04.09.09
“SILENT SUFFERING SERVANT”
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SILENT SUFFERING SERVANT
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Isa 53:1-12 NIV
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
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To defend oneself from frontal attack is an instinctual response, one which requires no self justification. And so why would one suffer unjust blows in silence? At the surface, this is the mystery of the suffering servant in Isa. 53. A singular unassuming figure who comes with no fanfare, and no external merit. Rather than attracting acclaim, he attracts affliction; rather than garnering esteem, he nets rejection and despisal. The easy judgment placed on the sum of his person is that this one is rejected, and afflicted by God Himself.
Though unrecognizable at first, the deeper truth is that all of the servant’s suffering was vicarious. It wasn’t for his sins that he was pierced and crushed; rather for ours. All that punishment didn’t procure peace for Him, but for us. We find that we receive acceptance, forgiveness, and healing; paid for by his rejection, crucifixion, and death.
Why does the suffering servant remain silent? Why doesn’t he open his mouth in defense, or in acrimony? All the while knowing that this is the will of God; the servant chooses the path of surrender and trust. For God will vindicate; God will vicariously propitiate. Children will be born through painful process; little servants who will bear the name and character of the silent, suffering servant; Jesus Christ.
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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- This morning, will you declare high praises to the one who descended the depths of suffering and shame for you? Will you both mourn over your sin which drove those nails in his hands; and delight in the grace which purchased your costly redemption?
- Will you embrace the path of the servant, i.e. surrender and trust? If you are having to endure suffering (just or unjust), will you lean all the more on Christ’s strength and love? He knows intimately what you are going through, and is able to walk you through to deliverance.
- Counting yourself as His child, offspring of His heart; will you ask for wisdom and grace to be his agent in your sphere of influence today? To return good for evil, grace for hate, blessing for curse; by the love and power of Christ and His Spirit?
This devotional was written by Pastor Martin
03.27.09
“RANSOMING LEADERSHIP”
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RANSOMING LEADERSHIP
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Mar 10:42-45 NIV
42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.
43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
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1Ti 2:1-6 NIV
1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone–
2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior,
4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men–the testimony given in its proper time.
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There is no dearth when it comes to leadership books, or leadership models. From Machiavelli to Maxwell, key thinkers have understood the power and role of leadership; the boon or curse for those who follow in their wake. But it is Jesus who establishes the only authentic expression of lasting leadership, i.e. one which divests self for others.
This morning’s passage in the book of Mark records Jesus’ response to a situation brewing in the midst of his disciples. As they are drawing closer and closer to Jerusalem, some are jockeying for position. John and James make a private request of Jesus, to hold the seats to the very right and left of Jesus. Jesus in turn asks them if they know what they are asking for. For the occupation of those seats involve an immersion in the cup of self divestment and suffering. When the other disciples hear that John and James have asked for privileged positions, their response is unrighteous indignation. Insulted by the presumption of any lordship over them, the true colors of their incipient leadership model emerges.
Here Jesus echoes for a fourth time what it means for Him to be Messiah. Three times previous he prods his disciples’ dullard senses by declaring that He would be rejected, mocked, flogged and put to death; only to rise on the third day. But they cannot imagine that prime leadership would come to that. In their system of belief, God would not allow it. And so as they accompany Jesus, who is gathering momentum to run to the cross; they bicker over the spoils of privilege.
Jesus turns the tables and declares that while the Gentiles kill for lordship and the scepter of authority, greatness of leadership in the Kingdom means voluntary enslavement, and the payment of one’s life for others. He invokes the very title of uncontested authority, i.e. the Son of Man (cf. Dan. 7:13-14) as one whose leads by giving his life as a ransom for many.
It is quite possible that Timothy reflects on this as he calls the church to pray for the kings and those in authority. That through the influence and intercession of those who bear the name of Christ, that even the Gentile lords would encounter the ransoming leadership of the Son of Man.
How contrasting is Jesus’ leadership to the current assumption to executive privilege? Ransoming crucifixion vs. rancorous retention bonuses? How necessary are our prayers in such a time as this?
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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- This morning, will you worship at the foot of the all authoritative Son of Man; who submitted to illegitimate crucifixion in order to ransom you to Himself. Will you apply the price as paid in full; extricating yourself from the illegitimate claims of sin and Satan on your soul?
