Tag Archives: son

Slave Or Son?

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SLAVE OR SON?

“What I am saying is that as long as an heir is under age, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were under age, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Galatians 4:1-5.

How tragic that so many of God’s children still believe that they are slaves and behave like slaves instead of living like sons!

What is the difference between a slave and a son? A slave has no father, no name, no home and no inheritance. He lives in the fear of punishment if he does not obey. He does not belong except as a possession which his master can treat as he pleases and sell to another master when he chooses. He has no permanent place in the family.

A son, on the other hand, has been born into the family. He came from the seed of his parents. He carries his father’s name. He belongs in the household no matter how he behaves. He can never be “unborn”. He inherits his family’s genes. He is like them in looks and in character. He is loved and secure in his family relationships.

“Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12.

In God’s scheme of things, the law served a temporary purpose in history. When God sent His Son into the world, the purpose of the law was fulfilled. It had done its job and was no longer needed. When we believed in Jesus, we were moved from spiritual childhood to adulthood. We have a new relationship with the Father through Jesus and have been promoted to adult sonship. We took our place beside Jesus as brothers and sisters and as sons and daughters of God.

How did this happen? God sent His Son to be and to do what we failed to do. Paul explicitly declares that Jesus was born of a woman. What does that mean? He was a fully human being, born into the world as every other human being is born. His mother was an ordinary woman. She had no special credentials. Paul did not even mention her name. She was a woman, not a divine being who was miraculously conceived and had a sinless nature.

Jesus had to be fully man. He had to have a human nature. If not, He could not have represented us to the Father. He had to face what we face, all the difficulties, problems and temptation of being fallen human beings. He had to be a perfect son, living under the heavy requirements of the law and obeying every detail of the law to qualify as a perfect substitute.

Jesus was also fully God. He was conceived, not through sexual union with a human father but through the power of the Holy Spirit. He, not Mary, is the perfect mediator between God and man. He represents God to man and man to God. He came to show us the Father and take us to the Father because He is the perfect replica of the Father.

He had to pay the redemption price of slaves to buy us back from the slave market of sin and restore us to the family of God. The price God required and the price He paid perfect obedience to God’s law or death breaking the Law. He paid for our sin with His own life blood because we could not pay.

He has the right to give us life because He bought it for us, but we have to receive His gift by faith in Him.   We cannot earn it by trying to please God. We can only please God by believing in His son.

Can it be more simple than that?

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.

 

 

A Tender Moment

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A TENDER MOMENT 

“Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, the disciple took her into his home.” John 19:25-27 NIV.

A little group of women, alone and vulnerable in a crowd of abusive men and Roman soldiers. Did they care? They cared enough about Jesus to ignore the hostile mob around them. They stood near the cross, near enough to hear His laboured breathing and to watch the pool of blood spreading on the ground beneath the cross. They clung to one another for support and comfort in their grief. The one who was suffering the agony of hell, innocent as He was, was dearer to them than any other person on earth.

As much as He needed His disciples at that moment, (and only His beloved disciple was near enough to talk to), Jesus needed the women. They loved Him. They believed in Him, no matter what the religious authorities and the Roman government had done to Him. They wept for Him and for themselves for their loss. He was beyond their touch and their help. They would no longer be able to care for Him, prepare food, mend His garments, listen to His gracious teaching and be close to Him.

Mary, His mother felt it the most. Did she not carry Him in her womb for nine precious months as she pondered on the angel’s message and felt His tiny life stirring within her? Had she not borne the pain of His birth, and known the joy of holding the soft bundle in her arms? Had she not suckled Him and watched Him grow sturdy and strong?

Did she not lovingly nurture Him to robust young adulthood and then have to let Him go after thirty years of His being there in her home caring for her as her first-born son? Did she not often hold His strong hands, calloused from the hard work which her beloved Joseph had taught Him to do?

She felt as though her heart was being ripped from her chest. Although He had been long gone from her home, she knew He was still there somewhere, alive and available from time to time as He moved around the country. Now she could only watch helplessly as His life slipped away. He was so young, too young to die. All she would have left would be her precious memories.

John also stood nearby. Many thoughts flooded his mind as he watched the gruesome scene with horror. He had only know Jesus for just over three years, but they were three action-packed years, full of never-to-be forgotten miracles and riveting new ideas in the company of a man who was like no one he had ever known. He had watched and listened, and had eventually been convinced and embraced Jesus as the Son of God.

