Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "new-life"
Adam, meet Adam
When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, the Lord dried up the water for them to do so. When they crossed the Jordan River, the Lord likewise dried up that water near the town of Adam, so they could cross over on dry ground. The symbolism is intriguing.
We must die to living in and for the world, symbolized by the exit from Egypt which ended by crossing the Red Sea. At the Red SeaGod's people died to their old sinful life (the first Adam). They were cut off from returning to Egypt. But that only begins the matter. We also must rise out of death to newness of life, symbolized by crossing the Jordan River and receiving our inheritance in the Promised Land.
In our earthly existence we are not merely to be born again. We are then to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are to mature spiritually into reborn adults, just as surely as newborns are to mature into adults in the natural realm.
By drying up the waters of both the Rea Sea and the Jordan River, the Lord taught both aspects of being new creations in Christ Jesus. The Promised Land symbolized victorious spiritual living, while the wilderness wanderings typified defeated carnal living. If we don’t enter the Promised Land and live by faith, then we are wandering the desert and living by sight.
If the Church would grasp this truth, not just intellectually but spiritually, what vast expanses would appear on the horizon! Revival would be the result. We mustn't merely call people to the front of the church building to “receive Jesus”, dear friends. We must needs rear them with strong spiritual meat to nourish them into spiritual maturity.
I fear that too often newborn spiritual babes are rushed into “serving Jesus”, into getting busy “doing things for Jesus”, before they are taught enough to grow up in Jesus. First we must be born again. Next we must spiritually mature enough to know our spiritual gifts. Only then are we equipped to know God's ministry for our lives and perform it under the power of the Holy Spirit.
We must die to living in and for the world, symbolized by the exit from Egypt which ended by crossing the Red Sea. At the Red SeaGod's people died to their old sinful life (the first Adam). They were cut off from returning to Egypt. But that only begins the matter. We also must rise out of death to newness of life, symbolized by crossing the Jordan River and receiving our inheritance in the Promised Land.
In our earthly existence we are not merely to be born again. We are then to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are to mature spiritually into reborn adults, just as surely as newborns are to mature into adults in the natural realm.
By drying up the waters of both the Rea Sea and the Jordan River, the Lord taught both aspects of being new creations in Christ Jesus. The Promised Land symbolized victorious spiritual living, while the wilderness wanderings typified defeated carnal living. If we don’t enter the Promised Land and live by faith, then we are wandering the desert and living by sight.
If the Church would grasp this truth, not just intellectually but spiritually, what vast expanses would appear on the horizon! Revival would be the result. We mustn't merely call people to the front of the church building to “receive Jesus”, dear friends. We must needs rear them with strong spiritual meat to nourish them into spiritual maturity.
I fear that too often newborn spiritual babes are rushed into “serving Jesus”, into getting busy “doing things for Jesus”, before they are taught enough to grow up in Jesus. First we must be born again. Next we must spiritually mature enough to know our spiritual gifts. Only then are we equipped to know God's ministry for our lives and perform it under the power of the Holy Spirit.
Like being sanctified...
I remember a popular song back in the day with the lyrics, "like being sanctified". No, that song hasn't a thing to do with this post. So if you want to discuss the song, go to your mp3s!
Imagine a person who commits a crime and is hauled before the judge to stand trial. The evidence against him is inconclusive so the judge pounds his gavel on the judge's bench and thunders, "Not guilty!" The man has just been justified. Trouble is, he IS guilty of the crime. In fact his life is filled with guilt for breaking the law.
This is where sanctification enters the picture. The guilty person has been freed from guilt for his crime. Double jeopardy prevents him from being retried for it. However, he does have a penchant for committing crimes. Will he return to his life of crime, or will he turn over a new leaf?
The word sanctification is a theology textbook word for turning over a new leaf. A saint is a sinner who has been justified. He/she has accepted the Lord's provision of forgiveness for sins, based upon the death on the cross of Jesus Christ for man's sins and his resurrection out of death. This acceptance was achieved by grace through faith. This means that the Bible stated this to be true, and he/she accepted in both the head and the heart that the Bible is true and acted accordingly.
The word sanctification refers to the continual present tense of a person's life, the day-to-day actions of a person in rejecting the old life of living for self and instead substitute the new life of living for Jesus. This is NOT a life of doing what seems good in our own estimation. It IS a life of faith, of feeding on the Bible daily in quiet time alone with the Lord to learn what He wants us to do, and then doing it.
Justification is a once-for-all act where we accept God's offer of forgiveness for sins by accepting the Lord Jesus' death on the cross as our substitute death, and receiving His new resurrection life in its place. Sanctification is our day-to-day action of refusing to live the old life of doing what seems right in our own eyes and living for self, but instead living according to what the Bible teaches us to do. This can only be done by quiet time alone with the Lord Jesus daily, in prayer and meditation on the Bible.
Justification is a one time, once-for-all act, with consequences which continue through the present time. In Grammar this is known as the perfect tense. Sanctification, contrariwise, is a present tense affair. It continues day in and day out throughout our lifetime.
Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure [Philippians 2:12-13]. God already worked His salvation in us. That is justification. Our job as those who are born again and therefore kids in God's family is to live like it, to work out what God has already worked in us. This is sanctification.
Imagine a person who commits a crime and is hauled before the judge to stand trial. The evidence against him is inconclusive so the judge pounds his gavel on the judge's bench and thunders, "Not guilty!" The man has just been justified. Trouble is, he IS guilty of the crime. In fact his life is filled with guilt for breaking the law.
This is where sanctification enters the picture. The guilty person has been freed from guilt for his crime. Double jeopardy prevents him from being retried for it. However, he does have a penchant for committing crimes. Will he return to his life of crime, or will he turn over a new leaf?
The word sanctification is a theology textbook word for turning over a new leaf. A saint is a sinner who has been justified. He/she has accepted the Lord's provision of forgiveness for sins, based upon the death on the cross of Jesus Christ for man's sins and his resurrection out of death. This acceptance was achieved by grace through faith. This means that the Bible stated this to be true, and he/she accepted in both the head and the heart that the Bible is true and acted accordingly.