- Will you reflect on your presuppositions about executive role and privilege? What kind of leadership are you seeking to attain? What kind are you currently exerting? What might it mean to follow the path of the Son of Man in your context?
- Will you intercede for your leaders, in your family, church, nation, world? That they would encounter and espouse the ransoming leadership of Jesus?
This devotion was written by Pastor Martin
03.13.09
“DEJA VU”
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DEJA VU
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Mark 5:1-20 NIV
5:1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”
9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man-and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
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Sometimes, history repeats itself. Echoes of the primal story of redemption often reverberate across time and culture. Here in this passage, Mark sees something of the Exodus story being reprised in Jesus’ ministry. The demon possessed man starts off in this story chained and oppressed. But when the on with true authority comes, not even an army of demons can mount a defense. Like Pharoah and his chariots [cf. Ex. 15: 26-28], the Roman version “Legion” is sent to a watery grave.
All this in the full view of the people; that they might know who has authority to deliver and restore. But rather than delight in the presence of the powerful Redeemer, the people balk in fear. As the Israelites did before Mt. Sinai, they decline on the invitation to draw near in reverence and joy. Resolved instead to salvage their idolatrous lives, they plead for Jesus’ departure.
How amazing it is that they would rather cling to a life of hard labor under the taskmasters of sin and demons. Guided by a misshapen fear, even privation and depravity can be imagined as a life flowing with “meat and leeks” [cf. Num. 11:4-6]. These fools would choose desolate wandering in the desert, over the promise of following the anointed one to a promised land.
But not all responded in this manner. Like Joshua and Caleb, one was willing to traverse the full course of this second exodus. Longing to be near to his Redeemer, the formerly demon possessed man run to Jesus and begs to go with him.
Again and again, history repeats itself. Echoes of the primal story of redemption are reverberating even before our very eyes. Jesus is revealing His mighty hand; liberating from sin and oppression. Even now, today people are turning from or to Him.
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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- This morning, will you reverently approach the Lamb of God/Lion Jesus; consummate in compassion and authority? Will you shed any misshapen dread; to be replaced with holy reverence and awe?
- Where in your life do you echo the people of the region in asking Jesus to get on his boat and leave? What idols do you find yourself clinging to, in substitute to the living God in your midst? Where have you declined to move forward with God, sinfully reimagining the geography of oppression to be one of privilege?
- Will you hearken to the command of Jesus to the redeemed one, “go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Who can you share your Exodus story with today?
This devotional was written by Pastor Martin
02.28.09
“DESERT DISCIPLINES”
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DESERT DISCIPLINES
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Deut 8:1-5 NIV
8:1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. 2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.
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Luke 4:1-4 NIV
4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’”
For those of us who have had “disciplinarian” fathers, the idea of having a God who disciplines can evoke emotions of dread; memories of cringing and penalty. However, the language of discipline in the scriptures operate in arenas beyond mere crime and punishment. For a good father does far more than correct wrong behavior, he proactively trains his child with what he needs to thrive in the challenging environments to come.
It is within this model of training we find Israel as God’s son, experiencing the disciplining love of Yahweh God. Humbling and testing in the desert, where the very experiences of hunger and provision seal in a higher discipline; that of trust and obedience. As the book of Hebrews declares [cf. Heb.12:7-11], only true sons receive this kind of discipline/training; the lack of which marks illegitimate sonship.
Jesus knows this all too well. Having been thrust into the desert for 40 days of hunger and testing, the devil comes and challenges Jesus’ sonship. “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread,” ala, would a loving father give you a stone if you were to ask for bread? To which Jesus correctly responds, “Man does not live on bread alone,” ala there are higher disciplines my Father would work in me that I submit to completely. As the “Son of God,” Jesus was to fulfill a higher task; Messianic ministrations leading him to be stretched out and nailed to a cross.
How humbling it is to know that even Jesus God’s Son was disciplined in the desert, trained through hunger and suffering; and found to be a true Son. Whom among us could declare as He did, “Man does not live on bread alone,” while rejecting the disciplining love of God which thrusts us into the desert. But for those of us who submit and embrace, how will not our sonship be refined and revealed?
