The Joy and Grief of Christmas

In this time of year we often highlight the joy of Christmas and this is a noble thing.  However, it is important for us to remember the grief that was a part of Christmas as well.  The Bible is filled with a mixture of joy and grief.  All those who walk the path of faith will find it a mixture of joy and grief.  In the midst of this we need to understand, not so much why we have particular grief in our life, but rather, that God too has grieved.  God has also felt the pain of love and been spurned and rejected.  God himself asks us to join him in this mixture of joy and grief and yet promises to bring all grief to an end.

Have you ever asked the question, "Why?"  "Why did this thing happen to me?"  Now turn that question around and put it in God's mind.  I doubt God would consider this question the same way we would, but no doubt he asks the question, why do you reject me?  Why do you persist in embracing that which will kill you and rejecting that which will give you life?  Why do you embrace that which hates you and reject him who truly loves you?  Today we will look at some scriptures to explore this theme.

The Joy and Grief of Creation

In Genesis 1:31 it says, "then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good."  What a statement.  When God was done creating he steps back and recognizes that what he has created is VERY good.  This is a powerful statement.  There is, as of yet, no evil running rampant throughout his creation and his relationship with Adam and Eve is a joyous one.  In Job 38:7 God describes a joyous scene as the angels rejoice when God lays the foundations of the earth.  So creation itself is seen in the Bible of a joyous event.  However in chapter 3 we find that evil enters the creation.  As best we know it begins in the ranks of the highest order of angels.  Lucifer, the light-bearer, is filled with pride and chooses a path other than that of the Lord.  He chooses his own way, selfishness.  He not only causes angels to "fall" into darkness with him, but we find him on the earth tempting God's pet project, man, to rebel.  Man embraces the choice to make his own way.  To find a way other than the one offered by God, to a destination different than the one offered by God.  It is after many generations that Genesis 6:5-6 describes the state of mankind.

"Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.  Now clearly, in light of Luke 14:28f, God had already recognized that if given a choice then man would choose another way.  Before he even laid the foundation of the earth God had already recognized that though he make the universe, very good, it would become not good and would need to be fixed.  Can I do this?  The creation itself is the answer.  God would not have created if He could not overcome the evil that would arise.  Now here is my main point.  God was sorry and grieved in his heart at what the earth and the universe had become.  It hurt and was painful to him.  God is not unfeeling and dispassionate about the things that happen on this earth.  In fact, the argument to be understood is that the emotions we feel are but a shadow or analog of the emotions that God has.  The creation bears the signature marks of the creator.  It cannot be anything in its initial creation but a reflection of himself.  But sin mars that reflection and shatters the mirror.  So that the current reflection brings pain to the heart of God.  In fact the pain is not a mental anguish.  It is at the very core of his being, in his heart.  Now let's move to Christmas.

The Joy and Grief of Christmas

We see this same progression in the life of Mary.  She is a young girl who is visited by an angel one day.  The angels tells her that she is going to be the mother of the messiah and that the baby she would have would be supernaturally conceived in her by the Holy Spirit.  Now imagine the joy of being chosen by the God of the universe to be entrusted with the most precious hope of the world, the messiah or savior.  Man has forever looked for that perfect leader who would rise up and lead us out of the pain and suffering of this world.  The "messiah" was this promised leader.  What a privilege, what amazing joy must have filled her heart.  Not just for personal reasons, but also because she was to live to see the messiah, to see the one who for millennia had been promised.   However, all this joy is counterbalanced by the grief of what all this meant for Mary.  God's plan of a miraculous birth brought the grief to Mary of being thought a liar, a loose woman, an unfaithful fiancee, and her son an outcast.  This social rejection of Mary, her child, and Joseph--once he married her he would be seen as practically confessing the child was his-- was a grief that God knew would be experienced by them.

The family goes on to have great joyful experiences, such as shepherds coming and telling the message and story of the angels.  The wise men who came later and worshipped the child and gave very valuable gifts.  Some speculate that these gifts most likely gave them the financial ability to flee to Egypt and live there for a while.  This great joy is counterbalanced by the grief of Herod's rage.  He tries to kill the child and they flee to Egypt to escape.  However, many little children are killed and now Joseph and Mary live in a foreign land as outcasts.

We see this pattern in Jesus' adult life.  He is quickly embraced by the people and followed by multitudes.  Yet, this is counterbalanced by his rejection by the leaders and eventual crucifixion.  In fact we need to understand that Jesus himself is the visible expression of the grief of God.  So the Christmas story is just as much a story of grief as it is a story of joy.  Let's look at our current situation.

