April 29, 2015

John 12:46

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

We are still on the mission statements of the Lord Jesus Christ recorded in scripture.  Remember, a mission statement is a “…one-sentence statement describing the reason an organization, program or ministry exists.  It is used to help guide decisions about priorities, actions, and responsibilities.”  This next mission statement is from John 12:46:  “…Jesus…said, ‘I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.’ ”  Let’s look at the negative of this statement first – what does it mean to “abide in darkness…”?  The Bible sheds light on this:

•      Darkness is associated with emptiness and chaos in Genesis 1:2 (New American Bible):  “…the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss….”  And the first words recorded that God spoke in Genesis 1:3 countered those conditions:  “Let there be light.”

•      Darkness is also associated with God’s judgment, as in the ninth plague sent upon Egypt in Exodus 10:21-29.  During Jesus’ crucifixion it says in Matthew 27:45, “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over the whole land.”  Many Bible scholars think it was the same condition of darkness experienced in Egypt because it was the time the Son was “…made sin for us…” (II Corinthians 5:21), and the Father gave judgment against Him.  In Joel 1:15 and 2:2, the prophet says this about “…the day of the LORD….  [It is a] destruction from the Almighty…a day of darkness and gloominess….”  And in Revelation 16:10, the fifth bowl judgment was “…darkness… poured out…on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom…”

•      Darkness is used to describe sin in many Bible passages.  Here are two examples – one from the Old Testament, and one from the new:

Proverbs 4:19 – “The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know
what makes them stumble.”

John 3:19 and 20 – “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come
into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their
deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light, and does not
come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

•      We are told in Colossians 1:13 that Satan’s kingdom is “…the power of darkness….”  And his evil and well-organized army includes a rank called “…the rulers of darkness of this world…” (Ephesians 6:12).

•      Ignorance is also closely associated with darkness – especially spiritual ignorance.  Paul, in the opening verses of In I Thessalonians 5, is referring to the return of Christ and the judgments that precede it.  He tells us that those who do not believe are ignorant of that coming time.  “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief.” (I Thessalonians 5:4).

Is it any wonder then that in our featured mission statement “…Jesus…said, ‘I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness…’ ”? (See also John 1:4, 9; 8:12; 9:5).

But there are two more very important elements if we are to “…abide…in the light…” (I John 2:10):

•      First – as it is written in Psalm 119:130, “The entrance of Your words gives light….” Also in Psalm 119:1-5:  “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”  Jesus plainly said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”  But we learn about the Lord Jesus Christ and what it means to be His disciple from His Word, the Bible!

More than just a text book on Christianity, the Bible is a living Word ! (see Hebrews 4:12; I Peter 1:23).  It is living because the Holy Spirit living within every believer takes that Word you hear/read/study/meditate/memorize and energizes it – and empowers it – for you to become more and more like Jesus Christ!  It is no wonder then that Paul tells us in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly….”

•      Second – we must be willing to obey the Lord through the leading of the Holy Spirit by His Word.  God will not do much in your life if you maintain a disobedient spirit.

So if you, Christian, want to live in the Light, follow Jesus, dwelling in the Word often with an obedient heart!

April 27, 2015

Luke 4:18, 19; Isaiah 61:1, 2

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Two blogs ago, I wrote, “We shall try to finish this study of Jesus’ mission statements from Luke 4:18 and 19 and Isaiah 61:1 and 2 on Friday.” Well, I didn’t finish on Friday, but I will try to conclude today! Here are our two scriptures under consideration:

Luke 4:18, 19 – The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to
      preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to
      preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at
      liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Isaiah 61:1, 2 – The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the LORD has
      anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the
      brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
      prison to those who are bound, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord,
      and the day of vengeance of our God….

•      In Luke 4:19 Jesus closed His mission statement with “…to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” What did He mean by “… the acceptable year of the Lord…”? Paul sheds light on it by what He wrote in II Corinthians 6:2:

      For He [God] says, “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the
      day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time;
      behold, now is the day of salvation.

Paul is quoting from Isaiah 49:8 which says, “Thus says the LORD: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You….’ ” Since You is capitalized, it means the Father is telling the Son that He will give Him a people and a creation over which to rule. The setting for this Isaiah 49 passage is the Millennium in which Jesus “…will rule all nations with a rod of iron…” (Revelation 12:5) in a benevolent rule over the world from which the curse has been lifted (see Genesis 3:14-19; Romans 8:20-23).

