Poverty and The Gospel: Part 2-Gospel of the Kingdom

Before we start digging into how the gospel relates to poverty, I want to start with a bigger question, "What did Jesus come to do?" What were the intentions of his ministry? Most of this will be based off of a post I wrote a little over a week ago, The Intention of Jesus, which lays this out a little more thoroughly. I'm going to try and be brief.

The reason many of us don't see poverty as a gospel issue is because our view of the gospel is too small. Either we (reformed folks) limit the gospel to justification by faith (which don't get me wrong, is absolutely central to the gospel. Yet, the gospel is bigger and effects more than just our individual standing with God) or, we forget this central tenant of the gospel (justification) and move on to the social issues that Jesus cared about. Last post we saw that both extremes are misconceptions.

To look at what Jesus came to do, I want to let him answer the question himself.

"Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.'" Mark 1:14-15

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Luke 4:18-19

I'm going to try and be brief here. A couple big picture takeaways.

First, Jesus came proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom. In other words, the good news is that God's kingdom is at hand. God is reclaiming his rule and reign. He gives the call to repent and believe, because in reclaiming God's Kingdom, he is calling us to turn from our own little kingdom of self-autonomy. Jesus came inviting us to be a part of God's rule and reign, wherein we live under the love and righteousness of our Creator.

Second, as seen in Luke 4, under God's rule and reign (The Kingdom of God), all things are being set right. Look at all the comparatives he gives in Luke 4. The poor are receiving good news, the captive is set free, the blind see. At the heart of God's rule and reign is the restoration of humanity. Under his rule and reign, all things are being made right again. This is because under our own rule and reign (self-autonomy), we are really ruled and reigned by sin. Under the curse of sin, everything is distorted. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. Therefore, if under our own self-autonomy, everything is jacked up, I propose that under God's rule and reign, EVERYTHING is being made right. In other words, Jesus came to restore life.

To get a glimpse of what God intends life to be like, we need to look at Scripture. The place we will look at primarily will be the Creation account, because this was the only time when life was unhindered by the Fall. Genesis 1 and 2 are the only times in human history where humanity itself wasn't distorted by our own self-autonomy.

The King is Here

"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 

'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 

because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, 

to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.'

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'" Luke 4:16-21

I seriously can't help but sit here and grin as I read this passage. I'll refrain from using the word I want to use to describe Jesus' demeanor in this passage, sparing you all of its inappropriate nature, but let's just say Jesus is straight fearless and indomitable. Just imagine him walking into the synagogue. Nobody really knows who he is. Back then it was often the custom to afford any visitors in a synagogue the opportunity to speak or read to the congregation. So Jesus, being the unknown, casually struts to the front. He is given a passage from Isaiah 61 wherein the prophet Isaiah is addressing the deepest questions and needs of our human history. 

Isaiah prophesied years ago to God's people that one day, a King would come and fulfill this passage. Ever since, people have been left asking, "Is it really possible for someone to come and make things right? Is there such a person who can establish justice, peace, and righteousness once and for all? Is it possible for the weary soul to be set free from the burden of captivity? When will this constant brokenness end?"

Jesus, in know uncertain terms, answers these questions with a resounding yes! He essentially answers, "I am Him. I am that King, and I am here right now! I am the One who comes to restore life and reclaim what has been broken. I have that kind of authority and power. Now, turn from being the king of your own little kingdom, and turn to me and my Kingdom, where I rule and reign with love and righteousness."

This is such an incredible announcement. I wonder what it would have been like sitting there and seeing Jesus roll up and hearing him speak these words. Either his words have no meaning and he is completely delusional and belongs in a mental hospitable. Or, he is who he says he is and his words have infinite weight that demand a response. Our response is either to fall at his feet in repentant joy that the King is here, or we continue on our way, choosing to live in self-autonomy. 

Being Clean

"It's not what goes into your body that defiles you; 

you are defiled by what comes from your heart."

