In A Double Fisted Grip

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Pete

The venue changes . . . but the debate continues. There’s a break between John 10:21 and John 10:22. No longer are they standing in the after effects of a blind man given sight and listening to Jesus speak of a Good Shepherd and His sheep, but now it is winter during the Feast of Dedication. And they are in Solomon’s colonnade in the temple. And the Jews are getting frustrated, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (10:24).

I did tell you, says Jesus, but you do not believe. In fact, I have also shown you many mighty works done in My Father’s name, but still you do not believe. They were deaf to His words because of unbelief . . . they were blind to the signs that testified of Him because of unbelief. And here’s why, says Jesus, “because you are not among My sheep” (10:25-26).

And though the time and place have changed, the conversation is about the same thing. Sheep. Sheep you hear the Good Shepherd’s voice. Sheep who are are known by the Good Shepherd. Sheep who follow where the Good Shepherd leads. Sheep you are given eternal life and will never perish. And sheep—this is the one that’s got me thinking this morning—who are in a double fisted grip.

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Fathers hand. I and the Father are one.”    ~ Jesus (John 10:28-30 ESV)

Jesus says that He has given eternal life to those who believe in Him and no one is able to pluck them out of His hand. Jesus also says that those who believe have been given to Jesus by the Father, who is greater than all, and that nothing has the power to seize them from the Father’s hand. Those who hear and respond to the Good Shepherd’s voice, . . . those who follow, . . . those who are known by the Savior, . . . are those who are in the Son’s grip and in the grip of the Father who gave them to the Son. That is a double fisted grip.

Called by the Father, saved through the Son. Given by the Father, redeemed to be His own by the Son. Secure in the Father, doubly secure in the Son.

Such is the nature of the salvation freely given to all who believe the words and the works. To all who humble themselves as sheep, knowing they’ve gone astray . . . confessing that it was their sin which was laid upon the Shepherd, that they might be healed. Theirs is an eternal salvation . . . a secure salvation . . . a sure salvation . . . because it is bound by a double fisted grip. No one able to snatch a follower of Christ from Jesus’ hand . . . no power great enough to remove them from the Father’s hand.

And Jesus does the math for them. If no one can snatch His own from His hand . . . and no one can snatch those who are His from the Father’s hand . . . then, says Jesus, “I and the Father are one.”

I am secure this morning in the double fisted grip of the Triune God. One God . . . Three distinct Persons. Forever in the Father’s grip . . . forever in the Son’s grip . . . all through the abiding presence and eternal seal of the Spirit’s forever anointing (I read about that too this morning in 1John 2:26-27).

Sweet resting place . . . His double fisted grip.

By His grace . . . for His glory.

 

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They Know His Voice

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Pete

He described a dynamic to them. A dynamic which involved a connection between sheep and their shepherd. Their shepherd was the one who entered the sheepfold by the door. The gatekeepers affirmed his ownership of the flock by opening the gate intended to keep thieves and robbers out. Upon entering the fold, the sheep respond to their shepherd as they hear him call them by name. He then leads them out of their enclosure, and the safety of the pen. And they follow. Why? Because they know his voice.

Chewing on the first part of John 10 this morning. Jesus declaring Himself to be the “I am” of this amazing dynamic.

“I am the Door of the sheep” (10:7) . . . “I am the Good Shepherd” (10:11, 14).

Those who enter through Jesus the Door, “will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (10:9). While there are many offering backdoors to the “good life,” they are thieves and robbers and seek only to prey on the sheep. Jesus, Himself, is the entry point into life as God intended. “I came,” says Jesus, “that they may have life and have it abundantly” (10:10).

And the secret to such abundant life? They know His voice.

They know the voice of the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep. The voice that cried from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know what they do” (Luke 23:34). The voice that declared, as He breathed His last and offered Himself as the once for all sacrifice for the sin of the sheep, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The voice of the Shepherd risen from the dead that pronounced, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me . . . behold, I am with you always even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20). The voice, that even now, through the Spirit’s whisper, beckons, ” Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28).

They know His voice.

They know it in their joy. They know it in their sorrow. In their victories and in their defeats. When they are in lock-step with the Shepherd as He leads, and when they wander and hear His voice calling them back to Himself.

