Read Ephesians 2:11-3:13
Take a moment to stop here and reflect on who you were before Christ saved you. What were the motives and desires of your heart? What paths were you going down? Were you at peace with yourself? What was your hope?
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32
Paul talks about this being a great mystery of the faith that Gentiles and Jews are reconciled in the kingdom of Christ and together reconciled to God. This side of the resurrection it’s sometimes easy to forget what a mystery it is. Did you ever realize that before Christ was crucified there was a dividing wall of hostility? Not just between you and God (which I hope we emphasize), but even between you and being one of the chosen people of God. For Gentile believers in Yaweh at that time one would need look no further than the massive wall blocking off the court of the Gentiles from the Jewish courts in the temple at Jerusalem, where it would literally mean death if you were to try to cross. Gentiles were considered lesser in value than even women in Jewish culture; and women we know were not considered to have any great value, slightly above beasts. We were without hope, without God, and without the possibility of entering into fellowship. Then along comes Jesus abolishing in his own flesh the dividing wall of hostility. When Christ was hung on the cross with his arms spread wide, did his very posture of suffering and death display his call for all to come to him? God with his arms spread and even nailed wide for all to be received into the new kingdom. Paul says his purpose was to “create a new humanity from the two”. Christ by his blood and death made us equal, made us human in a new humanity of peace, with the Holy Spirit of God being the seal of its veracity. The Gentiles who could not even enter the old temple, by Christ’s sacrifice are a physical part of the new temple. We not only can approach God, we together are the very place he now dwells.
Devotional Singing is the practice of filling your mind with God’s word through song. This can be done alone or with others, but you should allow yourself space enough to connect yourself in your mind and your heart to the words you sing to God, think of it kind of like singing prayer. If you aren’t sure which words you should use, you can start with your favorite passage of scripture or a psalm and begin to sing it back to God.
Dear God, give us the words and melody that we may sing back to you the hope you have given us. Amen.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Father Into Your Hands...
Let’s start by taking a step back to look at the time line of Jesus’ last day. It’s the middle of the night and Jesus is in the garden praying. He is arrested in the dark and taken to the house of the high priest where he is waits (and also beaten) until day break and brought before the elders for a few questions. They then take him to Pilate (just after daybreak), who sends him to Herod. Then he is sent back to Pilate, and in the next few hours he is flogged befoe carrying the cross through the city and outside the gate to be crucified. He is place on the cross and left there to die which is where our scripture for today starts. Read Luke 23:44-49
The first thing we learn is it was about the 6th hour, which according to the notes at the bottom of my bible informs me that it is noon. Jesus on limited or no sleep has been taken various places, beaten, flogged, carried the cross, and put up on the cross by noon.
The second thing we learn is there is darkness… for three hours in the middle of the day! Then at the 9th hour four major things happen: 1. There is an earthquake (Matt 27:51) 2. Bodies are being raised (Matt 27:52) 3. The curtain is torn 4. Jesus, gives up his spirit and dies (Jn 19:30, Lk 23:46). Had I seen all this happen I think my automatic reaction would be to freak out a bit. Most likely there was a bunch of chaos, fear, terror, screams and people running around frantic. The earthquake is bad enough to be splitting rocks and the curtain being torn was probably one of worst things that could happen to the temple. I don’t even know what to say about bodies being raised…
With everything going on needless to say things were loud, people were upset, and things were looking a little hopeless. So what should people do? Pray? Cry out to God for help? Something else? In Isaiah 53:6-7 Jesus sets the example, he is silent and doesn’t open his mouth. While sometime we need to tell God what is on our hearts, other times we need to be silent and trust and give ourselves over to his hands. Jesus commits his spirit into the Father’s hands (Lk 23:45) because he trusts him and knows it is the only thing to do.
We should come before God in the same way, trusting Him and knowing there is no other way. In the amidst of chaos, a busy week, a stressful moment, temptation, whatever it is to be still and know that he is God so He will be exalted (Ps 46:10). Take the focus off your suffering for a moment and put it back on God. David gives us the same advice in Psalm 4:4-5 (take a quick look… Ps 51:16-17 defines sacrifices of the righteous). We are to search our hearts and remain silent. Many times in our lives when things seem overwhelming God is usually trying to get our attention to say something that were not listening to. So why not stay silent and listen so we know how to pray and don’t fall into sin and hardness of heart?
