Tag Archives: lifted up

A TRUE SON

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A TRUE SON

“‘Who are you?’ they asked. ’Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,’ Jesus replied. ’I have much to say in judgment of you. But He who sent me is trustworthy, and what I heard from Him I tell the world.’ They did not understand that He was telling them about the Father. So, Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.'” John 8:25-29 (NIV).

Another outrageous claim if it were not true! “I always do what pleases Him.”

This was the hallmark of the Son of God. He always did what pleased the Father. Have you ever wondered what that was? What do you think it is that pleases the Father more than anything? We can speculate and find many answers to this question. He was generous and merciful just like the Father — that would be a good answer and it would be true. He glorified that Father in everything He did — that would also be true.

But what is it that surpasses everything else that pleases the Father? To find the answer we have to go back to the beginning. At the beginning of human history God gave Adam one instruction in the Garden of Eden, ‘Leave that one tree alone.’ If that one tree was going to be an issue between man and God, Satan made sure that man would focus on it until it became so important to him that it would become the reason for their disobedience.

The history of God’s ancient people was a history of disobedience, focusing especially on God’s instruction, ‘Do not worship idols.’ They worshipped the idols of the surrounding nations until they became vile, like the thing they loved (Hosea 9:10). Disobedience took them to Babylon and eventually to crucifying their Messiah.

God had a different verdict on David, their model king, the man who followed their first king, Saul, who was rejected because of his disobedience. “After removing Saul, He made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'” Acts 13:22b (NIV).

Books have been written about David, the only man in the Bible of whom God said, ‘A man after my own heart’, giving many reasons for God’s approval, yet it is recorded plainly in the Word that God was pleased with him because ‘He will do everything I want him to do.’ David may have slipped up on more than one occasion but the drift of his life was that he ‘inquired of the Lord,’ and then followed through on God’s instruction.

Compare him with his predecessor, King Saul; Saul failed to carry out the two instructions we read about in Scripture. God could not trust him to be the leader of His people because of that. Saul had a dangerous self-consciousness that made him a people-pleaser and he disqualified himself from being the first of a dynasty of kings.

Jesus could claim, without a qualm, that He was the true Son of God. His obedience to the Father was absolute and unquestioning. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He wrestled with the horror of the cross until the blood ran, He still submitted to the Father’s will and endured everything without resistance. “When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” 1 Peter 2:23 (NIV).

Is it not true that God is more interested in our obedience than in our achievements? It is our obedience that makes our achievements of significance to God because obedience gets the job done. “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him…” Hebrews 5:8, 9, (NIV). Obedience is best learned by obeying!

Obedience presupposes that one knows what God’s requirements are and that presupposes that one spends time with the Father and in His Word. We have the pattern of the Son, perfect in every way… and we can’t say that of the Pharisees!

Don’t you also want to please the Father? Then find out what He wants of you and do it!

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

Argue Or Acknowledge

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ARGUE OR ACKNOWLEDGE 

“The crowd spoke up, ‘We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, “The Son of Man must be lifted up”?  Who is this “Son of Man”?’ Then Jesus told them, ‘You are going to have the light a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where he is going.

“Believe in the light while you have the light, that you may become children of light.’ When He had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid Himself from them.” John 12:34-36 NIV.

As the time drew nearer for Jesus to be crucified, His pleas to His people became more urgent. To His disciples He would give the assurance that the Holy Spirit would replace Him when He left. They would still have someone exactly like Him who would continue to instruct and lead them from within. But for those who were on the periphery, watching from afar and questioning everything He told them, there would no longer be His physical presence to show them the true nature of the Father.

Jesus did not answer their question. They had had more than enough evidence from His words and works to convince them that He was the Son of Man of whom He had spoken. Like their spiritual leaders, their skeptical attitude kept them from acknowledging Him as their Messiah.

But it was much more than giving intellectual assent to the evidence. To believe meant to commit to Him and to reproduce in their own lives what He was teaching and modelling.

John had begun his gospel with a commentary on Genesis 1. When God introduced light to a dark and formless world, it was first the light of truth embodied in Jesus, the second person of the Trinity that entered the world before He created the heavenly lights. He assigned the earth to Jesus to provide enlightenment to the human beings He was about to create in His image to know and have fellowship with Him.

Satan had already been abolished to the earth along with his fallen angel companions because of his bid to take over the throne of God. To create and place humans in an environment where Satan had influence was to throw them to the wolves unless they had the presence of God with them in the person of Jesus to counter the devil’s work.

“God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5b. There is nothing selfish, devious or shady about Him. He is everything that is kind, merciful, loving and generous. He is holy, utterly separate from anything wicked or imperfect. His plans and intentions for all mankind are only for good. Everything He does is intended to draw us towards Him and the transform us to be like Him.

