Run the Race, Realize the Promises

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Pete

In Hebrews 12 this morning I’m reminded that I need to look to Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith . . . that I need to lay aside every weight and sin which can so easily trip me up . . . and that I, with endurance, need to run the race set before me (Hebrews 12:1). Kind of comes across as a “command to obey” to me. But I’m also made aware this morning from my reading in Isaiah 58 that it’s possible to go through all the motions of running the race without ever really getting on the track. I can buy the new shoes . . . get the cool t-shirt . . . slide on my headband . . . clip on my water bottle . . . do a couple of deep-knee bends . . . stretch out a bit . . . go through all the motions, but never really leave the starting line. In Isaiah’s day it was a pious, self-promoting approach to fasting . . . doing the pious thing . . . but never really entering the race. But for those who get on the track . . . for those who enter the fray . . . for those who run the race . . . some pretty amazing promises in Isaiah 58 that I think are applicable . . .

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, “Here I am.” . . . And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. . . . then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth . . .    (Isaiah 58:8, 9a, 11, 14a ESV)

Talk about your “if God is for us” types of promises! Our righteousness, aka His imputed righteousness by faith, before us and the glory of the LORD behind us watching our backs . . . God on 24/7 speed dial immediately answering our cry with, “Here I am!” . . . He our guide in the desert and our living water when we’re parched so that even in the wilderness we encounter an oasis . . . knowing a joy and a delight which transcends circumstance for they are found in Him, the One who will make us ride on the heights. Promises made to those who run the race.

God wasn’t impressed with ancient Judah’s frequent fastings. Though they were clothed in self humiliation, they were actually self-promoting . . . though they were intended to display a contrition they actually resulted in conflict . . . they though should have drawn the one fasting nearer to God, they continued to forsake the ways of the Lord. They were all dressed up . . . no place to go. They played the part but were determined to do it according to their own script. They had on their “Air Jordans” but never attempted a lay up much less a slam dunk. Registered for the race, but never got on the track.

But for those who look to Jesus . . . for those who, by the grace of God and through the power of the Spirit, seek to shed the rock-filled backpack of self . . . for those who care less about how they’re dressed and more about how to run the race, God is prepared to show Himself present and powerful through His promises.

It’s when we sincerely seek to run the race that we encounter the reality of the living God in our lives. It’s when we fix our eyes on Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,” that we know the Spirit’s infusing power so that in our struggle we do not grow weary or fainthearted (Heb. 12:2-3). It’s when we quit playing games and start pursuing the way of the kingdom that we’ll hear God say, “Keep on! I’m here” . . . that we’ll know the glory of God as our rear-guard . . . that we’ll be watered with waters that do not fail . . . and, in it all, that we’ll be filled with a delight that comes from encountering God along the way . . . a joy transcending any other human experience.

Some pretty amazing promises . . . sufficient for what can sometimes be a pretty tough race . . .

Run the race . . . realize the promises . . . by His grace . . . and for His glory . . .

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Questions

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Pete

In my readings this morning, I came across a couple of pretty penetrating questions. They’re the kind of Scriptures that the Spirit can take apart from their immediate context and leverage them as scales to gauge the manner in which I do life . . . questions that, in many ways, transcend specific circumstance and instead serve as a ” 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) . . .

“Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?”   (Isaiah 55:2a ESV)

“Why do you seek the living among the dead?”   (Luke 24:5b ESV)

The ancient Israelites had invested in chunks of wood. Though they had been called to be the Creator’s special possession . . . a holy treasure . . . a set apart people . . . they instead had chosen to worship the creation. They chose to drink bitter water from broken cisterns . . . they pursued refreshment that would leave them still thirsty . . . they sought bread which, at the end of the day, had no sustenance and would leave them hungry. And God determines to bring them to the end of themselves so that He might ask, “Why are you wasting what little resource you have on that which cannot satisfy?”

The women had come to the tomb on that Sunday morning. Though they had no idea how they would get access to the body, they had nevertheless prepared spices that they might further anoint the beat up body of Jesus of Nazareth. That they sought Jesus was commendable . . . that they sought Him in this graveyard was understandable . . . that they found an empty tomb was unfathomable. But Jesus had told them, while still in Galilee, that “the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise” (Luke 24:7) . . . so God allows them to stand before an open sepulcher and asks, “Why are you seeking the living among the dead?”

