victorious in our salvation

In Luke chapter 4 we are given insight into the human and divine nature of our Savior as Jesus is led into the desert by the Spirit.  During forty days of fasting (or at the conclusion of them depending upon your understanding of the text) Jesus is tempted by Satan.  “‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’  Jesus answered, ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’  The devil then led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  And he said to Him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.  So if you worship me, it will all be yours.’  Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’  The devil led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple.  ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down from here.  For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’  Jesus answered, ‘It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’  When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:3-13).

Much could be said about this event in Jesus’ life and ministry.  The fact that it occurred (when you consider Matthew’s account) immediately following the baptism of Jesus is significant.  Jesus’ discipline and complete and total reliance upon God in fasting during this time powerfully speaks to us.  Jesus’ response to each test while abiding in God’s Word is crucial.  Certainly Satan’s distortion of Scripture in Jesus’ testing is something that should be emphasized.  But what I’d like for us to consider are the reasons behind the specific ways in which Jesus is tempted/tested.

“If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”  Notice Satan’s condescension: “If….”  Did Satan know that Jesus was God’s Son?  Absolutely.  Did Jesus know?  You better believe it!  Was there anyone else present for this conversation besides the two of them?  No.  So why begin with question?  He’s testing Jesus’ character!  And why bread?  Because of Jesus’ hunger?  Yes.  But even more so, if ever there was going to be a moment where Jesus was susceptible and fragile in His humanity this would have been it.  Our Lord, however, stood firm.  And why the temptation of the kingdoms of the world?  Power.  Prestige.  Authority.  Ego.  The temptation of salvation while falling from the pinnacle of the temple?  Along those same lines: Pride.  Arrogance.  Ability.  Worth.  The writer of Hebrews acknowledges that Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).  And we see this reality clearly lived out in our Lord’s life in His testing.  But in doing so, do we to see our own humanness as we are tempted by Satan every day as well?

John the Apostle writes, “For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:16).  Precisely the three areas in which our Savior was tempted.

We are in such dire need of salvation.  So God sent us Jesus.  But He sent Christ not only to save us, but to show us.  To show us how to live victorious in our salvation.

Glory to God!

Jason

the avenues of God

Anytime a Christian struggles with faithfulness to God, the avenues of God, readily available to the believer, are intrinsically granted in the covenant that Almighty God has given us in His Son Jesus.

Paul speaks of the Armor of God in Ephesians 6 by which we “take our stand against the devil’s schemes” (v11).  The belt of truth.  The breastplate of righteousness.  The shield of faith.  The helmet of salvation.  The sword of the Spirit, God’s Word (His spoken, written, and Living Word).  These implements are defensive in nature.  Protective by design.

In Roman armor the belt is secured first.  The breastplate, once in place, is then connected to the belt with leather straps.  The helmet was often also, once in place, connected to the breastplate in a similar manner.  There are two swords that were at the Roman soldier’s disposal.  One was long.  An offensive weapon.  The other was short.  More easily maneuvered.  In battle the shorter sword was often held in the soldier’s off hand because it was utilized primarily as a defensive weapon.  Paul’s description here is of the shorter, defensive sword.  It further depicts God’s covenantal, protective nature and the avenues relationship with God though the Gospel of Jesus provide us as His disciples.  But, do we devote ourselves to them?

What are the avenues God has given us to draw nearer to Him during times of temptation?  To protect us during times of attack from Satan?  In order that we might prove faithful to Him?  I believe four primary avenues He has granted us are: His Spirit, His Word, prayer, and each other.

However, do we truly invest ourselves in these pivotal facets of our faith?  How in tune are we with His Spirit that resides within us?  Are we aware of the Spirit’s direction, counsel, and the spiritual strength He provides?  Do we read Scripture?  Do we hide His Word in our hearts?  How much time do we spend with God in His Word?  And in prayer?  Do we intentionally pray?  Do we set aside intentional time to pray to our Father?  Do we commune with Him every moment of life?  Do we strengthen one another?  Hold one another accountable?  Do we have the relationship with committed disciples of Jesus as faithful participants in the Kingdom that covenant provides and faithfulness requires?

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3)

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful.  He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, He will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

“Everything we need,” Peter assures.  “A way out,” Paul affirms.

But do we pursue the avenues of God?

Glory to God!

Jason

jean

A freelance reporter from the New York Times interviewed a woman named Jean in the late 1950’s.  The reporter was aware of woman’s painful past, how she had endured a childhood of neglect and abuse and had been shuffled from one foster home to another. Her childhood led into adulthood in which she now continued the vicious cycle of neglect and abuse.  One husband after another.  One relationship after another.  One pursuit after another.  Each one affirming what she felt inside.  She had little value.  Little self-worth.  Even if no one else could see it, she knew.

At the end of the interview the reporter asked her, “Did you ever feel loved by any of the foster families with whom you lived?”  “Once,” she replied, “when I was about seven or eight.  The woman I was living with was putting on makeup, and I was sitting on the counter watching her.  She was in a happy mood for the moment, and for whatever reason, she reached over and patted my cheeks with her rouge….  For that moment, I felt loved.”

She would seek to duplicate that feeling for the rest of her life, never succeeding.  So much so that even in a very public relationship with the president of the United States he would refuse to kiss her on the lips because of his “ethics.”  Again affirming how little she was valued in this life.  “Jean” or “Norman Jean” as she was known by her friends or “Marilyn Monroe” as she is known by the rest of the world, had tears in her eyes when she remembered the event where her foster mother had touched her cheek, the one single, solitary moment she felt loved.

