Monthly Archives: August 2014

A Privileged People

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A PRIVILEGED PEOPLE

“I speak the truth in Christ – I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit – I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” Romans 9:1-5.

What an illustrious pedigree the Jewish people have! Is it any wonder that they are so hated by the rest of the world! The devil has made sure that God and anyone or anything that has to do with Him is thoroughly vilified.

Since the call of Abraham, the Jews have been the most blessed and privileged people on earth. From the first family, they have been surrounded by God’s protection and provision. Abraham was called from his idolatrous environment in Ur to a journey of raw faith in a God who was unseen but real to him. He heard Him speak and learned to follow His instructions with amazing results.

Who else, at the age of one hundred years, when his wife was old and barren, became a father because God said he would? Who else was so blessed that he became so rich and famous in a foreign land that he was respected wherever he went, although he was a nomad?

Abraham’s descendants became so numerous in Egypt that they were a threat to the Pharaoh of a new dynasty who disregarded Joseph’s contribution to his nation? Who else was delivered from slavery in such a dramatic way that it became their signature? God, Israel and deliverance were tied together as their unforgettable identity. “I am the God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

Who else received a constitution for their nation, written on stone by His own finger, that has never been surpassed? God’s covenant with His people, if faithfully obeyed, would have elevated them above all other nations in their care for one another and for the foreigners who found shelter among them. It bound them to God in an indestructible union in which He pledged to live among them and be their God. What a God to worship! To belong to Him was the safest relationship in the entire universe.

What other nation had the glorious presence of their God in a visible representation within the very building in which they worshipped Him? Other nations had gods of wood and stone but they were as dead as the material that represented them. Only the God of Israel was among them, symbolised by the unearthly light that radiated His glory from the mercy seat between the golden cherubim above the Ark of the Covenant.

No other temple on earth was as beautiful or lavishly adorned as the temple that Solomon built as a place of worship for his God. It was David’s dream to honour the God he adored with the best he could give – a dream carried out by his son – as a permanent and visible reminder of the glory of their God who was among them.

What other God wanted a family of sons and daughters who would live in harmony with Him and with each other in an eternal bond of love? What other God came in person to His people to tell them and show them how much He loved them – so much, in fact, that He paid the debt of their sin by giving His own life for them?

Is it any wonder that Paul grieved for his people, so much so that, if possible, he would have forfeited his own place in the family of God for them, if only they would believe? But Paul knew, just as it had taken a mind-blowing encounter with the living Christ to convince him of the truth, so his people needed the power of the gospel through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, to bring them to faith in their Messiah.

It had happened in Jerusalem fifty days after the resurrection, when the Holy Spirit fell on the believers and the church was born, Jewish to the core. But, once again, the stubborn hearts of his people turned them from the Messiah and drove many of them into becoming bullying persecutors.

And Paul grieved for their loss.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

The Power Of Love

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THE POWER OF LOVE

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’ Again Jesus said, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ The third time He said to him, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.’ “John 21:15-17.

This was not Peter’s first encounter with Jesus after the resurrection. He had seen Him in the Upper Room on the morning of His resurrection. He had been there a week later when Jesus reassured Thomas that He was really alive.

I think that Peter did not doubt that Jesus had forgiven Him. He did not take off and commit suicide like Judas had done. He knew his Master well enough to know that He would forgive him for his failure. After all, hadn’t Jesus answered his question about forgiveness, ‘Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother for the same sin against me?’

So what was this encounter all about? It was not about forgiving Peter; it was about Peter’s future. How did he stand with Jesus with regards to his calling? Would Jesus trust him enough to count him among His disciples or must he step down and go back to his fishing? What were the thoughts that were running through his head when he saw his Master cooking breakfast on the beach?

There was significance even in that simple action. Jesus was inviting His disciples, all of them present there because they had all deserted Him at the critical moment, to a fellowship meal. Eating together meant relationship – reconciliation – nothing to disturb their togetherness. And Peter was also invited. They were all in it together; failure and restoration.

But Peter needed to have his nagging insecurity settled once and for all, and Jesus knew it. Would He put Peter through a period of probation, a time to rebuild trust in him?  Would He suspend him from service for season so that Peter could be “rehabilitated”? Would He demote him to a lesser status, a sort of “tea boy” for the others?

