April 2006 Posts

Bitter Fruit

April 23rd, 2006. Bitter Fruit. Genesis 3:16-24.

Hail To The King from Psalm 2

He didn’t look much like a king. He never seemed to carry himself as royalty did. I never saw him command any troops or servants for that matter. In fact he actually seemed to take joy in serving others. He most definitely did not engage in some of the questionable behaviors that other rulers did like cavorting with mistresses. Truth be told it appeared that the most sinful women in town felt comfortable in his presence as if they knew they were completely safe. He also didn’t keep the company of a king. Instead of surrounding himself with the rich and powerful he chose to hang around and befriend peasants like Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. His closest followers weren’t drawn from the religious elite, but from working class folks.

That’s not to say he wasn’t powerful. He did things that no emperor, governor or king ever did. Not even the Pharisees demonstrated the power of the peasant-prophet from Nazareth. There was the time when blind (well he’s not blind anymore) Bartimeus heard him along the road and cried out with all his might to be healed and he was! I’ve heard of people with leprosy cleansed at his touch and of course everybody knows about his close friend Lazarus.

Then there was the teaching. It is said that he held the close attention of multiple thousands for hours simply teaching the way and word of God. His teaching wasn’t like the other religious leaders who are always quoting rabbi this and rabbi that to prove their point. He began his teaching by saying things like ‘truly, truly, I say to you’. It’s as if he was speaking on his own authority that could not be questioned! No doubt the subject of much of his teaching was the kingdom of God, which makes some of his actions so puzzling. I mean he could have easily raised an army of thousands, overran the Roman garrison at Jerusalem and had himself installed as king.
Here was a man who taught on his own authority, stood up to and confounded the Pharisees, healed at will, and demonstrated genuine compassion for people just like us. Yet, when the crowds tried to force him to grab for the throne he refused. For some reason this would be king just didn’t want political power. Doesn’t he know that our main problems are here and now? Isn’t he aware of the humiliation we endure because of the Romans? Does he not see that we’re dealing with real issues in the real world? Yeah the meek might inherit the earth in some pie in the sky future, but I for one am sick of being poor, sick of being oppressed and sick of being ruled by ruthless idiots like Pilate.

But then there was a day like I’ve never seen in Jerusalem. We were hanging in the temple when in the distance we heard the deafening sound of a huge crowd singing and shouting. As we ran out to see what was happening the scene before us was nothing less then breathtaking. It appears like hundreds if not thousands of people were walking while spreading cloaks and palm branches and shouting ‘Hosanna’ at the top of their lungs. I’ve experienced some wonderful things in my life. I recall the look in my wife’s eyes when we were first married and the joy I felt in my heart at the birth of our first child. But I’d never seen or felt anything like this. This… this was from God. Our women had the look of hope on their faces and even our little children were filled with praise. And our men… our men finally walked with their heads held high not fearing the religious elite or the Romans. In the middle of the scene there he was, the man who would be king. But unlike other times when he walked right among the crowds (remember I said he didn’t act like regular kings) he actually rode on a donkey! This was too strange. Here he was, the peasant-prophet of Galilee riding from the Mount of Olives straight into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey with people singing and shouting before and behind him saying ’Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! It was if he set out to intentionally fulfill the prophecy written in Zechariah. (see Zech. 9:9) We could almost taste the kingdom being restored to Judah.

None of this was lost on our religious leaders. They heard and saw what was happening and immediately confronted him for misleading our precious children. ‘Do you hear what they’re saying’ they demanded of him! He most certainly did and still most certainly accepted their worship! I thought surely he is the Son of David, the king of Israel. But then the week went on and our would be king lost. It seems he got into the religious leaders faces and corrupt business one too many times. One of his closest followers betrayed him and after a corrupt trial in a kangaroo court he was beaten, led up to Golgotha and crucified. The faces of our women that were filled with hope were now covered in grief, our children whose mouths shouted praises were strangely silent and our men who just last week walked with dignity once more bowed our heads in anger frustration and bitterness. Once more we all felt the brunt of Roman brutality as one of our own felt the sting of their barbarity.

