It's been a crazy week so I apologize for the lack of activity in the blog. I try not to write unless i have something decent to share and this week has not been conducive to substantial thinking. I'm off today with Amy and we have a busy weekend planned so I'm hoping to write something on Sunday morning if the Lord provides the time. I hope all of you have a great weekend and may the presence of the Lord be very real to us.
"And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?My hope is in You.Deliver me from all my transgressions.Do not make me the scorn of the fool!I am mute; I do not open my mouth, for it is You who have done it.Remove Your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of Your hand.When You discipline a man with rebukes for sin, You consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah.Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not Your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with You, a guest, like all my fathers. Look away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more!" - Psalm 39:7-13 {ESV}
As I was reading over these words this morning I was attracted over and over again to a principle I found poking its head out at me, wanting to be noticed.The 39th Psalm is not a glad, happy song.It is a song of confession and repentance that seems to have been written during a very intense season of God’s discipline in David’s life.If you have time, read both the 38th and 39th Psalms back-to-back and you will get a strong feel for the principle I want to share with you.Here it is…
Although David was clear in his confession of personal wrongdoing, and although he was clearly being chastised for whatever he had done, and although he was lacking a sensory experience of God’s presence, he still prayed and wrote with the full expectation that God was being merciful unto him and that this mercy would remain.
“…my hope is in You.” (39:7)
“Deliver me…” (39:8)
“Remove Your stroke from me…” (39:10)
“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not Your peace at my tears!” (39:12)
“Look away from me, that I may smile again…” (39:13)
David never lost his expectancy that God would be good to him, even though he had not been good to God.What kind of experience with God does it take to leave us with such confidence?A follow-up question would be this:how do we cultivate that kind of confidence in His grace and mercy toward us when we sin...without allowing it to become an incentive to more sin?Please remember the scriptural indictment that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked and that this could possibly allow for us to misuse grace as a platform for sin.David seemed to have a confident expectation of God’s mercy and grace which was coupled with a heartbroken repentance over any and all sin that he committed.I’m not quite there yet. Allow me to explain the dilemma.
I find two attitudes toward sin among the people of God.One attitude is flippant, cavalier and responds to sin with an off-the-cuff prayer tagged with “in-Jesus-name-Amen”.That person barely bats an eye at transgression and seems to be unmoved by what they have done in falling short of the glory of God. Seemingly, the sting of sin doesn't quite register with them. The other extreme is the paralyzing sense of dread and condemnation which poses as repentance for sins already forgiven.This type of person understands theologically that the sin has been forgiven but they believe God has forgiven it reluctantly, almost as if He regrets that He promised to do so. While the flippant attitude toward sin allows for the diminishing of God’s holiness in the offender’s understanding, the condemning attitude for personal sin allows for the reducing of God’s compassion and mercy in the offender’s understanding.David’s writings seem to make us aware that it is possible to both loathe our sin while walking in holy, confident expectation that God will continue to forgive and show mercy even when we still live in a sinful state. I truly believe this to be true...but I confess that I don't always feel it.
Confession time:I’m in the second group of people mentioned above more often than not.I hazard writing this, knowing that it opens me up to be misunderstood and, consequently, for people to reduce any warnings I give against sin as now being without merit due to my personal struggle with the tension of this issue.Flippancy about sin was purged from me upon my conversion.Having lived heinously sinful for many years, I wanted nothing more to do with it.I FELT the awfulness of my personal sin and how it necessitated the crushing of my blessed Savior.I hurt Jesus with all my sin.My rebellion demanded His agony.His love washed away my indifference.I was no longer able to stand beneath the cross and be unmoved by my culpability.Calvary was His glory…but it was my fault.So, each time I sin – in thought, word, or deed – I hear the sound of hammer on spikes and know Who is experiencing the pain from what I have thought, said or done.Before you think this to be too extreme, I ask you to answer for yourself this simple question:Is it?Is it too extreme to treasure His majesty to the extent that marring it with your sin causes you to recoil?The question should be lingered over.