But Paul emphasizes in II Corinthians 6:2, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” This is because now God is preparing us to “…reign with Him…” in that Millennium (Revelation 20:6). It is also “…the accepted time…the day of salvation…” because we are called to salvation now! As James wrote in James 4:13 through 15:

      Come now, you who say, “Today or to morrow we will go to such and such
      a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do
      not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a
      vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you
      ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

We do not know the day our life will end, or how! Don’t be called a “fool ” (see Luke 12:15-21) and not be ready for the day when you are called from this life to stand before God!

All this to say, “…the acceptable year of the Lord…” (Luke 4:19) is this time that is known as ‘The Church Age’ or ‘The Age of Grace’. It is the acceptable time to reach out to Jesus Christ and be saved!

But Jesus was quoting Isaiah 61:2 in Luke 4:19, and the Isaiah passage continues on to say, “…and the day of vengeance of our God….” Why did not the Lord quote that part also? It is because “the day of vengeance of our God ” belongs to Jesus’ Second Advent – when He comes as King and Judge! Then “the acceptable year of the  Lord ” will be closed! If you are not saved when you see Him return, you will only be judged in and for your sins! Because, as Paul wrote in II Corinthians 5:7, salvation is “…by faith, not by sight.”

In the Old Testament, both advents of the Lord Jesus Christ are often in view, but not distinguished as separate events. As in Isaiah 61:2, the Church Age is separated by a comma! And the Church Age has gone on for almost two thousand years now – since Pentecost! It will last until the Church is taken from the earth in the rapture! (See I Corinthians 15:51-54; I Thessalonians 4:13-17).

Luke 4:18 and 19 is perhaps the most complete mission statement that describes the ministry of Jesus Christ. But there are still more to come!

April 24, 2015

Luke 4:18, 19; Isaiah 61:1, 2

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Here are the two scriptures from which Jesus stated His powerful mission statement:

Luke 4:18, 19 – The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to
      preach the gospel to the poor.  He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to
      preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at
      liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Isaiah 61:1, 2 – The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the LORD has
      anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the
      brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
      prison to those who are bound, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord,
      and the day of vengeance of our God….

A question comes to mind:  If Jesus was quoting Isaiah 6:1 and 2 in Luke 4:18 and 19, why are there differences between the two?  For instance, where the Lord read in Luke 4:18, “He has sent Me…to preach… recovery of sight to the blind…” – this phrase is not in the Isaiah passage.  The explanation is two-fold:

•      Jesus may have been quoting partially from the Septuagint translation (often abbreviated as LXX).  ‘Septuagint’ derives its name in Latin from the 70 (or 72) translators who accomplished this Greek translation between 300 and 200 BC in Alexandria, Egypt.  It was especially for the Hellenistic Jews scattered throughout the Roman Empire who were beginning to lose their Hebrew language skills.

The LXX translates Isaiah 61:1 and 2, adding this phrase which is not in the Hebrew scriptures:  “…and recovery of sight to the blind…” – exactly what Jesus stated in Luke 4:18!

•      Another explanation is this, from the website kjvtoday.com:

      Jesus was expounding Isaiah 61:1 by providing his targum (a paraphrase).  New
      Testament scholar Craig A. Evans states as follows:  ‘Jesus cites in a synagogue
      …what appears to be a passage from Isaiah 61, but it turns out to be a mixture of
      several passages or themes from the book of Isaiah….’  Jesus incorporated Isaiah
      42:7 into his reading of Isaiah 61:1 in order to provide a helpful cross-reference
      to the phrase, “opening of the prison to those who are bound” (Isaiah 61:1). 
      Isaiah 42:6-7 says, “I the LORD have called you…to open blind eyes, to bring
      out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house
      ….”  They both refer to a person coming out of spiritual darkness and bondage. 
      Thus Jesus read Isaiah 42:7 into Isaiah 61:1.  Well-studied fellow Jews in the
      Synagogue would have understood that Jesus was ‘cross- referencing’ Isaiah
      42:7 from Isaiah 61:1 because Isaiah 42:7 expands the meaning of ‘opening
      of the prison’ in Isaiah 61:1.