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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
This morning, will you approach the Father of Higher Love with a heart willing to submit and receive training. Will you hear the encouragements of the Son of God echoing the Father’s words, “you do not live on bread alone.”
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As you continue with your Lenten fasting, will you center your practice in the context of training for righteousness? Will you shrug off any notion that God is somehow wickedly amused by self-deprivation; but rather give yourself anew to the intentional pursuit of trust and obedience in God’s word?
This devotional was written by Pastor Martin
01.28.09
“KINGDOM GREATNESS”
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From Henry T. Blackaby & Richard Blackaby, Experiencing God Day by Day Devotional (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2006) Jun 23.
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KINGDOM GREATNESS
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“For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as One who serves.” Luke 22:27
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The measure of greatness in the kingdom of God differs vastly from that of the world. Our society idolizes the rich, the powerful, the beautiful and the athletic. We even make celebrities out of those who brazenly flaunt their immorality. The world claims it is demeaning to serve others. However, God’s kingdom completely rejects the world’s measure for esteem, giving the greatest honor to the one who serves most. The person who serves selflessly, lovingly, without complaint, and without seeking recognition is highly regarded in the kingdom of God.
When Jesus and his disciples entered the upper room, the disciples looked for a prominent place to sit; Jesus looked for a place to serve. As they awkwardly waited to be served, Jesus took a towel and basin and washed their feet (John 13:1-15). We Christians like to refer to ourselves as servants, but we are seldom content to be treated as servants! We are tempted to adopt the world’s evaluation of importance. But when we look to Jesus as our model, we see that it takes a far more noble character to serve than to be served.
The world will estimate your importance by the number of people serving you. God is more concerned with the number of people you are serving. If you struggled to be a servant, your heart may have shifted away from the heart of God. Ask Jesus to teach you selflessness and to give you the strength to follow His example. Watch for Jesus’ invitation to join Him in serving others. It will come.
01.20.09
“HE DID NOT TAKE THINGS PERSONALLY”
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Laurie Beth Jones, Jesus in Blue Jeans. A Practical Guide to Everyday Spirituality (New York: Hyperion, 1997), pp. 22-26.
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HE DID NOT TAKE THINGS PERSONALLY
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“The Lord Yahweh comes to my help, so that I am untouched by the insults.”–Isaiah 50:5-7 (New Jerusalem Bible)
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Jesus did not take the insults and accusations of the scribes and the Pharisees personally. He saw their words as emanating from impure hearts, so he didn’t agonize over the mud they slung. He knew their bitterness was rooted in their own misery and not caused by him. He concentrated on his mission, despite their insults. His refusal to take their attacks personally extended even unto death. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
IN his poem “The Wood-Pile” Robert Frost describes his experience of walking through a forest. “A small bird flew before me. He was careful / To put a tree between us when lighted. / …He thought that I was after him for a feather–/ The white one in his tail; like the one who takes / Everything said as personal to himself.” Frost finds the self-centeredness of the bird amusing, as if in the entire forest there is only one thing worth seeing or having–the bird’s tail feather. Yet haven’t we all encountered people like that, people who seem to think that every comment or action exists for the sole purpose of doing them harm?
A friend of mine had a boss who used to spend hours every day monitoring everyone’s phone calls. Newly appointed to his position, he was sure that the team was now out to get him and would use every opportunity to make him look bad. Granted, the team did not care for him much, but the truth was, their phone calls did not concern him at all–or contained only the slightest references to him, as one might wave off a fly at a picnic. I remember once being offended because a man sitting next to me on a plane seemed unresponsive to my jokes. Only when we were exiting did I realize that he was deaf.
Maturity is realizing that we are not the center of the world…or the office…or the team. Maturity is realizing that not every word spoken or action taken centers around–or is directed toward–us.
