Showing posts with label Gospel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gospel. Show all posts
easier said than done
Earlier today I was walking along the streets of Cubao when I passed along this, theater-turned-church-turned-miracle-center-of-sorts by a famous televangelist. As I passed I was met by a couple of teenagers who handed me a gospel track and promised me salvation. "Para sa kaligtasan sir!" (‘for your salvation sir’), and what followed was something shameful for my part I mumbled: "salvation, is easier said than done."Now don’t get me wrong. I just reacted the way I have probably reacted for a couple of years now whenever I would be approached by people who wish to save me, which oftentimes mean: proselytize me. I’m still down with the whole idea that its something that is freely given by grace through faith –after all Scriptures testify that and I won’t contest that.
Revisiting John 3:16
I decided to re-visit that classic verse John 3:16 as I believe this season is a fitting time for re-kindling the flame of devotion to God,
The verse says:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (NIV)For most this sums up the heart of the Gospel. I agree. Although it is not as comprehensive, I believe that this is a good starting point if we are to speak about God and why it is of vital importance for everybody to take heed of the passage's message.
If He is not Lord of all...
Heaven knows how many times a preacher have scared the living daylights out of me whenever the topic of Lordship has been preached in the church’s pulpit. I can’t even count how many times I’ve raised my hand or almost came and marched in front of the sanctuary to acknowledge Christ’s Lordship whenever a preacher would utter the cliché’ ‘if Jesus is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all’.
The Church and the Gospel
'The appointment of Jesus to be the Christ takes place in the Spirit and must be apprehended in the Spirit. It is self-sufficient, unlimited, and in itself true. And moreover, it is what is altogether new, the decisive factor and turning-point in man's consideration of God. . . . To the proclamation and receiving of this Gospel the whole activity of the Christian community — its teaching, ethic, and worship — is strictly related. But the activity of the community is related to the Gospel only insofar as it is no more than a crater formed by the explosion of a shell that seeks to be no more than a void in which the Gospel reveals itself. The people of Christ, His community, know that no sacred word or work or thing exists in its own right: they know only those words and works and things which by their negation are sign-posts tot he Holy One. If anything Christian (!) be unrelated to the Gospel, it is a human by-product, a dangerous religious survival, a regrettable misunderstanding. For in this case content would be substituted for a void, convex for concave, positive for negative, and the characteristic marks of Christianity would be possession and self-sufficiency rather than deprivation and hope. If this be persisted in, there emerges, instead of the community of Christ, Christendom, and ineffective peace-pact or compromise with that existence which, moving with its own momentum, lies on this side of the resurrection. Christianity would then have lost all relation to the power of God."
– Karl Barth, Epistle to the Romans
What is a Christian?
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19
Relationship, not deeds
In understanding what makes one a Christian, it is critically important to know that it is the relationship which counts for everything; it is the means by which we “are born again” into a son/daughter relationship with God the Father through the power of he Holy Spirit, (Who is God present with us today.)
God's salvation is not earned by our merits, good deeds, attendance at church, personal morality or anything of human origin. These are all important fruits of the new creation in Christ by God's initiative valid only as relationship.
The question then is that if Christianity is about having a personal relationship with God, how then do we enter into that relationship? The answer there can be found our personal response to the good news of Jesus Christ as encapsulated in the Gospel, but what is the Gospel anyway? Translated from the original language it means 'good news'. Good news? Good news about what?
It is the good news of God's love manifested in Jesus Christ.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
It is about Jesus Christ and His deity and humanity.
I and the Father are one. John 10:30
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:15-17
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Philippians 2:6-8
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Hebrews 1:1-3
It is about God's act of reconciling the world to Himself through Christ's life, death and resurrection.
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. Romans 1:16
Why is this important?
First is the fundamental truth that we are all sinners and that sin separates the human race from God.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
Sin is our deeply rooted tendency to selfishness which taints even our best intentions and implicates us all in the web of human evil.
As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." Romans 3:10-12
In sin we turn our backs to God and find ourselves on the well frequented highway that leads us ever further from God. In our consciousness of sin we know that God the absolute God must oppose and condemn our evil. As sinners we are the godless – in the real sense of that word: alienated from God.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. Romans 5:12
For the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23 a
Finally there is death. Death may be seen as the end to which our culpable failure in life must lead. Death may also be seen as the final surd which threatens everything else in life with meaninglessness.
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. Hebrews 9:27
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:14
But the Bible says that it doesn't end in death, being sinners we are therefore accountable to answer back to God for our sins. The passage speaks about a postmortem judgment that will determine our eternal destiny. This is the ultimate human predicament we all face.
