Monday, October 30, 2017

The great exchange



But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,
and by His wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
~Isaiah 53:5-6

For you know it was not with perishable things
such as silver or gold
that you were redeemed from the empty way of life
handed down to you from your forefathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, 
a lamb without blemish or defect.
~1 Peter 1:18-19

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,
so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
~2 Corinthians 5:21

For Christ died for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God.
He was put to death in the body 
but made alive by the Spirit.
~1 Peter 3:18

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree,
so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness;
by His wounds you have been healed.
For you were like sheep going astray,
but now you have returned
to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:24-25



Friday, October 27, 2017

Faith



Faith is being thankful to God in advance.

In other words, faith is thanking God for what He will do in the future.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1).

Faith believes that there is a God, and that He will do what He says He will do.

Faith is being thankful to God in advance.

Faith believes that God is good, and God is almighty.  Faith believes that God's plans are ultimately good and certain to come to pass.

Faith believes that God exists, that His command created the Universe, and that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:3, 6).

God rewards those who seek Him.

The belief in a future reward is a crucial element of faith.  Faith looks to the future and trusts in a future benefit.  Look at some examples from Hebrews 11:

  • Noah built the ark amidst ridicule and persecution, believing that it would benefit him in the end, and it did.  
  • Abraham left his homeland to go wherever God would lead him, "looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (Hebrews 11:10)  In other words, Abraham left a known place, in faith that he was headed to a better place.  
  • Moses gave up a position of power in Egypt, believing that God's calling was greater and would result in something much more valuable than the treasures of Egypt.


None of the heroes of the faith listed in Hebrews 11 received their ultimate reward in this life.  Some of them received intermediary rewards, but some did not.   Yet, all who live by faith receive the reward of eternal life with God through the atoning death of Christ.  "Atoning death" means that Christ's death satisfied the justice of God and makes payment--full restitution--for the damages that sin inflicts on God's creation.  In this way, Jesus purchased souls for God.  This is what we mean when we say we have been purchased by the blood of Jesus.

Putting your faith in Jesus means that you trust Jesus to extend His great salvation to you.  You believe in Him and trust that His death clears you from all guilt and condemnation.  You believe that His Holy Spirit comes to reside in your actual body for the rest of your life, changing you and preparing you for eternal life with God.  You believe that there will be a permanent, perfectly restored New Heaven and New Earth where you will live eternally in blissful perfection before the presence of the good God of beauty, light and life.  You look forward to this.  Looking forward to this helps you weather the trials of your present life on a fallen planet, with all its ups and downs, its disappointments, sorrows and separations.  You look forward to the end of sin and trouble.

You look forward.

Faith is being thankful to God in advance.

Faith is very difficult for those who have not mastered the idea of delayed gratification.  If you cannot see how it would benefit you to wash and fold your clothes now so they won't be dirty and wrinkled the next time you need to wear them, you will certainly struggle to understand how refraining from sinful self-indulgence today will deeply bless you later.

The measureless fathoms of future eternity are meaningless to one who cannot see beyond his immediate desire in a moment.  This is sad.  Yet, there is always hope for every person, because faith is a gift from God.  When God grants faith to someone, He enables that person to comprehend eternity and to perceive the reality of his own position in light of eternity.  There is hope for all people, because God has set eternity in the hearts of all people (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

When God gives a mortal the gift of faith and a new, immortal soul, He does it by way of opening the mortal's spiritual vision to a view of Truth.  This is why Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." (John 8:32)

Faith is when God grants you the spiritual sight to recognize Truth and grasp the concept of the eternal hereafter.   In a strange way, faith is when God lets you see into the future.  You don't see all the details clearly, of course, but He gives you enough sight to know that something is coming, something vast and momentous, and you realize you need Him desperately to survive.  Not only that, you discern that if you throw your lot in with Him, you are sure to thrive.

Faith is understanding that you need God's grace to survive and thrive.

Faith is knowing that with God's grace, you are certain to survive and thrive.

Faith is being thankful to God in advance.



Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Hanging out at home

Well, yes, I've been sick.

Sigh.

So, I really ought to be writing this post over on my lupus blog.

Except, I don't want to write about being sick.

The sunshine in this house is quite remarkable.

The other day I took a hiatus from my bedroom and wandered down to the family room in the late afternoon.  Jumbled circles of golden light bounced against the closed blinds over the doors to the deck, teasing to get in.  I padded down two steps, across the floor.  Quiet in my pajamas, I stood by the blinds watching the light play for a moment, then turned the rod to open the slats.

