Mark’s narrative of the life of Jesus starts off by saying

 ”The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”

I remember reading a book by John Piper called “God is the Gospel”. Piper has developed a theme called “Christian Hedonism” and under that theme is the slogan “God is most satisfied in us, when we are most satisfied in Him”.

Now that may sound wordy or like some catchy slogan. But read it again. God is most satisfied in us, when we are most satisfied in Him. Now I want you to think of all the books out there “Have Your Best Life Now”, “Being An Over comer”, “Slaying Your Giants”, and on and and on. If you go to the preaching it is even worse! Many churches are packed everyday, full of good information on how to be wise business man, how to get your kids in a good college, how to be successful, how to save your marriage by having good sex and on and on and on!

And the most important person, the person we are to gather around, the person whom we come to hear from and through one another, rarely ever comes up! My friend, having a good life is having Christ. Having a good marriage is having Christ, Having a successful “business” is having Christ, for He is the BEST news ever! Nothing else matters my friends, this world and its fleeing pleasures will be destroyed and the eternal Jerusalem will come down from heaven and we will dwell in the city of God!

If you want to satisfy God, be satisfied in His Son. Mark is going to show us who He is and show us why He is the good news! Don’t let this okie doke preachers convince you that having Jesus is some basic truth, He is Truth! Our bodies are going to get old, the economy will fool you, your marriage will end, your children will leave, your sex life will evaporate, success is not guaranteed, but Jesus is the rock from where the water flows and when we are satisfied in Him, all of our hunger, thirst and desires will be fulfilled. My friends Jesus is the good news, everything else is “vanity”.

Gospel

This is it!!!  Jesus has been beaten and mocked, spat on and pierced, He’s been hung on a cross and has died (given His life). In most cases this would be it, this would be the end of the story and we would have nothing left to say. When it comes to Christ we can’t stop there because the story does not end there. Christ continues to live, He rose from the grave just as He said He would do, (Jn. 2:19) and has lived on, and will continue to live on. (Matt. 28:20, Mk. 16:19, Col. 3:1) We my friends must take much confidence in knowing that Christ is not only alive, but He has not left us alone. He has promised to always be with us. (Matt. 28:20)  I get very excited when I speak of all the acts Christ has done. Lets look at some of them: He left a holy heaven where there is no sin at all, to come here and dwell in a sin ravaged earth with us people who suffer from sin ravaged hearts. How do you think that felt to Him? Jesus left a life that had never touched sin to come to a place that is disgustingly polluted and littered with sin for the specific purpose of dying for those who are sinning against Him and free them from there sin, most importantly rescue them from the wrath of God. The reason why I get excited about the works and selfless acts of Christ is not only because He has rescued me, but also because I know He didn’t have to do any of this.  He didn’t have to do one single thing, not one. But He did.We should rejoice in the freedom that is ours through our savior Christ Jesus, the freedom from sin, the freedom from the law, the freedom from the wrath of God. We must not stop there, we must now live our lives ever learning from the example Christ has shown us. (1Pet. 2:21, Jn. 13:15) We must live a life that pleases our Father not one that pleases us. We must go out and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Sone and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded us and remember that Christ is with us always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28:19-20).

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As we near the end of Matthew’s gospel. We find ourselves seeing the one who healed, loved, served, accepted the mariginalized, forgave the sinner and rebuked the self righteous, being betrayed by the infamous kiss. We see the master eat His last meal before His death, we see Him still thinking of others more than himself when the one coming to falsely arrest him is attacked by one of Jesus’ own disciples and even more heart wrenching is the prayer, the plea with the Father 3 times to let the cup pass; however, His will was totally submitted to the Father and what must be pursued; the wretched cross!

There are so many things to say about our readings today, but the only thing I want to focus on is the love of Christ. Hebrews 12:2 talks about the Joy of Jesus. Ultimately He knew what had to be done. As we are reading through Leviticus we see animal after animal killed, cut up and consumed by fire. We are now going to see a human sacrificed. The three years are up, Jesus has lived the sinless life, He has been prepared as Brian pointed out, by the oil being poured on His head. The betrayer has put things in motion and things are looking bleak.