God's grace in Christ reestablishes the broken relationship: Retelling the story of Jesus
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. Romans 3:22-25
Christianity deals with human sin and how to get rid of it. Only those who admit that they share in the problem of all humanity are eligible for God's redemptive love in Jesus Christ. Sin is the problem; God's grace in Christ is the answer.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5: 19
God sought to do this through the work of Christ in the Gospel. The depth of our alienation is such that God is not to be found by us, (Romans 3:10-12) unless God enters that alienation and finds us there. This God did in Jesus Christ
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17
Jesus lived a life of loving identification with others, in all sorts of conditions of human life. In other words, He practiced the kind of love which is not mere benevolence, wishing people well from a distance, that that love which enters people's situations and makes their plight sympathetically its own, this was done so in the Incarnation.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 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. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known John 1:1-3,14,18
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Philippians 2:8
But it did not end in mere identification with us, in full understanding of our situation Christ took up God's judgment on our behalf.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
He died the kind of death which symbolized God's verdict on sinful humanity: condemned to death. He did so in consequence of the loving choice of identifying with others which He made in His life and sustained in His death. He died our death, sharing our failure, condemnation, despair and godforsakeness.
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Isaiah 53:4-11
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24
For the crucified Jesus was not just one more godless, godforsaken human being, dying as all of us must He was the man who chose to identify Himself in love with the godless and godforsaken. It was His mission from God to do this. As the one who came from God, the Incarnate Son of God, it was God's love He expressed and enacted in His identification with humanity by entering human history. Therefore the crucified Jesus brings the love of God into the depths. God's work of reconciling the world to Himself, the good news of salvation from the power of sin and death accomplished and made known in His word.
Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:11
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies John 11:25
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Romans 8:11
By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 1 Corinthians 6:14
Only because He died can His resurrection also be ours. Because Jesus died our death, identified with us in death, God's love reaches even the dead and raises them to new life. Because Jesus died our death, death need not be the fate it otherwise is. The light of Jesus' resurrection dispels the shadow death casts over life.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12
All this available to us in Christ alone.
From His Story to Our Story
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7
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. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:4-5;8-9
The importance of all this is encapsulated in the word 'grace'. It means God's unmerited favor for us, regardless of who we are ad what we have done. God by actualizing His love for us in Christ therefore invites us to partake of this grace by responding to the Gospel on the basis of what God has done in Christ.
So to answer the question how does one become a Christian can be answered by thoroughly understanding and committing to three action words: Repent-Believe-Accept
Repent
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 2 Corinthians 7:10
If our human dilemma is sin, we need to be sure we understand what sin is. A modern definition of sin is: “anything which we think, believe or do that is less than God's best intention for us.” Thus, sin can be right things left unthought or undone; sin can be bad things thought or done. Sin is our mismatch with God's perfect expectation for His human children. Sin can involve attitude as well as action, hear as well as hand.
The first step towards becoming a Christian is to face the fact that each one of us is a sinner in the eyes of God, needing His redemption, correction and salvation. God has taken the initiative through His love in sending His Son Jesus to take upon Himself all the penalty due us for our sin.
For the broken relationship between God and humankind to be reknit, God has taken the first step. Our first step is admitting that we have erred, sinned, failed, fallen short of His expectation or glory.
Such an admission requires repentance. To repent in Greek means “to change one's mind” or “to alter one's direction” or “to turn around and go another way”.
Believe
"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Mark 1:15
Repenting from our sin is the first step in entering into right relationship with God. But in a sense repentance is a negative; it is doing something about the obstacle between God and us.
The second essential step in becoming a Christian is a positive, believing that God has already a provided a bridge between humankind and God in the Cross of Jesus Christ! We are called to believe in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.
There is something weak in our usage of the English word believe, while the Greek word translated believe is always much stronger. In English believe may indicate simple “an inclination to agree,” “to acknowledge that something may be true.” It sometimes is a “cheap word.” Not so in Greek, for in Greek the verb believe always takes a different preposition than we use in English. In English we say “I believe in”; in Greek the language says “I believe into.” There is commitment; indeed, often a commitment of life!
Accept
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
To accept means to personally appropriate Him as our own personal Savior and Lord and not just the theoretical Savior and Lord of “the world” or of “somebody else.” There are 3 things that a person must do to “appropriate” God's gift: (1) take it, accept it, “accept” as it, really meant for me; (2) thanks God for it; and (3) open the gift and put my personal acceptance mark on it.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Matthew 16:24
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. Galatians 2:20
Another way at looking at it is basically to sum it up in a single word: faith which is basically the only apt response. To respond in faith means to identify ourselves with Christ who identified Himself with us. In faith, we respond to the God who has already grasped us, and we discover that the reality of God is the meaning of our lives. Faith occurs as my whole self responds to the reality of God. Faith is thus the total transformation of my existence. God addresses me; God confronts me; God calls me; God summons me into fellowship. God becomes more real to me than I am to myself, so that my whole existence is placed in a new context – in the context of God!