The word sanctification refers to the continual present tense of a person's life, the day-to-day actions of a person in rejecting the old life of living for self and instead substitute the new life of living for Jesus. This is NOT a life of doing what seems good in our own estimation. It IS a life of faith, of feeding on the Bible daily in quiet time alone with the Lord to learn what He wants us to do, and then doing it.
Justification is a once-for-all act where we accept God's offer of forgiveness for sins by accepting the Lord Jesus' death on the cross as our substitute death, and receiving His new resurrection life in its place. Sanctification is our day-to-day action of refusing to live the old life of doing what seems right in our own eyes and living for self, but instead living according to what the Bible teaches us to do. This can only be done by quiet time alone with the Lord Jesus daily, in prayer and meditation on the Bible.
Justification is a one time, once-for-all act, with consequences which continue through the present time. In Grammar this is known as the perfect tense. Sanctification, contrariwise, is a present tense affair. It continues day in and day out throughout our lifetime.
Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure [Philippians 2:12-13]. God already worked His salvation in us. That is justification. Our job as those who are born again and therefore kids in God's family is to live like it, to work out what God has already worked in us. This is sanctification.
Turkey or jerky?
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift [2 Corinthians 9:15].
Seems a fitting thought in the Thanksgiving season, does it not? God's "gift" is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that He GAVE. Something "given" is a "gift".
This gift is "indescribable". It cannot be described. It cannot be put into words suitable to depict it. While we were still sinners—that is, while we hated God, shook our fist at him in rage, and bellicosely blurted anathemas at Him, saying, "We won't have this man Jesus to reign over us!"—while we were content to be like that, God gave His only Son to die as a sin offering in our stead. Yes, indescribable.
"Thanks be to God". It was God Who did this, so our thanksgiving belongs to Him. Yes, thanks should ring out for His indescribable gift of Jesus the Son of God.
So then why am I not feeling particularly thankful at this time? Go figure. Perhaps I had too much turkey...or was that too much beef jerky? Turkey. Now that is soft and edible, and usually quite tasty. It should evoke thanksgiving from us.
I can't speak for you, but beef jerky? Now that is another matter altogether! Can you imagine sitting around the family table for Thanksgiving, the full course meal spread out in decorative fashion, and there in the center is the turkey? Scratch that, it's not turkey at all. It's beef jerky!
Didn't think so. I can't imagine that either. Turkey is appreciated on Thanksgiving by most folks, but beef jerky only appeals to a select bunch. And no one wants it on Thanksgiving in place of the turkey! Maybe that's it. Maybe, just maybe, I've been indulging myself with beef jerky. Think I better switch to the turkey because Thanksgiving is not for crab apple faints: it's for cranberry saints.
Lord, You are worthy of all praise and thanksgiving. Forgive me, please, and fill my heart with Your joy. I want to be filled with thanksgiving for You on Thanksgiving Day and always. Amen.
Seems a fitting thought in the Thanksgiving season, does it not? God's "gift" is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that He GAVE. Something "given" is a "gift".
This gift is "indescribable". It cannot be described. It cannot be put into words suitable to depict it. While we were still sinners—that is, while we hated God, shook our fist at him in rage, and bellicosely blurted anathemas at Him, saying, "We won't have this man Jesus to reign over us!"—while we were content to be like that, God gave His only Son to die as a sin offering in our stead. Yes, indescribable.
"Thanks be to God". It was God Who did this, so our thanksgiving belongs to Him. Yes, thanks should ring out for His indescribable gift of Jesus the Son of God.
So then why am I not feeling particularly thankful at this time? Go figure. Perhaps I had too much turkey...or was that too much beef jerky? Turkey. Now that is soft and edible, and usually quite tasty. It should evoke thanksgiving from us.
I can't speak for you, but beef jerky? Now that is another matter altogether! Can you imagine sitting around the family table for Thanksgiving, the full course meal spread out in decorative fashion, and there in the center is the turkey? Scratch that, it's not turkey at all. It's beef jerky!
Didn't think so. I can't imagine that either. Turkey is appreciated on Thanksgiving by most folks, but beef jerky only appeals to a select bunch. And no one wants it on Thanksgiving in place of the turkey! Maybe that's it. Maybe, just maybe, I've been indulging myself with beef jerky. Think I better switch to the turkey because Thanksgiving is not for crab apple faints: it's for cranberry saints.
Lord, You are worthy of all praise and thanksgiving. Forgive me, please, and fill my heart with Your joy. I want to be filled with thanksgiving for You on Thanksgiving Day and always. Amen.
God's Dictionary
It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring [Romans 9:6-8].
The Apostle Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was not ashamed of his lineage. He was, however, ashamed of the natural man, the sinner. The Lord taught him that natural birth can only breed sinners. We must be born again. This applies to Jews as well as to Gentiles (non-Jews).
Abraham had many descendants, but only those of the lineage of Isaac were incorporated in the Lord's covenant. Abraham's progeny had nothing to do with it either. Those in the covenant didn't choose to be so. They were born into it. Those outside the covenant didn't choose to be so. They were born into it.
This teaches us that it is all of God's grace, not man's goodness or worth or smarts or athleticism, or anything else in all creation. This logically raises the question, "Then why are we accountable?" We could answer it philosophically by visiting with Aristotle. No good ever came of that, though, so we pass.
God's mysterious workings are inscrutable to us, His mere creatures. Instead of attempting to descry eternal things which are beyond our temporal abilities, we would be better served to stick with the text. So let's return to the text now.
By His own sovereign choice God chose Abraham. By His own sovereign choice He chose Isaac. Abraham's other kids were not included in God's covenant with Abraham. That is the point Paul made. God created the nation of Israel to be His people and He their King. Those who submitted to Him were His people. Those who didn't were not. That is how God's Dictionary defines a true Israelite.