And I can’t help but take inventory . . . can’t help but check myself. Have I been duped by this world into spending resource on that which cannot satisfy . . . am I hanging out in graveyards rather than in the presence of the living Christ?

And I don’t labor long over the questions before I turn to the invitation . . .

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. . . . Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live . . .   (Isaiah 55:1-3 ESV)

It’s not about how much I have to invest . . . it’s about how much, in His abundant grace, He has offered. But it is about where I invest . . . and where I hang out. I can “buy without money” living water from which I will never thirst again . . . I can delight myself, “without price”, in rich food served from heaven’s banquet table itself. Mine is to continually respond to the invitation . . . mine is to come to the living Christ . . . daily . . . hourly . . . and look to Him and Him alone for that which satisfies . . . for that which gives life and “life to the full” (John 10:10).

Give me Jesus . . . Give me Jesus . . . you can have all this world . . . just, give me Jesus!

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Crushed!

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Pete

Isaiah 53 stands as an eternal memorial. It is as graphic a description of the “great exchange” as exists in Scripture. One of those “beware lest it become too familiar” types of passages . . . one of those passages I do well to revisit regularly . . . and meditatively. This morning I’m reminded that the Son of God was crushed for my sin . . .

But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed. . . . it was the will of the LORD to crush Him . . .    (Isaiah 53:5, 10a ESV)

That is was the will of God to crush His beloved Son has caused me to pause this morning.

The King James translations says that He was bruised for our iniquities . . . that it pleased the LORD to bruise Him . . . but it seems that, in the original, this bruising portrays the sense of “beating to pieces.”

Jesus was destroyed for my sin . . . He was shattered . . . in His physical body . . . and to the very depths of His soul . . . crushed to contrition . . . “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46).

What price needed to be paid for my transgressions . . . to what extent had God determined to go for my peace . . . to what lengths would the Son of Man endure that I might be healed? He was pierced for my transgressions . . . He was chastised for my peace . . . He suffered deep, deep wounds that I might be healed of sin’s dark disease . . . “the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (53:5-6) . . . and it crushed Him.

Stricken for my transgressions (53:8b) . . . His soul made an offering for my sin and guilt (55:10b) . . . and it was the will of the LORD to crush Him.

Behold God’s blessed Servant . . . Behold my Savior!

Oh, to never lose sight of the price that was paid by the Creator so that He might atone for His creation . . . to not forget the humiliation and contrition endured by the King of Kings that He might win the eternal battle and make way a means of redemption . . . to not wax cold concerning the depths of suffering endured by the Christ that access might be opened into the holy of holies . . . to not take for granted the extent to which Jesus was crushed so that overflowing grace might be offered to “whosoever will.”

To quote the hymn-writer, “How can I help but love Him . . . when He loved me so!”

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Homeland Security

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Pete

One of the first things we did when we got our GPS was to program the “HOME” function . . . not because we don’t know where home is . . . but because we know that no matter where we travel, we’ll always want to get back home. Most times we’ll know our way . . . sometimes we’ll need help at least getting us back to familiar territory . . . many times we don’t need to “push the button” at all . . . but there’s a certain comfort in knowing that we’ll always know how to get home. This morning, I’m kind of thinking it should be that way with our “inner GPS” . . . that our internal guidance system should always be anchored to home . . . and when that’s in place, there’s a “homeland security.”

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.  
                                                                              (Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV)

Faith is the fuel of endurance (see yesterday’s post). It is the assurance of things hoped for (11:1) . . . it is the means of comprehending the incomprehensible (11:3) . . . it is the “secret sauce” to pleasing God, “for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him” (11:6) . . . and it is the driver for programming the “HOME” function on our spiritual GPS.

The “hall of faith-ers” I’m reading about this morning desired a better country . . . they coveted a land unseen . . . they strained and stretched, reaching out to touch a city whose designer and builder is God (11:10). It became their context for doing life.