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:11-13
Have you already “repented, believed into, and accepted” God's way of salvation? Are you now ready, perhaps for the first time, to “repented, believed into, and accept” God at his word?
Simply said a Christian is a person whose life is lived in relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and in common with other Christians in the church seeking to deepen that relationship and to follow the way that Jesus taught.
Henri Nouwen on the radical message of the Gospel
This is the great movement from "you shall not" to "you may." We may care for the poor, the sick, and the dying, and meet God there. Instead of a distant God, whom we must please by not doing evil things, Jesus reveals to us a God who is as close to us as the poorest person is.
I keep marveling at the radicality as well as the simplicity of Jesus’ message. He breaks right through all the questions about what to do in order not to offend God and place the poor in front of us, saying, "This is me...love me." How radical and how simple!
Henri Nouwen, Our Secord Birth: Christian reflections on death and new life p.124
The bigger story...
A couple of weeks ago Pastor Ronald Frias introduced me to this evangelism tool from James Choung of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and I must admit that I, as Choung said have seen the Gospel message in a very small level, meaning that I tend to go, look and present it in a very individualistic perspective which in a way negates from the the bigger story of redemption one: "that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:19)"
What exactly is our ministry of reconciliation?
Is it merely about proclaiming that Christ died for individual people? Yes its true he died for every single individual.
But at the same time he also proclaimed the Kingdom of God?
What is the Kingdom of God anyway?
Is this a mere paschal mystery that's better of discussed in the realms of metaphysical theology?
No.
The presence and coming of the Kingdom of God was the central message of Jesus. For example, "his teaching was designed to show men how they might enter the Kingdom of God (Matt. 5:20; 7: 21). His mighty works were intended to prove that the Kingdom of God had come upon them (Matt. 12: 28). His parables illustrated to His disciples the truth about the Kingdom of God (Matt. 1 3: 11). And when He taught His followers to pray, at the heart of their petition were the words, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6: 10). On the eve of His death, He assured His disciples that He would yet share with them the happiness and the fellowship of the Kingdom (Luke 22: 22-30). And He promised that He would appear again. on the earth in glory to bring the blessedness of the Kingdom to those for whom it was prepared (Matt. 25:31, 34)." 1
Anthony Hoekema has described God's Kingdom as "the reign of God dynamically active in human history through Jesus Christ, the purpose of which is the redemption of his people from sin and from demonic powers, and the final establishment of the new heavens and the new earth."2
There is a bigger story in the Gospel message.
It is a big story because it sums up the plot points of the larger story in which we live and breathe. The most essential parts are the phrases: designed for good, damaged by evil, restored for better, and sent together to heal. They follow the biblical narrative: creation, fall, redemption, and mission.
All that is encapsulated in the message of the Kingdom of God.
The proclamation of that is part of our ministry of reconciliation.
It is my hope that as you watch this video that you'll be stirred to see the Bigger Story
For more information on this visit the following links:
Read about James Choung on The Christian Vision Project
Read From Four Laws to Four Circles on Christianity Today
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Notes:
1 Ladd, George Eldon - What is the Kingdom of God? http://www.gospelpedlar.com/articles/Last%20Things/kogladd.html
2 Hoekema, Anthony - The Bible and the Future, p. 45.
Does statistics stand in favor of "seeker sensitive" church programs?
I'm not a fan of 'mega-church' mentality among evangelicals these days, especially I'm not comfortable with the use to the term "seeker". Maybe I'm just a Calvinist at heart....
But I really think that theologically how contemporary Christian churches that are part of the church growth movement within Evangelical Christianity which emphasizes missionary work combined with sociological awareness of the target population. The seeker sensitive label for this approach characterizes the would-be converts as "seekers," is errant in so many ways that I would rather deal with on another occasion.
For now I will just simple talk about how they are in terms of figures that church growth and individual spiritual growth, Willow Creek Community Church recently conducted a major survey that shows heavy involvement in "seeker sensitive" programs and activities contributed to church growth, but did not translate into spiritual growth and maturity. Church leaders have stood up and admitted, "We made a mistake.
I love Willow Creek's honesty and perhaps this will lead to more depth in their manner of proclaiming the Gospel and I hope that this would contribute to other churches that seek to follow their direction...
To read more about Willow Creek's survey visit: Rethinking Church Where Is Willow Creek, and Where Are We?
But I really think that theologically how contemporary Christian churches that are part of the church growth movement within Evangelical Christianity which emphasizes missionary work combined with sociological awareness of the target population. The seeker sensitive label for this approach characterizes the would-be converts as "seekers," is errant in so many ways that I would rather deal with on another occasion.
