This afternoon, the Lord spoke this word to me: "My resurrection life can only be experienced through the Cross."
I have oftentimes seen these events as two separate experiences; i.e., having experienced the Cross, I now live experiencing His resurrection life. Hardships, afflictions, and difficulties were simply the way I "discovered" what I possessed.
Once again, I had forgotten a fundamental truth that directly affects ALL of life: the Cross is the only way that resurrection life can be experienced. You cannot have one without the other; they are an inseparable whole.
"We are always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:10-11).
"Being found in appearance as a man, He [Christ] humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God also highly exalted Him..." (Phil. 2:8-9).
"I am crucified [present tense] with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20, KJV).
If I do not embrace the Cross, I need not expect resurrection. I'm not speaking of a future event. I'm talking about the daily, here-and-now experience of His death-conquering, resurrection life. I cannot have one without the other.
May we all embrace His Cross and set our hearts on the joy set before us - and there is JOY set before us, in abundance!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Something I Forgot
Last week, a prominent Christian singer announced to all the world that he was homosexual. "If this is the way God made me," he said, "that's the way I'm going to live. I like myself now." There were a variety of responses posted by Christians and non-Christians, all of which were equally disturbing to me. Some were very strict, some were harsh, some were almost like spiritual pollyannas, some cheered his decision to come out of the closet. Some were pretty good and showed a real depth of compassion for the man and an honest plea for repentance. But, in general, I couldn't help feeling that our view of sin has been largely watered down - and to our detriment as Christians.
"God loves me as I am, not as I should be." This statement has been made by a prominent Christian speaker and author that I really like. When I first heard it, I said a hearty, "Amen!" Later, I was praying about it and saw that it wasn't true. God does love me as I am, that's true - but He doesn't leave me as He found me. He loves me into what I should be. He loves me into holiness and out of my sin. It's a process for sure, but not an option.
Another statement I hear a lot in talking with struggling believers, especially when the topic of choosing to repent comes up: "Well, I'm just not there yet." I've used this one myself. And it's a lie. It's a refusal to obey the Lord we claim to love and follow; it's rebellion and unbelief. This statement begs the question, "If Christ lives in you and is working in you both to will and to do His good pleasure, and all you have to do to "get there" is believe and obey, then why don't you?" Because, at the center of much of American Christianity is SELF. In much of the Western world, and especially in America, Jesus is little more than a venerated slave, sent to serve my self interest.
I confess my own guilt in this perversion of Christianity (it really doesn't deserve the title); much of my years as a follower of Christ were spent not following at all or trying to pick and choose what parts I would follow over those I would not. Praise God for His mercy! He knew my ignorance and forgave me; He led me out of my self-inflicted blindness into His light and holiness and grace. And that's where I remembered something very important: we can suffer loss.
I do not believe that we can lose our salvation (I won't go into that here and now). But, what I had forgotten is that we can suffer loss - and that's not a good thing. In 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, the Apostle Paul clearly states that we can suffer loss by building on the foundation of Jesus Christ with cheap materials, i.e., wood, hay, and stubble. We are encouraged to build with gold, silver, and precious stones - materials that are eternal. In 1 Corinthians 9:24, Paul compares the Christian experience to a race and exhorts the believers to "run in such a way that you may win".
This also implies that we can run in such a way that we may lose. Again, I don't believe he's saying you can lose your salvation; but I do believe he's saying this: depending on how we run our race, we will show up at Heaven's gate as a born-again winner or a born-again loser. I don't want to be a loser. I don't want to suffer loss. I don't want to show up on that day with nothing to throw down at Jesus' feet in worship.
So, what do we do? "Repent and believe the Good News!" (Mark 1:15) True Christianity is Jesus Christ Himself living in me His good pleasure, being given full sway by my obedient consent. Only Christ can be in me the source of His image and likeness. As I look to Him, He produces in me - in us- His holiness, His righteousness, His likeness, as I participate through my obedience. Out of love for Him, in dependence upon Him, in obedience to Him. And when sin is revealed, to repent swiftly and be cleansed - not wait until I get there. Repent and believe! It's that simple. "The blood of Jesus can never cleanses excuses; but it will always cleanse sin, confessed as sin."
