “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Because humanity’s sin rendered us incapable of meeting God’s righteous requirements, Christ lived a perfect and sinless life on our behalf. As our representative, He lived before God flawlessly and fulfilled all the Law. Those who trust Christ are given His righteousness, as God sees us in Christ, clothed in His perfection. Thus, not only are we forgiven by Christ’s death, but we are also reconciled to God by Christ’s righteousness given to us.
However, Christ’s atoning work would be incomplete if, after having lived a sinless life for us and died under God’s wrath for our sins, He then remained dead. His resurrection not only vindicates all His claims, but also guarantees our eternal life, as He lives His life out in us. Jesus came out of the tomb to come into your life and live in you. Thus, as He lives in you, His life flows through you, and by the union of His life with your life, you are able to bear the fruit of Christ-like living, and draw others to Him. (See John 15:1-11.)
So, here is how Jesus saves us. We are forgiven by Christ’s substitutionary death. We are reconciled to God by His righteous life. And we live in union with Him for God’s glory.
It’s really amazing, isn’t it?
Next Week: By His Substitutionary Death
And yet, it is true! Jesus saves us from our sins and restores us to relationship with God.
But how? How is it possible that what Jesus did 2,000 years ago and 5,000 miles away would save you, here, today?
The orthodox understanding of Christ’s saving work presents His redemptive ministry in three basic parts. For the next three Fridays, we’ll look more closely at each of these three parts of Christ’s atoning work. For today, here’s an overview of how Jesus saves.
The most obvious aspect of Jesus’ atoning work is His crucifixion. As the incarnate second person of the Triune God – and thus both fully God and fully human – Jesus was able as a man to die, and as God to do so perfectly. In His death, He took our place under the righteous wrath of His Father. Indeed, as Isaiah prophesied in the famous text about the suffering Messiah, “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all . . . the Lord was pleased to crush Him” (Isaiah 53:6, 10). Those who trust Jesus are no longer under the Father’s wrath, because that wrath was fully poured out on the Son. Forgiveness is accomplished because the God’s wrath upon human sin has been satisfied.
But if Jesus came only to die, why would He spend over three decades living among sinful humanity before dying for our sins? Jesus Himself told us why: “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Because humanity’s sin rendered us incapable of meeting God’s righteous requirements, Christ lived a perfect and sinless life on our behalf. As our representative, He lived before God flawlessly and fulfilled all the Law. Those who trust Christ are given His righteousness, as God sees us in Christ, clothed in His perfection. Thus, not only are we forgiven by Christ’s death, but we are also reconciled to God by Christ’s righteousness given to us.
However, Christ’s atoning work would be incomplete if, after having lived a sinless life for us and died under God’s wrath for our sins, He then remained dead. His resurrection not only vindicates all His claims, but also guarantees our eternal life, as He lives His life out in us. Jesus came out of the tomb to come into your life and live in you. Thus, as He lives in you, His life flows through you, and by the union of His life with your life, you are able to bear the fruit of Christ-like living, and draw others to Him. (See John 15:1-11.)
So, here is how Jesus saves us. We are forgiven by Christ’s substitutionary death. We are reconciled to God by His righteous life. And we live in union with Him for God’s glory.
It’s really amazing, isn’t it?
Next Week: By His Substitutionary Death
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