The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him. (Hab 2:20) Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your mist? (1Cor 3:16) Let us therefore, as God’s temple, be silent before him so that He may be exalted and glorified through the Spirit alive and dwelling within us.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
It Is Finished
“Woman, here is your son…”
“Here is your mother….”
“I am thirsty…”
“It is finished.”
Read: John 19.28-30
Death.
The very mention of the word stirs the souls of Chinese people. It is the “evil word”, the word the utterance of which evokes bad joo-joo. Before my dad passed away, our family never talked about him dying. We always said that things might “change”. As our grandfather approaches 80 years old, we never talk about him dying, but of “things that might happen.” Death indeed is scary. It means something is ending. Whether our efforts and labor were worth it becomes apparent the day we meet our maker. The scariest part is that you never know when it’s going to come.
When I was in high school, I was a part of our school’s NHS. Minnesota has a predominately Lutheran/Congregationalist population, so not surprisingly, our NHS has many committees. I was placed on the Casino Night committee where we organized a night of gambling to raise money for charity. No, it was not my idea. On the committee was Sara. She was an ordinary athletic person with well-combed shoulder-length hair who wore a simple sweater (it was in the middle of winter) and jeans. We talked about our physics teacher who was known for his dry humor. And then we went home. A few days later, she died in her sleep.
Most of you reading this have no idea of death, because you have not seen someone die in front of you. You think that death is at least 50+ years away. You have not been in a situation where the heart monitor of a loved one flatlines as you hold his or her hand. There’s nothing to make you realize that one day, you will face the same fate. The question is always the same: have you wasted your life?
Sometimes we think that a well-lived life means getting lots of stuff done. But that’s not true. Adolf Hitler got a lot of stuff done. And so did Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, and other tyrants. But we would rather that they got nothing done! Sometimes, we go through life so fast that we just do stuff, do this, do that, all without thinking. And in the end, when we reflect on that stuff, we realize that all we’ve done so far is just stuff. No lives changed. No living well. Nothing done well. Nothing learned. Just stuff.
As you read the passage above, note the slowness of the reading. This is not a passage you can read in 10-15 seconds. It is a weighty passage, with every pace moving slowly because Jesus’ work is drawing to a close. Everything he did was in fulfillment of the Scriptures, in taking the Law and raising the bar so high that obeying it in its fullness can only be done through the Spirit, from the drinking of the sour wine to the hyssop plant (cf. the Passover in Exodus). It builds up to Jesus’ last words: “it is finished.”
So let us slow down in reflection. As we go approach Good Friday, let us slow down and take some time in reflecting on the Cross. Let this Holy Week not just be something you “do” just for the sake of “doing”, but something that reorients you towards Christ once again. And let this Holy Week touch upon all you do. May every part of your life, from homework to hanging out with friends to youth group to driving to whatnot be not just any other humdrum event, but an opportunity to live out well.
May we, the day death arrives at our doorstep, greet it with joy saying, “It’s all finished!”.
“Here is your mother….”
“I am thirsty…”
“It is finished.”
Read: John 19.28-30
Death.
The very mention of the word stirs the souls of Chinese people. It is the “evil word”, the word the utterance of which evokes bad joo-joo. Before my dad passed away, our family never talked about him dying. We always said that things might “change”. As our grandfather approaches 80 years old, we never talk about him dying, but of “things that might happen.” Death indeed is scary. It means something is ending. Whether our efforts and labor were worth it becomes apparent the day we meet our maker. The scariest part is that you never know when it’s going to come.
When I was in high school, I was a part of our school’s NHS. Minnesota has a predominately Lutheran/Congregationalist population, so not surprisingly, our NHS has many committees. I was placed on the Casino Night committee where we organized a night of gambling to raise money for charity. No, it was not my idea. On the committee was Sara. She was an ordinary athletic person with well-combed shoulder-length hair who wore a simple sweater (it was in the middle of winter) and jeans. We talked about our physics teacher who was known for his dry humor. And then we went home. A few days later, she died in her sleep.