Sin is not a play-thing or a mild condition. It is a poison of deadly deception and diobolical origins. It is not like a cold that we just ride it out until we finally get better. To treat it that way is to belittle the necessity of the Cross and to see the passion of Christ as an over-reaction. No, sin is as hideous as the Cross demonstrates. And we should remember that.
And, where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
The Kindness and Severity of God
"Behold, the kindness and severity of God..." (Romans 11:22).
As a follower of Christ, I have been the blessed recipient of immeasurable mercy and extravagant grace. I am forever grateful that's "by grace through faith" because this places the free provision of God in reach of us all. But, of late, I've become disturbed by certain misunderstandings of grace and mercy that have crossed my path, clothed in the choices and actions of fellow believers. These misunderstandings, though they may not be intentional, serve only to excuse us from the Cross and, therefore, are harmful to us. The way of Life, the way of growth in Christ, is the way of the Cross. There is none other. So, understanding grace and mercy properly is crucial to our life with Jesus.
Grace is the free, extravagant provision of God by virtue of what He accomplished through the Christ-event: the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. No matter what needs we encounter in daily life, we have access "by grace through faith" to any and all of the immeasurable riches and resources of God through Jesus Christ. Grace, therefore, is God's scandalous generosity.
Mercy is different. Mercy is one of the super-abundant provisions of grace. Mercy is being released from a just and due punishment. When you get what you don't deserve, that's grace; when you don't get what you do deserve, that's mercy.
The thing that bothers me is that I hear Christians using the word "grace" in a way that best describes mercy. They say things like, "Show him some grace", when speaking of letting someone "off the hook" for some wrong. Neither grace nor mercy excuse or ignore the crime, but this misuse of the term "grace" comes close. This misuse gives the impression that grace means to overlook the offense and to remove all consequences. But the scriptures say something different and we need to be reminded of the workings of grace and mercy.
What we have forgotten is that we can suffer loss through our choices. In 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, the Apostle Paul says that we build with imperishable things or we can build with perishable things. The former is eternal and remains, the latter is "wood, hay, and stubble" and will be burned up by the fire. "If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss" (v. 15). In the same epistle, Paul exhorts us all to "run in such a way that you may win" (1 Cor. 9:24). This is not legalism. This is discipline and excellence being encouraged.
When the woman was caught in adultery and brought before Jesus (John 8:1-11), He demonstrated grace and mercy in response to her sin. In saying, "Neither do I condemn you", Jesus demonstrated mercy. He knew (and she knew) that she was guilty - of that sin and even more - but He released her from the punishment due. But when He said, "Go, and sin no more", He demonstrated grace. In that command, He was also imparting to her the resources to fulfill it. Jesus knew that she couldn't do it without the grace of God and that one sentence He revealed to her, in the light of her need, the scandalous generosity of God. Had Jesus merely released her from the punishment (which what the misuse I spoke of earlier does), He would have done her a massive - maybe even eternal - disservice. She would have been off the hook and free to do what she had always done, with hopes of never getting caught again. Instead, He released her from the punishment of her crimes against God (mercy) and gave what was needed to no longer be criminal (grace).
Thank God for mercy - and for grace!
As a follower of Christ, I have been the blessed recipient of immeasurable mercy and extravagant grace. I am forever grateful that's "by grace through faith" because this places the free provision of God in reach of us all. But, of late, I've become disturbed by certain misunderstandings of grace and mercy that have crossed my path, clothed in the choices and actions of fellow believers. These misunderstandings, though they may not be intentional, serve only to excuse us from the Cross and, therefore, are harmful to us. The way of Life, the way of growth in Christ, is the way of the Cross. There is none other. So, understanding grace and mercy properly is crucial to our life with Jesus.
Grace is the free, extravagant provision of God by virtue of what He accomplished through the Christ-event: the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. No matter what needs we encounter in daily life, we have access "by grace through faith" to any and all of the immeasurable riches and resources of God through Jesus Christ. Grace, therefore, is God's scandalous generosity.