But again we see a future statement in Matthew 26:32. He says “but when I am raised”. They have not yet understood this, but for us who look back we know fully. He who will be crucified raised from the dead and that is our hope. We know the end of the story. Christ is raised as the firstfruit of the ressurection and He promises us the same salvation.

I don’t want to get to far ahead, but last not look at the disciples with too much piety, we know that we will be raised from the dead and we still doubt, they had not yet experienced such a truth.

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The extreme detail and exquisite design of the tabernacle and everything that went in it is something to marvel. They used the very best materials (gold, bronze, silver, acacia wood, and the best essential oils known to man) to create a place of worship for the Lord God. But as I read today’s OT reading, I couldn’t help but think, “All of the splendor and majesty of the tabernacle was still not good enough for true worship. Christ still had to come. In fact, He was already slain and waiting for the Father to dispatch Him at the time when they were actually building the tabernacle!” We must keep this in mind as we are sifting through the Scriptures this year in order to understand the depth and severity of the Messiah and His redemptive work.

Speaking of redemptive work…

In our NT reading, we are in the middle of Passion Week. Christ is coming closer and closer to death, but before He dies He has to set the Pharisees straight once and for all. Now, let me pause right here to say this: The Pharisees were NOT “bad” men! In most teachings they are depicted as some rebellious God-hating sinners when in fact these guys were morally upright. They kept all the laws, were well-versed in the Scriptures, kept all the holy holidays, and were keepers of the temple ordinances. These were nice men with good intentions, but as the saying goes, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” and that’s exactly what Jesus was saying.

Jesus repeatedly calls them hypocrites because all the good that they were doing outwardly didn’t amount to a hill of beans because their hearts had not been transformed. They knew the Scriptures—they TAUGHT the Scriptures—yet they did not know the One to whom the Scriptures were about. He accuses them of being clean on the outside but dirty on the inside. He tells them that their proselytizing is worthless and that they make it harder—if not impossible—to enter the Kingdom.

Whoa, Jesus! What are you trying to teach us here?

The implication of the word hypocrite has everything to do with the condition of the heart. You can know the Word, teach the Word, be the first one in the church and the last one out, pass out tracts and evangelize on the street corners, pay your tithe, fellowship with the brethren, and do all the things that make you look righteous on the outside…But if your heart has not been transformed by the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you do not understand that worshiping God is not restricted to a majestic place or merely something that we do but that it starts with a transformation of the heart, you are a hypocrite and no good will come from you. And on that Day, He will say, “Depart from me. I NEVER knew you…”

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Today’s OT reading has us focusing on of the greatest miracles in scripture, not to mention one of the most popular stories in human history. The parting of the red sea, the Israelites going across on dry land while the Egyptians were swallowed up. Not only did God take the heir to the throne, he also took the throne and showed the world just how great He was. This was catastrophic for Egyptians because now someone else not of the direct offspring of the Pharaoh would assume authority, but God has often showed that He will not share His glory with another. But, we know that story and today I want to focus on our NT reading.

Our reading today starts off kind of odd. It doesn’t seem to appear to be anything in the text that would have caused the Pharisee to ask such a question. He asks “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause” this is shortly after many came to Jesus and He healded them.

So Jesus answers the question, and what a shocking answer it is. He says unless for sexual immorality. Now, this is a very debatable topic. But I think I may have adopted Piper’s view on marriage, though I am not 100% there, my thoughts would most likely fall upon those lines. You can find that here, so I will not focus on what I think Jesus meant, I want to speak to the culture today.

Today we have songs that are chart topping pop and R&B charts. The name of the song is called “Papers” by Usher. It is song in which the hook says “I am ready to sing them papers, papers”. I would not be concerned if Mr. Raymond were not a Christian as he is not bound by the New Covenant; however, he is bound by the New Covenant, thus his song ignores Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and the righteous requirement that is to follow those who say they are in Christ. But not to get sidetracked….