•      What about the fifth phrase of our study, recorded in Luke 4:18? – “…and recovery of sight to the blind….”  In the Gospels, three occasions stand out where Jesus healed four different people of blindness:

Matthew 20:30-34 (in Jericho) – …two blind men…cried out, saying, “Have mercy
      on us, O Lord, Son of David….”  So Jesus…called them, and said, “What
      do you want Me to do for you? ” They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes
      may be opened.”  So Jesus…touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes
      received sight, and they followed Him.

Mark 8:22-25 (a two-stage healing!) – Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought
      a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind
      man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his
      eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he
      looked up, and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”  Then He put His hands
      upon his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored, and saw
      everyone clearly.

John 9:5-7 – “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  When He
      had said these things, He spat on the ground, and made clay with the saliva;
      and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  And He said to him,
      “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and
      washed, and came back seeing.

There were many other healings of blind people, such as the proof offered to the disciples of John the Baptist when they came to ask for their imprisoned leader, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another? ” (Luke 7:20).  The next verse says, “And in that vary hour He cured many people of their infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many who were blind He gave sight.” (See also Matthew 12:22; 15:30, 31; 21:14).

But spiritual blindness is a worse malady than not having physical sight!  For being – and remaining – spiritually blind means eternal destruction!  Spiritual blindness is one of Satan’s greatest ploys to keep unbelievers in his power.  Paul wrote in II Corinthians 4:3 and 4:

      …if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds
      the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel
      of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

Do not be blind to the spiritual truth of the Lord Jesus Christ!  As it says in Isaiah 45:22, “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth!  For I am God, and there is no other.”

April 20, 2015

Isaiah 61:1, 2

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

In Luke 4:18 and 19 Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1 and 2 in the Nazareth synagogue at the beginning of His ministry.  It is a great mission statement describing His work over the next three-plus years.  Isaiah was given this prophesy concerning the Messiah about 700 years before Jesus arrived on the scene:

      The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me
      to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
      to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who
      are bound, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance
      of our God….

Let’s take this prophecy statement by statement, comparing it to Luke 4:18 and 19, and see how it describes the ministry of the Lord.

•      Isaiah 61:1 – “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me….”  As the ancient Apostle’s Creed states, “He was conceived by the Holy Ghost….”  But at Jesus’ baptism 30 years later, it is recorded in Matthew 3:16:

      Then Jesus, when He had been baptized, came up immediately from the water;
      and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God
      descending like a dove, and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came
      from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Luke 4:14 says that following Jesus’ temptation which occurred right after His baptism, “…Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit….”  Everything He did in His earthly ministry was “in the power of the Spirit”!  He said in John 8:28, “I do nothing of Myself….”  It was always as He was led by the Holy Spirit!

That is how we are to live our lives as Christians – constantly empowered and led by the Holy Spirit! (See Isaiah 30:21; Acts 16:6-10; Romans 8:14).

•      Isaiah 61:1 – “…because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor….”  Anointed implies something put upon another thing, as when a king was anointed with oil at his calling (see I Samuel 10:1; 16:13).

But we as Christians have a greater privilege.  We are not just anointed by the Holy Spirit, but permanently indwelt by Him when we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. (See Romans 8:9; II Corinthians 1:22).

And why did God anoint Jesus with the Holy Spirit?  And why do we have that same Holy Spirit within us?  We are called to preach – to share, to witness – the good tidings (the gospel) to the poor!  Who are the poor?  In Matthew 5:3 – the first of the Beatitudes – Jesus identified the poor as those who are “…the poor in spirit….”  Why are they poor in spirit?  Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:1 that those who do not have Jesus Christ as their Savior are “…dead in trespasses and sins….”  If you have no hope of eternal life – if you only have the prospect of eternal damnation in hell – then you are indeed poor, no matter how rich you are!  As the Lord said in Mark 8:36, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? ”

God loved the whole world enough to give “…His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).  He now wants to love the world through you and me!  And He wants us to tell others how they can also be saved!  You are anointed – you are indwelt – by the Holy Spirit.  Will you tell others by the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit about the salvation God has so richly provided us?

•      Isaiah 61:1 – “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted….”  We are all brokenhearted before Jesus comes into our lives!  But there are many who are brokenhearted over the troubles of life that they experience even after they become believers – issues of health, finances, relationships, addictions, etc.  Jesus Christ not only came to give us eternal life but, as He said in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life…more abundantly.”  What is the abundant life to which He is referring?  Paul gives us the answer in Galatians 5:22 and 23 (NIV):  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”  If these nine manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit abound in our lives, what troubles can possibly break our hearts?  Is it any wonder that Jesus gives this invitation in Matthew 11:28:

      Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 
      Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
      and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is
      light.

