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Restore the Joy of Your Salvation: Psalm 51 (part 13)
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation;
and with an honorable Spirit you shall uphold me.”
(Psalm 51:14 {Psalm 51:12 in English Bibles})
So often when we read this verse, or hear this verse cited by people in the wider church community, it is cited in a way that is almost totally centered on man. They place all of the emphasis on the joy that they seek, and while looking for joy in the salvation that God has granted is not a bad thing—indeed, it is a wonderful thing—it is not the focus of this verse. The entire focus of this verse is on God and upon God’s work. David is reflecting on the misery that he has endured as a result of his sin and pleads with God that God would restore to him the joy he takes not just in his personal salvation, but in God’s redemptive work. David does not say restore to me the joy of “my salvation” as Habakkuk does (Habakkuk 3:18), but he says, “your salvation,” reflecting on the redemptive work of God.
I wonder, do we praise God enough for all of the giants of the faith that He has raised up before us that have guided and marked a way for us in this life. Do we praise God for King David, who has given us such wonderful psalms? Do we praise him for the Apostle Paul, who has given us so much of our New Testament? How about some of the faithful early church fathers like Irenaeus and Augustine? Names like Calvin, Knox, Luther, Zwingli, Owen, Ryle, and Hodge fill our libraries and have shaped the way we understand our scriptures. How much light has been given to us by the likes of Matthew Henry? What about the call to evangelism and holy living that came from the likes of George Whitefield and John Wesley? The names of Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, and Fanny Crosby have become synonymous with hymns of praise. What of missionaries like David Brainerd and William Carey? Oh, beloved, we could go on and on with the role call of men and women of faith who have gone before us and given us so many riches from their insights into God’s word, but what about those countless, nameless Christians who have set an example for us in their simple daily faith? What about those Sunday School teachers who have planted seeds of truth in our heart? What about faithful preachers who opened up God’s word to us week in and week out? What about the dear saints who have upheld us in prayer through the years? What about the believer with the servant’s heart who quietly gives and gives so that the church may be about its work. Oh, beloved, how we do not thank God nearly enough for the work of his salvation! How our lives would be darker and duller without so many wonderful testimonies of faith! How sad it is that we tend to look only to ourselves and neglect the shoulders of those upon whom we stand.
Now the question that is posed, depending on the translation that is used, is whether this spirit that is mentioned is the Spirit of God or the spirit of David. Most of our modern English translations imply that David is asking to be upheld in his own spirit (ESV, NASB, NIV, RSV), and the King James Version seems to stand on its own in clearly attributing this to the Holy Spirit. As we look at the context of the passage, what we find is that this passage comes on the heels of a plea to God that His Holy Spirit would not be removed from David’s presence. Now, in this verse, the prayer seems to intensify, and the plea becomes one that not only includes fellowship but being upheld as well. In addition, the verse that follows is basically a response to God’s restorative work. David says that in the wake of God’s provision for him, he will teach sinners the ways of God so that they might turn back to the path that leads to salvation—how might that be done unless you are upheld by the Holy Spirit?
Loved ones, the language of joy is fairly strong within this verse and it is found throughout the psalms—the words “joy” or “rejoice” occur more than 80 times in the psalms alone. So often we get so caught up in sin that we neglect the joy that comes with being redeemed in Christ. Beloved, rejoice! Rejoice for though you were dead in your sins and trespasses, Christ loved you enough to call you to himself and to bear the penalty for your sins! Beloved, you were the sons and daughters of paupers and now, in Christ, you have inherited paradise! You are promised perfect fellowship with God, and in the mean time, Christ dwelling in you through his Holy Spirit and making continual intercession on your behalf before the Father. Loved ones, there is much to rejoice over, so why do we so often wear such sour faces when we come to church? Rejoice, beloved, rejoice—for our Savior reigns!
Hail, the Lord of earth and heaven! Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given; Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now; Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou! Alleluia!
-Charles Wesley
Do Not Send Me Away from Your Presence: Psalm 51 (part 12)
“Do not send me away from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit—do not take him from me.”
(Psalm 51:13 {Psalm 51:11 in English Bibles})
In this verse, David returns to a chiastic structure. The verses that have gone before have been largely arranged in a simple parallel structure and this change is designed to add emphasis. And the emphasis that David is making strikes at the very heart of the human condition: sin has driven us out of relationship with God. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked in communion with God; sin changed that. Because of sin, man and woman were driven out of paradise and out of the relationship that would make even the most hellish place a paradise to be in—they were driven out of their intimate and personal relationship with God in his presence, and all of the struggles and difficulties we face in our fallen nature when we seek to commune with God all have roots back to this origin.
How could a Holy God remain in communion with those who rebelled in sin? Indeed, sin must be punished, and the wrath of an infinite, Holy God was the only punishment suitable to the crime. Beloved, facing someone’s anger is one thing—it is rarely a pleasant thing to do, but it is something we have all done and will likely do again—this kind of anger can be weathered. But righteous anger is something altogether different—especially when we are in the wrong. Facing the righteous wrath of a man who has been wronged is a heavy thing to deal with and is grievous to endure. But what about the righteous anger of an infinite God who is perfect in his holiness and perfect in his righteousness? No man could stand. We would be utterly lost—even the best and most noble human being—we would be forever consigned to the fires of hell; and, in doing so, God would be vindicated.
Yet, in God’s unfathomable richness and mercy, he chose to redeem a people for himself. Sin had to be dealt with, but rather than putting a burden that could not be borne upon men, he allowed his Son to become flesh and to bear that penalty on behalf of those who would cling to him in faith as their substitute, mediator, and paraclete. Indeed, this is the demonstration of the infinite love of God, that he would give his only begotten son to die and bear the penalty of sin for those whom he would call in faith, that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life and those who would reject the offering made by Christ would be forever consigned to their reasonable fate, paying the penalty for their sin in eternal condemnation (John 3:16-21). There is no other way and no other path to the paradise of God but through Christ. Adam and Eve lost access to it and Christ has shed his blood to offer it back to humanity once again—what good news that is to a dark and dying world!
Thus, in Christ, communion is restored through the work of the Holy Spirit, and David, recognizing the great blessing connected with God’s presence before him, clung to that above all else. Though his sin may have caused him to deserve to be forever cast out of God’s presence, the work of Christ allows the prayer offered in faith to be heard and answered. And though God may remove our sense of assurance for a time as a means of disciplining his children, he will not leave or forsake us because he has called us his own and adopted us as sons and daughters in Christ. God paid too dear a price to abandon those for whom his Son died. Thus, David pleads that God not remove from him the closeness and presence of communion that they had enjoyed, and indeed, how this should guide our own prayers of repentance, recognizing that God will not let his people be forever lost, but recognizing how essential that it is that we remain in daily—moment by moment—communion with God. Loved ones, cling to this promise, and cling to Christ.
O love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
-George Matheson
Conceal Your Face from My Sins: Psalm 51 (part 10)
“Conceal your face from my sins,
and all my iniquities may you wipe clean.”
(Psalm 51:11 {Psalm 51:9 in English Bibles})
Have you ever had to deal with something that is just so disgusting and distasteful that you just had to turn your head for fear that you might get sick, and simply work with your hands? Somehow, if you turn your head and don’t look at what your hands are doing, you can complete the task before your stomach turns. This is the picture that David is painting for us in this verse. It is one of God, who is holy and who hates sin, turning his head so he does not need to look at the sin as he wipes David spiritually clean. “Look away!” David cries. But at the same time, David says, “Clean me!” For David understands better than most that it is only God who can clean us from our wretched sin.