He made this point to note that natural birth does not make anyone a child of God. The context for Paul's words in Romans 9-11 had to do with the Hebrews, not the Gentiles. Yes, we Gentiles also must be born again, but that isn't Paul's subject matter here.
Paul taught the Gentile Christians in Rome how they should understand the situation with the Jewish people. Just because someone was born of Abraham did not make them God's kid. Some of the Hebrews received Jesus and so they were God's kids. Others didn't, so they were not God's kids. Their natural birth did not determine it. Their acceptance of Jesus as their Messiah did.
Back in Paul's day the Jewish authorities, who controlled the Jewish communities throughout the world, violently rejected Jesus as the Messiah. They persecuted those Jews who accepted Him. These Gentile Christians in Rome were hated by the Jewish leaders because they promoted what the Jewish leaders considered to be heresy.
Paul wanted them to understand that salvation was an individual matter, not an ethnic one. Yes, the Jewish communities overall made life difficult for Christianity because their leadership instigated it. Nonetheless, many Jews did receive Jesus and were born again. Ergo, the Christians should not see people as their enemies based on ethnicity—in Paul's case because they were Jews—but they should share Jesus with everyone, including the Jews.
This is not much understood today. There is no way to the Father but through Jesus (John 14:6). Culture isn't the issue. Ethnicity isn't the issue. Christianity is hated because the Word of God denies that all religions are different approaches for getting into heaven. Every person MUST be born again, and Jesus is the only way to reach that destination. Hard words, these. But we dare not deny them!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. For more info please visit these sites to purchase my books:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
The Apostle Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was not ashamed of his lineage. He was, however, ashamed of the natural man, the sinner. The Lord taught him that natural birth can only breed sinners. We must be born again. This applies to Jews as well as to Gentiles (non-Jews).
Abraham had many descendants, but only those of the lineage of Isaac were incorporated in the Lord's covenant. Abraham's progeny had nothing to do with it either. Those in the covenant didn't choose to be so. They were born into it. Those outside the covenant didn't choose to be so. They were born into it.
This teaches us that it is all of God's grace, not man's goodness or worth or smarts or athleticism, or anything else in all creation. This logically raises the question, "Then why are we accountable?" We could answer it philosophically by visiting with Aristotle. No good ever came of that, though, so we pass.
God's mysterious workings are inscrutable to us, His mere creatures. Instead of attempting to descry eternal things which are beyond our temporal abilities, we would be better served to stick with the text. So let's return to the text now.
By His own sovereign choice God chose Abraham. By His own sovereign choice He chose Isaac. Abraham's other kids were not included in God's covenant with Abraham. That is the point Paul made. God created the nation of Israel to be His people and He their King. Those who submitted to Him were His people. Those who didn't were not. That is how God's Dictionary defines a true Israelite.
He made this point to note that natural birth does not make anyone a child of God. The context for Paul's words in Romans 9-11 had to do with the Hebrews, not the Gentiles. Yes, we Gentiles also must be born again, but that isn't Paul's subject matter here.
Paul taught the Gentile Christians in Rome how they should understand the situation with the Jewish people. Just because someone was born of Abraham did not make them God's kid. Some of the Hebrews received Jesus and so they were God's kids. Others didn't, so they were not God's kids. Their natural birth did not determine it. Their acceptance of Jesus as their Messiah did.
Back in Paul's day the Jewish authorities, who controlled the Jewish communities throughout the world, violently rejected Jesus as the Messiah. They persecuted those Jews who accepted Him. These Gentile Christians in Rome were hated by the Jewish leaders because they promoted what the Jewish leaders considered to be heresy.
Paul wanted them to understand that salvation was an individual matter, not an ethnic one. Yes, the Jewish communities overall made life difficult for Christianity because their leadership instigated it. Nonetheless, many Jews did receive Jesus and were born again. Ergo, the Christians should not see people as their enemies based on ethnicity—in Paul's case because they were Jews—but they should share Jesus with everyone, including the Jews.
This is not much understood today. There is no way to the Father but through Jesus (John 14:6). Culture isn't the issue. Ethnicity isn't the issue. Christianity is hated because the Word of God denies that all religions are different approaches for getting into heaven. Every person MUST be born again, and Jesus is the only way to reach that destination. Hard words, these. But we dare not deny them!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. For more info please visit these sites to purchase my books:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Let's Try That Again
"Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit'" [John 3:5-6].
I remember a kindly old soul in a church I once pastored. She told me she didn't need to be born again. I showed her Jesus' words. Her reply, "Oh, that's just for the wicked people, like skid row winos. I've been a good person all my life, so I don't need to be born again."
Here's the thing. Jesus spoke those words to Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin in Jesus' day, the ruling council in Israel. He was also a very upstanding member of the community. He wasn't a hypocrite nor a self-righteous religio. And he never joined sides with those who rejected Jesus.
In fine, Nicodemus was one of the most God-fearing and righteous people of his day. He sincerely wanted to belong to the Lord and do right by Him. He walked as best he knew how, according to the available light from the Scriptures at that time. And he sought out Jesus because he wanted more light. Yes, Nicodemus was a pillar in the "church" back in the day, not a skid row wino by any stretch.
Notwithstanding all this, Nicodemus still was required to be born again, if he was to enter the Kingdom of God. The reason why is that the flesh begets the flesh. It cannot give birth to the Spirit. Permit me to make a pitch for my book Volume 1: Genesis at this time, available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle.
We discuss this issue in Genesis 1. God made all things to reproduce after their own kind. Ergo, the flesh perforce must beget the flesh. We cannot fetch drinking water from salty water, nor grapes from thistles. It just doesn't happen that way because God ordained that each thing reproduces after its own kind.
The contrast Jesus made was between the natural order of things ("born") and the spiritual order ("born again"). All of physical creation fell under the tyranny of sin when Adam sinned. Every person born is now conceived in sin and born with a sin nature, i.e., a predilection for disobeying the Word of God. All of us want to eat from the kogae tree instead of from the life tree, if for no other reason than that the Lord said not to! Sin...
