Tag Archives: dead

The Cross Our Refuge

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THE CROSS OUR REFUGE

When you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh. God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross  (Col. 2: 13-15).

These are three of the most powerful and the most liberating verses in the whole Bible. Let me tell you why.

There are two things which believers struggle with – the penalty of sin and the power of sin. Satan has a weapon which he uses against us constantly – lies. His lies translate to uncertainties in our minds. Am I really forgiven? Why do I still have troubles and problems? Is God punishing me for things I have done wrong? Is the devil attacking me?

Satan would love us to believe that he still has the power over us, but he is a liar, and his lies have been exposed. It was at the cross that his lies were brought to light and his weapons taken from him. The only power he still wields over us is his deception. He can manipulate us when we believe his lies.

Let’s handle our misgivings one at a time.

First the issue of forgiveness. Does God still punish us when we sin? The answer is a resounding ‘NO!’ The Bible makes it clear that Jesus was the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.

All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast – all those whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world (Rev. 13: 8).

Since God is eternal, not subject to time, He planned that the sacrifice of His Son on the cross, although it happened at a point in history, would be sufficient to provide forgiveness for all people, for all sin, and for all time. Why then the sacrifices of the Old Covenant? The sacrificial system of the Mosaic Covenant was intended to be a visual aid for the people. Their faith was in the promise of God’s forgiveness through His Lamb, not in the animal blood that was shed.

The Jewish leaders were outraged when Jesus forgave people without offering a sacrifice. They did not understand that He could forgive sin on the basis of His sacrifice which was effective from the beginning of creation.

This means that our sin was forgiven before we were even born. Can God, then, still punish us for the sins we commit now? Again a resounding ‘NO!’ Why not? Because He would be acting illegally and against His own nature. In any justice system, it is illegal to punish a person twice for the same crime. How much more, then, according to God’s justice, would it be wrong for Him to punish sinners for sin for which His Son has been punished.

Why, then, do God’s children still suffer? Why do things go wrong in our lives? Why do bad things happen to good people? The answer to this question deals with our second misgiving? Is the devil attacking me? Once again the answer is ‘No!’ This demands the question, ‘Who is in charge?’ Jesus’s message to His people when He came was, ‘Change your mind. God is in charge.’ When Jesus died and rose again, His clear message was, ‘The devil is a liar. God the Father is in charge,’ and He proved is by raising His son from the dead.

Your troubles and mine are not punishment but discipline. There is a great deal of difference between punishment and discipline. We cannot escape the hardships in this life because they are part of the consequences of Adam’s sin. However, God directs them and works in them for our good.

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 (Rom. 8: 28).

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what children are not disciplined by their father? . . . They disciplined us for a while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness (Heb. 12: 7, 10).

Through Jesus’s death and resurrection, we have the assurance that God has forever dealt with our sin and with the devil. We can now have complete confidence that we are His children and that He is training us now for our life 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.

 

Supreme In Everything!

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SUPREME IN EVERYTHING!

And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. 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 haven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross. (Col. 1: 18-20)

What does ‘supreme’ mean? The dictionary says, ‘Highest in rank or authority’ or ‘greatest of the great’. How does Jesus fit the criteria?

He, not some lower-ranking god who is far removed from God, is the Creator of the universe. The consistent witness of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments is that Jesus is the Creator of all things. It was Jesus who, in the Old Testament, was called ‘the angel of the Lord’, and who, as Jesus Himself said, appeared to Moses at the burning bush (John 8: 58); and to Isaiah in the temple. (Isa. 12: 39-41)

It was Jesus, whom the Bible called ‘the Word’ (John 1: 1), through whom God created the universe and everything in it, both seen and unseen, and to whom God gave the authority to rule (Eph. 1: 22) for the sake of the church. Jesus is the beginning or initiator of Creation and the sustainer of all things. He holds everything together by His powerful word. (Heb 1: 3)

Just as Jesus is the initiator of Creation, so also He is the initiator of the New Creation, the church. The church came into being through Him. He shed His blood to reconcile God’s alienated children to Himself and to bring them back into His household to be His beloved family once again. The church is the visible representation of His kingdom on earth. He is the supreme Head of the church. (Col. 1:18)

He is also the firstborn from among the dead. He raised dead people to life again during His sojourn on earth but they were doomed to die again because of sin. Jesus’s resurrection from the dead signified that He had beaten sin. Sin killed Him but sin could not hold Him in the grave. Without the resurrection, His death would have been no different from the death of any other human. His death would have been proof that the devil still has the power of death.

But death could not hold Him in the grave. He busted out of death into a resurrection life that can never die again. He became the prototype of all those who believe in Him, the firstborn from among the dead. He fulfilled the requirements of the firstfuits, which guaranteed God’s blessing on the rest of the harvest.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfuits of those who have fallen asleep. For, since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. (1 Cor. 15:20-21)

The resurrection is the final proof that all Jesus ever said, did or promised is authentic. Because He lives, we shall live also. (John 14: 19) Paul was writing to counter the nonsense people were teaching for which they had no authority except the fanciful imagination of human minds. He not only had the backing of the ancient Scriptures but also the historical truth of Jesus’s life, death and resurrection to write what he wrote and teach what he taught without fear of contradiction.

What other religious teacher could claim what Jesus claimed and then pull it off to prove that He spoke the truth? Did Buddha, Mohammed, Joseph Smith or any other person who made great claims, ever do that? Did any of them say they would be killed and raise again? To try to disprove the words and works of Jesus, some even declare that the Bible has been corrupted and is no longer the truth. On what grounds? No amount of maligning the record can disprove the resurrection.

