"But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from." - John 7:27 ESV
I am keeping up with my 'Ariel's Harmony of the Gospels' (at p144) and the phrase above caught my attention. Where did this idea come from? Why did they think no one would know where Messiah came from?
His origins are in the scriptures.
"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit." - Isaiah 11:1 ESV
"Their prince shall be one of themselves; their ruler shall come out from their midst; I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare of himself to approach me? declares the LORD." - Jeremiah 30:21 ESV
"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." - Micah 5:2 ESV
I think it arose from the expectation parents put on their children. It was sort of an urban legend. Parents must have said during the hard times of Roman occupation, 'Messiah is coming. He could come at any time.' but then this added element of surprise got added that he would be a stranger.
People assume a new thing must come from a new place but that isn't always how God works.
"And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from. So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, 'You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.' So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come." - John 7:26-30 ESV
We have treasure hidden in us. I get 'new things' out of a very old book every morning. Mercy is new and fresh or it isn't mercy.
It is the mystery of resurrection power. Alignment with eternal truth has a life that can spring forth at unexpected times and from unexpected places.
I'm sure that when Jesus died people thought, 'I suppose we should look for something else.' but they were wrong. It was just a matter of time and Jesus was going to come alive again and bring power with Him.
If you are discouraged don't despair. God isn't done yet. You don't have to look somewhere else. We just need new eyes for the old landmarks.
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Showing posts with label Resurrection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Resurrection. Show all posts
Thursday, June 7, 2018
Friday, May 12, 2017
A Principle And A Dynamic
Two doctrines dominate my thinking this morning. One is an anthropological principle and the other is a spiritual dynamic and each can be summed up in a phrase but those phrases need to be 'unpacked' and put in Biblical context.
The doctrine of 'internal conspiracy' is the anthropological principle and oh how freeing it is to understand.
The spiritual dynamic is the 'grace adjustment'.
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," - Ephesians 2:1-6 ESV
We know the Satanic strategy of tempt - accuse - condemn. That is an attack on our person that comes from outside but our flesh can wage a similar war. Our conscience should be our ally but it can become our bitter enemy. Like a city filled with unrest, the inhabitants can conspire to change the leadership and if they get desperate enough damage can be done to the infrastructure to make something (anything) happen.
If we have lived long enough all of us have seen people destroy themselves. Something external may have triggered a chain of decisions but the destruction came from within and as spectators, we may have tried to intervene but the conspiracy was an internal one.
If we ended here it would leave us in a hard place, wouldn't it? But it doesn't end here. There is the spiritual dynamic of adjusting to grace and with grace and it is beautiful beyond description.
"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 ESV
This principle is so freeing and it might take us losing everything first before we discover it because it lies just at the edge of our self-life. We can adjust because of grace. We can nail our old identity in a coffin where it belongs and start fresh. The accusation can be shut down. The ones that come from outside and the one that comes from the inside. We can face the music and adjust. We have victory in seeming defeat. We can go through things instead of avoiding them. We can adjust because our old identity died with Christ and our present identity is new and fresh.
Our soul becomes a city under new leadership. There may be a mess to clean up but if our conscience can adjust to the new value system of death, burial, resurrection, and session (the fact that we are seated above with Christ now as far as God is concerned) it can become our ally when it was once our adversary. Our soul can become a peaceful place to live.
Woe be it unto the soul that lets the internal conspiracy go unchecked. Eventually, the walls of that city will be breached and it's inhabitants taken away into captivity. No one can win that war themselves. God has given us a way of escape in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the negotiator we need to end our internal conspiracies.
--
The doctrine of 'internal conspiracy' is the anthropological principle and oh how freeing it is to understand.
The spiritual dynamic is the 'grace adjustment'.
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," - Ephesians 2:1-6 ESV
We know the Satanic strategy of tempt - accuse - condemn. That is an attack on our person that comes from outside but our flesh can wage a similar war. Our conscience should be our ally but it can become our bitter enemy. Like a city filled with unrest, the inhabitants can conspire to change the leadership and if they get desperate enough damage can be done to the infrastructure to make something (anything) happen.
If we have lived long enough all of us have seen people destroy themselves. Something external may have triggered a chain of decisions but the destruction came from within and as spectators, we may have tried to intervene but the conspiracy was an internal one.
If we ended here it would leave us in a hard place, wouldn't it? But it doesn't end here. There is the spiritual dynamic of adjusting to grace and with grace and it is beautiful beyond description.
"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 ESV
This principle is so freeing and it might take us losing everything first before we discover it because it lies just at the edge of our self-life. We can adjust because of grace. We can nail our old identity in a coffin where it belongs and start fresh. The accusation can be shut down. The ones that come from outside and the one that comes from the inside. We can face the music and adjust. We have victory in seeming defeat. We can go through things instead of avoiding them. We can adjust because our old identity died with Christ and our present identity is new and fresh.
Our soul becomes a city under new leadership. There may be a mess to clean up but if our conscience can adjust to the new value system of death, burial, resurrection, and session (the fact that we are seated above with Christ now as far as God is concerned) it can become our ally when it was once our adversary. Our soul can become a peaceful place to live.
Woe be it unto the soul that lets the internal conspiracy go unchecked. Eventually, the walls of that city will be breached and it's inhabitants taken away into captivity. No one can win that war themselves. God has given us a way of escape in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the negotiator we need to end our internal conspiracies.