I was thinking of these things when sitting in synagogue one day waiting for worship to start. Yes, I too heard the rumors about him ‘rising from the dead‘ but the only thing rising up around here are Roman taxes I mused. The service began and proceeded to the sacred reading and that’s when it happened. The attendant gave the scroll to the reader who began with the psalms. When he arrived at the portion that read,
"As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. (see psalm 2:6-7)

something happened to me. It was if all the things I’d seen and heard about him suddenly fell into place. He is the king spoken of in the psalms, the one the leaders conspired to kill. He is the king who Zechariah spoke about. The reading came to an end with the passage that declares
‘Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.’ (see Psalm 2:12)

There was no time to explain. I told my wife and children (yes all six of them) to get up. We were leaving. Yes, I was causing a small disturbance but that didn’t matter. I took hold of their hands and began to walk ( I was later told that I broke out into a run) to the area where his followers gathered daily for teaching, prayer and fellowship. I saw one of his closest disciples, ran up and falling on my knees with tears streaming from my face looked into his eyes not knowing how to articulate the truth that burned in my soul. The man looked at me with a mixture of joy and compassion and then taking me by the hand bid me to stand up and said ‘rise friend, we bow before no one save God’s last prophet, our great high priest and the eternal King. . . Jesus the Christ.

To Him Who Loves Us…
Pastor Lance

Christ Alone

April 16, 2006. Christ Alone. Genesis 3:14-15.

In the novel and soon to be movie entitled The Di Vinci Code the author Dan Brown asserts that the Jesus of Scripture is a manufactured myth of fourth century Christianity. The key to the novel and the movie are a series of hidden clues embedded in various places like the Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo Di Vinci. Mr. Brown’s novel has been wildly successful and has many questioning the authenticity of the New Testament, the Person of Christ and the entire basis of historical Christianity.

The Di Vinci code sounds plausible because many want to believe in conspiracy theories generated by powerful people for the purpose of fooling the masses into docile submission.
The issue regarding who Jesus is, what He came to do and if He’s dead or alive is the most significant issue in your life now and for your next life. Yet what if Mr. Brown and those who agree with him are correct? What if the real Jesus of history was only a somewhat charismatic religious figure who although he said some memorable things was merely a human being just like you and me? What if he never made any claims to divinity, did not die on a cross, lived a normal life, got married, died like everyone else does, was buried and never rose from any grave? What if the Scriptures are really a concoction of fables put together by a group of religious leaders intent on grabbing power?

We are convinced however that Jesus is very much alive. Moreover, we’re convinced that His life, death and resurrection were the most significant events in human history. It’s clear from this passage that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection have at least three implications.

Through Christ God has confronted Satan and evil. God promises that Satan and all that is evil will eventually be defeated. The metaphors used regarding crawling on the belly and eating dust refer to the humiliated position of an adversary that’s been utterly and permanently defeated. Satan will not achieve his desire to replace God as the object of worship and obedience. He will not achieve his goal of spreading sin, evil and chaos throughout God’s world and God’s universe nor will realize his purpose of permanently separating God’s people from Him.
Satan will be completely powerless to stop God from continuing His eternal plan to establish the human race as the objects of God’s loving affection and the ones who will inherit God’s earth. Psalm 37:8-11 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.
If Jesus is a dead man just like the rest of us will be then all that the meek will inherit is an ongoing ghetto.

God promises that He will establish an eternal kingdom characterized by truth, peace, righteousness and biblical social justice. The Lord Jesus Christ will reign over all God’s creation doing what is right and just for His people. Jesus Christ and what is right, peaceful and just will have the final say on this earth not Satan. However, if Jesus is simply another dead Jew slaughtered by the Romans you can be certain that the rich, corrupt and powerful will extend and establish their unjust rule throughout the world.
Psalm 72:1-4 Of Solomon. Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice!
Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!

