Monthly Archives: November 2014

A Drink Offering

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A DRINK OFFERING

“But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

“I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But your know that Timothy has proved himself because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I know how things go with me. And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.” Philippians 2:17-24.

Did Paul’s readers understand what he was saying?

As a Jewish rabbi, he was steeped in the knowledge of the Torah and would have been familiar with the intricacies of the sacrificial system. As a believer in Jesus Christ, he would have understood the symbolic meaning of the sacrifices.

The daily offering of a lamb, morning and evening was to be accompanied by their grain, oil and drink offerings which were a food offering presented to the Lord.

“This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly each day: two lambs a year old. Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight. With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering… a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord.” Exodus 29:38-41, 41b.

Obviously God did not need food – the sacrifice was what the people gave out of their resources to symbolise the Lamb of God, Jesus, whom the Father gave for the sin of the world. The drink offering symbolised the blood that was poured out for us just as the body of the lamb was a picture of the body of Jesus given for us.

Paul was expanding on his song about Jesus who had laid aside His deity and His privileges to become human, humbled Himself even further until He was nothing by becoming a slave and a sacrifice for our sin. Paul saw himself as the accompanying drink offering, pouring his own life out on the sacrifice of his Lord as a pleasing offering to God.

Why was Paul telling the Philippians this? Was he trying to tell them how good he was? Was he boasting about his humility? Not likely! As a rabbi, he had the right to call people to follow him and to imitate him. As a disciple of Jesus, he was following Him.

“Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1.

Since Jesus had poured His life out as an offering so that others mght live, Paul was acting as a true disciple by pouring out his life so that others would follow Jesus and live. He was not claiming to be the sacrifice – that was the role of Jesus alone. Paul was the drink offering that accompanied the sacrifice as a sweet aroma to God.

Like Jesus, Paul never called people to do what he was unwilling to do. He did not follow the tradition of the Pharisees, although he had been one, to say one thing and to do another. Even in his pre-Christian days, although he was wrong, he was sincere and fanatical in his obedience to the Law. Now he was equally zealous and fanatical in his obedience to Christ.

Paul was unstinting in his recommendation of Timothy. He had found him as a young believer and nurtured him in his faith like a loving father. Timothy had turned out to be one in a million. There will always be those who join the cause for whatever reason other than obedience to Jesus, as in Paul’s day, so today. But for Paul, Timothy was a joy because he had turned out to be a true son – serving the Lord as he served him as his father in the faith.

Paul knew that Timothy would do anything he asked because he was a true son, growing up under the guidance of his mentor until he, too, would father others in the faith.

“Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 4:15.

How true that even today we have many leaders who dominate or milk the people but not many fathers – those who love and nurture their people and pour out their lives for them like a drink offering.

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

 

Follow The Blueprint

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FOLLOW THE BLUEPRINT

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12, 13.

Now Paul, just what are you getting at?

Verse 13 can be confusing if we don’t have the overall picture. It almost sounds as though he is telling us that we have to save ourselves. Is that what he means? Not at all! We are self-made people, nor are we passengers on a yacht that is sailing away into the blue. We are to be active participants with God in the outworking of what He has done.

It’s a bit like doing a piece of embroidery or baking a cake. You have the picture of the completed article in front of you; you have all the materials or ingredients to make the item. Now you have to follow the pattern and make the object according to the directions until the finished product accurately resembles the picture. The big difference here is that the original Designer is in you, instructing, guiding and energising you to make the object exactly according to the blueprint.

On top of that, the Designer guarantees that, because He is working with you, you will get the job done to its completion. Unlike the piece of embroidery you are stitching or the cake you are baking, He does not leave you to flounder on your own. He is there every step of the way to ensure that the end product is an exact replica of the original. This sounds like an impossibility, doesn’t it, except if we use the key.

What is the key to the success of this enterprise? This is where we come in. There is something we have to do that God cannot do for us. Obey! If we try to follow the pattern without the step-by-step directions on how to make it, we will end up with a mess. Obedience is not about who is watching. Paul said, “Don’t only obey God when I’m there to watch you. Obey because God is there, leading you on to become what He started.”

What, or rather who is the blueprint God has given us to follow? It’s Jesus of course! That’s why Paul joined his beautiful song about Jesus and his instruction to obey with the word “therefore”. Everything God does for us and in us is based on Jesus. He is our  pattern and He is the guarantee that we will be just like Him when God has completed what He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6).

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labour in vain.”  Philippians 2:14- 16.

Paul gave us a second key to this maturing process – praise! He expressed it negatively, perhaps because he was familiar with human nature, or perhaps he was referring back to the Israelites in the wilderness who were so full of grumbling and arguing that they were eventually disqualified from entering the Promised Land. If we are grumbling and resisting God’s working in us at every turn, we will certainly not have an attitude of thankfulness and praise.

