A Revealer of Mysteries

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Pete

The story is classic . . . King eats too much before bedtime . . . king goes to sleep . . . supper starts fighting back . . . king has weird dream . . . king calls his magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers . . . king tells them the weird, digestive induced visions he had during the night . . . the court jesters get all creative and come up with a good tale on what the king’s dream means . . . king feels important that even his cramped colon can produce such great truths . . . king’s counselors feel important that they could be so wise as to interpret gastric goings on . . . game, set, match . . . we’ll play again another day. But in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (Daniel 2:1), the rules of the game were to take a sudden change . . . and the stage was set to introduce to a pagan king a Revealer of Mysteries

On that night, the dreams was different. They were vivid and they were troubling to the core. Not just about some tossing and turning, but shake-you-to-your-core frightening, so that there was no sleep to be had. And the king wanted answers . . . no game playing . . . he wanted the truth . . . he wanted to understand what it was all about and so, he called his “wise men” to him and required that before interpreting the dream that they demonstrate they were really in the know by first recounting the dream to him. Nope . . . uh, uh . . ain’t going to happen . . . “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh” (Daniel 2:10-11).

Well, they got it part right . . . no man was going to meet the king’s test. But, there is a God who dares to dwell among flesh . . . the God who seeks to redeem those He created in His own image . . . the God who desires to tabernacle with His people . . . the God of heaven . . . the God who is a Revealer of Mysteries.

If you go just on repetition alone, the core message of Daniel 2 has got to be that the God of heaven (2:18, 19, 28, 37, 44) is a Revealer of Mysteries (2:19, 28, 29, 47). Sure, we can get caught up with Daniel’s prophetic interpretation of the the king’s dream, but if we step back just a bit, how amazing is it that the God heaven has determined to reveal the secrets of heaven to mere mortals? I’m thinkin’ pretty amazing!

I can be so comfortable with the concepts of the faith . . . that Christ is God come in the flesh . . . that Jesus died and rose again the third day as an atoning sacrifice for all my sin — past, present, and future . . . that righteousness is credited to all who believe Jesus is the Lamb of God and own Him as Lord of All . . . that Jesus is even now preparing a place for us and that our mortal bodies will give way to immortality . . . and the list goes on.

But this morning “comfort” gives way to awe. That the God of heaven . . . He whose ways are higher than my ways . . . He whose thought are so beyond anything I could conceive . . . that He would reveal, by His grace, the secrets of the kingdom to a person of darkened understanding . . . that He would illuminate our minds to grasp in some measure such out-of-this-world revelation.

It occurs to me, that by God’s grace, I’m kind of like Daniel in that the God of heaven has revealed to me deep and profound mysteries . . . that, by His grace, He has given me the mind of Christ (1Cor. 2:16) . . . that, through His abiding Spirit, He leads me into truth.

Oh, that I might respond like Daniel and bless the God of heaven . . . the Revealer of Mysteries!

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
    to whom belong wisdom and might.
 He changes times and seasons;
    He removes kings and sets up kings;
 He gives wisdom to the wise
   and knowledge to those who have understanding;
He reveals deep and hidden things;
   He knows what is in the darkness,
   and the light dwells with Him.
 To You, O God of my fathers,
    I give thanks and praise . . . ”     (Daniel 2:20-22 ESV)

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Love One Another

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Pete

There’s no escaping it . . . no “wiggle room,” really. It’s a command to be obeyed . . . but, more than that, it is a command to be embraced . . . because, for those who do, it has a way of maintaining a fresh and vital relationship with the God who, Himself, models the command.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. . . . Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. . . . And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1John 4:7, 11, 21 ESV)

So . . . do you get the sense that perhaps believers should be lovers of other believers? It seems that one of the most compelling evidences of someone truly being born of God is that they have an authentic love for the people of God . . . that one of the most vivid indicators that Christ is being formed in a person is the degree to which they love the sheep just as the Good Shepherd does . . . that one of the most powerful witnesses that someone is truly in relationship with God is found in the relationships they pursue with other believers.