The real issue I’m addressing, however, is what we need to experience after the sin has been addressed according to Scripture…and what we are to feel when it happens again.He forgives it once with ease, we might say.He forgives it again with a warning.The third time He forgives us– is He now angrier?The fourth occasion might cause us to want to hide from Him.The fifth time?Perhaps some cultivating of good works in other areas of life might appease Him (or distract Him from the fact that we still are struggling in other areas of our lives).By the time we conclude that we truly are (in spite of our redemption) still sinners, what do we believe that God thinks about us?Will He take His own counsel to us and apply it on our behalf by choosing to give gracious forgiveness to the repentant seventy times seven times (Mt. 18:21-22)?Do you allow for God to be as gracious with you as He commanded you to be with others? Do we really believe that His grace actually abounds above our sin - or is that just church talk?
This post has gotten too long for me to continue today.More to follow on this subject in days to come.In the meantime, let us consider the issue seriously enough to find out if we are guilty of slipping easily to one side of the “conviction spectrum” more than the other:Casualness or Condemnation? God wants us to know what to think on this issue. Chances are that some reading today might be out of balance on this issue from time to time. I am unable to deny that I have ever been.
My daughter is beautiful.She’s growing up too… and it’s killing me.These years of her transitioning from childhood to womanhood are going to make us both curl up in a ball and cry.How did we get here so soon and does anybody have a remedy?YES…it is all about me, so hush.My daughter is more than halfway through her years at home with us and I am pouting with great zeal.
(Jeff takes a few minutes to pull himself together)
Okay, now that my whining has subsided, let me get to my point.I’ve always had a heightened sensitivity to the biblical call for modesty but I find it now moving from simply theological to practically personal to parentally relational.What do I mean?Well, the call to modesty is still in effect because it is still in the Bible {1 Tim. 2:9-10 – “Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control…” ESV}.Solomon instructs the young man to recognize that it is possible to distinguish an “easy woman” by the way she dresses {Prov. 7:10 – “A woman with the attire of a harlot…”}.If we don’t believe that God notes what women wear then we should re-read his indictment of the women of Israel in Isaiah 3:16-24.You see, friends, a woman is the most beautiful of all of God’s creation – and how she displays her beauty reveals a lot about what is going on in her heart. There are some clear theological principles to be applied here.I mentioned earlier that this issue of female modesty has also been personally practical to me as a Christian man.I don’t want to see any woman’s body other than the one woman to whom I’ve pledged my life.The Christian men that I know who have my respect share this dilemma with me.We are committed to our brides and work diligently at not allowing our eyes to behold another woman’s physique – yet it is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid the visual assault poured out before us!A recent example: Amy and I were walking in the mall the other day and passing by a lingerie store which constantly has semi-nude photos plastered across the storefront window.I always know to look the other way when we approach this store and, this time when I did so, I found that the store directly across from the lingerie store had a similar type of advertisement across its own windows - my normal avenue of escape was now occupied by another enemy of the same kind!I chose then to look directly down at the ground as I walked and ended up running into a garbage receptacle.A stubbed toe or an offending eye - what’s a guy to do?Perhaps the better question is, “What’s a lady to do?”
Here’s the answer:Put some clothes on, sistah!!!
Godly Christian men don’t want to see your breasts.I mean it, we really don’t.The curse of Spring is that the beautiful weather brings out the attire of warmer days which means that a certain type of lady decides that she needs to show off her goodies to any functioning set of male eyeballs.Her skirt must rise to show us her thighs!Her blouse must lower so all men might know her!It must be worn tight, with all of her might – don’t you know Mr. Preacher that this is her right?!I simply state here what my wife taught some teenage girls a few years back:You might very well receive the eye-popping admiration of some young Brad Pitt wannabee…but you also become the secret fantasy of the 350 pound man with eight teeth and one crossed eye.He might not see well with that crossed eye…but he sees enough to think long and hard about you. Don't you feel special? (If you would like some alternative encouraging words about Spring please click here to view my mother-in-law's recent blog post)
Please forgive my blunt words if they offend you but, frankly, it seems that few care that Christian men are offended at the constant barrage of sensuality fired at us.You say it’s our problem?Well, you are absolutely right, it is our problem…and we hate it.If you are my sister in Christ then it has also become your problem.You’ve cast a stumbling block before your brothers if you are guilty of immodesty (Rom 14:13).You’ve failed to answer the call to help us with this burden (Gal. 6:2).You’ve exalted your desire for freedom above our need for your help in our commitments against lust and, thus, you have violated Scripture (Philippians 2:3-4).Is fashion freedom really that important to the daughters of God?