We will continue on Wednesday to explore this great mission statement of the Lord Jesus Christ.

April 17, 2015

Luke 4:18, 19

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

Here is another mission statement describing the ministry of Jesus Christ.  It is found in Luke 4:18 and 19:

      The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach
      the gospel to the poor.  He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
      deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
      those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

But that is not the only place this mission statement is found.  It was given as a prophecy in Isaiah 61:1 and 2, about 700 years before our Lord walked this earth.  And it was generally recognized as applying to the coming Messiah.

This declaration in Luke 4 happened at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, after He had gone through 40 days of testing on the Mount of Temptation (traditionally a peak near the Dead Sea), recorded in Luke 4:1 through 13.  His first ministry tour was in Galilee, and after “…He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all…He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.” (Luke 4:14, 15).  It was there, in the Nazareth synagogue, that He “…stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.  And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written…” the prophecy quoted above. (Luke 4:16, 17).

Remember that Jesus’ ministry was started in other Galilean cities and towns before He came to Nazareth, and, as it says in Luke 4:14, He was “…glorified by all.”  So His reputation preceded Him to Nazareth.  In Luke 4:20, it says that after He read that powerful prophecy from Isaiah, “…[t]hen He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.”  Apparently, the speculations were going around such as were later voiced in John 7:40 and 41:  “Many from the crowd…said, ‘Truly this is the Prophet.’  Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’ ”  “The Prophet” refers to the one who is to precede the Messiah, identified as Elijah in Malachi 4:5 and 6 (see also Isaiah 40:3-5; Matthew 3:3; Luke 1:13-17).  It is thought that one of the two witness described in Revelation 11:1 through 13 is Elijah, preparing the world for Christ’s second coming.  Remember also, according to II Kings 2:11, Elijah never died.  He bodily “…went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”  So he would not have to be resurrected from the dead!

But back to Jesus in the Nazareth synagogue.  After reading the Isaiah prophecy, the Lord told the people directly, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  He was telling them that He was the Messiah!  And the people were impressed!  It says in Luke 4:22, “So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.”

But something went terribly wrong!  For just moments later what took place is recorded in Luke 4:28 and 29:

      Then all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled
      with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to
      the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him
      down over the cliff.

What went wrong?  Jesus pointed out the shallowness of their belief in Him in Luke 4:23 through 27:

      And He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician,
      heal yourself!  Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here
      in Your country.’”  Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is
      accepted in his own country.  But I tell you truly, many widows were in
      Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and
      six months, and there was a great famine throughout the land; but to none
      of them was Elijah sent, except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a
      woman who was a widow.  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of
      Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, except Naaman the
      Syrian.”

The hometown Jews wanted more proof!  They were reasoning, “Is this not Joseph’s son? ” (Luke 4:22).  They wanted to accept Jesus on their own terms!  After all, they knew Him growing up!  “He’s the local boy, the son of a carpenter!”  But Jesus was telling them just to consider His teaching and the signs and wonders accompanying that teaching – and believe!  If they did not, they were not God’s privileged people!  When He wouldn’t come up (or should we say down!) to their expectations, they got so angry, they planned His death!

I have been in Nazareth.  It is built on top of a mountain, and the cliff over which they planned to throw Jesus is a vertical drop of maybe 100 feet!

This incident shows us two things:

•      We come to Jesus on His terms only!  He is the Savior, we are the sinners. He died for us, paying the price of redemption so we can go free!  We receive His freely given sacrifice by faith, believing it is for ME that He suffered, died and lives again.

•      If we refuse to come to the Lord on His terms, the other options are to escape from His claims of being the Savior and Judge of all the world!  We try to escape by either running away or trying to get rid of Him!

…(See John 3:16-21).

I have chosen the first option!  Have you?

