Month: May 2018

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Jesus: The Eternal, Effective Living Word

For John the Apostle, Jesus had to be viewed from eternity to eternity. His gospel, his letters, his Revelation, all serve to describe Christ in the wholeness of His holiness. There is none like Him.

The man Jesus, John heard with his own ears and saw with his own eyes and touched with his own hands. This aged Apostle was clear about this. He, like none other, put himself in the physical presence of the King.

John witnessed the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter and the glory of the Son of God on the Mount of Transfiguration when He shined brightly along with Elijah and Moses. This Apostle leaned upon Him at the last supper in the Upper Room. He stood at Golgotha beside Mary, His mother. There, Jesus committed Mary to John’s care. He dashed to the tomb, beating Peter with his determined sprint, as soon as he learned that the Savior’s body was gone.

The life of Jesus, the very real, human life of Christ, was something manifested to John. He took his commission seriously to testify to it. His documentation is thorough and detailed.

Signs and Conversations

John’s gospel features Jesus’ encounters not related by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This should not surprise or mystify us. John’s writings are dated decades after the appearance of the first three accounts of the life of Jesus.  He likely survived into his 90’s and his recollections complement the synoptic stories. His gospel invites us to behold the Lamb, born to take away the sin of the world.

How are we led to behold Him? John guides us in this by telling us of the Lord’s signs and His conversations.

Jesus’ first sign of extraordinary power comes at a rather ordinary event. A wedding feast is in crisis — the wine has run out and Mary seeks out her Son to fix the problem. Jesus, at first, appears unwilling to help. Undeterred, His mother simply told the wedding servants to do what Jesus tells them to do. They listen to Him and fill large jugs with water. Soon, the wine is flowing again, and this drink is commended as the best that any had tasted that day. Thus, John portrayed Christ as a party saver before he portrayed Him as a life saver.

Don’t miss the key element here.  The servants did as Jesus said. The Word of the Lord has power, and those who hear and obey experience this. Through the rest of the gospel, John tells of others who listened when Jesus spoke and were transformed.

Nicodemus, the Pharisee, was told he must be born again of the Spirit to understand Kingdom things. By the end of John, this religious leader, once so secretive about his belief in the Savior, felt compelled to go and wrap the Savior’s body for burial.

The woman at the well is won by His words about living water that come to those who worship in Spirit and Truth. She believed and convinced her whole town to come and hear Him.

The invalid at the pool of Siloam heard, “take up your bed and walk” and obeyed, even though it violated Sabbath rules. This man had suffered 38 years and was now on his feet because he believed what Jesus said.

The adulteress, thrust before Him alone, without her partner in sin, is rendered uncondemned and sent away with the admonition to “go and sin no more.” Consider this: even the woman’s accusers heard Jesus and fell under the sway of His words:  “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.” Slowly, the agitated, self-righteous mob thinned to nothing as the oldest to the youngest dropped their rocks under the weight of conviction.

Lord, God, Savior, Lamb

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard. …” These phrases open the letter known as 1 John. Jesus was and is the Son of Man and Son of God. What Jesus said and did in His time on earth manifested the reality of His being and character.

Jesus’ words were then and are now, eternal and effective. Read of Him. Learn of Him. Imagine yourself as a listener as He speaks. This isn’t so difficult to do. After all, more than 60 percent of John’s gospel is comprised of words from Him, words from the mighty God who is all and is in all. We can hear Him now as those gospel characters heard Him then.

John wrote at a time when some were attempting to redefine Jesus. Distortions and deceptions were circulated about the Person of Christ. Some described Him as a being less than God; others taught that He was some kind of being, other than human. John stood opposed to all such foolishness.

This last living Apostle sounded out the truth about Jesus as Lord and God and Savior. As believers, we must cultivate a true and faithful apprehension of the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Are we able to comprehend everything about who He is? Not likely. Human minds are too small and human logic too limited to explain eternal matters. It seems there will always be moments when we will have to cry out “I believe, help my unbelief.”

As promised, Jesus sent us the Person of the Holy Spirit to live in us, to help us, and to guide us in all truth. We proclaim the truth of Who He is and enter into the fellowship of Light.

This fellowship is the communion of those cleansed from sin by the Blood of the Lamb of God. It is a fellowship of love, and it is where we find our joy is complete.