Most of you reading this have no idea of death, because you have not seen someone die in front of you. You think that death is at least 50+ years away. You have not been in a situation where the heart monitor of a loved one flatlines as you hold his or her hand. There’s nothing to make you realize that one day, you will face the same fate. The question is always the same: have you wasted your life?
Sometimes we think that a well-lived life means getting lots of stuff done. But that’s not true. Adolf Hitler got a lot of stuff done. And so did Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, and other tyrants. But we would rather that they got nothing done! Sometimes, we go through life so fast that we just do stuff, do this, do that, all without thinking. And in the end, when we reflect on that stuff, we realize that all we’ve done so far is just stuff. No lives changed. No living well. Nothing done well. Nothing learned. Just stuff.
As you read the passage above, note the slowness of the reading. This is not a passage you can read in 10-15 seconds. It is a weighty passage, with every pace moving slowly because Jesus’ work is drawing to a close. Everything he did was in fulfillment of the Scriptures, in taking the Law and raising the bar so high that obeying it in its fullness can only be done through the Spirit, from the drinking of the sour wine to the hyssop plant (cf. the Passover in Exodus). It builds up to Jesus’ last words: “it is finished.”
So let us slow down in reflection. As we go approach Good Friday, let us slow down and take some time in reflecting on the Cross. Let this Holy Week not just be something you “do” just for the sake of “doing”, but something that reorients you towards Christ once again. And let this Holy Week touch upon all you do. May every part of your life, from homework to hanging out with friends to youth group to driving to whatnot be not just any other humdrum event, but an opportunity to live out well.
May we, the day death arrives at our doorstep, greet it with joy saying, “It’s all finished!”.
JESUS IS LORD AND SAVIOR OF THE WORLD
Please read Col 1:15-20.
The Apostle Paul is very clear as lays out the supremacy of Jesus Christ: the same “all things” that Jesus Christ created and sustains are the very same “all things” that Jesus Christ is reconciling back to himself through his blood, shed on the cross. In other words, Jesus Christ died because of our sin, but he did not die just to save us; all of creation is groaning because of our sin (Romans 8), and he died to save his whole creation. Amen!
Sometimes we make the gospel all about us and only for us. We should correct this. Two points from Colossians apply here. First—the gospel is ultimately about God, not us. Second—the gospel is for us AND for all the rest of creation. It is God’s good news about the reconciliation of ALL THINGS by Jesus Christ, through his blood that was shed on the cross.
Consider the unified voice of the global evangelical church through the official statement from the Lausanne Congress last year (aka the Cape Town Commitments):
“We remind ourselves that the Bible declared God’s redemptive purpose for creation itself. Integral mission means discerning, proclaiming, and living out, the biblical truth that the gospel is God’s good news, through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for individual persons, and for society, and for creation. All three are broken and suffering because of sin; all three are included in the redeeming love and mission of God; all three must be part of the comprehensive mission of God’s people.”
What a big vision God has! And what an inexpressible privilege that he invites us to join him on this divine mission! I’ll unpack the implications of this more in future devotions. But for now let us simply be in awe of God’s matchless mercy and grace, which covers all our sin and heals the deep brokenness of the world we share. We worship him as our personal Lord and Savior, and we worship him as Lord and Savior of the whole world. God is good!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise him all creatures here below, praise him above ye heavenly hosts, praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
The Apostle Paul is very clear as lays out the supremacy of Jesus Christ: the same “all things” that Jesus Christ created and sustains are the very same “all things” that Jesus Christ is reconciling back to himself through his blood, shed on the cross. In other words, Jesus Christ died because of our sin, but he did not die just to save us; all of creation is groaning because of our sin (Romans 8), and he died to save his whole creation. Amen!
Sometimes we make the gospel all about us and only for us. We should correct this. Two points from Colossians apply here. First—the gospel is ultimately about God, not us. Second—the gospel is for us AND for all the rest of creation. It is God’s good news about the reconciliation of ALL THINGS by Jesus Christ, through his blood that was shed on the cross.