April 15, 2015

Mark 10:45

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

I have stated in the last two blogs that Jesus Christ has several mission statements.  A mission statement is a “…one-sentence statement describing the reason an organization, program or ministry exists. It is used to help guide decisions about priorities, actions, and responsibilities.” (From the website, 50 Example Mission Statements).  Here is a very succinct mission statement from Mark 10:45:  “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

The context from which this statement comes starts back in verse 35, when “…James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him saying…‘Grant us the we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.’ ”  It was a selfish request, based on James’ and John’s perception of the kingdom they expected Jesus to initiate.  There were several popular ideas concerning the Messiah and His kingdom. Here are a few of them:

•      The Messianic kingdom would be glorious, powerful, and with great wealth available, just like under the rule of King Solomon a thousand years before (see Isaiah 2:2; 60:1-22; Jeremiah 31:11-14; Zechariah 14:14).

•      Israel would be the dominant nation in the earth, with their Messiah King holding benevolent rule over all other nations (see Psalm 2:6-12; Jeremiah 30:7-11; Hoseah 3:5; Zechariah 9:8-10; ).

•      There would be peace upon the earth, with the Messiah King ensuring that way of life (see Isaiah 2:4; 9:6, 7; Micah 4:3).

•      There would be no more war, once the Messiah and Israel was victorious (see Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3).

Also, Jesus had recently told His disciples in Matthew 19:28:

      Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits
      on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve
      thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

So the disciples were avidly anticipating the reestablishment of the kingdom in which Israel would be the dominant nation, and in which they themselves would help rule!  Of course, their ideas of the coming kingdom, and God’s plan were two different concepts!

But with such thinking, James and John approached Jesus directly (according to Matthew 20:20 and 21, it was their mother who asked Jesus):  “Grant us the we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.” (Mark 10:37).  The resultant dialogue with the Lord in Mark 10:38 through 40 went thus:

      But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask.  Can you drink of
      the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
      with?”  And they said to Him, “We can.”  But Jesus said to them, “You
      will indeed drink of the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am bap-
      tized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left
      is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.”

When the ten other disciples heard what was going on, it says in Mark 10:41, “…they began to be greatly displeased…” with such a brash request.  So Jesus put the matter to rest with the illustration of Himself as applied to them in Mark 10:42 through 45:

      You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it
      over them….Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to be
      great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to
      be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be
      served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

The followers of Jesus had to learn humility and service in place of pride and worldly ambition!  And to what extent were they to serve?  I John 3:16 has the answer:  “By this we know love, because He [Jesus Christ] laid down His life for us.  And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”  If we are willing to lay down our lives for fellow Christians, then anything else we are called to do for them is a lesser sacrifice!

Jesus set the example! His stated purpose in Mark 10:45 is, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  No, we do not have to ransom anyone’s life.  That has already been done on Calvary’s cross!  But are we willing to serve one another – even unto death?

April 13, 2015

Luke 19:10

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

In the last blog we talked about mission statements.  According to the website, 50 Example Mission Statements, a mission statement is a “…one-sentence statement describing the reason an organization, program or ministry exists.  It is used to help guide decisions about priorities, actions, and responsibilities….Good mission statements should be clear, memorable and concise.”

Jesus has more than one mission statement.  Friday we considered I John 3:8: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”  The Savior came to Destroy The Destroyer – Satan, and His works!

Another mission statement is found in Luke 19:10, and – as the above description of what a mission statement is to be, this scripture is “…clear, memorable and concise…”:  “…the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  What was lost, and how did Jesus seek it out and save it?  Notice our scripture says “that which,” and I say ‘it’ and not ‘him’ ‘her’ or ‘them’!  Because, while people are much of the focus of what Jesus came “to seek and to save,” people are not the only things that were lost !

But let’s start with people.  Humankind was in a terrible dilemma!  Created to be vitally connected to God and in perfect fellowship with Him, our first parents blew it!  They disobeyed their Creator and bought the devil’s lie that if they would eat “…of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil…” (Genesis 2:17), they would not die, even though God said they would!  Satan had told them, “…God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5).  That was true in that they would be “knowing good and evil, ” but what the devil did not tell them that from then on, they would no longer be able to do the good, only the evil !  As Paul wrote in Romans 5:12 and 19:

      Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death
      through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned….For…
      by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners….

So we all inherited death – physical, yes, but spiritual also.  Spiritual death is separation from God because our human spirit – that which connects us to God by means of the Holy Spirit – is dead!  As Paul said in Ephesians 2:1, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.”  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, He comes to dwell within our human spirit by the Holy Spirit.  And the Holy Spirit brings life to that which was dead, do we are reconnected back to God!  That’s why this experience is called being “born again” (John 3:3, 5), because we are reborn to a new life in Christ, reconnected to God!