So often we take such a light view of our own sin. We think of it as a little stain on an otherwise “ok” person. How different this is from how God looks on sin. Sin is active rebellion against God—it is a rejection of his character and of his goodness. Sin is ugly, wretched, unholy, filthy, and putrid in the sight of God. It is rotten and disgusting and smells of the same, and sin permeates our whole being. Even our good works carry with them the stench of our sinful being. We cannot escape it on our own—it oozes from the pours of our soul with an unhealthy odor. It is dark and dank and covered with scum—and God is the only one who can take sin away. David understands that, so he calls God to look away—to turn his face—yet to do his cleansing work. Oh, how we would profit were we to view sin more like the way David viewed his own sin.
Beloved, when you cling to or hold on to pet sins—sins that you are not just yet ready to get rid of or ones that you don’t think are causing anyone any harm—think of these words of David. Holding on to sins is like bathing in a cesspool—you will never get clean. The problem that the unbelieving world has is that they are comfortable in the cesspool and don’t want to get out. The problem that the Christian has is that they are drawn back to that old cesspool again and again. Yet, loved ones, you have been cleaned by the blood of Jesus Christ! How then is it that you would knowingly return to the filth of the sins of this world! Yet, we do, over and over, don’t we. Beloved, pray that God would instill in you a disgust for sin and a taste for holiness. May God turn his head while he washes us clean.
Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace;
Foul, I to the Fountains fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.
-Augustus Toplady
Let Me Hear Jubilation and Joy: Psalm 51 (part 9)
“Let me hear jubilation and joy,
Let the bones that you have crushed rejoice!”
(Psalm 51:10 {Psalm 51:8 in English Bibles})
Just as forgiveness can only come from the Lord, so too does restoration. True joy cannot be had apart from God, because true joy is something that can only be experienced in relationship with God. We may chase after many things that bring us pleasure, but it is only God who can bring us lasting joy, and oh, how our sin deprives us of such joy. Sin is that which drives a wedge in the relationship we have with God, yet oh, how glorious our God is, in restoring that joy as he forgives our sins.
Also, beloved, do not miss what David is showing us in this verse—it is the bones that “you (speaking of God) have crushed.” So often when we think of the horrid things that happen to us, we immediately blame the devil and his mischief, and there is no question that the devil is at work in this world. Yet, never forget that our God is sovereign even over the devil and his actions and our God often uses the machinations of the devil to bring about his good pleasure. It is God who brings about all things, both great and small, good and ill (Isaiah 45:7) either though his direct action or through his permissive will, and it is God who breaks us when we persist in sin, to bring us back to himself. Yet, even the bones that have been broken and crushed may be restored to rejoicing in repentance.
Beloved, sometimes we get so lost in the rule and instruction of scripture that sometimes we can miss the incredible joy that can be found in Jesus Christ. Yet, note that joy in Christ can only be had if it is done in submission to Jesus’ lordship. Loved ones, seek to repent for the sins of your life, but in that repentance, pray that God would restore to you the joy that comes from a close relationship with him. The closer you walk to your beloved, the easier it is to stroll hand in hand.
Born in Iniquity: Psalm 51 (part 6)
“Behold, in iniquity I was birthed,
and in sin, my mother conceived me.”
(Psalm 51:7 {Psalm 51:5 in English Bibles})
A diamond is formed when coal is compacted under a great deal of force, essentially squeezing a great deal of matter into a small object. Beloved, the same is true with verses like this one! How much doctrine is found in these few words (6 words in the original Hebrew). In this short little verse we find one of the great proofs and reminders of the doctrine of Original Sin as it is passed down from generation to generation. David is not talking about his mother’s sin in this verse, but continuing to grieve over his own—even as an unborn baby. Mankind is not free from sin at birth as the ancient heretic Pelagius asserted, no, we are born knowing sin, we will live all of our lives knowing sin’s awful taste, and we will die in sin—how great is our need for a savior! Oh, how great is our need for Jesus!
So why is it important that we hold so clearly to this doctrine. First of all, it is Biblical, and to deny scriptural truth is both folly and heresy. Secondly, were it possible for a child to be born without sin, it would be possible for that child to live without sin—and were one to live without sin, one would no longer need a savior. And were it possible than men could stand as righteous before God in the merit of their own righteousness, it would make Jesus’ life, ministry, and death meaningless and unnecessary, and to suggest that would again be folly and heresy.
Pelagius was an English monk in the early Roman Empire, who came to live in Rome around the year 390 AD. Pelagius saw the excesses of the people and attributed their sinful behavior to the doctrine of Free Grace. Rather than exhorting people to strengthen what they had been given by God (2 Peter 1:5-8), he denied Original Sin and Total Inability, ultimately saying that if God expects us to live up to his perfect law, we have the ability to do so. Augustine would be the one who refuted Pelagius and Pelagius’ theology would be branded as heretical. Augustine carefully defended these two doctrines, showing first that throughout scripture, since the fall of Adam and Eve, men and women have been born with sin in their lives (this being one of the proof-texts) and secondly, because we have sin, we stand condemned before a righteous and holy God. God expects us to be perfect as he is perfect (Matthew 5:48), and with sin in our lives, it is impossible for us to be perfect—we cannot measure up, no matter how noble or honorable we are, our record is still marred.
Yet, beloved, that is the good news! Though we are far from perfect, though we were born in sin, having inherited it from our fathers and being born under the federal headship of Adam, though we have added to that inherited sin our own sin and willful disobedience of God, though we stand wretched and poor before the throne of God’s judgment, if we are trusting in Christ as our Lord and Savior we will not be judged by the measure of our own righteousness, but we will be judged by the measure of the righteousness of Christ! Hallelujah! Adam failed in his headship, but God did not leave us to ruin and gave us a second Adam, a new federal head, the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, so that if we believe in him with our heart and confess him with our lips, trusting him as our Lord and Savior, we would not perish in judgment, but be delivered, not because of who we are, but because of who Christ is. And, oh, how that is such good news!
So, beloved, here we stand with David: guilty as charged. In fact, there has never been a time when we have not stood before God as guilty and deserving of condemnation. This should always be before us, but at the same time, how it is especially clear when we must repent from acts of willful disobedience. This was the anointed King of Israel, and he stands guilty of murdering a friend to cover up his adultery with that friend’s wife—how wretched David must have felt as he gazed upon the filth of his heart. Loved ones, work to nurture within yourselves a healthy recognition of your own inability. Let it not be an excuse for immorality, but let it drive you more and more to a sense of reliance on prayer and God’s provision. Learn to hate your sins—especially the “pet” sins that you have sought to hold onto—and work to live in a way that glorifies God in every moment of your day. Strive to be holy as God is holy (Leviticus 11:45).