Several years ago I attended the final sermon of a minister who was retiring. She was exhausted and wanted to replenish herself with a long-deserved sabbatical. She was a flamboyant woman who often spoke the truth from the pulpit in highly personal and entertaining terms, and her tenure had been attended with much attention from the media not a small bit of controversy. As I stood in the vestibule after her farewell, I couldn’t help but overhear various comments from the people who had been in the congregation. A man who I knew had recently gone bankrupt said, “Yep–it’s the system that beat her. She just couldn’t take the financial pressure.” A woman who was in the throes of a divorce remarked, “I’m sure it’s her husband who pushed her to this. You can’t carry such a heavy load without support at home.” The florist who decorated the halls of the church gushed, “Could you believe that yellow dress? Wasn’t she just like an Easter lily up there?” A reporter who was mingling in the crowd commented, “I’m sure there must be some ulterior motive behind her resignation. You know her. Why did she really leave?” It was suddenly apparent to me that this minister’s decision was being interpreted by everyone according to his or her personal circumstances. Probably none of us could clearly see her for who she was, because she was in so many ways being used as a mirror by each of us. We were taking her actions personally.
On a recent tour of Europe I was flabbergasted when one of the local guides in Italy began hurling insults at our guide, upset by something she had said. In response, she simply smiled, tilted her head and walked away. When I asked her later why she had ignored his insult, she replied, “Many of the guides hired by that particular agency aren’t — shall we say — refined. What he said was merely a reflection of him. It had nothing to do with me.”
Proverbs 12:16 (The Living Bible) tells us “A fool is quick tempered; a wise person stays cool when insulted.”
A friend of mine told me that as she advanced toward her dream of getting a PhD, certain family members actually tried to stop her, telling her that she was acting “out of her element.” “I just kept saying to myself, Nancy, these insults aren’t about me, they are about them–and their own fears and feelings of inadequacy.”
Jesus did not have the time to pay heed to every insult or track down every rumor. His mission was very important and he stuck to it, despite the distractions that presented themselves.
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“The Lord Yahweh comes to my help, so that I am untouched by the insults.”–Isaiah 50:5-7 (New Jerusalem Bible)
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Jesus did not take things personally.
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Question
Do you let insults “wound” you, or let them pass right through?
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Question
What insults are being or have been hurled at you?
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Question
Could you use others’ insults as sources of information about their needs, flaws, and personalities?
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Question
Name a time when the restraint of someone’s temper saved the day.
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Question
Name a time when the loss of someone’s temper escalated the situation.
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Power Connection:
Dear Lord, help me not to be so quick to assume that everyone is talking about me, or that every insult or oversight is meant to do me harm. Help me not to be like Frost’s bird in the forest–certain that everyone is interested only in getting the white feather from my tail. Help me realize that I am just a small part of the forest, and that in general people are hiking through with their own , much larger agendas. Help me feel invincible and invisible when slander or insults are hurled at me. Help me remember not to take things personally. Amen
01.09.09
“I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST”
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From Walt Wangerin Measuring the Days (San Francisco: Harper, 1993) August 25.
“I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST”
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Galatians 2:17-21 NIV
17 “If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
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Finally, when all else has burned away and when the very self has fallen into dust and nothingness, doing and being have become the same. If any should touch us now they touch the love of Jesus. And should we put forward, now, our hands–which are not our hands but Jesus’ hands–and touch another, why, it is the love of Jesus that touches that other. There is no identity left unto us but this: that we love Jesus. There is no life in those who are individually dead but this: that they love Jesus.
It is at this point that the words of St. Paul tremble on the very edge of expression, though we cannot yet express them. It is now that the experience which he declares has become our experience, though we cannot yet declare it—speaks for us:
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
This is not parabolic language. It is not symbolic utterance. Nor is it an effort to reproduce in the visible world invisible things.It is the plan report of a historical experience.
12.01.08
“POLARIZING COMING”
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1 Thess 4:15-18 NIV
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
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Rev 1:7-8 NIV
7 Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.
So shall it be! Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
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It never fails that persons of consequence, “gravitas” so to speak, evoke a polarized response upon their entrance to the scene. People are either drawn to such a person, or find reason to repel away. Such was the case with Jesus’ first coming; where some flocked passionately to Jesus, while others schemed to put him in the ground. There was, and is no middle ground.
This polarized response is seen in the two verses above. In 1Thess, the promise of his coming calls for elevated hope, the very raw material for mutual encouragement. But in the Revelation passage, this same coming is said to be the cause of mourning.
Why does the same event, i.e. the coming of Jesus evoke such different responses? Could it be because lots have been drawn, bets have been made. To those who have put their trust and destinies in Christ, find immeasurable strength in the hope of his coming. While those who have stubbornly refused will find they have cause for inconsolable grief.