Satan is everything that is opposite to God. Like darkness which is the absence of light, he is empty of everything that God is. His attitude and actions are all wicked and selfish. He is heading towards destruction and everything he does is designed to draw us towards him so that we can share in his eternal judgment and doom.

Jesus’ heart cry was always, ‘Believe in me,’ because faith in Him would effect a transfer from the power and influence of the selfishness and greed with which the human race was born to the realm of God’s rule where life would be lived in the light of His presence and in the supernatural power of His Spirit.

There was little time left to hear from the lips of Jesus the words that would bring them the hope of eternal life. Instead of arguing and contradicting Him, He urged them to heed and believe Him so that they could escape from the treadmill of self-centred living which was eroding away their opportunity to enter into the real life He was offering them — life that was enriched and fulfilled by loving God and caring for those who could not care for themselves.

The clock was ticking; the countdown had begun. In a few days death would remove Him from them. They would no longer see Him. Now was the time to respond or they might never have the opportunity again.

A Firstfruit Offering

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A FIRSTFRUIT OFFERING 

“The crowd that was there and heard it said it thundered; others said an angel had spoken to Him. Jesus said, ‘This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to show the kind of death He was going to die.” John 12:29-33.

The Jewish Feasts are a symbolic display of Messianic history. Leviticus 23 records God’s instruction for the celebration of eight feasts every year, one weekly, four spring and three autumn festivals at set times. They were also connected to the annual harvest and the celebration of God’s goodness in providing for their physical needs. According to the ancient rabbis, Messiah would fulfil each feast in turn at His first and second comings.

Sabbath was the weekly feast which had a twofold purpose; it was a reminder that God rested after the completion of His great work of creation, and the gift of a day of rest to remind His people that they were human “beings”, not human “doings”.

Passover celebrated God’s deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt. They were protected from the angel of death who “passed over” the land, killing the firstborn in every household that was not protected by the blood of a lamb on the door frames of their houses.

The Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits all took place over a period of eight days, symbolizing deliverance from the power of sin, removal of sin symbolized by yeast and the gathering in of the firstfruits of the harvest. Pentecost took place fifty days after Passover and was a celebration of the ingathering of the completed harvest.

It was to the fulfilment of the Feast of Firsfruits to which Jesus was referring when He spoke of being “lifted up”. He would be lifted up on a cross to die as an offering of atonement for the sin of the world at three o’clock in the afternoon; the very moment when the high priest lifted the knife to kill the first Passover Lamb. His death would not only atone for the sin of all mankind; it would also remove sin’s impurity and uncleanness like the removal of leaven from the camp.

Just as the firstborn son in every Jewish family and the firstborn of all the flocks and herds belonged to God, so the firstfruits of the harvest were His and were to be offered to Him in a prescribed manner. They were to be “lifted up” to God as an offering – terumah – and placed in the hands of the high priest to feed him and his family. This terumah sanctified the rest of the harvest and ensured God’s blessing on the crop.

Just as Jesus fulfilled Passover and Unleavened Bread, so He fulfilled the Festival of Firstfuits. He offered Himself as a terumah by being “lifted up” on the cross and by placing Himself into the hands of His Father — His “high priest” — since, for Jesus, there was no one higher than God.

“It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When He had said this, He breathed His last.” Luke 23:44-46 NIV.

The Apostle Paul explains the significance of this terumah in his magnificent exposition of the resurrection.

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection came also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn; Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him.” 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 NIV.

Because Jesus gave Himself both as an offering of atonement and a terumah, His resurrection guarantees both the removal of sin and the full harvest of those who are in him and will rise again.  Our hope of resurrection lies in His resurrection because the Father placed His seal of approval on Jesus’ offering by raising Him from the dead. Because we are “in Him”, we shall rise again when He returns to claim His kingdom.

Hallelujah!

A True Son

Bible Study, , , ,

A TRUE SON 

“‘Who are you?’ they asked.’Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,’ Jesus replied.’I have much to say in judgment of you. But He who sent me is trustworthy, and what I heard from Him I tell the world.’ They did not understand that He was telling them about the Father. So Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.'” John 8:25-29 (NIV).

Another outrageous claim if it were not true! “I always do what pleases Him.”

This was the hallmark of the Son of God. He always did what pleased the Father. Have you ever wondered what that was? What do you think it is that pleases the Father more than anything? We can speculate and find many answers to this question. He was generous and merciful just like the Father — that would be a good answer and it would be true. He glorified that Father in everything He did — that would also be true.