My last thought in this ever-lengthening letter to Christian women is for the sake of Alicia, my daughter.She is looking to Christian women as her example.We’ve taught her the sacredness of her body.We’ve instructed her about what is modest and what does not qualify.She will occasionally comment on some souped-up lady on TV and let us know that she discerns immodest dress.She’s not consumed by the issue… she’s just becoming wise.So my appeal is to the young Christian women who are setting an example for the preteens of today.Can you think beyond the moment and ask yourself what your outfit says about your priorities?Is there nothing that could be deemed fashionable while still retaining obedience to the command of your Father to live in modesty?Why are you detached from this issue (for those who would flippantly excuse it by stating that they don’t even think about it)?I’m asking you to please think about it.Your Bible tells you to.Your brothers ask you to.My daughter and her peers need you to.Nobody who cares for you at your core is going to be blessed by your exposure of yourself.Those who care for your Christian testimony will agree with what is written here.I hope there are many of you.
In closing, please remember that today’s lingerie is tomorrow’s business casual.It’s not going to get better in this world. I dare submit that it must get better among the beautiful daughters of God.
“But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.”- Psalm 13:5-6
Oh great God, worshiped and praised in the highest heaven yet having the grace to scoop up the lowliest of sinners on earth, we give You praise this morning.On this day of resurrection remembrance we acknowledge that You are worthy of our greatest words, our noblest thoughts and, indeed, our purest deeds.You are the God who is above all; You are the King, the Ruler, the Master, the Lord - the One to whom all honor and glory must be directed.Forgive us this day Lord of our sins - those that we are aware of, those that we have forgotten or those which we altogether missed.You, Lord, keep no record of these sins but in your omniscience you know that they have occurred and could hold us guilty; but we remember that You are the God also of all grace and mercy and compassion -this is our confident hope.Please, Lord, hear our cries this day for we are a dependent people.We need You.We want You.We love You.Lord, without You we have nothing and we are nothing.Yet in Jesus Christ we have all things which pertain to life and godliness -not only this life on earth which is blessed by your presence but also the life to come.
On this day, Lord, I have no advice to offer the readers. I have nothing that I may give them. I only have praise for You as one sinner who has been rescued.Great God, my words are not worthy this morning to articulate my deeps sense of need for your presence and blessing.Lord we all need You immensely during this next 24 hours.We cannot even rise to worship you without you motivating and empowering us, yet in Jesus Christ we can do all things that strengthen us…so please hear our cries and know that they are for your glory.Know that they are for your love and know that they are given in passion for You, our Lord.You alone are our master, the Royal One, You who are from above who is also enthroned upon the lowliest heart which bows in repentance!May, on this day, your name be proclaimed all over this planet by humble and honored alike.May your Excellencies be spoken of with great passion and great precision.May ears be opened that they hear You.May hearts are enlightened that they may believe.May your own children find tears of repentance first and joyful laughter next as we approach boldly the throne of grace.May we recognize that all is of God and may that motivate us to be all that we must be for the glory of this same God.May Jesus Christ be exalted above anything and all else.May He be known as He desires to be known.May He be appreciated for His glorious sacrifice.May He be received in the place which His blood has purchased.May He be all things on Earth that He is known to be in His Heaven.May He not be forgotten in the noise of this life - do not allow us to be indifferent towards the Son of God who is our life.
Oh, Father, take this feeble prayer and make it real, make it genuine - not only from my lips but also in the lives of any that will read it today.Create in us a hunger and thirst for righteousness which will not be - yea cannot be - left unfulfilled.You alone are worthy of our very best and we give you praise – worthy and solid praise- from redeemed hearts that are made shining by the blood of Jesus Christ!Unto Him be all honor and glory and praise. Amen.
Acts 27:38, 44 – “And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea… And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.”
Many of you today, as you are reading these words, are in a storm.Forgotten are the days of your smooth sailing when the sharp bow of your boat cut through the calm, glassy waters of life.Winds blew in, clouds rolled behind those winds, thunder cracked, lightning pealed and you found yourself in a lingering storm.You’re still there today.