“Singing them papers” is the disposition of most today in our culture. Even among “conservative” evangelicals the divorce rate has hovered aroung 50% or so for the last 15-20 years. This is a disgrace and an outright rebellion against Christ and His teaching found in Matthew 19.

Because Eve was taken out the side of Adam, she was “flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone” and God gave the command even then (penned by Moses himself) that “the two shall become one flesh”. There is a strict permanence in mind here. Paul then goes on to use this in describing our relationship to Christ. Christ is permanently married to His bride and we have become “one flesh” with Him.

You see before sin so clouded our judgement and obscured the face of God, marriage was to be permanent. One man and one woman were to live forever, a sign of that covenant may be sexual intercourse. It is funny that Avatar catches this theology when Jake and Neytiri choose each other as mates. However, we have failed to acknowledge such a theology. The one flesh comes before the fall and thus is the standard of God! Sin interrupted that fellowship, but today we are not slaves to sin but to righteousness and because of this we are to restore and repair and reconcile what has been broken by the fall.

One way to do this is my Christian marriage. Christian marriage is one of the most beautiful witnesses we can portray to the world; however, we find ourselves persistently and even wrecklessly disobeying our Lord, because “God wants us to be happy”. I have even heard such false teaching from pulpits and even from “conservatives.

I don’t want to dig deeper, but I do want challenge you in an area. We have to take this more seriously than we do. This is not just another cultural thing. The marriage union for those who are in Christ is a picture of Christ and His bride. The way we love and submit, serve and give, sacrifice and live for, will show the world how Christ relates to His bride. For those who are “pastors” and constantly remarry those who have been divorced disobediently, maybe should ask who are they trying to please.

In closing we love to fight against gay marriage but will not fight for Christian marriages. I think we are more concerned with the image of marriage versus the purpose of marriage and who marriage actually belongs to. Let the world do what they want, God will judge them. But as Paul said we are to judge those in the church (I guess that “who are you to judge” is a bit overkill).

Divorce, Gospel, Marriage, Matthew, remarriage

The last few chapters of Genesis and the opening of Exodus looks to be the climax of the children of Israel. Jacob has become Israel, his sons reconciled,  they escaped famine, the offspring has the fertile land (important?) in Egypt they have integrated and permeated Egypt, they have lived their for a generation and it seems like everything is going fine but…..

Their blessing is their curse. Egypt as beautiful and enticing as it may be, will soon become a constant thorn in the side of God’s people. To be clear we will see Egypt as a picture of sin and we will see the only deliverer who can free God’s people will be God Himself. As we read through Exodus we should view this experience from the lens of the New Testament. The metanarrative (grand-story) of the bible is found in the promise of Genesis 3. God will deliverer His creation through the seed of the woman. Who this seed is, is the unfolding theme of our bible (Romans 4:13-16; Galatians 3:10-29).

So we find the Israelites being “fruitful and multiplying” in a land that does not know their God nor their covenant. To be even more direct, this land is ruled by a god who’s name is Pharaoh,  he will not acknowledge the true God and because of this brings God’s people into slavery. If we see the progression of Israel’s slavery it looks much like the progression of sin. First is starts off as an enjoyment, though you know you shouldn’t be there. Then it moves into a burden (Exodus 1:11), then it moves into ruthless oppression (Exodus 1:12-14) and eventually it moves into death (Exodus 1:15-22). James 1:15, has a similar progression of sin.

So now the Israelites have moved from fertile acceptance to ruthless death (“throw them in the Nile” Pharaoh says). We see this early in Matthew with a king who does not want Israel to have another king and many times Romans leaders were viewed as deities. Pharaoh was threatened by the male children much like Herod was, yet God will call His son “out of Egypt” (Matthew 2:15).