Consequently we are not fit to live with the Lord in heaven. If we would be fit, we must be rid of our sin nature. The problem is that man cannot accomplish this on his own. The reason why is a subject for another day. Suffice it to say that the Lord Jesus did accomplish this by His death on the cross to pay the penalty for all mankind's sins. His resurrection out of death was the sign that His payment was accepted by our heavenly Father.
When a person accepts Jesus' finished work on his/her behalf, he/she is born again. We accept Him by grace through faith. God freely offers His new life to us (i.e., grace). We take Him at His Word and act accordingly by requesting that He bestow His new life to us (i.e., faith).
Any takers? Go ahead. Take Him up on His offer and cheer the heart of the Lord.
"There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance" [Luke 15:7].
I remember a kindly old soul in a church I once pastored. She told me she didn't need to be born again. I showed her Jesus' words. Her reply, "Oh, that's just for the wicked people, like skid row winos. I've been a good person all my life, so I don't need to be born again."
Here's the thing. Jesus spoke those words to Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin in Jesus' day, the ruling council in Israel. He was also a very upstanding member of the community. He wasn't a hypocrite nor a self-righteous religio. And he never joined sides with those who rejected Jesus.
In fine, Nicodemus was one of the most God-fearing and righteous people of his day. He sincerely wanted to belong to the Lord and do right by Him. He walked as best he knew how, according to the available light from the Scriptures at that time. And he sought out Jesus because he wanted more light. Yes, Nicodemus was a pillar in the "church" back in the day, not a skid row wino by any stretch.
Notwithstanding all this, Nicodemus still was required to be born again, if he was to enter the Kingdom of God. The reason why is that the flesh begets the flesh. It cannot give birth to the Spirit. Permit me to make a pitch for my book Volume 1: Genesis at this time, available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle.
We discuss this issue in Genesis 1. God made all things to reproduce after their own kind. Ergo, the flesh perforce must beget the flesh. We cannot fetch drinking water from salty water, nor grapes from thistles. It just doesn't happen that way because God ordained that each thing reproduces after its own kind.
The contrast Jesus made was between the natural order of things ("born") and the spiritual order ("born again"). All of physical creation fell under the tyranny of sin when Adam sinned. Every person born is now conceived in sin and born with a sin nature, i.e., a predilection for disobeying the Word of God. All of us want to eat from the kogae tree instead of from the life tree, if for no other reason than that the Lord said not to! Sin...
Consequently we are not fit to live with the Lord in heaven. If we would be fit, we must be rid of our sin nature. The problem is that man cannot accomplish this on his own. The reason why is a subject for another day. Suffice it to say that the Lord Jesus did accomplish this by His death on the cross to pay the penalty for all mankind's sins. His resurrection out of death was the sign that His payment was accepted by our heavenly Father.
When a person accepts Jesus' finished work on his/her behalf, he/she is born again. We accept Him by grace through faith. God freely offers His new life to us (i.e., grace). We take Him at His Word and act accordingly by requesting that He bestow His new life to us (i.e., faith).
Any takers? Go ahead. Take Him up on His offer and cheer the heart of the Lord.
"There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance" [Luke 15:7].
Hereditary Heaven – Part 1
Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the Lord which He had done for Israel [Joshua 24:31].
I recall a church I pastored over twenty years ago. On my first visit to become acquainted with the good folks of the church, and they in return to become acquainted with me, I enjoyed a meal with an elderly couple. This couple had been a part of that congregation for so long, they for all intents and purposes owned it! Or so it seemed in their eyes.
Actually the husband was a rather reserved fellow, sitting back and allowing his wife to bask in all the glory to be had. He was content to be left alone and to leave everyone else alone. ‘Twould’ve been a grand accomplishment for her to have done the same. Alas, but it wasn’t to be so, not by a long shot.
Anyway, as we sat at the dinner table enjoying the food, this dear woman flapped her jaws more in the pursuit of self-flattery and egocentrism than she did for the purpose of eating. I preferred to use mine to eat, and so I chewed and took it all in…regrettably. She gave me the lowdown on the entire congregation, one-by-one, and threw in the last several pastors to boot. Ah, but there was one redeeming quality in that church…her!
Well, before she was through, she gave me an example of how one of those pastors was impossible to stomach. According to her, he had the unadorned chutzpah to talk about the blood of Jesus on Christmas! Do you believe it? On Christmas! She wanted him run out of town on a rail, but not before spending a week in the pillory and then dressed in tar and feathers.
She was setting me up, you see. Before she agreed to vote for me as the next pastor, she wanted to know whether I would do her bidding or insist on feeding the good church folk with the pure, unadulterated Bible. So her next step was to look me straight in the eye—much as the Queen of Hearts did to those who soon lost their heads—and queried, “You wouldn’t do that, would you? You wouldn’t talk about the blood of Jesus too much, even on Christmas? And then she leaned back in her chair and took a nibble of food, while she waited to hear me timorously say, “No, I won’t do that.”
I took my time and permitted her to gloat over her perceived victory of painting the candidate into a corner and committing him to do her bidding. When I finished chewing my food and swallowing, I then allowed the suspense to build up further by taking a long drink of tea. At last I looked at her with a smile and calmly responded to her bait, “No, ma’am, I wouldn’t talk too much about the blood of Jesus…because you can never talk too much about the blood of Jesus!” And then I added, “The blood of Jesus is the axis around which all of Scripture revolves. We must die to self and be born again in Jesus.”
We will take a respite at this time and continue the story in our next study. You won’t want to miss it. The ending feeds us on a lot of spiritual nutriment which is good for the soul.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
I recall a church I pastored over twenty years ago. On my first visit to become acquainted with the good folks of the church, and they in return to become acquainted with me, I enjoyed a meal with an elderly couple. This couple had been a part of that congregation for so long, they for all intents and purposes owned it! Or so it seemed in their eyes.
Actually the husband was a rather reserved fellow, sitting back and allowing his wife to bask in all the glory to be had. He was content to be left alone and to leave everyone else alone. ‘Twould’ve been a grand accomplishment for her to have done the same. Alas, but it wasn’t to be so, not by a long shot.
