Daily Archives: April 11, 2013

Wiped Away or Wiped Out…?

Christian Life, , ,

WIPED AWAY OR WIPED OUT…?

“Now it’s time to change your ways. Turn to face God so He can wipe away your sins, pour out showers of blessing to refresh you and send you the Messiah He prepared for you, namely Jesus. For the time being He must remain out of sight in heaven until everything is restored in order again just the way God, through the preaching of His holy prophets of old, said it would be. Moses, for instance, said, ‘Your God will raise up for you a prophet just like me from your family. Listen to every word He speaks to you, Every last living soul who refuses to listen to that prophet will be wiped out from the people.'” Acts 3:19-23 (The Message).

That’s a bit rough, isn’t it? Does God really mean that everyone who does not listen to Jesus will be wiped out, as in — removed, destroyed? What happened to the “God is love” thing?

Yes He does.

The tragic truth is that most people do not understand the nature of God’s love. They think that His love is a “do anything you like, spit in my face, ignore who I am, wipe your feet on me and I’ll take no notice” kind of love. Yes, He loves us even if we have treated Him like that but that attitude does not make for a good Father/son relationship.

Jesus told a compelling story about a son who treated his dad just like that. He was an “I don’t need you; I can make it on my own; I want to be free; I’m sick of you and your stuffy holiness” son. He demanded his inheritance, tantamount to saying, “I wish you were dead,” and set off to live out his ‘freedom’ far away from dad and home.

His plan worked for a while until his funds ran out and his so-called friends ran away. Then reality hit. He had no home, no money and no one to turn to for help. He faced the stark reality that a man has to work to eat. Hunger drove him to do the unthinkable — a Jewish boy looking after pigs! Just imagine that! He was so “free” that he could sit and watch pigs all day.

What option did he have but to eat humble pie and go back home? Suddenly the thought of home and dad and all those things he had so despised, were no longer repulsive but appealing. It’s funny how hunger and poverty bring a person back to sanity! He wasn’t sure about his father’s attitude to his homecoming. He had better offer himself as a servant just to get a square meal every day.

The story, among other things, illustrates the heart of the father — his son was always his son, regardless of his failures; but it does not tell us about the cost of reconciliation. God set a price on rebellion from the beginning. Rebellion is expensive. Forgiveness comes at a price.

This whole episode that Peter was talking about, God coming to earth Himself, living a human life for thirty three years, being put to death for being the Son of God with no guilt of His own, was about paying the price He demanded for mankind’s rebellion. We could not pay the price for everyone else’s sin, only our own, and that means being wiped out of God’s family for ever.

There’s only one way back into the family — by having our wicked past wiped away. Jesus did that by taking the rap for us. Now we can do what the rebellious boy did, go back home to Dad because there is nothing in the way any more. The Father took His anger at sin out on His own Son so that He can welcome us home with open arms.

So…it’s time to change your ways! The old way does not work and only leads to the pigsty. Daddy’s waiting to welcome you home.

What Now?

Bible Study, , , ,

WHAT NOW?

“Dear Theophilus, in the first volume of this book I wrote on everything that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day He said goodbye to the apostles, the ones He had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. After His death He presented Himself alive in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, He talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God.” Acts 1:1-3 (NIV).

It is fitting that we continue the story of Jesus as Luke did to his friend, Theophilus. We are indebted to him for his meticulous record. Without it we would never know the sequel to the Jesus-story and how the first disciples took on the Roman Empire and, through the promised Holy Spirit, so securely planted the message of the truth about Jesus that it infiltrated the known world of their day and still continues to change lives through their writings.

Luke made sure that Theophilus understood that Jesus spent forty days with His disciples after the resurrection, tying up all the loose ends so that they would know exactly what to preach and teach after He left them. His theme was the kingdom of God. There was no doubt that He was alive and that He would continue to be fully involved with them as they carried out His instructions and lived out His life in a hostile environment.

Unlike so much of current preaching and teaching which ignores the bigger picture and makes the gospel all about us, He put His life and death into the perspective of God’s realm and rule in the lives of people. It was not about them. It was about Him, His purpose for coming and their on-going mission to proclaim Him to the world.

He would have warned them that their task was a dangerous one. Like Him they would have to face the hostility of the Jewish leaders who had put Him to death as well as the Caesars whose claims demanded the worship and allegiance that was due Him alone.