The Joy and Grief of Today

The Bible tells us that as it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the coming of the son of man.  That means that we will see the world increasingly become a place of wickedness.  It will become more and more dangerous for the righteous.  It may seem strange to us that God has allowed this grief to continue so long and to grow so great.  However, the Bible is clear that though his heart is hurt, he also wants to give more people a chance to repent.  In Romans 8:18-23 the apostle Paul deals with this issue.

^"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; ²¹ because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. ²³ Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body."

God is even more aware of the sufferings in this world than we are.  He is suffering along with us.  But he has promised to bring an end to it and to bring us to an incomparable glory, a glory that is greater than the suffering.  He promises a day when the "sons of God" will be revealed to all the world.  All the groans of ourself and others, even the world itself, only give voice to the groans of the heart of God.

So let me challenge all of us today.  We tend to run from grief.  We need to recognize that grief can bring us closer to God if we will allow it to teach us about the heart of God.  When you allow the Spirit of the LORD to teach you what the heart of God really is, you will be strengthened to weather the storm with your faith in Jesus not only intact, but growing stronger everyday.  Lastly may we recognize that the coming joys of the 2nd Coming, the Resurrection, and the Restoration of all things, are only made sweeter by the griefs of today.

In your grief run to him who is well acquainted with grief, the lowly Jesus whose heart you can trust.

Growing to be like Jesus

We have been working through Hebrews chapter 12 with the theme of "Growing to be like Jesus" in mind.  Today we are going to look at verses 12 through 17.  Now the term Christian literally means we are like or belong to Christ.  Now this can be a term that we or others give ourselves, or it can be a description of reality.  Now not very many people will say, "I am exactly like Christ."  We all know that we fall short in many ways.  But when we use the term Christian it is not a statement implying we are done.  Rather as we follow Jesus we remind the world around us of him.  In fact this very thing is said of the disciples.  The religious leaders took note that these guys had been with Jesus.  It had affected them in a way that reminded others of Jesus.

In actuality it is an impossible task to grow to be like Jesus.  However, it is something that God himself has promised to do in us.  God promises us that when he is done working on us we will look completely like Jesus.  This is a work that will take all of our life plus death.  Perhaps the sceptic will say, "well then it isn't real.  It's just a figment of your imagnination."  Of course this is not true.  Any one who has truly followed Jesus for any number of years will be able to look back at year 0 of their Christian walk and be amazed at how their life has changed.  We should never look at that change and feel proud.  Because without God's help and grace we would still be stuck in our sins.  Now God Himself is the Author and the Finisher (i.e. Perfecter, One who makes Complete) of our faith.  This work is like a long distance race.  God will enable us to complete it, but we must Cooperate.  Now pause and ponder on that for a moment......

God is doing a work in me that will end in making me look like Jesus and I need to cooperate with him.  Last week we talked about how God disciplines us in life to help us along the way.  Sometimes that discipline is a "Woodshed" moment.  That is we are going through a hard time because of our own sin and failures.  God does not protect us from the lessons we need to learn.  But he does give us the grace to come through it.  Sometimes his discipline is merely teaching.  Things don't always go our way and it isn't always traced back to our failures or sin.  It is merely our heavenly father teaching us.  Don't get discouraged in either of these times because they are proof that you are God's child and he cares for you.

The enemy often gets us discouraged by getting us focused on us.  I don't like this pain or grief.  Why is this happening to me?  What did I do?  But God's Word tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus.  He is the one who will bring us through.  So challenge yourself.  If your faith is in you then you will only grow in discouragement.  But if your faith is in Jesus there is always hope.  In fact your failures will only cause you to lean on him more.  Is that a bad thing?  Have your closest times to God not been when you went through tough times?  Did you not pray more and search your heart more?  I tell you that if you have become like Jesus at all it was done in those difficult times.  So learn to embrace the discipline of the Lord in your life as difficult as that sounds.

