The Calling of Believers

As we approach the New Year it is helpful to evaluate where we have been and where we are headed.  This is true for both groups and individuals.  It is has been common in the last several decades for companies to develop a mission statement.  Such a statement lays out the purpose of the company in one or two brief, clear sentences.  Probably not very many individuals do this.  But it might not be a bad idea.  We all need to be reminded from time to time about our main purpose.

Today we will be looking at 1 Peter 3:8-12.  This section begins with the word, “finally.”  Peter started with some general comments to the believers, but then moved to some very specific groups within the church.  He starts with citizens, then speaks to slaves, then to women, and then to men.  Here he does not mean finally in the sense that he is done with the letter.  But rather, finally in the sense of wrapping up this section of directives to Christians both specifically and generally.

How We Should Treat One Another

Peter reminds the believers how they ought to treat each other.  He will speak to several different things, but begins with the mind.  He calls them to be of “One Mind.”  This “one mind” that we are to all have is not the mind of the leader or each of us fighting for our mind to be “the one.”  But rather we are to have the mind of Christ.  The mind and thinking of Jesus needs to be what all believers use in their words and deeds.  Paul speaks to this in 1 Corinthians 2:16 when he says, “We have the mind of Christ.”  There are two ways to look at the mind.  We can first focus on the purpose or goal of the mind.  Jesus was focused on glorifying the Father.  He did nothing for himself.  But rather did all things to bring glory to God.  He only spoke the words of the Father and only did the deeds of the Father.  The second area is one of attitude.  The mind of Jesus operated in a humble way that was willing to submit to the plan of the Father.  Thus in Philippians 2:5 it states “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.”  Paul goes on to talk about how Christ lowered himself to the lowest place.  If we all operated from such a mind this would be a different place.  We need to work and pray every day that God would help us to think like Jesus.  This starts by reading the Word of God and moves to trying to do it and ends in prayer as we wrestle with God over what we discover.

Next Peter calls them to have compassion towards each other.  The word literally means “to suffer with someone.”  It is natural to want to avoid negative things and difficult situations.  When someone is suffering, it affects those who come around them.  We are way too quick to “sniff out” suffering people and run from them.  We are called to suffer with each other, to have compassion on each other.

Next he calls them to brotherly love, Philadelphia.  This is a family type of love.  When brothers are young and immature, they often step on each other’s toes and don’t have great feelings for each other.  However, later as they mature, they realize that no one else understands them and what they have been through like a family member.  There is a strong bond that is more and more appreciated over time.  So are we going to be stuck at the stage of Jacob’s 12 sons back in the book of Genesis?  Or, are we going to go on to the brotherly love they found later when they wept with Joseph in Egypt?

Next he speaks about being tender hearted.  This speaks to our intentions and actions.  Do they come out of a heart that seeks the good of others?  Do you have good will towards them or ill will?  Our Father demonstrates this attitude in John 3:16.  He so loved the world that even though it was in rebellion to him he gave his only begotten son so that WHOSOEVER would believe on him would not perish but have everlasting life.  Such good heartedness leads to God not crushing the rebellion, but making it possible for everyone to make a choice.  He is willing to forgive.

Next we talk about being courteous.  This is simply being “low minded.”  Not low in the sense of being bad, but low in the sense of being humble.  We are courteous to people when we not only think lowly of ourselves but also when we in “honor prefer them above ourselves.”  No matter how great we are in this world’s eyes, we ought to recognize how Christ lowered himself and served us as if we were the greater.  Can we follow him in this example?

Next he speaks to a “payback” attitude.  We need to stay away from an evil for evil, revenge oriented attitude.  Even if we don’t seek revenge, we can fall into a low form of hostility towards others because of things they have done.  We act like a bunch of banty roosters around each other, strutting, and pecking at each other.  This ought not to be among God’s people.  In fact it is the opposite of what our Lord commanded us in Matthew 5:44-45a. 