Holy, Holy, Holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
Only thou art holy, there is none beside thee
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
-Reginald Heber
God Communicates through Christ: Hebrews 1:1-4 (part 5)
“he spoke to us through the Son…”
What a wonderful gift has been given to us in Jesus Christ. All of the many parts and pieces of scriptures, all of the narratives, all of the prophetic literature, all of the songs, the poems, the laments, the dirges, all of the exalted praise find their meaning and unity in Jesus Christ. In Christ scripture finds its fullness of meaning, apart from Christ we are left with a puzzle that is disjointed and confusing. Is it any wonder that so many non-believers have looked at the Bible and have seen nothing but random words of men through the history of the church and of Israel, while as believers we come to the word of God and see Christ! Oh, beloved, do not back down, shy away from, or give up this great truth! How great a truth that the church in our own day has given up, when they give up the doctrines of the plenary inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility of scripture, for when you let go of these views, you begin looking at scripture as the unbeliever looks at scripture and you lose its unity because you lose the one piece that gives it significance, unity, and life—you lose Christ. The writer of Hebrews states boldly and clearly that in the ancient times God spoke to his people in many and sundry ways, now, in these last days—they days between the cross and the return of our Lord, God speaks to us through Christ—through the Word made flesh, and now written out for us in the complete scriptures.
Have you ever noticed how often our God speaks? This is one of the wonderful attributes of our God—he is communicating and he designs to communicate with his creation—an infinite God condescending to communicate with a finite man. God did this with Adam and Eve in the Garden and even after their sin and the fall, God continued to communicate with them. We even see God communicating with himself before mankind existed, during his creative process (Genesis 1:26), and God used communication as the means by which he created in the first place, for he spoke creation into existence. What a wonderful thing that communications is—it is the way that ideas are shared, thoughts are put together, and societies are united. Communicating is part of our very nature for it is part of God’s nature. The sad thing is that often we fail to communicate or refuse to communicate truth to others. In turn, that is why relationships, marriages, and cultures break down. Now, notice the connection to our passage, for while God has many ways of communication at his disposal, his preferred and happy means of communicating with his people is through his wonderful Son, Jesus Christ!
Oh, loved ones, how we often fall into sin and error when we refuse to communicate in the context of Christ. What do I mean by that statement? What I mean is this: if God chooses to reveal all we need to know for living (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17 for the reminder that the scriptures are profitable for all of life) through his Son, then we also should communicate all we do through God’s Son as well. Thus, if you are a historian, we should communicate all of history on the basis of its relationship to the life and work of Christ. If you are a philosopher, all philosophies should be understood and communicated in their relationship to Christ. If you are a mathematician, mathematic principles should be communicated in their relationship to Christ, knowing that all things were created through and for Christ—hence the regularity of mathematical or scientific descriptions of the world was established for the glory of Christ himself. Christian, if you want to see reformation and even revival in our culture once again, it begins by breaking down the dichotomy between life in Church and life elsewhere. If you want to see real change, you will need to communicate as God communicates—through Christ—in every endeavor you undertake.
In These Last Days… : Hebrews 1:1-4 (part 4)
“in these last days…”
It seems like every time there is a natural disaster or some sort of terrible event, that religious groups begin crawling out of the woodwork proclaiming that the end times are here. Over the years, people have also tried to read the events that are listed in the book of Revelation in such a way as to discern when Jesus will return—and have always been wrong. We may chuckle at some of these folks, thinking of them as radicals, but there is a sense in which they are correct. We are in the last days—yet, according to scripture, we have been in the last days since the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ!
Notice how the writer of Hebrews writes, “in these last days.” The great problem with the popular way of interpreting the book of Revelation as things that will take place in the future “last days” is that we are in the last days right now and we have been in those days for nearly 2000 years. Thus, when scripture speaks of the end times, know that we are in them and what we are waiting for is not the inauguration of the end times but the consummation of the end times, which will take place at the return of Christ and in his final judgment upon the sinful world and redemption of the elect.
This helps to explain the language of anticipation that is found within the book of Revelation. Jesus says, “indeed, I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:20). There is no question as to the fact that many in the early church expected to see Christ’s return within their own lifetimes, but they were counting soon-ness as man counts soon-ness, not as God counts soon-ness. Does this mean that God is slow to act? Certainly not! Peter reminds us that God’s patience means redemption for all of the elect (2 Peter 3:9). At the same time, our lives need to be characterized by a hopeful anticipation of the nearness of Christ’s return.
So how then should we live out our lives in anticipation of Christ’s return? First, we must live in repentance, not holding on to sins, but asking forgiveness in Christ so that we might come into God’s presence with a clear conscience. Second, we should live modeling the Gospel for those around us. How many people do we know that do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Have you shared the Gospel with them or are you still looking for “that right moment?” The problem is, if you are living as if Christ may return any moment, every moment is the right moment to share the Gospel. Thirdly, take risks for the Gospel with your time and with your money. God will provide for your needs, use your resources to help spread the Gospel beyond your sphere of influence—or even better, go on the mission field yourself! It does not need to be a 5 year commitment in the jungles of the Amazon, but it could simply be a two week trip to serve alongside a missionary that is working somewhere other than where you could normally reach. I promise that it will be a wonderfully rewarding time. Friends, in these last days God is calling us to be workers in the field; some fields are close to home and some are far away—but regardless of the distance, there is a harvest that needs to be brought in and the time is coming soon when the day of harvesting will be over. The storms are coming, dear friends, and there is still a harvest that needs bringing into the barn; let us work with a renewed sense of determination to bring in the harvest, no matter how far the fields are from our homes.
God was Speaking Long Ago: Hebrews 1:1-4 (part 3)
“God was speaking long ago to the Fathers through the prophets…”
We spoke above about how God is a communicating God. This is one of the things that separates the One True God from all of the false gods of this world—our God speaks to his people. Buddha does not speak and has never spoken to his followers. Allah does not speak and has never spoken to his followers. Those who relate that they have had an authentic and supernatural experience that contradicts the scriptures, like that of Joseph Smith who founded the Mormons, they are visions of the devil only, the great counterfeiter who seeks to do nothing but usurp the power of God.
With this in mind, this clause makes a very important statement to us. Our God did speak through the ages in many forms and ways, but he did so through prophets and he spoke to the Fathers of the faith. God has always had a group of called out and faithful people through whom and to whom he spoke. God did not speak to the pagans and tell them to bring purity to His people; God speaks in faithfully orthodox circles.
Throughout the ages, false teachers have claimed to have a “new revelation” from God, and beloved, this is not how God works. Through the Old Testament, God spoke through his prophets, and in the clause that follows this one, the writer of Hebrews will remind us that now God speaks to his people only through Jesus. God brings us together as a community of believers not only to bless us with fellowship but also to keep us free from error. The flock that is held tightly together by the faithful shepherd is safer from predators. Though tradition is always to be subordinate to scriptural truth, God raises up fathers in the faith for our teaching, instruction, and guidance in the study of God’s word.
Beloved, we are a culture that thrives on what is new and “groundbreaking,” but God is an ageless God. Beware of those who would tell you that they have found a “new way” to understand the things of God. For nearly two thousand years, the finest minds in history have been pouring over God’s word, seeking to understand its riches. And though the depths are infinite, and though we can never exhaust the riches within God’s word, when we think we have found a new way of understanding something that has been understood a different way by the church fathers of old, we are likely flirting with heresy. Beloved, let us stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, let us be guarded by their orthodoxy so that our lives might safeguard the orthodoxy of the next generation.