Brightness flooded the room.  I could have focused on the deck, which sorely needs sweeping, but I chose to gaze beyond, through the foliage.  Trees grow along the swale that is sometimes almost a stream running down to the lake.  We have a maple and some pines, while our neighbor, across the swale, has a lovely weeping willow.  Willow fronds dangled and danced, dappled and dappling, all interspersed with slanted light shining through.  Across nearby plains and cornfields, wind flies fierce, but trees and rolling terrain in our neighborhood restrain and tame the gales.  Gusts still whirl, of course, but not as ferociously.  I watched a group of willow fronds tossed back and forth in the breeze.  Jungle-like, yet quintessentially Midwestern, luminescent yellow-green foliage swinging loose and free, sparkling.

There are so many things I want to write about, but the ideas get tangled up in too many words.  I want to write about being present, about reality, about not living a virtual life, not worshiping images of things.  I want to write about how the Sabbath year for cancelling debts and the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25, Deuteronomy 15) demonstrate the same principle as the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16).  But I don't have the words for it.  Or rather, I have too many.  So I skip to the punch: Truth illuminated.  Unmerited favor.  Grace.

Grace.  Light.  Beauty.


Dear Lord Jesus, please shed your grace on us.  
Show us the light, the beauty that is You, 
the wonder of Truth, the gift of Wisdom.
Amen



Here are a few pictures I took today,
trying to capture the beauty of light,
and one picture Shawn took
with quite a remarkable capture of light.
Please look for the light.

Petals

Contrasts 

Noon 

Sunshine on a sunporch
(I thought I was better today, so I dressed and tried to go out,
but I landed back at home in comfy fleece lounge pants,
with my Bible and my dog.)

He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;
yet they cannot fathom what God has done
from beginning to end.
~Ecclesiastes 2:25



Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Very personal memories of God



God has graciously drawn me since I was very young.

I do not know why.

Why does He draw someone?  And why does someone else struggle so, to hear and to believe?

One of my first memories is of being a small baby, and being carried to my crib.  I did not want to be put into my crib, this I know.  I remember the feeling of dread, how I clung to the adult but was peeled off and placed in the barred crib despite my most passionate protests.  I remember remembering the horror of the ongoing routine of screaming and crying for someone to come back and get me, but nobody coming.  I remember the soft crunch of a plastic mattress liner under the sheet over the crib mattress, and the taste of the varnish on the wood of the crib.  I vividly remember the hot scratchiness of the screams that tore my throat, and the strain of clutching the crib rail, pulling myself up, striving, straining, flexing every muscle in panicked fury until I was in veritable pain.  And I remember a calm voice that spoke to me, although perhaps not in words, because I don't think I was verbal.  Maybe it was just an idea that washed over me from Someone outside of me.  "You don't have to fight," this Presence told me.  "It's okay.  You can just lie down.  It doesn't have to be like this."  I remember lying down, gently, almost as if an angel slipped me into a new position with comforting hands.  I clearly remember a comforting warmth that spread over me as I let go of my angst, my striving.  My tempest melted away in a blanket of warmth, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up to happy parents.

You may not believe it, but I remember this.  Somehow, I've always known it was God there that day, telling me, "You can just lie down.  It doesn't have to be like this."

I remember a day when, as a school-aged child, I sat cross-legged on the floor in the living room in front of the oak bookshelves that surrounded the descending staircase.  Green carpet, oak shelves, the World Book Encyclopedia volumes bound in black and white leather, the set of beloved Childcraft books.  I sat in that spot often, considering what to read next.  But that particular day, I felt the presence of God, and I wondered why I was so blessed.  Why did I have a nice, solid house and nice, clean clothes and good food to eat, when the world was full of suffering, starving people? Why did I get to go to church and learn about Jesus, when people all around the world had never heard of Him?  Why did I have a mom and dad who taught me about God?  Why did I have a bookshelf right in front of me with numerous Bibles in various translations at my fingertips?  Why indeed?  I thought of the maps inside the pages of the volumes of the encyclopedia, and I imagined all the distant places and people groups they represented, and I thought about the largeness of the world, even the Universe.  In those moments, the Spirit of God was doing something in me, opening my mind to a vastness beyond myself.  Not that I understood it, but I was aware of it.  I pondered the Universe, and how I was so small within it, and yet so inexplicably blessed.