For now I will just simple talk about how they are in terms of figures that church growth and individual spiritual growth, Willow Creek Community Church recently conducted a major survey that shows heavy involvement in "seeker sensitive" programs and activities contributed to church growth, but did not translate into spiritual growth and maturity. Church leaders have stood up and admitted, "We made a mistake.
I love Willow Creek's honesty and perhaps this will lead to more depth in their manner of proclaiming the Gospel and I hope that this would contribute to other churches that seek to follow their direction...
To read more about Willow Creek's survey visit: Rethinking Church Where Is Willow Creek, and Where Are We?
According to promise: reflections on the nature of promises in the Scriptures
Luke 23:39-43
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Introduction:
I remember once having a dog-named Oddie, for the people who knew me he was virtually my best friend aside from my nephew Gato, of course.
I have a lot of fond memories of him during my childhood but none strikes me more than that of how he always would be looking forward to my arrival be it in the mornings when I would wake up and he will be waiting for me at the door of the bedroom that I once shared with my brothers; or during the late afternoons where he would be at our front gate eagerly waiting for me and my Nanay to get off the tricycle that we’re riding.
I do not remember him failing to be they’re waiting for me to wake up from a good night’s sleep or from coming home from school. He waited for me as though he was bound to keep his end on an arbitrary bargain where I promised that I would be back.
In the time that I spent preparing for this message I have God knows struggled in grasping the concept of promises: How I have often failed to keep them or have felt disappointed because someone who gave me a promise failed to keep it, (especially when my hopes were raised).
It is with these things in mind that I am confronted with the nature of promises that is for most of us are nothing but empty words. Which is quite interesting for us Christians because our very faith is grounded upon promises, which in a way serves as our life-support system that we can cling to by faith because God uttered these promises that we are now holding fast to as we travel as a community of pilgrims passing into hostile territory in our heaven-bound journey.
What are promises anyway?
In my study I have found several very interesting definitions best defines the word promise:
One basic definition is that a promise is a psychological contract indicating a transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to his or her use. A promise may also refer to any kind of vow or guarantee.
While Webster defines it as a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified b: a legally binding declaration that gives the person to whom it is made a right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act 2: reason to expect something <little promise of relief>; especially: ground for expectation of success, improvement, or excellence <shows considerable promise>3: something that is promised
A quick look at the word’s etymology reveals that it came from the Latin word promissum "a promise," noun use of neuter pp. of promittere "send forth, foretell, promise," from pro- "before" + mittere "to put, send" (see mission). Ground sense is "declaration made about the future, about some act to be done or not done."
In Christianity, it is the act of making a solemn oath may be done on one's own, but certain oaths or vows, especially when it affects a person's vocation in life and role in the community, are made publicly, and before a priest or public official. A Christian who makes an oath to God is responsible for it, not to the peril of his soul, but as a sin if he breaks it.
That’s why certain Christians, amongst them the Religious Society of Friends and the Mennonites, object to the taking of both oaths and affirmations, basing their objections upon a commandment given in the Sermon on the Mount, and regard all promises to be witnessed by God.
But is that really all that there is when it comes to promises?
In the book According to Promise, Charles Spurgeon writes:
“When we believe God as He is revealed in Christ Jesus, we believe all His promises. Confidence in the Person involves confidence in all that He speaks: hence we accept all the promises of God as being sure and certain.”1
Furthermore he writes:
“He who has said that He will save those who believe in Him will save me since I believe in Him; and every blessing which He has engaged to bestow upon believers He will bestow upon me as a believer. This is sound reasoning, and by it we justify the faith by which we live and are comforted. Not because I deserve anything, but because God has freely promised it to me in Christ Jesus, therefore I shall receive it: this is the reason and ground of our hope.”2
It is amazing how promises given either in the past or was just made known in the present stirs our hope. Primarily because we all agree that the present way of this isn't good, especially when we’re seeing it from the primetime news.
It is with that realization that promises and hope intersects. Promises give us the drive to continue to persevere in our Christian walk so as that we would continue to: “Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1). It is our anticipation for our blessed hope of ultimate victory over sin and death that we face each day with our hope in Christ, in the same manner as that of Oddie, when he waited for me to wake up or to come home, but unlike that of me and Oddie, the promises that we hold fast to are not arbitrary or hidden to us, they are spoken loud and clear in the Scriptures.