“No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1John 4:12, 16 ESV)

It seems to me that John’s saying there is a vital link between our relationship with God and our relationships with the church . . . not the building . . . not some “place of worship” . . . but with the church, the body of Christ, those brought out of darkness into marvelous light that they might be to God a “special people.” And if that’s true . . . if there is this correlation between loving one another and abiding with God . . . maybe that’s why the enemy has perpetuated the lie that “going to church” is more a matter of convenience than it is a matter of maintaining an authentic relationship with the Savior of our souls. Maybe that’s why, for so many, Sunday mornings are more a matter of “clocking in and clocking out” than they are about touching base again with a community from which they draw energy and encouragement as they are ministered to . . . and, as they minister to others.

As I hover over this passage this morning, I wonder how people can be growing . . . or even maintaining . . . an abiding relationship with God without pursuing loving relationships with other believers. Maybe it’s the old stagnant pond analogy . . . if water just flows in but never flows out, that fresh water eventually loses it’s sparkle. Instead, if we obey His command and love one another, “out”, just as we have known His love, “in”, the “flow” of God’s love through us keeps us in vital communion with the Source of Love . . . for “God is love.”

Oh, what a tragedy for believers not to connect with a fellowship in which, more than just being fed, they can also pour out their lives into others.

Certainly, the Word of God is important if we are to grow in Christ-likeness. And prayer is vital if we are to engage God in real relationship. But, if we sell short the importance of fellowship — not just because of what we can get, but because of the avenue to love on one another — then, I fear, we’re sitting on a three-legged stool with only two legs.

It’s a command . . . it’s an imperative for abiding . . . it’s a privilege. Beloved, let us love one another . . amen?

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Sit Back in Wonder!

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Pete

It’s not something I would have expected. Not something that would have been intuitive to me. Not something that, if I were laying out the plans for the Millennial Kingdom, I would have necessarily thought to include. In fact, it’s something that causes me to pause . . . something which, at first, seems out of place . . . something that I feel I need to re-read it to make sure I’m getting it . . . and then, to sit back in wonder . . .

“And he said to me: ‘Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: These are the ordinances for the altar . . . ‘ ” (Ezekiel 43:18 ESV)

This morning I continue to “power my way” through this detailed description of what appears to be a future temple of God . . . the temple that’s rebuilt during “The Millennium”, that future time, after Christ’s return, when He rules as King on the earth for 1,000 years. Ok . . . so during the Millennium there’ll be a temple . . . no problem so far. The temple and its surrounding structures are big . . . they are precisely designed and described . . . you can imagine them to be magnificent . . . and, no surprise, the temple is the filled with the glory of God and is the center piece of millennial worship. Again, so far, so good . . . just what I might expect.

But then . . . and here’s where my head starts to hurt . . . I get to Ezekiel 43:13 and it starts to describe the dimensions of really big altar that is present . . . and my brow furls . . . and the question marks start popping over my head. Isn’t the altar the place where sacrifices are made? Yup! And that’s just what you read about in 43:19-27 . . . sacrifices and burnt offerings. So . . . if Christ is the “once for all sacrifice” (Heb. 7:27, 9:12, 10:10) — and He is — then why are there sacrifices during His Millennial reign? Why the offerings and shedding of blood after the cross? Hmmm . . . so I sit back in wonder.

Maybe they serve the same purpose as the Old Testament sacrifices . . . they are a shadow, a divine object lesson, that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Heb. 9:22, 10:18) But, unlike the OT sacrifices which foreshadowed Christ to come as the final sacrifice for sin, these future sacrifices look back and serve as a vivid portrayal and reminder of the price paid by the King who now sits enthroned over His kingdom. Kind of like a “Lord’s Supper” . . . maybe like Communion . . . but bigger . . . more vivid . . . less left to the imagination.

Think about it. How powerful a reminder would that be? Seeing blood sacrifices made on the altar outside the Holy of Holies and then looking over to Your King and realizing that He who sits on the throne was, Himself, the sacrifice for you so that your sins might be atoned for . . . that you might have a place with the redeemed . . . that you might now boldly enter His Holy presence!

And I’m wondering if it isn’t an indication that God intends that His people never get too far from remembering that a price was paid for their salvation . . . that a sacrifice was required for their redemption . . . that blood was shed that they might be given garments of righteousness.

And if that’s true . . . and I think it is . . . how important and how precious should the Lord’s Supper be for us today? Whether we gather around bread and wine every week, or once a month, or four times a year . . . as often as we eat of the bread and drink of the cup, we are to recall a sacrifice . . . we are to remember an altar . . . we are to focus afresh that without the shedding of blood we would be strangers to the realities of being part of His kingdom . . .