Purposefully Focus on the Difficult Task of Faith

Now verse 12 of Hebrews 12 begins a transition from God's discipline to our daily life as a believer.  Here we see that we need to focus during these difficult times.  When you read verse 12 the tendency is to think that the writer means we need to help others.  It is true that this verse ultimately leads to that.  But the primary focus is that our own hands can hang limp at our side and our own knees grow feeble during times of discipline.  Part of our focusing is to stir up our faith and do the works of God.  We can be paralyzed because our faith is being tested and stretched.  Now in several versions the words are "strengthen the hands..."  The word literally means to raise up and it would require strength to do so.  But the strength her is the strength of faith.  Idle hands means our faith has been weakened.  But a strong faith will express itself through our hands, feet, lips, etc...  So the instruction is to not let yourself be paralyzed during difficult times.  This is the time of battle.  The time to put your hands to the work that faith in Jesus requires of them.  Also the term for "feeble knees," more has the picture that they have been twisted and malformed.  We are called to straighten out those twisted and malformed knees, by faith, and do the work we have been called to.  Of course we need to help others in this as well, but if we are not doing this ourselves than we have nothing with which to help others.  Jesus, the Living Word, spoke to lame legs and hands and they were restored to their proper ability.  However, many are spiritually twisted into inactivity as their faith is shackled under discouragement.  If we will allow it the Word of God can, even now, come into our lives and not make the tough things of our life go away, but rather give us the faith to shake off the paralysis of doubt.

Another part of focusing ourselves is making straight paths.  Here the writer alludes back to Isaiah chapter 40 and John the Baptist.  John warned people that the Messiah was coming so they needed to prepare the way of the Lord.  This is a picture of the preparations that must be done in order for the Lord to enter, not just the world, but even an individual person's life.  It is an imagery of road building.  All the high places of pride in our life and in this world will have to be cut down and used to fill in all the low places of lacking.  If we are going to be ready for Jesus' return and the Lord's judgment then there are things we need to get rid of in our lives and things we need to add to them.  Ultimately we need to drop the pride of "my way" and let the Lord Jesus give us true righteousness.  We also need to drop the false righteousness of our self and let the Lord teach us the things we truly need to do.

Often in road building we can try to avoid the costs of making a road completely straight.  It is too costly, too difficult and too painful.  The message here is that the Lord requires a straight path, "the hardest to build for long distances."  This road must be straight and level.  So part of the focus is to keep focused on the difficulty of the work we have been called too and to not cut corners.  If we do so then there will be some effects.  "Dislocated" verse 13 could rather be translated turned aside.  If we only focus on the body then dislocated makes sense.  But in this verse a lame person on a road, trying to make their way, is in view.  Just as their foot, knee, leg has been affected or twisted in some way to debilitate them, so they may be "twisted or turned aside" off the road.  It is a powerful image that is difficult to translate, but I hope you see that when we humble our pride and lift up what is missing in our godliness then we help others who are lame to not be turned off the road of salvation.  In fact in verse 15 he brings up the idea of falling short of grace, i.e. not finish the race.  How many people have been wounded and pushed out of the way of salvation by our own pride and lack of righteousness?  Oh, God forgive us and help us to see where our own self-righteousness can take out the injured instead of healing them.  God intends his Church to be a healing community.  Not just in the sense of miraculous physical healings.  But even more so in miraculous emotional, relational, and spiritual healings.

Purposefully Focus on Others

As is fitting with the metaphor of a road or path, the writer has also been using the imagery of running a long distance race.  So these metaphors are richly mixed in many ways throughout this passage.  In verse 14 they are told to pursue, "run after," peace so as to catch up with it.  And, to do this with all people.  Peace is an elusive thing that we can grow weary trying to have with certain ones.  Here is the recognition that peace must be pursued and not half heartedly.  The writer also adds holiness as something we should pursue with all and in fact warns that without holiness we won't see the Lord.  Now it would be easy to say, "Yes I have the holiness of Jesus."  But the word used here does not have the perfect righteousness of Christ in view.  It has our own sanctification in view.  It basically saying that if we have not grown to be like Christ one bit then we will not see God.  Can this be true?  Here are some other Scriptures.  Judge for your self.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, ⁵ not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶ that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord isthe avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. ⁷ For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. ⁸ Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given^[a] us His Holy Spirit."

The point is not that you must also have works, but it is pointing out the same thing James does.  You cannot say you have faith when it has produced nothing in your life.  Back to the point at hand.  If we were only to pursue peace with others then we could use unholy means to obtain it.  Thus righteousness is held up beside peace.  We are to pursue both.  Many in this world love the term "unity" and "peace."  However they are willing to sacrifice the truth of God in order to obtain it.  There can never be peace with the wicked and their wicked deeds.  We are not to pursue peace as "people-pleasers", but rather through godly love bring peace to the table.  What the other person does with that is their business.  We must reject being offended and giving up because this is not the righteousness of Christ.  Rather we continue to bear the affront and pay back good for evil.  This is the weapon of love.  Love can conquer where no other weapon can go.  Everyone will see the Lord in judgment but not all will enter the time of Revelation 22 where the righteous shall see His face and he will wipe the tears from their eyes.  His eternal acceptance is what is in view in verse 14.