Reger, a Lutheran pastor who was once an inmate in Dachau said: “…where there is no hope, there is no gospel.”3
It is our hope that we would take a month-long look at Divine promises in the Scriptures that the church would be reinvigorated to reclaim these Bible promises and that each one of us would take ownership of them as we try to live out the Gospel message in our daily lives, especially since as a church we for one have our theme verse grounded upon the promise that the: “grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.” (Titus 2:11)
The Gospel according to Luke
In a nutshell Luke wrote his gospel so that his readers “may know the truth.” (Luke 1:4) Whereas Matthew wrote to convince his readers that Jesus was the promised Messiah, Luke (being himself a Gentile) wrote that Jesus was also the universal Savior. Writing for a Greco-Roman audience, who knew little about the Old Testament or Judaism he utilized the frequent use of Greek rather than Hebrew words such as: Master rather than Rabbi; Mount of Olives rather than Gethsemane and Place of the Skull rather than Golgotha. Luke’s message is that salvation is now: “Today [in the synagogue in Nazareth] this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (4:21); “Today salvation has come to this [Zaccheus’s] house (19:9); Today you [the penitent thief] will be with me in paradise” (23:43).4
And it is in the story of this penitent thief that we will study why promises a very important for us Christians and why such promises should be made known to those who have not yet come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior; and lastly why the church should always claim and at the same time proclaim this promises.
We now come to our story and I would like to invite you to join me in making “a book review of sorts”. The story is part of a larger story upon which our entire theology rests upon it is set on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And after the Last Supper; the agony at the garden; the arrest and desertion of his friends; the trial and the scourging; and the painful procession to Golgotha we now se Jesus on the cross among common criminals, thieves as the Scripture tells it and there above him hangs a written notice that reads: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS”, or the more popular Latin phrase “INRI” which sums up who Jesus really was and yet its truth is still unknown to the people and it is here that we are now going to see the cast and characters of these scene in the Passion of our Lord: On one side there is Criminal 1 who challenged our Lord; while on the other side there’s Criminal 2 who pleaded with Jesus and then there’s Jesus on the Cross during the climax of His earthly ministry, moments before uttering the final words :”It is finished.”
The Universal human condition as seen in the two criminals
Created beings - Both of them were humans, people like you and me created by God in His own image commonly called the imago Dei (Genesis 1:27 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.)
Fallen beings -. Both are guilty of sin verses 40-41 states the general condition of the human race as revealed in Romans 3:23 (for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,) and Romans 6:23 (For the wages of sin is death).
Under judgment – Both are facing death as Hebrews 9:27 (Just as man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment).
Audience to the Gospel – Both are now face to face with Jesus and are confronted with the Gospel message of Jesus.
It is in the universality of these two criminals that we now jump from what is universal to that of what is now personal as we will be examining their individual responses to the sight of the crucified messiah before them, keeping in mind that they are now in their personal ‘dead end’. Death approaches them and perhaps this famous line from the famous agnostic’s5 quote is on their minds right now:
“Is there beyond the silent night
an endless day?
Is death a door that leads to light?
We cannot say” 6
It is quite interesting that the verse was written by Robert Ingersoll, who was an agnostic and was also a prominent spokesman of the free thought7 and humanist8 movement of the late 19th century, who judging from his writing depicts uncertainty as to what is the ultimate fate of a man after he dies.
“Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
Notice his words on verse 39: “are you not the Christ?” A short explanation as to why he asked that question can be found on verse 38 where it read that Jesus was the King of the Jews. We can look at it in a way that perhaps as he turned his head towards Jesus he was suddenly greeted with the sign that read: ‘THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS”.
At a glance we could merely dismiss him merely as an arrogant person who was skeptical of Jesus’s claim like Ingersoll, but a closer look at his statement might prove us wrong.
We must note that during Jesus’ time on earth there was a very strong nationalist sentiment among the Jews who have been governed by foreign empires since their return from their exile in Babylon. In fact, a few centuries before Jesus was born, the household of a certain Judas Maccabeus, launched what was called the ‘Maccabean Revolt’ against the Greeks whose story can be found in the Apocryphal books called The Maccabes. And what came out of that resistance movement was a group of freedom fighters who came to be called as ‘zealots’’ they are basically religious fanatics who fought continuously against occupying kingdoms in Judea, which were there up until the time of Jesus, in fact, one of Jesus’ first disciples was Simon who was called the zealot, what was particular about them was that they believe in the promise of a coming Messiah which was prophesied in the Old Testament, and when they interpreted that prophesy during their time the believed that it was a political Messiah who’d liberate Israel from the Romans and later on re-establish the royal line of David in a new kingdom. The Messiah or the Christ who’d come and reign as the King of the Jews, and it was one of the reasons why the Jewish leaders capitalized on such popular sentiments in brining him into trial under Pilate, they were trying to insinuate that Jesus was sowing the seeds of rebellion against the Roman Empire by claiming to be that.