And when we take time to consider blood poured out on altar for us, it should cause us to sit back in wonder . . . and then bow down in worship . . . amen?

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Kind of a Big Deal

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Pete

It’s not so much about what I read this morning, as it was about what it made me think of. I kind of had to power through Ezekiel 40 and 41 . . . kind of like I did in Exodus . . . kind of like I did in 1Kings . . . kind of like reading a divine blueprint. Literally! It was the blueprint of the tabernacle in Exodus . . . of Solomon’s temple in 1Kings . . . and of a temple, yet to grace this earth, in Ezekiel. And this future temple, which I think exists during the millennial kingdom, is a temple “on steroids.” Bigger . . . if I’m grasping it correctly, much bigger . . . than Solomon’s temple . . . than Herod’s temple . . . than anything I can really imagine. And it gets me thinking that having a temple on earth is kind of a big deal to God . . .

It was the 25th year of the exile when “the hand of the Lord” came upon Ezekiel and he was transported “in visions of God” back to the land of Israel where he was escorted by “a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand” (Ezek. 40:2-3). Talk about your divine pre-building inspection! Instead of being given a set of plans to read, Ezekiel is given a vision to behold and experience . . .

“And the man said to me, ‘Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.’ ” (Ezekiel 40:4 ESV)

The impact of this magnificent, jaw-dropping temple was better felt than just tell’t. With his eyes and ears, Ezekiel was to experience this yet to be constructed temple. He would walk about and behold it’s vastness . . . he would listen intently to his guide’s description and commentary . . . the dimensional details he would record. But beyond this, he was to set his heart upon what he was being shown . . . to fix his mind on more than just the instructions of the temple . . . but to also consider carefully the implications of the temple . . . ’cause the temple is kind of a big deal.

From the time of Moses and tabernacle . . . to the pinnacle of Israel as a nation and the architectural wonder of Solomon’s temple . . . to the priority of rebuilding the temple after the Babylon captivity . . . to the future day of Ezekiel’s vision and this temple “on steroids” . . . God desires a structure on earth where His glory might dwell . . . a place on “terra firma” where His presence might be known. So, if it’s such a priority to have a holy of holies here on earth, where’s the temple today? That’s the line of thought, reading in Ezekiel, that brought to mind another temple written about in Ephesians . . .

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus 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.” (Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV)

As magnificent as that millennial temple will be . . . as “over the top” as it’s sheer size and construction will be . . . there’s a pretty impressive temple being built today. The “materials” are living stones . . . purchased by the blood of the Lamb . . . hewn by the sanctifying work of the Spirit . . . put in place by the same God who meticulously architected the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple and the temple of Ezekiel’s vision . . . that it might serve the same function as these other temples. That it might be a dwelling place for God . . . a habitation of His glory. Behold, the church . . . the living temple of the living God!

How jazzed should that make us feel? Pretty!

Having a temple on earth is kind of a big deal to God . . . being the temple of God on earth is kind of big deal . . . amen?

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Radical Surgery

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Pete

This morning I’m reflecting on a past surgery. I’m not thinking about the operation where they pieced back together my femur . . . nor am I musing on the scar that tells me I am gall-bladder-less. Nope . . . instead, I’m thinking about the intricate procedure that was undertaken on my heart. Wasn’t performed by doctors in a hospital . . . no visible marks that would indicate “someone went in” . . . but a radical, life-changing procedure nevertheless . . .

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27 ESV)

While I recognize the specific context is Ezekiel’s prophetic word to the house of Israel . . . God is “practicing” this “procedure” on people today . . . it’s a “procedure” I’ve been through myself . . . and to say it’s life changing would be such an understatement.

Only one person in the entire realm of all that which exists who can pull off such an operation — the Creator . . . the re-Creator . . . the Great Physician. According to His Sovereign purpose . . . His amazing grace . . . His unfathomable power . . . He determines to change out the hearts of those who come to Him, by faith, for life-saving, radical surgery.

The “prep” involves cleansing . . . the sprinkling of clean water on the patient. It is the water of the Word that convicts of sin and convinces of a need for a Savior. It is water which finds it’s power in the shed blood of Jesus which is able to cleanse us from all sin. It is water that, when it enters a man or a woman, creates an inner spring of living water that cleanses from the inside out.

