“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17
All things from the beginning of creation point to Jesus. The record of creation says “let us make man in our image, in our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). The plural was used because God has always been triune. Jesus was always there, along with the Holy Spirit, from the beginning until now and forevermore.
As soon as Adam and Eve fell from grace and into sin, the intention was always to send the Savior. The Law was created for men and handed down from God to Moses so that men might understand the difficulty they would encounter meeting God’s expectations. You see, God’s expectation is perfection. Nothing more, nothing less. And man was completely incapable of meeting God’s expectations. So many religions today teach good works, good will, enlightenment and so many different paths to Heaven. But none of these good works will ever be good enough, because only perfection will do. God created the Law to reveal man’s inability to keep it! Men who believe that they can get to Heaven on good works are deluded. Our realization that we are not and cannot be good enough is the catalyst for Christ in our lives. We cannot earn favor with God-He is holy and perfect-only Christ is good enough. Jesus says “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The moment that we embrace this truth and turn to Christ for our salvation, we encounter an entirely new feeling of peace and grace. Our willingness to admit that we will never earn God’s favor without Christ is the beginning of our communion with God. The end of our “selves” is the beginning of our relationship with Him.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
An Underdog Story
“We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” John 4:42 (NIV)
People just love a good underdog story. As much as we like to see the popular people fall from grace, we want the most unlikely people to succeed and catch the limelight for a moment or two. It is very heartwarming. The Bible is filled with stories of the unlikely people succeeding. Moses, Abraham, David, Esther… and too many more to count. Of course, they could never have done it without the grace of God on their side.
Jesus met up with the Samaritan woman at the well in the heat of the day. It was noon, when most people stayed inside to gain some relief from the heat, and she was out drawing water to avoid the scoffing murmurs of the other women in town. She had been through five husbands and was currently living with a man who was not her husband (John 4:18). It was certainly not socially acceptable for a man to talk to a woman in public, but it was even less acceptable for a Jew to talk to a Samaritan. The two groups had a significant disdain for each other and did not associate at all. But Jesus selected her, much to her confusion, to ask for a drink of water and offer up his own “living water” (John 4:10).
After their initial conversation, the woman begins to realize that Jesus could possibly be the Christ, the one they have been waiting for. She urgently runs back to town, leaving her water jar behind. When she arrives she exclaims with excitement “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29). As they all rush out to meet Jesus, I try to imagine what that Samaritan woman is thinking. This is her moment of redemption, both literally and figuratively. Jesus has saved her soul and helped her regain her dignity and reputation. I would be inclined to believe that if God’s grace had not intervened in her life at that moment, the people in town would have just looked at her and laughed. How interesting that Jesus chose not only a woman, but a woman of ill repute to deliver the news of his arrival to the town in Samaria. Of course we learn that Jesus stayed for several days teaching the Samaritans and many believed in him, but it was because of the Samaritan woman at the well that his grace and glory were received by this town. I believe this story is telling us that we should never underestimate what God can do through us, and that we are never so far gone that he will not accept us into his loving arms of mercy and grace.
People just love a good underdog story. As much as we like to see the popular people fall from grace, we want the most unlikely people to succeed and catch the limelight for a moment or two. It is very heartwarming. The Bible is filled with stories of the unlikely people succeeding. Moses, Abraham, David, Esther… and too many more to count. Of course, they could never have done it without the grace of God on their side.
Jesus met up with the Samaritan woman at the well in the heat of the day. It was noon, when most people stayed inside to gain some relief from the heat, and she was out drawing water to avoid the scoffing murmurs of the other women in town. She had been through five husbands and was currently living with a man who was not her husband (John 4:18). It was certainly not socially acceptable for a man to talk to a woman in public, but it was even less acceptable for a Jew to talk to a Samaritan. The two groups had a significant disdain for each other and did not associate at all. But Jesus selected her, much to her confusion, to ask for a drink of water and offer up his own “living water” (John 4:10).