So what we see now was a dying man seeking a second chance at life from a man whom he believes as the political savior of Israel. In short he had a wrong view of Christ, one that is very different from the person who is with him at the present. It should also be noted that in the passage he did not indicate any belief in an afterlife, and perhaps when he said the word “save” he probably meant that to be rescued from their present predicament that they’re facing at the moment.
It is very interesting that even in the church right now there are a lot of us who are like Criminal 1, who has as theologian Jeffrey C. Pugh says made: “a domestication of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ.” 9
Domestication here implies that we Christians tend to view Jesus Christ in varying personas in such a way that we are somewhat creating graven images of Him in our minds.
To some He is viewed a celestial genie who’d give our hearts’ desire whenever we’d ask it in His name.
To some He was a revolutionary who called for change and freedom when he declared that: “the kingdom of God is at hand!”
While to some He was a historical figure who claimed to be God, but whose deity and historicity needs to be constantly defended from those who dared to question that claim.
Let it be known that any Christ apart from the one proclaimed in the entire narrative of the Scriptures as: the Way the Truth and the Life upon whom man may enter into a living relationship with God falls short of who the real Jesus is.
You might ask why do we need to address this now?
Because when we turn our attention to what type of Jesus persons in our culture worship, we do find Him as someone who is defined only by certain attributes. (I.e. ‘God is love’, ‘God is merciful’, ‘God forgives’, ‘God blesses’)
An example of this can be seen in the Biblical text itself, the book of Job is one place where Job’s view of God is brought into deep investigation. The concept of God as the God of retributive justice is called into question by the text through the struggles of Job with his friends. The God who acts according to human understanding is represented by Job’s friends who seek to justify God’s ways with humans as they tried to explain Job’s suffering. The accuse Job of being a sinner, or perhaps it was his children who’ve offended God. We do not posses power over God to define how and under which terms God will reveal Himself to us other that what is spoken in Scripture.
Perhaps the story that of Criminal 1 would help us reflect and at the same time make us understand that our most cherished image of God may have to undergo deconstruction so that holy reality may become manifest. Like in my case, I was forced by God to deconstruct my idea of Him during the preparation of this message whereupon I have thought of Him as someone merely sitting on the sidelines as I write this message according to my own image.
As C.S. Lewis once said:
“Every idea of Him we form, He must in mercy shatter.”10
“Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom”
Now we turn towards the other side and look at the other criminal who responded to the sight of the crucified Savior whose response is best articulated on the commentary of Matthew Henry:
“This gives no encouragement to any to put off repentance to their death-beds, or to hope that they shall then find mercy. It is certain that true repentance is never too late; but it is as certain that late repentance is seldom true. None can be sure they shall have time to repent at death, but every man may be sure he cannot have the advantages this penitent thief had.” 11
Further more he observes in verses 40-41:
“We shall see the case to be singular, if we observe the uncommon effects of God's grace upon this man. He reproved the other for railing on Christ. He owned that he deserved what was done to him. He believed Jesus to have suffered wrongfully.” 12
In a sense Criminal 2 had a proper perspective of right and wrong where he acknowledged his guilt, which he believed the punishment that he’s getting is due him as opposed to Criminal 1, who showed no indication of an understanding of right and wrong and the reason of why he is crucified.
Commenting on verse 42 he writes:
“Observe his faith in this prayer. Christ was in the depth of disgrace, suffering as a deceiver, and not delivered by his Father. He made this profession before the wonders were displayed which put honour on Christ's sufferings, and startled the centurion. He believed in a life to come, and desired to be happy in that life; not like the other thief, to be only saved from the cross. Observe his humility in this prayer. All his request is, Lord, remember me; quite referring it to Jesus in what way to remember him. Thus he was humbled in true repentance, and he brought forth all the fruits for repentance his circumstances would admit.”13
Truly Criminal 2 exhibited genuine saving faith by seeking remembrance of the Savior right after admitting his guilt as a sinner.
Lastly he warns us of the uniqueness of Criminal 2’s story where he writes:
“It is a single instance in Scripture; it should teach us to despair of none, and that none should despair of themselves; but lest it should be abused, it is contrasted with the awful state of the other thief, who died hardened in unbelief, though a crucified Saviour was so near him. Be sure that in general men die as they live.” 14
“I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise”
Now we turn our attention to Jesus Christ, and His promise where we will realize that both men (Criminal 1&2) are utterly destitute, bound to die in their sins if not for the fact that Jesus was there, no genuine repentance could save Criminal 2 if not for the fact that Jesus was there to give Him that promise.
What was more astonishing about this promise is that the guarantee is as good as done not only in the words uttered by Jesus but also with the present action that He is doing. He came to die for sinners, that includes not only the criminals or all those who were there at the time but also for us here. What makes it interesting is that Jesus’ message of salvation has in a way been accomplished in the way that His action (the work of salvation by becoming the atoning sacrifice for our sins), spoke louder than His words (the promise). To put it in the words of the radicals among us what Jesus did was, truly propaganda by deed!