I remember being a bit older, a young teenager, walking home from school with friends.  I was sharing about something that had happened, something I didn't like.  I don't remember the particulars, but it had to do with authority and punishment, and I was upset.  The others listened sympathetically.  They were kind to me.  Supportive.  "That isn't fair at all," they said.  "You don't have to accept that."  They admonished me to fight, to resist, to rebel.  It felt good.  I felt validated.  And then, suddenly, I realized the hollowness of it.  Although I do not remember the exact subject, the words, the details of the situation, I remember a sudden awareness that it was wrong.  I remember, accompanying the awareness, the curving slope of the green autumn grass down to the road (if you know Anoka, it was Green Street).  This part of the memory is as clear as the day it happened.  That Presence--the one that had been there since I was a baby--was suddenly in me again, and although the words of my friends had been soothing and affirming, I knew that I could not listen to them, that they were not right.  I had a fleeting thought about how it was a shame that I couldn't go on being validated, there on the green, grassy lawn.  The regret was followed by a chilling sensation as I understood how strong the temptation was to believe a lie.  I don't remember what happened afterwards, in my physical life, with the people.  I don't remember how the conversation may have closed.  All I know is that God was there, and He pointed me away from the alluring validation of my sin, from words and ideas that seemed so appealing, but were not true.  They simply were not true.

Those are three specific, memorable times when God communicated with me as a child.  To this day, I do not know why He did.

Why should I be blessed to be able to sense God's presence and respond to Him?  Why should I be blessed to love His Word, and through His Word, Him?  Oh, dear Lord, may others have this blessing.  Please open hearts, as I know you can, as only you can.






Monday, October 9, 2017

Jesus, the Word of God



Once I wrote a post called Sin, the Promise, the Law and the Word of God.  (If you click on that highlighted text, it will link you to it.) It is a piece wherein I hashed out some of my most frustrating questions, and somehow arrived at answers that I found satisfying.

It's a post where I explain my understanding of the story of the Bible, in broad scope.  Although it is not exhaustive, it tackles certain questions that often seem to go unanswered.  Sometimes we flail awkwardly with regard to the Law, or the Torah, not grasping what we should do with this ancient and original section of the Bible, and why it is in the Bible.

Over the weekend, Shawn and I visited one of our children's churches, and heard an excellent message on the Transfiguration from Mark 9.  (Okay, I'm sorry.  This is an abrupt transition.  Please bear with me.)

In Sunday's sermon, the pastor pointed us to Jesus, standing on the mountain where He was transfigured.  Mark tells us:

His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.  And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus . . . Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love.  Listen to Him!" (Mark 9:3-4, 7)

Other teachers have pointed out that the enveloping cloud signifies the presence of Holy God, just as it did on Sinai long ago in Exodus:

The Lord said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you" . . . On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightening, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast.  Everyone in the camp trembled.  Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.  Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord descended on it with fire.  The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.  Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. (Exodus 19:9, 16-19)

I saw for the first time the absolute parallel of what God was doing here.  It reminded me of a paragraph I'd written in Sin, the Promise, the Law and the Word of God:

The Law was the first revealed Word of God, but Jesus was the ultimate revealed Word of God (see John 1).  What the Law showed us in part on tablets of stone, Jesus showed us completely in a life lived in the flesh.  What the Law promised, Jesus fulfilled.

No wonder the story of the Transfiguration is repeated throughout Matthew, Mark and Luke, while John alludes to it in John 1:14.  This is a life-altering event, where God transfers the authority of His Word to the promised prophet that Moses had spoken of:

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers.  You must listen to Him.  For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die."  The Lord said to me: "What you say is good.  I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.  If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account." (Deuteronomy 18:15-19)

Humanity could not face the presence of God and live, so Jesus Christ humbled Himself to become one like us, from among our brothers, born a human baby from a human mother.  He took on human flesh so He could bring us the living Word of God in a form that we could grasp.

Jesus said:

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my words and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.  I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. (John 5:24-25)
For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.  I know that His command leads to eternal life.  So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say. (John 12:49-50)
I and the Father are one.  (John 10:30)

Jesus is the fulfillment of every promise, the source of life, the true word of God, the hope of all creation.  Jesus is everything.  

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ.  And so through Him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.  Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.  He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.  (2 Corinthians 1:20-22)

. . . through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son, in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.  And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:2-4)

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. (John 3:17)

. . . which leads us to Romans 8:1 --

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!

So anyway, that is what I learned this weekend.  The Transfiguration shows us how God glorified His Son, Jesus Christ, and demonstrated that He was the promised prophet who would speak God's words.  Jesus is the one we must listen to.  Jesus comes to us with the words of life.  Jesus fulfills every promise and opens heaven to all who will believe.

And of course this leads us again to the gift of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, who comes to dwell in the hearts of every believer.  Jesus doesn't leave us as orphans, but sends His own Holy Spirit to abide in us, uniting with our spirits so that we are one with Christ, who is one with God. (John 14:18-20)

That, however, is moving on to another subject.



(All Bible quotes that I typed out in this post were from the NIV84; underlined emphasis is mine.)