Anyway, as we sat at the dinner table enjoying the food, this dear woman flapped her jaws more in the pursuit of self-flattery and egocentrism than she did for the purpose of eating. I preferred to use mine to eat, and so I chewed and took it all in…regrettably. She gave me the lowdown on the entire congregation, one-by-one, and threw in the last several pastors to boot. Ah, but there was one redeeming quality in that church…her!
Well, before she was through, she gave me an example of how one of those pastors was impossible to stomach. According to her, he had the unadorned chutzpah to talk about the blood of Jesus on Christmas! Do you believe it? On Christmas! She wanted him run out of town on a rail, but not before spending a week in the pillory and then dressed in tar and feathers.
She was setting me up, you see. Before she agreed to vote for me as the next pastor, she wanted to know whether I would do her bidding or insist on feeding the good church folk with the pure, unadulterated Bible. So her next step was to look me straight in the eye—much as the Queen of Hearts did to those who soon lost their heads—and queried, “You wouldn’t do that, would you? You wouldn’t talk about the blood of Jesus too much, even on Christmas? And then she leaned back in her chair and took a nibble of food, while she waited to hear me timorously say, “No, I won’t do that.”
I took my time and permitted her to gloat over her perceived victory of painting the candidate into a corner and committing him to do her bidding. When I finished chewing my food and swallowing, I then allowed the suspense to build up further by taking a long drink of tea. At last I looked at her with a smile and calmly responded to her bait, “No, ma’am, I wouldn’t talk too much about the blood of Jesus…because you can never talk too much about the blood of Jesus!” And then I added, “The blood of Jesus is the axis around which all of Scripture revolves. We must die to self and be born again in Jesus.”
We will take a respite at this time and continue the story in our next study. You won’t want to miss it. The ending feeds us on a lot of spiritual nutriment which is good for the soul.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Hereditary Heaven – Part 2
Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the Lord which He had done for Israel [Joshua 24:31].
We paused in our last study with this dear woman who didn’t much care to hear any teaching about the blood of Jesus. I, on the other hand, cannot get away from the blood of Jesus. And I politely told her so. Oh, but that got her dander up! She blurted out a revealing retort in an angry growl, “I don’t have to be born again. I was a good person all my life!”
I disagreed, “Oh, but Jesus said in John 3 that we MUST be born again, or else we cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
She retaliated, “That’s just for the wicked people, like the skid row bums and other suchlike low-lifes.”
I explained that Jesus spoke those words to Nicodemus, one of the most godly persons of his day, a sincere seeker of God and His righteousness.
To bring this story to a timely conclusion, allow me to state that this dear woman huffed and puffed and attempted to blow my door down. She vowed I’d not be the pastor of HER church, and bid me a not so fond ado.
Here is the point to the story, dear friends. There is no such critter to be found in the Bible as Hereditary Heaven. Every person born of Father Adam is born a sinner because Father Adam was a sinner. Like begets like. Sinners cannot give birth to saints. Only a sinless person can give birth to another sinless person. That is precisely why every person MUST be born again, if he or she will be a part of the family of God.
In the time of Joshua bin Nun, the Israelites followed the Word of God—of course with some failings on occasion. So long as Joshua and the elders of his day were alive, the Israelites continued to follow the Word of God and server King YHWH. This is what was recorded in Joshua 24:31, which we quoted to start this study.
If we are at Joshua 24 in our Bibles and turn the page to the Book of Judges, beginning with chapter 2 we learn just what transpired the moment Joshua and the elders of his day were no longer alive on earth. Their progeny began to imitate the heathen folks who lived with the Israelites in Canaan. You see, they were not born as the people of God. Each Israelite had to personally, individually, make his/her own choice to obey the Word of God and serve King YHWH only.
There is no such thing as Hereditary Heaven, my dear friends. Are you depending on your natural pedigree to be right with God? Do you look in the mirror and see a good old boy or girl? Is it your position that the Lord should be glad to have you? Do you live in Hereditary Heaven? Ah, oh. I am sorry to tell you, but there is no such critter. You must be born again.
So why not be so now? Let’s go to the Lord and spend some quiet time alone with Him. He has all we need for life, both on earth and in eternity.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We paused in our last study with this dear woman who didn’t much care to hear any teaching about the blood of Jesus. I, on the other hand, cannot get away from the blood of Jesus. And I politely told her so. Oh, but that got her dander up! She blurted out a revealing retort in an angry growl, “I don’t have to be born again. I was a good person all my life!”
I disagreed, “Oh, but Jesus said in John 3 that we MUST be born again, or else we cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
She retaliated, “That’s just for the wicked people, like the skid row bums and other suchlike low-lifes.”
I explained that Jesus spoke those words to Nicodemus, one of the most godly persons of his day, a sincere seeker of God and His righteousness.
To bring this story to a timely conclusion, allow me to state that this dear woman huffed and puffed and attempted to blow my door down. She vowed I’d not be the pastor of HER church, and bid me a not so fond ado.
Here is the point to the story, dear friends. There is no such critter to be found in the Bible as Hereditary Heaven. Every person born of Father Adam is born a sinner because Father Adam was a sinner. Like begets like. Sinners cannot give birth to saints. Only a sinless person can give birth to another sinless person. That is precisely why every person MUST be born again, if he or she will be a part of the family of God.
In the time of Joshua bin Nun, the Israelites followed the Word of God—of course with some failings on occasion. So long as Joshua and the elders of his day were alive, the Israelites continued to follow the Word of God and server King YHWH. This is what was recorded in Joshua 24:31, which we quoted to start this study.
If we are at Joshua 24 in our Bibles and turn the page to the Book of Judges, beginning with chapter 2 we learn just what transpired the moment Joshua and the elders of his day were no longer alive on earth. Their progeny began to imitate the heathen folks who lived with the Israelites in Canaan. You see, they were not born as the people of God. Each Israelite had to personally, individually, make his/her own choice to obey the Word of God and serve King YHWH only.
