Tag Archives: judgment

ONE LIKE US

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ONE LIKE US

“‘By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but only Him who sent me. If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies in my favour and I know that His testimony about me is true. You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.'” John 5:30-35 (NIV).

In a single sentence Jesus clears up a misunderstanding that many make about Him. “‘By myself I can do nothing.'” Although He was the Son of God and God in the flesh, He chose to lay aside all the privileges of deity and live on earth as an ordinary man with no power to do anything except through the power of the Holy Spirit. Why did He do that?

He came in the likeness of the first Adam, equipped with the same Holy Spirit who indwelt Adam and with the same potential to fail as Adam had. He faced the same temptations as Adam did and risked the same fate as Adam did, but where Adam sinned by choosing independence from God, Jesus did not.

He chose to live His earthly life in union with the Father and in submission and obedience to Him out of loving reverence for Him. It was not because He was God that He did the things He did; it was because He listened to the Father and did what He was commanded to do. On one occasion He was accused of casting out demons in the name of Beelzebub. His response was “If it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Matthew 12:28 (NIV).

His union and fellowship with the Father was so close that the very works He did were a testimony to His origin. He was sent by the Father and it was His purpose to do everything the Father told Him in order to please Him and to fulfil His will.

John bore testimony to Jesus because God revealed to him that the One on whom the Spirit descended was the Messiah. Although his testimony was true and valid, it was the testimony of the Father spoken at His baptism, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased,”(Mark 1:11b), together with the witness of His works that were the evidence of His true identity as the Son of God.

Truth in a Jewish court of law was established by the evidence of two or three witnesses whose testimony had to agree. Jesus had the undeniable truth from the evidence of the Father’s testimony about Him and the testimony of those who had been healed through His miracles, and yet the religious leaders refused to accept their testimony and believe the truth.

It was not the evidence that was lacking but the prejudice of those who refused to believe the evidence that produced the on-going conflict that eventually led to Jesus’ violent and untimely death. It was not Jesus who was put on trial but His accusers for refusing to weigh up the evidence honestly and arrive at the truth.

He was the Son of God and His power came from God in response to His obedience, which qualified him to be the representative of the human race and to die in the place of those who had failed to live in obedience to the Father. He was the perfect substitute and sacrifice for the whole human race and His death paid the debt we owed the Father for our disobedience and failure to live as sons and daughters of God.

The only way in which we can ever be reconciled to the Father and restored to our place in the family of God is to acknowledge that we owe Him a great debt for our rebellion and to accept the payment of our debt by our elder brother. Jesus took our place so that we can be received back into God’s family as beloved sons and daughters.

Although He paid the debt for the world’s sin, it is only those who respond in faith and obedience who can enjoy all the benefits of being in God’s family.

Acknowledgement

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.

NO SENSE OF NEED

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NO SENSE OF NEED

“‘For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son of Man gives life to whom He is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent Him. Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.'” John 5:21-24 (NIV).

Wow! That was a mouthful for His opponents to swallow!

Did these men who thought and acted in the natural, understand what Jesus was saying? What was their first impression?

Even if they did not get what He was saying, they could not miss that fact that He was talking about unity, partnership and authority in His relationship with God that clearly put Him on the same level as the Father. This must have riled them to the core because no one would have the gall to make such claims unless he were either crazy or speaking the truth.

They were face to face with someone who was evidently completely human and yet He was talking about God as His Father and claiming intimacy and unity with Him and the functions that belonged to God alone; raising the dead and judgment. And then, on top of that, He was demanding equal honour with the Father as though He were on a par with Him! To them, this man was a complete lunatic or a dangerous blasphemer.

Yet Jesus did not behave like either. Could someone who was out of his mind do the things He was doing? He had just healed a man who had been paralysed and helpless for thirty-eight years. Was that the action of a madman? And the way He did it was equally miraculous — He simply spoke to the man; told him to get up and walk. That’s how God worked — spoke the universe into being and it happened!

The facts stared them in the face but their minds could not process the facts or the explanation He gave about the facts. On top of that, they had their prejudice and their resistance because they did not want to believe in Him. If they did, their comfortable lives and the power they wielded over the common people would be shaken to the core.

What was the problem that lay at the heart of these religious leaders’ thinking, and the difference between them and the tax collectors and “sinners” they despised? They had no sense of need. Religion is the most difficult disease to cure because it infects with such self-righteousness that no sense of need remains.