Jesus’ love was gentle, tender and all-encompassing. He cared about the throw-away people, who lived on the fringe of society, whom everyone else considered trash. He was bold and courageous in the face of open hostility from the powerful religious leaders. He spoke the truth in the face of criticism, anger and abuse and was unfazed by the threat of death because He knew who He was and why He had come. He almost seemed to invite arrest and the possibility of execution because He fearlessly exposed their hypocrisy and refused to back down on His claims.

Listen to Him in His dying moments. As awful as His agony was at that moment, He saw His mother and felt her sorrow. With painful gasps He entrusted her to His beloved friend, John, and John to her. She would have a new son, and John a new mother, united in their grief and in their love for Jesus.

As we inch our way through these terrible hours, six long hours of unspeakable suffering, we see a naked man, clothed in His own blood and the spittle of those who despised Him, wearing His royal robe with dignity and honour because it represented victory over prejudice, bigotry, and irrational hatred; His tender love for those who loved Him and forgiveness for those who hated Him and tortured Him to death. His final, rasping words were words of compassion for those who suffered with Him, always forgetting Himself in the face of the needs of others.

His plight at that moment was His response to the greatest need of all, the need of all mankind to be reconciled to the Father and to come back home. He paid the debt so that we can be forgiven and accepted into God’s forever family.

Prayer

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PRAYER

“After Jesus had said this, He looked toward heaven and prayed: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those you have given Him.

“‘Now this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.'” John 17:1-3 NIV.

Jesus prayed…Now this is prayer!

He prayed many times during His earthly life. Few of His prayers were recorded for us. Some were brief, sentence prayers…sometimes He prayed all night…but this is the only time we have a glimpse into the words of His communion with the Father. This was not the agonising, blood-sweating Gethsemane prayer.

This was quiet fellowship with His Abba, pouring out His heartfelt desires before the whirlwind events that were soon to overtake Him. There would be no opportunity then to share His heart with Daddy in the silence of the night. In the presence of the men He loved most in the world, He mouthed His hopes and dreams for them and for those who would follow them in faith and obedience.

What emotions were packed into those words, ‘Father, the hour has come’? The “hour” of His suffering had hung over Him from the moment of His birth. It was His reason for coming. It was the pinnacle of His revelation of the Father’s love to a world that would rather not know. It was the final nail in the coffin of His arch enemy and the enemy of all humanity. Did He shiver with anticipation and dread?

The writer to the Hebrews caught the spirit of this moment: “For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2b NIV.

As always, Jesus looked beyond the immediate events to the triumph of God’s final purpose for mankind. “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”  We read these words easily enough without understanding the depth of Jesus’ request.

“In the intense pain and suffering I am about to endure; the physical agony of flogging and crucifixion; the emotional pain of rejection, humiliation and betrayal; the searing heat of the devil’s rage against me and the utter abandonment I must face when you, Father, also turn your face away from me, give me the strength to be a perfect reflection of you, your love, mercy and grace, so that the whole world will see you mirrored in me.”

God the Father gave Him, Jesus — this God-man who came from heaven to live the ordinary life of an ordinary human being in a hostile world that hated and rejected Him, and a spiritual realm that fired its entire arsenal of weapons at Him — the authority to give life to all those who believed in Him. Sin had killed them; spiritual death had claimed them and would destroy them forever without His intervention. But they would never rise to new life unless He first died in their place to take the rap for their sin; and His death would accomplish nothing unless He did not deserve it.

“Father glorify your Son…” just four simple words, but a world of desire in them. Once again, Jesus exemplified the heart of a true son. This was not about Him. It was ultimately about the Father…; “that the Son may glorify you.” All He wanted, in this whole cross event, was that the wonder of His Father’s true nature would be revealed to the world.

In one short sentence Jesus forever defined the nature of eternal life — knowing the Father and the Son, because they are one. To know the Son is to know the Father; notice — not know about, but know, implying intimate, personal knowledge and understanding as a husband “knows” his wife. “Adam lay with (knew – yada) his wife and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.” Genesis 4:1 NIV.

That takes time, fellowship, and obedience!

 

 

Dynamite In A Small Package

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DYNAMITE IN A SMALL PACKAGE

“When he was gone, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will glorify the Son in Himself, and will glorify Him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me and, just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now. Where I am going you cannot come.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.'” John 13:31-35 NIV.

Was Jesus talking to Himself at that moment? Is almost sounds like it, doesn’t it?

As soon as Judas was out of the picture, He breathed a sigh of relief, With Judas gone, the tension in the room lifted. He could now concentrate on what was most important to Him, putting His Father’s glory on display during the coming hours of His passion. It was up to Him to live through those hours right to His last breath in the disposition of the Father — gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and full of love and faithfulness, forgiving sin…

He had another important task to fulfil. This was the moment when He would gather up all the teachings of the Old Covenant into one pithy but powerful instruction couched in three words — “Love one another!” Paul caught the spirit of Jesus’ words when he wrote, “Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law…Love does no harm to his neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.” Romans 13:8; 10 NIV.