These arrogant Roman emperors, in particular Caesar Augustus, “believed that he was god incarnate on earth, the prince of peace who had come to restore all of creation…His priests offered sacrifices and incense to rid people of their guilt. One of his popular slogans was “There is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved than that of Caesar.” Another phrase they used was “Caesar is Lord.” Throughout the Roman Empire, the Caesars called on people to worship them as the divine saviours of humankind…” (Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis, Zondervan 2005, page 162)

The implications are obvious. Into this world came the “Jesus movement” in a remote corner of the empire that was giving them no end of trouble. These people claimed that their leader was a rabbi, that He had announced the arrival of the kingdom of God, that He had been executed by the Roman authorities for treason, and that His followers claimed that He was alive. Now they were claiming that He, not Caesar, is Lord!

Their opposition would be ruthless ad relentless but the message had to go out. The apostles had to know it, be convinced of it, believe it and proclaim it not matter what the consequences. This was the final mission of Jesus before He returned to the Father. For forty days He instructed them until He was sure that they were ready to take on the world!

When the Holy Spirit Came

Christian Life, , ,

WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT CAME

“There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then, when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongue being spoken, they were thunderstruck. They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, ‘Aren’t these all Galileans? How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?'” Acts 2:5-8 (The Message).

The Bible is a unique book! Written by more than forty people of all walks of life over a period of 2000 years, it is a whole and tells one story. Approximately 2000 years before this event on the day of Pentecost, the entire human race spoke one language and lived together in one area. From one couple, Adam and Eve, they had multiplied and become many tribal groups.

They had become so wicked that God destroyed them with a universal flood, saving only Noah and his family and pairs of animals and birds of every species to repopulate the earth. His instruction was that they multiply and fill the earth.

There were three major tribes, descendants of Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. Instead of spreading out across the globe as God intended, they decided to establish a rival religion in defiance of God. They built a ziggurat at a place later dubbed Babel, which meant confusion.

God knew that they would do anything to defy Him if they stuck together. The only way He could force them apart was to confuse their languages. They separated into their tribal and language groups when they could no longer understand one another. From that moment they moved farther and farther apart until they inadvertently had done what God wanted them to do, to fill the earth.

In their rebellion and sin against God, in whose image He had made man to be one with Him and with one another, they lived in conflict and war from that time onwards. It was the coming of Jesus, who brought reconciliation to God and man through His death and resurrection that made unity possible. What happened on the day of Pentecost was the beginning of the reversal of Babel.

Jerusalem was full of pilgrims from every part of the Roman Empire which was the civilised world of their day. Passover and Pentecost were the great draw cards and Jerusalem the hub of their religious festivals. There must have been a babble of dialects, in spite of Greek being the “lingua franca” of the time.

Into this scenario came the unifying power and presence of the Spirit of God who had left man at the beginning when Adam and Eve decided to go it alone. In a mysterious and miraculous way the disciples, who had been together worshipping Jesus, were speaking in all the dialects represented in Jerusalem.

The people were astonished and even more so because most of the disciples were from an outskirt province –Galilee — and spoke with a distinctive accent which gave them away. They were despised by the Judean Jews because they were far more liberal than their Judean counterparts and influenced by their non-Jewish neighbours.

The unthinkable had happened. They were able to understand the speech of these Galilean peasants who had never learned their languages. How did that happen? The answer is God! He did it as a sign to the Jews but, even more than that, He reversed what had happened at Babel. The time had come to reconnect alienated people to one another because the reason for their alienation had been removed.

Jesus prayed for the unity of all believers which would be a powerful witness to His coming from God. Now it was happening. Babel was being overturned because Pentecost had happened and is still happening every time another person embraces Jesus as Lord.

Turn to Face God

Bible Study, ,

TURN TO FACE GOD

“When Peter saw he had a congregation, he addressed the people:

“‘Oh, Israelites, why does this take you by such complete surprise and why stare at us as if our power or piety made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, had glorified His Son Jesus. The very one that Pilate called innocent, you repudiated. You repudiated the Holy One, the Just One, and asked for a murderer in His place. You no sooner killed the Author of Life than God raised Him from the dead — and we’re the witnesses. Faith in Jesus’ name put this man whose condition you know so well, on his feet — yes, faith and nothing but faith put this man healed and whole right before your eyes.'” Acts 3:12-16 (The Message).