Knowing ourselves and how full of impurities we are, how can we ever be blameless and pure in this life? God is not looking for perfection but for the attitude and intention of our hearts. We may not always get it right but in which direction are we facing – the same way as God is facing, towards Jesus – or are we straining against Him in the yoke to go our own way?

King David gives us a clue, surprisingly enough since he did not have all the knowledge and understanding we have with God’s fuller revelation of Himself in Jesus.

“Vindicate me, Lord, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.” Psalm 26:1.

His prescription for a blameless life was simple – trust in the Lord. That also means a pure heart – unmixed with confidence in any other thing. When we have divided loyalties, God and ourselves, we will not follow God’s pattern and we will not become what His blueprint has set out for us to be.

So Paul said, “Listen to God; do what He says, and you will become exactly like His pattern, Jesus!”

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

 

 

The Great Divide

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THE GREAT DIVIDE

“Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above very name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11.

This is Paul’s song – the greatest declaration ever made and the greatest song ever written.

Before the beginning of time, Lucifer set out to usurp God’s position in heaven and take over the ownership and control of the earth. He lied to the first pair by posing as the ultimate authority. They listened to him, did what he said, and plunged the entire universe into moral darkness and chaos. He, Satan, the deceiver, has gone on hoodwinking people ever since.

God had already laid His plan to prove the devil wrong before the earth was born, and to bring him to judgment so that He could restore His creation to its original perfection without the interference of His arch enemy, the Liar. His plan was Jesus, sent to earth as fully human, to live under the authority of the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit as the lowest of the low, a servant; nothing.

Instead of acting and reacting like fallen human beings, hating and retaliating like the master they served, Jesus absorbed all of humanity’s hatred of God by serving, loving and forgiving God’s enemies. He showed the powers of darkness and the race of rebellious human beings that love is more powerful than fear. Why fear? Because the human race is driven to hate God because they are afraid of Him. They know that He has the power to destroy them.

God put Jesus at the mercy of His enemies to do with Him what they chose. When they had finished with Him, He was mangled, bled out, humiliated and dead. Then they sealed His broken body in a cave and left Him to rot. Death was Satan’s final weapon against Him and he thought he had won!

But it did not end there. On the third day, Jesus broke death’s hold; with a burst of divine power He came back to life and walked out of the tomb through an enormous boulder sealed with a Roman seal. What Satan thought would put paid to Jesus’ claim to be Lord was the seal of his doom. Jesus’ death and resurrection was the final proof that He was God, not the devil, and He was Lord, not the usurper.

“Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death – that is the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Hebrews 2:14, 15.

What a moment! Now the Father had every right to declare who was Lord -Jesus! He earned and owned the title as His right. The Father put Him where He belonged, in the place of supreme authority, and gave Him the name that was His alone – Yahweh! Kurios! Lord! Supreme Commander of the nations and of the universe!

“…The end will come, when He hands the kingdom over to God the Father, after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” 1 Corinthians 15:24-26.

Daniel saw this event in a prophetic vision centuries before it happened.

“In my vision I looked and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13, 14.

This glorious declaration also holds a warning. It is not only for those who believe in Jesus. Paul declared that it is for “every knee”. This includes every knee. Even the devil and his minions, and every person who sides with him, will be forced to bow on that day, obviously not in worship but in defeat to acknowledge that Jesus Christ, not the devil, is Lord.

While we are still in this life, we have a decision to make. Who is Lord? If we choose to side with the devil and believe his lie, when we eventually bow to Jesus we will seal our eternal fate, and it will be our choice, not God’s that decides where we go. If we are convinced that It is Jesus who spoke the truth, our destiny with be with Him forever.

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

 

The War To End All Wars

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THE WAR TO END ALL WARS

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mind-set as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:6-8.

This was the mind-set of the human Jesus!

We will never know what it meant for Him to leave the realm of the spirit, where He reigned with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the indescribable glories of heaven and reduce Himself to the level of a human being. He entered the world He had created, beautiful and perfect in the beginning, only to be corrupted by a ruthless fallen angel and his minions of demonic allies.

Not only that, but the very humans whom He had made in His image to be His beloved family turned against Him. They were no longer family but enemies, filled with the same evil nature as their demonic overlords, rebels to the core, hating Him, defying Him wherever they could and living in the darkness of selfishness and greed.

How did He come? Not as God in a blaze of glory to take vengeance on His alienated family! Not in fiery chariot with a retinue of angelic warriors to make war on the master  Rebel, His own creation none-the-less who had chosen to make war against Him and drag a third of the angels with him. He could have done because He was Lord of all creation and of those who had risen up against Him. He came like every other human being, from the womb of a woman.