Mark 7:15

One of the many reasons I love Mark's account of Jesus' life is the way Mark depicts Jesus as confrontational. From the very beginning of Mark, Jesus comes proclaiming the Kingdom of God. In doing so, he confronts our tendency to make ourselves the king of our own little kingdom. He challenges our reality by confronting our misconceptions of who we are, and who we think God is. 

One passage in which Jesus does this is in Mark 7:1-23. You see, going all the way back in the Old Testament, there is a big problem. Because humankind fell into sin, we cannot come into the presence of God unless we are clean (spotless, without blemish, blameless, without sin). In fact, this is a very big deal to God. That is why in Leviticus there are extensive rules about cleanliness and purity. That is why  there was a day of atonement once a year, and the high priest who was to go before God and atone for the sins of the people had to spend a week preparing himself, washing himself, making sure he was clean. 

This may seem odd, but think of it this way. When we go to meet an important person or have an important event, we also prepare for it. We will take a shower, get a haircut, put on make up, wear our nicest clothes, etc... The same goes for how we are supposed to approach God.

Imagine you own a house. It is perfectly white. It is painted white on the outside, the carpet is white, all the couches are white, the walls are white, the tables are white; everything is bright shining white. Now imagine a person covered in mud comes to your door and wants to come in. It's not going to happen. This is also a reality between us and God. This is why there were the Old Testament purity laws. 

And this is where Mark 7 comes in. Jesus, interacting with the pharisees, confronts their misconceptions. In this passage, the Pharisees had a problem because Jesus' disciples weren't following the traditional purity laws. For example, they weren't washing their hands before they ate, they don't wash their cups and plates the proper way. For the pharisees, this was how we maintained our purity before God. 

I love how Jesus challenges the Pharisees. He doesn't come at them attacking their zeal to be pure. Rather, he gets at the heart of the problem (literally and figuratively). Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah and says to them, 

"These people honor me with their lips, 

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship is farce, 

for they teach man-made ideas as the commands from God" Mark 7:6-7

The problem was that the pharisees thought they could make themselves clean by their own actions. They thought they could be pure before God through religious acts. Jesus confronts this by stating the real problem. The real problem isn't that on the outside they are unclean or impure, it's that their hearts are jacked up. The real problem is a heart problem. The pharisees may have performed religious acts of cleanliness, but their hearts were filthy. 

At this point, it's easy to point at the pharisees and jeer at their ignorance. However, we are not any different. We may not look to Old Testament laws to save face before God, but in some way, shape, form, or fashion, we are all trying to become clean before God. We all look to 'DO" something in order to make us right, to give us worth, or to give our existence significance. 

And this is is where Jesus speaks to us. By confronting the Pharisees, Jesus is telling us that the thing that really makes us unclean is our heart. The problem isn't the externals as much as it is the internal. Further, this is a problem we ALL have. It isn't just the Pharisees. It is us! And as long as we are looking to "DO" something to fix it, it will never work. We could never possibly clean ourselves up enough to be perfectly pure before the eyes of God. 

Back to the white house example (not the presidents home, but a house that is purely white). What Jesus is saying is that while we are standing outside the house that is sparkling white, we could never scrub hard enough to make ourselves worthy for entrance. It doesn't matter what we try to use (religion included), it won't work. What we need is a heart transplant from the inside out. 

This is where the good news of the gospel comes in. When Jesus came to earth and died, he essentially came and lived the pure, clean life that we should have lived, and he died the death of someone who was impure. He did this is substitution for our uncleanliness. Further, because he was the only one who lived a truly pure life, he offers to us his very life. He sees us sitting outside the white house, scrubbing hard, and says to us, "That will never work. But receive me. I will make you clean from the inside out. I can get you on the VIP guest list into the white house." And with one touch, we are made clean. Further, he stays by our side, continuing to transform our hearts from those of stone, to those who desire to walk with and worship the living God. 

Staying Christian in Seminary

An unbelievable helpful post from Dane Ortlund, How to Stay Christian in Seminary.


What's the secret to soul-health while in seminary?