There is no such thing as Hereditary Heaven, my dear friends. Are you depending on your natural pedigree to be right with God? Do you look in the mirror and see a good old boy or girl? Is it your position that the Lord should be glad to have you? Do you live in Hereditary Heaven? Ah, oh. I am sorry to tell you, but there is no such critter. You must be born again.
So why not be so now? Let’s go to the Lord and spend some quiet time alone with Him. He has all we need for life, both on earth and in eternity.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
A Tale of Two People
Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law [Proverbs 29:18].
Charles Dickens is one of the finest novelists ever. He has a way with words to which few have ever attained, or ever will. We come away from reading his novels deeply stirred. The range of emotions Dickens evokes encompasses all which are known to man…and a few yet to be discovered! You just must dive in and relish the time spent in a Dickens novel.
One of his novels, A Tale of Two Cities, is particularly graphic in its historical exposé. The tale begins with the all too familiar words, It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Indeed, the remainder of the novel demonstrates the veracity of the statement.
The times involved occurred circa the American Revolution, but the location was not America. It was England and France during the French Revolution. The French peasants were driven to abject penury by the French aristocracy, until finally all hope was lost for the peasants. With nothing else to lose, they revolted.
The history of the French Revolution—and Dickens’ novel paints the scene with personalized detail—but the French Revolution stands in stark contrast to the American Revolution. This contrast is best understood by the verse quoted to start this study. The verse takes the Biblical Hebrew poetic form of parallelism.
Today we rhyme words at the end of lines to create poetry. The Hebrews back in the day rhymed ideas between lines to create their poetry. The rhymed ideas were in some sense “parallel” to each other. If they were comparable, they formed synonymous parallelism. If they stood in contrast or were opposites, they formed antonymous parallelism.
In the case of Proverbs 29:18 the two rhymed lines are contrasts. Hence they form antonymous parallelism. Let’s diagram the two lines now.
A. where there is no vision
B. the people are unrestrained
B. happy is he
A. who keeps the law
Notice the “A” or “B” before each line. The two “A’s” are antonyms, as are the two “B’s”. Let’s analyze the “A” lines first.
On the one side are those who have no vision of reality. They see no hope for the future. They haven’t a clue as to how to conduct their lives under the conditions in which they find themselves.
On the other side are those who know the Word of God (i.e., the law) and embrace it as God’s revealed truth. The Word of God, you see, is their vision. They have vision and they conduct their lives according to their vision. Accordingly they have hope for the future as well as for the present.
Now let’s see how these two types of people function, how their vision or lack thereof works itself out in life. This is the substance of the two “B” lines.
The people without vision “are unrestrained”. Nothing exists to hold their visceral inclinations in check. They are up one minute and down the next. We might label their lifestyle “roller coaster living”. Sometimes when we observe suchlike folks, we cannot help but be certain they are manic-depressive!
What a drag and a drudgery it is, to go through each day with no idea of right and wrong. Everything is relative and dependent on how they feel at the moment. What they feel like doing defines “right”, while what hampers them from doing what they feel like doing defines “wrong”. This is what it means to be “unrestrained”.
Not so for the people who embrace the Word of God however! We are not “unrestrained” at all. We willingly accept the Bible as the definition of right and wrong and restrain ourselves accordingly. In doing so we are “happy”. We have the joy of the Lord for our strength, and nowadays that is an enviable position to be in.
The first category of people, those without a vision, portrays the peasants of the French Revolution. The second category of people, those who obey the Bible, depicts the people who made up the American Revolution. This explains why American democracy has lasted so long, while French democracy has succumbed to European socialism long long ago: France = no vision; America = vision.
So which category of people describes you? Does your daily living correspond with your verbal identification? Only daily time alone with the Lord and His Word can make us real in our daily living, dear friends. Let’s commit to a rigorous spiritual regimen with the Lord daily and stick to it. To God be the glory!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Charles Dickens is one of the finest novelists ever. He has a way with words to which few have ever attained, or ever will. We come away from reading his novels deeply stirred. The range of emotions Dickens evokes encompasses all which are known to man…and a few yet to be discovered! You just must dive in and relish the time spent in a Dickens novel.
One of his novels, A Tale of Two Cities, is particularly graphic in its historical exposé. The tale begins with the all too familiar words, It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Indeed, the remainder of the novel demonstrates the veracity of the statement.
The times involved occurred circa the American Revolution, but the location was not America. It was England and France during the French Revolution. The French peasants were driven to abject penury by the French aristocracy, until finally all hope was lost for the peasants. With nothing else to lose, they revolted.
The history of the French Revolution—and Dickens’ novel paints the scene with personalized detail—but the French Revolution stands in stark contrast to the American Revolution. This contrast is best understood by the verse quoted to start this study. The verse takes the Biblical Hebrew poetic form of parallelism.
Today we rhyme words at the end of lines to create poetry. The Hebrews back in the day rhymed ideas between lines to create their poetry. The rhymed ideas were in some sense “parallel” to each other. If they were comparable, they formed synonymous parallelism. If they stood in contrast or were opposites, they formed antonymous parallelism.
In the case of Proverbs 29:18 the two rhymed lines are contrasts. Hence they form antonymous parallelism. Let’s diagram the two lines now.
A. where there is no vision
B. the people are unrestrained
B. happy is he
A. who keeps the law
Notice the “A” or “B” before each line. The two “A’s” are antonyms, as are the two “B’s”. Let’s analyze the “A” lines first.
On the one side are those who have no vision of reality. They see no hope for the future. They haven’t a clue as to how to conduct their lives under the conditions in which they find themselves.
On the other side are those who know the Word of God (i.e., the law) and embrace it as God’s revealed truth. The Word of God, you see, is their vision. They have vision and they conduct their lives according to their vision. Accordingly they have hope for the future as well as for the present.
Now let’s see how these two types of people function, how their vision or lack thereof works itself out in life. This is the substance of the two “B” lines.