--
Monday, June 13, 2016
The Order Of Grace
I was thinking this weekend about the little systems we develop to do things or cope with things. A way that we clean the dishes or an order that we have in certain drawers. If other people don't know the system or purpose of the system they try to fix it or put things out of order without realizing it.
"Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven." - Psalm 85:9-11 KJV
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." - John 12:24 NKJV
God has His systems. We see it in nature.
Truth that passes through the cross springs out of the Earth. This method may not seem convenient for us.
The cross is so necessary. But how can we communicate that truth?
Like our little drawer system we can show someone and then live it out in front of them. I have had God's grace explained to me but I have also seen it lived out in front of me.
Yes, The grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die in order for there to be multiplication. A stone was rolled in place in front of Jesus' tomb but in a few days that stone was rolled uphill and away.
"But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb," - Luke 24:1-2 ESV
Without the cross there is no empty tomb. Other arrangements work for other things but they don't work for this. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other and The Righteous King looks down from Heaven when truth springs up out of the Earth.
Try as you might to get His attention some other way. It isn't going to work unless it is in His order. When we find that order we are wise to pay close attention.
--
"Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven." - Psalm 85:9-11 KJV
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." - John 12:24 NKJV
God has His systems. We see it in nature.
Truth that passes through the cross springs out of the Earth. This method may not seem convenient for us.
The cross is so necessary. But how can we communicate that truth?
Like our little drawer system we can show someone and then live it out in front of them. I have had God's grace explained to me but I have also seen it lived out in front of me.
Yes, The grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die in order for there to be multiplication. A stone was rolled in place in front of Jesus' tomb but in a few days that stone was rolled uphill and away.
"But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb," - Luke 24:1-2 ESV
Without the cross there is no empty tomb. Other arrangements work for other things but they don't work for this. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other and The Righteous King looks down from Heaven when truth springs up out of the Earth.
Try as you might to get His attention some other way. It isn't going to work unless it is in His order. When we find that order we are wise to pay close attention.
--
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Justification By Faith Brings Us To Newness Of Life
If the only true justification available to a human being is a faith justification (that is what I wrote about yesterday) then the only true walk is a resurrection walk...
"...And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness," - Romans 4:5 ESV
"We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." - Romans 6:4-5 ESV
Romans is building a case for us. It is a very legal and mechanical book. A religious person is convinced that what they do makes them acceptable to God but this book reproves them.
We must die with Christ in order to be raise with Him and any hope of self-righteousness must die with us. Once dead we can be raised and walk with God in newness of life.
All of humanity has died with Christ. He became a man to represent all men.The moment we believed the gift was placed on our account.
"For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." - Romans 6:7-11 ESV
This translation says 'you also must consider' but the KJV says 'reckon yourselves' and I like that better. Reckon makes it sound like a math problem and that is just what it is. We remove our self and add Christ.
We have a God who will only justify those that say, 'I won't justify myself. Instead of doing that I will reckon myself dead with Christ and let God justify me by His power.'
Can we shift from a, 'You are Good therefore I like you.' mentality to a, 'God has justified the ungodly.' one? It will take dying to self but it will mean that we can be raised in newness of life.
God. Please help us to think like you do. We want to live in a justification that comes by faith and not by performance. Quicken us by your Spirit. Raise us from the grave of our old way of thinking and into the newness of grace thinking. Thank You God. Thank You.
--
"...And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness," - Romans 4:5 ESV
"We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." - Romans 6:4-5 ESV
Romans is building a case for us. It is a very legal and mechanical book. A religious person is convinced that what they do makes them acceptable to God but this book reproves them.
We must die with Christ in order to be raise with Him and any hope of self-righteousness must die with us. Once dead we can be raised and walk with God in newness of life.
All of humanity has died with Christ. He became a man to represent all men.The moment we believed the gift was placed on our account.
"For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." - Romans 6:7-11 ESV
This translation says 'you also must consider' but the KJV says 'reckon yourselves' and I like that better. Reckon makes it sound like a math problem and that is just what it is. We remove our self and add Christ.
We have a God who will only justify those that say, 'I won't justify myself. Instead of doing that I will reckon myself dead with Christ and let God justify me by His power.'
Can we shift from a, 'You are Good therefore I like you.' mentality to a, 'God has justified the ungodly.' one? It will take dying to self but it will mean that we can be raised in newness of life.
God. Please help us to think like you do. We want to live in a justification that comes by faith and not by performance. Quicken us by your Spirit. Raise us from the grave of our old way of thinking and into the newness of grace thinking. Thank You God. Thank You.
--
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Dead To Death
Have you ever died to something? There may have been things we tried to die to but couldn't shake the connection. Others that we wanted desperately to hold onto but found them slipping away until they were no longer in our grasp. Perhaps we woke up one day to find that a connection has been severed and we had no part in it at all.
"Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him." - Romans 6:8-9 ESV
As far as Jesus is concerned death is dead. His connections to death and all the fear and grief associated with it are severed.
"For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God." - Romans 6:10 ESV
He went to the cross 'as sin' because the sin sins of the world were placed on Him just like the sins of the nation were placed on a sacrificial animal.
"And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness." - Leviticus 16:21-22 ESV
Now those sins are gone and Christ is dead 'to sin' and every imperfection. He is alive and associated with living whole things not dead broken things.