In Many Parts and in Many Ways: Hebrews 1:1-4 (part 2)
“In many parts and in many ways…”
While many of our Bibles read something to the extent of “in many times and ways…” the word that the Greek text uses is polumerw:V (polumeros), which refers not to chronological divisions but to material divisions. Thus, as the author of Hebrews begins speaking of God’s revelation, he is speaking of the many divisions and kinds of literature within the Canon. Indeed, the author of all scripture is God himself, but he wrote by inspiring the prophets (and later the apostles) so that you can see their stylistic fingerprint upon the literature.
One of the things about God’s word that should cause is to stand in amazement is the incredible unity within and between the books. This is in itself a testimony to God’s existence and inspiration of its writers. There are 66 books in the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. This was done through 9 authors in the New Testament and at least 29 authors in the Old Testament. Its writing was begun somewhere around 1450 BC (when the Israelites were on Mount Sinai) and completed around 95 AD (when John penned the book of Revelation)—across 1500 years, which includes a break of 400 years between the last prophet (Malachi) and the close of Chronicles and the coming of a new prophet (John the Baptist) on the scene. Were this simply a book of compiled religious writings, not only would it not have survived in tact to this day, but it would be filled with inconsistencies and problems—the Bible is not.
In addition, the very fact that God spoke through a variety of people through history is not only a testimony that God exists, it tells us quite a bit about his character. First, God communicates. God is not the “unmoved mover” of the ancient Greeks who is transcendent above all else and cannot be communicated with from the mortal world. God transcends the gap between himself and a sinful world to make his will known to man. Secondly, God is a God that is active in the affairs of humans. He cares about the purity of his chosen people and he cares about the right and proper worship of his name. He cares about the affairs of men and he proved it by speaking to men for more than 1000 years, slowly revealing and explaining his redemptive plan until it met its perfection and completion in the sending of his Son to die a sacrificial death on the cross.
Thirdly, God is a God who had a plan for mankind. Humans fell into sin with Adam and Eve and sin is deserving of death and destruction. The simple fact that God pronounced a promise of a coming redeemer (Genesis 3:15) is a reminder that throughout the history of mankind, God had his plan of redemption in place. That plan had its ultimate fulfillment in the cross, which stands at the very center of all human history. All that took place before the cross was a process of preparing for the work of Jesus; all that has taken place afterward and all that will yet take place is a result of that work that Jesus completed. The fact that God did not bring judgment to the human race at the fall and that he would reveal himself to a people throughout history, means that he has a plan for mankind, namely the redemption of the race through the eternal salvation of the elect and the judgment of those who do not cling to Christ in faith.
Fourthly, it tells us that we have a God who desires for his people to know him personally and intimately. We know about the character and nature of God because he has revealed it to us so that we might know him. Fifthly, the variety of types of literature contained within the Scriptures (historical narrative, law, prophetic works, poetry, wisdom literature, Gospel, apocalyptic, etc…) tells us that God is a creative God. And just as God is creative, we who have been made in God’s image express our creativity in what we do and in how we write.
The fact that God’s word (as well as his world) is orderly tells us that God is an orderly God. Chaos and misadventure are not part of God’s character and they have only become a part of mankind’s character as a result of sin. There is also a unity within God’s word that points clearly at his Son, Jesus Christ. All of the scriptures are about Jesus and God wants us to know this. He is the redeemer and the author of our faith. He is the great Lord and Master of the believer and it is through Christ that all things were created (though we are getting ahead of ourselves). The very fact that the scriptures point unanimously to Christ is a reminder to us that our lives also ought to point to Christ without any compromise. The way we live should not contradict what we say, just as the way God acts toward his people does not contradict what the scriptures say about the nature of God.
Beloved, while we could go on and on, what I want more than anything for you to see is the incredible unity of scripture as well as its intricate complexity. It is simple enough for a child to understand the basics when it is read, yet it is complex enough for even the most well-educated scholar to never exhaust, and it is deep enough that any, no matter how wise or how long they have walked in the faith, will find it satisfying and rich throughout a lifetime of study. This is the nature of the word that God has given us in various parts and in various ways, and this nature reflects the God who is behind these words. Dig deeply, dear friends, though at times you may feel overwhelmed and discouraged, press on, you will never be dismayed by the depth of what you find.
The Radiance of the Glory of Christ: Hebrews 1:1-4 (part 1)
“In many parts and in many ways, God was speaking long ago to the Fathers through the prophets, in these last days he spoke to us through the Son, whom he established as heir of all things, through whom he also created the ages. Who being the radiance of the glory and the exact image of his essence, also bearing all things in the word of his power; after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Becoming so much greater than the angels, as much as he has inherited a name superior to theirs.” (Hebrews 1:1-4)
There are some passages of scripture that are so deep and so rich that it would take a lifetime to plumb the depths of their meaning, and even then, there would yet be riches left to discover. And these verses indeed belong to that family. They are a glorious picture of the divinity of Christ, our Lord and they stand before us as a wonderful testimony of the understanding that this inspired writer had of the glory of our King. Many of our Biblical books start off fairly slowly and build in intensity as they develop; in this case, the author begins with passion and intensity, like a sprinter, launching himself out of the starting blocks at the beginning of a race. This powerful opening have led many to argue that the book of Hebrews is a recorded sermon, and while that is possible, we simply do not know for sure. The other thing we do not know for sure is just who was the passionate author of our text. Some have asserted it is a sermon of Paul, some argue for Apollos, some Barnabas, etc… The lines remain divided on this issue throughout history, and the fact is that we simply do not know for sure other than the book is inspired and it was written either by an Apostle or by one who was under the oversight of an Apostle (which was the ancient church’s primary criterion for deciding which books were Canonical).
While we could go on for ages making arguments for one person’s authorship over another’s, and there are certain exegetical decisions one must make when translating this passage from the Greek (all 4 verses are 1 sentence in the original Greek language), what I want to do is to make several doctrinal and pastoral reflections from what we have here in the text. This is a passage that should speak deeply to us and it will do us well to give ourselves to its study and even memorization. What a passage to have on one’s lips as we go through the trials and troubles of life! What a joy to praise our God with these words regarding his beloved Son! Beloved, imbibe from the riches of these words, they are sweet to the tongue like honey and have the power to satisfy even the hungriest soul.
No One Comes To the Father, But Through Me: John 14:6
“no one comes to the Father if not through me.”
Jesus begins and ends this passage by focusing on himself. Friends, salvation can be found in no other person or path. It cannot be found in philosophy, in science, in achievements, in wealth, in family, in humanism, in Buddha, in Mohammed, or in anyone or anything else. Our world presents many options and paths—some of which even sound convincing—but the only way to the Father is through Jesus. The only hope of a resurrection is found in the one who was resurrected. The only hope of eternal life is in the eternal one who is the life. And the only truth in this world is found in the person of Christ, who has revealed to us the mysteries of God’s redemptive plan.
Jesus Christ is not only the focal point of all of scripture, but he is the point on which all of history revolves about. You might enjoy talking about politics, but politics has no eternal significance. You might enjoy talking about sports, but sports has no eternal significance. You might enjoy talking about literature, but literature has no eternal significance. The only thing that has eternal significance in the history of mankind is Jesus Christ and the work that God had done and is doing through him. That is the bedrock of your faith—I urge you to stand upon it without wavering and without doubting when the winds of trial fill your days. Trust in Him, and Him alone, dear friends, even though the world would tell you otherwise.
