Tag Archives: outcome

The Unchanging Jesus

Bible Study, , , ,

THE UNCHANGING JESUS

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so (Heb. 13: 7-9).

“Oldies” love to speak of the “good old days”. Some of the old days were good. Children and young people could walk in the streets without fear. We did not have to lock ourselves in behind electric fences and security gates while criminals had free range of the streets. We were not plagued by or addicted to the big “Cs” – cell phones, computers, credit cards and cash loans! Living in debt was not the fashion as it is today.  We paid cash for what we bought and went without what we could not afford. We had less than we have to today but we were content.

Yes, we have the advantage of the technological age which makes life much easier – and much faster – in many ways. Yet it has brought with it all kinds of evil and many trends that are unstoppable – like an avalanche plunging down a mountain. Our youth are addicted to its trinkets; video games, cell phones, the social media, and television to the extent that they are losing the art of socialising face-to-face.

Everyone’s business is splashed across the internet so that they no longer have private lives. Information technology is the name of the game – some of it useful and much of it damaging and dangerous. Life is no longer about honesty, integrity, loyalty and faithfulness but about information, and how to use it to get the better of others; how to take advantage of others or get the best deal out of others. Unscrupulous people outdo themselves in outsmarting the unsuspecting public.

The one constant in a changing world is the unchanging Jesus. Our writer did not have to contend with all the temptations we are faced with today, but his generation certainly had its fair share of what hell had to offer. Jesus is unchanging and so are the standards of His word and the benefits of His salvation. The motto of those who belong to the world could be: “I want it and I want it now!” The motto of the people of God’s kingdom, on the other hand, must always be: “Jesus is Lord.”

How vital it is to be anchored to Him and planted on His Word! If there were “all kinds of strange teachings” circulating in the writer’s day without the written Bible, there are just as many today with the Word of God freely available to us. Peter spoke of ignorant and unstable people in his day who distorted the writings of Paul as they did the other Scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3: 16).

Self-proclaimed apostles, prophets and teachers fabricate doctrines and garner a following of gullible people who have not taken the trouble to test what they preach and teach against the truth of God’s word. We ignore that responsibility to our own peril.

What is the antidote? Jesus is the constant to whom we must be secured. His word is the truth of who He is – not what we want it to say but what it does say – clear and simple. He has authorised leaders who, first of all imitate Him, and then who blaze the trail for others to follow. How do we know that they are trustworthy? Consider the outcome of their way. Scrutinise their fruit which cannot lie. Their fruit will reveal the root of their lives and their teaching.

How can we test the validity of teaching? Which motto are the teachers modelling – the world’s or the kingdom’s; self-gratification or self-sacrifice? It’s the heart that counts, not the flesh. There is no value in putting ceremonial food into the stomach but ignoring the condition of the heart. Grace is what God supplies to overcome the pull of the old evil nature with its ever-present demand for self-gratification.

All the rituals and ceremonies of their old way did nothing to change their hearts or alter their disposition towards selfishness. Death was the only solution – death to the old life through the death of Jesus and a resurrection to a new life that was powered by grace. All the doctrines and practices in the world that are good but do not change the heart and lead to submission and obedience to Jesus as Lord, are no more than hot air, filling the pages of thousands of books but making not one iota of difference to a single heart.

It all boils down to one thing – who or what rules your heart?

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.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

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For the Last time

Christian Life, , ,

FOR THE LAST TIME

“When it was time, He sat down, all the apostles with Him, and said, ‘You’ve no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. It’s the last one I’ll eat until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God.'” Luke 22:14-16 (The Message).

Was Jesus crazy? It almost sounds as though He was looking forward to His coming crucifixion. He had shared Passover meals with them in the past. He knew this was the last one He would eat with them as a human being. He referred to other Passover celebrations in the future but they would take place “in the kingdom of God”.

In spite of the glimpses He gives us into the significance of His suffering, both to Him and to the Father, we will never fully understand what the cross meant – neither the experience nor the outcome.

The cross of Jesus – the pinnacle of history and the dividing line for all people for all eternity! For every person, the cross determines our eternal destiny, depending on our choice.

It was because of the cross that God’s plan to build a family of people just like His Son was put back on track. Satan’s deception in the Garden of Eden derailed it for a season, but Jesus paid the debt of man’s sin, reconciled His alienated human race and reinstated every son and daughter into His family through faith in Him.

It was through the cross that Jesus exposed the devil for the liar he is. In spite of the injustice of His trial and death sentence for who He was – the Son of God and the king of the Jews, He submitted Himself to their cruelty and to the Father’s will without a murmur. His death spelt the end for Satan. His judgment was coming and he knew it!

“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. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:23-25 (NIV).

Jesus looked forward to the cross because it would be the completion of His mission on earth, the culmination of His revelation of the Father and the cue for His return to His place in glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit. So great was His love for the Father that He even relished His suffering because it was the Father’s will to rescue mankind from death and bring them back home to Himself.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God.” Hebrews 12:3 (NIV).

For Jesus, this Passover meal would be the opportunity to reveal the full significance of the historical event they were celebrating. Passover was a picture of the greater redemption from slavery to sin and Satan that He was about to accomplish as the sacrificial Lamb of God whose blood on the lives of those who believe in Him would protect them from death and open the door to everlasting life.

No, Jesus was not crazy! Once again, in His self-forgetful love for human beings, He relished the outcome of His suffering – redemption, rescue and reconciliation and the door to eternal life flung open to anyone who will receive His forgiveness and His invitation to return to the Father’s house and the Father’s arms to be a beloved member of His forever family.