Under the Son

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Pete

The book of Ecclesiastes lacks color . . . literally. I have my colored pencils (aka “pencil crayons” for those of us north of the border) at the ready looking for the grand themes of Scripture to highlight . . . and am finding none so far in these first chapters of Solomon’s end of life autobiography. But maybe that’s because for Solomon life had become colorless. The ways of God had been traded for the weights of this world . . . the race had become boring as he thought he had already won the prize . . . the fight was futile as he thought he already possessed the spoils of victory.

And spoils he had. This guy had it all . . . and what he didn’t have, he had the wealth to go get . . .

I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man. . . . And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure . . .   (Ecclesiastes 2:4-8, 10a ESV)

In addition to all this, Solomon says that the wisdom he had become famous for did not leave him, God continuing to give him insight beyond what others understood. And that insight leads Solomon to a bottom-line realization that time is the equalizer of all men. Eventually the wise and the fool have the same outcome . . . eventually the rich and the poor end up with the same amount of possessions — nothing . . . eventually the great and the unknown become, at best, faint memories, if remembered at all. And Solomon, rather than being fulfilled through his wisdom and wealth, is frustrated . . . “So I hated life” (2:17). He was plagued by the thought that everything he worked for might end up in the hands of a another — so what’s the point? “For all is vanity,” he writes, “and a striving after wind” (2:17).

And as I read Solomon’s musings in chapter 2 I’m struck again by how much eternal perspective contributes to current contentment. If my toil “under the sun” is only to get as much as I can “under the sun” then, when I’m no longer “under the sun” it really has been a waste . . . or, as Solomon says, “Vanity of vanities” (1:1). But if my labor is “under the Son” . . . if I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me . . . if the life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20) . . . then there is great joy and contentment and fulfillment in my labors here and now . . . for I know that they will but give away to a glorious reality there and then.

As Solomon grew older it seems he didn’t experience much joy and contentment. But his insight allowed him to see what a prize and gift it could be.

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God.   
                                                                         (Ecclesiastes 2:24).

Enjoyment in our toil . . . at peace with our present . . . contentment in whatever state (Php. 4:11) . . . this is the fruit of living life in a framework that transcends this horizontal earthly plane and connects vertically with the God of eternity. This is the abiding joy that comes from a divine context revealed in the Word of God . . . illuminated by the Spirit of God . . . founded on the person and work of the Son of God . . . focused on one primary thing. the glory of God.

That’s life “under the Son” . . . that’s the abundant life that Jesus promised. Life not about my treasures nor my accomplishments . . . but life by His grace . . . and life for His glory . . .

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Unworthy To Be A Sandal Untier

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Pete

I wonder if sometimes we can become a little bit proud of our humility. We know Jesus is the Shepherd, so we are sheep. We know He is Creator and so, appropriately, we bow as the creation. We recognize Him as King, and gladly we take our place in the kingdom as subjects. We own Him as Master, and so we willingly assume the lowly position of servant. Sheep . . . creation . . . subjects . . . slaves . . . all pretty humbling . . . pretty good on us, huh? See what I mean? But this morning I was struck by John the Baptizer’s response to those who asked him, “Who are you?”

They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even He who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”   (John 1:25-27 ESV)

There are servants and then there are servants. There are those who serve in the master’s dining room, privileged to approach the table where the master sits and present him with his food. There are those who serve within the household . . . permitted access to all that the master has. There are those who serve in the field . . . given responsibility to labor in a way that provides great increase for the owner of the field. And then there’s the guy, or the gal, who gets to tie up and untie the master’s shoes.

Really? That was a job? Apparently so.

Can you imagine the qualifications and education you needed to be a sandal untier? Pretty much nothing. What about the standing such an occupation has in the community? Less a standing . . . not even a sitting . . . how about a low kneeling? What’s the reaction your child gets when he or she goes to school and tells the other kids what their daddy does for a living . . . “He unties the masters sandals . . . and most times even ties them back up!” Woo-hoo!!!