You might say, 'Well, Then He can't have much to do with me.' but the crazy thing is that we were with Him when that death happened. We passed through death with Him! As a man He represented all humanity.
"So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness...
Or do you not know, brothers - for I am speaking to those who know the law - that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?" - Romans 6:11-13, 7:1 ESV
When something dies and is truly disconnected the rules that governed that relationship or association also get disconnected. The law served it's purpose for Israel. Grace is how living people associate. Grace is how God functions toward someone who has been raised from the dead and passed from death into life.
We are all troubled by connections that are unhealthy. We can and must consider ourselves dead to those things and those things dead to us because in Christ that death has already taken place to make way for life.
"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world... And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus." - Galatians 6:14, 16-17 ESV
Paul was beaten because of His association with Christ and the message of grace but we can make the same claim of co-crucifixion. We can and we should because then we can be free to live.
It is mathematics. The King James translates verse 11 this way.
"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 6:11 KJV
We make a 'reckoning' in our minds by faith that the connection is broken and God creates a dynamic that truly breaks the connection so that it can't dominate us.
Thank you God! Salvation is Your work. We believe in You and what You have done. We are free.
--
"Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him." - Romans 6:8-9 ESV
As far as Jesus is concerned death is dead. His connections to death and all the fear and grief associated with it are severed.
"For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God." - Romans 6:10 ESV
He went to the cross 'as sin' because the sin sins of the world were placed on Him just like the sins of the nation were placed on a sacrificial animal.
"And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness." - Leviticus 16:21-22 ESV
Now those sins are gone and Christ is dead 'to sin' and every imperfection. He is alive and associated with living whole things not dead broken things.
You might say, 'Well, Then He can't have much to do with me.' but the crazy thing is that we were with Him when that death happened. We passed through death with Him! As a man He represented all humanity.
"So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness...
Or do you not know, brothers - for I am speaking to those who know the law - that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?" - Romans 6:11-13, 7:1 ESV
When something dies and is truly disconnected the rules that governed that relationship or association also get disconnected. The law served it's purpose for Israel. Grace is how living people associate. Grace is how God functions toward someone who has been raised from the dead and passed from death into life.
We are all troubled by connections that are unhealthy. We can and must consider ourselves dead to those things and those things dead to us because in Christ that death has already taken place to make way for life.
"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world... And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus." - Galatians 6:14, 16-17 ESV
Paul was beaten because of His association with Christ and the message of grace but we can make the same claim of co-crucifixion. We can and we should because then we can be free to live.
It is mathematics. The King James translates verse 11 this way.
"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 6:11 KJV
We make a 'reckoning' in our minds by faith that the connection is broken and God creates a dynamic that truly breaks the connection so that it can't dominate us.
Thank you God! Salvation is Your work. We believe in You and what You have done. We are free.
--
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
The Third Day
" 'Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.'
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." - Hosea 6:1-6 ESV
I love these verses. We see in them the same resurrection that Jesus taught and even boasted about. A coming back to life after three days that changed the nature of love for the individual.
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 ESV
"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve." - 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 ESV
Yes. Messiah needed to die. Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 show that so vividly but the scriptures also specify that He would be raised and the time frame is given in Hosea 6 but it is missed because instead of talking about Messiah directly it talks about those who would be raised up with Him.
Us.
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." - Ephesians 2:4-9 ESV
"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." - Colossians 3:1-3 ESV
"From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." - Matthew 16:21 ESV
Jesus taught that He would be raised on the third day but it was not a new teaching. What was unique was that He applied to teaching directly to Himself.
"Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the first." - Matthew 27:64 ESV
The Sadducee sect spoken of in the New Testament didn't not believe in a bodily resurrection. The Pharisee sect did. Jesus' claim mocked them and if He even seemed to rise then it would be a further mockery.
Yet Here is Jesus in these next verses. He is not only teaching it... He is boasting about it.
"At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, 'Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.' And he said to them, 'Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.' " - Luke 13:31-32 ESV
From angelic lips there is a reminder of the fulfillment of scripture.
" 'He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.' And they remembered his words," - Luke 24:6-8 ESV
"And he said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." - Luke 24:25-27 ESV
The risen Christ revives these men walking away in disappointment just as He revived Mary and the disciples on His third day post resurrection appearances.
Let's read it again...
" 'Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.'
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." - Hosea 6:1-6 ESV
Before we were revived our love was like a morning cloud. It vanished quickly away. God wanted to give us steadfast love that lasts forever not a life of sacrifice after sacrifice but a deep experiential knowledge of God. A death burial, resurrection, ascension and session with Christ.
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:29-31 ESV
Justified by grace and glorified by grace... today let's mix faith with that divine reality.
--
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." - Hosea 6:1-6 ESV
I love these verses. We see in them the same resurrection that Jesus taught and even boasted about. A coming back to life after three days that changed the nature of love for the individual.
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 ESV
"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve." - 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 ESV
Yes. Messiah needed to die. Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 show that so vividly but the scriptures also specify that He would be raised and the time frame is given in Hosea 6 but it is missed because instead of talking about Messiah directly it talks about those who would be raised up with Him.
Us.
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." - Ephesians 2:4-9 ESV
"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." - Colossians 3:1-3 ESV
"From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." - Matthew 16:21 ESV
Jesus taught that He would be raised on the third day but it was not a new teaching. What was unique was that He applied to teaching directly to Himself.
"Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the first." - Matthew 27:64 ESV
The Sadducee sect spoken of in the New Testament didn't not believe in a bodily resurrection. The Pharisee sect did. Jesus' claim mocked them and if He even seemed to rise then it would be a further mockery.
Yet Here is Jesus in these next verses. He is not only teaching it... He is boasting about it.
"At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, 'Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.' And he said to them, 'Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.' " - Luke 13:31-32 ESV
From angelic lips there is a reminder of the fulfillment of scripture.
" 'He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.' And they remembered his words," - Luke 24:6-8 ESV
"And he said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." - Luke 24:25-27 ESV
The risen Christ revives these men walking away in disappointment just as He revived Mary and the disciples on His third day post resurrection appearances.
Let's read it again...
" 'Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.'
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." - Hosea 6:1-6 ESV
Before we were revived our love was like a morning cloud. It vanished quickly away. God wanted to give us steadfast love that lasts forever not a life of sacrifice after sacrifice but a deep experiential knowledge of God. A death burial, resurrection, ascension and session with Christ.
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:29-31 ESV
Justified by grace and glorified by grace... today let's mix faith with that divine reality.
--
Monday, January 6, 2014
Initiated By Choice But Moved By Power
"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." - Romans 6:4 KJV
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 KJV
There is an action that happens by God's power... a transfer that occurs. By an act of will we enter into a process that was not initiated by us nor is it sustained by us. Like a person stepping into a flowing river we step into the stillness of Christ's death. It surrounds us and momentarily muffles our senses like diving into a pool or being lowered by strong arms into the water at baptism.
We willingly place ourselves into His death but that is just a starting point.
Early in the morning the Earth is still asleep. No sun has risen yet and few things are stirring. We can become silent like the world around us. We wait and pray like Jesus waited and prayed all night long with His Father. We enter in. It is a place we are welcome to come into. Grace has made this our place... our pool... our fountain... our death... our burial... our resurrection.
"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." - Romans 13:14 ESV
"But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." - Romans 8:10-14 ESV
Later it will not be quiet. The world will be moving. There will be more decisions to be made but the dynamic is the same. Jesus was the same Jesus praying all night as He was walking, talking, healing and teaching. He moved as grace and truth personified. We move a trophies of grace personified. Putting on Christ we make choices in the flow of the river we have stepped into. God's power and life is the medium we move in and because of that we are led of God having wind in our sails.
This is not a work. It is a choice made possible by the Gospel of Grace. This is the narrow road that leads to life.
Jesus was dragged willingly into this process knowing that when He went to Jerusalem it would begin. He suffered in stillness and submission not resisting but walked bearing His cross in His Father's plan. Taken by the flow of it and aligning His will with each twist and turn. Then after the resurrection we see a man raised from death into life who moved with purpose towards ascension and session (sitting at the right hand of the Father). Jesus completed this work and ran this race.
Our entry point is Christ's death but once we enter in we are brought instantly to to Christ's session. He is alive and reigning now and we also are alive and reigning with Him.
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." - Romans 5:17 KJV
One day the spiritual action we enter into by an act of reckoning will become a physical reality.
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." - John 14:3 ESV
Until then we put on what we have been given by grace and the light of Heaven shines in and through our lives as broken but treasure filled earthen vessels.
At any moment we can return and enter in. We can quiet ourselves and be in the flow again. It is a choice away. The life that is produced inside will work on the outside in time. Faith will produce words that have power. Victorious life will make a difference in the world that only Heaven's history books will reveal in fullness.
--
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 KJV
There is an action that happens by God's power... a transfer that occurs. By an act of will we enter into a process that was not initiated by us nor is it sustained by us. Like a person stepping into a flowing river we step into the stillness of Christ's death. It surrounds us and momentarily muffles our senses like diving into a pool or being lowered by strong arms into the water at baptism.
We willingly place ourselves into His death but that is just a starting point.
Early in the morning the Earth is still asleep. No sun has risen yet and few things are stirring. We can become silent like the world around us. We wait and pray like Jesus waited and prayed all night long with His Father. We enter in. It is a place we are welcome to come into. Grace has made this our place... our pool... our fountain... our death... our burial... our resurrection.
"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." - Romans 13:14 ESV
"But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." - Romans 8:10-14 ESV
Later it will not be quiet. The world will be moving. There will be more decisions to be made but the dynamic is the same. Jesus was the same Jesus praying all night as He was walking, talking, healing and teaching. He moved as grace and truth personified. We move a trophies of grace personified. Putting on Christ we make choices in the flow of the river we have stepped into. God's power and life is the medium we move in and because of that we are led of God having wind in our sails.
This is not a work. It is a choice made possible by the Gospel of Grace. This is the narrow road that leads to life.
Jesus was dragged willingly into this process knowing that when He went to Jerusalem it would begin. He suffered in stillness and submission not resisting but walked bearing His cross in His Father's plan. Taken by the flow of it and aligning His will with each twist and turn. Then after the resurrection we see a man raised from death into life who moved with purpose towards ascension and session (sitting at the right hand of the Father). Jesus completed this work and ran this race.
Our entry point is Christ's death but once we enter in we are brought instantly to to Christ's session. He is alive and reigning now and we also are alive and reigning with Him.