Verse 15 says that we are to be carefully watching for problems that would keep ourselves and others from completing the race of faith.  Thus we keep focused on those things that could trip us up.  It can be easy to look down on those who struggle where we are able to run on, but such thoughts are vanity and will lead to our own downfall.  We are called to help those who are in danger of falling short of grace, giving up before the race is done.  He then mentions the "root of bitterness."  It would be easy to think of this in the terms of a person being offended by another Christian, but the term is actually an allusion to Deuteronomy 29:18.  Read it and then think about how we are to be tied to the vine of Jesus.  The bitter root is drawing poison from a different source.  They are not really connected to Jesus, though they may purport to be.  The root of bitterness is those who are spiritual fornicators and if allowed will poison the faith and life of other believers.  These are people who like Esau are driven by fleshly appetites and worldly thinking.  They are unrepentant even though they may appear contrite and spiritual to the untrained eye.  Such roots can only be dug out and expelled from the group, otherwise they will cause many to be defiled.  Such is the weight upon the overseers of any assembly of believers.  They watch over men's souls that they may not be savaged by wolves that will rise up among us.

To grow to be like Jesus takes courage and fixation.  Keeping fixed on the task of becoming like him.  O Lord help us to fight the good fight of faith.  Amen!

Growing to be like Jesus

It is one thing to recognize the Father's voice in Jesus and connect to him.  It is quite another to become like Jesus.  The spiritual birth that happens when we put our faith in Jesus naturally leads to "growing" spiritually.

Today we are going to listen to Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 to see the truth that those who connect to Christ need to grow to be like him.  You see the believers of Corinth had received the Truth from Paul and had believed on Jesus.  They were saved, but there was a resistance in their thinking and actions to becoming like Jesus.  Paul clearly expected to be able to talk to them on a more mature level, but discovered from their thinking and actions that he couldn't.  They hadn't grown up.  Thus the first thing I would point out about believers.

Believers are Called to become Spiritual Adults

Now for some context let's look at 1 Corinthians 2:13-16.  Paul points out two types of people who exist in this world: the Natural Man, and the Spiritual Man.  Now it would be easy to say that natural here must be focused on material things.  However, the word for natural is "psyche."  It is where we get the idea of the mind.  Thus natural here has to do not just with the material outward world, but even the inner thoughts and desires of the mind of man.  Thus the natural man may talk about spiritual matters.  The natural man may appear spiritual for all practical matters.  But he does so through human wisdom and human (natural) thinking.  Yes the natural man's spirit/soul is heavily involved in this activity.

Now with that in mind the spiritual man must be something more than a person who thinks more about spiritual matters.  In fact in verse 14 it is clear that it is the "Spirit of God," who is trying to teach us Truth.  Only the "spiritual man" receives the things taught by the Spirit of God.  So the mark of a "spiritual man" is that they are receptive to the teaching of the Holy Spirit.

Now let me make an important point.  The scripture and history has taught us that the Natural Man is receptive to the teaching of evil spirits and thus can be highly religious.  But they reject the teaching of the Holy Spirit because it seems foolish to them.  So we should not  get the mistaken idea that the natural man is irreligious and that the spiritual man is "no earthly good."  When we look at Jesus we see him clash with the Natural Men who ruled over Israel.  They claimed to be spiritual and represent God, but they only represented the wisdom of natural man misled by demonic forces.  When the Truth of God came to them in Jesus, they hated, despised, and killed him.

The reason I bring this up is because it sets the stage for our passage in chapter 3.  The Corinthian believers had responded to the Holy Spirit's teaching that they needed to repent of their sins and believe on Jesus Christ the Messiah to cover those sins.  They were spiritual and not natural men.  However, something was wrong.  Paul should have been able to speak to them as people who respond to the teaching of the Holy Spirit.  But instead they were resisting.  Instead of calling them "natural men" he refers to them as "carnal" and "babies in Christ."