After their initial conversation, the woman begins to realize that Jesus could possibly be the Christ, the one they have been waiting for. She urgently runs back to town, leaving her water jar behind. When she arrives she exclaims with excitement “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29). As they all rush out to meet Jesus, I try to imagine what that Samaritan woman is thinking. This is her moment of redemption, both literally and figuratively. Jesus has saved her soul and helped her regain her dignity and reputation. I would be inclined to believe that if God’s grace had not intervened in her life at that moment, the people in town would have just looked at her and laughed. How interesting that Jesus chose not only a woman, but a woman of ill repute to deliver the news of his arrival to the town in Samaria. Of course we learn that Jesus stayed for several days teaching the Samaritans and many believed in him, but it was because of the Samaritan woman at the well that his grace and glory were received by this town. I believe this story is telling us that we should never underestimate what God can do through us, and that we are never so far gone that he will not accept us into his loving arms of mercy and grace.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The Glory of God
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)
I have begun a new Bible study to begin this New Year. By the end of the reading today I was overwhelmed with joy and absolute amazement, yet again, for God. Today’s lesson was about one of the reasons God created man, which was for His Glory. Glory is used to denote “the manifestation of God’s presence” according to Wikipedia. God created everyone and everything for HIS glory alone. Isaiah writes of God calling to “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (43:7). The Bible makes an overwhelming number of references to God’s glory from the beginning to the end. It is represented as filling the whole earth (Isa 6:3), appearing to Moses and Aaron (Num 20:6), filling the temple (2 Chron 5:14), being declared by the heavens and the people (Ps 19:1, 29:9), and belonging to God alone (Isa 42:8). And those are just a few of the Old Testament references to glory. Glory is God’s amazing and wonderful presence is all that He is and all that He has made.
The New Testament is also filled with references to God’s glory, which has now become manifest in the person of Christ Jesus (John 1:14). Christ owns all the same glorious attributes that were always present in God and He is now revealing them to us by walking on the earth. So the amazing thing is that God’s glory now can belong to us, His children, while we are waiting here in these earthly tents in which we dwell. “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). Christ is OUR hope of glory as we are revealing God’s glory through Him in ourselves. Paul writes “and we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18). Ever-increasing glory. Praise God for His many blessing, for we are now the small vessels in which God is pouring his glory through our faith in Jesus and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Christ is the key that unlocks God’s glory in us. Just as we have no hope of glorifying God without Christ in us, we begin to understand that as we mature in Christ we will reveal “ever-increasing glory” to the world around us. I can’t think of a more wonderful thing than revealing God’s glory. It is an honor, a privilege, and an amazing gift that God would even consider revealing a tiny portion of His glory though sinners like me and the rest of the fallen humanity of this world.
I have begun a new Bible study to begin this New Year. By the end of the reading today I was overwhelmed with joy and absolute amazement, yet again, for God. Today’s lesson was about one of the reasons God created man, which was for His Glory. Glory is used to denote “the manifestation of God’s presence” according to Wikipedia. God created everyone and everything for HIS glory alone. Isaiah writes of God calling to “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (43:7). The Bible makes an overwhelming number of references to God’s glory from the beginning to the end. It is represented as filling the whole earth (Isa 6:3), appearing to Moses and Aaron (Num 20:6), filling the temple (2 Chron 5:14), being declared by the heavens and the people (Ps 19:1, 29:9), and belonging to God alone (Isa 42:8). And those are just a few of the Old Testament references to glory. Glory is God’s amazing and wonderful presence is all that He is and all that He has made.
The New Testament is also filled with references to God’s glory, which has now become manifest in the person of Christ Jesus (John 1:14). Christ owns all the same glorious attributes that were always present in God and He is now revealing them to us by walking on the earth. So the amazing thing is that God’s glory now can belong to us, His children, while we are waiting here in these earthly tents in which we dwell. “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). Christ is OUR hope of glory as we are revealing God’s glory through Him in ourselves. Paul writes “and we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18). Ever-increasing glory. Praise God for His many blessing, for we are now the small vessels in which God is pouring his glory through our faith in Jesus and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Christ is the key that unlocks God’s glory in us. Just as we have no hope of glorifying God without Christ in us, we begin to understand that as we mature in Christ we will reveal “ever-increasing glory” to the world around us. I can’t think of a more wonderful thing than revealing God’s glory. It is an honor, a privilege, and an amazing gift that God would even consider revealing a tiny portion of His glory though sinners like me and the rest of the fallen humanity of this world.
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