In spite of this God, hears the cries of His elect and provides a deliverer! A male child goes into Egypt (he is accepted as an Egyptian) by a miraculous event, guided by the hands of YAWEH and God now calls this son to deliver his elect. He will go in the power of YAWEH, and will deliever the people out of bondage into the land promised (the promise land is a picture of what will be known as the New Jerusalem where Mt. Zion is and God dwells). 

Jesus says “anyone who sins is a slave to sin”. Every human being is in bondage but God has provided a deliverer. The task master is tough, the burden is hard, yet God’s deliverer is loving and has a light burden and just as the Israelites need rest so do we, God’s deliverer provides rest (Matthew 11:28-30). Lets see how the story unfolds

Deliverance, Motif, Picture, Shadow

Today’s reading finds Jacob and his sons that reside with him amidst a severe famine. Their sheep, donkeys and money can not create food for them, so now they must turn to Egypt for help. It seems their lives have gone on after the conniving actions they took against their younger brother Joseph. Though they may have some guilt, Jacob has continually bore the pain of losing his favorite son.

So Jacob sends 10 of his sons to get food from Egypt, and when they get there Joseph immediately recognizes them yet they don’t recognized him (there are quite a few years in between these two events).

What is heart warming about this text is the recognition of sin in the lives of the 10. They realize that they are wrong. They realize that God will not let their sin go unnoticed, but what they have not realized is that God has already provided a substitute for them. Joseph being innocent has already suffered and has been elevated to highest office possible in Egypt. God as always has provided a ram for Himself. His promises to Abraham will not prevented, even in adverse circumstances.

After hearing their repentance Joseph weeps. He is broken by his brothers sins and excited that he has been reconciled. He must have thought throughout these years what was his purpose. Was he only their to pepetuate the Egyptian dynasty and go to his grave alone as an Egyptian? No, he is has provided a way of provision for his family, although through hardship.

We see reconciliation and repentance. But to make this practical, we need to think about our lives. If we are in Christ we have repented and have been reconciled and God has also provided Himself a lamb a sacrifice who was also innocent and this was His Son. The one He loves. He bears the suffering on our behalf and we get the provision that only He can make possible. But even more we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. God did not place Joseph in the high position of Pharaohs right hand so that he can eat, drink and be merry. God used Jacob to fulfill His purpose and plan to bring His promise to His people. Joseph could have easily gave them the food and not compromise His position and person. But He didn’t. And neither should we. God has given us a ministry of reconciliation. We are now ambassadors for Christ ( 2 Corinthians 5:18-20).  And we too can be used to reconcile our friends and family to the one true God.

However, Joseph’s position came by his uprightness in his moral character and his integrity. When presented with opportunities to get over, he did not. When presented with sexual immorality he fled, when given the opportunity to use his gifts to get out of prison he passed them along to the his fellow prisoners and they got free and even when they were free he never yelled about how unfair that was. He entrusted himself to God and God gave him the ultimate victory. We will have to do the same if we are to present the ministry of reconciliation. We will have to have upright moral character and integrity. This may cause us to be falsely accused, ridiculed or even persecuted at some length, but Jesus says ” a servant is not above His master…”. Jesus experienced this and so will we from time to time.

As we transition into our New Testament reading Jesus is speaking of the value of the Kingdom of Heaven. He uses the simile literary style.  We see from yesterday that the Kingdom is a seed that is thrown but only a few will bear fruit. It is also like leaven that permeates, a valuable item in which all is sold to pursue and finally it is like a net which may catch a lot of things  yet only some of them will be good, while the others will be discarded. The Kingdom of Heaven in these instances is the Good News. We are to sow it like seed, and let God deal with the soil, we are to let it permeate our lives, it (He) is to be valuable enough to sale everything we have and we are to cast it out and God will do the work of separation (we are not to choose which people get the message, it is God’s kingdom He will decide who gets in and who does not).

Again this is the ministry of reconciliation. The Good News of Jesus Christ. We are the sowers, we are the person who found the treasure it is the leaven in our lives which permeates every part and we are to be fisher of men.