The dirt of the past dealt with by cleansing water, the Great Physician then undertakes His specialty, which forever alters “the patient” for the future. They are given a new heart . . . and new spirit. Removed is the heart of stone . . . the heart hardened by sin . . . the heart deadened to feeling the touch of God . . . the heart incapable of pumping that which is true life, “and life to the full,” through the body. Dead hearts are replaced with living hearts . . . hearts alive to the things of God . . . hearts that beat the very rhythm of heaven . . . hearts that yearn and long for a home never seen . . . hearts that teem with a love that is literally out of this world . . . hearts that are suitable to host the very Spirit of the living God Himself!

Think about it! What an unbelievable process is salvation! So much more than sins forgiven — though, if that were the extent of my salvation, that would be more than I deserve and enough for which to praise God for eternity. But more than sins forgiven . . . more than getting cleaned up . . . it is a new nature implanted . . . a new set of DNA activated that connects with the things of a kingdom not of this world . . . a new set of ears to hear and a new set of eyes to see . . . all emanating from a heart of flesh . . . and the Spirit who takes up residence in that transplanted heart. Talk about radical surgery!

And what’s the reminder of this life saving operation? It’s not a scar . . . but it’s the fact that a thirst for His word and a desire to obey exists. Not that I am as faithful concerning the Word as I should be . . . or as obedient as I should be . . . but the very fact that, in some measure, I desire the things of God and the approval of God, reminds me that there’s a new ticker in this aging body.

Praise God for radical surgery . . . for a new heart . . . for His glory . . . amen?

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Part of His Flock

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Pete

Ok . . . there may be other combinations of Old Testament and New Testament passages that form as powerful an impact . . . but they don’t come to mind right now. The Ezekiel 34 / John 10 pairing has got to rank as one of the most powerful combos in my reading plan . . . almost makes me want to just quote both of them here and be done . . . with the tag line . . . “Thank God I’m part of His flock!”

In Ezekiel 34, God blasts the shepherds of Israel . . . those entrusted with the spiritual care of the people of God. He blasts them because they fed themselves instead of feeding the sheep . . . they placed themselves above the sheep . . . they neglected the sheep in order to pursue their own interests . . . they viewed the sheep as a means for them to profit. That kind of shepherd behavior (or lack thereof) sure seems to tick off the Lord . . . but more importantly, His gaze is consumed with the lost sheep . . . and so He acts . . .

“For thus says the Lord God: Behold I, I myself will search for My sheep and will seek them out . . . I seek out My sheep, and I will rescue them . . . I will bring them out . . . I will feed them . . . I Myself will be the shepherd of My sheep . . . I will seek the lost . . . I will bring back the strayed . . . I will bind up the injured . . . I will strengthen the weak . . . I will feed them in justice . . . I will rescue My flock . . . And I will set up over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be a prince among them . . . And they shall know that I am the LORD their God with them . . . And you are My sheep, human sheep of My pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 34:11-31 ESV)

Does God have a heart for sheep? Is He in the flock-building business? I’m thinkin’!

Fast forward a number of centuries, and, in John 10, Jesus is in debate with another set of shepherds of Israel, the Pharisees . . . and declares . . .

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep . . . I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me . . . I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd . . . My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me . . . 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 Father’s hand.” (John 10:11-29 ESV)

How much does God care for lost sheep? Enough to send His Son to lay down His life for lost sheep. How much does God desire to bring lost sheep into relationship with Himself? Enough to go out Himself to find them . . . through His Son, the King of the line of David . . . through His Spirit, convicting men’s spirits of their sin and wooing men’s souls to Himself. To what extent is God committed to shepherding His flock? To the uttermost . . . feeding those who are hungry . . . rescuing those who stray . . . binding up those who break down . . . strengthening those who are weak. How long does God want to be with His flock and His flock with Him? Forever . . . for eternity . . . through eternal life . . . no one able to snatch one His sheep from His hand.

And I hear the Shepherd’s voice this morning. And I sense the Shepherd’s heart. And I “snuggle in” before my day begins and simply enjoy the Shepherd’s presence. Glad to be a sheep. Grateful that, by His grace, I have heard His voice. In awe again of the depths to which He pursued this wayward lamb, that I might know the blessedness of being part of His flock. Not because I’m a particularly good sheep . . . but because He is the Good Shepherd.