There are many good things to be said. Stay prayerful, be involved in the local church, cultivate meaningful friendships, fight for sexual sanity, find a brother to confess your sins to, get enough sleep, don’t neglect your wife if married. All important.

But above all else I would say two things to a young man given the privilege of seminary: you are justified by another, and you are strong in weakness.

1. You are justified by another. 

Fallen human beings are walking courtrooms.

In a strange and wonderful text in Isaiah 28, God declared that the inscription on the cornerstone of the future temple would be, “Whoever believes will not be in haste” (Isa. 28:16). Have you tasted that?

Internal, tense, anxious, emotional scurrying about will define your seminary experience if you do not settle the astounding truth that for those united to Christ the courtroom verdict over your life is now a past reality rather than a future one. It’s behind you, not before you. A period, not a question mark. You are justified.

The unanswered questions of the heart not at rest are: Am I ok? Do I matter? Who am I before others? How do I measure up? Am I significant? What’s the judgment over my life?

But when Jesus came he didn't tell us to prove ourselves. He said he gives rest (Matt. 11:28-30). He came to stop the haste. Paul even took Isaiah 28 and said Jesus is that cornerstone so that whoever believes in Christ will not be in haste (Rom. 9:33; 10:11).

In seminary as much as any time in your life you must remember that the sigh of the soul you so desperately desire is yours, freely, abundantly, as you trust in Christ, the radiant Friend of screw-ups. United to him, you are co-justified with him. For you to be un-okayed, Jesus would have to be un-okayed. His verdict is in, and therefore yours is in.

That’s hard, strangely hard, to remember. For various reasons it’s especially hard to remember in seminary. While studying the Bible as a full-time student I found I could write a paper on justification by faith alone and then seek to be justified by its publication.

At Covenant Seminary I startled myself with how quickly I slipped into impress-mode around professors I admired. I forgot the verdict was in. I was bolstering what God thought of me with what others thought of me. Justification plus. Haste.

The pressures of seminary will force you either into greater rest or greater haste. One thing determines which way you go: regular bathing of heart in the gospel of a secured, irreversible verdict won by the now un-condemnable Christ.

His unflappable hug, his undentable favor, is impervious to your mediocre grades, fickle human approval, up-and-down marriage, number of Twitter followers, or how long it’s been since you abused Youtube.

How do you stay Christian in seminary? Above all else, defibrillate your heart daily with the invincible favor of God shining down on you because of the love and sacrifice of another.

Only the doctrine of justification by faith alone will enable you to experience seminary as joyful, relaxed ministry training rather than frantic, fretful impressing.

2. You are strong in weakness. 

Few things bring our weakness to the surface like seminary. Spending all day with classmates who read faster than you, memorize paradigms more easily than you do, and preach better than you do pours gasoline on the flames of our insecurity. Ongoing moral failure--for young men in today's hypersexualized world I am thinking especially of sexual failure, though spiritual pride, laziness, envy, intellectual haughtiness, and a bent toward divisiveness also reveal our weakness.

Seminary gathers up all our latent insecurities and forces them before us. We begin to ask questions of ourselves.

Am I supposed to be here? we wonder. Shouldn't I be better at the languages if this is where God wants me? Shouldn't I be able to preach in front of 8 brothers in a homiletics practicum without my eyes being chained to my notes and my palms sweating? Shouldn’t my finances be less strapped if seminary is the Lord’s good purpose in my life? Shouldn’t I be able to finally kick that habitual sin if I’m spending so much time pondering God and the Bible?

Brother: those soul-squeezing questions are your friends. Without them you would coast through seminary and graduate a shallow, twaddling little man with no depth and trite answers.

God’s grace is sufficient for you. Get over yourself. You are weak. You are inadequate. You always will be. And the story of the Bible is God’s delight in taking weak, inadequate men and doing the unthinkable. Stop insulting the Holy Spirit. Your weakness is the single crucial prerequisite for him to make your life a miracle. To think “I don’t have what it takes” is precisely what it takes. Don’t try to overcome your weakness. Leverage your weakness into a lifetime of 1 Corinthians 2:1–5 ministry.