Those who respond to the gospel and are born again are still babies in regard to following Christ.  They need to be fed and need to learn to walk, talk and reason.  So that they can follow Christ and the Holy Spirit for themselves.  During this period of time believers learn to have their mind "renewed" (Romans 12:1-3) and their activities pruned.  The old natural way of thinking and living is pruned off and we learn to embrace the way of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The book of Galatians lays this out in chapter 5. Believers need to grow in learning to live their lives as a response to the Holy Spirit versus living their lives as a continual pleasing of their carnal or flesh nature.  In fact, Paul warns them in Galatians, that God will not be mocked.  They can say they believe in him and appear to embrace him, but if they continue to live their lives for the pleasures of their flesh instead of the Spirit then it will destroy them.  Here we see with Paul that his first reaction is not, "you guys aren't Christians."  Rather he points to their need to grow-up.  They have remained babies too long.  Our journey of learning to hear and listen to the Holy Spirit and growing to be more like Jesus is a messy one that is frought with mistakes on our part.  However, the Lord is faithful to us and will continue his work of making us to be like Jesus.  Paul doesn't coin the term "carnal Christians."  Rather he says that they are "brothers" and "in Christ" and immature.  Clearly God is using Paul under the help of the Holy Spirit to call them to growth.  Some will respond and grow in spite of their past immaturity.  Others will persist in living to their flesh and ultimately be destroyed by it.  It is not for us to determine who is what, but to speak the truth to one another in love.

So Paul approaches them as fellow believers, but challenges them to grow up.  He continues the illustration in verse 2 of chapter 3 and says that when he taught them he taught them with "milk" because they couldn't handle "solid food."  This clear analogy speaks to things that are easier versus harder to digest.  Just as food is to the natural so Truth is to the spiritual.  The "milk" of the truth is that God has loved us and paid the price for our sins.  We just need to put our faith in him and we will be saved.  However there are further Truths that are harder for us to swallow.  It was hard for them to swallow that God is not operating according to man's wisdom.  He often calls us to do that which is not "wise" in the natural.  Our immaturity finds it hard to digest these things at times.  Here we see Paul trying to lay the groundwork so that these immature believers might understand his concerns.  They are trying to follow Christ with their Natural Mind and resisting the Holy Spirit's attempts to renew their minds.  Even now as Paul addresses them he realizes they are still in the state they were in when he first taught them about Christ.

When Paul states that they are still "carnal" in verse 3, his point is not one of totality.  What I mean by that is this: the picture is one of a continuum on which we move more and more closer to being exactly like Jesus.  In that sense, everyone of us fights against carnality at ever deeper and harder to discern ways.  Paul does not speak down to them as one who has arrived.  But rather speaks to them as an older brother who is calling them to follow him on this road of becoming more like Jesus.  They are not 100% carnal otherwise they would have never believed on Jesus.  But the overall tendency of their life is marked by following their fleshly desires rather than the Spirit of God and this is a real concern.  So this is not a new category of Christian (i.e. the carnal Christian) rather it is a battle we all must fight as we follow the Holy Spirit.

Part of our growth is in learning to first hear the Holy Spirit and then second to follow him in thought and action.  In Matthew 16:18 when Jesus says, "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven," he is commending Peter for hearing the what the Spirit was teaching.  Did Peter ever have trouble following the Spirit instead of his flesh after this?  Sure, we see it highlighted at the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.  Even if you say, "Yeah, but that was before Peter was filled with the Power of the Holy Spirit."  You still have to deal with Galatians 2:11f where Peter follows his flesh.  I find it interesting that in verse 2 Paul doesn't say they wouldn't receive it, but rather that they couldn't receive it.

Here is one of the hard truths of God.  We cannot in our own strength even take hold of God's Word.  It must take hold of us.  Through this life God takes us through a journey where our mind and flesh fail us, and we learn the beauty of his hard truths.  God himself has to work on us in order for us to be able to receive Truth.  The more we receive the easier it is to take on more.  The more we resist the harder it is for us to take on more.  And, in fact we can be in danger of losing even that which we have.

The Corinthians were still enamored with the natural wisdom of their Greek culture.  They approached the gospel and the Scriptures with the natural wisdom of their culture.  This was blocking them from growing to be like Jesus.  What cultural mindsets are blocking us from becoming more like Jesus?  What wisdom of this world is perhaps holding me back?  Am I still a baby in Christ?

Now let me blow your mind for a moment.  In order to quit being spiritual babies and grow up in Christ we need to become babies in the natural wisdom of this world.  "Unless you become like little children you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."  They were too sophisticated in the thinking of this world.  The Greek people had a long and deep history with so called "philosophy."  In a sense they thought they were wise and it was keeping them from following Christ.  They needed to drop the wisdom of this world, "become like little children" and be taught the wisdom of God which is found in Jesus Christ.

In John 5:19-23, Jesus exampled this.  He says that he only says and only does what he sees the Father saying and doing.  Simply put Jesus shows us that true wisdom does not pretend to know anything but rather mimics God.  In mimicking God we come to receive true wisdom.  In fact it will show the world's wisdom for what it is:  earthly, sensual, and demonic.