“I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven…” 

We are not called to curse people, but to be a blessing to them.

Thus Peter ends with the call to blessing.  God has given us as a blessing to this world.  After the cross, he could have sent legions of angelic warriors to slay all mankind.  Instead, he sends us as his ministers of peace.  He speaks a gracious word of reconciliation to the world.  That doesn’t mean there isn’t a judgment day.  It just helps us to see why we are here.  We are here to bless the world in the name of Jesus.  Now, blessing is not defined by the world.  It is defined by Truth and Reality, and thus by God himself.

Reminded Of Our Inheritance

In the second part of verse 9, Peter reminds them of the inheritance that is theirs in Christ.  Our inheritance involves some things in this life, but it is ultimately and largely in the Age that is coming.  However Peter does remind them of this blessing with its present reality of enjoying God’s goodwill or favor.  So let’s break down exactly what Peter is saying in the second part of verse 9.

First he says “knowing.”  They have come to know certain things that should affect their present treatment of one another.  Sometimes we can forget or choose to ignore these realities.  This is complicated by a spiritual enemy who works in many ways to assail our mind.  The more he can get us to lean on our natural mind more than the mind of Christ, then the more he can cause us to fall in this spiritual battle.  Thus, this mental battle can keep us in the spiritual battle, or knock us out of it.  This battle is for our soul and the souls of others.

Next he says that they were called.  This is a reference to the fact that they are disciples of Jesus.  Jesus had come up to certain ones and called them to follow him.  In a similar way, believers are followers of Jesus.  He has purposefully called us and we have intentionally followed him.  It was a personal choice to follow the purpose of Jesus.  However, when the way gets difficult, it is easy to pull back from what we are called to do.  Will I turn back and walk away from Jesus?  Or will I, like Judas, continue to hang out with Jesus only to betray him in the end?  It is our inheritance to be followers/disciples of Jesus; to take our place among that great company of people who belong to Jesus.

Lastly he reminds them of their blessing by quoting a passage from Psalm 34.  It begins by listing some natural blessings such as life, and long life.  But it goes on to a largely spiritual blessing, in which God is favorably disposed to us.  So as he determines we see him favorably disposed to hear our prayers and to answer them (not that we get whatever we want).  But ultimately this favor of God is demonstrated in what he is bringing us to; making us to be like him.  God is actively against those who reject his ways, but he is favorably disposed towards those who embrace his ways and his nature.  Our inheritance is to be transformed to the point that we are like God.

Final Thoughts

If these things were easy the apostles would not have kept reminding us about them over and over.  We can shrink back from these things for different reasons and need to be encouraged in them.  In this world evil tends to be “rewarded” immediately.  So we can be tempted and leveraged by our own fleshly desires.  We need to remind ourselves that the delayed reward of righteousness (aka our inheritance) is better in the end.  It is better because it is eternal and it is better because it makes us to have a place wherein we can have a relationship with God and be like him.

Happy New Year!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

Today we will look at the Angel’s message to Joseph before the birth of Jesus in Matthew 1:18-25.  He faced a difficulty that in many ways he probably wasn’t prepared for. 

We often face difficulties, but it is very different when we have the tools to deal with them.  So the person who has to go to work in the snow can be more confident if they have snow tires and 4-wheel drive.  The person who is lost in Seattle can be more confident if they have a 4-G cell phone with a data plan. 

But, Joseph wasn’t the only one with a tough problem.  We will see that all mankind had a problem, in fact still has a problem, and that problem is sin.  No matter how many tools we create and assemble we won’t be able to remove that stubborn bane of mankind—sin.  It is not just the sin in others, but even the sin within us personally that mankind cannot remove.  Christmas is the celebration of the truth that we have not been left alone in this impossible battle.  God is with us.