No One Comes to the Father: John 14:6
“no one comes to the father”
Do you see how the Trinity is at work in redemptive history? We offended God by our sin and our rejection of his law. Yet, rather than leave us to our deserved fate, God chose to work in our lives to redeem a people for himself. God the Son provided a sacrifice to atone for our sins, bridging the chasm of sin between us and the Father. And God the Holy Spirit regenerates the heart of each member of the elect, and through faith, draws us to God the Son, and through God the Son, we are brought to God the Father. The symmetry of God’s redemptive plan is a beautiful thing to behold.
But what is even more beautiful is the face of a believer when he or she truly realizes that they have been redeemed—not that they have earned redemption, but that they have been redeemed by a work of God himself. In this life, we struggle with a load of burdens and cares, brought on by our fallen state, when Jesus lifts that burden from the shoulders of one who is newly redeemed, oh what a joy does fill their heart. And the joy does not end there, the angels in heaven rejoice in praise to God as well (Luke 15:10).
Friends, take the time to remember your own conversion, the time when you finally realized that you could stand before the Father’s throne not on your own flawed righteousness, but in the righteousness that is Christ’s. Don’t ever forget the joy and the desire to worship that filled your heart on that day. Some of you may not remember a time when you did not embrace Christ as Lord, and the blessings of a lifetime in fellowship with him have richly blessed your soul. This is one of the great mysteries of God’s love—that he would choose to redeem a fallen and sinful race—that he would choose to redeem you and me, and that we might have fellowship with him. I am reminded of the old Bill Gaither hymn:
Shackled by a heavy burden,
Neath a load of guilt and shame—
Then the hand of Jesus touched me,
And now I am no longer the same.
He touched me, O He touched me,
And O the joy that floods my soul;
Something happened, and now I know,
He touched me and made me whole.
Christian, rejoice and praise God for the fact that Jesus has brought you to the Father.
No One Comes: John 14:6
“no one comes”
I once heard a preacher say that if you are feeling distant or separated from God that it is you that moved, not he. There is a great deal of truth in that statement. Sin is a great divide that separates us, a sinful people, from a Holy God. And the divide was caused by our sin. Yet, praise be to God that a bridge has been provided for us in Jesus Christ!
The debate in Christian circles is not over whether we come, but over what causes us to come. This debate is often called the Calvinistic/Wesleyan or the Calvinistic/Arminian debate, but the roots of the debate go back much further than John Wesley, Jacob Arminius, or John Calvin. The roots of this debate lie with a man named Pelagius and Saint Augustine.
Pelagius denied the doctrine of Original Sin (I guess he never had children). He said that all sin was learned and that we could live a sinless life if we just tried hard enough. Of course, were even one person able to live a perfect life, then there would be no need for the sacrifice of Jesus. Eventually the church pronounced Pelagius and his view heretical, as it denies the need for the atonement.
While Arminius did not deny Original Sin, he did build on Pelagius’ premise that we are capable of coming to faith in Jesus on our own strength, that faith is something we bring to salvation. While Arminius and his followers’ teachings were never well received in their native Netherlands, a young English preacher named John Wesley became enchanted by their teachings.
Ultimately, John Wesley would affirm God’s sovereignty over everything except the human will. He said that God woos us to himself through his “prevenient grace” (grace that goes before), but the ultimate choice was left up to us. In Wesley’s view, Jesus’ death was to atone for the sins of everyone, it was just up unto each individual as to whether they would accept the gift he offers. God regenerates the sinner, but not until the sinner comes to him in faith.
We who are in the Reformed tradition of Calvin and Augustine disagree vehemently with this position. Through sin, death entered into the world (Genesis 3) and we die not only physically, but apart from the spirit, we are dead spiritually (Romans 8:5-8). One who is dead can do nothing to aid his own cause—he is dead, and can only rot and become more corrupted. It is impossible for the spiritually dead to please God in any way (Romans 8:8). Thus faith is not something we are capable of providing; rather, when the Holy Spirit regenerates the believer, He also instills faith into the believer.
Wesley was never comfortable with the ramifications of this theology. For if faith and regeneration were a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit, then God must be doing the choosing when it comes to redemption. To this, the Calvinist says a hearty, Amen! The scriptures are filled with references to God’s election of his people. All through history, God chose certain people to bring to himself and others to leave to their sinful ways. If you take the scriptures seriously, you cannot get away from this fact. Christ’s death was fully effective for all of those whose name were written in the Book of Life from before the foundations of the earth (Ephesians 1:3-6). Upon just this issue, Jesus himself says: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will not ever cast out.” (John 6:37)
Friends, we are surrounded by people who teach that faith is something that you generate from within yourself, and because of that, you can lose your salvation if you don’t stand strong enough in the faith. This is not the teaching of scripture. If God does the working in you, he will do the keeping of you until the very end (Romans 8:28-30). Though we need to work hard to live a life for God’s glory, not backsliding into sin, we can take a great deal of encouragement that it is God himself who will ensure that we finish the race.
Loved ones, take heart. God has called, he has awakened your soul, and he has given you faith so that you might come to his son, Jesus. You have been brought out of the darkness and into the light of Christ, and Christ will not turn away any who his father has given him—no never, will he cast you away.
No One: John 14:6
“no one”
Jesus has moved from making a positive statement of the truth to a negative one. First he says, “Yes, I am the way…” and now he is saying, “No, there is no other way.” In this way, Jesus makes sure that we understand the exclusivity of the Christian faith. There is no room for any compromise or alternate ideas. Jesus is the only way and apart from him, no one comes to the Father—at least in any sense that they would want to encounter the Father.
While our culture, and in turn, many of our churches, has embraced inclusively, this is not the position of Jesus. He was very clear that it was only in him that salvation can be found. There is no sneaking into heaven by any other way. No matter how good or kind a person is, if they are trusting in anything or anyone other than Jesus, they will face eternal condemnation.
Sometimes I wonder just how seriously we take this part of the message. When someone dies, the first thing that we say, is, “well, they are in a better place…” Are they? If they knew Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they are in a far better place, but if they did not know Jesus personally—given all of the Biblical descriptions of Hell, it is a far worse place than here. When we have loved ones who are exhibiting no evidence of God in their lives, how often do we refrain from asking about Jesus? How often do we turn our heads, hoping that in the end, everything will work out OK?
Jesus is phrasing this statement in both a positive way and a negative to make in unmistakably clear in our minds that while there are many roads, there is no other road that leads to salvation. Friends, if we understand that no one who has not put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior has any hopes to go to heaven, let us be more serious about sharing the Gospel with those we love and those who are around us. You are never too young or old to do so. There is absolutely no other path to heaven but in Christ, let our hearts yearn to see more souls join us on that path.
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: John 14:6
“I am the way and the truth and the life”
Not only is Jesus the true way and the truth within the world, but he is the life. There is no life apart from life in Christ. Though some people may think that they can find life in this world; they look for life in wealth, or wisdom, or achievements, or pleasure, but as Solomon tells us in the book of Ecclesiastes, anything that is done apart from God is vanity—it is like trying to chase the wind.
But Jesus is making an even more profound point. Back in Genesis, Adam and Eve were warned that the penalty for sin would be death. And though, when they ate of the fruit, death entered into the world in a physical sense, it also entered into the world in a spiritual sense. At the moment that Adam and Eve chose to sin, they died in a spiritual sense. The relationship that they had with God was severed and broken, and unbridgeable by anything that we could do. They were dead to sin and just as a corpse is unable to do anything but corrupt, so their souls were unable to do anything but corrupt as well.