I don't know if you want to be like Jesus.  It is easy enough to say, but Jesus went to the cross and all those disciples who said they wanted to be with and be like him ran.  Our flesh is no different.  When the Spirit reveals different ways in which I need to become like Jesus, my flesh recoils and resists.  That is why Paul said he had to die daily.  We have to put our fleshly desires to death every day if we are going to grow to be more like Jesus.

So ask yourself today, do I really want to be like Jesus.  And then pray this prayer.  Lord, there are parts of me that recoil from who you are.  Please save me from myself and teach me to let the "old me" go.  Teach me to follow you and to become like you.  Amen!

Protecting the Pure Gospel Part 12

Well today we will finish the book of Galatians.  Paul closes with a one two punch of exposing the motivations of the false teacher/s and restating the "rule" by which Christians should live and follow Jesus.  Our text today is Galatians 6:11-18.

Making A Good Show in the Flesh

Five of Paul's letters make mention of the fact that Paul would have a helper who would write what he wanted.  The method is not explicit.  That is, was it a dictation or did the writer influence the wording?  Clearly there is no question that what was written expressed what Paul wanted.  The letter we call 2 Thessalonians further states that a mark of Paul's letters is that he would write something by his own hand at the end of each letter.  Most likely this was his way of reassuring the recipients that it really was him and it also gives a personal touch to the address.

So it is not strange for Paul to make mention that he is writing by his own hand.  Whether his writing has started here in Gal. 6:11 or he has written the whole letter would really be conjecture and not necessary to discover.  What is strange is how Paul brings attention to the largeness of his letters (letters of the alphabet).  Some have felt that this was most likely for emphasis, much like typing in all caps is a kind of visual shouting.  Though this may be, I believe that the context requires this strange point of Paul's to contrast with the "good show in the flesh" that the false teachers desire.  It seems clear that Galatians 4:14,15 reveal that Paul had a physical problem that had something to do with his eyes.  This eye problem may have affected his ability to write.  Normally in life large writing is a sign of beginners.  Little kids start off learning to write with a line that is not only about an inch in height, but it is also split in half by a dotted line and has a lot of space between it and the next line.  No adult would expect to get a letter from a friend that had writing at that size.  As we develop our ability to write we move to wide ruled and then college ruled paper.  Thus Paul seems to be pointing out the largeness of his letters as a way to show that he definitely isn't trying to make a "good show" in the flesh.  In fact, his flesh is fighting against him.  It's physical weakness does not enable him to write well.  Paul isn't concerned about how he looks.  He could have easily been ashamed of his inability to speak well and write well, but instead he tells the Corinthians that this actually allows the power of God to be seen.

Contrast Paul to those who were teaching the Galatians to add the law, especially circumcision, to believing Jesus is the messiah.  Paul says, these guys are motivated by the outward and appearance. Now "in the flesh" can mean one of two things.  It can refer to things done in the body (which is pretty much anything we do) or it can refer to things done in response to the desires and will of the flesh versus the desires and will of the Spirit of God.  I believe here Paul is referring to the body.  They want their outer life to look good.  Those things that they do with their body are on display.  Now it is clear that their show isn't really for God.  Their show is for others.  But even if it were for God, the problem is not what they do, but rather why.    Paul has been very clear that believers are free to circumcise or not circumcise.  However, if they circumcise because they believe that it is necessary for salvation, then they are straying away from grace and rejecting Christ.  The "why" for these false teachers is that they want to look acceptable/good for others.  Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:12, that they are "those who boast in appearance and not in heart."

The second thing Paul points out about them is that they "compel" the Galatians to be circumcised.  The word compel means to make someone think something is necessary.  This can be done by force, logic, manipulation, duress, etc...  Either way, one individual influences another to believe that something is necessary.  Now notice what it is that they are making them think is necessary.  It is an act of the flesh.  Anyone who points to a certain, act of the flesh, and says you must do this to be saved, has left the gospel.  They may talk about Jesus, the cross, etc.. but as soon as you add works of the flesh you have rejected who Jesus is and what he has done.  It always sounds spiritual when these people make their arguments.  However, Paul said that it has an appearance of godliness, but it is impotent (no power) to transform our life.  Only the Spirit of God dwelling within us, laboring with our faith in the work of Jesus, in order to express actions of love, has power to transform.  In actuality they do not promote faith in Jesus, but rather, faith in your own works.