What also can be noted with this scene in the story is the haunting portrayal of Jesus Christ on the Cross which is not only a clear demonstration of God’s love but was also a display of God’s righteousness. Christ’s death, allowed God to be both just and the justifier of all who believe in Jesus. Thus, making our gospel message seems, as that of the title of Marshal McLuhan’s famous book: ‘The Medium is the Message.’
Matthew Henry writes this very insightful comment on the passage:
“Christ upon the cross, is gracious like Christ upon the throne. Though he was in the greatest struggle and agony, yet he had pity for a poor penitent. By this act of grace we are to understand that Jesus Christ died to open the kingdom of heaven to all penitent, obedient believers.”
Notice also that when Jesus said: “today” He means it in such a way that this promise gives us all an assurance that salvation and the assurance of being with Him in paradise is available now and can be claimed today. Note that in salvation paradise or heaven is always equated with the idea that salvation in Christ means spending eternity with God we do not merely accept Jesus so that we would merely go to heaven but we accept Him in faith so that we could spend eternity with God as part of His household.
The promise also proves that salvation by grace through faith is true because it disproves teachings that baptism as well as church membership has any salvific value. It’s clear that paradise was assured of the penitent thief before he was able to have himself baptized or to enlist his membership to a church, in fact the church was still a mystery at the time!
Jesus’ promise is also an apologia against unorthodox trends in several sects that advocate soul sleep, which is very common amongst the Adventists who say that after death a person’s soul lies in limbo where it would only regain its consciousness on Judgment Day. Also it refutes the Roman Catholic notion of a place called Purgatory, where people who have not committed any mortal sin go to in order to be purged of their venial sins.
Lastly we should always be reminded of the truth that the promise would never have any efficacy if not for the cost that Christ paid on the Cross. Plainly it is a promise that can only be claimed by true believers.
What does this story mean for us today?
Believers - For the believer this should serve as a reminder for us to again and again remember of God’s grace, which is costly.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it:
“Above all it [God’s grace] is costly because it costs the life of His Son: “ye were bought with a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all it is grace because God did not reckon His Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered Him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”15
Imagine the extent of what it cost God just so that this promise would be of any value to all of us who believe?
Moreover it not only reminds us of the cost that entails the promise of Jesus but the story also serves as an encouragement for us Christians who might be experiencing the darkest hours of our life. This story reminds us that the Lord Jesus is our Redeemer:
“My Redeemer-your Redeemer- has the right to be called that because He suffered with us as well as for us. God could have saved us in some simpler, less terrible way than subjecting Himself to the worst that human beings could do, but He wanted us to know how much He loved us. Salvation surely did not need to come through the murder of the Messiah. But that’s how it came, so that we will know, in all sufferings and sorrows of life, that our Creator was also our Redeemer, and that He would bring joy out of sorrow, hope out of despair, love out of hate, life out of death, eternity out of time. This is our hope. It alone makes sense.”16
For those who are yet to believe, the significance of this narrative and the claims of the promise could be summed up in the name of an art form that’s presently getting a lot of exposure in the realm of fashion: ‘Memento Mori’.
The Latin phrase: “memento mori” (remember that you must die) is often described as a genre of art that often depicts skeletons, cadavers and the archetypical grim reaper – that served as a particularly timely reminder in the era of the Black Death.
What more can be said that it is true sooner or later we are going to die, and it is a call of the story’s promise: remember that you and I must die. But while we are still living Jesus Christ invites us to be with Him in paradise, will you take up that challenge and go meet Him at the foot of the Cross?
For the Church, it is a call for the continuous preaching of God’s promises I the Bible. Perhaps for the church at large the proclamation of such promises as that of paradise should again be put on the center-stage of our preaching and teaching, so that as a community of faith we would look more towards our blessed hope in Heaven.
While at the same time it is also a call for the constant preaching of costly grace, as opposed to cheap grace, which Bonhoefer defined in The Cost of Discipleship:
“The essence of grace, we suppose is that the account has been paid in advance, and because it has been paid, it can be had for nothing.” 17
He then writes:“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”18
It is my hope that as we all would reflect on the nature of God’s promises in the Scriptures that we would always look at it in light of the Cross. For it is all because of the Cross that we are given the blessed privilege of claiming these promises, especially now as we go on to partake of the Lord’s Supper this Sunday.
Amen.