It is a fellowship in Jesus, the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

 

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All on the Altar

The Lord told Abraham to take Isaac and present him as a burnt offering. This son, the son of promise, the son of Abraham’s old age born when wife Sarah was in her 90s, was to become a sacrifice at Mount Moriah.

What an outrageous request this seems to be. And it is, but it is one that God did ask of His friend. How did Abraham respond? He rose early, saddled his donkey and got moving with two young servants and Isaac. The traveling party reached its destination and, there, Abraham and Isaac walked off with the wood, the fire, and the knife.

“Where’s the Lamb?’ Isaac wondered aloud at one point.

“God will provide for himself the Lamb,” Abraham answered.

Eventually, the wood was stacked, Isaac tied down, and the knife raised in the hand of Abraham. Then, and only then, did the voice of the angel of the Lord speak out — “Do not lay your hand on the boy!”

A Test of Friendship

The Bible describes this as a test for Abraham, and he is commended for his response of faith. “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is one the seashore. … in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (See Genesis 22:17-18.)

That’s how the story ends.

To some, I am sure that this conclusion is unsatisfying. We want explanations and answers, and we want them on our terms.

Why would God test a man in such a way? Sure, Abraham passed the test, it seems, and so the Lord then spoke of the great things to come. But, really, is this what it means to be the “Friend of God?”

Actually, real friends do bring out the biggest things in each other. God’s challenge to Abraham revealed a depth of trust that earned the man this title: “the Father of our Faith.”

What did the Lord say would come from Abraham? A remarkable line of descendants, that’s what. Some offspring would be stars, others would be sand.

On one level, these word pictures point to the multitude of children who would come from him. Yes, Father Abraham had many sons; many sons had Father Abraham, as the old Sunday school song goes. There are, naturally speaking, millions who trace their genetic roots to this man. These ones are the sand, and like sand they’re everywhere, in every corner of this world.

However, the Lord also declared that some of Abraham’s descendants would shine. These stars of heaven are those who have believed God as Abraham believed God. And, just like Abraham, they’ve had righteousness reckoned to them.

What if Abraham’s response had been different? Suppose he scampered away with Isaac in an attempt to hide from the Lord and His test? Jonah ran from the Lord. He was given a mission and a message and, at first, he refused to do as God asked him. This prophet was guided back into the will of God, but it was not a smooth ride.

Abraham reacted in another way. He heard and obeyed; he promptly set out to prepare an altar — upon which he would put his son.

Places of Sacrifice

Abraham’s life was a life defined by altars for he had built three others before this one at Mount Moriah. Altars mean sacrifice. Abraham believed God; he’d offered before and he would offer now — he would offer what God asked him to offer. Isaac, the one for whom he had waited so long, would be placed before the Lord.

When we read forward into the prophets and the New Testament, we discover that God was not asking Abraham to do something He would not do Himself. Jesus is the revelation of this. The Son of God would be offered for us all on the altar of Calvary. Isaiah 53 describes Him as “smitten by God … pierced for our transgressions … crushed for our iniquities … a Lamb that is led to the slaughter. …”  The gospel of Matthew opens with this statement: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Christ came to be the King, a descendant from the line of Abraham through David, the bright Morning Star from Heaven.

God says that there are things that “are not for us to know.” Job wrestled and complained and protested as he went through his trials. The end of the story shows Job with twice as much as he had before the tragedies that befell him. Still, nowhere do we read of God explaining Himself and His ways. Job held fast to his integrity; he clung to the reality of the relationship he knew that he had with the Lord.

Friends know each other well enough that they do not need to know all things. Abraham followed the leading of God through his years. It was not a perfect walk. Twice, he lied about Sarah being his wife when he feared for his life. He also went along with his wife’s suggestion and slept with Hagar, a union that gave the world Ishmael and the wild “sand” of offspring that came from him.

But when God said “offer up Isaac,” Abraham’s faith in the Lord was sure. He knew God as the God of the living. Abraham believed God, and he put all on the altar.

What would the Lord have us put before Him? Are there things we’ve determined are off limits to Him? Our great Friend may ask something big of us. He may ask us to stretch, to reach, to move, to stand. The good news is that He will not require us to perform in our own strength.  His Spirit lives in our hearts. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Jesus, what a Friend we have in Him. We never shall know all things, but we do know the One who does. Let us rest in His power and provision. Let’s rise, saddle up, and move forward in Him.