. . . they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one Shepherd.   ~ Jesus (John 10:16b)

What grace to know the Good Shepherd’s voice.

Amen?

 

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Before God

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Pete

Sometimes it’s all about where you put the emphasis. Take a phrase, or a question, and place the emphasis on different words and you can have a very different phrase or question. The nuance shifts . . . the question really asks a different question. Case in point, Job’s question at the beginning of chapter 9:

Then Job answered and said: “Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God?”
 (Job 9:1-2 ESV)

Place the emphasis on the words be in the right, and you have one question. How is it possible for a man to be right before God? How can he be righteous? How can he be justified? At first I thought that’s the question Job was asking?

But I read further in chapter 9, and Job twice declares, “I am in the right” (9:15, 20). Thus, his question, I’m thinking, places the emphasis on the world before. How can a man be in the right BEFORE God? How does he enter the presence of the Almighty? How does he book an audience with the God of all creation to plead his case?

Job contends he’s done nothing deserving of the circumstance he finds himself in. True statement. But he’s as perplexed as his miserable comforters as to how a righteous man could end up in such a royal mess. And so he wonders if an audience with the Almighty would clear things up. But no, he concludes, how can a man, who’s in the right, stand before the God “who does mighty things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number?” (9:10). Not gonna happen, says Job, “If I summoned Him and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice” (9:16).

So Job breathes a heavy sigh and thinks, No, God is too big to contend with, even if I am in the right . . . “There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both” (9:33).

And though Job’s question might be a bit off kilter, his sense for the need for an arbiter is spot on. Though Job isn’t as “in the right” as he might think he is, and though the question really should be how can anyone BE RIGHTEOUS before a holy God, rather than, how can righteous people assert their rightness BEFORE God, his conclusion resonates. An arbiter is needed . . . both as the basis for how people conceived in sin can BE DEEMED RIGHTEOUS before the God of heaven and, as the basis for how people, sinful by nature, can BE PRESENTED BEFORE God spotless and blameless, forgiven of their sins.

Cue something else I encountered as part of my reading plan this morning:

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1John 2:1-2 ESV)

Bam! That’s how I stand BEFORE the holy God of heaven. Through my Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. Brought before the throne of heavenly Majesty by an Intercessor . . . presented to the Father in the Son . . . carried to the table by Shepherd of my soul. And, that’s how I can BE IN THE RIGHT before God . . . through His atoning sacrifice for my iniquity . . . by His death on the cross to satisfy the wrath of God deserved for my transgression . . . because of the blood shed for the remission of my sin . . . clothed in His righteousness and not my own.

There is an Arbiter. We have an Advocate with the Father. He is the how of OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS before God . . . and He is the how of the intercession which brings us BEFORE God.

All by His grace . . . all for His glory.

 

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Standing in the Breach

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Pete

There had been a systematic failure. The infrastructure had completely broken down. No component functioning as it should. No part unaffected by the disease. Though God would seek, He would not find . . . though He would desire, He would be disappointed . . . though He would ask, the answer always came back, “No!” Amidst this total meltdown there was no one to stand in the breach.

Reading in Ezekiel 22 this morning. And as God continues to move the prophet to indict His people for their rebellion and spiritual adultery, He does so by taking survey of the personnel He had put in place to lead the people. He calls to account the pillars of the community who had been given to protect the people. And as He does, it becomes clear that sin has infiltrated “the whole lump” resulting in a catastrophic failure of the entire community.

The prophets had entered into conspiracy (22:25, 28). With false visions they peddle their prophecies for profit. Like lions tearing into their prey, they bankrupt people, both literally and spiritually, with their divined lies.

The priests had assaulted the law, profaning things that were intended to be holy. Those intended to bring the offerings of the people to God, and the God of the offerings to the people, now made no distinction between the holy and the common . . . no separation between the clean and unclean . . . no difference between the Sabbath and any other day (22:26).

And the princes, those of kingly and noble lines, those intended to lead after the manner of the King of Heaven, had become like wolves. Motivated solely by personal gain, dishonestly they led people into increasingly pagan practices for their own financial advantage. Like wolves tearing into their prey, they shed blood and destroyed lives that they might live the good life (22:27).

Thus, as goes the leadership, so go the people. The people were themselves marked by injustice. They practiced extortion and committed robbery. They oppressed the poor and needy. They took advantage of the stranger (22:29).