There is a positive and negative side to this commandment which Paul sums up in Romans 13. There is no sentimentality in this kind of loving, just practical involvement with others. Here is a simple definition of this love — meeting the needs of others at one’s own expense. Isn’t that what Jesus did? The other side is simply refraining from doing anything that would hurt another person.

There is much discussion, preaching and teaching about what believers in Jesus are supposed to do with the law. It is subdivided into moral law and ceremonial law. Some say that we are obliged to keep the moral law but not the ceremonial law. Some groups teach and practise strict adherence to parts of the ceremonial law, like the dress code and the food laws. Others insist that, because we are under grace, the law does not apply to us at all.

Firstly, we must ask, “Why did God give His people the law in the first place?” For two reasons: To show them what He was like, and to show them how impossible it was to live up to His perfect standards. Jesus was a perfect human being and He perfectly kept the law. We cannot possible hope to live like He did, perfectly loving God and His neighbour.

Secondly, if God knew that we could never reach His standard, did He do away with the standard? No way! What did He do with the law? He placed it and all our debt to the broken law on Jesus at the cross. Jesus gave us a new commandment which perfectly sums up everything He requires of us in three words — LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now instead of rummaging through the Ten Commandments and all 613 laws of the Old Covenant to find which one would suit the circumstance, we can turn to the Holy Spirit who is in us and ask, “How do I love in this situation?” He not only shows us how but gives us the power to do it.

“And hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who had been given to us.” Romans 5: 5 NIV.

Is Jesus command impossible to keep? Not if we love Him. “’If you love me, keep my commands.'” John 14:15 NIV.

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”1 John 4:10, 11 NIV.

This is dynamite in a very small package!

Living In Denial

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LIVING IN DENIAL 

“They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’

“Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence and you are doing what you have heard from your father.'” John 8:33-38 (NIV).

These were new believers! John has just informed us that many of the Jews believed in Him, the very same ones who were now protesting against His Word.

These people either had short memories or selective memories! Didn’t they celebrate the Passover every year, a festival to commemorate their deliverance from slavery in Egypt? And what about Purim, another annual feast to remember their deliverance from extermination at the hands of Haman when they were captives in Babylon? And what about the Romans? Weren’t they under Roman occupation at that very moment?

But Jesus was referring to slavery far more sinister and far-reaching than enslavement to another nation. His so-called disciples were oblivious to or in denial of their slavery to a ruthless master — sin. Because of their meticulous observance of rules and ritual, they thought they were okay.

Their protest was hollow even though they prided themselves on being descendants of Abraham. They claimed natural birth as the reason for their confidence that they were acceptable to God. They were Jews by birth and Jews by tradition — after all, weren’t they God’s covenant people? Didn’t they have the mark of the covenant in their bodies?

Many of the people in the church today, who claim to be the children of God, are relying on the same false hopes as these Jews did. They claim natural birth as their reason for being in the family of God. “My father was a minister; a missionary; a Baptist; an Anglican; a Presbyterian or whatever.” Some claim performance as their reason for being a “Christian.” I go to church; I read my Bible; I pray; I pay my tithe; or whatever I rely on to make myself acceptable to God.

Some even try to put God under obligation to them. “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” Matthew 7:22, 23 (NIV).

But Jesus was not fooled. On another occasion He had taught the Twelve, “You will know them by their fruit.” He was aware that these men who claimed to be His disciples were planning to kill Him because He was too nice, too wise and too straight with them for their comfort. Their claim to being His disciples did not penetrate to the nerve centre of their beings — the driving force of their lives; self.

It was there that they needed deliverance from slavery — from the sin nature that motivated every thought and action. No self-help could free them from the nature they were born with, the drive to be their own boss and to be number one in their lives. Jesus knew that He alone could break that bondage and set them free to become lovers of God and lovers of their neighbour.

What would it take to subdue the old human nature and replace it with a nature “renewed in the image of its Creator”? It would take their choice to destroy the only person who ever lived a perfect human life and then took the rap for every person who did not. It would take the death of one who took the worst that human beings could throw at Him without flinching, protesting or retaliating. Once that debt was paid, every slave to sin could be set free.

No one can ever know the freedom that Jesus offers until they stop living in denial, acknowledge that they are slaves and accept the gift of forgiveness and become reconciled to the Father.

Only Jesus can set you free!