God’s power is made perfect in your weakness.

The Cross: Something Done By Us, and Something Done For Us

This is a summary from our Bible study @ Rebirth: East St. Louis this past Thursday. With Good Friday coming up, we talked about the death of Jesus. Here is the original post. 

Following Tuesday's study on the weight of sin, and with Good Friday approaching, yesterday in Bible study we looked at the death of Jesus. Just thinking about it now, I am so thankful for the good news of the Cross and for the incredible opportunity to share and talk about this with our guys. Jesus dying for our sins is something most people (and our guys) have heard or are somewhat familiar with, but it is something that often gets glossed over. What does it actually mean that Jesus died for us? Yesterday was an incredible time to reflect on why Jesus had to die, and what this means for us.

You could spend a lifetime pouring over the significance of the Cross and still not exhaust its depth. Yesterday we talked about two realities of Jesus dying on the Cross. First, relating back to the weight of sin, I wanted our guys to see that the Cross was something done BY us, and secondly, that the Cross was something done FOR us. 

The main text we looked at was Isaiah 53:3-10. This is some pretty heavy stuff, but I wanted our guys to reflect on why Jesus died. It wasn't for his sins, but it was for our sins. We've spent a good deal of time talking about how Adam's rebellion effected our relationship with God, with each other, and with Creation. Yet, we are not innocent spectators in the Fall. We are active participants, who just like Adam, rebel against God, don't trust his authority, and disobey his word. This is something we do on an everyday basis, and because of that, we deserve the just wage of sin, which is death. And this is exactly the death that Jesus died for us. 

"But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins" Isaiah 53:5

Jesus took upon himself the punishment that we rightly deserved. I think this is important for our guys to see, because if we don't see the Cross as something done BY us, we can't rightly understand the Cross as something done FOR us. If we don't understand the weight of our sin, and the punishment that it deserves, Christ's death won't have much significance. It will merely be a metaphor of love, or a good example, but it will not be a saving work. At the cross, Jesus took the punishment for our rebellion. 

Furthermore, the Cross is something done FOR us. Because Jesus died, we are free from the condemnation of our sin. We are no longer on death row, hopelessly imprisoned, sentenced to eternal death. But now, we are completely set free from the condemnation of sin, and are free in Christ. This is amazing! Also, we are now made right again with God. The three relationships we've talking about (us and God, each other, us and creation) can now be restored. 

"He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed." 53:5

This is what Christ's death accomplished FOR us. I'm praying that for some of our guys, this is their beginning in recognizing and owning up to the reality of their own rebellion. More so, I'm praying that this would lead to repentance, and turning to trust in  Jesus' work on the Cross as the only way in which we can be saved. Next week, we'll be talking about the resurrection. Keep praying!

Righteousness According to a 4th Century Monk

A sweet quote from a 4th century Monk by the name of Macarius. This quotation is from his Spiritual Homilies no. 20. 

"If anyone takes his stand upon a righteousness and redemption of his own, not looking for the righteousness of God who is the Lord, as the apostle says, 'who is made unto us righteousness and redemption', he labors in vain and to no purpose. For all the dreams of a righteousness of his own is at the last day manifested as nothings but filthy rags, as the prophet Isaiah says, 'All our righteousness is as filthy rags.' Let us then beg and implore God to 'clothe us with the garments of salvation', Jesus Christ our Lord, the unspeakable light. Souls that have once worn it shall never put it off again, but in the resurrection also their bodies shall be glorified by the glory of that light, with which faithful and noble souls are even now clad, as the apostle says, 'He that raised Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit which dwells within you.'"