Jesus Comes

The central point of this passage is that Jesus, who is the long-awaited messiah, has come.  This is the moment that Israel had been waiting for since its inception.  In fact, we could say that even the Gentile nations with their twisted theologies and religions had longed for “the gods to come down.”  Thus Jesus who is God comes down in a miraculous way: He is born of a woman who had never been with a man.  Though we might be quick in this modern era to scoff at such an idea, we must recognize that if God can create man in the first place, then surely he can cause a egg to be fertilized in the womb.  In fact what is the insertion of the sperm but an insertion of information?  God did not even need a sperm.  The Holy Spirit was able to activate the egg by the same creative power he had at the beginning.  You either believe in God or not.  But don’t pretend that the reason you don’t believe in him is because of such miracles.

Jesus came in a way that looked shameful.  Though Joseph and Mary were betrothed, they had not tied the knot, so to speak, yet.  For Joseph to go ahead with the marriage would be to confess simultaneously that he is the father and that he was not a righteous man.  His only option seemed to be calling off the wedding in as discrete a way as possible.  Thus Jesus would be born with the social stigma of a shameful conception to unrighteous parents.  Of course this is nothing in our society today.  However that is not to our honor.

Jesus comes to earth accompanied by angels.  We see much activity of angels with Mary, Zechariah, the shepherds, and here, Joseph.  Didn’t Joseph believe Mary?  We are not told.  However as he is determining his response to the news of Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph has a dream.  The angel tells him that Mary’s story is true.  As wonderful as that news may have been to Joseph, he still has a tough decision because no one else will believe the story.  However, Joseph becomes a picture of God.  He is innocent, yet marries a bride that the world sees as unfaithful.  In fact, unlike Mary we have been unfaithful.  We are more like Gomer in the story of Hosea.

Jesus also comes as an answer to prophecy.  In verses 22-23 Matthew points out that the virgin birth had been spoken of in Isaiah chapter 7.  The messiah would be recognized as God with us, Immanuel.  But his “name” would be Jesus.

Jesus Saves Us From Our Sins

Jesus is an English version of a word that begins in the Hebrew or Aramaic tongue.  It was some form of Yeshua or Yahshua.  This was transliterated into the Greek language as Iesous.  The name literally means Yahweh is Salvation or Yahweh Saves.  This is the central point of who Jesus is: He is the salvation of God. 

The problem of mankind had been fully explored by mankind.  The Gentiles had continued down the road of creating their own path of salvation.  The Jews had proven that even if God gave us His perfect laws it would not make us righteous.  We all needed a miracle.  We needed God with us in this battle.  In fact we needed him to fight for us.  We were not just bound in slavery to sin.  But this slavery had even infiltrated our mind.  We self-justified those pet sins that we liked and thundered against those we didn’t.  This ever evolving, ever-changing definition of righteousness only protected sin.  This same problem is just as bad today.  We may shrink in horror at a gunman in Conneticut who shoots 20 kids in cold blood.  But then turn around and angrily defend a woman’s right to have a cold-blooded doctor rip apart the life within her.  Over 1 million babies a year are aborted in America.  But few choke up over such infanticide.

In Isaiah 1:18-20, God called to Israel to reason with him.  Though their sins were as scarlet and crimson, he would make them white as snow.  The picture is one of blood.  Sin causes our life to be stained with a stain as difficult as blood.  No matter how hard we try our white righteousness will never look the same.  It will only become more and more stained.  But, God promises to help us.  He says to those who are willing and obedient, rather than rebellious and refusing, that He will make them white.  This is precisely what Jesus was coming to do: to save us from our sins.

“He will save His people from their sins.”  Does this just mean Israel only?  In Matthew 12:50 Jesus had revealed to his disciples that, “whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  Thus Jesus was stating that his people were not identified by biology, or what town they lived in, or what culture they shared.  Rather, they are identified by their desire to God’s will.  What is God’s will?  John 6:29, “This is the work of God; that you believe in him whom he sent.”  That one is Jesus.  Our faith in Jesus makes us a part of the people of Jesus.  He promises to save each one.