What hope do we have that evil will end on its own? Are you willing to put your trust in the goodness and integrity of people? Do you fully trust your political leaders, business leaders, academic leaders or even religious leaders?
The only one powerful enough and good enough to defeat Satan and evil thoroughly and permanently is the Lord Jesus Christ. If He really is dead and His bones long ago turned to dust then we are without help and without hope.

Christ is in present conflict with Satan through His people.
God promised to establish hostility between Eve’s offspring and Satan’s. That is, God promised that there would always be a people who sought to know, worship, obey and serve Him instead of going with the flow, serving themselves and by consequence serve Satan. These people take their life direction from the word of God. Instead of following the ways of the world and the deception of Satan they’re determined to model the lifestyle of Jesus Christ. Through their way of life and their constant commitment to do good Christ’s followers act as a restraint on evil even as they highlight God’s goodness, morality, truthfulness, and justice. Matthew 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
The metaphor of salt refers to preservation and attractiveness. The metaphor of light refers to illumination from darkness. Both metaphors call for God's people to be constant contact with our communities.

Christ calls us to oppose Satan through biblically driven lifestyles. He calls us to this knowing that we will face trouble, pain, persecution, hardship and even death by following Him in this way. Matthew 5:10-12 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

If Christ is still dead however then the last thing you want to do is throw your life away by following His teaching and example. Yet, if He is alive then the Christ directed life is the only way to live a significant, satisfying life.

Christ alone is God’s appointed Savior, the one who crushed Satan and rescued God's people.
This is the first biblical prophecy about Jesus. It refers to how He will ultimately defeat Satan and stop the curse of death. Jesus did this through the cross when He paid the penalty of our sins and thus executing God's eternal plan of redemption.
Those who want to solve the 'mystery' of the Person of Jesus Christ need look no further than the wealth of clues contained within the Old Testament, for the Old Testament is primarily about the revelation of the Person and work of Christ, not the history of the Jewish people.

Jesus Christ alone is the reality symbolized by the Passover lamb in Exod. 12. Jesus Christ alone is the reality behind the symbol of the Day of Atonement in Lev. 16. Jesus Christ alone is the reality behind the bronze snake recorded in Num. 21. Jesus Christ alone is the prophet spoken of by Moses in Deut. 18. 'I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.'

Jesus Christ alone is the ultimate Joshua who defeats evil and brings His people safely into an eternal land of promise where God lives. Christ alone is the great king, David’s son yet David’s Lord who is destined to rule God’s people forever. Jesus Christ alone is the reality behind the temple Solomon built that’s recorded in the book of 1st Kings. Christ alone is the good king who unlike the good kings in the book of Chronicles doesn’t remain dead and leads His people in eternal faithfulness to the Father. Christ alone is the One who rebuilds the people of God so we can take our rightful place in worship and service to our Lord thus embodying the work of Nehemiah. Jesus Christ alone is the One who goes before the Father to rescue His people from certain death like Esther did.

Jesus Christ is blessed man of Psalm 1, the anointed Son in Psalm 2, the good Shepherd of Psalm 23, the King of Glory of Psalm 24 and the One who is both David's son and his Lord in Psalm 110.
Christ alone He is the wisdom of proverbs. Jesus Christ is the lover of the Song of Solomon the One who brought us into His banquet house and whose banner over us is love.

The Fugitive

April 9th, 2006. The Fugitive. Genesis 3:7-13.  