Yet, Praise be to God that this is not the end of the story! Right there in Eden, God gave to Adam and Eve a promise of a redeemer, one who would crush the head of Satan and his influence on man forever more. Jesus is that promised one. The Old Testament Saints placed their faith in a promise, but Jesus wanted us to be very clear that in him that promise was fulfilled. God breathed life into the dead spiritual corpses of Adam and Eve on that day, just as he continues to breath life into spiritually dead corpses today—regenerating them and instilling in them a faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the life; he is the way a believer must walk and the truth a believer must trust in, but he is also the life, which allows the believer to believe in the first place. As the Augustus Toplady so eloquently put it: “Nothing in my hand I bring; Only to the Cross I cling.”
Christian, do not take for granted what God has done for you even before you recognized yourself as a believer. Though your heart beat and your flesh felt strong, you were no more than a walking corpse prior to the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration in your life. Your soul was rotten and decayed. But just as God can breath new life into the old bones of Israel (Ezekiel 37), so too was God able to breath new life into your soul and remake it new. This life you have is in Christ, it is the only life that is available—all who deny it are but walking dead. Beloved, trust in Christ with your all, because he is your all.
I am the Way and the Truth: John 14:6
“I am the way and the truth”
Once again, we find Jesus using a definite article before the word truth. Not only is Jesus the only way that leads to life eternal with the Father, but he is the only truth that we have access to in this world. Think about that for a moment. If Jesus is THE truth, then ANYTHING that contradicts or stands in opposition to Jesus must, by definition, be a lie. And since Jesus is the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14), then the Bible, which is the Word of God given to us, must also be THE truth and irrefutable.
In our post-modern culture, where the rules of logic and reason are thrown out of the window and where everything is considered to be relative, a statement like this does not sit well. Yet, it has not sat well with people through the ages. Men would rather hear what pleases them than the truth (2 Timothy 4:3). Philosophers are not interested in the truth; rather they are interested in being novel.
Yet Jesus says that he is the truth and he leaves no room for any competition. Jesus is the truth and if we desire to know the truth about any and all things, we must turn to him and to his word. This means, then, that the Scriptures must be the basis for our understanding of everything else that is. In other words, the Scriptures are the only glasses that we can look through so that we can see the world clearly. If anything seems to contradict scriptures, it must be wrong.
Science will tell us that the world is about 5 billion years old. There certainly seems to be some evidence in nature to support that hypothesis. At the same time, scripture tells us that the world is only 6,000 to 8,000 years old. The scriptures must be right. How are we to understand the scientific evidence? One of two ways: either that the scientists are not interpreting the data properly (though this is probably not the case) or that God created the world to look older than it really is.
Does this mean that God is being dishonest? Not at all, he never claims that the world is billions of years old. What it means is that the scientists are only looking at part of the evidence. There are logical reasons why the world seems as old as it seems, and were scientists to look to the Bible and not just nature, they would understand these things. All of creation is part of God’s general revelation to the world, for it all points to his handiwork. If people choose to ignore that general revelation in search of a naturalistic explanation, how can God be held responsible for their error?
But more important than general revelation is special revelation: The Bible. The Bible is not a systematic encyclopedia which gives us a little bit of information on all things, rather it is an exhaustive work that gives us all the information we need to know about the relationship between God and man. It is the manual that instructs the saved and leads others to the object of salvation, the Truth made flesh, Jesus. Our culture is fond of thinking that there are many truths; yet, there is but one. Jesus died for the sins of all who would put their faith in him as their Lord and Savior. He died in their place, taking their just punishment on his shoulders. And he was raised! And because Jesus was raised, we who have our faith in Jesus have been promised resurrection as well. Friends, this is the truth.
In a world that glorifies “tolerance” as its chief virtue, it is easy to get deceived into thinking that there might be other legitimate faiths. But this is not so. All who are not trusting in Jesus for their salvation will stand in judgment based on their works, and no one can stand before a righteous God on their own merit. Jesus is the only way to salvation, and he is the only truth. Everything else is no truth at all.
I am the Way: John 14:6
“I am the way”
It is important that you read this statement very closely, because many people in our culture do not understand the language that Jesus is using. He says, “I am THE way,” he does not say, “I am A way.” Our culture seems to think that it does not matter whether you are a Christian or a Muslim, “whatever you call God,” they say, “is all the same.” They feel that everyone is going to heaven and what is most important is that we simply all get along here on earth. Because of that, they accuse evangelical Christians of being narrow-minded and pushy with our faith. They see us evangelizing on the street corners, in hospitals, or at disaster scenes and they say we are offending their privacy. They would rather that we leave them alone for a few years on earth than avoid an eternity of damnation.
Yet, what is most interesting about this culture’s position is that it wants to affirm that a group of mutually exclusive religions as being compatible. That is like trying to affirm that a coin is a nickel and a dime at the same time—it just cannot be. Jesus said that he was “THE” way! It is a statement of total exclusion. There are no other ways or paths that can be followed; Jesus is the only option if you want to avoid the fires of judgment.
If we are true to scripture and true to the teaching of Jesus, we can take no other stance than this; there are no other options. You are either trusting in Jesus for salvation or you are not, there are no in-betweens and no grey areas. There may be other roads, but those roads, though easy, only lead to destruction (Matthew 7:13). Jesus is the only way that leads to life.
The thing that we often struggle with is being truthful with other people, especially those closest to us. We fear offending them. Truth, be told, though, these people are those we ought to work the hardest with, for is it not those who we love the most who we ought to desire the most to spend eternity with? Beloved, if these people are truly your friends, they will be the least likely to recoil from you if you share the Gospel with them. If they are willing to walk away from a friendship because you are concerned for their soul, then you should bring into question the caliber of friendship that you had with them in the first place.
Friends, do not be so worry about offending that you quietly participate in the eternal destruction of those you care about. Love them with the truth. Just as an animal cannot be a cow and a dog at the same time, so too, if your goal is heaven, you can look to no other place but Christ.
I Am: John 14:6
“I am”
Not only is Jesus drawing attention to himself when he emphasizes the “I” of this statement, but he is making another connection as well. In Exodus 3:14, when Moses asks the Lord what name shall he give to the Israelites as to who is sending him, the Lord says to tell the Israelites that he is “I AM WHO I AM.” In the next verse, God simply tells Moses to tell the Israelites that “I AM sent me.”
The language of “I AM” is important in our understanding of God, for God simply is. He exists independent of time and space, he is boundless and timeless, and he has always existed and always will exist. Before God created the world, God was and only God was. There is nothing that was created that did not have its origins in God’s work and nothing is outside of God’s divine and sovereign control. God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. And by Jesus making the statement, “I, I am…” one of the claims that he is making is that he is the “I AM” of scripture; he is Yahweh having taken on flesh.
Jesus is stating that all of the attributes that we attribute to God belong to him as well. Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) and to know him is to know the Father (John 14:7-11). Friends, do you see what Jesus is claiming here? He is making an explicit statement of divinity. He is saying that he is God, the one who created all things and preserved a people for himself, and is all-powerful—and he has chosen to take the way of the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. He is not offering an ordinary sacrifice, but a perfect, flawless, and divine sacrifice for the sins of you and me.