And John says, I am unworthy of such service considering the nature of the One I serve.

Oh to beware of a pride fueled by humility. To be on guard against feeling like I’m something in the world because I assume the place of being nothing in the presence of Christ. To fight the temptation to lift myself up among others because I bow down to the King of Kings.

My Savior is of such infinite, matchless holiness and purity that even to tend to His shoes is way above what I deserve or am qualified to do. To think that I can draw near to the feet of Him who dwells in unapproachable light (1Tim. 6:16) is privilege beyond measure. To be but a doorkeeper in the house of my God, if but even for a day, is better than a thousand elsewhere (Ps. 84:10).

My high and holy calling to the low and humble place is not something to boast in . . . it is something to marvel at.

That I might, like John the Baptizer, consider myself unworthy to be sandal untier.

That I might, like John the Baptizer, consider it privilege beyond privilege to serve the Master.

By His grace alone . . . for His glory alone . . . amen?

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My Face

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Pete

I’m reminded this morning that it’s not like the prophets were sent to a people who had never heard of God . . . theirs wasn’t a door-to-door, cold call ministry introducing people to the one true God. Nope . . . they were sent to warn a people that God had already claimed as His own . . . they were sent to a people who had grown up on stories of deliverance . . . they were crying out to a people who had been taught concerning God’s power and miraculous intervention . . . they were those called to be holy just as they had been taught that their God is holy. But they chose another way . . . a dead end way.

It’s summarized in one word . . . a word I came across this morning while reading the opening chapters of the prophet Jeremiah. That word? Apostasy. In some Bible translations it’s rendered “backsliding.” Apparently the Hebrew word has the idea of “turning away.” The prophets were sent to a people called of God who turned away from God . . . who chose a course of backsliding . . . who were overcome by apostasy.

If you think about it, only the people of God can turn away from God. Those outside the family can reject Him . . . can choose to refuse Him . . . can defy Him . . . but only those who have known Him can choose to turn away. Only those who have been brought to the dwelling pace of God can backslide . . . only those who have brought into covenant relationship can forsake the God of promise . . . or, as the Lord through Jeremiah puts it, only those who have faced their God can give Him their back.

For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face.   (Jeremiah 2:27b ESV)

It sends a chill down my spine . . . the thought of giving God my back and not my face . . . probably for a couple of reasons. First, how it must grieve God to have His people give Him their backs. How it must sadden Him to call us to “Come!” and we respond, “No thanks, I’ll go and find my satisfaction in something else.” Does the heart of God ache when He sees those who have tasted of eternal, thirst-quenching water, choose instead to forsake Him and the fountain of living waters He provides and put their efforts into hewing out their own cisterns, “broken cisterns that can hold no water” (2:13)? I’m thinkin’ . . .

Secondly, I’m just shaken by the thought of becoming so turned around that I might give my back to the One “who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Cor. 4:6). The face of Jesus Christ turned toward me by infinite grace . . . and that I might somehow think there’s something more worth pursuing and turn away, giving Him my back, as I seek the vanities of this world. O’ Father, by Your grace may it never be.

O’ that my face might ever be turned toward Him. That I would, by faith, look longingly into the eyes of Him who has been pleased to “lift up His countenance” upon me. That I might relentlessly be like those who desired to worship and, coming to Philip, said, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” (John 12:20-21). That, by the Spirit of God living in me, my GPS might consistently be set to ” looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).

My face . . . not my back, Lord . . . by Your grace . . . for Your glory.

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Swimming Upstream

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Pete

Left to myself . . . going with just my natural inclination, I’m not really a “swim upstream” sort of person. I don’t like to make waves . . . pretty content to go with the flow. Despite what sometimes appears otherwise, I’m actually pretty content to just blend in and go unnoticed. But I’m reminded this morning that following Christ is not really a “go with the flow” type of calling.

