Category: Holidays

“Therefore since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:1-2).

Today we see the cross as a beautiful symbol of our Christian faith.  We wear it on necklaces, celebrate it in iconic art, and give it a prominent place in our church sanctuaries.  And this is as it should be.  The cross is a beautiful symbol of our rescue by Jesus, friend of sinners.

In Jesus’ day, however, the cross was anything but beautiful.  It was a symbol of death, and a vulgar death at that.  It was the epitome of shame.  A naked man being put to death on a stick of wood.  Oh the pain!  Oh the shame!

How did Jesus respond?  He “despised the shame.”  He rejected the shame.  He refused the shame.  He endured the shame for the “joy set before Him” of accomplishing the salvation of the world.  What Satan, Pontius Pilate, the Roman soldiers, and the Jewish leaders meant for shame, God turned into our good through Jesus’ obedience even to death on a cross.

Now, after the cross and the triumph of the resurrection, Satan still seeks to shame Christ’s children.  He holds a mirror up to our sin and reminds us of our moral failure.  His world system, at nearly every turn, mocks our belief as intellectually foolish and naive.  If Satan can’t have us, he seeks the next best thing, taking us out of service over our shame.

How should we respond?  By going to the accounting ledger, God’s Word, and believing what is written there about our sin; not only nailed to a cross and forgiven, but it’s power destroyed.  By recognizing our mockers not as our enemies, but prisoners of the Enemy, and staying grounded in the truth of God’s Word.  Don’t succumb to the shame.  Don’t believe the Accuser.  Despise the shame and press on to the reward.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16).

Merry Christmas!!!

“Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us’ ” (Mt 1:22-23).  And Immanuel did come and dwell among us.

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14).  “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life – and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the Eternal Life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us” (I Jn 1:1-2).

In his New Testament writings, John strongly emphasizes the eyewitness testimony of the apostles.  They saw, heard, and touched Jesus, the Word made flesh, the Eternal Life made flesh, God in the flesh.  Jesus truly was and is Immanuel; God with Us.

But Jesus Immanuel, God with Us, left the earthly scene, from an “in the flesh” standpoint, around 2000 years ago.  But He did not leave us without an Immanuel.  During His Last Supper discourse, Jesus said, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not  go away, the Helper (i.e. the Holy Spirit) shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (Jn 16:7).  “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you” (Jn 14:16-17).

God has given us a new Immanuel that is not only “God with Us” but has become “God in Us” as well.  While we celebrate the birth of Jesus Immanuel and thank Him for His sacrifice that rescued us and gave us eternal life, we should also celebrate and thank Holy Spirit Immanuel who infuses our present life with joy, peace, and victory over the power of sin.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me” (Gal 2:20).  In acknowledging God in all His fullness, the three-in-one, we thank you Father for sending the Holy Spirit to be “Christ in us, the hope of glory!” (Col 1:27).  Amen!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have previously written about the importance of the labels we give ourselves – and just as critical, the labels we give our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We like to think it is a sign of humility when we refer to ourselves as “sinners saved by grace who have not made much progress since.”  But this is a false humility at best.  At worst, it is an outright rejection of God’s gift of a new identity for those in Christ Jesus.

We become what we label ourselves.  When we label ourselves as sinners, first and foremost, we are turning our backs on God’s gift of a new identity, a new heart, a new nature, a new power, a new Spirit, a new purity, a new disposition, a new relationship with sin, a new everything we have been writing about for the past several months.  And, sadly, it becomes an excuse to not aim higher, an excuse to shirk the goal of spiritual maturity, an excuse to remain in our sin.  We were made for so much more!

So what does the idea of us being made for so much more – and celebrating the incredible outpouring upon us of all that’s new – do to our humility?  Do we become puffed up at the thought of Jesus now calling us His friend (Jn 15:15)?  Or Paul calling us “holy and beloved” (Col 3:12)?  Or John calling us the very “seed of God” and “born of God” (I Jn 3:9)?  By turning off the sinner label, does our pride rise up as we dwell on and experience our new capacity and inclination toward righteousness?

These are legitimate questions.  The line between our practice of the righteousness bestowed by the new birth and the self-righteousness condemned by Jesus can become a fuzzy one if we are not careful.  The important key to separating the two is an overflowing attitude of thanksgiving to God for the Gift and the gifts of the New Covenant.  After all the Gift and gifts of the New Covenant are just that:  GIFTS!  We did not earn them!  They are pure gifts of God’s grace.

Think about it this way.  If you live in a million dollar home, you may have a serious appreciation for the design or the craftsmanship.  But if the home was a gift, and you have any common sense at all, you will take no pride in its value.  After all, you had nothing to do with acquiring the house.  It was pure gift.  Instead of boasting about the home’s value, you will be looking for every opportunity to thank the one who gave you the gift.  Similarly, you are walking around with a “million dollar new identity”, but boasting in it is likewise foolish since we did nothing to earn it.

This attitude of extreme thanksgiving and humility in recognizing we have done nothing to earn God’s gifts sets the foundation for us to experience the gifts without apology.  Instead of insisting we have nothing to offer our believing community by way of our own spiritual progress, step up and use what you have experienced in the newness of the resurrection life to encourage others to join you on the path.  And give thanks to God for “His indescribable gift.”

As much as we celebrate the power of the cross, we mustn’t neglect the power of the resurrection.  Many have died on a cross -though only one as the Son of God – but the spectacular coming-back-to-life is the experience of Jesus alone.  God the Father confirmed the power and sufficiency of Christ’s death to forgive sin and His identity as God’s Son, the sinless One, by raising Jesus from the dead (Rom 1:1-4).  The resurrection sealed the deal and confirmed our salvation won at the cross.  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy had caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (I Pet 1:3).

In Philippians chapter 3, the apostle Paul writes, “Not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Phil 3:9-11).

In one verse, Paul takes the power of the cross; “the fellowship of His sufferings” and “being conformed to His death” and puts it together with the power of the resurrection in his desire to know Christ in His fullness.  Paul follows a similar pattern in Romans 6:5, “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.”  This hearkens back to the previous verse in chapter 6, “As Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4).

To walk in newness of life.  Somehow we have landed on my favorite word in the New Testament; the word new.  Nothing goes together better than the words “new” and “resurrection”.  We were raised with Christ to experience all the “new” that He has promised His children.  So as we approach this Resurrection Sunday, take a minute to thank the resurrecting Father for both the privilege and responsibility, and might I add the godly desire, to walk in the power of the resurrection.