Total Depravity

The words of Timothy Brindle’s song ‘Total Depravity’ from the CD ‘The Great Awakening’ aptly describe the consequences of Adam’s one act of disobedience. Instead of becoming like god Adam brought sin, death and judgment on himself and his race. But Adam’s sin came with another consequence, one that happened the moment he bit into the fruit and completed his act of rebellion. That consequence was what scripture calls a sinful human nature. Unlike the nature Adam was created with, the sinful nature he got and passed onto all his descendents is one that craves evil, resists the things of God and is unresponsive, unwilling and unable to grasp the things of God. It is this human moral nature we’re born with. This why you don’t have to teach children to sin. Somehow those little angels pick up lying, stealing and disobedience all by themselves. Few in our day would dispute that people have a capacity to commit evil. The evening news reminds us of our depravity on a nightly basis. The issue is how bad are we? What does the Scripture mean when it says ‘Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths, Gen. 3:7.
Does it mean that we’re basically good people who given the right environment and circumstances can live good lives that are pleasing to God? In other words do we really need the gospel? Does it mean that we’re basically bad people who disobey God but who if given the chance can respond to the gospel and be born again? In other words are we morally neutral when it comes to the gospel with the ability to either believe or disbelieve? Finally, does it mean that we’re basically bad people who commit evil and are incapable of believing the gospel on our own? Did Adam fall so far that he and his race are actually dead in sin and without hope of ever understanding and believing the gospel apart from divine intervention.

Most people probably believe the first view of mankind’s moral nature. This belief says that we’re basically good people who given the right environment will live basically good lives. That was certainly the view of my psychology, sociology and philosophy professors. Most evangelicals believe the second view of man’s moral nature. They believe that people are evil, but have the ability to believe the gospel themselves and thus become born again. I’m convinced that Scripture teaches the third view of man’s nature. That we are basically evil people who are incapable of believing the gospel apart from divine intervention. This view of mankind’s moral nature teaches that God must actually give us new spiritual life causing us to be born again so that we can understand and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. This true view of man’s essential moral nature is found throughout Scripture

Total depravity is one of the most important doctrines taught in Scripture. For it tells of what our true nature is, how it affects us and why it is humanly impossible to respond to the gospel and save ourselves. Total depravity began when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and plunged themselves and their race into sin. Total depravity does not teach that people are as bad off as they could be for that would be utter or absolute depravity. Rather, total depravity teaches that due to our sinful human nature we not only commit individual actions of sin, but are born with a nature that is unwilling and unable to understand and act on the things of God on our own.

Ephesians 2:1-5 is one of the places it’s taught most clearly. Ephes. 2:1-5 (ESV)
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—

What does this passage teach about our real human nature?

We were dead, that is completely unresponsive to the things of God. We neither cared for or pursued God, His word, His worship or His will. Consequently, when we heard the gospel it made no sense to us at all. 1 Cor. 1:18 (ESV)
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

We were responsive to and did pursue a lifestyle of sinful disobedience. When Scripture uses the term walk as seen in verse 2a it means way of life or lifestyle. Our way of life was characterized by consistent deviation and departure from the clearly marked out path found in the word of God. In addition our lifestyle was marked by a consistent failure to live up to the perfect standard God requires to avoid His judgment.

We naturally and willfully followed the three influences that kept our wills captured in sin. This is why the Scripture does not teach that people have a free will and can therefore choose right and wrong themselves. Our wills are captured and enslaved to our sinful human nature. Since our wills are captured we therefore naturally go along with the flow of our society in its rebellion against God. No human society, country or people group exists to worship, serve, obey, delight in and glorify God. Rather they live to please themselves. Since our wills are captured we naturally followed the deceitful schemes of Satan. The devil continues to influence humanity with the lie that we can obtain true freedom, power and fulfillment by disobeying rather than obeying God. Since our wills are captured we naturally responded to the cravings of our sinful natures. These desires are within us and dominate our hearts and minds and so we lived to satisfy our sinful nature. Paul goes onto say that we not only responded to our evil desires, but we did what we could to carry them out as best we can.