Final Thoughts

Without Jesus we have no hope against our sins, much less those of mankind.  We can continue to lie to ourselves.  But the stakes only continue to go higher and we have more and more to lose.  We cannot create enough rules or technology to protect ourselves from the effects of sin.  Only Jesus can.

Jesus is God’s proof that he has not abandoned us.  He will cleanse those who trust him and his ways.  But, how can an innocent baby save us?  Only because he is Immanuel; God with us.  With God on our side we cannot fail.

This Christmas make it a truly white Christmas by putting your trust in Jesus alone as the one who covers your sin and makes you white as snow.

dreaming white Christmas audio

Jesus The Faithful Son

It is easy to think of the baby Jesus in simple loving terms.  However, that little baby was more than just the beginning of something.  In that moment of visibility we are able to see something that had began before creation.  In Revelation 13:8 we are told that Jesus was “slain from the foundation of the world.”  That means that before creation was begun, the Father and the Son had agreed to the plan that required the Son to take on the nature of a man and pay the price for the sins of mankind.  His birth was a beginning but not.  An example of this is when the Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy.  It was a beginning, but a lot of things happened before that which may or may not have been clear to the French.  Planning, moving of troops and assets all had to be worked out before that visible moment of troops landing.  In the same way the little baby Jesus was the divine presence making its own landing on the beachhead of humanity.  Much planning and prepositioning of assets had happened up to this point.  This is an eternal plan reaching a critical and visible point.  Jesus could have been born to Abram and Sarah.  They received a “miracle child.”  However God knew that Jesus’ birth would not be understood and would not help mankind without a lot of teaching.

Let’s look at Hebrews chapter 3 as we focus on the coming of Jesus.

Jesus Comes As The Faithful Son Of God

The writer of Hebrews is writing to people who thought very highly of Moses.  He points out that Jesus comes in a way that is similar to Moses and yet much more glorious.  Thus in the first 2 verses we see that the Father has appointed the Son to be the apostle and high priest of our confession.  As apostle, he is the one sent by the Father to make the gospel known.  As high priest he is the one who mediates between God and man.  He directs and accomplishes the sacrifice needed to cover sins.  Thus the little baby has quite the job to do.  The word confession refers to our statement of faith in Jesus and the gospel.  Thus it literally means to speak the same thing.  This is an important thing for new believers to understand in this day and age.  We are called to embrace the same Truth that the Prime Apostle, Jesus, handed down to his apostles.  If we do not “speak the same thing” as them, then we are departing from the good confession.

Jesus had agreed to fulfill this mission in eternity past, before the world was created.  All of history was leading up to this moment that had been prophesied, a day of salvation and healing for mankind.

Jesus Is The One Worthy Of Glory

It is difficult to imagine the boundless glory of God taking up residence within a human body.  This is the realm of Movies and Marvel comics.  Jesus looked like any other baby, but there was something different about him.  In him dwelt the divine being that had been involved in the creation of all things that existed.  Not only that, but in verse 5 the writer points out that Moses served as a servant in God’s house.  However, Jesus comes forth as the Son to build his own house.  Thus the glory of Moses that Israel so often referred to was nothing compared to the glory of the Son who had come down to build his own house.  Moses’ life and activity was a witness and example of what Jesus would come and do.  Just as Moses called the people to leave Egypt and follow him into the desert until God led them to a Promised Land, so Jesus calls us out of the world to follow him into the desert where he promises to lead us to the promised end of the Father.  The Church is the “house” that belongs to Jesus.  We are his body and the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus takes the believing remnant of natural Israel and he combines them with a believing remnant of the Gentile nations to create a new house, the Church.  Those who believe have a part, a share, a portion in this endeavor that has been set aside for them. 