While in Scotland a couple of weeks ago I found myself waiting daily for the rain to stop.It did for a total of about three hours during my eight day trip.The clouds were gloomy and the skies frowned upon us each day as we set our hearts to learning this great country.Interestingly, the locals in Glasgow seemed blissfully unaware that the weather was consistently atrocious.Upon asking one of the missionaries (she grew up in Scotland as a Scot herself) about how they functioned happily under such dreary conditions she simply replied, “Oh, you learn as a child how to play in the rain.”That idea stuck with me and I’d like to comment about the concept of playing in your rain today.
We should never presume that life will be all sunny-skies.If I’m honest, I actually expect the opposite and find myself quite encouraged when I do find the ease of warm and easy days.I consider myself a very content man but not naively so.God broke me as a child from clinging to the myth that life would always go my way.Unfortunately, I was not able to play in my own rain until about two years after I came to Christ.It was then that I made a conscious choice to determine my life’s attitude even though I could not determine my life’s climate.Christians should assume that storms will invariably find us and sometimes God chooses to let them linger – usually much longer than we prefer.The Apostle Paul told the church at Corinth that he was a veteran of stormy seas and shipwrecked circumstances.He was also a triumphant survivor who later testified that each of those occasions in the seas served to build him up profoundly in the faith.He learned to persevere in the rain.His storm in Acts 27 which I opened this post with gives me a subtle reminder that, during tempestuous voyages in life, that it is quite a good thing for me to lighten my load.Storms serve to help us recognize what is most vital and what things are able to be cast overboard.You see, we are meant to lose some things in the violence of unwelcome circumstance.God reserves the right to thunder in and sweep our unnecessary life-cargo into the waters.Each time I’ve gone through a significant storm I’ve come out of it with both less and more.Less weighty cargo and more freedom.It’s an awesome result from a particularly difficult part of life.
What cargo in your life has He inventoried for loss?What is God determining must go in order for you to reach His intended harbor safely?Will you trust Him with it?
In the end, Paul’s ship was completely destroyed in Acts 27.I’m not sure it mattered much to the Apostle because the ship was a temporary vessel with an intended purpose.God had promised Paul that he would testify of Christ in Rome and that once mighty ship was not essential for God’s eventual purpose.God forbade the ship from reaching shore but Paul floated in on the wreckage.In a picture this reminds me that there are seasons of loss in life.Things that once were…no longer are.People are not perpetually promised.Things are not given with lifetime guarantees.Places and seasons change, while wide open doors may quickly close.Sometimes ships sink.The joy of all of this is that we are herein given manifold opportunities to conclude all over again that Jesus Christ is the only constant during our journey down here.He has designed life that we are able to appreciate people, places and things while, at the same time, we are acutely aware that they cannot permanently sustain us.He wants us to hold loosely to the temporary while we rest peacefully as He holds us to Himself in omnipotence.
When I left Scotland it was still raining. I was so glad to be heading back to sunny Atlanta. On my way to a storm-soaked airport I noted something that still sticks with me: undeterred by their rain, I saw children who were still playing under a sun that they could not see. I think there's something to learn from them.
“He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for His own sins and then for those of the people, since He did this once for all when he offered up Himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.” Hebrews 7:25-28 {ESV}
Perhaps one day I will be able to grasp what it means when we are told that the glorified Son of God lives to intercede for His saints. To put it crudely, I’m not sure how all that works.The inter-Trinitarian communication is a fairly lofty concept to say the least; God the Son intercedes to God the Father on behalf of the children of God.Hmmmm….rather than seeking to explain it this Sunday morning, let me just tell you how comforted I am by it.
When you are at the top of your game and everything is going your way, Jesus Christ is interceding for you.He is employing activity that is consistent with His nature and His revelation in His word.His desire is that you will never become enamored with the blessing to the extent that you forget the Blesser.He is engaging in intercession so that all your successes in life might bring amazing glory to the Father through Him while, at the same time, bring great delight to your own soul.He is intricately communicating His holy desire that you will never see success as an end in and of itself, but rather a means by which you are drawn closer to Him and empowered to magnify His holy name.He is living to intercede for you in your successes.