___
Notes:
1 Spurgeon, C.H. – According to Promise p.35
2 ibid
3 As quoted by William W. Rankin in Cracking the Monolith p.145
4 Schwarz, John – A Handbook of the Christian Faith p.p. 110-111
5 Agnosticism – the belief that the existence of any ultimate reality is (as God) is unknown or probably unknowable. (Webster)
6 Ingersoll, Robert – Declaration of the Free
7 Free thought – a movement that is made up of individuals who form their opinions on the basis of reason independently of authority especially that which came from religious dogma.
8 Humanist – a person who believes that life is centered on human interests and values.
9 Pugh, Jeffrey C. – The Matrix of the Faith: Reclaiming a Christian Vision p.183
10 Lewis, C.S. – Surprised by Joy p.84
11 Henry, Matthew – Commentary on the Gospel of Luke
12 Ibid
13 Ibid
14 Ibid
15 Bonhoeffer, Dietrich – Costly Grace
16 Groeschel, Benedict J. – Arise from Darkness p. 145
17 Bonhoeffer, Dietrich – The Cost of Discipleship
18 Ibid
An 'Evangelical Manifesto'?
In a nutshell: Evangelicals are Christians who define themselves, their faith, and their lives according to the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth.1
I am one of those people on the evangelical world who have come to the conclusion that there is an urgent need to rescue evangelicalism from the politics of the Religious Right, this is quite an encouraging piece for kindred souls out there who are as discouraged as I am with how so-called 'American evangelicalism' has tarnished its witness to the Gospel of Christ.
below are some interesting takes on the said Manifesto:
Faith and Theology Blog
also please do find time to read it here
Note:
1An Executive Summary of AN EVANGELICAL MANIFESTO, The Washington Declaration of Evangelical Identity and Public Commitment , May 7, 2008; Washington, D.C. p
G.C. Berkouwer on Election
One of the things that I am thankful for my local church is its library which has a lot of now out-of-print books on systematic theology (since the church used to have a Bible School), it was during December last year when I stumbled upon familiar names on the shelf that's labeled Systematic Theology where more prominent names like Bultman, Brunner, Barth, Berkoff would normally standout, one book there that I particularly noticed was a book entitled: Studies in Dogmatics: Divine Election by G.C. Berkouwer.
I borrowed that book and read it through the Christmas season and I was amazed especially at his insight on the Doctrine of Election which rejects both the traditional and Barthian view of the equal ultimacy of election and reprobation.
Here's his take on the subject where he relates election with Christ's work in relation to Ephesians 1:4 1:
“The issue here is not a metaphysical contrast between time and eternity, but the foundation of salvation in God's plan as immutable reality. 'Before' (in Eph. 1:4) indicates that this divine act of salvation, preached to us by the Gospel, is free from what we know in the world to be arbitrary and precarious. To be sure in this depth-aspect of God's salvation it becomes at the same time evident that this salvation did not originate in our flesh and blood that it is by no means of human merit or creation. But precisely this fact does not obscure the way; on the contrary it illuminates it. 'Before the foundation of the world” means to direct our attention to what can be called the opposite of chance and contingence.”2
This insight has been very much helpful for me in my understanding of the Gospel message and its relationship with God's sovereignty in the work of salvation.
___
1“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love” Ephesians 1:4 (NIV)
2Berkouwer, p152, Studies in Dogmatics, Divine Election
Saved to serve
Isiah 6:1-8
Another Glimpse of Heaven
As we would see in the prophet Isiah's vision which again gives us a glimpse of Heaven and the worship given by the heavenly beings to the Lord who is seated on the throne.
God revealed Himself to the prophet in a vision that prompted him of his personal sinfulness, and revealed to him the truth that by ourselves we are totally unworthy of God and His fellowship if not for Christ.
In the same manner as that of the seraphs that cleansed Isiah's mouth with coal, Christ too in His act of love on the Cross has also cleansed us from our unrighteousness, a cleansing which we receive by God's grace in Jesus, whom we can receive in our hearts by faith in Him.
Isiah's response
As worshipers it is equally important that we look at Isiah's vision in light of what God has done to us when He confronted us with His holiness through the Scripture but also at the same time also called us into His fellowship through the Gospel.
Looking back at God's work of saving us and cleansing us of our sins in we should respond in the same manner to that of Isiah when the Lord said: “whom shall I send?” (Isiah 6:8a)
Isiah said: “Here am I send me...” (Isiah 6:8b).
Everything in our Christian life and service flows from our relationship with God. If we are not in vital fellowship with Him, everything else will be out of focus.1
Reflections:
Have I ever responded to God's love by making myself available to His service?
If ever you are already in service of God in the church do we ever take time to look at our service as a privilege that God has given us or do we tend to look at it more as job that needs to be done because that's what's expected of us?
Have you ever experienced how it is to beset free from sin, that you might serve Jesus Christ?
Our response
“Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.”
Psalm 51:14
1J. Oswald Sanders, Enjoying Intimacy With God, p.12
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