Peter was shocked at Jesus’ question; not “Why did you do it?” or “What do you think I should do with you?” but “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Three times the same question! It was not what he had expected. Perhaps he would have felt better had Jesus given him a good dressing down and suspended for a while. After all, he was guilty and he needed to be punished, but “Do you love me?”

What was Jesus doing? He was redirecting Peter to the core of his future ministry. Nothing but love for his Master would steady him in the days to come when all hell would break loose against him. He would need the same power of love that held Jesus steadfast to Him mission in the face of hatred, antagonism and opposition – the power of love – to keep him loyal to his Master even in the face of a brutal death. It was Jesus’ love for the Father that kept Him true to His commission, and so it would have to be for Peter.

An invisible bond as strong as a spider’s silk, held Father and Son together through every human experience Jesus had to endure. Now it was Peter’s turn to learn the power of that love. Not even love for the sheep would hold him – only the power of Jesus’ love flowing back to Him through Peter.

“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame.

“Many waters cannot quench love, rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.” Song of Solomon 8:7.

So sang the beloved of her lover, and this is the love that Jesus had for Peter. “Peter, my love for you is as strong as death, burning like an unquenchable fire. Peter, do you love me?”

No amount of discipline or rehabilitation will hold our hearts to Jesus when we fall – only the love that holds us in an unbreakable bond. That alone is the foundation of our calling. “Do you love me? Then take care of my sheep.”

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Nothing Can Separate Us

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NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

“As it is written:                                                                                                                                   For your sake we face death all day long;                                                                                         We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life; neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future; nor any powers; neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39.

These are some of the most loved and treasured words in the whole Bible. Over the past eight chapters, Paul built his case for the power and effectiveness of the gospel against the backdrop of real hardship. Believers were alone in the world. Both Jews and Gentiles were against them, and not just mildly antagonistic; they were murderously anti them – to the extent that they martyred Christians everywhere for their faith, even as Paul wrote.

Even as I write, the persecution of believers is escalating in the Middle East. Brutality against people simply because they believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, is driving people from their homes and taking their lives in hundreds and thousands.

Did Paul have an answer to this carnage? Does the gospel really work? Why does God allow these things to happen? Why does He not intervene to protect His people? Where is His power now?

God has given us enough evidence to persuade us of His love for us. He did intervene – but not just to rescue us from physical death. There is so much more to life than that. He sent His only Son to rescue us from eternal death. By dying and rising again, Jesus conquered death. It no longer has the power to hold us in its eternal grip. Yes, His children may have to face a gruesome and horrible death, but it is only the gateway to a new life where there is no more death.

Killing people for their faith is the worst that the enemy can do. All they are doing is facilitating what must happen to us anyway. Jesus viewed His death from another perspective – not as the violent end to His life or as a terrible waste of a young life, but as the planting of a seed. From His death would come a harvest of new life in the many who would believe in Him.

One of the early church fathers, Tertullian, wrote of the martyrdom of believers in his day, “As often as we are mown down by you, the more we grow in numbers; the blood of the Christians is the seed.” (http://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/tertullian).

Those who kill Christians think that they are getting rid of them. If only they would realise that every one they plant in the ground will produce a harvest of many more. Since God has done everything necessary to bring us back to Himself, there is nothing in heaven or on earth that can separate us from Him love.

Whatever happens to us, good or bad, can only serve to strengthen our faith in Him and our experience of His faithfulness. God allows us to go through tough experiences, not to punish us or alienate us from Him but to purify our faith and to strengthen our confidence in Him. He surrounds and steadies us in the storms of life so that we can know, without a doubt, that we are His deeply loved children.

Does the gospel work? Yes! A thousand times, yes! Jesus died to remove our sin and reconcile us to the Father. His life in us gives us power to overcome the desire to satisfy fleshly lusts and sets us free from the fear of death. Tragic as it is that believers are being slaughtered for their faith in Jesus, death is not the end but the doorway into God’s immediate presence and the fullness of life.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Who?

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WHO?

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all — how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?

“Who will bring any charge against those whom God had chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Romans 8:31-34.

What a grand climax! Paul must have enjoyed and used his legal mind to bring his readers to this point where he could show them how secure they were in what God has done. There is no court higher than God, and when He declares sinners not guilty, places them in a new position with Him — sons and daughters — and sees them already perfected, not even the devil himself can contradict or oppose His ruling.

Everything God did was done according to the highest legal correctness. Man’s debt of sin was paid in full by one who no debt of His own to pay. God could legally justify sinners and lavish on them all His mercy because of Jesus’ death. He wanted them back in His family and there is nothing to stop Him from bringing them home and restoring them to their privileged position as His own beloved children.

