Today’s OT reading God is still giving out His very precise instruction of the pattern and layout of how He wants the tabernacle to be set up. So far God has explained and described very specifically how He wants the ark of the covenant, the showbread table, the lampstands of gold, curtains of linen, curtains of goats’ hair, the boards, and sockets, the veil and the screen the, bronze altar, the court of the tabernacle as well as the what the priest should wear. God is not quite finished with giving His instruction on the tabernacle layout, we will continue to follow.

This brings us to our new testament reading. Jesus is in the temple teaching and while teaching He is interuppted by the chief preists and the elders. They approached Jesus questioning his authority as if the authority was their’s to give. What’s incredible is that after they ask Jesus who gave Him the authority to teach, once He answers they are now under the very authority they question. The lesson plan has now been directed to them about them. In the parable of the two sons (Matt. 21:28-32) one of the sons says no to the father, later regrets it and does what the father asked of him. The other son says yes to the father and does nothing. Jesus tells these religious leaders that prostitutes and tax collectors will get into the kingdom of God before they do. He explains by saying that when John came and preached to them repentance the tax collectors and prostitute believed John, but the religious leaders did not. He then says that not only did you not receive John, but you didn’t feel remorse afterwards either and still didn’t believe him. My question is this: Have you really grabbed hold of the gospel? Have you allowed the gospel of Jesus Christ to come in change your life and renew your mind? Or  have you decided to reject the gospel and just “do church”? Are you just dressing up on Sunday, carrying your bible, rembering a scripture to impress those that we see?  If you have not allowed the gospel to change your life, no matter how righteous you may seem, Jesus was talking to you in this parable. Allow His words to penetrate your heart and change your life.

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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

Today’s reading led me to focus on our New Testament reading. Jesus had crossed over and is now in a port town on the northwest side of the Sea of Gailee. Immediately the people recognize Him and they went throughout the town calling people and bringing them to Jesus so that he may heal them. So much so that even touching a piece of His clothing lead to healing.

But even in the midst of this religious tradition took over. As people are being healed and made well. A little side bar here. We have to understand exactly what healing does. It isn’t simply that people get there limbs back functioning or their eyes opened, or even the flow of blood stopping, or grow back limbs. To be crippled and sick made you an outcast in Israel. You were ceremonially unclean and for the most part the people would believe either “you sinned or your parents”. Other than that if you are obeying the Law of God you should be healthy and prosperous. These paralytics, mute, blind and sick individuals were social outcast. They had nowhere to go, their families often left them, they were unable to work, unable to have families and were left to beg in the city streets. The religious leaders of their day would outright ignore them, thus the apathy that clouds the mind of the pharisees in this section of scripture. How often today are we the same way? But…

So, as many were healed that day, here comes the religous leaders. Instead of giving praise to God, instead of recognizing bones being set straight and families restored and social outcast now being reconciled to their communities, they ask “why don’t your disciples follow tradition”.

Jesus’ response is hilarious. He asks “why do you break the COMMANDMENTS of God”. You see their tradition had so clouded their minds that they believed that their tradition had greater authority than God’s word! And often times today our tradition have more authority than God’s word. Our tradition of what we should watch, or what we should wear, or how we should educate our children, or where we should go to “church” or make-up, or dating or…… you see, Christ has given us a NEW COMMANDMENT. That commandment is “love one another”.

But like the religious leaders our tradition usurps the authority of God’s commandment even to the fact that when we see people accepting the social outcast of our days, and loving the unlovable, and receiving the unreceivable we look and say “how can they do that, don’t they understand our tradition”?

Religious tradition and heritage can be healthy, it just has to be put in the right perspective. God’s word is authoritative, not our traditions. And whenever our tradition usurps the authority of God’s word we should repent and put our traditions in check. This goes for all of us. Lets not be too quick to make our traditions God’s word and ignore the work and power of God in the lives of others, regardless of how “unorthodox” it looks to our tradition. We may end up missing an opportunity to see Jesus working, much like the religious leaders did in Gennesaret.

Healing, Religion, Tradition

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