Thirdly, Paul points out that the reason they teach such stuff is because they want to escape suffering persecution for the cross of Christ.  Paul could have easily only said for Christ and it would have been correct.  However, he purposefully connects (nails) Jesus and the cross precisely because these teachers are trying to separate the two.  You cannot have Jesus without a cross.  In fact you cannot follow Jesus without picking up your own cross and following him to Golgatha.  The only way to heaven is through the cross, do not be deceived.  It is somewhat self-serving to point to a crucifix and say, "how horrible.  Our Lord, isn't still suffering.  He is risen."  Yes it is true that Jesus is risen.  However, it is also true that the foundation of the gospel is his being nailed to the cross until he died.  We must never forget both of these.  It is too precious not to point out that once Jesus was nailed to the cross he couldn't go back even if he wanted to.  The flesh has to be nailed down through crucifixion otherwise it will not follow the Spirit of God.  These guys are promoting something that is not only powerless to transform them and follow the spirit, but it hates where the Spirit leads and refuses to follow. 

The book of The Acts of the Apostles displays that persecution came from three areas.  Those who promoted the gospel of Jesus and it alone, were persecuted by the Jews who rejected him as messiah.  These were religious phonies who said they loved God, but when he showed up they hated him and put him to death.  Persecution also came from the Romans.  Judaism was sanctioned by Rome, but not Christianity.  For 300 years Christians suffered under varying cycles of persecution from Rome.  To keep connected to Judaism was to be acceptable to Rome.  Lastly, a more insidious, subtle, and social persecution came from these legalistic teachers themselves.  Their judgmental, mocking pronouncements over those who embraced grace alone was a heavy thing to endure.  It preyed upon those Jews who were weak in their faith and it put fear in those Gentiles who respected Jesus but also feared God.  The Apostle Peter himself was tempted by this social pressure, as Paul pointed out in Galatians 2:11 and following.  Those who want to follow Jesus cannot allow the fears of their flesh to lead them.  We must boldly face any persecution that comes our way whether from other religions, the secular world, or other "Christians."  This is part of the cross that we have to bear in order to follow Jesus.

Fourthly, in verse 13, Paul states that these false teachers are hypocrites.  Yes in circumcision they have accomplished one of 613 laws that Moses had given.  They do not keep them all.  In fact they don't even attempt to keep them all.  It is a common practice amongst legalists to have a top 10, or whatever, list.  It may change from group to group, but the same dynamic always remains.  If you don't do or do do these X things then you are not saved.  However, their list always leaves off the sins that they commit.  So the extremely obese preacher doesn't put gluttony or over-eating on his list and the preacher who likes to look good doesn't put vanity or $100.00 haircuts on his list.  The problem with lists is not what is on the list, but rather why it is on the list.  Paul points out that they are hypocrites.  They do not keep the law.  If you seek to be saved by the works of your flesh you will be condemned by the law everytime.  "Oh, for a thousand lives to live....." we would still never get it right and still be condemned by the law.  That's why we needed Jesus! It is logically inconsistent to insist on circumcision to be saved (or any pet law) and not insist on other aspects of the law and thus condemn yourself and us all.

The fifth and final problem is in what the false teachers boast and glory.  They boast in getting other believers to be circumcised.  They boast and glory in the number of flesh works that have been done.  They love to keep data tables of flesh operations, why?  Because they glory in those things that they, and mankind, have accomplished.  Friends, we can either be the type of person that comes into New York City and marvels at the immensity and beauty of its buildings and boasts/glories in that.  Or, we can be the type of people that come into the city and weep over the great energy that is expended in destroying ourselves.  It is insanity to boast in those very things that are destroying us.  Check your own heart, Christian, and ask the Lord to see if you boast and glory in things that will not last.  Do we boast in the number of people who walk down an aisle and say the words, "I want to serve Jesus."  How many of them had their hearts circumcised?  That's right.  We don't know because we can't see their hearts.  Even if we could the boast is not in the circumcision of their hearts, but rather in the fact that Jesus' death on the cross makes it possible for true righteousness in our lives.

Paul now turns from the false teachers and contrasts how he feels.  God forbid that I would boast in anything but the cross of Jesus.  Again, Paul could have said Jesus and been correct.  However, he purposefully points the Galatians back to the cross.  Particularly because they are not yet crucified to the flesh.  Somehow there is still a twinge in their heart for what the flesh can do.  They are in danger of being like Lot's wife who in the midst of being saved from the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah, longingly looked back to them and was destroyed.  We cannot look back to the works of our flesh and see any hope or we will doom ourselves and those who follow us.  Paul strongly negates the idea of ever boasting in any work but what Jesus did.