Because of his “HOME” function, Abel offered a better sacrifice . . . because he was aligned to true north, Enoch pleased God and bypassed death . . . Noah built an ark trusting God had charted the course and would captain the ship . . . Abraham ended up going without knowing, confident that his tracking system would lead to the land of promise . . . and Sarah bore life from a dead womb, considering “Him faithful who had promised” (11:11). And at the heart of such trust . . . propelling an obedience which often times defies human wisdom . . . was a homeland security.

How they lived here was influenced by their confidence in what existed there . . . their actions declaring loudly “that they are seeking a homeland.”

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.    (Hebrews 11:16b ESV)

He has prepared a city . . . and even now His blessed Son is putting on the finishing touches . . .

“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” – Jesus   
                                                                                      (John 14:2-3 ESV)

And by faith, I’ve desired to set my “HOME” function to that “better country.” Not saying I won’t have times when perhaps I wander a bit . . . maybe stray off course . . . possibly get turned around . . . but there’ll always be the security and confidence of knowing which way is home . . .

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

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The Fuel of Endurance

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Pete

So often, the New Testament writers were corner men. You know, those guys with the towels on their shoulders and the water bottle in their hands who wait for the bell to ring between rounds of a boxing match and then go into action trying to get their fighter ready for the next round. Sometimes their guys come back pretty beat up . . . their job is to patch them up and get them back in the fight . . . 10% attendance to the physical . . . 90% focus on the mental. That’s what comes to mind as I read the last half of Hebrews 10 this morning . . . the writer is a corner man trying to encourage his readers not to give up the fight. And the “secret sauce” for endurance? Faith.

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming One will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.   
                                                                                 (Hebrews 10:35-39 ESV)

These Hebrew believers had been “enlightened” (v.32). They had grasped something of the “new and living” way that God had opened up to them through Jesus the Great High Priest . . . they had tasted something of the confidence to “enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus” (v.19-21). They had also suffered for their allegiance to the Christ . . . they were regarded as rejecters of the law of Moses . . . they had been “publicly exposed to reproach and affliction” and the “plundering of their property” (v.33-34). And as such, many were now wavering . . . the fight was tough . . . they were feeling somewhat beaten up . . . thinking about throwing in the towel. Enter the Corner Man . . .

For nine-and-a-half chapters the Corner Man has been painting a picture of the superiority of Christ over those things that foreshadowed Him in the law. A better minister than angels . . . a better mediator of a better covenant . . . a better builder of a better house of God . . . a better high priest in a better tabernacle . . . a better sacrifice for sin opening a better way into the most holy place. And then, to those who are reeling from going round after round with opposition and trial, the Corner Man says, “The just will live by faith . . . and we are those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

Not to be overly simplistic . . . not to minimize suffering . . . not to think lightly of trials . . . but, at the end of the day, when you’re kind of feeling beat up, doesn’t it come down to what we believe that propels us to get up again the next morning and enter again into the fray? Isn’t it with an eye to the sky, owning by faith that “the coming One will come” (v.37) that we determine, as much as lies in us and by the power of the Spirit upon us, to keep on keepin’ on? When we seem to be losing everything around us, isn’t it because we believe that we have “a better possession and an abiding one” (v.34) that we press on towards the finish line . . . believing that we will “receive what is promised” (v.36)?

Faith is the fuel of endurance.

And so the Corner Man whispers in our ear as He strengthens the inner man, giving us living water to drink . . .

. . . let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith . . . let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful . . . let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works . . . encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  
                                                                                   (Hebrews 10:22-25 ESV)

The righteous . . . those declared righteous through the work of the cross and their place in Christ . . . the righteous will keep on keepin’ on by faith . . . by really believing what they say the believe . . . by not relying on their own ingenuity, strength, and abilities, but in His finished work and in the power of His resurrection . . . by not trusting in “horses and chariots” to win the battle, but trusting in the name of the LORD our God (Ps. 20:7).

O’, that by His grace we might walk by faith. Let us fight the good fight . . . by faith alone in God alone . . . for His glory alone. Amen?

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Who Needs Firewood?

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Pete

Oh the patience of God in pursuing His people and seeking to draw them back to Himself. That’s the thought that emerges as I read Isaiah 44 and 45 this morning. In Isaiah 44 God reasons with those who have turned from Him to worship idols. He says . . .