And the question we ask is why?  Why did this one moment mean so much?

Here’s what Gary Smalley in The Blessing writes: “The touch lasted only a few seconds, and it happened decades before. It was even done in a casual, playful way, not in any attempt to communicate great warmth or meaning. But as small an act as it was, it was like pouring buckets of love and security on the parched life of a little girl starved for affection.”

We are designed as such that we yearn for, we long for, love and affirmation.  Ultimately, love and affirmation that are only fully found in our heavenly Father.   In a God who so readily affirms who we are if we will but allow Him.  Through the message of Jesus and the relationship that our Father grants to us in Christ we are affirmed as loved, as valued, as important, as cherished.

You will search your entire life for affirmation and meaning and purpose and blessing to no avail, until you find in all in relationship with God….

Glory to God!

Jason

as perfect as i supposed myself

“I have tried the pharisaic plan, and the monastic.  I was once so straight, that, like the Indian’s tree, I leaned a little the other way.  And however much I may be slandered now as seeking ‘popularity’ or a popular course, I have to rejoice that to my own satisfaction, as well as to others, I proved that truth, and not popularity, was my object; for I was once so strict a Separatist that I would neither pray nor sing praises with any one who was not as perfect as I supposed myself.  In this most unpopular course I persisted until I discovered the mistake, and saw that on the principle embraced in my conduct, there never could be a congregation or church upon the earth.”

- Alexander Campbell, 1827

Glory to God!

Jason

our worth to God

“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:4-8).

Only in Christ and through grace do we fully see our worth to God.

Glory to God!

Jason

for those who preach….

“In the front pews the older ladies turn up their hearing aids, and a young lady slips her six year old daughter a Lifesaver and a Magic Marker.  A college sophomore home for vacation, who is there because he was dragged there, slumps forward with his chin in his hand.  The vice president of a bank who twice that week has seriously contemplated suicide places a hymnal in the rack.  A pregnant girl feels the life stir inside her.  A high school math teacher, who for twenty years has managed to keep his homosexuality a secret for the most part even from himself, creases his order of service down the center and tucks it under his knee.  The preacher pulls the little cord that turns on the lectern light and deals out his note cards like a riverboat gambler.  The stakes have never been higher.” – Frederick Buechner, Telling the Truth

Glory to God!

Jason

a radical change of mind

“You’ve heard it said….  But I say….” we hear our Lord proclaim over and over in the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus reinterprets.  He reforms.  He reprioritizes.  “I know that you’ve heard it this way….”  “I know that human nature says to respond like this….”  “I know that you bring your own presuppositions to the table….”  “I know this is the way that you once thought of things… but now, things are different.”

Jesus steps into our world and transforms our thinking, our ideologies, our worldviews, our way of life.

Here’s a tough one He tackles: “Love your enemies.”  “You’ve heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44).

Love your enemies!?  I have a hard enough time getting along with my friends!  Pray (bless) those who persecute you!?  Are you serious?

And it’s an active love for our enemies.  And it’s a very tall order!  More than just a passive bearing of persecution or hatred.  Loving them.  Blessing them.  Doing good to them.  For them.  Regardless of who they are or what they’ve done.

In this and in countless other ways Jesus calls for a radical paradigm shift.  A radical change of mind.  A change of perspective.  A change of heart.

We see Jesus exemplify His own teaching as He prays for God to forgive those who are responsible for His death (Luke 23:34).  But what about we who are ultimately those who are responsible because of our sin?

The Apostle Paul connects the dots for us: “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!  Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:8-11).

You see while we were still enemies of God, Christ died on our behalf.

“Love your enemies.”  It’s one of those areas of the Gospel and one of those areas of our life and faith that we would just as soon ignore.  It’s about a radical change of mind.  From a mindset that is worldly to one that is of the Kingdom.  It’s about seeing the potential for the magnificent impact of the Gospel of Jesus in the most unlikeliest of places.  Just like God saw it in you, and in me.

Glory to God!

Jason

our only defense

“Our only defense before Almighty God is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” – Martin Luther

Glory to God!

Jason

prodigal God

I love the story of the Prodigal Son.  In Luke 15 the good doctor records for us three brilliant parables of Christ. Three which were lost.  The Lost Sheep.  The Lost Coin. And the Lost Son. Three beautiful stories of that which was once lost and, in the end, is found. What follows when that which lost becomes found? Rejoicing! Overwhelming rejoicing! Awesome!

The culmination of the three parables is the third and final: the Lost Son. The Prodigal Son. The Wasteful Son.  The one who threw it all away. The most profound moment in the parable comes about halfway through. It’s the moment that the son “comes to his senses.” How amazing! Isn’t that what our Father wants? For us to come to our senses? And then as the son returns home, the father runs to meet him and redeems him from himself, from his sin. It’s a powerful portrait of the cross!

And so last week I read Timothy Keller’s The Prodigal God. So powerful! Keller’s thesis is that it’s not the son who’s the prodigal…. It’s God! He defines prodigal as: recklessly extravagant; having spent everything. The Prodigal Son is a story of the Prodigal God. A God who is recklessly extravagant with His love.  With His grace. The very definition of the Gospel story is of a God who has spent everything.

Our God is a Prodigal God!

How amazing!

Glory to God!

Jason