We Have To Feel It!

I was on Youtube tonight looking for the song "By His Wounds" from an album called "Glory Revealed". I came across this video instead. Someone has taken the song and put it to a clip from the film "The Passion of the Christ". I know that there are many problems held in regard to this film, and a number of them I understand and agree with fully. There are also a number of people that have a problem, in general, with there being any cinematic or artistic portrayl of Jesus, and again I see where they are coming from in one sense. However, in this clip, there is a bit of nonsense feartured, although very briefly, so do guard your minds! However, as an illustration, and illustration only, please read on.

The one thing that stands out for me, with this clip, is that we are seeing, to a large extent, what is being sung (the Scripture of Isaiah 53). Now, I don't believe that we need this film to add anything to what the Bible says, or that without the film or the clip our understanding would be deficient as the Bible says it plainly and clearly enough. What I think we all do, however, is block out the true physical and spiritual realities of what Jesus went through, i.e, He was torn apart when whipped and beaten and crucified and that when Jesus went to that cross the wrath of God was poured out in an incomprehensible way, in that "the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him" (Isa 53v5). We, I, talk of being saved and yet in my heart, far too often, there is a lack of horror that my sin would cause the holy Son of God to be punished in my place ("For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."-2 Cor 5v21) and that He did it all willingly ("he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross"-Phil 2v8; "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord."-John 10v17-18). And because He did all of this, and willingly, that horror should be sweetened by gratefulness and joy, that because of what Jesus has done for me, I can say those words of Isaiah 53, but it should always be with heartfelt thanks for Jesus' sacrifice and not just words that we repeat in a similiar fashion that we carry out normal coversations about the weather or fulfill menial tasks-it should hit us! We should feel this truth in the depths of our hearts! It should cause us to weep, and to be filled with joy, that bitter-sweet reality that, in spite of the wretched state of our own hearts, in our natural state, that we are accepted in the beloved, adopted into God's family, declared righteous in our justification, redeemed, made right with Almighty God and only because of King Jesus.
Again, I don't think we need this clip to show us this. But, for those of us who are expert runners when it comes to pondering the sacrifice of Jesus, it is something that is right before us that will, hopefully, cause us to think about what the Bible says. As a graphic illustration, and illustration only, it may cause us to return to the Bible, to read the truth, and force us then to drop on our knees before Jesus, in awe of the great Saviour that He is! "By his wounds we are healed"! Praise God!

A Sad Report...

WARNING:LONG POST!!!

27"And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment," (Heb 9v27)

This verse from Hebrews 9 has been a dominant and recurring thought in my mind over the last couple of weeks. There are quite a few solid theological reminders contained in this 1 verse. None of us are prone to joy when thinking about death, which is probably a big reason for why we never think about it. That issue should be left for another post as it will cause too much of a digression into why our joy seems to fade when thinking about death and its consequences, being with Jesus! What does this text show us?

1. Death is an appointment: In many of our times of distress, thoughtlessness or ignorance of Truth we have a tendency to fear circumstances, incidents or illnesses. Our thinking goes along the lines of, "these things could kill me, they could take my life". In one sense that is true, but they are means only and not the cause. The Psalmist put it this way-

"Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them." (139v16)

And in the book of Job we read- "And he said, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.""(1v21).

The Bible stresses again and again that God is sovereign, and totally sovereign at that. He reigns over our coming and our going, our life and our death, our waking and our sleeping. We have not and do not determine the time and date of this appointment, God has determined it.

"'In him we live and move and have our being'" (Acts 17v28). All this is quite hard to accept and get our heads around, hence the need for us to not be "conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Rom 12v2). O pray that we may be! Seek that renewal so we can trust in His sovereignty!

2. We are sinners: Where do I get that from? From the very fact that we die! Romans 5v12 says-

"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned"

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3v23)

The Bible is clear- we die because we sin!

God appointed the curse of death as a punishment for sin! Now to clarify, I'm not saying that the death of those who die of illnesses or horrible circumstances is a direct consequence for a particular sin but it is a consequence of sin generally and us all being guilty of it.

3. We die once: Two things here; one is that there is no such thing as reincarnation. It is a false idea, an absolutely unbiblical notion. And secondly, there are no second chances. This text says we die and then we are judged. No time to be coming back to do it all again, or making any other sort of restitution!

4. God is just: God is always true to His character and praise Him for that! However, that causes problems for us who are sinners because the attribute that defines all of God's other attributes is His holiness-

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" (Isaiah 6v3). What other attribute of God's is raised to the level of being repeated three times? In the time and culture in which Isaiah wrote, there were no Stabilo highlighters so the way to draw attention and to make your point was by repetion. Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, definitely made his point, GOD IS HOLY!

"You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong" (Hab 1v13).

So God judges because He is holy and He cannot look at sin. He cannot fellowsip with us in our sin so judgement has to come! A punishment, just punishment, for our wrongdoing and sin!