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." - Romans 5:17 KJV
One day the spiritual action we enter into by an act of reckoning will become a physical reality.
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." - John 14:3 ESV
Until then we put on what we have been given by grace and the light of Heaven shines in and through our lives as broken but treasure filled earthen vessels.
At any moment we can return and enter in. We can quiet ourselves and be in the flow again. It is a choice away. The life that is produced inside will work on the outside in time. Faith will produce words that have power. Victorious life will make a difference in the world that only Heaven's history books will reveal in fullness.
--
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Free From Gravity
I love verses like this... in just a few sentences they get down to the root of the issue. No muss. No Fuss.
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life - is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." 1 John 2:15-17 ESV
Bam!
Those three things are the root of everything that is wrong. Our flesh interacts with a fallen world system at these three junctures... what my fallen body wants... what my fallen mind wants... and 'the pride of life' can be translated 'the boastfulness of biological life'. These three are then broken down in different ways and categories but at the root we have these three. The need for praise, control, sensual fulfillment, riches, revenge, boasting, lying, jealousy and even our need to perform so that we can have good things to say about ourselves all narrow down to this small group.
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." James 3:17 KJV
Grace gives us free interaction with God's kingdom and that interaction is pure. Shalom is fulfillment. It does not need to steal to get it. It does not rob God of glory. Peace just is. Peace dwells in love.
All of that other stuff has an expiration date. Not love. God's love never expires.
We can't disconnect ourselves from the three operations by which the world interacts with people but God has disconnected us by giving us a new nature to function in when we believe. That new nature has nothing to do with those interactions.
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." Philippians 4:6-9 KJV
Daily death, burial and resurrection is the key to functioning in the new man and freeing us from the old one.
"For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:7-14 ESV
I am confident that if the Gospel of Grace lives in me then the love of the Father will be in me also. Living in love is living in freedom. Heaven is free from the gravity that holds things down in the world.
Our freedom becomes a witness. Our peace and love shine a light that comes from God. Our words can then explain to others how they can have what we have.
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life - is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." 1 John 2:15-17 ESV
Bam!
Those three things are the root of everything that is wrong. Our flesh interacts with a fallen world system at these three junctures... what my fallen body wants... what my fallen mind wants... and 'the pride of life' can be translated 'the boastfulness of biological life'. These three are then broken down in different ways and categories but at the root we have these three. The need for praise, control, sensual fulfillment, riches, revenge, boasting, lying, jealousy and even our need to perform so that we can have good things to say about ourselves all narrow down to this small group.
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." James 3:17 KJV
Grace gives us free interaction with God's kingdom and that interaction is pure. Shalom is fulfillment. It does not need to steal to get it. It does not rob God of glory. Peace just is. Peace dwells in love.
All of that other stuff has an expiration date. Not love. God's love never expires.
We can't disconnect ourselves from the three operations by which the world interacts with people but God has disconnected us by giving us a new nature to function in when we believe. That new nature has nothing to do with those interactions.
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." Philippians 4:6-9 KJV
Daily death, burial and resurrection is the key to functioning in the new man and freeing us from the old one.
"For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:7-14 ESV
I am confident that if the Gospel of Grace lives in me then the love of the Father will be in me also. Living in love is living in freedom. Heaven is free from the gravity that holds things down in the world.
Our freedom becomes a witness. Our peace and love shine a light that comes from God. Our words can then explain to others how they can have what we have.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Grace Is a Subtle Wonder
"After the two days he departed for Galilee. (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, 'Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.' The official said to him, 'Sir, come down before my child dies.' Jesus said to him, 'Go; your son will live.' The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, 'Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.' The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, 'Your son will live.' And he himself believed, and all his household. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee." John 4:43-54 ESV
If is one thing to be at the feast and it is another to believe. Results... we look for them. Jesus chides them about the need to see results. He doesn't want results like we do. He wants faith.
At Cana Jesus gave joy. He turned water into wine. He took a wedding that was going to end in disappointment and turned it into a great success. People remembered the success. Now, He returns and gives something else... Life. The family traces the timing of words and healing and all signs point to Jesus. Life from death is the ultimate sign and wonder but grace is subtle.
I awoke this morning thinking about Adam and Jesus. They are both men. They eat and drink. They sleep and go about their day. But, One grows old and dies and the other dies once and then lives in newness forever.
"And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." 1 Corinthians 15:45 KJV
Jesus is the last Adam. The first would be last and would outlast everything.
In many ways Jesus looked just like everyone else. The little boy who was healed looked like he did before he got sick. This family did also. There was something new that would be revealed in time. Grace had done a work. There had been a quickening. A renewing that would forever renew. Those seeking a sign now got something else. They died once and now would live forever.
We look much the same after believing in Jesus. When by faith we touch Christ, the quickening Spirit, we are forever changed.
Adam can trace his moment of failure back to the moment he took that fruit and ate it. We can trace every victory back to the moment Christ was presented to us as he really Is and we believed.
If is one thing to be at the feast and it is another to believe. Results... we look for them. Jesus chides them about the need to see results. He doesn't want results like we do. He wants faith.
At Cana Jesus gave joy. He turned water into wine. He took a wedding that was going to end in disappointment and turned it into a great success. People remembered the success. Now, He returns and gives something else... Life. The family traces the timing of words and healing and all signs point to Jesus. Life from death is the ultimate sign and wonder but grace is subtle.