When you have been targeted by the relentless enemy of Heaven do not dismay, Jesus Christ is aware of it all and is petitioning on your behalf.Satan’s schemes are constantly employed in his voracious hatred of the saints.Have you determined to live committedly for Christ?Then rest assured that he seeks to sift you like wheat, stealing the profitable grain and leaving you in the chaff.He and his have observed you, noting your weaknesses, aligning their strategies so as to lay you down for good.No effort is too great to prevent you from rendering consistent glory to your King so hell musters its strength to waste you.Temptation, accusation, sickness, frustration, doubt, depression and a host of weapons are available in his arsenal.He is a formidable foe.Yet the Intercessor has never flinched in the face of the evil one.Your Savior has done for you what He did for Peter during his own time of sifting.You will prevail because you are inhabited by the Victor, the Ruler the High and Holy Potentate!His intercession overwhelms Satan’s intentions.All you must do is to obey the admonition in Hebrews 4:15-16 and expect a great response to your confident approach to His masterful throne.Satan is strong, but He is not great.Satan is sly, but He is not wise.Satan is committed, but he is not infallible.The enemy of your soul wants you to believe that he has the upper hand but please remember that those hands were never pierced for you!Those hands cannot reach into the hands of John 10:28-30 to pluck you away.No, my friend, you have been prayed for by the risen King and His prayers are only and always affirmed.Jude 24 was graciously presented to me this week to remind me that the ultimate power to stand resides in Another…and that Another is the One who lives to intercede for me.
Finally, let it be established that when there are neither great successes nor overwhelming aroma of battle, there is still an Intercessor for the saints.When the plateau has found you and you have lived there a while; when your tent stakes have been driven into dusty earth and you have established residency on the flatlands of Little-To-Nothing, USA; when your Brook Cherith has dried away and the ravens seem your solitary providers…please remember that a resplendent Sovereign is enthroned and making mention of your very name.His ordination of dearth is serving to wean you from adolescent appetites.He is reminding you that you have previously learned to be content in whatsoever state you find yourself – but you had begun to forget that cardinal truth of victorious living.He has shown you that you mustn’t live for results but, rather for the Cause.He is meticulously silent when you are begging Him to shout.He is still when you ache for His clear movement.You beg Him to bequeath you some good thing and it is obvious that He has denied you (this is because what you beg is not actually good for you at the moment).He siphons and saps the outward nectar from the blossom of your life to teach you that the Root is what should be cherished.He is still smiling immensely upon the one He loves.He is aware.He is involved.He is moving in ways you cannot see to bring glory you never imagined.He is praying that you – the clay pot – will hold your shape while He places you on His shelf for a spell.The day is coming when He will reach up again and bring you back into His clear usage.He is interceding today that – when His omnipotent arm reaches to that shelf to bring you back into His awesome activities – you will be found in the exquisite mold that He determined originally to shape you.
Yes, He is interceding for us today.What more could we ask?
“Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness.” – Proverbs 2:13
“That you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.” – Proverbs 2:20
For a while now the simplicity of the Proverbs has beckoned me.If I’m being honest I’m regularly in a place where my mind is taxed due to a constant influx of duties, appointments and opportunities.In my weaker moments I’m tempted to put off the most important things like committed, secluded morning prayer or personal Bible study.I sometimes let the infamous tyranny of the urgent dictate my course of action and it leads to work, work and more work.This morning the temptation to do so was stronger than normal so I cleared my desk and leapt into the Proverbs.I didn’t get far before God whispered, ‘Slow down, son, I have something I want to tell you'.
The two Proverbs from chapter two that I listed above served to remind me of my potential for today.There stands before me a choice for my course of life during the next twenty-four hours.I’m being questioned by my conscience concerning how I will walk today.By the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ I have been chosen for the “paths of uprightness”;these paths are filled with wisdom and understanding, joy and companionship with God, grace and comfort from Jesus Christ.It cost a King His very life for me to ever have the potential of placing one foot in front of another on this path.He chose me, pursued me, wrestled me off my former path of death and, once He broke me, He then carried me in sovereign arms and placed me on the paths of righteousness.He tells me that He’ll walk daily there with me and that I will find the abundance of life when I meet Him there.I love these paths upon which I follow Him.