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REFLECTION/RESPONSE
- This morning, will you take a few moments to acknowledge that Christ is THE person of consequence, the Almighty. He is no faddish celebrity with fifteen minutes of fame to his name. Will you glory in the fact that the Alpha and the Omega loves you, and chooses to be for you!
- What is your immediate response to the prospect of His coming? Dig deep, beyond the petty fears. Imagine a scene where one day, all the misery, suffering, and shame will be wiped away; to reveal a landscape of eternal joy together with Christ. Now imagine that these are the cards you are holding at the poker table. If you haven’t already done so, will you declare “all in”?
- Will you be open to how Jesus might want to presence Himself with you today? Not only to empower you with strength for the days challenges, but to be a “polarizing” agent in your sphere of influence for Christ?
11.25.08
“SAVING GRACE”
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Eph 2:1-9 NIV
2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
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No person whose hearts and lungs have stopped ever resuscitate themselves via auto-CPR. The dead are powerless to redeem themselves. It takes action by someone else who intervenes, and saves. This is the very metaphor which Paul uses in this passage to argue that we were once dead to God; imprisoned by our sinful nature and destined for wrath.
It was God’s great mercy and grace which flipped the script; making us alive and inseparable with Christ. This is at the heart of grace, that we do not deserve it; and we do not achieve it. It is God who chooses us, and plucks us out of the pit of death. We do not get what we deserve, righteous wrath; rather we are given what we do not deserve, i.e. forgiveness and adoption.
Our works apart from God falls so short! Grace that does not include saving grace does not cut it. But God’s saving grace is more than sufficient to turn us right side up, inside out, and full steam ahead!
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REFLECTION/RESPONSE
- If you’ve never had a chance to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord, will you reflect on the Bible’s assertion that without His work on the cross, you are left with the consequences of your sin and disobedience. God who is full of mercy sent His Son to die on the cross to take your place. In exchange He would turn to you in forgiveness and love. There is nothing you can do to save yourself, but God can and will if you turn to Him. Will you receive His saving grace?
- If you have a relationship with Christ, will you this morning bring your heart to remember the moment you recognized that you couldn’t save yourself from your sins, but that God would?Whether you remember the moment or not, will you bow your head and heart in thanks again for His unspeakable gift of saving grace?
- So much of our lives in Christ run along the tracks of…not by our works, but by His grace. Our “works” don’t pay for our salvation, rather they are a thanks response to His saving work on the cross. Will you dedicate this day, and all your “work” as a thanks offering to God?
11.24.08
“360° GRACE”
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John 1:10-18 NIV
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”
16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
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2 Cor 9:8 NIV
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
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One of our key spiritual handicaps is our inability to recognize God, and His grace at work. Sin has a way of clouding our vision of God, twisting our focus back onto our own selves. According to John, the world neither recognized or received the Word.
But when we truly encounter Jesus, we are enabled to see God with shocking clarity. John says that no one has seen God, but Jesus has made him known; Jesus has exegeted Him. God is not hell-bent on our destruction, rather heaven-bent on pouring out grace! By grace we mean a double reversal: giving us the good we don’t deserve, and not giving us the just deserts of our very sin.
There is an interesting phrase in John 1:16, which the NIV translates “one blessing after another. Literally, the verse reads “from the fullness of him we all received even grace on top of grace.” It means that grace continues to flow in increasing measure. You think grace has run out, and there’s more. You look to the right, and the spiritual landscape saturated by grace. You look to the left; more grace there. Look up, look down, look behind you, in front of you, even inside you….grace is everywhere!
God is able to truly make all grace abound…in all things, at all times! For grace flows out of His person and character; and we are made privy to 360° grace. Halleluiah!
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REFLECTION/RESPONSE
- This Monday morning, will you take a few minutes to acknowledge that God has already prepared and provided abundant grace for you today, this week? Will you in faith thank God for meeting you, sustaining you, and thriving you in His grace?
- Will you take your eyes off of your own inadequacy, and look with spiritual eyes at the landscape of grace that God institutes. Will you ask God for eyes to see how His grace is at work in your circumstances?
Because God’s grace abounds, we are promised to have all we need to abound in every good work! What is the work that God would have you do, by His grace? Will you make yourself available to Him as His servant by grace?