I awoke this morning thinking about Adam and Jesus. They are both men. They eat and drink. They sleep and go about their day. But, One grows old and dies and the other dies once and then lives in newness forever.
"And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." 1 Corinthians 15:45 KJV
Jesus is the last Adam. The first would be last and would outlast everything.
In many ways Jesus looked just like everyone else. The little boy who was healed looked like he did before he got sick. This family did also. There was something new that would be revealed in time. Grace had done a work. There had been a quickening. A renewing that would forever renew. Those seeking a sign now got something else. They died once and now would live forever.
We look much the same after believing in Jesus. When by faith we touch Christ, the quickening Spirit, we are forever changed.
Adam can trace his moment of failure back to the moment he took that fruit and ate it. We can trace every victory back to the moment Christ was presented to us as he really Is and we believed.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Evaporate the Old and Distill the New
Thoughts that pass through evaporation, Heavenly condensation and distillation do what they were sent to do.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:8-11 ESV
Water is a solvent and picks up impurities easily along the way. Evaporation removes the impurities and leaves them behind. Then up, up it goes in the air until the conditions are right and the vapor condenses and is heavier than the air around it and down it comes to wash and water the world.
God's thoughts are holy and pure like distilled water. Evaporation is the ultimate filter because water temporarily changes form and that form is not a liquid or a solid.
It makes me think of the the Crucifixion, Burial, Resurrection and Session (seated with Christ) cycle. The cross evaporates our person. We survive the process in a different form. Instead of being a liquid human being we are a vapor human being with different properties.
That vapor floats in the Heavens. That vapor can be sent by God to where He wants it.
There is a cycle that keeps our thinking clean where the cross is dealing with the old and there is renewed newness.
My thinking is like a swamp or an iceberg. I want to live in the light of God countenance where there is release in love to join Him in the Heaven's and be sent back down to Earth as He pleases.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:8-11 ESV
Water is a solvent and picks up impurities easily along the way. Evaporation removes the impurities and leaves them behind. Then up, up it goes in the air until the conditions are right and the vapor condenses and is heavier than the air around it and down it comes to wash and water the world.
God's thoughts are holy and pure like distilled water. Evaporation is the ultimate filter because water temporarily changes form and that form is not a liquid or a solid.
It makes me think of the the Crucifixion, Burial, Resurrection and Session (seated with Christ) cycle. The cross evaporates our person. We survive the process in a different form. Instead of being a liquid human being we are a vapor human being with different properties.
That vapor floats in the Heavens. That vapor can be sent by God to where He wants it.
There is a cycle that keeps our thinking clean where the cross is dealing with the old and there is renewed newness.
My thinking is like a swamp or an iceberg. I want to live in the light of God countenance where there is release in love to join Him in the Heaven's and be sent back down to Earth as He pleases.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Happy Easter!
"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" Jn 11:25-26
What a great morning to read the resurrection accounts.
Matt 27:59f
Mark 16:2f
Luke 24:1f
John 20:1f
Acts 1:1-12
"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." John 20:31
It strikes me as fresh this morning that He came first to those closest to His grave and those farthest away (the two on the road to Emmaus). He visited in the morning and then in the evening.
The resurrection happens early and the revealing happens late. Some carry a secret that they tell in joy but few believe unless they see Him and He doesn't arrive until evening time to tell them.
Even on resurrection day God allowed for doubt. He gave room for the religious leaders to pay off the Romans.
The finished work of Christ happened early... before the world began it was planned and set in God's mind then executed step by step. But for many of us it was revealed late... after years of unregenerate living in ignorance or unbelief.
Some live their whole lives like some of those Roman guards at the tomb. A little money in their pockets, the promise of a cover up that will keep them safe (but fearful) and Jesus left behind in their rear-view mirror. Others are like Thomas and have a time of doubt before they fall to their knees and grace overwhelms them.
If we know grace we can live all day like Mary. Filled with joy and redemptive knowledge. No one's unbelief can dampen our joy. No one can quiet our song or stifle our laughter.
He is alive! He is risen and we are saved!
What a great morning to read the resurrection accounts.
Matt 27:59f
Mark 16:2f
Luke 24:1f
John 20:1f
Acts 1:1-12
"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." John 20:31
It strikes me as fresh this morning that He came first to those closest to His grave and those farthest away (the two on the road to Emmaus). He visited in the morning and then in the evening.
The resurrection happens early and the revealing happens late. Some carry a secret that they tell in joy but few believe unless they see Him and He doesn't arrive until evening time to tell them.
Even on resurrection day God allowed for doubt. He gave room for the religious leaders to pay off the Romans.
The finished work of Christ happened early... before the world began it was planned and set in God's mind then executed step by step. But for many of us it was revealed late... after years of unregenerate living in ignorance or unbelief.
Some live their whole lives like some of those Roman guards at the tomb. A little money in their pockets, the promise of a cover up that will keep them safe (but fearful) and Jesus left behind in their rear-view mirror. Others are like Thomas and have a time of doubt before they fall to their knees and grace overwhelms them.
If we know grace we can live all day like Mary. Filled with joy and redemptive knowledge. No one's unbelief can dampen our joy. No one can quiet our song or stifle our laughter.
He is alive! He is risen and we are saved!