And God looks upon the apple of His eye . . . the people He had delivered with Mighty hand and outstretched arm . . . and He laments . . .

And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. (Ezekiel 22:30 ESV)

And I can’t help but thank God this morning for the One who is, even now, standing in the breach.

He is the Prophet . . . the living Word of God. Having come to earth, He revealed all the Father had shown Him. Having departed earth, He sent His Spirit to bring illumination and revelation that mere men might know the deep things of God and His kingdom. He is the great High Priest. Having once for all offered Himself as the final sacrifice of atonement, He now is at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ever interceding for those who have, by faith, entrusted their souls to His care. And He is the Prince. The Prince of Peace . . . the King of Kings. Able to battle the enemy’s forces . . . ready to lead His own in triumphant victory . . . waiting to assume the throne which is rightfully His.

Jesus the Christ. Prophet . . . Priest . . . and King. The Man standing in the breach. To Him be all glory and praise, now and forevermore. Amen!

 

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Final Approach . . . Autopilot Off

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Pete

Recently I saw a video of a huge jetliner coming in for a landing in the midst of some pretty harsh turbulence at an airport in Portugal. It was one of those clips that shows this plane only yards (meters for my Canadian friends) from the ground and the wings are teetering back and forth as the pilot battles fierce crosswinds. The plane coming down at some crazy angle as the pilot fights the winds and tries to avoid burying the aircraft in the ground. On such an approach I don’t think anyone in the cockpit is relying on the plane to fly itself. The autopilot is off . . . the human pilot’s hands are on. And though I’m no expert, my understanding is that even in good weather, when you land one of these big birds, you best be doing it with trained hands on the controls.

Reading the last part of 2Peter this morning. Peter is reminding his readers that though the Lord is patient, He is not slow to fulfill His promise. That though He waits, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance,” the day of the Lord will come and will do so as a “thief in the night” (3:9-10). And that we are to be “waiting for and hastening the coming day of God” (3:12) . . . “waiting for the new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (3:13). The Day is approaching, Peter reminds his brothers and sisters. In a sense, we are on final approach . . . autopilot off.

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace. . . . take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.    (2Peter 3:14, 17-18 ESV)

Now’s not the time to be sitting back with our feet up trusting the plane to fly itself. Now’s not the time to be distracted with a million other things. The runway is fast approaching . . . the crosswinds of error are fierce . . . the danger of losing stability is real. Time to switch off the autopilot and take control of the landing.

“Be diligent,” says Peter . . . “Take care” . . . “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

How easy to minimize the impact of the turbulence of a world in rebellion to God on our own stability. How easy to just find our flow and go with it. How easy it is to place our pursuit of the kingdom of God on autopilot. But Peter reminds me this morning that I need to make sure my head’s in the game . . . my hands are on the wheel . . . and my eyes are on the prize.

Not that it’s all up to me. It’s grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home. I’m not to rely on a flight plan of my own making . . . and the pneumatics I’m counting on are that of the Spirit of God who lives inside of me. Nevertheless, I need to kick off the autopilot and make every effort to grow in grace . . . and guard against being carried away . . . and, with holy determination, seek to be found by Him without spot or blemish and at peace.

So that, on that day when we set ‘er down in the land of promise, we might hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen!

 

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Who Is My Father?

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Pete

He spoke a promise for the ages. And some who heard it wanted to talk heritage. He wanted to share the way of freedom. And all they wanted to do was argue the importance of pedigree. And so the discussion shifted from the dynamics of eternal liberation and focused, instead, on a debate concerning historic lineage. And while Jesus might concede that these debaters were “offspring of Abraham,” He maintained that someone else was really their father.

John 8 is a verbal showdown between Jesus and a group of scribes and Pharisees. For every claim Jesus makes, the Pharisees counter with a challenge. “I am the Light of the World” . . . “Your are bearing witness of Yourself, Your testimony is not true” . . . “The Father who sent Me bears witness about Me” . . . “Where is Your Father?” . . . “Unless you believe that I am He you will die in Your sins” . . . “Who are You?” (John 8:12-25)

But as the debate continues, many on the sidelines are stirred by the mysterious “wind” of the Spirit of God . . . the arrows of Christ’s word finding their targets in the hearts of men and women. And, “as He was saying these things, many believed in Him” (8:30).