Consider the unified voice of the global evangelical church through the official statement from the Lausanne Congress last year (aka the Cape Town Commitments):
“We remind ourselves that the Bible declared God’s redemptive purpose for creation itself. Integral mission means discerning, proclaiming, and living out, the biblical truth that the gospel is God’s good news, through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for individual persons, and for society, and for creation. All three are broken and suffering because of sin; all three are included in the redeeming love and mission of God; all three must be part of the comprehensive mission of God’s people.”
What a big vision God has! And what an inexpressible privilege that he invites us to join him on this divine mission! I’ll unpack the implications of this more in future devotions. But for now let us simply be in awe of God’s matchless mercy and grace, which covers all our sin and heals the deep brokenness of the world we share. We worship him as our personal Lord and Savior, and we worship him as Lord and Savior of the whole world. God is good!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise him all creatures here below, praise him above ye heavenly hosts, praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
“My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?”
Have you ever gone through an intense period of suffering and thought that maybe God had abandoned you? Maybe it was the death of a loved one. Or maybe some sort of extreme trial in school. Often we are faced with situations and life’s difficulties and it feels like God has abandoned us. Or worse yet, that He’s punishing us by withdrawing His presence from us. That’s not the case; God hasn’t abandoned or forsaken us. But there was a point in salvation history when God had hidden His face from Jesus. And it was in that moment of suffering that Jesus underwent the intensely just and righteous wrath of God, separate from relationship for the first time since eternity past. It was in his brokenness that Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” the fourth of his seven cries from the cross.
Read Mark 15:33-41
For the first time ever, as a result of taking on the sin of the world and trading his righteousness for our sinfulness, Jesus experienced separation from the Father. God poured out His wrath on Jesus in that moment and Jesus echoes one of David’s psalms in his cry to God. It wasn’t that Jesus didn’t understand why God poured out His wrath on him, he knew full well that God’s plan from the beginning of time was for Jesus to give his life for the world. Instead, Jesus was expressing what he was feeling in that moment of suffering, the fact that God had abandoned him. The significant thing about the Psalm that Jesus quoted from was that in it, while David acknowledges his feelings of hopelessness, the Psalm is largely about God’s ability to save.
Read Psalm 22
In the same way that David knew God’s plan for salvation, Jesus knew that death could not hold him, and the Father would act in divine intervention for him, raising him from the dead. Not only raising him from physical death, but restoring Jesus to relationship within the Godhead. All that from four words in the original language, translated “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Spend some time this morning reflecting on the immensity of what Jesus did for you on the cross. It wasn’t just a physical death that Christ experienced for you, but it was the complete abandonment by God, something he’d never felt before. It was in that moment that God poured out all of His righteous wrath on Jesus. The justice necessary for every sin. Every lie. Every murder. Every rape. Every gossip. Every moment of selfishness and pride. For everything in between the Fall and the day he comes again, Jesus bore it. That moment, he satisfied the wrath of God. For you.
On the cross, Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” so that you would never have to.
Read Mark 15:33-41
For the first time ever, as a result of taking on the sin of the world and trading his righteousness for our sinfulness, Jesus experienced separation from the Father. God poured out His wrath on Jesus in that moment and Jesus echoes one of David’s psalms in his cry to God. It wasn’t that Jesus didn’t understand why God poured out His wrath on him, he knew full well that God’s plan from the beginning of time was for Jesus to give his life for the world. Instead, Jesus was expressing what he was feeling in that moment of suffering, the fact that God had abandoned him. The significant thing about the Psalm that Jesus quoted from was that in it, while David acknowledges his feelings of hopelessness, the Psalm is largely about God’s ability to save.
Read Psalm 22
In the same way that David knew God’s plan for salvation, Jesus knew that death could not hold him, and the Father would act in divine intervention for him, raising him from the dead. Not only raising him from physical death, but restoring Jesus to relationship within the Godhead. All that from four words in the original language, translated “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Spend some time this morning reflecting on the immensity of what Jesus did for you on the cross. It wasn’t just a physical death that Christ experienced for you, but it was the complete abandonment by God, something he’d never felt before. It was in that moment that God poured out all of His righteous wrath on Jesus. The justice necessary for every sin. Every lie. Every murder. Every rape. Every gossip. Every moment of selfishness and pride. For everything in between the Fall and the day he comes again, Jesus bore it. That moment, he satisfied the wrath of God. For you.
On the cross, Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” so that you would never have to.
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