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
The Decent Order of Grace - Part 9 - One Bodily Resurrection
The Resurrection is the foundation of my hope. If Jesus was some dead philosopher I would just take from what He said and pick and choose the part that would contribute to my life and discard the rest. My hope would still be in my own cleverness.
"For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor 15:16-22 ESV
The fact that Jesus is alive from the dead... bodily alive and in a different category than any other man changes the stakes. Christ's words and actions are in a class all by themselves.
Even great men of the ages that led humble spiritually fruitful lives are not raised from the dead the way Christ was.
"So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable." 1 Cor 15:42 ESV
Christ not only came 'back to life' He rose from the grave never to die again having conquered death and the grave having power and authority as a man that no man has ever had. He walked through walls and shrugged of demons.
In this age even Godly men who die don't see this kind of bodily Resurrection. In a sinful world we might make the mistake of making men and their subtle errors equal with Christ if that were true. Men and women die and are hidden from our eyes. Whatever errors they made are hidden also.
It is right that Christ be at the forefront. It is right order that it is Christ and Christ alone that is magnified. He is our life... He is our Hope. He did the work and our faith is fixed on the one who has passed from death into life and find that what He did has power to touch into my present life and future.
We limit the Resurrection to Sunday morning but it transcends time and space. The Resurrection touches every moment of faith because it is outside of time. It is finished was spoken over all humanity at once because Jesus was the representative of all humanity when it happened.
When Adams sinned God looked across time and saw all of His seed wither and die. When Christ was raised He made all who would believe on Him to glow with life all at once like a field of flowers opening to the sunshine together.
"Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." 1 Cor 15:49-50 ESV
One day our bodies will reflect that new life. In a time when no one will confused a man raised from the dead with the Savior with nail scarred hands. Until then it is right that only one man would be alive like He is alive.
Christianity isn't picking and choosing the best ideas... it is life from death. That message has hope.
"For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor 15:16-22 ESV
The fact that Jesus is alive from the dead... bodily alive and in a different category than any other man changes the stakes. Christ's words and actions are in a class all by themselves.
Even great men of the ages that led humble spiritually fruitful lives are not raised from the dead the way Christ was.
"So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable." 1 Cor 15:42 ESV
Christ not only came 'back to life' He rose from the grave never to die again having conquered death and the grave having power and authority as a man that no man has ever had. He walked through walls and shrugged of demons.
In this age even Godly men who die don't see this kind of bodily Resurrection. In a sinful world we might make the mistake of making men and their subtle errors equal with Christ if that were true. Men and women die and are hidden from our eyes. Whatever errors they made are hidden also.
It is right that Christ be at the forefront. It is right order that it is Christ and Christ alone that is magnified. He is our life... He is our Hope. He did the work and our faith is fixed on the one who has passed from death into life and find that what He did has power to touch into my present life and future.
We limit the Resurrection to Sunday morning but it transcends time and space. The Resurrection touches every moment of faith because it is outside of time. It is finished was spoken over all humanity at once because Jesus was the representative of all humanity when it happened.
When Adams sinned God looked across time and saw all of His seed wither and die. When Christ was raised He made all who would believe on Him to glow with life all at once like a field of flowers opening to the sunshine together.
"Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." 1 Cor 15:49-50 ESV
One day our bodies will reflect that new life. In a time when no one will confused a man raised from the dead with the Savior with nail scarred hands. Until then it is right that only one man would be alive like He is alive.
Christianity isn't picking and choosing the best ideas... it is life from death. That message has hope.
Monday, March 18, 2013
The Decent Order of Grace - Part 7 - Resurrection
We may have seeming setbacks in this life but victory is assured.
"But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death." 1 Cor 15:23-26 NASB
The resurrection of Christ set a process in motion that will reclaim mankind and override the curse of the fall. All who know Christ will witness the demise of death itself from the vantage point of immortality. With clear minds and eyes we will see and mark the day when death is ultimately swallowed up in victory.
There is a progression. We see it here. Resurrection will come in waves. Christ was first and all who believe are next in line. Every false structure will be disarmed and swallowed up.
"And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." Rom 8:10-11 NKJV
Resurrection life! We have it. It makes us bold to say it... to think about it. Instead of living in our setbacks let's live in quickening! Resurrection will swallow my weakness and by God's word, kindness and righteousness (see Ps 119: 25, 40, 88) we can be made alive even now.
By mixing faith with truth we have access to life.
"But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death." 1 Cor 15:23-26 NASB
The resurrection of Christ set a process in motion that will reclaim mankind and override the curse of the fall. All who know Christ will witness the demise of death itself from the vantage point of immortality. With clear minds and eyes we will see and mark the day when death is ultimately swallowed up in victory.
There is a progression. We see it here. Resurrection will come in waves. Christ was first and all who believe are next in line. Every false structure will be disarmed and swallowed up.
"And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." Rom 8:10-11 NKJV
Resurrection life! We have it. It makes us bold to say it... to think about it. Instead of living in our setbacks let's live in quickening! Resurrection will swallow my weakness and by God's word, kindness and righteousness (see Ps 119: 25, 40, 88) we can be made alive even now.
By mixing faith with truth we have access to life.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Divine Mathematics
"You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen." 2 Pet 3:17-18
Growing in grace and knowledge is functioning in resurrection life!
We don't outgrow our issues they are just swallowed up in a new kind of life. A new life that we are growing in. If doesn't take reasoning per say... it requires seeing Jesus Christ.