And then, to those who believed, Jesus waters their new found faith with words of true liberation . . .

“If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
~ Jesus (John 8:31-32 ESV)

But the Pharisees, like birds of the air seeking to devour these seeds of life before they find fertile soil, challenge Jesus again.

They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”    (John 8:33 ESV)

I know you are descendants of Abraham, Jesus responds, but you still refuse my words and want to kill me because, while I speak of what I have seen with My Father, you oppose me because you are listening to your father. Bam! Jesus throws open the door to the root of their persistent opposition to Him.

And Jesus presses them. If Abraham were their father, they wouldn’t be seeking to kill the One who tells them the truth from God. Instead, Jesus says, “You are doing the works your father did.” To which they respond, “We have one Father–even God!” And then Jesus lays it out . . .

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of My own accord, but He sent Me. . . . Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”    (John 8:42, 47 ESV)

They thought that because they were of Abraham that God must be their Father. In fact, Jesus says, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desire” (8:44). And thus the tipping point for all humanity is defined. Christ presents Himself and His words as the defining criteria for answering the question, “Who is my father?”

Those who are of God receive the Son. Those who oppose the Son are of “the father of lies.” Those who love God love Jesus. Those who hear the word of God are of God. And those who refuse the truth, because they see no need to be free, show themselves to have been duped into following the ways of the one who “does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.”

Who is my Father? It all comes down to, What have I done with Jesus?

“If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 

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There’s a Story Behind the Story

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Pete

Nobody knew the story behind the story. Job was living the story . . . and he didn’t know it. His buddies were late to the theatre and they were only catching the “closing act” . . . but they had no idea what was behind the story. And yet, understandably, they all had an opinion concerning the story.

One of my readings is in Job 5 this morning. Part II of Eliphaz’s response to Job’s first lament.

The story as far as Job is concerned is that he has been ruined for no apparent reason. Wealth gone . . . kids gone . . . reputation gone . . . health gone . . . wife less than supportive. That’s the story he’s living. His response? “Let the day perish on which I was born and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.’ . . . Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? . . . Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light? There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest” (Job 3:3, 11, 16-17).

Weary . . . what an understatement . . . that’s what Job was, weary!

But there was a story behind his story. A showdown in heaven between God and Satan. God had drawn Satan’s attention to His man Job as a man who was blameless and upright. A man who feared God and turned away from evil. A man like no other man on earth (Job 1:8). And Satan had said, Let me touch him and we’ll see how God-fearing and blameless and upright he remains . . . let me at him and watch him curse You, God, to Your face (1:11, 2:5).

But even though he was the story, Job didn’t know the story behind the story and so, he just wished the story had never even begun. Can’t blame him.

But it’s Eliphaz that has me thinking this morning. I read through his rebuttal of Job’s lament and, while so many of the words seem solid enough, there’s something about the attitude that bugs me. There’s an air of arrogant piety as he tries to “encourage” Job to see what’s “really happening” and trust in the Lord.

“Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker? . . . But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before Him. . . Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.” (Job 4:17, 5:8, 5:17 ESV)

Really can’t argue with any of those statements. But what’s a guy doing rebuking someone who has lost everything and is still throbbing with both emotional and physical pain, the likes of which Eliphaz has never known? He looks at the narrative of Job’s circumstance and figures he knows the storyline. And so he provides his pious commentary.

Not faulting him and his friends for wanting to comfort their buddy . . . but there sure has to be some instruction in here in how not to do it. And I’m thinking it has something to do with recognizing that there is always a story behind the story. Facts I’m not aware of . . . dynamics that haven’t been made known to me. And so, as I have opportunity to draw alongside, I need to do so with humility . . . and gentleness . . . and wisdom . . . and grace.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. (Romans 12:15-16 ESV)

That God’s people would be godly comforters. For other’s benefit . . . for God’s glory.

Amen?

 

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Busted!

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Pete

There are those who suspect it was all a set up. Those who look at the facts presented and scratch their head and smell something fishy going on. After all, how does someone get “caught in adultery?” Literally the term is ” to laid hold of” or “to seize upon” or “to take possession of.” Wouldn’t a woman who is cheating on her husband ensure she was being discreet? How does the bedroom door get crashed in on unless someone was tipped off?