There is, however, another path.This path has the ability to tantalize me at my moment of vulnerability.When I’ve not been in the Book, when my times of meeting alone with God have become duty more so than delight, and when I feel confident and capable that I can walk on the paths of righteousness on my own – it is then that the other path deceives me.Solomon called this path “the ways of darkness”.It need not be heinously evil to qualify as darkness; all that is required to result in darkness is the absence of the Light.This path tempts me to make decisions independently from the Lordship of Christ.On this path there are incessant whispers that urge me to take care of myself, meet my own felt needs, view others as being for me rather than myself being for them.This path is illuminated by unnatural light – the bold and beckoning neon of empty promises from the world’s system.This way of darkness tells me that, if I’ll walk a while thereupon, my eyes will adjust and I’ll learn to run fast and enjoy some thrills that Jesus denies me when I’m following Him on the paths of righteousness.A counterfeit freedom is being offered me and I'll bite the hook if I'm not careful. There are immediate gratifications on this darkened way.Some old voice that I rarely hear (but always recognize) tries to glamorize this pathway, telling me that it’s high time that I reward myself.If I won’t walk on it regularly, can’t I just take a short stroll for a little relief from the constant call to discipline which is much more demanding of my soul?Jeff, is it really altogether bad to “leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness” when you know that His grace abounds toward you? What a seducioin of the soul is being attempted at moments like this!
It is here that the Holy Spirit of God quickens my mind with His Word when He reminds me, “O my people, what have I done unto thee? And wherein have I wearied thee? {Micah 6:3}.What weakness must there be in us to consider that our way might provide something better than God’s way?Yet, every time you and I numb our souls to sin – any sin! – we are saying loudly that the ways of darkness provides something we need which the paths of uprightness cannot.May God grant us the constant convincing that we have found our sufficiency in God Himself (2 Cor. 3:5).God forbid us to forget that “in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16:11)”.May we prepare our heart so that it prepares our feet to turn from the incessant baiting that the dark ways offer us.There are only two paths for today.Every word, thought and action is a choice of a way.Jesus will only walk on one of those paths.We will walk with Him or without Him.
“But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for He shall receive me. Selah.” – Psalm 49:15
Death is the single most powerful force on earth that man must have an answer for.We can accomplish awesome feats of ingenuity and power.From the invention of the wheel to the harnessing of fire to the printing press, aviation, lunar landings, the microchip, arthroscopic surgery, and so on and so on.Yet in the shadows of all these mind-boggling accomplishments there lurks the specter of death constantly reminding us of our powerlessness.Everyone dies.The strong and the weak will die.The brilliant and the ignorant have dates with dust.The grave welcomes the elderly and the newborn with equal enthusiasm.Nobody stands a flicker of a chance against the authority of Death.Death reigns supreme over man.
That is, unless you are a Christian.
The equation experienced a sudden reversal on an Easter Sunday approximately 2,000 years behind us.Early on that pivotal day, a traveling rabbi from Nazareth emerged from a tomb after having been stationed there for three days.The Son of God had invaded earth via a virgin’s womb some thirty-three years earlier.He lived in quiet anonymity for thirty of those years until He embarked on a public ministry which changed the course of history.His words, wonders and welcome impacted this planet more than any asteroid that ever hurtled towards us.He revealed God to blind mankind and our depraved response was to passionately reject and crucify Him.The price for our sin was death and Jesus Christ loved us to the extreme of voluntary submission to this sentence on our behalf.The unspeakable, horrific wrath of God against sin was driven into Jesus Christ.The universe darkened.The planet shook.The devil and his menacing cohorts howled in laughter.Christ gave up the ghost and died on that intersection of timbers.
It was finished.
Yet the strong chains of death’s authority melted like butter when Christ evacuated the tomb.The two Marys had headed to that grave with more spices to place upon the corpse of their Master.Those spices would never be needed.Jesus was alive.And He is alive this morning!Death met its match.Sin is now out-dueled.Satan hurled his very best at God the Son…and the wicked god of this world came up short forever.The dread has been remedied; the accusation over our head has been replaced with a shining placard of justification.Redemption is complete through the Resurrection of the Sovereign Son of God.The final word was rendered at the mouth of an empty tomb and that message of victory echoes forth from the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ today.Not only can the grave never own the Lord Jesus – it can never own us.God has redeemed our souls from the power of the grave and has received us for all eternity.Sin whimpers while grace has roared.Guilt pierces but mercy rules.Despair has sought an entrance but hope has barred the door.More so than all other people, the Christian is victorious. Everlasting triumph is exclusively and undeniably ours.What else can we do but lift our empty hands to Heaven’s throne and declare:
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing…Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him who sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.” – Revelation 5:12-13
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