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January 6, 2010 Daily Reading

Today’s OT reading has us with a very concerned Abram and Sarai. Just turn back to Genesis 12:1-9 and you will see exactly what I mean. Abram has left everything to follow this call from God. He has packed up His family has left everything familiar and was told:

“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

I have read that families did not do this type of thing. To say it was counter-cultural would be a gross understatement. Everything rested on your family. There were no governments or laws to protect you. All you had was your family. At any given moment, someone could come to enslave you, rob you or even wipe your entire family off the face of the earth. So for Abram to leave was to do more than relocate and miss Christmas meals, it was to separate himself from his fathers wealth, his families protection and everything he has ever known. Not to mention he wasn’t a young and naive 18 year old running to New York. He was 75 years old and this is all he has ever known. Add to that he is taking along his wife for this journey only adds to the anxiety he must have felt.

But today’s reading puts us 25 years later. And if you haven’t noticed, Sarai is still barren and this promise seems to be fading at an alarming rate. Abram is 100 years old, Sarai is 90 years old (we find this out later) and there seems to be no significant change to validate this promise that Abram has heard.

Then God comes and reaasures Abram. He revalidates His promises but this time takes it a step further. Upon this reassurance we see Abram beliving God and him being “justified” by faith. This will become one of the most important words in your New Testament and if you read anything about theology this is an issue facing the church today. It was because of Abrams faith that God made Him righteous, yet he produced the fruit of faith by leaving all he knew to follow the call of God.

Shortly after that God then enters into a unilateral covenant thus sealing Abram’s justification (Romans 4) and guaranteeing His promise. In spite of Abram’s righteousness, faith and the covenant being ratified by God Himself. Abram still sins against the Lord. He attempts to give God a child instead of God giving him a child. In spite of this God shows His faithfulness to His own covenant by giving both Abram and Sarai new identities by changing their names and even in their unfaithfulness Abram’s offspring is blessed.

Today how many of us, after being called away from everything we knew and loved and lived for, given new names, new identities still do not trust God? Yet in spite of all of our lack of trust, God is still faithful to bring His promises to pass. Today you and I are aliens in a foregin land. The Gospel has brought us into a new relationship with new identies and a new destination yet often times our circumstances blinds us on the road much like Abraham’s circumstance blinded him. I remember reading Pilgrims Progress and sometimes Christian would turn the wrong way and find himself in some difficult circumstances, yet in spite of that God was bringing Him to the celestial city.

We have to understand that in spite of all we see in our own circumstances and the failure we experience,  God’s unilateral covenant has been ratified in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Just like Abraham was justified by faith we too have been justified by faith. Just like Abraham was given a sign/seal of the covenant which was circumcision we too have been given a sign/seal of the covenant and He is the Holy Spirit which produces a new heart. And as with Sarah, God does not need our assistance in bringing His promises to pass, He only wants us to yield to Him. What God began He will complete. Romans 8:28-30 gives us a wonderful promise of God’s faithfulness to His covenant people. We can rest assured that we will be what He wants us to be, though we can make this journey rough for ourselves (you will see that Ishmael will become a problem to the promised seed).

Our new testament reading is also an introduction to a covenant. This covenant is called the “New Covenant”. Jesus in the sermon of the mount is beginning to lay the ground work for this covenant. He is the master builder, a new law giver and is now calling His people to a new moral standard. It is a moral standard built on the motivation of the heart not the letter of the law. We will later come to find out that just like the covenant with Abraham, it will be a gracious covenant. This covenant will be based on faith and upheld by God. There will be fruit requirement as evidence that we are part of this covenant and we see that in what Jesus is calling us to do, just like the fruit of Abraham’s faith was him leaving his father, but just like Abraham it will not be conditional. God will see that all He promised to Abraham come to fruition and Jesus will see that all He promised to His covenant people will come to fruition!

Covenant Faithfulness, Justification, New Covenant