Jesus is preexistent and eternal, and he chose to put aside his rightful glory to walk this earth. He chose to endure the abuse and the spite of our race, yet he is God himself. He chose to suffer and die for sins that did not belong to him, but belonged to us, so that we might come to him. Jesus had all of the agony of Hell dumped on his shoulders so that we might not have to face its fires.
Friends, this is the Gospel in a nutshell—to those who put their faith in Christ as their Lord and Savior, he has suffered in their place and given us a promise of redemption instead. What is sad is there are people in this world who would try and make us believe that Jesus was not really God. Friends, there are many examples where Jesus claims his deity, and this is just one. Rest in the promise that the Lord you serve is God and that he loved you enough to pay the penalty for sin on your behalf. I can think of no more blessed a promise than that.
I: John 14:6
“I”
This statement begins with the Greek word “ejgwv” (ego), which means “I.” Though this may not seem significant, it is significant in the Greek language, for in Greek, the verb carries its own subject, in other words, it is redundant to use the actual word for “I” unless you are doing so for emphasis. Literally, this statement begins, “I, I am the way…”
Jesus is drawing attention to himself. Not only is he the only pathway to the father, but he is the focal point of all Christian living. It is his life, not ours, that is of utmost important. The key is not the destination, but the guide that you are following. It was more important for Thomas to understand that he must follow Christ than the destination to which Christ was leading him.
Is that not all of our difficulties? Do we not often get impatient with the journey, wanting to get to the destination more quickly? Are we not a society of shortcuts and impatience? We want everything yesterday and wish to wait for nothing. Yet, Jesus tells us to stop focusing on ourselves and trust him. We become impatient when we fail to trust the guide that is leading us, which in turn causes our eyes to wander. Jesus is not saying to take our eyes off the goal of Heaven—never must we do that, but what he is saying is that we need to trust in him and in his timing.
We can only see the road to heaven clearly when we are looking through the lens of Christ. Jesus begins with “I” because everything for the Christian begins, ends, and revolves around Him. Remember, it is not the human “I” that will guide you to your heavenly goal, but it is the divine “I am” who will bring you safely to your destination.
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: Intro
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the father if not through me.’”
John 14:6
This is one of the most well known statements that Jesus made, at the same time; we rarely take the time to reflect upon all of the theological implications that are contained within these words. The point of this little study is to take some time to unpackage all that there is contained in these famous words of Jesus.
To set the stage, Jesus has come to Jerusalem at the end of his three-year ministry to celebrate the Passover meal with his disciples. Though the disciples do not yet fully understand what is going to happen, this Passover will be the most important Passover meal of their lives, and indeed, of all of history. What marks this Passover celebration is not so much the slaughtering of the thousands of lambs that are brought into the city, but the slaying of one Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God himself. Jesus is the Passover Lamb for the world, the only perfect and pure sacrifice for our sins.
This last week of Jesus’ life is the most significant portion of the Gospels, and comprises a bit more than 40% of John’s Gospel text. There is a lot that goes on during this week, the triumphal entry, the clearing of the temple, the plotting and betrayal of Judas, the Last Supper held in the upper room, the arrest, the trial, the crucifixion, and praise God, the resurrection! Though all that Jesus did and taught is very important, this last week of Jesus’ life is vitally important for us to understand.
The passage in John that we will be spending some time with takes place in what we know as the “upper room.” Jesus has washed the disciple’s feet and the Last Supper has been given (although John does not detail it as the other Gospel writers do). Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial have been predicted by Jesus. This must have been a sobering thing to hear.
And it is in this context that Jesus gives some of the most wonderful words of blessing, commission, and assurance to his disciples. It is here where Jesus promises the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them in power and where he gives the analogy of himself as the true vine—a promise steeped in Davidic tradition. It is here where Jesus assures his apostles that while the world will hate them, he has overcome the world. Also, it is here where Jesus offers up what is now known as his “High Priestly Prayer” on behalf of the Apostles and on behalf of all believers who would come after them—on behalf of you and me. It is in this context that Thomas asks Jesus how they might follow him if they don’t know where he is going. And it is in this context that Jesus answers Thomas with this wonderful statement: “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the father if not through me.”
The Day of Divine Retribution: Isaiah 61:2b
“And the day of divine retribution of our God.”
(Isaiah 61:2b)
Isn’t it interesting that we find the language of divine retribution—God’s moral judgment against sin, in connection with the language of the “year of the Lord’s favor”? How often we forget to remember that the two go hand in hand. We seem to have entered into an age of the church where many want to dwell only in the goodness and joy of the favor and blessing of the Lord—blessings brought about by the redeeming work of Christ Jesus. Yet, was it not also at the cross that sin was judged in its finality—that the devil’s head was finally crushed and his power broken? Indeed, we must always remember that for the believer, the cross means judgment and eternal life in the presence of Christ, but for the unbeliever, the cross symbolizes eternal condemnation in the fires of Hell. Oh, how important it is to see that one goes hand in hand with the other.
One may protest in that Jesus does not quote this part of the verse, but ends with the language of the Year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:19). Yet, as we have mentioned before, when New Testament writers are quoting from the Old Testament, they are expecting the Old Testament passage to be understood within its original context—a context that speaks of judgment as well as redemption. In addition, Jesus speaks a great deal about the judgment that will come as a result of his own redemptive work (Matthew 13:47-50, for example). Thus, to suggest that Jesus did not have the full context of Isaiah 61:2 in his mind when he read these words cannot be supported.
One other thing that I find particularly interesting in this verse is the contrast of time between the language of the Year of the Lord and the Day of Retribution. Though I am not sure that we can draw a hard and fast principle from this, I do think that we can safely infer that a contrast is being made between a time when judgment is met out with finality and fullness (ultimately in the general resurrection when all men will stand before the throne of God and the books will be opened (Revelation 20:11-15)) and the ongoing and long-enduring nature of the Year of the Lord’s Favor, a time which was initiated at the cross and will be consummated in the new creation with the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-10). Oh, the enduring nature of our Lord’s promise and the finality of His judgment upon sin and unbelief—how they are wed together, and how they are inseparably a part of Christ’s redemptive work! Beloved, do not miss the importance of Jesus’ earthly ministry and of the cross—upon the cross, both judgment and redemption find their meaning—apart from the cross, divine wrath is all we could ever hope to know.
Forgiveness is All about Christ
“And those who you forgive, I also do. And indeed, those which I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anyone, is because of you, in the presence of Christ, in order that we might not be taken advantage of by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his thoughts.”
(2 Corinthians 2:10-11)
“For we are not as many are, selling the Word of God for profit, but rather out of sincerity, as ones from God, in the presence of God, it is in Christ that we speak.”
(2 Corinthians 2:17)
The devil’s desire is to cause dissention and division within the body of Christ. His desire is nothing but one of destruction, waging war against the followers of Christ. One way he does that is by hampering our forgiveness of others. Not only does that hamper our forgiveness from God, but it also allows the roots of the weeds to remain in your heart—and then those ugly weeds will grow back, choking the life from you. One of the easiest ways in which you can defeat the work of Satan in your life is by being broken and willing to forgive—even at great cost.