The people without vision “are unrestrained”. Nothing exists to hold their visceral inclinations in check. They are up one minute and down the next. We might label their lifestyle “roller coaster living”. Sometimes when we observe suchlike folks, we cannot help but be certain they are manic-depressive!
What a drag and a drudgery it is, to go through each day with no idea of right and wrong. Everything is relative and dependent on how they feel at the moment. What they feel like doing defines “right”, while what hampers them from doing what they feel like doing defines “wrong”. This is what it means to be “unrestrained”.
Not so for the people who embrace the Word of God however! We are not “unrestrained” at all. We willingly accept the Bible as the definition of right and wrong and restrain ourselves accordingly. In doing so we are “happy”. We have the joy of the Lord for our strength, and nowadays that is an enviable position to be in.
The first category of people, those without a vision, portrays the peasants of the French Revolution. The second category of people, those who obey the Bible, depicts the people who made up the American Revolution. This explains why American democracy has lasted so long, while French democracy has succumbed to European socialism long long ago: France = no vision; America = vision.
So which category of people describes you? Does your daily living correspond with your verbal identification? Only daily time alone with the Lord and His Word can make us real in our daily living, dear friends. Let’s commit to a rigorous spiritual regimen with the Lord daily and stick to it. To God be the glory!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Busted!
(Israel asked the Lord), “Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?”(The Lord answered), Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers [Isaiah 58:3].
I recall back in the day when I was a young tyke, barely knee-high to a grasshopper. I had a not so unusual way of obeying my dad. When he told me to clean my room, I did…sort of. Everything on the floor I swept under my bed. Everything on the chair and bed and dresser I tossed into the closet, abruptly closing the door behind the mess.
“Ah, I cleaned my room in short shrift,” I applauded myself. “Dad will certainly be pleased with my diligence in obeying his directions.” After all, when I looked around the room it appeared clean. I saw nothing out of place and in need of redirection. If possession is 90% of the law, appearance ought to be 90% of clean. Right?
Too bad for me I wasn’t the law. Dad was! And he didn’t buy what I was selling. He didn’t settle for poking his head through the door to have a look-see and settle on appearances. He had the audacity to actually enter my bedroom, open the closet door for a peek, and raise the bed skirt to see what was under the bed.
Busted! Dad knew my propensities better than I did. When I “cleaned” my room, I acted without thinking. Dad, contrariwise, recognized my puerile predilection for appearance over essence and cut to the chase. It didn’t take many of those inspections to learn that going through the motions in my obedience to Dad didn’t cut it. I learned to clean my room for real at a very early age.
In Isaiah’s day the Lord’s kids, the Israelites, behaved in much the same way to Father God’s instructions. They were very religious, you see. They tithed mint and cumin, dotted their “i’s” and crossed their “t’s”, and fasted at every conceivable opportunity. And then they parked their carcasses on all the street corners and every other high profile place, and prayed out loud to God, “See how good we are, God? No need to thank us. It’s our pleasure.”
Yes, indeed. These guys were holy rollers and Father God just had to be proud of them! Or were they? And was He? According to the Biblical text quoted at the start of this study, God wasn’t buying what they were selling. He actually had the audacity to enter their room, open the closet door for a closer look, and peer behind the bed skirt to discover the truth. Who’s He think He is anyway? The nerve of some people!
The Biblical text records Israel’s hurt feelings by the words “fasted” and “humbled ourselves”, while the Lord didn’t acknowledge the holiness of their behaviors. Despite the Israelites’ protest, it would seem the Lord had a good reason. His indictment of their religious activity was this: On the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers.
This means that, while the Israelites were going through the motions of fasting, they were cavorting in their own pleasures. They were also oppressing their fellow Israelites who worked for them. The whole point of fasting is to temporarily set aside our indulging of the flesh, in order to strengthen the spirit. In this manner we attempt to draw closer to the Lord in our personal relationship with Him.
The Israelites, you see, outwardly performed religious functions, but inwardly they were still living to please the flesh, to please themselves. Father God gave them quite specific instructions about obeying His Word, but only from the heart, only out of love for Him. They preferred to sweep the mess under the bed and hide it in the closet for appearances’ sake. In this way they had more time to please themselves. Alas for them, but Father God took a closer look into their hearts. Busted!
So how about you and me. Are we busted too? Or do we truly love the Lord and obey His Word as the outworking of our love for Him? It wouldn’t do to be busted at the Bema of Christ and lose our eternal rewards.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
I recall back in the day when I was a young tyke, barely knee-high to a grasshopper. I had a not so unusual way of obeying my dad. When he told me to clean my room, I did…sort of. Everything on the floor I swept under my bed. Everything on the chair and bed and dresser I tossed into the closet, abruptly closing the door behind the mess.
“Ah, I cleaned my room in short shrift,” I applauded myself. “Dad will certainly be pleased with my diligence in obeying his directions.” After all, when I looked around the room it appeared clean. I saw nothing out of place and in need of redirection. If possession is 90% of the law, appearance ought to be 90% of clean. Right?
Too bad for me I wasn’t the law. Dad was! And he didn’t buy what I was selling. He didn’t settle for poking his head through the door to have a look-see and settle on appearances. He had the audacity to actually enter my bedroom, open the closet door for a peek, and raise the bed skirt to see what was under the bed.
Busted! Dad knew my propensities better than I did. When I “cleaned” my room, I acted without thinking. Dad, contrariwise, recognized my puerile predilection for appearance over essence and cut to the chase. It didn’t take many of those inspections to learn that going through the motions in my obedience to Dad didn’t cut it. I learned to clean my room for real at a very early age.
In Isaiah’s day the Lord’s kids, the Israelites, behaved in much the same way to Father God’s instructions. They were very religious, you see. They tithed mint and cumin, dotted their “i’s” and crossed their “t’s”, and fasted at every conceivable opportunity. And then they parked their carcasses on all the street corners and every other high profile place, and prayed out loud to God, “See how good we are, God? No need to thank us. It’s our pleasure.”