By His obedience, Jesus undid everything Adam brought on the human race by his disobedience. Adam was banished from the Garden of Eden — God’s lavish source of supply. He had to wrest a living from a hostile environment. Now, in Christ Jesus, we have access to all of God’s resources because we are His children. Is there anything excluded in the “all things”?

Adam was charged with breaking God’s commandment. He was found guilty, driven from his home and cut off from the presence of God.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:13.

But through Jesus, guilty sinners are not only justified — declared not guilty because their debt has been paid; their status has been changed. They are a new creation; a new species who are no longer sinners but saints, set apart from sin to God as His sons and daughters

Adam was condemned to death for his crime, and brought death upon all of creation. But, through Jesus, we are no longer condemned but accepted, adopted and affirmed as His children, made alive by His Spirit.

“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will — to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.” Ephesians 1:4-6.

There is no other answer to Paul’s question, “Who?” than “No one!” There is no court of appeal higher than God, and His verdict is, “Not guilty! No charge! Case dismissed!” Every obstacle and hindrance between us and our heavenly Father has been removed. Even the great heavy curtain that shut people out of the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom.

But we still have an accuser and he is quick to jump in when we mess up, with his accusation and condemnation. What do we do about him? We silence his lies just as Jesus did, with the truth. We have God’s authority to speak what He has already spoken, “Not guilty!” When we sin, instead of going through the agony of guilt and condemnation, we go to our advocate — Jesus — who is in the presence of the Father making intercession for us. He places His blood between us and our accuser and speaks the truth — “Not guilty!”

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”         1 John 2:1, 2.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Just Trust

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JUST TRUST

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.” Romans 8:28-30.

How rich with meaning and promise these words are for God’s children!

With confidence in the character and faithfulness of God, Paul declared, “We know!” How did Paul know? Revelation, faith and experience! That’s how we know anything about God and His ways. Some only have revelation knowledge. They read the information contained in God’s Word. It lodges in their brain as something they remember but it makes no difference to their lives. This goes no farther than knowing about what God has said about Himself and His ways.

Others may go a little farther by believing what they have read and giving assent to it as the truth. But, until they act on it, it remains nothing more than information. However, when belief becomes action and becomes personal experience, like Paul, they can say, “We know!”

Hardships and trouble come to all of us. They are unavoidable, but the way we interpret and respond to them makes all the difference between stress and rest. Paul rested in God because, through experience he had learned that God was able to bring good out of the worst of situations. It all depended on his perspective on life. Like Joseph said of his brothers, Paul was able to say, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”

Of course it all depends on our attitude to God. If we view Him as an enemy, we will blame Him for everything bad that happens to us. If we recognise Him as our loving Father, we will wait and look for the good that will eventually be revealed, even in the worst of circumstances. And we will understand the motive behind the situations He allows us to go through. He’s got a plan.

So much of our old sinful nature still clings to us. It must be chiselled away through tough experiences which drive us onto God’s mercy. Like little children we take shelter in Daddy’s lap. We learn that the temporal things of this life, possessions, activities, useless baubles and trinkets that decorate our lives and act as distractors, cannot support us when we are in physical or emotional pain. We need the comfort and love of our Abba to give us strength and reassurance in our suffering.

We learn to value the things that really matter – people, family, relationships, friendship, love, tolerance, forgiveness, patience, generosity, peace – and loosen our grip on the transient things of this world. God wants a family; sons and daughters who are like His Son Jesus. The raw material He has to work with, His new-born children, is not anything like His Son but, through the process of discipline and moulding, He slowly transforms us into the image of Jesus.

The outcome is sure because it is God, not people, who does the moulding. He shapes us according to His blueprint, His son, secure in the knowledge that, from His perspective, the work is already complete. When He predestined us, He had sons and daughters in mind. When He called us, He could see the end result. When He worked on us we were already innocent because He justified us through His Son’s death. As He crafted us, he could see Jesus mirrored in our faces.

What more can He do than He has already done? What does He want from you in return? Trust! Just trust! Instead of kicking and screaming, biting and scratching whenever life tightens its grip on you, just be still. He is at work in you. He will never do anything to hurt or destroy you. Because He loves you, He has a goal – to set you free from every destructive way so that you will become as beautiful and glorious as His own Son.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.