What was Jesus doing when He spoke to these stubbornly insensitive men? He was trying to awaken in them an awareness of how far they from the truth, as one insightful preacher said, “He offended the mind to expose the heart.” Jesus’ words do that. He either offends or informs His hearers in order to expose the deception they have swallowed and followed. People either react or respond to Him according to their sense of need.

The Samaritan woman, by contrast, responded to His exposure of her unsavoury lifestyle by telling the people of her home town what Jesus had revealed. She was neither ashamed nor embarrassed by His disclosure. She was transformed and she wanted everyone to know it.

The Pharisees reacted in anger towards Him and schemed to kill Him rather than respond to Him because, unlike the Samaritan woman, they felt no guilt and had not sense of need. Their self-righteousness, based on their performance which they put on for the sake of their audience, left them with the idea that God was obliged to them because of their “goodness” and they had no need of His mercy or grace.

There is only one thing that will keep us aware of our need of God’s mercy — our utter inability to reach God’s standard of perfection. We can either keep trying and failing or we can fall upon His mercy and receive His forgiveness and the gift of His perfect righteousness which Jesus gives to us at the expense of His own life.

Have you received His mercy with gratitude and relief?

Acknowledgement

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.

WHO IS IN CHARGE?

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WHO IS IN CHARGE?

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God had instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good.” Romans 13:1-4a.

Now this is a really tough one! Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul insisted that believers obey the government. What! Paul, you can’t be serious! Obey Nero’s government? Submit to Nero’s authority? But he was murdering Christians just because they refused to call him “Lord”. How right was that?

But this is not what Paul said. He wrote that believers must submit to governing authorities, not because they were right but because God put them there. But what if they were wrong? Submit! What if they were cruel? Submit! What if they were unjust? Submit! What if they were downright evil? Submit! But why? They were harming Christians.

There are some very important reasons why God calls us to obey the government, whether it is good or evil.

1. In a fallen world, it is necessary to have recognised authority structures. Since we are sinful and selfish, it is not natural for us to govern our own hearts. Unity has been destroyed and it’s everyone for himself. Without God’s delegated authority, society would destroy itself in a heartbeat. Where mob rule replaces authority and submission, a community or a country descends into chaos.

2. Wrongdoers must be removed from society because they not only prey on people but they also infect the whole community for evil. One rotten apple in a box will destroy the whole box in the end.

3. The safety of an entire community is at stake. When a serial killer or some other criminal is on the loose, for example, fear reigns until he is apprehended and removed to a place where he can no longer prey on the unsuspecting. This is only possible where people have the authority to do so.

But, you ask, what about those who suffer unjustly at the hands of God’s delegated authority, like the believers were experiencing even as Paul wrote? Why does God allow the righteous to suffer? Once again, God’s word gives us clear answers:

“Dear friends,” Peter wrote, “do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice, inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you…If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ” 1 Peter 4:12-13; 15-17.

“So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should submit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” 1 Peter 4:19.

There are at least two outcomes of unjust suffering:

1. The faith of God’s people is purified of selfishness and self-seeking and is anchored in God alone and for His glory.

2. Those who inflict suffering are being ripened for judgment.

More of this tomorrow…

Acknowledgement

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

THE BOOK OF ACTS – IT HAD TO HAPPEN!

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IT HAD TO HAPPEN! 

“At that point they went wild, a rioting mob of catcalls, whistles and invective. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, hardly noticed — he only had eyes for God, whom he saw in all His glory with Jesus standing at His side. He said, ‘Oh I see heaven wide open and the Son of Man standing at God’s side!’

“Yelling and hissing, the mob drowned him out. Now in full stampede, they dragged him out of the town and pelted him with rocks. The ringleaders took off their coats and asked a young man named Saul to watch them.

“As the rocks rained down, Stephen prayed, “Master Jesus, take my life.” Then he knelt down, praying loud enough for everyone to hear, ‘Master, don’t blame them for this sin,’ — his last words. Then he died.” Acts 7:54-60 (The Message).

It had to happen! The crazed mob, led by men who had long since made their choice and sealed their judgment, turned on Stephen and carried out their “sentence” with the same vicious hatred that had driven them to sentence his Master to the cross.

But when we read the story from Stephen’s perspective, as Luke so masterfully describes it, Stephen was in a realm no other human being had ever experienced. Not even Moses, the greatest of the Old Testament characters, had been welcomed into the presence of Jesus with a standing ovation! Before he even stepped over the divide, he had seen them, both Father and Son, waiting to receive him into their eternal presence.

This was too much for the howling mob. Without even so much as considering their verdict, they sentenced and executed their sentence with extreme viciousness. Just as surely as Stephen glimpsed heaven, so the mob which was stoning him was experiencing hell.