The Announcement Becomes Reality

"Eight hundred years before, God had invited his herald to bring good news to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah. The long night of sin and warfare was to end. And the messengers voice on the mountain summed it up: 'Here is your God!' (Isaiah 40:9)

In Jesus that announcement to the cities becomes reality. In Jesus the covenant is renewed, the law and the prophets fulfilled, justice and righteousness are incarnated, salvation becomes more than promise, the perfect sacrifice for sin is offered. The kingdom of God comes in the person of the king, the jubilee year of God begins, the poor are lifted up, the cities hear the good news, and God inaugurates his time of urban restoration."

Urban Ministry: The Kingdom, the City & the People of God. Harvie Conn & Manuel Ortiz. Page 115. 

The Gift of Peace to God's People

"Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints"

Psalm 85:8

"The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace"

Psalm 29:11

"And he will be called:

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His government and its peace will never end."

Isaiah 9:6-7

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"

Romans 5:1

"I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation. but take heart; I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

Glimpses of Grace: Identity, Idolatry, and the Gospel (part 2)

A great write up on idolatry by my good friend Erik Most. I highly recommend following his blog at: Glimpses of Grace

So put bluntly, in modern terms, Herod was a tool. Cocky. He thought he was the man, and wanted everyone to know it. He was that guy in the clubs with the popped collar, stunner shades on, hair gelled stiff, using money like napkins. Think Jersey Shore.

As Jeremiah and I considered this individual, we asked ourselves an important question. What about the human heart leads to action such as this? Herod’s behavior certainly isn’t anachronistic. We’ve seen power trips like this all throughout history, and we still see them today. Trump. Where’s the commonality? That common denominator is idolatry. The sin of idolatry subtly ravages the human heart. Idolatry can be defined as looking to other things to provide the comfort, satisfaction, joy, peace, security, and rest that only God can provide. Ask yourself the question, “If only I had _______, then I would be OK.” Or, “As long as _________ continues to happen, then I’m OK.” Fill in the blank. For Herod it was power. It was control. As long as he was in control, and could CLEARLY demonstrate it, he was ok. Herod was defined by lavishness and opulence. It could be different for you. Financial security? Family? Job? Marriage? Social status? Car? House? Education? Sex? Influence? What is the one thing in your life that if you lost it, you would be utterly devastated? An idol is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.

Now keep in mind Jeremiah’s last sentence. “We met Jesus.” We’re going there. I want to be clear on why we are going there before we do.

Jeremiah and I looked at Herod’s idolatrous situation, and ultimately ours, in terms of a two-fold identity. After a particular lecture in Caesarea, Jeremiah came up to me and applied these concepts of passive identity and active identity. Passive identity includes the factors you are defined by that are outside of your control. For example, your parents. Your neighborhood. Basically, the culture you were born into. This is very formative, and provides foundational nourishment through adolescence. Yet there comes a point where the individual delves deeper into personal autonomy.

We’ll call this active identity. From Jeremiah’s and my experience, we’ve seen this happen somewhere in the teens. At this point, the individual has had sufficient experience in the world, and starts making moves. Affections are stirred in particular directions, toward different things. Individuals start deciding who they want to be. What they want to be known for. This life long process of active identity and personal autonomy is an idolatrous incubator. You, me, and Herod place our identity and affections in these things that allure our hearts so effectively.

So what does Jesus have to do with this? In accordance with our trip, I want to demonstrate the character of God and idolatry through the Old Testament. This will help us make sense of Jesus. We are led to 1 Kings 18, where Elijah defeats the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel. This was a site we were blessed to visit a few weeks back.

The purpose for Elijah’s contest was to directly confront the idol of the Israelites. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were promoting a pluralistic society in Israel. They saw no problem with worshipping Baal one day, and the Lord on the Sabbath. The case is no different in our present day. We live in a society that is absolutely deistically pluralistic. In the text, Baal was not a concrete god as we see with other ancient gods like Zeus. Baal was understood in more of a generic sense. There was a Baal for everything, such as water, food, and land. In our culture, these Baals still exist. Everything can be a Baal, and everything has been a Baal. How many times in our culture do we see success on TV, and think, “if only I had that, I would be ok?” When we see perfect women on billboards and think “if only I looked like that” or “if only I could date a girl that looked like her.” The possibilities are endless. There are Baals all around us. We undoubtedly live in Elijah’s pluralistic society.