“Think about it. I’m the God of creation . . . I’m the God who formed you!! Why would you turn to anyone or anything else — least of all to these idols you’re bent on worshiping? How blind are your eyes? How beyond understanding is your heart? That you would take a chunk of wood and from part of it form an object for you to worship and then use the other part to build a fire and warm and feed yourself? It’s the same piece of firewood!!! Something that you throw into the fire is not something that can redeem and save you! Give your head a shake!!”
                         (Isaiah 44:12-20 PLP – Pete’s Loose Paraphrase . . . very loose).

And so God calls out to His people . . .

I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. (Isaiah 44:22 ESV)

Oh how it grieves our God when our hearts are turned away from Him and towards firewood. Whether, as in the case of Israel, it’s hearts set on actual chunks of wood fashioned for worship . . . or the “firewood” of the pursuit of pleasure and self-satisfaction as our god . . . or to following our will and ways instead of His. And so, a grieved God patiently pleads with His people, “Return to Me!”

And then God, through the prophet, declares what all firewood followers need to come to realize . . .

I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides Me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides Me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.   (Isaiah 45:5-6 ESV)

Six times in this one chapter the thought is repeated, “There is no other!” You kind of get the impression that this is big deal to our God — that He thinks it pretty important that we get the fact that it is about Him and Him alone. That in coming to grips with His “no other-ness” firewood will be seen for what it really is.

Isn’t that the root cause of hearts that turn away from Him . . . some kind of belief that there is another? Maybe we’re not thinking another deity to worship . . . but another, less demanding way . . . another standard that suits us better . . . another call to follow Him which isn’t so radical. . . another way to pursue Him and know Him apart from His word . . . another spiritual compass other than the Holy Spirit He has placed within us. And when we do this aren’t we really just fashioning a God after our own liking . . . kind of like thinking that a piece of firewood can be formed into something of our making and suitable for worship? How stupid is that?

Oh how we need to return to the exclusiveness of God and quit trying to “re-form” Him into something that suits us. Instead, recognizing His awesome “no other-ness,” we need to bow to Him in submission and worship and ask Him to “reform” us.

You got to think that if we spent more time on meditating on the awesome God of creation . . . that if we would reflect more on the One who formed us and knows us intimately . . . that if we really believed that He is God and God alone and the only source of salvation and the only reliable refuge and the only One worthy of our lives and the only One we will stand before someday . . . that we’d be less likely to turn our hearts toward chunks of firewood.

Who needs firewood?

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The Justice Bringer

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Pete

“Behold My Servant” . . . that’s how my reading in Isaiah 42 began this morning . . . three words that capture your attention . . . a heavenly “Heads Up!” . . . a spiritual “awakening.” Here’s what I beheld as I worked through my readings this morning . . .

This Servant of God is His chosen . . . the One in whom the Father’s soul delights . . . the One upon whom the Spirit of God rests . . . the One sent to “bring forth justice to the nations” (Isa. 42:1). And God’s “Justice Bringer”, at least at His first visit, is as a gentle servant. He will not make a big scene, shouting aloud in the streets . . . “a bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench” . . . but He will faithfully bring justice (42:2-4).

He will be given as a light for the nations . . . a light which opens the eyes of the blind . . . a light which shows the way for the prisoner in darkness to be led to freedom. He is God’s promise to those in need of a promise (42:6b-7).

How will the glorious and gentle Servant bring about such liberating justice? Flash forward to the next reading . . .

“Crucify, crucify Him!” . . . they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that He should be crucified. And their voices prevailed . . . he delivered Jesus over to their will . . . they led Him away . . .   (Luke 22:20-22 ESV)

Not what I would have in mind . . . good thing I’m not God. How can you bring justice to a sin-infested world apart from dealing with the sin? How can you make way for righteousness without first having paid the price of unrighteousness? How can you bring the light without first conquering the darkness? How can you set the prisoner free with first breaking the bondage of his shackles? Next reading please . . .

. . . Christ appeared as high priest . . . He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption . . . how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God . . . without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins . . . as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.    
                                                                                   (Hebrews 9: 11-26 ESV)

The Justice Bringer brought it! God having become the just and the justifier through the atoning work of the cross of His Servant, the One in whom the Father delights. Justice having been wrought as the price for sin . . . all sin . . . past, present, future . . . as the price for sin was fully paid upon the cruel cross of Calvary. The way of forgiveness . . . the means of release from sin’s cruel bondage . . . having been forever secured through the work of the now risen and glorious Lamb of God.