And hey, if she was caught in the act, then where was the guy? If they got her, what happened to him? If it was about contending for righteousness, then his sin was just as great as hers. Those subscribing to a conspiracy theory would claim entrapment . . . the guy was part of the “sting” operation . . . he copped a deal with the D.A. in order to avoid prosecution (someone’s watched too many detective shows!) After all, the Pharisees were less interested in the woman’s sin than in testing Jesus and finding something of which to accuse Him (John 8:1-6a).

But regardless of whether it was a set up or not, the fact of the matter is, she did it. She was there . . . with a man . . . a man who was not her husband . . . in violation of her marriage covenant . . . in violation of moral law . . . in violation of Mosaic law. She was busted! When all was said and done, sin had crouched at her door and she had permitted its entrance, Guilty as charged . . . without excuse . . . without a plea. And now her “secret sin” had gone public . . . and oh, so public! Brought to the temple . . . set amidst a crowd gathered to hear Jesus teach . . . on her knees before the One who many were starting to believe was Messiah. How embarrassing . . . how shameful . . . how scary, as she heard the religious leaders remind Jesus that the law commanded she be put to death by stoning for her sin. Oh, so busted!

But she was just a pawn in the Pharisee’s game. The real “sting operation” was targeted at Jesus. These hard-hearted, hypocritical “leaders in righteousness” cared nothing about her. She was just the bait to try and trap Jesus. What would He do? What would He say? They had enough exposure to Him and had heard enough of stories about Him to suspect that He wouldn’t take up a stone against this woman. They knew He ate with tax collectors and sinners . . . they knew He claimed the authority of God Himself as He who could forgive sins . . . they were sure that He would respond in such a way that they could level their accusations against Him . . . that they could accuse Him of not following the law . . . and therefore was a transgressor . . . and couldn’t be engaged in God’s work. Jesus was set up.

His response is masterful . . . what else would you expect from the Master? There’s been much speculation as to what He wrote with His finger on the ground while the Pharisees stood about Him and the woman waited for His response. But the fact of the matter is, we don’t know. What we do know is that when they pressed Jesus for an answer, He stood and addressed them. The Living Word of God spoke the living word of God, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (8:7). And the word was living . . . “and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

That was it. He stopped speaking . . . stooped to the ground again . . . resumed writing in the ground with His finger. And the convicting power of the Spirit of God took over. . . revealing to each their own “secret sin” . . . and now they were busted! One by one they knew they were trapped. He had searched them and known them and revealed to them their wicked way (Ps. 139:23-24). They too had been caught in the act. And so they left . . . one by one . . . from the oldest to the last . . . leaving Jesus alone with the woman in the midst of the crowd (8:9).

And then, one on one, Jesus and the woman had that wonderful conversation, “Woman, has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord.” “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (8:10-11).

The Pharisees were pretty sure that Jesus would not condemn the woman . . . and they were so right! The woman was busted . . . the Pharisees were busted . . . and, praise God, Jesus was busted too!

The Christ would soon pay the price for her sin . . . so that forgiveness might be possible . . . so that grace might prevail . . . so that a woman caught in the act might know the power to go and sin no more.

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. (John 3:17 ESV)

O’, what a Savior!

 

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Driven from the Sanctuary

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Pete

Not sure what to do with it . . . but to hover over it . . . and to wonder at it . . . and be filled with dread because of it. The Spirit falls upon Ezekiel in Ezekiel 8. The prophet looks and sees “a form that had the appearance of a man.” The description of the Man’s appearance has the flavor of the vision John the Revelator had on the Isle of Patmos in Revelation 1. Thinking this is one of those theophanies, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God, the Christ. And if I’m reading it right, He comes to take the prophet on a behind the scenes tour.

He takes Ezekiel, through a vision, to the temple in Jerusalem, where the depths of His peoples’ spiritual infidelity is laid bare though they said, “The LORD does not see us.” He sees first, at the entrance to the inner court, something called “the image of jealousy” . . . don’t know exactly what that is, but you gotta know it isn’t good. Digging through the wall of the outer temple, idolatrous images engraved in the temple walls are shown to Ezekiel . . . and before them, 70 elders of Israel engage in pagan worship. At the entrance of the north gate the prophet is shown women weeping before a foreign deity. And then, in the inner court, 25 men have their back to the place where the glory dwells so that they might turn their faces to the east and worship the sun.