With idols all around us, it is imperative to identify these idols. In the text we see the NIV translation say “they danced around the altar they had made…so they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.” In their calling to Baal, we see the prophets do three things. They danced, they shouted louder, and finally they slashed themselves until their blood flowed. These are perfect characteristics and demonstrations of how we act with our Baals. Our Baals need appeasement. They are demanding. They require performance. We dance for them. When something has captured our hearts so intently that we will do anything to acquire them, we have been enticed by a Baal.

In recent years Madonna has expressed that the only reason she keeps going, the only reason she keeps writing new songs is because she can only stay on the top of the charts for so long. She needs the feeling of that number one spot. It’s the same with athletes who cannot bring themselves to retire despite an age that screams laz-e-boy (Jordan with the Wizards?). After the economic crisis hit in 2008, a string of suicides followed among the formerly wealthy. These included David Kellerman, the chief financial officer of Freddie Mac. Another suicide following the crisis was Cristen Schnor, a Danish banker who hanged himself in a London hotel. Their Baals were their identity. Their Baals demanded performance. When we do not appease our idols, or get what we want from them, we shout louder. We try harder. When our idols ultimately leave us empty, when we call out and get no response, our worlds crumble. Our idols demand our blood, and it gushes out in pursuit of them.

In the midst of our despair, we have a more beautiful remedy than we could ever imagine, and it lies within the place in which the fire came down. “Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” The fire did not fall on the Israelites watching, or further off into the mountains, but the fire fell on the sacrifice. The sacrifice on the mount defeated the idol, and was the means by which people believed.” The character of God as seen through the Old Testament is to save idolatrous sinners by means of sacrifice. Familiar, huh? Enter Jesus.

In the same way, Jesus sacrificed Himself on Mount Calvary to eliminate our idols. He took the fire of God’s judgment on our behalf, so that we may experience the fire of God’s love. Contrary to our false gods who say “slash yourself for me,” Jesus, out of adoration, slashed Himself for us. His blood flowed in our place. Not due to our performance, not because we deserve it, but because He already loved us-because of His pure, satisfactory delight in us as we are now. The remedy from our idols, the cure for our Baals, is not an increase in performance or effort, but instead resting in Christ’s finished work on the cross. “For He was pierced for our transgression, He was crushed for our iniquity. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

Observation # 5: Justification is Based on the Substitutionary Work of Christ For Us

At the heart of justification is the substitutionary work of Christ. This involves Christ's exchanging places with us. Given that our sin demands God's just wrath, Christ substitutionary work on our behalf involves Christ standing in our place and bearing the wrath that we rightfully deserve. 

This is taught even in the Old Testament, as the prophet Isaiah foretold of the coming Messiah, 

"But he was wounded for our transgressions;

   he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

    and with his stripes we are healed.

 All we like sheep have gone astray;

   we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on him

   the iniquity of us all."

Isaiah 53:5-6

This passage is clear that the Savior would take upon himself the iniquity of His people. This is exactly what Jesus did at the Cross. The Apostle Paul puts it this way in his letter to the Galatians, 

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us." 

Galatians 3:13

Because we have failed to follow God's law, we deserve the curse of not following it. What makes the Gospel good news is that Christ has bore the weight of sin that we deserve. He suffered the debt we owed. The just for the unjust, once and for all. We are able to be justified because Jesus substituted himself in our place. 

We will see in the next observation that justification involves not only the substitutionary work of Christ in terms of him taking our sins, but it also involves the positive aspect of Christ imputing to His children His perfect righteousness. 

Not Mere Improvement

I am continually struck at the vivid language the Bible uses to describe the transformation that a Christian undergoes. The Gospel is not mere improvement, it is a complete overhaul. It is complete newness. It is an eternal change in identity. It is a sad reality that many life long church goers have not experienced this eternal identity change. For the most part, Christianity is merely viewed as an elevated moral code or a set of guidelines for an improved life. Both of these rob the Gospel of its radical call to new life.