And for those who, by God’s grace, see it and believe it . . . for those who receive by faith . . . there is light . . . and there is freedom . . . and there is justice . . . the sinner having been declared righteous . . . for, in the good news of the God’s Chosen Servant, the Justice Bringer, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith'” (Romans 1:17 NKJV).

“Behold My Servant” . . . the Justice Bringer!

Servant beheld . . . thank you, LORD!

Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise from the end of the earth . . . Let them give glory to the LORD, and declare his praise in the coastlands.   
                                                                                  (Isaiah 42:10, 12 ESV)

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Comfort in Comparing the Incomparable

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Pete

Describing the indescribable . . . explaining the unexplainable . . . or, as one songwriter so aptly put it, trying to fit the ocean in a cup . . . that’s Isaiah’s task this morning in the fortieth chapter of his prophetic writing. There’s a shift in the overall tone of his prophecy. After 39 chapters of “the wages of sin is death” the Holy Spirit directs the prophet to comfort God’s people (Isa. 40:1). The comfort is first introduced as a voice in the wilderness crying, “Prepare the way of the Lord” (40:3) . . . and is then declared to be found in a consideration of the greatness of our God . . . in trying to fathom the unfathomable . . . in trying to relate to a God that is, quite literally, out of this world!

To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with Him? . . . To whom then will you compare Me that I should be like Him? says the Holy One.  (Isaiah 40:18, 25 ESV)

That our God is a big, big God is evident from the prophet . . .

Behold the Lord GOD comes with might . . . It is He who sits above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers . . . Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of His might . . . Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable.  
                                                                      (Isaiah 40:10a, 22a, 26, 28 ESV)

Big? Yes! Awesome? Kind of! Higher . . . loftier . . . more powerful than I can imagine? I’m thinkin’! So how does a “grasshopper” find comfort in this?

Tucked away in this portrayal of the Mighty Creator . . . slipped into the prophet’s defying challenge to compare an incomparable God . . . is a comparison . . .

He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.   
                                                                                        (Isaiah 40:11 ESV)

Like a shepherd . . . hmmm . . . The everlasting God . . . the Almighty Creator . . . will, like a shepherd, gather His own in His arms . . . He will carry them . . . He will gently lead them.

How does Jesus not come to mind? Everlasting God come in flesh. The Almighty Creator come as the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep (John 10:11) that He might lift them up in newness of life . . . the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep that they may know Him (John 10:14) . . . that they might know, by His grace, something of this big, indescribable, incomparable God . . . and in that, find rest in His arms . . .

Comfort? Yeah. Renewal? I’m thinkin’ . . .

. . . but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.   (Isaiah 40:31 ESV)

For His glory . . .

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Searching Out the Unsearchable

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Pete

I’m reminded this morning that discovery is God’s idea . . . and that the purpose of discovery is ultimately to reveal the glory of God.

It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.   (Proverbs 25:2 ESV)

What a thought to chew on. The glory of God is tied in with “the secret thing”. God wouldn’t be God if we could fully figure Him out . . . if there were no mystery . . . if there were no questions.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”   (Isaiah 55:8 NLT)

That is an integral part of the greatness of God . . . that He creates in a manner and operates in a realm which is beyond our comprehension. To that end, His glory is seen in the things we don’t know and the things we don’t understand. His awesome greatness is experienced as we realize how little we’ve seen of God and how we’ve just started to scratch the surface on knowing Him. There are “dots to connect” that we have yet to even imagine. The glory of God being revealed as we pursue the mysteries of creation . . . the heavenly communication of the Bible . . .the mysterious operation of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And that, says Proverbs, is the glory of kings, to search out the unsearchable.

When you think about all that a king possesses you might come up with any number of things that sets him apart and might be considered his glory. But the Scriptures says that what really sets apart a king is a heart that seeks out the deep things of God . . . and if that is the glory of kings, what is it for “common man?”