Thank God I’m part of His flock! . . . it’s all by His grace . . . it’s all for His glory . . . amen.

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Yeah . . . Really!

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Pete

So, how well does Jesus know God? How intimately aware is the Son concerning the Father? On the surface, maybe those questions come across as “no-brainers.” Or, maybe they present themselves as worthy of only the most grey-haired and studied theologians. Either way, something caught my eye this morning in John’s gospel that’s got me pondering the depths of understanding that exists between the Father and the Son . . . ’cause it kind of has some implications for me.

“I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”
(John 10:14-15 ESV)

It’s one of those statements of Scripture that, if you pause over it for but a minute or two, you can’t help but whisper to yourself, “Really?”

I don’t know that I could articulate the depths to which the the Father knows the Son and to which the Son knows the Father, but from what I can grasp of the concept of the Trinity, I’m thinking it’s pretty a intimate, detailed understanding of One Another. That the Son is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature” (Heb. 1:3a) . . . that Christ Jesus “was in the form of God” but “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (Php. 2:6) . . . that the Carpenter of Nazareth upset the religious apple cart by declaring, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) . . . it all speaks to the fact that there exists an intimate union . . . and communion . . . between Jesus and the Father. While awe-invoking . . . probably not too surprising.

Ok, but with that reality bouncing back and forth in my brain, I consider that this great truth is illustrative . . . it’s not the “main event” of what Jesus is conveying here . . . rather, it’s the “supporting material” . . . the “comparative analysis.” If I grasp something of the depths of intimacy between the Father and the Son then I can start to grasp the central truth that Jesus is expressing here . . . that, “I know My own and My own know Me.”

Really? The degree to which I can be in relationship with Jesus compares to the degree to which He is in relationship with the Father? The union that exists between me and the Savior can be likened to the relationship that exists within the Holy Trinity? That the communion potential that has been made available between this sinner-saved-by-grace and the Great Shepherd who laid down His life for lost sheep, can approach the intimate communion that exists between Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit? If I’m reading this right, the answers are “Yes” . . . “I’m pretty sure” . . . and, “You betcha’!”

So how amazing is that? That as part of the saving grace of God, we have been brought into a relationship with Jesus that compares to that of His relationship with the Father? I don’t know that I fully comprehend the full potential of that relationship, but I’m pretty sure I want to find out . . . I want to pursue it . . . I want to be an active participant in knowing the Son just as the Son knows me . . . just as the Son knows the Father.

I’m not thinking it’s “rocket science” either. The Word of God . . . the indwelling, intercessory Holy Spirit . . . obedience to that which I know He desires of me . . . belief that the work is His, and what He begins, He will finish . . . and, a determination, as much as lies within me, to be “abiding” and pursuing relationship with Him.

So how well does Jesus know God? About as well as He knows me? How intimately aware is the Son concerning the Father? As intimately aware as I have the potential of being about Him? Really? Yeah . . . really!

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The Sky Clears

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Pete

Sometimes I forget. Well, maybe it’s not so much forget, as it is I lose sight of the magnitude of a truth. It’s kind of like I know Mt. Rainier is big and beautiful, but after it’s been hidden by overcast skies for a period of time and then “shows up” one day amidst clear skies, it can kind of take my breath away. Though I never forgot Mt. Rainier was there, I lost sight of it . . . and the memory has a way of fading . . . and it becomes less spectacular in my mind’s eye . . . but then . . . the sky clears and BAM! . . . there it is . . . queue the awe factor. That’s a feeble attempt at a simple illustration to try convey my experience this morning in God’s Word.

I was set up for the “clouds clearing” by an extended read in Ezekiel . . . particularly the Lord’s words of judgment concerning Tyre, and it’s royal family. And the root of the sin of Tyre is clearly revealed in chapter 28 as the Lord indicts the Prince of Tyre and his father, the King. Of the prince, God’s charge is that “your heart is proud . . . you have said I am a god . . . your heart has become proud in your wealth . . . you make your heart like a god” (28:1-6).

But “the boy” is just a chip off the the ol’ block as he learned it from “the best at being the worst”. You read the charge against the King of Tyre and a chill goes down your back because the pride of the man is modeled directly after the destroyer of men. “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God . . You were an anointed guardian cherub . . . You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you . . .and you sinned . . . your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor” (28:11-17).