Yes, indeed. These guys were holy rollers and Father God just had to be proud of them! Or were they? And was He? According to the Biblical text quoted at the start of this study, God wasn’t buying what they were selling. He actually had the audacity to enter their room, open the closet door for a closer look, and peer behind the bed skirt to discover the truth. Who’s He think He is anyway? The nerve of some people!
The Biblical text records Israel’s hurt feelings by the words “fasted” and “humbled ourselves”, while the Lord didn’t acknowledge the holiness of their behaviors. Despite the Israelites’ protest, it would seem the Lord had a good reason. His indictment of their religious activity was this: On the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers.
This means that, while the Israelites were going through the motions of fasting, they were cavorting in their own pleasures. They were also oppressing their fellow Israelites who worked for them. The whole point of fasting is to temporarily set aside our indulging of the flesh, in order to strengthen the spirit. In this manner we attempt to draw closer to the Lord in our personal relationship with Him.
The Israelites, you see, outwardly performed religious functions, but inwardly they were still living to please the flesh, to please themselves. Father God gave them quite specific instructions about obeying His Word, but only from the heart, only out of love for Him. They preferred to sweep the mess under the bed and hide it in the closet for appearances’ sake. In this way they had more time to please themselves. Alas for them, but Father God took a closer look into their hearts. Busted!
So how about you and me. Are we busted too? Or do we truly love the Lord and obey His Word as the outworking of our love for Him? It wouldn’t do to be busted at the Bema of Christ and lose our eternal rewards.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Counting When It Counts – Part 1
If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple [Luke 14:26-27].
Often in life we face excessive and overwhelming burdens or trials, requiring us to trudge through the thick marsh to reach deliverance on the other side. It is not uncommon when facing such dire straits to utter the phrase, “This is my cross to bear.” Have you ever heard it?
Seldom is the distress identified by those words truly the person’s cross…at least not in the Biblical sense. The idea of bearing or carrying or taking up the cross has become a meaningless platitude. It would be well worth the effort for us to delve into this issue a bit.
Scripturally speaking there is only one cross, just as there is only one Savior who died on the cross and one salvation resulting from His death on the cross. We are of course referencing the cross of Christ. Though countless people were subjected to crucifixion under Roman rule, still none of their crosses deserves mention from God’s standpoint. Each one died for his own sins. Only Jesus did not.
The cross of Christ is the symbol of the God-man, as He died to pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind past, present, and future. The cross in and of itself holds no value. It was only some rough lumber, unfinished and unsightly. It was the Lord’s death which created eternal value. The cross was merely the instrument employed in putting Jesus to death. Hence the cross is the symbol of His death, but in and of itself the wood cross on which He died holds no value.
From this understanding we can deduce that a cross in and of itself has no merit or value. I mean, since the cross of Christ in and of itself merits no value, certainly any other “cross” you or I supposedly bear cannot have merit or value. Am I not right?
So then what good is it, to identify troubles we face by the phrase “my cross to bear”? Such rhetoric can only muddy the waters of spiritual truth by devaluing the Lord’s death. Each of us would be well served to refrain from rhetoric about crosses, and instead focus on only the cross of Christ with regard to its true meaning.
Someone will object, “Oh, but Jesus commanded us to take up our cross daily and follow Him. Are you saying Jesus was wrong about us having our own personal crosses?”
You are indeed correct, dear friend, to recall Jesus’ words. It warms my heart that you know them. In fact we quoted one example of this in the verses which kicked off this study. You err, however, in your understanding of what Jesus meant. Let’s consider this issue and see what we can learn.
What did Jesus mean in Luke 14:27, when he stated, Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple? To answer this we need to recall Rule #1 for Bible study: a text without a context is a pretext.
Oh, dear. Out of time again! Let’s spend some time alone with the Lord now and meet back here tomorrow, same time, same station.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Often in life we face excessive and overwhelming burdens or trials, requiring us to trudge through the thick marsh to reach deliverance on the other side. It is not uncommon when facing such dire straits to utter the phrase, “This is my cross to bear.” Have you ever heard it?
Seldom is the distress identified by those words truly the person’s cross…at least not in the Biblical sense. The idea of bearing or carrying or taking up the cross has become a meaningless platitude. It would be well worth the effort for us to delve into this issue a bit.
Scripturally speaking there is only one cross, just as there is only one Savior who died on the cross and one salvation resulting from His death on the cross. We are of course referencing the cross of Christ. Though countless people were subjected to crucifixion under Roman rule, still none of their crosses deserves mention from God’s standpoint. Each one died for his own sins. Only Jesus did not.
The cross of Christ is the symbol of the God-man, as He died to pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind past, present, and future. The cross in and of itself holds no value. It was only some rough lumber, unfinished and unsightly. It was the Lord’s death which created eternal value. The cross was merely the instrument employed in putting Jesus to death. Hence the cross is the symbol of His death, but in and of itself the wood cross on which He died holds no value.
From this understanding we can deduce that a cross in and of itself has no merit or value. I mean, since the cross of Christ in and of itself merits no value, certainly any other “cross” you or I supposedly bear cannot have merit or value. Am I not right?
So then what good is it, to identify troubles we face by the phrase “my cross to bear”? Such rhetoric can only muddy the waters of spiritual truth by devaluing the Lord’s death. Each of us would be well served to refrain from rhetoric about crosses, and instead focus on only the cross of Christ with regard to its true meaning.
Someone will object, “Oh, but Jesus commanded us to take up our cross daily and follow Him. Are you saying Jesus was wrong about us having our own personal crosses?”
You are indeed correct, dear friend, to recall Jesus’ words. It warms my heart that you know them. In fact we quoted one example of this in the verses which kicked off this study. You err, however, in your understanding of what Jesus meant. Let’s consider this issue and see what we can learn.
What did Jesus mean in Luke 14:27, when he stated, Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple? To answer this we need to recall Rule #1 for Bible study: a text without a context is a pretext.
Oh, dear. Out of time again! Let’s spend some time alone with the Lord now and meet back here tomorrow, same time, same station.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
