Category: Salvation (Page 16 of 34)

The Son of God!

September 18, 2015 / Allan / 0 Comments

“With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!'” ~Mark 15:37-39

I know this Roman military commander saw the sky turn dark. He felt the earth shake. Maybe he received reports from inside the city about the temple curtain. Maybe he heard about the dead people walking around. Of course, that had an impact on everybody who was there that day.

But I think the centurion was mainly focused on Jesus. He was watching this King. When they insulted Jesus, Jesus blessed them. When they beat him, Jesus loved them. And when they nailed him to the cross, Jesus forgave them. The soldier saw how Jesus died. And it changed him. I think it turned his whole world upside down. Jesus is a King who died like a criminal. He was rejected and killed by the very people he came to save. He’s the mighty Son of God, but he never used his power for himself. Everything’s been reversed. Weakness is a sign of strength. Death is the means to life.

Jesus’ sacrificial death means that Caesar and all the values that Caesar’s world is built on are in trouble. It shows us that faithful obedience unto death, not mighty works of power, can convert even the executioner. God’s people are going to change the world, not with violence, but with love and sacrifice. The centurion not only changed his mind about Jesus, he must have also changed his mind about what it means to be a son of God. Divinity is no longer tied to the splendor and military might of the Empire. Divinity, eternity, lives where it doesn’t look like there is any splendor or might.

The power of the Empire is coercive. It forces others to submit, or else. Jesus’ death shows us a different kind of power. The power the centurion served crushes and destroys and turns life into death. The power of the cross gives itself for the sake of others and turns death into life.

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, at the waters of our LORD’s baptism, the heavens were torn apart and the Creator of Heaven and Earth declared, “This is my Son.” At his death on the cross, the temple veil ripped open and a representative of the most powerful nation in history made the same confession.

What set Jesus apart and what marks all disciples who follow him today is not his strength, but his weakness; not his majestic power, but his suffering; not his authority and rule, but his sacrifice and love.

Peace,

Allan

Torn in Two

September 17, 2015 / Allan / 0 Comments

“With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” ~Mark 15:37-38

The curtain of the temple was a beautiful and imposing barrier between the people of God and the visible, physical presence of God. The Creator lived in the temple’s Holy of Holies. His glory dwelled there, behind the veil. That’s where God was. And only the high priest of Israel could enter. And he could only go in there once a year, on behalf of the people.

The curtain is described by Josephus as being 80-feet tall, “…a Babylonian tapestry with embroidery of blue and fine linen, of scarlet also and purple, wrought with marvelous skill, woven with the whole panorama of the heavens.”

It was beautiful. Historical. Precious. It was a national treasure. But the curtain was a barrier that separated a holy God from an unholy people. Direct access to the presence of God, to his glory, had always been denied.

But not now. The curtain that shielded God’s glory is now ripped wide open at Jesus’ death. The veil is lifted and now everybody can see the face of God and bask in his glory and love. The barrier between the Creator and his created has been torn away. Religious leaders can’t rope God off from the people anymore. Everybody in the world now has direct access, “through a new and living way,” to a gracious God who has sacrificed so much for our salvation.

No more sacrifices: the Lamb of God has been offered. No more exclusive priests: now all of God’s people are priests and worship and serve together in his actual presence. Even Gentiles are allowed in now. Even women!

This “torn in two” curtain now lets people in. But it also lets something out. God’s glory can’t be confined anymore to a national shrine made of stone and brick. God’s glory now floods the earth. Just like the heavens were ripped apart at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, at his baptism, and the Holy Spirit descended on him, now the temple veil is torn open and the Holy Spirit of God is now freely available to all!

Peace,

Allan

The What, Not the Why

September 16, 2015 / Allan / 0 Comments

For the past two thousand years, we’ve developed dozens of theories as to why Jesus had to suffer and die on the cross to forgive our sins. The ransom theory says Jesus had to die to pay our debt of sin. The substitution theory is that Jesus took our rightful place on the cross. Propitiation says God’s wrath had to be satisfied so Jesus took the brunt of God’s holy anger instead of us. I could go on. There are lots of atonement theologies.