What was it for Ezekiel to witness such flagrant rebellion and spiritual adultery. And what of the Man who accompanied Him on this “abomination tour” . . . how it must have grieved the heart of the King and provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel.

And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive Me far from My sanctuary?” (Ezekiel 8:6 ESV)

I know it’s coming . . . that tragic account of the glory departing the temple. But this verse in Ezekiel sends chills down my spine . . . for the glory didn’t just decide to leave, it was driven from the sanctuary.

The people were sending it far away. What started as delusional belief that they could worship both the God of Abraham and the gods of this world ends with the defilement of the sanctuary and eviction of God’s presence from the place where He desired His glory to dwell. Not sure what to do with it. But it’s written for my instruction.

Certainly, I need to recognize that today there is a temple being made of living stones, Christ Himself being the cornerstone, “in whom the whole structure,being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22). That those who seek to follow Christ are being made into a spiritual house to offer acceptable spiritual sacrifices (1Pet. 2:5). And recognizing that, how I need to be on guard against mixing pagan practice with holy worship.

But there’s something about Ezekiel’s escort being the pre-incarnate Christ . . . the Son of God . . . the Builder of a future temple, which captures my imagination. In the wrath and judgment, is there also an anticipation of His glory returning to that yet to be birthed living temple? Is there an expectancy of completing the work which will take people dead in sin and convert them into living material suitable as a house where His presence might again dwell on earth? Don’t know.

Not sure what to do with it . . . but to hover over it . . . and to wonder at it . . .

 

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By His Righteousness

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Pete

In my readings this morning I encountered two different groups of people. The first are described as having “a hard forehead” and “a stubborn heart.” The second are those who have become “partakers of the divine nature.” Of the first it is repeatedly said that “they are a rebellious house.” Of the second, they are those who have been “cleansed from their former sins” and have “escaped the corruption that is in the world.” The first group of people grind their teeth at God for having been forcibly brought into a foreign land . . . in exile as God’s means of discipline for their rebellion. The second group await their entrance “into the eternal kingdom” of God’s Son by diligently living to “confirm their calling and election.”

And as I muse on these two groups of people . . . as I consider how I was once aligned to the first but am now counted among the second . . . I’m reminded of what made the difference. It is by His righteousness.

. . . to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ . . . (2Peter 1:1b ESV)

Started in on both Ezekiel and 2Peter as part of my reading plan. Ezekiel’s call is to speak the word of the LORD to the people of Israel . . . those in exile for spiritual infidelity . . . those repeatedly referred to as a “rebellious house” in the opening chapters of Ezekiel’s prophecy. Though they acknowledge God, they accept no claim of His authority over their lives. They have pursued what they want, when they want, with whomever they want. Stubborn hearts have resulted in hard heads and so they sit in a foreign land while God tries, through His faithful prophet, to connect the dots for them. Trying to help them see that their situation is due to their sin. And calling on them to repent and return . . . that they might be restored.

The people addressed in Peter’s letter are in a vastly different state. No grinding of teeth here, but “grace and peace multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (1:2). Given all the tools needed to pursue fullness of life and the reality of godliness. Given precious and great promises that they might be active participants in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world brought on by sinful desire (1:4). Rather than being stripped from the vine and withering away in exile, they are making every effort to add to their faith and thus being effective and fruitful in their knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (1:5-8).

And at the heart of it all . . . is a new heart. A new nature . . . a new desire . . . a precious faith . . . a firm standing. All by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

I read that as Jesus Christ, our God and Savior . . . a statement of His Deity. That the One born of a virgin, is He who is the Giver of all life. That He who trained as a carpenter, Himself formed the universe in eternity past. Jesus is that same God. And that same God, Jesus, is my Savior. The One who justly determined that the wages of sin is death, Himself paid the price for my sin, and conquered the grave that I might live. And, in so doing, imputes to all who believe His divine nature and righteousness. Hallelujah!

By His righteousness. That is my only standing this morning. Not that I am any better than that first group of people I considered this morning, but that by His divine power, and through His abundant grace, I have participated in that “like precious faith” (NKJV) of that second group.

For His glory alone . . .

 

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