5. All this highlights something extraordinary and overwhelming! Not from this verse but the next-

"so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."

Jesus was offered up once (to death, to punishment, to judgement), to bear sin ("of many"-not His own and not all), so that when He comes again He will save! What a message, what a truth!

That "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God [in Him]" (2 Cor 5v21)

"But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all." (Isa 53v5-6)

Jesus paid it all! He has removed our filthy rags and dressed us in His righteousness, and all because He died, and He was raised and has finished the work of salvation ("After making purification for sins He sat down at the right hand of Majesty on high"-Heb 1v3), and He has shown us grace-

"8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph 2v8-9)

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 Jn 1v9). Praise God for salvation!

Where has it all come from?

The picture is of a young Adrian Lyttle involved in some redecorating at Orangefield Presbyterian Church. Adrian and I went to and grew up through B.B there together. Since I left the B.B and Orangefield, Adrian and I had no contact. However, a while back, another guy from that B.B told me that Adrian was sick. While away on holiday, a couple of weeks ago, I got word that Adrian had died, at roughly the same age as myself (23). The reason why this verse has been a dominant and recurring thought is because at times like this, things can seem to not make any sense and to be messed up. But then we remember, God is in control, we sin, we die, we face judgement, but then the clinker, we hang on to the hope that on the other side of death, for those who know Jesus, is eternal life and rest and joy in His presence! Adrian knew Jesus and is, at present, consumed in awe! He's more alive now than ever, with the Lamb!
Thank God for the gospel and the assurance of eternity with Jesus because of it, because of His substitutionary death and for His being raised which is proof for our justification:

"That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." 23But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Rom 4v22-25)

"Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?"
56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor 15v54-57).

Although we may affirm the truth of the joy following death for the believer, there is a gap left and pain remaining in the life of Adrian's family. It does sting for them, it will hurt badly! This is a prominent stress and tension that exists due to living in the already but not yet period. If you are moved to, please pray for them (his family) and thank Jesus for saving Adrian and giving Him such a life now, even in spite of the horrible period preceeding his entry into the presence of Jesus.

What does Paul go on to say in verse 58 of 1 Corinthians 15? "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." Hold on, press on!

Leadership...?

While reading through a few blogs, that are linked to Gary's blog, I came across a very helpful post on Gemma Roche's blog. Gemma quoted from a book that she has been reading through called "Doing Things Right In Matters Of The Heart" and added to that quote her own personal commentary, which I encourage all of you to check out as the honesty and genuineness of it has resonated with my own heart. Here's the quote from "Doing Things Right In Matters Of The Heart":

In matters of the heart, it is right that men should lead and women welcome and guide that leadership. She is helpmate (gen2v18). Her goal is to give her man all the help he needs to lead well. His goal is to humbly accept the responsibility and not run from it or wield it like a club.
The guidance that she provides him comes mainly in two forms: in helping him think clearly and encouraging him to act confidently. What comes from this is a shared victory. If it proves a mistake, it is borne together. Either way, what is fostered is true unity of spirit which is the heart of the matter, where the two become one. We have to work at it, but if we do, true unity is fostered and preserved in the complementary exchange of male leadership and female guidance.

Since Kerry and I got engaged, many thoughts and fears of inadequacy and failure on my part have flooded in at times. The fear of failure I mean is the failure to lead well, to live in the model that Christ Himself has displayed for us in His relationship with the church. At times in my own ignorance, and with my lack of understanding, I see the job of leading in a way that is not practical, never mind having to question its biblical roots. Thtat's why this quote is so helpful, and Gemma recounting her own experiences in a different relationship and different position in this "leadership struggle"-it shows the struggle is universal.
We know that what God has told us to do, in all areas and aspects of life and practice, are primarily for His glory but also for our good and benefit. So, when we obey the teaching given on the roles of husband and wife in marriage, Christ is glorified and exalted and seen clearly in the relationship and also the couple live in peace and unity and with a greater and deeper love resulting because we are living according to God's precept for marriage.
Obviously, we would hope, there would be few believers who get married for the sake of it, but because of the love for our future wives/husbands or, as the case is for alot of you, our husbands or wives. For this reason then, and for the glory of the Lord, we need to strive to live in this way. And the above quote helps shape it I think. It is a JOINT effort! The man leads and his wife helps him to see things that he may not already see and to clarify his thoughts and then encourages him to act confidently. Awesome! It's not the rule of the dictator but of the man who loves his wife so intently that he must do what is right firstly, before God, but secondly for his wife's good and pleasure. Obviously, i love Kerry a heck of alot and for that reason want to be a good man, a good husband, a good leader so that she feels safe, loved, respected, honoured and cared for. So, will you pray for me to this end? And if you want this same thought and prayer reciprocated, please leave a comment and I will be sure to remember you as we all strive to live and to love in the way that Christ has shown and commanded.