To Reject Jesus Is To Forfeit A Share In Him

The rest of the chapter focuses on the danger of missing who Jesus is and falling away from faith in him.  Let me just say that many get bogged down in trying to determine whether those who “fall away” ever believed or not.  Whole systematic theologies have been built up through trying to fill in all the gaps that exist within the teaching of Scripture.  So I challenge you with this.  Regardless what your systematic theology, do not let it distract from the warning that is given here in God’s Word.  The Holy Spirit clearly warns us of danger and we need to treat it as so.  The word Beware in verse 12 is literally “watch,” or “look.”  Jesus had warned his disciples at the last supper that he was going to be put to death.  He warned them again in the garden.  In fact he told them to “watch and pray” so that they might not fall into temptation.  Watching is not just about looking outward to the world.  Often it is looking into our heart before God in prayer.  It is where we confess before God the weakness of our flesh and pray for power to obey the Spirit.  Prayer is ultimately watching and guarding our heart.  What we are watching out for is an unbelieving heart that causes us to “depart” from God.  We see that at Jesus’ trial and crucifixion.  His disciples were afraid and departed from him.  They failed to stand with him, even though their spirit wanted to.  They learned to lean upon the Holy Spirit and guard their hearts against the desires of the flesh.  We can fail here just as easily.  The Bible warns of an end times apostasy in 2 Thessalonians 2:3.    IF we do not guard our hearts and watch our souls in prayer then we will not pass the trials of this life.  But if we believe to the end, vs. 14, we will be saved.  Notice the emphasis is on the belief and not so much works.  Belief will always lead to real works.  But the lack of belief can be masked by false works of pretence.  In fact Jesus had commanded them in Luke 21:1 to take possession of their souls by patience.  Trust God and wait upon him.  Don’t get to over thinking things and desire to go back to Egypt (the world).  We are warned in vs. 13 of Hebrews 3 that sin is deceitful.  It lies to us and manipulates our flesh to self-justify that which endangers our soul.  It is a process that dulls our senses and saps us of strength.  This is precisely what we combat when we watch in prayer over our souls.  A hardened heart will refuse to follow Jesus at the time that it matters most. 

Final Thoughts

God has made a place for you before everything was created.  He even knows the place that “could have been” for those who refuse to believe.  Don’t let yourself be pulled away from it.  Satan does not want you to take your place in the Church of Jesus and neither does he want you to receive your portion in the Age that is to come.  If we let ourselves be deceived and live for the flesh now, it will be harder to follow Jesus later.  God has set us up for success, but we can squander that and set ourselves up for failure.  God help us all to be faithful until the end.  Blessings.

Jesus the faithful audio

The Most Wonderful Time of The Year?

Don’t get me wrong Christmas is a wonderful time of the year.  However, there are some ways in which it isn’t so wonderful.  Just think of those gift buying excursions that often turn into anything but wonderful: stop-and-go traffic, rude drivers, frenzied purchasing, etc…  The commercialization of Christmas will only continue to pressurize the holidays to the point where those who “buy” into its message will find themselves hating the holiday.

Now let’s remember Jesus.  He really is the reason for this season.  He said in John 7:7 that the world hates him because he testifies that its works are evil.  Now can you imagine buying a doll for your child that has a truth detector built into it?  Not only that, but it can detect good or bad motivation.  And, to top things off, it can flat out declare the most hidden sins of anyone within range.  Does that sound like a doll you want to bring into your house?  Can you see now how the commercialized message of Christmas has changed the original message of Christmas?  Let’s explore this further, beginning in Luke 2:34-35.

God Upsets The Present Order At Christmas

Mary had taken the baby Jesus to the temple in order to present him before the Lord.  During this time an old man named Simeon comes up to her and begins to prophecy about Jesus.  When he states that Jesus is destined for the rising and falling of many in Israel, it is clear that some will like it and some won’t.  The current way things were had developed by actions that weren’t always godly.  Many fortunes had been influenced by things that were wicked and deceptive.  The High Priest himself had been appointed by the Roman Prefect.  In many cases this process was helped along with bribes.  We see the same dynamic in Jesus’ trial 30 some years later.  Both government and religion revealed their seedy underbelly during it. 