The New Testament itself uses legal language and sacrificial imagery, military terms and financial lingo, all kinds of different ways to try to explain what Jesus did on the cross. But in Scripture, in the Story, it’s not about what Jesus had to do, it’s only about what Jesus did. The Bible is not explaining what God had to do in order to save us, it’s interpreting what God did.

He died for us.

He died a terrible death.

He died.

What happened at the cross maybe shouldn’t be studied and discussed as much as meditated over and pondered. It should be absorbed, not just described.

“The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him…

They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull)… And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

It was 9:00 in the morning when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!’

In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.’ Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

At 12:00 noon darkness came over the whole land until 3:00. At 3:00 Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ – which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’

When some of those standing near heard this, they said, ‘Listen, he’s calling Elijah!’

One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ‘Now, leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,’ he said.

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.” ~Mark 15:16-37

Remember, Jesus the Christ is God. This is God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. So, God doesn’t inflict pain on someone else to appease his wrath. God is on the cross, absorbing all the pain and violence and evil of the world into himself. He is becoming our sin for us. Our God is nothing like the pagan deities who demand human blood for their anger to be satisfied. No, our God becomes human so he can offer his own blood.

God died. He died for us. Scripture never says he had to die in order to forgive. But it makes a very big deal out of the fact that he did. Jesus didn’t die on the cross to change God’s mind about us; he died to express God’s heart for us.

This is how he saves us. This is how he loves us. He loves us all the way to the cross. Incessantly, purposefully, willfully, stubbornly, dying on the cross to destroy sin and death and Satan and everything that separates us from God.

Peace,

Allan

Act Four – Jesus

September 15, 2015 / Allan / 0 Comments

Act Four is where the Story of God just absolutely soars. It really takes off here and just zooms majestically into beautiful places we never anticipated.

God himself comes back to the earth he created to live with his people. But this time, he comes as a person. The Creator of Heaven and Earth puts on human flesh and blood to live with us and to once and for all save us. This time, God doesn’t send an angel or a prophet or some other representative. He leaves his home in eternal glory to live with us himself. This time, God is not forming man from the dust; God himself enters that dust, he becomes that clay. This is very personal God. After all, it’s his promise.

“‘She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the LORD had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ — which means ‘God with us.'” ~Matthew 1:21-23

“You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The LORD God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his Kingdom will never end.” ~Luke 1:31-33

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” ~John 1:29

Jesus says “I came to seek and save the lost.” “I came not to be served, but to serve and to give my life.” “I have come to proclaim the Kingdom of God.” “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”

Jesus of Nazareth is a real flesh-and-blood man in the real history of time and space. But he is also God. “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” “I and the Father are one.” And God did not come just to save us from our sins, he came to save us to life: more abundant life, eternal life, life in union with God as true sons and daughters of God.

So God becomes flesh and makes his dwelling among us. And he immediately begins to overturn the effects of sin and death. He starts to change things back to the way they were in Act One. Jesus begins to reverse the curse of sin.

“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.” ~Matthew 4:23-24

Jesus heals the sick because there is no disease in the Garden of Eden. He feeds the hungry because there is no need in the Garden of Eden. Jesus raises the dead because there are no cemeteries in the beginning. He eats with Jews and Gentiles, he shares meals with religious leaders and sinners, because there were no distinctions in the Garden. He reaches out to women and elevates women, he calls and commissions women, because Adam and Eve were equals in the beginning. He calms the storms and stills the seas because earth and nature were created to cooperate with people, not destroy them. Jesus forgives sins because humans were created by God in the perfect image of God in order to live and reign with God in his presence forever.

Jesus is actively reversing the curse. He’s making all things right. And he is with us. Immanuel. God with us. Eating with us, worshiping with us, laughing and crying with us, blessing our children, living with us. Changing lives. Saving lives. Thousands of people traveled miles and days just to hear the words fall from his lips, just to feel the love in his gentle touch. Little kids were crawling all over him. People were climbing trees just to see him, ripping roofs off houses just to get to him.

And then Jesus did something only he could do. He did something to finally and ultimately and completely reverse the curse, to destroy the effects of sin and death forever.

He died.

He died on a cross.

On purpose.