One doesn't need to search hard to find the Bible's elicit use of transformational language. Notice the vivid contrasts, the complete newness, the eternal identity change. A Christian is one who, by the Gospel was

Dead in their trespasses but now made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

an enemy of God, but now reconciled (Romans 5:10)

alienated from God, far off, but now brought near (Colossians 1:21, Eph. 2:13)

walking in darkness, but now is in the light (Isaiah 9:2)

orphaned, but now adopted (Romans 8:15)

under condemnation, now free (Romans 8:1-2)

a slave to sin, but is now redeemed (John 8:34, 1 Peter 1:19)

guilty, but now justified (Romans 3:10, Galatians 2:16)

spiritually bankrupt, but now filled with the riches of God's grace (Eph. 1:7)

hungry, but now satisfied (John 6:35)

The list goes on.....

Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted

A wonderful hymn named, "Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted" explaining what occurred at the Cross.

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
'Tis the Christ by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, 'tis He, 'tis He!
'Tis the long-expected prophet,
David's Son, yet David's Lord;
By His Son, God now has spoken
Tis the true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear him groaning,
Was there ever grief like his?
Friends thro' fear his cause disowning,
Foes insulting his distress;
Many hands were raised to wound him,
None would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced him
Was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed,
See who bears the awful load;
'tis the Word, the Lord's Anointed,
Son of Man and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost;
Christ's the Rock of our salvation,
His the name of which we boast.
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on him their hope have built.

Waiting On God

"He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40: 28-31

Here are a couple excerpts from a sermon delivered by Dan Orr at Immanuel Church in Nashville. The sermon was on Isaiah 40 and is straight gold. Here is the link to the full sermon, and his blog, Itsabeautifulgospel. I deeply admire Dan. God has used him in mighty ways to teach me about the Gospel. 

"To wait on something means to depend, hope, rely or to trust something. I suggest that your strength is entirely contingent upon the strength of the one or the what for whom you wait on. The amount of strength you have today, is completely related on the strength of the one you're waiting on. So, if you are waiting upon someone or something with no strength, you will grow faint. You will break down. If you are waiting upon God who is strong, you will be strong.

So, the reason that we are all weary this morning, all of us, is because we are waiting on false gods. We are waiting on things that don't have strength, and we are therefore depleted of our strength, because we are let down. Our weariness is the fruit of misplaced trust."

 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
   made by human hands. ¹⁶ They have mouths, but cannot speak,
   eyes, but cannot see. ¹⁷ They have ears, but cannot hear,
   nor is there breath in their mouths. ¹⁸ Those who make them will be like them,
   and so will all who trust in them.

Psalm 135: 15-18

What a great reminder of the insufficiency of idols. When we depend on our idols, when we trust in 'things' even the best of things, our strength will wither. We will grow weary. It is often good things that we look to for strength. It could be grades, family, relationships, sports, friends. These are great. But they will fail. They don't truly satisfy. They don't give everlasting strength. Only God provides that. Those who wait upon the LORD will not grow weary. Only God is strong. Only He is sufficient. May we wait upon God by gazing upon Him, drawing strength from the One who is everlasting, almighty, and gracious. 

YHWH is incomparable

"Who among the gods is like you, O LORD?

Who is like you,

majestic in holiness, awesome in glory,

working wonders?

Exodus 15:11

Through the exodus, Israel came to know that YHWH is incomparably greater than other gods. He is without equal. There is none like Him. This rhetoric also runs throughout the Old Testament. YHWH is without equal....

• in keeping promises and fulfilling his word (2 Samuel 7:22)
• in power and wisdom, as seen in creation (Jeremiah 10:6-7, 11-12)
• in the heavenly assembly (Psalm 89: 6-8)
• in ruling over the nations (Jeremiah 49:19)
• in pardoning sin and forgiving transgression (Micah 7:18)
• in saving power on behalf of his people (Isaiah 64:4)