Millions of people throughout the centuries after Christ have trusted Jesus’s word and committed their lives into His hands. The early Christians and many since have paid for their faith with their lives. Even today, thousands die brutal deaths rather than deny their faith. Why? Are they sacrificing themselves for a lie? No. They are convinced that Jesus spoke the truth and they have staked their destiny on it.

Jesus said to her (Martha), ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ (John 11: 25, 26)

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 Final Showdown

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THE FINAL SHOWDOWN 

“‘But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.'” John 11:8-10 NIV

Once again the disciples were mystified by Jesus’ behaviour. He was not acting like someone who had the power to heal His ailing friend. Knowing he was dying, He dawdled for another two days. Perhaps His disciples thought He was deliberately staying away because the Jews had tried to kill Him.

Then, after two days, He decided to go back to Bethany after all. It seems that He was at least two days journey on foot away from Lazarus and his sisters. Four days delay could mean anything. What was the point of returning if it was too late?

Jesus’ reply is also puzzling. He was going right into the lion’s den, yet He seemed unconcerned. Once again He showed His followers that His life was directed, not by His circumstances but by His Father’s timetable. If He was needed in Bethany, He would go there regardless of what His enemies were planning to do. His times were in His Father’s hands; it was up to Him, as a Son, to obey.

“After this He went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going to wake him up.’ His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ Jesus had been speaking of his death, but His disciples thought He meant natural sleep. So then He told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to to him.’

“Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, ‘ Let us also go, that we may die with Him.'” John 11:11-16 NIV.

He seemed fully aware and completely in control of what He was doing. His delay was deliberate, giving Lazarus time to go the full course of his illness right up to his death and beyond. Imagine what that did to the two sisters who trusted Jesus and were anxiously waiting for Him to come! Day after day they watched out for Him but He did not arrive. Lazarus was sinking and they were desperate. Did He not get the message? Did He not care? Why had He not come?

Lazarus finally died and He still did not arrive — not even for the funeral. Four days went by — Lazarus’ body had begun to decay and still no Jesus. The sisters were disillusioned and distraught. Had He finally failed; finally betrayed their trust in Him? What were they to think? They had no idea what was happening on the other side of the Jordan.

From Jesus’ point of view it was all going to plan. He even hinted to His disciples that He knew exactly what was happening. Lazarus had died. It was now time to go back to Bethany. His disciples were mystified. Why go back if Lazarus was dead? Wasn’t it too dangerous to put in an appearance when the Jews were crying for His blood?

That was no concern of Jesus because He knew when it would be time to put Himself into their hands. They had no power to touch Him until the Father delivered Him up to them. Time and again people had tried to harm Him — from the time He made Himself known to His own people in Nazareth to His altercations with the Jews in Jerusalem He was the target for hatred and murder, yet every time He emerged unscathed. He went about freely among His enemies because He trusted the Father.

He had His eyes on a miracle bigger than He had ever performed and a sign no-one could deny — that He was resurrection life that promised life to those who believed in him far greater than they could ever imagine. Raising a decaying man to life four days after he died was an unimaginable “work” that not even His enemies could deny. The tried to deny the blind man’s restored sight but a dead and rotting corpse brought back to life! Never!

No wonder He seized the opportunity to do something beyond anything people could imagine and especially His avowed adversaries. This was the power of the Father whom He came to reveal and the display of His own glory through the glory of the Father.

Blind, Deaf And Dead

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BLIND, DEAF AND DEAD 

“‘Very truly, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man.

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice will come out — those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.'” John 5:25-29 (NIV).

These are either the words of a lunatic or they are the authoritative words of the Son of God.

John introduced Jesus to his readers as the “Word”. In Hebrew thought this meant God manifest in another form. It was John’s purpose to present Jesus as the Son of God so that all who believe in Him might have life through His name. His claims, therefore, had to be more than the wild aspirations of a maniac. What He said had to be backed up by what He was and what He did.

Let’s look at the claims He was making in His attempt to convince His opponents that He was their Messiah. Jesus was doing more than setting out to prove that He was right and they were wrong. He was in a struggle for their lives and their destiny which hung on their acceptance or rejection of His words.

He had already, early in His ministry, begun to do “signs” to point to the truth of who He was claiming to be. It was His latest sign, healing the paralysed man at the pool of Bethesda that had provoked this altercation with His religious opposition. They accused Him of breaking the Sabbath and calling God His Father, making Himself equal with God.

His response was shocking to them. Not only was He calling God His Father, but now He was also asserting that He was doing the things only God can do because the Father had given Him the authority to do them, for example, to Him was give the power to raise the dead, the authority to judge and equal honour with the Father. He even went as far as to declare that those who heard His word and believed in the Father would step over into the realm of eternal life.

The dead, both those who have already passed on and those who are alive in the natural realm but dead to the dimension of God, will hear His voice and those who respond to Him will cross over into an eternal life in His kingdom and under His authority because He is the Son of Man. Now that’s a loaded statement!

Jewish people, schooled in the Word of God, would immediately recognise that Jesus was referring to the book of Daniel where, in Daniel’s vision in chapter 7, he saw “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 worshiped 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 (NIV), and Jesus was claiming to be the fulfilment of that prophecy!

It’s no wonder His opponents were incensed by His words. They could not see the truth because they were blinded by their prejudice and their unwillingness to face their own wickedness and open their eyes and hearts to the truth.

They did not understand that Jesus was offering them, His avowed enemies, the opportunity to align themselves with Him and become part of the glorious kingdom He was introducing to His people. They persistently shut their minds to the truth of who He was and forfeited the greatest gift of all — life in union with Jesus in the presence of God in an eternal now and under His benevolent rule.

The same invitation is open to everyone who is willing to see beyond their own prejudice to the reality that Jesus is the Son of God and that His offer of eternal life is genuine because He is the truth and He spoke the truth.