I’m reminded this morning in Hebrews 13 that in order to make the way for my salvation . . . that in order to “sanctify” me or “set me apart” for Himself . . . that Jesus, like the sacrifices of old, had to suffer “outside the gate.” Just as the bodies of Old Testament sacrifices were burned outside the camp (13:11), so too, Jesus was taken outside of the religious camp of the day to die. He was crucified outside of Jerusalem’s gates . . . He was outside the accepted religious practice of the day . . . He went against the flow . . . willingly He suffered the reproach, the reviling, and the rejection of swimming upstream.

And that’s the place He calls me to . . . outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.  
                                                                              (Hebrews 13:14 ESV)

Not a very comfortable place . . . outside the camp. But where else would I go? Who else has the words of eternal life? He is the Way, the Truth, the Life and no one comes to the Father but through Him. If He is outside the camp, then that’s where I need to be too. Willing to put it out there . . . willing to be misunderstood, or misrepresented, or maligned.

And one of the reasons this isn’t such a “bad move” on my part is that here I have “no lasting city.” Instead, I’m already seeking the city that is to come. Swimming upstream maybe becomes a bit easier when I realize that going with the flow only leads to a cesspool compared to what I have waiting for me “upstream.” Feeling like I’m standing alone outside the camp becomes easier to do when I realize that everything “in the camp” is perishing and will one day pass way. But the enduring, continuing, lasting, city in heaven is coming . . . and soon!!! That’s why saints who get this sing, “This world’s not my home, I’m just a passin’ through!!!”

I can be the round peg in the square hole because I’m searching after the city to come . . . I wish for it . . . I crave it . . . sometimes I can taste and touch it!!!

And so, as I fix my eyes on what is to come, being outside the camp doesn’t really become the focus . . . rather I end up outside the camp because my eyes are turned to the One who is the Light and Glory of Heaven itself, my loving Father!!

Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.   (Hebrews 13:15 ESV)

Outside the camp, standing with Jesus, with Him as my enabler, I’m exhorted to continually, without ceasing, offer the sacrifice of praise to God . . . the fruit or offering of my lips . . . acknowledging or confessing His Wonderful Name.

It’s not just swimming upstream for the sake of swimming upstream . . . it’s coming to the blessed Savior . . . it’s being ushered by Him into the very presence of Almighty God . . . whatever sacrifice it might mean for me, it pales against the privilege and joy of offering the sacrifice of praise to the Father.

Let’s go . . . swimming upstream . . . boldly acknowledging His name . . . joyfully offering abundant praise . . . by His grace . . . for His glory!

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Heart Burn (2010 Replay)

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Pete

Some mornings I have to kind of “fast path” my devo time and skip the reflection time when I try to put a few thoughts “to paper.”  I’ve got to get to work early this morning, so my “chewing” time this morning was to go back over some posts from previous years.  A post from 2010 resonated with me . . . I liked the diagnosis of this re-occuring condition . . .  so I’m re-sharing it . . .

I started feeling it almost immediately this morning . . . came on kind of suddenly . . . but it didn’t take long to diagnose what was happening. It came on as a result of recognizing Him in Isaiah . . . I started feeling it as I heard His voice in this ancient prophet . . . my heart started to burn within me as I read the words which my Savior took for His own when He identified Himself 2,000 years ago to a congregation in a synagogue in Nazareth . . .

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD . . . ”
                                                              (Isaiah 61:1-2a, Luke 4:18-19 NKJV).

Jesus told those in the synagogue that Sabbath morning, after He had read this portion of Isaiah, that these words were fulfilled in Him. That’s why, when I started reading in Isaiah 61 this morning, my soul was stirred. And I continued to read of Him and me. I read that He promised “to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” (61:3) . . . and my “condition” got worse . . . or better . . . maybe more acute is a better description. My stirred soul becoming a spirit in awe . . . and filled with gratitude . . . and welling up in praise . . . as I recognized myself as that “planting of the LORD” for His glory. What I was feeling was then expressed later in this passage . . . “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.” (61:10).

I read Isaiah 61 this morning . . . and my “condition” came on suddenly. How come? . . . heart burn.