You find this in Adam and Eve in their reaction to hearing God in the garden after they sinned. They weren’t looking for God to show Him their sin, nor did they seek Him out to confess their sin and ask His forgiveness. They did what their nature’s drove them to do which was to avoid God by any means necessary.
Our morally corrupt human nature which manifested itself in lifestyles characterized by evil thoughts, speech and actions caused us to be objects of God rightful, fierce, settled and passionate anger. This is so because our sin is an affront to His holiness and direct challenge to His sovereign right to rule His universe. To make it more clear Adam’s one act of disobedience caused him to fall from a state of sinless innocence and fatally damaged his human nature. Instead of becoming like God he became a totally depraved sinful human. Moreover, he passed this depraved human nature to all his race. Consequently, left to ourselves we would be dead in our sins, captured and dominated by our sinful nature and bound to follow the disobedience instigated by Satan, copied by all human societies and craved by our own natures. After living an entire lifetime of foolish disobedience we would as objects of God’s rightful anger spend an eternity being punished for our own willful sinful choices.

Now if God was fair, that is if He gave us what we deserved that would be our destiny. But because He’s gracious we can avoid this lifestyle and the certain judgment that will accompany it. For God has for some reason decided not to give the human race the justice we’ve earned for rebelling against Him. What caused Him to do this? Looking carefully at verses four and five of this passage clearly reveals the answer. It was not because we magically awakened to our peril and begged Him to save us. Nor was it because we had some special spiritual insight that others obviously don’t have that enabled us to break the chains of our sinful nature, resist the pressure of our society, see through the lies of Satan and believe the gospel.
Ephes. 2:4-5 (ESV) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—

God is rich in mercy, He has a wealthy abundant store of tender-hearted compassion. God set His love on us. His love is a great love in that it’s a great affectionate benevolence that moves Him to act for our best possible good despite our on sinfulness. How did God demonstrate His rich mercy and great love? He caused us to be born again. God gave us new life. Out of an act of His free will God broke the chains of our sinful nature by giving us a brand new spiritual nature that is responsive to the things of God.
When does the Scripture say God did this? Was it after we somehow awakened from our sin and asked to be born again? No, He caused us to be born again while we were still in the vibrancy of our sinful nature. That why Scripture can emphatically claim that we’re saved by grace. Grace is unmerited and undeserved favor and pardon given to those who actually have earned and deserved to be punished.

Grace is what separates the God of Scripture from all the other false deities we’ve made up that are so much like us. Grace is God out of His own rich mercy and great love giving new life to dead, spiritually unresponsive rebels so that we can finally understand the gospel and believe in Jesus Christ for full pardon and salvation. Yet, how can God be gracious and still uphold His holiness? He did tell Adam that on the day you eat of the tree you will most certainly die. Did God just throw up His hands as it were and decide to forgo punishing sinful humanity since we just can’t help ourselves.

Once more the words of our brother Timothy Brindle’s song ‘Total Depravity’ provides some insight from scripture toward this dilemma.

Give Attention- man's depraved, sure! But every sin I mentioned must be paid for (Ex. 34:7, Nahum 1:3) but there's One Solution among confusion, (John 14:6)
instead of you being punished, there's been a substitution!
Christ was treated...by The Father... like he committed the sins in this song (2 Cor. 5:21)
His life deleted...a violent slaughter so we can be forgiven for our things that our wrong!
IF you believe in Him, He'll rescue ya' Yeshua will redeem your sin
surely man is cursed and damned but Christ fulfilled The LAW because He's The Perfect Lamb the only sacrifice that covers the cost of our sin's price, so He hung on the Cross (Hebrews 9:12-15)
JESUS IS GOD believe this first lesson with faith in Him you receive His Perfection (Romans 3:22, 5:19b, Philip.3:9) He gives His Righteousness Forgives your lifelessness (1 John 1:9) you'll live in priceless bliss GOD hates sin and Satan, (Psalm 45:7)
but He's patient (Ex. 34:6), He takes depraved men and saves them, when placing their faith in Amazing Grace (Rom. 3:24-25) -AMEN?!?
when Adam ate the apple, well face the facts, we fell (Romans repent or take your wrath in Hell!

Jesus Christ took the punishment that Adam, Eve and their race deserved for their own willful disobedience. It is therefore through Jesus and Jesus only that we’ve received a grace that is truly amazing.

To Him Who Loves Us…
Pastor Lance