Now the rising and falling that is referred to here is in relation to God himself.  The apostles would not have appeared to have been elevated in Israel.  In fact after the death and resurrection of Jesus, we see those who crucified him throwing the apostles in Jail.  But in God’s eyes things were different.  Suddenly Galilean fishermen were of higher esteem in his eyes than the High Priest in Jerusalem.

Simeon also refers to Jesus as a sign that will be spoken against.  As a “sign” the words and actions of Jesus would point to something.  What was that?  Jesus points us to the Truth, but specifically the truth about the Father in heaven and our predicament before him.  This clarity of who God is stood in stark contrast to the teachings of the religious leaders.  Their sin and twisting of the Scriptures was glaringly obvious.  Thus, they not only spoke against him, but they also crucified him.  This picture of a sword piercing through to our soul is told to Mary about herself.  But notice the wording implies that it will pierce others (in fact all).  Even Mary, who had been found worthy to give birth to the Son of God, was not sinless.  Her flesh would struggle with the actions and words of Jesus.  The sword is a metaphor for the word of God cutting through the outer image we put on and going down to the “heart” of our motivations, thoughts, and actions.  This Word would reveal the thoughts of the hearts of men.  It is easy to try and hide our motivations from each other.  This is how we protect ourselves and get ahead.  Those who are the most skilled often are rewarded with greater honors.  We can only judge by conjectures we make looking at surface projections.  Are they real?  Often not.  Thus Paul states in 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.  Then each one’s praise will come from God.”  Here he specifically deals with trying to judge the thoughts and motivations of people’s hearts.  The praise of men is no guarantee that God is pleased with us.  In Christ, we no longer have to hide in the darkness of pretense.  However, neither should we use the grace of God as a license for flaunting willful sin.  Paul warns about this in 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

The World Uses The Things Of God To Cover Wickedness

Paul warned that things would become very perilous, both in the natural and in the spiritual.  People may say all the right things and do the right things, but if that is merely a mask that they are hiding selfish motives behind then it will eventually come to light.  True believers need to keep alert so that they can protect themselves from false teaching that pampers the flesh and has demonic origins.  After listing the many different sins, Paul points to perhaps the worst.  “Having a form of godliness but denying its power.”  Whether they are Christians or not, Godly ways and terms are co-opted and redefined to cover wickedness.  This is done by false religions, Christians who follow “another gospel,” and even by the secular humanists of our present day.  The things of God, such as: peace on earth, joy, love, and forgiveness are kept but the part of the gospel that could actually make those things a reality are rejected.  Only God’s Spirit can convict us of sin and regenerate our heart.  No amount of good works can regenerate a heart.  Without repentance from sin and faith towards Jesus the gospel is neutered.  It becomes impotent.  We live in a day and age where many Christians are bargaining with humanists in order to create a compromise.  But that compromise will be a eunuch that cannot save the world.

Final Thoughts

To have Christmas without God is the same as neutering Christmas.  It is to embrace pretense and run from the reality.  We must not allow ourselves to embrace a gospel and Jesus that is powerless to save us.

We must choose whether we desire to rise among men or to rise before God.  This is a huge problem in the church today.  We seek to be praised by the world.  But Jesus said he was hated by the world.  What are we doing differently?  Do not be deceived by the veneer of this world.  It has already been judged by God and his wrath is looming over it.  Don’t seek joy in toys.  Don’t look for peace in believing that all men are good.  Don’t put your hope in man’s ability to solve the world’s problems.  These are the paths of the destruction of our soul.  But all these things will be delivered to those who put their trust in Jesus the Christ alone.

The Most Wonderful Audio