Apr

05

A perfect sacrifice

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Pierced, bruised, and crushed. An innocent lamb led to slaughter. That was our beloved Lord at the hands of the Romans on that fateful day. The imagery is raw. It breaks the heart. The sacrifice he made, the torture, the humiliation, and how he was mentally and emotionally brought down by the weight of humankind’s sin is brutal.

 

What the Lord went through is stirring in the deepest of ways because what he suffered was what we deserve. Though because of this miraculous feat, we are now set free. Set free spiritually from everything that besets our souls forever.

 

The compassion of God is truly greater than anything we’ll ever come to know. The more we dwell upon the flogging he endured… the stripes upon his back… the nails in his wrists, and the crown of thorns on his head, we more fully can understand the magnitude of his suffering. The greater meaning of it all, we’ll understand in heaven, but for now, we can rest in the truth of God’s word that these things were designed from the beginning for our good.

 

By His stripes we are healed. We take medicine for our physical ailments, but the only medicine to cure our souls is the blood of the perfect lamb.

 

Apr

03

Jesus plus nothing equals everything

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By His grace, God sent his only begotten Son to take the brutal penalty for all of mankind…for each and every one of us as it states in 1 Peter 3:18 … Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. Though it begs the question: If God is love, and he has an amazing compassion for us, they why doesn’t this grace cast everyone straight into heaven?

… God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth ~ 1Tim. 2:3-4

 Some would say his love doesn’t extend far enough to save everyone and that it’s only for the elect. That’s true, it is for the elect. Those who’ve made the choice to believe are the elect! And the choice is made to believe in Him through our faith. Can God’s loving desire for everyone to be saved be contradicted by anything other than rejection by man’s own choice?

 Moses said in Deuteronomy 30:11, Now, what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach… love the Lord your God…walk in obedience to Him… choose life. Joshua also exhorted Israel to choose whom to serve. It was a choice then and it’s a choice now.

Our finite minds cannot begin to comprehend the depth of God’s grace to mankind. Though Jesus’s finished work on the cross is a good place to start.

 

Mar

21

Our Holy Servant

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Jesus is the only hope for mankind. The more we learn and grow in him and learn his ways, the more we will yield and trust him through the power of the Holy Spirit. Despite the rejection by the Pharisees in his day as well as that of unbelievers today, Jesus remains God’s chosen one. More than that, he is also a servant.

In the days when Jesus walked the earth, great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all. Jesus bore no discrimination. His ways are true, gentle, compassionate, and just.

“Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; and in His name Gentiles will trust” ~ Isaiah 42

 Jesus is not only prophet, priest, and king. “He who is greatest among you, shall be your servant” (Matthew 23:11). Jesus describes himself as a servant throughout the books of Matthew and Mark. In Acts 3, Apostle Peter refers to Jesus as his servant.  In Acts 4, the praying people of God speak of “Your holy Servant Jesus.”

Jesus, the true servant, is an example to us. He serves us through not only what he did in the past but also presently. Our advocate, Jesus, did not stop serving when he ascended back to heaven. He continues to serve every day through his constant and abiding love, care, guidance, and intercession.

Mar

15

Got trust

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The unfathomable depth of God’s love for humanity can be witnessed as far back as the garden. Even after Adam and Eve sinned and God sent them away because their fellowship had been broken, His unfailing love remained as He provided for them by sacrificing an animal and clothing them with its skin.

 

Unlike worldly love that ebbs and wanes at its own discretion, God’s love is an unlimited source that stems from His true nature. In times of fear or uncertainty, it should be comforting to know that God isn’t far away. If we are abiding in Christ, there is nothing to fear because we are held in the palm of his hand. 

 

Now, Christ sits at the right hand of God after making the ultimate sacrifice. Those who’ve put their trust in Him are now clothed in the cloak of Christ’s righteousness. That is why believers should no longer have any worries, fears or doubts about the Lord’s love or his plans and provisions for our lives. Whether there’s famine, peril, nakedness, or sword, there’s nothing—at all—imaginable that can come between the Lord and His redeemed. 

 

“No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from his hand, ’til he returns and calls me home, here in the power of Christ I stand” ~ In Christ Alone written by Getty and Townend. 

Mar

10

Christ plus nothing equals everything

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What Jesus accomplished on the cross in doing his Father’s will is everything a person needs. The rest of his grace is just icing on the cake. The Lord said to Paul in the midst of bemoaning his physical ailment, “My grace is sufficient.” The grace of an eternal pardon and payment for our sins is the most valuable gift we’ll ever receive and the only one that will enable us to enter the next world, if we accept it.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose ~ Romans 8:28

Many view the world’s troubles and try to justify them as being fair or not fair. God is not so much about the fairness, but he’s all about the justice. Was it fair that Jesus suffered for something he did not do? Is it fair that some who receive riches are not always deserving of their wealth?  Does the smartest person always gain the noblest position in life? The race doesn’t always go to the swiftest.

One question for the believer:  Because of the cross, who of the saved can demand any other fairness other than the unfair exchange of life that granted you a new one in Christ?

We need to see the circumstances of life through God’s love and not judge God in light of our circumstances. That’s where our faith comes in. There is a purpose for everything God does. Whether or not we understand the Lord’s motivation, as believers, there is nothing more important to us than our faith… our faith to believe that we are saved, that God loves us, and that his plans include a glorious future for us.