And it was amidst this dark backdrop of the depths of sin brought on by misplaced self-ego and pride that I turned to 1John 2 . . . and the sky cleared . . . and I beheld afresh the magnificence of another Son . . . and a different King . . .

“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)

Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. He is the “atoning sacrifice” (NIV). His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary was fully sufficient to appease the wrath of God. The guilt of sin can be removed from “whosoever believes” as the price has been paid in full.

I hadn’t forgotten that truth . . . it’s just the magnitude and beauty of it hit me afresh this morning. Ezekiel’s prophecy revealed the depths of sin I’m capable of. Ezekiel’s prophecy provided insight to the wrath of God and the degree to which sin will be judged. And then 1John reminded me that Jesus took it upon Himself . . . all of it . . . even “the sins of the whole world.” How powerful is the shed blood of Christ? Pretty!

Awesome! How else do you describe it?

That’s why I need to keep in the Scriptures daily. The clouds of the day-to-day have a way of settling in. The overcast skies of trials and concerns have a way of keeping me from looking up. But then I open up the Word . . . and the Word opens up me . . . and the clouds roll back . . . and BAM! The Son appears . . . and I look up . . . and marvel afresh at the grace of God . . . and wonder anew at the depths of the love of God . . . and the power of the gospel . . . and the awesome nature of the work of Christ on behalf of men and women.

The sky clears. And this sinner-saved-by-graced, after looking up, goes facedown. Queue the awe factor. And with feeble, inadequate words, say, “Thank you, Lord!”

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Never Been the Same

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Pete

One of my readings this morning was in John 9. This has got to be one of my favorite portions of Scripture. Not so much because of it’s teaching . . . or it’s a great theological treatise . . . but because of its down-to-earth, pragmatic, defense of the power of Christ.

The passage really is high drama . . . Jesus encounters a man born blind from birth. “Why?” his disciples ask, “Was it because God punished him in advance for his sins . . . or, perhaps, because his parents had sinned?” (v.2) Why? It’s an understandable question . . . one I’m sure his parents asked when their hearts were crushed as they realized their newborn was without sight . . . and, really, without much hope for a very productive life . . . “beggar” would have come to mind as how their boy would fill out a job application under “Current Occupation.” But if His parents only knew the behind the scenes answer to this “why” question. As for the disciples, the answer didn’t even show up as one of the choices on a multiple choice quiz. But God had always known why . . .

“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3 ESV))

There you go . . . chew on that a bit. Before this man was born, God had determined to raise Him up to reveal the power of His Son. While the Father formed him in his mother’s womb, Sovereign God got to the optic nerve and said, “Not yet . . . we’ll save developing that fully for a future time.” Now it might have been helpful had the blind man known that . . . certainly it might have given his parents some comfort. But God operates in mysteries . . . He will leave the “why” question unanswered . . . that He might be trusted . . . that He might be glorified.

And the story gets better. Jesus makes some “spit clay”, puts it on the blind man’s eyes, and tells him to go wash it off. “So he went and washed, and came back seeing.” (v.7b) Queue excitement . . . bring on wonder . . . fire up a whole new set of questions . . . no longer is it “why?” . . . it is now “how?” And all of a sudden this nobody . . . this blind beggar . . . this poor soul . . . this unnoticed less-than-average Joe . . . is a much sought out expert . . . he knows better than anyone the “How?”

“The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” (John 9:11 ESV)

Then bring the Pharisees into the picture and this high drama almost gets almost comical. They’re going crazy trying to deal with the growing “rumor” that Jesus gave sight to a man born blind. The interrogate the man . . . same questions . . . same answer. “But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight.” (v18) So they call in his parents and grill them, “Is this your son? Was he really born blind? How then can he see now?” And they, for fear of being perceived as confessors of Jesus as Christ, go with the minimal response, “Yes he’s our son. Yes he was born blind and has been blind until now. As for how he received his sight, ask him.” O’ you can just sense the Pharisees are getting frantic . . . and so they turn back to the man . . . they try bullying him . . . they try to get him to provide the answers they want to hear . . . or at least not provide the answers they don’t want to hear . . .