What an opportunity! Peter made good mileage out of the situation. It was very current. Some of his hearers were still smarting from his last sermon. They had been part of the mob that had bayed for Jesus’ blood and, when the Holy Spirit came with indisputable evidence, they were forced to acknowledge their guilt and seek the forgiveness His death offered.

Now it had happened again — another phenomenal miracle which pointed to a Power outside their everyday experience. Peter quickly jumped in with another explanation and another accusation which once again hit home. They had to face the cold, stark fact that they had mindlessly demanded the release of a murderer and condemned an innocent man to a horrible death, but not only an innocent man, the very Son of God whom they refused to acknowledge.

No one could deny the miracle. This man was so familiar to them that no one would even question that he was once a crippled beggar and now he walked and was whole again. But how did it happen?

Peter explains. “This Jesus you killed is alive again. God raised Him from the dead as a witness to the identity you refused to acknowledge – the Son of God. Through the power of His name this man was made whole and can walk again. This is the same God you claim to worship – the God of our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

The evidence was irrefutable. They had only one option – to turn to the one they had spurned and acknowledge that He is Lord. The kingdom He represented is one of mercy and compassion. The Ruler of this kingdom has the power to restore what the devil had lured man into destroying. In spite of what they had done, He offered forgiveness, cleansing, healing and a new life of faith in Him.

The crippled man, now healed and whole, was a startling declaration that God’s desire is not to condemn and destroy but to restore and heal as a witness to His love ad grace. What other God would come Himself to a broken world, pay the debt for man’s sin and offer forgiveness and a new start to anyone who is willing to take up His offer and stake themselves on the reliability of His character and His promise?

Timing is the Father’s Business

Bible Study, , ,

TIMING IS THE FATHER’S BUSINESS

“When they were together for the last time, they asked, ‘Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?’

“He told them, ‘You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria and even to the ends of the world.'” Acts 1:6-8 (The Message).

The disciples were like bulldogs with a bone. They never let go of their belief that Messiah was going to free them from the Romans. Just think of how much of the impact of Jesus’ teaching they missed because they had a fixation for getting rid of Rome. It was probably one of the motivations behind Judas’ betrayal. Perhaps he wanted to shock Jesus into action — but it didn’t work.

Their constant squabbling was always about who would be ‘Prime Minister’ in Jesus’ cabinet. His teaching about greatness in the kingdom of God fell on deaf ears. They could not understand it because it always collided with their preconceived idea about the kingdom of God.

Even the cataclysmic events of the past few weeks had not dislodged their expectation. Now Jesus was about to leave them and He had still not said or done anything about the Romans! All the instruction He had given them about the kingdom of God over the past forty days had been filtered through the notion that He would take action now so that they could administer the new kingdom for Him after He had gone.

They finally brought their expectation out into the open. ‘Is this the time?’ they asked, hoping against hope that He would say yes. The answer they got cut them short, once and for all. ‘Timing is the Father’s business.’ It was not their business, and neither is it ours, to question God’s timing or intentions. Like the disciples, this is often something that consumes us so much that we miss the bigger picture and the valuable lesson.

These men were about to learn a new way of life. Up to now they had Jesus with them. He set the pace and they tagged along, not knowing what was going on but content to be with Him and let Him do the stuff while they watched and listened. They did what He told them and went where He sent them. He had given them authority and power and they had tasted some of the impact of the kingdom He was presenting.

From now on He would no longer be with them in person. They had witnessed the Holy Spirit’s power in His life. Now it was their turn. His physical presence would give way to the Spirit’s internal residence and they would have to learn to recognise His voice and follow His leading from within. This would put a new responsibility on them; to learn to discern His voice, understand His leading and follow His instructions.

Jesus did not leave a “Google map” for them, with all the details of the journey and the destination. That would have been so much easier to follow. Instead He promised them another person just like Himself; same disposition, same power, same wisdom, same purpose, same destination, but one who would be in their spirits, always there, always the same, always in charge.

This time they would do the stuff and the world would watch and listen and be convinced that Jesus is, after all, who He said He is. The issue is, like the disciples, like us, do we listen and follow, or do we ignore the Holy Spirit and do life our way? There is no better way to squelch the work of God on earth than to do it our way.