Now the false teachers would piously state that they "boast" in Jesus too.  But their life testifies against them because their every decision attempts to avoid the cross.  How can I say I boast in something but every time it comes close I hide or pretend it doesn't exist?  To follow Jesus is to embrace self-death, crucifixion.  Just as Jesus' flesh was nailed to the cross and couldn't get free, we need to freely choose to follow the Spirit and be nailed to our own trees in life.  So that our flesh cannot turn back to the desires of this world.

Only Christ's work on the cross is worthy of boasting.  Do we truly behold our savior on the cross and marvel at the amazing love, and the precious grace, and the wonderful hope that he made available by freely choosing to go to it?  Are we amazed like a person who watches a chess match is amazed by the move of a master chess player?  Do we then seek to imitate and follow the wisdom of our Lord's "master move" by similarly embracing the cross of our own life?

In fact Paul goes on to state that Jesus death on the cross means that the world has been crucified to him.  This is the poignant but also beautiful truth of crucifixion.  Yes, Jesus was no longer responsive to this world, and in that moment imagine the death of all the hopes and dreams of his apostles.  Everything Peter said he would do in the flesh became dust.  This flesh must be killed before the Spirit can resurrect it and pour new life into it.  This is true first spiritually and then eventually physically.  Paul says that he is dead to the world.  Nothing in the world appeals to him any more but to lift up the cross of Jesus so that all men might be drawn to him.  He is not enamored with the buildings and idols of Athens or Rome but rather is enamored with Jesus.  The Church of Jesus has become far too enamored with the things we have built with our own hands.  The Church of Jesus has not truly boasted in the cross of Jesus, but rather have boasted in the works of our own hands and our own minds.  God forgive us and cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.  Thus the tough truth:  It is impossible to embrace Jesus, in Spirit and in Truth, without dying to the world.  You cannot do both.

Of course verse 15 is a restatement of Paul's earlier principle of life.  The legalists always cry foul when the grace of Jesus and the glory of the cross of Christ is preached, alone.  They either attack the messenger as promoting sin or they point to sin in people's lives and say, "Are you saying that this is good?"  It is as if they have their fingers stuck in their ears and refuse to hear the deeper thrust of the argument:  the flesh is the problem.  How can you propose fixing it with the flesh?  The rule of life for the Christian should be this.  The works that I can do in the flesh have no power to "save" me or "justify" me before God.  The only thing that has power is a new creation.  This "new creation" is the same thing Jesus spoke of in John 3, the "born from above" or born of the Spirit person.  Paul defined it in Gal. 5:6.  The new creation does not ask what law must I perform to be saved.  The new creation has put its faith in the work of Jesus and thus has already entered into salvation.  The new creation expresses its faith in Jesus through actions of love towards others: both believers and unbelievers, saved and the lost, family and enemies.  The new creation doesn't sweat over the issue, "I haven't been circumcised, I'm not sure God will let me into heaven."  Rather it responds to the situation at hand by saying, "If Jesus were here I wonder what "move" he would make?  I think I will love in this way......  Freedom!!!!!!!

Paul closes by blessing those who will walk by the "rule" he has proposed.  This rule or canon (like the word cane) is simply the 2nd greatest command: to love your neighbor as yourself.  Jesus Christ has given you freedom to love.  "Yeah, but do I have to do this...?"  You have been given freedom to love and to grow in love however greatly you want.  Love continually cries out to us to go deeper.  You have the freedom to mine the depths of love however deeply you wish.  And, may God's peace and mercy be upon you as you live this life.  Yes, peace.  God does not desire you to be fretting over every decision of your life.  He simply wants you to ask the question how can I love and how do I want to love in every situation.  Don't ask what job does God want me to do and then sweat over the fear that you may have chosen the wrong profession.  Rather, discover how you can best demonstrate love to your fellow man through the talents God has given you and then do it!  You have been given freedom to learn how to love. So be at peace and enjoy the mercy of God.

Paul points out a huge issue in such a small verse in verse 17.  The false teachers promote a cutting of the flesh in order to receive God's mercy.  However, Paul has similar marks in his body.  There is a contrast between the marks of circumcision and the marks of suffering.  They are both painful.  But one was in response to avoiding the persecution of those who hate the cross.  The other was received because Paul would not let go of the cross of Jesus.  These marks were marks of love between Paul and his Lord.  They were the marks of faith in Jesus rather than the marks of faith in me.  Oh may the Lord give us true spirituality and true religion wherein we endure, suffer and do what our flesh doesn't want to do because we love Jesus and want to be like him.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One be with your spirit.  Let it be so!  Amen!