“Give God the glory!” they scream at him, “We know that Jesus is a sinner.” And, I imagine the man turning toward them . . . face to face . . . seeing eyeball to seeing eyeball . . . feet firmly planted . . . quietly . . . and confidently . . . with perhaps a bit of smile on his face . . . responding, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know; that though I was blind, now I see.” (vv.24-25) End of argument. Game, set, match to the man . . .

The Pharisees could continue their questioning . . . they could try and dispute with him . . . they could deride him . . . they could cast him out of the synagogue (all of which they did, see vv. 26-34) . . . but it didn’t change the facts. A man born blind stood before them and had looked them in the eye.

This account never fails to stir me. I may not be the brightest bulb on the tree . . . haven’t got my degree in theology . . . don’t quite know how all the exegetical i’s are dotted or t’s are crossed . . . some of what I think I do know, I probably have wrong. But, at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, I know this . . . once I was blind, but now I see. Once I was dead to the things of God and now I have an ever increasing thirst for the living water He offers. Once it was clearly all about me, but now, by His grace and the sanctifying work the Spirit, I’m relinquishing more and more of the throne to His rule . . . through His applying of “spit clay” in my life, I am becoming more and more a child of light. No glory to me . . . all glory to God.

I may not have all the apologetics down . . . but this one thing I know . . . I have met Jesus . . . and have never been the same.

(Don’t believe me . . . . got 3 more minutes? . . . ask the blind man, he saw it all . . .  click here )

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Watcher of Mankind

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Pete

Seven billion. If the experts are to be believed, the “people odometer” clicked over a major milestone sometime in the past few days . . . this planet now houses seven billion men, women, and children. And I’m reminded that my God is aware of each one . . . that we have not exceeded His capacity . . . that none are hidden from His sight . . . that none are beyond the reach of His saving grace.

Reading in Job 7 this morning. The debate has begun . . . on the one side, Job’s friend have started the “you must have done something really wrong to deserve this” line of argument . . . on the other side, Job splits his rebuttal between his friends, pleading his righteousness, and his God, demanding God let him die or at least explain Himself. And it’s in the midst of his heaven-directed rant, that I learn something about God from these God-breathed writings:

“I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath. What is man, that You make so much of him, and that You set your heart on him, visit him every morning and test him every moment? How long will You not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit? If I sin, what do I do to You, You watcher of mankind?” (Job 7:16-20a ESV)

Get out the blue colored pencil . . . underline that last phrase . . . take note of this attribute of God . . . God is the Watcher of Mankind.

He is the Keeper of adam. He is the Guardian of those who are the most precious of all His creation . . . all seven billion of them. How amazing is that?

Say what you will about Job’s outbursts toward heaven . . . about His challenges to God for a “face-to-face” discussion about his situation . . . for, even in this, Job honors and glorifies God. He looks to God as the final arbiter of the affairs of men. He acknowledges God as the One who not only created but sustains and guards over all mankind and, as such, He lifts up the Watcher of Men as the highest authority . . . as Him who presides on the bench of the Supreme Court of all the earth . . . thus, Job pleads His case. And, through Job’s plea, I’m led to turn my thinking away from the stage of Job’s drama and toward the balcony of the One who observes all adam from heaven . . . and it fills me with a sense of awe.

Our God is the Watcher of Men . . . the Keeper of Mankind . . . all mankind . . . those who follow and those who refuse . . . those who worship and those who curse . . . those who bow the knee and those who shake the fist. Not one of us on this huge planet escapes His notice. He is the Creator . . . He is the Watchman. How big is our God? Really big!

And He is not some passive observer . . . He is the Sustainer of all things. What’s more, He is the Redeemer of all things. He has visited this planet . . . experienced it “up close and personal” as flesh and blood through His Son, Jesus the Christ. He has become Immanuel, God with us . . . and, as such, has intervened . . . paying the debt owed for transgression and rebellion . . . paying the ransom needed to rescue us from bondage of sin . . . setting us free to live as children of light in anticipation of one day being in the very light of His glory . . . sealing us with the blessed Holy Spirit, our Comforter, our resident Guide leading us home.

It makes me want to shout out Job’s words, “What is man, that You make so much of him, and that You set your heart on him?”

Oh, the expanse of the love of God . . . oh, the reach of the grace of God.

He is the Watcher of Mankind . . . all seven billion of us. Amen?

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