Jesus resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem and walked to the cross. He allowed himself to be beaten and tortured. He allowed them to nail his hands and feet to the blood-soaked wood of a cross. He died willingly. He sacrificed himself. He could have called ten thousand angels. But he died alone. For you and me. It’s what Jesus came to do. The Lamb of God who dies to take away the sin of the world.

Peace,

Allan

Promised Sanctification

July 2, 2015 / Allan / 0 Comments

Salvation is a process. Slow and painful, mysterious, with many ups and downs, and largely hidden from view. By the grace of God and the power of his Spirit, we are becoming more and more like Christ. And it’s difficult.

I was reminded during some prayer time this morning of a passage in C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity that addresses the topic of sanctification from Jesus’ point of view:

“The moment you put yourself in my hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push me away. But if you do not push me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, and whatever it costs me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect — until my Father can say without reservation that he is well pleased with you, as he said he was well pleased with me. This I can do and will do. But I will not do anything less.”

Our Lord has promised to bring that thing he has started in me to completion. It’s not happening as quickly as I had hoped. Sometimes it’s not as much fun as I imagined. And there are times I honestly don’t feel like it’s happening at all. But I trust him. I trust him.

And you can, too.

Peace,

Allan

Things Can Change

May 21, 2015 / Allan / 0 Comments

When God tells Abraham he’s going to have a son and more descendants than he’ll ever possibly be able to count, the old man informs the Lord that what he’s saying cannot come true: “Yeah, right! I’m a hundred years old! And my wife if ninety!” Sarah herself, upon hearing that she is going to have a child laughs out loud, right in front of God: “I’m worn out and my husband is old! I’m not having a kid!”

But God answers: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

When God is involved, things can change. When God is involved, ten lepers who are not whole and have no community walk away completely clean. When God is involved, the town sleaze who can’t get water from the well without insult and rejection becomes a Gospel preacher. A loud-mouthed unstable fisherman becomes a pillar of God’s Church. Dead Lazarus, rotting away in the grave for four days, walks out of the tomb. Saul, the persecutor of Christians, becomes Paul, the Christian missionary. When God is involved, things can change.

It’s so crucial that we get this point. If we don’t have this picture of dramatic change, we’ll never anticipate the Gospel. All of us will stay locked up in our prisons.

Abraham and Sarah couldn’t let go of the other picture: worn out old people don’t have babies. That’s just the way it is. That’s the way it’s always been and the way it’ll always be. But, no, things can change.

When Sarah has her son she says, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me” (Genesis 21:6). People who knew Abraham and Sarah were saying, “Seriously? They had a baby?!?” And now all these people also have this new picture of the good news that when God is involved things can change.

As followers and imitators of the risen Christ who saves us, we are charged to proclaim this good news. We’re called to preach it and embody it and share it. God through Christ has defeated the evil empire and we shout that from the rooftops as loudly as we can and we work with everything we’re got to liberate others.

Remember when Jesus was resurrected, he didn’t appear to everybody. Scripture tells us he appeared only to those who had been chosen. He appeared to the people he knew would keep it going, people he knew would keep telling the story, keep declaring the Gospel of the Kingdom of God: that God is still involved and things can still change. That’s our job. Because the fight continues.

The wreckage is all around us. The carnage, the twisted bodies and warped minds, the moral and institutional vileness that surrounds us tells us that the fight is still on. Satan is defeated, yes. He’s done for and he knows it. But he’s working with every power he’s got to take as many as he can to hell with him. Establishing the Kingdom of God isn’t easy. It requires conflict and struggle. It comes with a price.

Jesus gives his followers the power to engage and defeat the enemy: “…that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons” (Mark 3:14-15).

So, yeah, the Church needs to do more than just talk about it. We have to be a community that exhibits the evidence of that power. We don’t just confess Jesus as the Son of God; that’s no more than what the demons do. We don’t just sit on the sidelines, watching the world go by, and do nothing more than offer another religious option for salvation. The Church is charged with standing up and confronting the devil. We are in the rescuing business.

And our greatest weapon is the knowledge and our individual and corporate experience that our God is involved and things can change.

Peace,

Allan

Category: Salvation (Page 16 of 34)

The Son of God!

Torn in Two

The What, Not the Why

Act Four – Jesus

Promised Sanctification

Things Can Change

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