But what is it that surpasses everything else that pleases the Father? To find the answer we have to go back to the beginning. At the beginning of human history God gave Adam one instruction in the Garden of Eden, ‘Leave that one tree alone.’ If that one tree was going to be an issue between man and God, Satan made sure that man would focus on it until it became so important to him that it would become the reason for their disobedience.

The history of God’s ancient people was a history of disobedience, focusing especially on God’s instruction, ‘Do not worship idols.’ They worshipped the idols of the surrounding nations until they became vile, like the thing they loved (Hosea 9:10). Disobedience took them to Babylon and eventually to crucifying their Messiah.

God had a different verdict on David, their model king, the man who followed their first king, Saul, who was rejected because of his disobedience. “After removing Saul, He made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'” Acts 13:22b (NIV).

Books have been written about David, the only man in the Bible of whom God said, ‘A man after my own heart’, giving many reasons for God’s approval, yet it is recorded plainly in the Word that God was pleased with him because ‘He will do everything I want him to do.’ David may have slipped up on more than one occasion but the drift of his life was that he ‘inquired of the Lord,’ and then followed through on God’s instruction.

Compare him with his predecessor, King Saul; Saul failed to carry out the two instructions we read about in Scripture.  Because of that God could not trust him to be the leader of His people. Saul had a dangerous self-consciousness that made him a people-pleaser and he disqualified himself from being the first of a dynasty of kings.

Jesus could claim, without a qualm, that He was the true Son of God. His obedience to the Father was absolute and unquestioning. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He wrestled with the horror of the cross until the blood ran, He still submitted to the Father’s will and endured everything without resistance. “When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” 1 Peter 2:23 (NIV).

Is it not true that God is more interested in our obedience than in our achievements? It is our obedience that makes our achievements of significance to God because obedience gets the job done. “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him…” Hebrews 5:8, 9, (NIV). Obedience is best learned by obeying!

Obedience presupposes that one knows what God’s requirements are and that presupposes that one spends time with the Father and in His Word. We have the pattern of the Son, perfect in every way. And we can’t say that of the Pharisees!

Don’t you also want to please the Father? Then find out what He wants of you and do it!

History Or His Story?

Bible Study, , , ,

HISTORY OR HIS STORY? 

“‘How can this be?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘You are Israel’s teacher,’ said Jesus, ‘and do you not understand these things?’

“‘Very truly I say to you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.

“I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in Him.'” John 3:9-15 (NIV).

Such familiar words that we can almost recite them from memory! But what do they mean?

Although Nicodemus was a prominent teacher in the ranks of the religion scholars and was familiar with the Word of God, it was obvious to Jesus that he did not understand the truths he was teaching. It had been so long since God has spoken and actively intervened in the affairs of His people that Nicodemus was essentially teaching history.

Jesus must have startled him by saying that, although He was also a rabbi, He wasn’t teaching history; He was teaching truth from experience. He was speaking about reality because He had been in the heavenly realm; He had come from there and was relating what He knew, hence He could speak with authority.

How does one move from history to experience? Once again John brings his readers back to the main theme of his gospel — believing in Jesus. Nicodemus had nothing more than sterile religion to pass on to his learners. He needed something much more than that to have access to the “heavenly things” of which Jesus spoke.

Eternal life is not just unending life somewhere out there when we die. It begins here and now with a transfer from the dimension of existence in a purely self-dominated and soulish way to a dimension of living in union with God, experiencing His presence and His power to live unselfishly for other people and to submit lovingly to His will and purpose.

How can this transfer happen? Jesus put it in a nutshell and in the imagery of what was familiar to Jewish readers — Moses and the snake. This was familiar history to the Jews and to the Gentiles who had embraced the Jewish religion. They knew about Moses and the snake.

During their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the children of Israel were familiar with the inhabitants of the desert — the “nasties” of that kind of terrain. But God protected them from their deadly neighbours until they infuriated Him so much with their complaining and rebellion that He withdrew His protection and let the fiery serpents loose on them. Many of them perished from the poisonous bites until the people cried out in desperation.

God instructed Moses to fashion a model of a snake out of bronze and lift it up on a pole. Whoever looked at the snake and trusted God for healing would be saved from the effects of the snake’s venom.

‘This, Nicodemus, is the key to understanding what I am telling you.’ The key to their healing lay in the condition and the promise — if they looked at the snake and believed what God had said, the miracle happened. They were rescued from death and given back their life.

Jesus would also be “lifted up” on a wooden stake for everyone to see, but not everyone would experience the life He promised. Only those who gazed at Him with faith in His promise would make that transfer from death to life. Something supernatural would take place in their spirits. They would literally “come alive” to God; they would have a spiritual awakening to a dimension of living they have never “seen”, a new life thrumming with God, everywhere.

That’s what changes history to His story, and our story.