Mercy is different. Mercy is one of the super-abundant provisions of grace. Mercy is being released from a just and due punishment. When you get what you don't deserve, that's grace; when you don't get what you do deserve, that's mercy.
The thing that bothers me is that I hear Christians using the word "grace" in a way that best describes mercy. They say things like, "Show him some grace", when speaking of letting someone "off the hook" for some wrong. Neither grace nor mercy excuse or ignore the crime, but this misuse of the term "grace" comes close. This misuse gives the impression that grace means to overlook the offense and to remove all consequences. But the scriptures say something different and we need to be reminded of the workings of grace and mercy.
What we have forgotten is that we can suffer loss through our choices. In 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, the Apostle Paul says that we build with imperishable things or we can build with perishable things. The former is eternal and remains, the latter is "wood, hay, and stubble" and will be burned up by the fire. "If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss" (v. 15). In the same epistle, Paul exhorts us all to "run in such a way that you may win" (1 Cor. 9:24). This is not legalism. This is discipline and excellence being encouraged.
When the woman was caught in adultery and brought before Jesus (John 8:1-11), He demonstrated grace and mercy in response to her sin. In saying, "Neither do I condemn you", Jesus demonstrated mercy. He knew (and she knew) that she was guilty - of that sin and even more - but He released her from the punishment due. But when He said, "Go, and sin no more", He demonstrated grace. In that command, He was also imparting to her the resources to fulfill it. Jesus knew that she couldn't do it without the grace of God and that one sentence He revealed to her, in the light of her need, the scandalous generosity of God. Had Jesus merely released her from the punishment (which what the misuse I spoke of earlier does), He would have done her a massive - maybe even eternal - disservice. She would have been off the hook and free to do what she had always done, with hopes of never getting caught again. Instead, He released her from the punishment of her crimes against God (mercy) and gave what was needed to no longer be criminal (grace).
Thank God for mercy - and for grace!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Following and Becoming: The Path of Christlikeness
"Follow Me, and I will make you become..." (Mark 1:17). That's pretty simple. How do you and I become all that Jesus has called us to be, all that He wants us to be? Follow Him.
Following someone involves seeing them, hearing them, and doing what they do or say to do. When we do that, He makes us become what He calls us to be. This leads us straight into being conformed to Christ's likeness, which is the goal of God's heart (Rom. 8:29).
"For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing...for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner" (John 5:20, 19). The Father loves us and gladly shows us what He is doing, so that we also can join in what He's doing, in like manner. "He who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also" (John 14:12).
As followers of Christ, we become like Christ, as Christ Himself lives in us. We then participate in His "doing" as He perfects our "being". Following Him requires eyes, ears, and trust. This is not like "following" instructions on something you put together; this is higher, different, and more costly. This is the abandonment inspired and fired by Love. It's following Love out of who we were (the false self) into who we really are (the true self in Christ). We become fully formed in Christ as He becomes fully formed in us. We become like whomever we follow.
"It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher" (Matthew 10:25). "As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake" (Psalm 17:15). Being like Christ is enough and is the only satisfaction of personhood.
So, follow Him...and become.
Following someone involves seeing them, hearing them, and doing what they do or say to do. When we do that, He makes us become what He calls us to be. This leads us straight into being conformed to Christ's likeness, which is the goal of God's heart (Rom. 8:29).
"For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing...for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner" (John 5:20, 19). The Father loves us and gladly shows us what He is doing, so that we also can join in what He's doing, in like manner. "He who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also" (John 14:12).
As followers of Christ, we become like Christ, as Christ Himself lives in us. We then participate in His "doing" as He perfects our "being". Following Him requires eyes, ears, and trust. This is not like "following" instructions on something you put together; this is higher, different, and more costly. This is the abandonment inspired and fired by Love. It's following Love out of who we were (the false self) into who we really are (the true self in Christ). We become fully formed in Christ as He becomes fully formed in us. We become like whomever we follow.
"It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher" (Matthew 10:25). "As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake" (Psalm 17:15). Being like Christ is enough and is the only satisfaction of personhood.
So, follow Him...and become.
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