Forgiveness is math not reasoning... One Situation + One Cross = Forgiveness
Our life is one of addition, multiplication and growth.
"But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot." 2 Kings 4:41
We add doctrine to the situation. Meal is broken wheat.
"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue" 2 Pet 1:2-3
Then we find that God is really behind the scenes multiplying something amazing. There may seem to be good reason to be bitter about something but the new man is not bitter. He or she is thankful... for the provision... and one day for the situation itself. Not because the old man has 'outgrown' it but because the new one is raised from the dead.
I never have to be stagnant and stuck in reasoning. As long as there are lost hurting people there is much to do. As long as my Bible has pages I have much to learn. Let yesterday be swallowed up in the newness of an ever living Savior.
"Death is swallowed up in victory." 1 Cor 15:54b
Growing in grace and knowledge is functioning in resurrection life!
We don't outgrow our issues they are just swallowed up in a new kind of life. A new life that we are growing in. If doesn't take reasoning per say... it requires seeing Jesus Christ.
Forgiveness is math not reasoning... One Situation + One Cross = Forgiveness
Our life is one of addition, multiplication and growth.
"But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot." 2 Kings 4:41
We add doctrine to the situation. Meal is broken wheat.
"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue" 2 Pet 1:2-3
Then we find that God is really behind the scenes multiplying something amazing. There may seem to be good reason to be bitter about something but the new man is not bitter. He or she is thankful... for the provision... and one day for the situation itself. Not because the old man has 'outgrown' it but because the new one is raised from the dead.
I never have to be stagnant and stuck in reasoning. As long as there are lost hurting people there is much to do. As long as my Bible has pages I have much to learn. Let yesterday be swallowed up in the newness of an ever living Savior.
"Death is swallowed up in victory." 1 Cor 15:54b
Thursday, January 24, 2013
A Doorway to Wonder
"There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid." Prov 30:18-19
Elegant buoyancy, derived warmth, navigation and love that pursues...
The cross is revealed to be a beginning and not an ending. Once that which is dead and buried in God's plan rises that risen one rises with newness of life that has transcendent qualities that are marvelous. Christ was the first of many. He is our anchor within the veil. Spirit indwelling and Spirit filling now make possible dynamics not before known.
A child of God has ears to hear like an eagle has wings. Hearing that functions well in the heights. There is an upper highway where words shine. Spectators see a bird sailing through nothing but the Eagle sees something else... hears something else.
How does a ship go from here to there. Not by looking outward but by looking upward. Sailors are guided by the stars and believers are guided by God. The Bible is a compass. Seeking the Father's will is meat and drink for a hungry soul that is influenced and surrounded by a living Spirit. There is guidance, an anchor in the storm... there is purpose in going from here to there.
Warmth is derived not produced. The Sun on a rock... the Father and the Holy Messiah... we can go and curl up there and we are sustained through the cold dark night. That place is warm... it is not the warmth of a self made fire that produces smoke and sparks and only ashes remain. This warmth is clean.
Lastly... Love... So strange and wonderful. What power... what intimacy compares to it. The cross is a doorway into a different kind of love. You can't explain it to an outsider. It is not the love of a living soul... it is the love of a quickening Spirit. A man and woman have a closeness that no one else is invited into... it is a language that only they speak to one another. Yes. They want other to have it but no one will stand between them.
The resurrection provides objective stability and it is truth we live in. The breadth of God blows on the embers of our mind and makes the scriptures glow with life. We navigate even as someone mighty and eternal navigates us.
God send your Spirit like a mighty rushing wind today. The old is buried and we want to live in the wonders of the new.
Elegant buoyancy, derived warmth, navigation and love that pursues...
The cross is revealed to be a beginning and not an ending. Once that which is dead and buried in God's plan rises that risen one rises with newness of life that has transcendent qualities that are marvelous. Christ was the first of many. He is our anchor within the veil. Spirit indwelling and Spirit filling now make possible dynamics not before known.
A child of God has ears to hear like an eagle has wings. Hearing that functions well in the heights. There is an upper highway where words shine. Spectators see a bird sailing through nothing but the Eagle sees something else... hears something else.
How does a ship go from here to there. Not by looking outward but by looking upward. Sailors are guided by the stars and believers are guided by God. The Bible is a compass. Seeking the Father's will is meat and drink for a hungry soul that is influenced and surrounded by a living Spirit. There is guidance, an anchor in the storm... there is purpose in going from here to there.
Warmth is derived not produced. The Sun on a rock... the Father and the Holy Messiah... we can go and curl up there and we are sustained through the cold dark night. That place is warm... it is not the warmth of a self made fire that produces smoke and sparks and only ashes remain. This warmth is clean.
Lastly... Love... So strange and wonderful. What power... what intimacy compares to it. The cross is a doorway into a different kind of love. You can't explain it to an outsider. It is not the love of a living soul... it is the love of a quickening Spirit. A man and woman have a closeness that no one else is invited into... it is a language that only they speak to one another. Yes. They want other to have it but no one will stand between them.
The resurrection provides objective stability and it is truth we live in. The breadth of God blows on the embers of our mind and makes the scriptures glow with life. We navigate even as someone mighty and eternal navigates us.
God send your Spirit like a mighty rushing wind today. The old is buried and we want to live in the wonders of the new.
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