But being “born again” is just a start.  Like the physical birth of a baby, that little one must then grow up and mature into (hopefully) a productive adult.  That takes time and effort – of parents, of the extended family, of the church, of the school, and of the community.  The end goal of the believer is set forth in Romans 8:29:  “For whom He [the Father] foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [Jesus]….”  But the process of the believer to get to that end goal is described in II Corinthians 3:18:

      But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
      Lord [Jesus Christ], are being transformed into the same image from
      glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The idea is that we are changed to be more and more like our Lord as we focus upon Him.  But such a focus is by faith now, not sight.  And things beheld by faith can get sort of hazy and far off if we don’t work to keep our faith strong through His Word (see Romans 10:17) and our spiritual eyes upon Him (see Hebrews 12:1, 2).  It is a process that happens by degree – day by day – expressed as “from glory to glory” in the above scripture.  Someday that process will be complete when the Lord Jesus comes again in glory:  “…we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (I John 3:2).

To keep our Lord in focus takes work and discipline:

•      Daily reading, studying, memorizing, meditation on the Word of God, the Bible.

•      Regular and disciplined prayer time – confessing our sin to Him, praising and thanking Him for His blessings, supplicating God for our own needs and interceding for the needs of others.

•      Worship and fellowship regularly with other believers.

•      Practicing the discipline of abundant and joyful giving.

•      Sharing the gospel with the lost, and discipling other believers to help them mature in their faith.

But when our eyes are upon Jesus, the work and discipline becomes joy!

What else did Jesus Christ “come to seek and to save”?  In the April 3rd and 6th blogs, What Is Redeemed By The Cross? – II and III, we learned not only did Jesus “…come to seek and to save…” our soul, but also our bodies, our total life experiences (even our failings), and all creation! (See Isaiah 38:16-19; Romans 8:19-23; I Corinthians 15:42-58).  And He accomplished it all by His sacrifice on Calvary’s cross!

Thank God Jesus came “…to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10).

April 10, 2015

I John 3:8

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

A mission statement is a “…one-sentence statement describing the reason an organization, program or ministry exists. It is used to help guide decisions about priorities, actions, and responsibilities….Good mission statements should be clear, memorable and concise.” (Paraphrased from 50 Example Mission Statements, http://topnonprofits. com/ examples/nonprofit-mission-statements/).  Some examples of well-known non-profits and their mission statements are:

•      Smithsonian – “The increase and diffusion of knowledge.”

•      The Humane Society – “Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty.”

•      March of Dimes – “We help moms have full-term pregnancies and research the problems that threaten the health of babies.”

•      American Red Cross – “…prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.”

What is Jesus’ mission statement?  He has more than one, but perhaps the best is found in I John 3:8:  “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”  I summarize this mission statement as Destroying The Destroyer!  Let’s analyze the various phrases of this scripture.

•      “…the Son of God was manifested….”  He was hidden for thousands of years!  What do I mean by that?  The idea of the Triune God is hinted at in the Old Testament, but it was God, the Father who was the focus during those first millennia.  For instance, when the Israelites responded with an abundance of gifts for the building of the future temple, David opened his prayer of thanksgiving this way in I Chronicles 29:10:  “Blessed are you, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.”  God, the Spirit is revealed early on, but He was often seen as the active force of God, not a Person of the Trinity.  In Genesis 1:2 it is recorded, “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”  There are also veiled references to God, the Son, as in Proverbs 30:4:

      Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?  Who has gathered the wind
      in His fists?  Who has bound the waters in a garment?  Who has established
      all the ends of the earth?  What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if
      you know?

But in the New Testament, “…the Son of God was manifested…”!  Jesus told Philip in John 14:9, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father….”  And Paul wrote in Colossians 1:15 and 2:9, “He is the image of the invisible God…the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”  The apostle John opens his first epistle – verses 1 through 3 – by expanding on this theme:

      That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
      seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have hand-
      led, concerning the Word of life — the life was manifested, and we have
      seen it, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life, which was
      with the Father, and was manifested to us — that which we have seen and
      heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and
      truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Indeed, “…the Son of God was manifested…”!  But why was He manifested?