In Hebraic thought, hell is a boundary-less place, and here we have evidences of the horrors of hell. So great was the vehemence of their hatred of this godly man and the God he represented that they dropped all boundaries of justice and decency and let rip with the venom of hell itself.

The contrast between Stephen and his tormentors is glaring. As with Jesus versus the Sanhedrin, so with Stephen, it was the same situation. Who was on trial? The Sanhedrin again, and again they were found guilty. It was Stephen’s scathing indictment that tipped them over the edge. It was his verdict that cooked his goose. But what did it matter? His future was secure and his entrance into it glorious.

Eugene Peterson’s version of this incident in The Message highlights the grace that Stephen experienced as he slipped out of his earthly tent into his permanent eternal dwelling. This was his coronation day and we are privileged to catch a glimpse of it.

But we have to ask: Is it possible to live our ordinary lives in a realm where we are unaffected by the ups and downs of everyday life? When we watch Jesus, we have to conclude that it is possible. But He was the Son of God.

The Apostle Paul said something that alerts us to the possibility for us ordinary humans. “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV).

Just as Stephen was oblivious of what was happening to him because his eyes were on Jesus, so can we be in the rough and tumble of living if we set our vision on Jesus who went before us to show us the way and is utterly reliable to keep His promise to see us through every dark valley.

A Serious Warning

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A SERIOUS WARNING

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses, How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10: 26-31).

This is a serious and severe warning against trifling with sin. The blood of sacrificial animals was offered for sins committed in ignorance.

If any member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, when they realise their guilt, and the sin they have committed becomes known, they must bring as their offering for the sin they committed a female goat without defect (Lev. 4: 27).

‘But what about David?’ you may ask. ‘Surely he knew what he was doing when he committed adultery and all the other sins that went with it?’ David knew what he was doing was wrong, but he went ahead and did it anyway. How, then, could God forgive his sin since it was committed intentionally? Was it because he willingly admitted his wrong, unlike many of the kings of Judah and Israel who refused to take responsibility for their sin? The Bible does not tell us. All we know is that God forgave him but did not release him from the consequences of what he had done.

Is God saying that we have to be perfect in order to satisfy His holy standards? If we sin after we have come to faith in Jesus, will we be condemned to hell? If that were true, what was the point of Jesus’s death for the forgiveness of sin? That would contradict the very terms of the new covenant.

Then He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’ (Matt. 26: 27-28).

Jesus shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins, past, present and future, otherwise we would still be held responsible for the sins we will still commit in the future.

There is something else that comes into play here. Under the old covenant, the people began to look upon the animal sacrifices as a covering for sin. They could do as much wrong as they liked regardless of what God wanted of them in His covenant because they could always come back and offer a sacrifice. What God intended as a reminder of the seriousness of sin became an excuse to sin. Such was the perversity of their wicked hearts.

Ephraim has built a lot of altars, and then uses them for sinning. Can you believe it? Altars for sinning! (Hos. 8: 11 – The Message).

This is a subtle attitude that can creep in when the lure of sin becomes stronger than the awareness of the cost of our salvation. This kind of thinking spawns three unforgivable attitudes: Jesus is not worth taking seriously; His blood is cheap and the Holy Spirit’s grace is unnecessary. These attitudes effectively cut us off from the mercy of God and place us back under judgment.

How important is it that this writer issue this kind of warning? Surely those who have recognised the value of their salvation would not trespass into this kind of perverse thinking? We will never know how subtle the devil’s ways are until we realise that he will stop at nothing to alienate us from God and bring us down. He has no rules in his game. He will do whatever it takes to win God’s children back to himself, most of all by devaluing the cost of our salvation.

If we continue in our life of sin after we have received God’s gift of forgiveness, it means one of two things: we have never really understood what Jesus has done for us or we have been lured into thinking that His shed blood gives us licence to sin because forgiveness is always available. Jesus came to rescue us from Satan’s dominion and to restore us to the family of God as His sons and daughters. His intention is that we grow in our likeness to Jesus, our elder brother. That cuts sin out of the equation.

Yes, Jesus has shed His blood for us and, yes, He has forgiven all our sin, but we must keep walking in His way, and not trifle with God’s mercy by playing the fool with His forgiveness. Outside of Jesus there is no salvation. To reject Him for any other religion, or to disregard Him or the value of what He has done and the work of the Holy Spirit in us is to place ourselves in line for the judgment reserved for the devil and his angels.

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.

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