Satan had power, but only the power of deception, lies that had no substance and would disappear in a puff of smoke when challenged by the power of truth. Jesus came, not to destroy the devil by sheer force but to unmask him by a life of perfect obedience to the Father as a submissive and obedient Son, and then to die as an evildoer at the hands of His enemies.

No fallen human being has ever lived like that – absorbing every cruel and ruthless attitude and action without resistance or retaliation because the Father willed it; living in perfect harmony with the Father and loving His enemies for the Father’s sake. They skewered His body to a Roman torture stake until every drop of blood leaked from the wounds they had inflicted on Him in an effort to make Him sin, but He remained pure in heart to His very last breath.

Even in His dying moments, He loved those who did it to Him. He embraced with His love a terrified criminal dying next to Him. He forgave His tormentors with His final agonising gasps of breath. He died a violent and unnatural death at the age of thirty three, a young life cut off in His prime because His own people decided He was too good to live. And He won the war because He conquered death and came back from the dead

And Paul said, “I want you to live like that!” Are you crazy? Do you know what you are asking, Paul? You are expecting ordinary, sinful, selfish, self-centred and self-absorbed human beings to live like that? Impossible! No, it’s not, for two very good reasons.

The very nature of God has been implanted in those who have turned their lives over to Him.

“…He has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world, caused by evil desires.”  2 Peter 1:4.

The very Spirit who empowered Jesus to be a perfect Son now lives in you, enabling you to be a submissive and obedient son.

“The Spirit you received does not make you a slave so that you live in fear again; rather the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15.

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16.

Paul held Jesus up to the Philippian church, not as a goal beyond their reach, but as a perfect model to follow even if they could not achieve it in this lifetime. It would not happen by trying harder but by gazing longer at Him.

“And we all who, with unveiled faces, contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

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

 

On To Maturity

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ON TO MATURITY

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, of any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being in one spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking at your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:1-4.

Paul must have been relieved that he did not have to deal with false teaching or misconduct in the Philippian church. These people were a joy to him. Some of the churches he founded were still wading around in the shallows of false beliefs and ungodly behaviour. This group of people seemed to have grasped the truth from the beginning and were moving apace towards being mature in their faith and influential for Christ in their living out the gospel.

Paul was happy to be able to add some polish to their lives by urging them on to unity which was the high tide mark of the true church. The gospel and their faith in Christ had brought them into the realm of the Spirit of God where the values of the kingdom were becoming more meaningful and ever more evident in them in spite of their environment.

Like all the other churches, they were like lilies blooming in the swamp. All around them people lived in the ungodliness of their sinful natures. There were no boundaries to their sinful behaviour because they were living out the nature of the gods they worshipped. But, in the church and in their lives together, the values of the kingdom of God were appearing more and more: unity with Christ, the comfort of His love, caring and sharing among the people in the Body, tenderness and compassion, were all there in increasing measure.

This delighted Paul. It was what the gospel was all about – not just believing in Jesus as a passport to heaven, a free ticket to God’s forgiveness and access to all His blessings. The gospel was about yielding to Christ as their new Master and living in the world by His power and in line with His nature.

All this is moving towards the goal of God’s creation. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God to reflect Him by living in perfect harmony with him with one another and with the world which He created for them. God is one; He made the entire universe to be one, interconnected and interacting as a unit. Sin entered the world through Adam’s disobedience, disrupted the unity and brought death and destruction to God’s perfect creation.

Jesus came to earth, God in person, to restore the universe to its original state and to get God’s purpose back on track. Once the barrier of sin had been removed, God was able, through His Holy Spirit, to set His plan in motion to reunite estranged people to himself and to each other. This was the evidence that Jesus accomplished what He had been sent to do.

Why does the church not understand this? Paul touched the nerve centre of man’s fallen nature – selfish ambition and vain conceit. As long as self rules, the life of that person will be out of sync with God’s intention to reunite everything in Christ as the head.

“For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.” Colossians 1:19, 29, 20.

What is the key to real unity in the church? Paul gives us two simple steps: value others above yourselves and take care of the interests of others above your own. Is that difficult to do? Yes, it is if we are still alive to ourselves on the inside. No, it is not if we, like Paul, have died to ourselves and are alive to Christ and to what pleases Him. It all depends on how we view ourselves, alive or dead.

When we die to our old fleshly desires and appetites, we see ourselves from another perspective – not individuals taking care of ourselves first, but part of a living organism that functions as a unit, each part moving in unity with those around him. The goal is not for selfish benefit but for the benefit of the whole body. That’s when we can begin to experience heaven right here on earth and convince the world that Jesus was who He said He was and that He really came from heaven to restore everything that went wrong in the beginning.

Now Paul invites us to be a part of that!

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