•      “…that He might destroy the works of the devil.”  This is where the blog’s title comes in – Destroying The Destroyer!  In John 10:10 Jesus described in the negative Satan’s purpose:  “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”  You can say that “to destroy” is kind of a summary of the other two things for which “the thief ” comes.  For in stealing, the devil destroys possessions, health, relationships, etc.  In killing, he destroys life itself – physical only if that one from whom he takes life is a Christian.  For Jesus said in Luke 12:4, “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.”  And Paul emphasized for the believer in II Corinthians 5:8, “…to be absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord.”  But for the unbeliever, if the devil succeeds in taking a physical life, he has also destroyed the chance for eternal life!  I know that life and death are in the hands of God, not Satan (see Job 7:1; 14:5; Psalm 139:16; Revelation 1:18; Luke 12:20).  But the devil will do his best to kill both body and soul!

To complete the study of what Jesus came to destroy, reread the blog from September 8, 2014, called Destroying Destruction!  I featured the same scripture, I John 3:8, and discussed the various aspects of Satan’s work Jesus destroys.

April 8, 2015

Matthew 5:43-45

(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)

I preached a sermon last Sunday that was not easy to prepare or deliver.  It is titled “Whom Are We Fighting?”  And the main theme is that, based on Ephesians 6:12:  “…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in high places.”  We are called as followers of Jesus Christ to battle satanic hosts – the driving spiritual force behind worldly powers, movements, false religions, etc.

But it was the last part of the sermon, the conclusion really, that was the most difficult to write and present.  I had talked about the atrocities of ISIS and its various radical like-minded organizations – Boca Haram, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and many others.  The more extreme organizations seem to take delight in beheadings, burning people to death, assination-style shootings, and filming the proceedings for all the world to behold and be shocked into submission.

What should we as Christians do in light of the terrorist activities going on in the world today?  Jesus gave the answer in Matthew 5:43 through 45 – and it is a hard answer to receive and practice!

      You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” 
      But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to
      those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and perse-
      cute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His
      sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the
      unjust.

What?!! I am suppose to love and pray for those Jihadist extremists?!!

Think about what it says in the last verse of our scripture:  “…for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”  These may sound like pretty common events – sunshine and rain – and they are!  But what would the land be like – what would our lives be like – if God withheld the blessings of sunshine and rain?  Does He differentiate between sinners and righteous in sending these common blessings upon us?  No!

But let’s apply the same idea to something far greater:  For whom did Jesus Christ die?  It says in I John 2:1 and 2, “…Jesus Christ the righteous…is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”  Propitiation is a covering over.  The Savior’s blood which He shed on Calvary’s cross covered over the sins of all mankind for all time!  Our sins are hidden from the sight of our righteous God!  More than covered over, they are “…removed…from us…as far as the east is from the west…” (Psalm 103:12).  The tragedy is that so many in the world do not believe and accept what the Savior has done for them – have not even heard about it – so they end up eternally paying for their sins themselves in hell!

“Do you mean to say Christ died even for the Muslim Jihadists – those who cut the heads off of Christians and burn them alive?”  Yes!  Doesn’t it say in John 3:16, “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…”?

So how do we fulfill Matthew 5:43 through 45?

•      We are to “…love…our enemies…” seeking the highest good for them, that they would turn from their atrocious sins to the Savior.

•      We are to “…bless those who curse…” us, putting our blessing upon them because even the worst of these terrorists is of great value in the sight of God.  Remember, that God loves every human being enough to have died for him or her personally!

•      We are to “…do good to those who hate…”us.  Paul wrote this in Romans 12:19 through 21:

      Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is
      written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.  Therefore if your
      enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him a drink; for in so doing you
      will heap coals of fire on his head.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
      evil with good.

To “…heap coals of fire on his head…” refers to making him feel guilty and remorseful because you have answered his meanness with kindness.

•      We are to “…pray for those who despitefully use…[us] and persecute…” us.  This is something we can all do, whether we ever personally encounter a terrorist or not.  My prayer for such people is often, “Lord, turn their plans to confusion.  Turn their hearts to Jesus Christ.”

Remember, we do not have to bless their actions!  We can even hate what they do!  It says in Psalm 7:11, “…God is angry with the wicked every day.”  But we are to love them, not for what they do or don’t do, but for what they can become in the Lord Jesus Christ – redeemed, clean and righteous in the Savior!