But we do what we do not because we want to wage war against the devil—he has waged war against us. We do what we do because we are not our own; we belong to Christ. And thus, all that we do must be done in Christ and through Christ. It must be done for his glory and his glory alone. When things are boiled down, nothing else matters. We have been called and commissioned by God as his servants, and it is a mighty task that God has commissioned us to do: making disciples of all nations. Yet this task begins with our right relationship with God through Christ and our relationship with others through Christ. Our Christian witness must be one of both word and deed, forgiving as we have been forgiven. Beloved, recognize that you have been given a sacred task to forgive both small and great for the glory of God. As St. Francis of Assissi, once said, “Preach always, and if necessary, use words.”
The Year of the Lord’s Favor: Isaiah 61:2a
“To proclaim the year of Yahweh’s Favor…”
(Isaiah 61:2a)
There are two promises in view with the words of this phrase. The first is the concept of the Year of Jubilee that we discussed above. This was the season when debts were forgiven and family lands were restored-the oppression of division from the community by debit was brought to an end. Indeed, this is what we find in Christ Jesus, where all believers are brought into the covenant and are given an inheritance in the land-a land that is being reserved for us free from corruption, by Christ in Heaven (1 Peter 1:4-5. Indeed, the celebration that Christ ushers in is an ongoing Year of Jubilee before the Lord.
Yet there is more at work than this, for the Year of the Lord’s Favor, ushered in by Christ, is a promise to be enjoyed by Gentiles as well as by Jews. It is to be enjoyed by all who will trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The language of this verse also picks up on the language of Isaiah 49:8, where God promises that in the “time of the favor” of the Lord, God will work salvation for his people, bringing the nations into the covenant. Indeed, the verses that follow echo much of the language of chapter 61. Thus, in Christ, we see the principle of the Year of Jubilee applied to the gentiles as well as to the Jewish people. In Christ we find that the fortunes of all the tribes of the earth-all of the descendants of the sons of Noah, find blessing as the gospel is brought to them.
We need to raise one more issue regarding this passage. Given that we know the context of the Year of the Lord’s favor with respect to the Year of Jubilee and its extension to the gentiles, we still ought to ask the question of what favor means. I raise this question, because oftentimes when we think of favor, we think of earning someone’s favor, and this is obviously not the case with God. The word “favor” is the Hebrew word, !Acr” (ratson), and while we find the term used in a variety of contexts, normally it is used to refer to favor that is graciously given and not favor that has been earned. In many of the cases, this term could also be translated as “grace.” Do understand, loved ones, that the language of the Year of God’s Favor is the language of a gracious gift that has been given, not something that has been earned in any which way. Seek Christ, and enjoy the year of his grace-enjoy his mercies and rest in the assurance of his promise. That which you could not do for yourself (being brought into the favor of the Lord) has been done by Christ for us! Hallelujah! Amen!
The Time is Coming Soon
One of the themes that you cannot get away from when you read the book of Revelation is the theme of the “soon-ness” of Christ’s glorious return. Yet, for many, this has been a stumbling block. They say that if John expected that Jesus’ return would be soon, and if Jesus himself said that his coming would be soon, how is it that nearly 2000 years have gone by? Were they wrong?
Some have sought to answer this by going to 2 Peter 3:9, to point out that God’s sense of time is different than our sense of time. This answer is not overly satisfying, though. In context, Peter is speaking of God’s patience in bringing the elect to himself, and reminding the readers that God will endure great spans of time to accomplish his plans. Peter quotes this statement from Psalm 90:4, where the psalmist (Moses in this case) speaks of God’s eternality.
So how should we understand this language of Jesus coming “soon.” Christians are to be a people of anticipation. Indeed, we look back at all that God has done to learn, but we also look forward with expectation to what God is going to do—namely that Jesus will return, bring sin into final judgment, and then remake heaven and earth in glorious perfection. We look forward to that day when we too will join with the saints in singing that “New Song” before Christ’s glorious presence (Revelation 5:9). We eagerly anticipate when we will experience that same bodily resurrection that Jesus experienced and will dwell eternally with our Lord, free from sickness, heart-ache, and the effects of sin.
As John writes this, he is seeking to keep this sense of anticipation before us. As believers, we are to live every day as if Christ were coming any moment. Think of the busy anticipation that you feel as you await the arrival of a special guest at your home. There is the business of rushing around putting everything in its place and finishing all of the preparations. Yet, there are also those excited looks out the window, wondering when that special guest will arrive. Friends, as believers, this is how we are to live our lives. Christ will come—we can be assured of that—we just don’t know the timing. We should be hard at work, making sure our spiritual houses are in order, yet always look to the sky, asking the question: “Could this day be the day when Christ returns?” The language of the “soon-ness” of the second coming is meant to help engender that sense of anticipation.
I am My Beloved’s
“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine—shepherding in the lilies.”
(Song of Solomon 6:3)
Beloved. That is a name that is given by God to his own people, and as a reflection of God’s use of that word toward us, we use that term to refer to one another. Beloved… The word literally means “the one who is loved,” that is simple enough, but oh, what connotations that word carries for us in life. Believer, do you recognize that you are the beloved of Christ? When you think of yourself in relationship to God the Father, do you think of yourself as the object of his love? So often, we talk a great deal about what God did for us and of the love that Jesus demonstrated for us on the cross, but sometimes we don’t let those words sink home. Do you really know that God loves you personally, individually, deeply, and passionately?
I remember what it was like when my wife, Denise, and I were first courting one another. Her simple presence in the room was enough to make my heart skip a beat. The excitement of the fact that this beautiful woman loved me was something that I found to be overwhelming. And though the dynamics of that relationship have changed dramatically over the past decade, there is a peace and a confidence that I get as a result of knowing that I always have a safe place to return to and loving arms to hold me. And Christ wants us to understand that this is the kind of relationship that he wants to have with his people. It is not enough that he redeems us, but he wants us to have a love affair with him as well. He wants us to know the excitement that comes from a relationship with one who loves us so deeply and unconditionally that pretenses have no place—there is no dark spot of our lives that we can hide from him, yet he chooses to love us anyway.
And though, over time the initial excitement of this relationship to Christ may wane some, there still should be the wonderful peace that comes from knowing that no matter where you happen to go or what trials that you happen to experience, you will always have Christ at your side, loving you, holding you, strengthening you, carrying you… And knowing this peace—knowing that you always have a safe place to retreat to in the arms of Christ and a promise that you cannot be plucked from his hands—knowing this peace should give you the confidence to take chances for the gospel. When you know you are loved so fully and deeply by Christ, you can risk the rejection of the world because you are never without a safe place to retreat to—a place that we are never separated from, for Christ will never, no never, leave the side of his loved ones.
Part of our problem is that we often do not or have not stopped to experience and enjoy the love that Christ has for us. We do not dwell in it or on it; we do not rest safely within his arms. Friends, think of the peace and security that you enjoy resting safely in the arms of your parent or your spouse. No words need to be exchanged, but when words are spoken they are both calming and assuring. Can you say this about the times when you rest in Christ? Do you deliberately take time dwelling in meditation on God’s word, prayerfully reflecting on a given passage of scripture, that you can draw your security out of such a relationship? Beloved, how stale a marriage is where parties to not communicate with one another or rest in each other’s arms—how stale our faith grows—how stagnant it gets, when we do not rest in the security that comes from knowing that we are the beloved of God. And that security comes from spending time in prayer and meditation upon God’s word.
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