My “condition” was diagnosed when I read also in Luke 24 this morning. The risen Lord Jesus is walking with a couple of disciples on the road to Emmaus . . . He has veiled Himself such that, though they are interacting with Him face to face, they don’t recognize Him. They tell Him about how their worlds have been rocked by Jesus’ crucifixion because they though that Jesus was the one to redeem Israel . . . they also tell Him that some women found His tomb empty and saw a vision declaring He was alive. They don’t what to think . . . not sure what to believe. And so Jesus, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, explains to them what the Scriptures teach concerning Himself (I bet you He covered Isaiah 61). (Luke 24:13-27)

Jesus eventually reveals Himself to them as they eat together and He breaks bread for them. He then vanishes. They then verbalize what I am experiencing this morning . . . “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)

They too experienced heart burn. It was a result of being with Jesus . . . it was brought on by Him opening the Scriptures to them. Could that be what’s happening to me this morning through Isaiah 61? . . . I’m thinkin’!

He who lives within me through His Holy Spirit showed Himself to me through Isaiah 61. I recognized Him almost immediately. As I read these ancient words, I knew that they spoke of Him. I was stirred by seeing Jesus in God’s inspired revelation . . . I was drawn in as I saw Him afresh in the prophet’s words . . . my heart burned within me as He opened the Scriptures . . . I had been with Jesus.

How often do I not recognize these divine encounters? . . . how often do I think it’s me “feelin’ it” rather than Him “revealing it?” This is the dynamic God promises . . . the living and powerful word of God . . . bringing illumination through the ever present Spirit of God . . . that I might encounter the glorious and risen Son of God. And when that happens . . . heart burn! Amen?

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There’s More!

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Pete

Hebrews is the book that just “keeps on giving.” Just when you think you’ve reached the apex . . . there’s more mountain to behold . . . just when you think you’re stuffed from all the food you’ve taken in . . . out comes the dessert . . . just when you’re heart is flying high, the afterburners kick in and it soars. And then . . . there’s more!

The writer to the Hebrews has taken me on an incredible journey, presenting the excellencies of Christ and how much better He is than any of the Old Testament prophets or practices which pointed to Him. This culminates in the Hebrews 11 “Hall of Faith” which showcases that the substance of the hope presented in Christ is faith . . . that faith is the evidence of the things not seen . . . that faith is what pleases God.

And then the “so what?” starts in Hebrews 12 — so what does all this mean for me the believer today? And the focus is turned to how believers should live . . . that we should look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, and run with endurance the race set before us (12:1-2). The writer says, Get a grip . . . strengthen those legs . . . get on track . . . pursue peace with all people . . . pursue holiness . . . be careful to not fall short of the grace of God . . . don’t let anything grow up inside you which will spoil God’s work in you and defile you (12:12-15).

And as if what has come before isn’t motivation enough for determining to “step up” to this salvation we’ve been given, the writer builds further perspective in 12:18-24. He places the struggles of their “here and now” in the context of the glories of their “there and then.” He reminds these Jewish believers that this isn’t about coming to Mt. Sinai anymore . . . its not about cowering in fear before an unapproachable God . . . its not about the law . . . but that it is about something, not to over use the word, so much better . . .

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.   (Hebrews 12:22-24 ESV)

Behold your salvation, Pete!!!

By the grace of God and through the blood of Jesus I have been made alive to the spiritual and entered the eternal . . . coming to a heavenly city inhabited by an innumerable company of angels. I’ve been registered in heaven as part of “the church of the firstborn.” The way has been opened and I have been ushered before God, the judge of all . . . escorted in by Jesus the Mediator, and the Assurance, of this new and living way . . . all through the blood of a once for all sacrifice offered by the Lamb of God, come to take away the sins of the world.

So get your eyes off the ground!! There’s more!

Look heavenward and behold your salvation! Strengthen your hands . . . make straight your paths . . . be healed as you march under Zion’s banner.

And then, worship saint, worship!

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe . . .   (Hebrews 12:28 ESV)

For His glory!

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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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