Is there a higher preoccupation for man than to know His Creator? Is there a more worthy pursuit than the pursuit of knowing God? And, if I read my handy dandy Hebrew translator correctly, the idea here isn’t so much that the glory is in “finding out” or “figuring it out” . . . but the glory is associated with searching . . . exploring . . . examining thoroughly. It’s not so much what we find . . . but the glory is in the heart that seeks to find more.

It’s the heart that thirsts for the water of the things of God. It’s the heart whose appetite can’t be met . . . for every morsel of discovery that he digests only increases the desire for more of God.

Can a person really search out God and discover His “secrets?” To a degree, our scientists have been doing it through the millennia . . . though often without seeing the God behind the discovery or breakthrough. But, for the redeemed, there is a whole other frontier of discovery. The saved man or woman possesses the mind of Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit and thus, has the highest powered “spiritual telescope” . . . the strongest “spiritual microscope” . . . such that he has the potential to discover the concealed things of God beyond just the physical mysteries of creation. What the redeemed must do, however, is to set their hearts on searching them out.

O’ for a heart that seeks after the deep things of God! O’ for a hunger and thirst such that, after we have tasted and seen the Lord is good we will cry, “Please Lord! More!” O’ for a mind that seeks to enter in to the high and lofty ways of a high and holy God. O’ for a passionate pursuit of the concealed things of God fueled by the indwelling Spirit who desires to make Him known.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!   (Romans 11:33 ESV)

. . . But we have the mind of Christ.   (2Corinthinas 2:16b ESV)

Searching out the unsearchable . . . by His grace . . . for His glory . . .

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The Point

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Pete

A friend commented on my post yesterday and offered this summary of the book of Hebrews . . . “The whole book of Hebrews is kind of a taste test comparison (Coke/Pepsi?) by someone who has known, loved and been blessed by the OT law and prefiguring ritual. But now he has ‘tasted Christ’ and there is no comparison!” I like it. A taste test . . . comparing the new with the old . . . the substance with the foreshadowing types . . . the real thing with the prefiguring copies and patterns . . . the most excellent with the good and better. And as I continued reading in Hebrews this morning, the “director” of the taste test is not prepared to leave it to the “untrained dull palette” to draw the right conclusion . . . eventually you just have to declare which is superior . . eventually you just need get to the point . . .

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a High Priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a Minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.   (Hebrews 8:1-2 ESV)

I like it when it’s made easy for me. Sometimes you gotta dig and noodle on stuff before you get it . . . other times someone clearly helps you by drawing a big arrow that points to what is important to know. That’s Hebrews 8:1-2 . . . the NLT puts it this way, “Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven. There He ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.”

That’s the point . . . in heaven, in the presence of majestic God, is the “true tabernacle”, the real place where man and God come together. And the High Priest who serves in that holy of holy places is Jesus Christ the Son of God. And this High Priest is at the right hand of God — there being no higher place of authority than Majestic God’s right hand . . . and this High Priest is seated at the right of the Father because His work is finished — the work of opening the way to God . . . and what remains is for Him to serve as an intercessor. And, behold, this High Priest is my High Priest . . . and the High Priest of all who, by faith, have received the gift of salvation through His once-for-all sacrifice. That’s the point!!!

This morning it’s not so much about where I am but about where He is. It’s about His authority and His on-going ministry on my behalf. It’s about a heavenly perspective and about a heavenly tent not made by man but by God Himself. It’s about entering into that most holy of places through the Spirit of God. It’s about considering Jesus, the risen Christ . . . about focusing on what is unseen rather than what is seen . . . about setting my heart on things above. Its about living here with a renewed vision and appreciation for what He’s doing there. That’s the point!!!

There’s a place for complicated things . . . but not this morning . . . its been clearly shown to me again. In fact, its been shown twice. Here’s what I read in Luke 22 this morning . . .

When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led [Jesus] away to their council, and they said, “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”   (Luke 22:66-69 ESV)

Doesn’t get any clearer than that. My Lord is sitting at the right hand of the power of God . . . that’s the point. Get it? Got it? Good!!

And that’s the taste that refreshes. No need to keep sipping on the other stuff . . . no need to look other places . . . instead, as my friend encouraged me in his comment, let’s keep “our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2) . . .

O’ what a Savior! Amen?

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