The Life of Christ

"It was one of the immeasurable evils which the Roman Catholic Church inflicted on Christendom, that it held constantly before the eyes of the Church the exhausted, suffering, agonized form of Christ on the Cross - fastened the thought and imagination of Christian men on the extremity of His mortal weakness - and so deprived them of the animation and the courage inspired by the knowledge that He is now on the throne of the Eternal.  A similar loss may be inflicted on ourselves if our thoughts are imprisoned within the limits of the earthly life of Christ, and if we do not exult in His resurrection and in His constant presence in the Church.  The historic Christ is the Object of memory; the present, the living Christ, is the Object of faith, the Source of power, the Inspiration of love, the Author of salvation.  Christ must be infinitely more than an august and pathetic tradition to us.  He is the Contemporary of all generations."

- R. W. Dale, His Part and Ours by Baxter, pg. 92

I must ask myself:  is my life a demonstration of one who exults in Christ's resurrection and His constant presence in the Church?  This is a subjective question due to the fact my answer depends entirely upon my limited view of the life provided by Christ.  Perhaps I live as if He remains upon the cross.  Christ then is nothing more than one who suffered.  Suffer He did, and more than I can ever know.  But He did more than suffer and die:  He rose glorified, breaking the chains of death which bound His mortal body by His righteous power.  Some would say the cross is the emblem of Christianity.  But there is no sign or representation needed when you can have the substance in the risen LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.  Jesus Himself must be our all in all.

Understand that we cannot receive from Christ unless we first receive Him.  We cannot receive forgiveness, peace, joy, or salvation until we repent and our faith is placed in Jesus alone.  Man is quick to receive from God, but is reluctant to give himself to Him.  The rich blessings and bounty found in Christ cannot be separated from Him.  Yet the misconception that man can enjoy eternal benefits from God without Christ is emphasized weekly from pulpits all over the world ad nauseam.  Preachers rarely explain why we have a need for Christ.  Instead, they focus carefully on what we need from Him.  Receiving is emphasized over believing.  Believing is often limited to our brains where faith does not tread.  We must trust God and give ourselves completely to Him.  We can try to receive things from God all day long, but the offer is only to those who receive Christ first.  That qualifies and enables us to receive from God because we are in Him and He in us.

Every man, whether he regards God or not, is wholly blessed by God.  Yet as followers of Jesus Christ, when we see His perfection we see our great lack.  We are struck with our lack of devotion, confess we are prone to wander and sin, and fail to continually walk in the victory Jesus has purchased with His own blood.  There is a way we can live which is devoid of God's power.  But Jesus is more than a "friend next to ya:"  His power is within us due to the Holy Spirit's regenerating presence.  Can we walk in newness of life if the old man is free to roam?  Can we walk in holiness when we refuse to crucify ourselves with Christ so we too may die to self and live for God?

Galatians 2:20-21 says, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."  On the jobsite the other day I heard two high school buddies reminiscing about their days of youthful hedonistic conquest.  One man kept repeating, "Those were the days, you know?  Those were the days."  The longing was as Lot's wife, whose head turned back towards Sodom.  God offered her a new life outside of that den of iniquity and death, but there was a draw within her that caused an almost involuntary urge to look back with affection.  Our life before Christ was no life at all.  Without Christ our emblem might as well have been a skull and crossbones set aflame by hell.  Now to live is Christ, to die is gain.  Is this just a cute catchphrase or the absolute truth?  Our life is now bound up in our risen LORD and Savior, Jesus.  Let us not seek to simply receive from God, but give ourselves completely to Him.  It is in giving ourselves that we can receive.  It is after we receive that we can walk in His strength and power.

God Laughs

We have a family routine after eating dinner.  Like my family did when I was growing up, we read a portion of scripture from the Bible.  As we read Psalm 2 today, God gave me fresh insight to that familiar passage. The first three verses read like this:  "Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? [2] The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, [3] "Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us."  This is the exact thing man has been doing since Adam's fall into sin:  man continues to rebel against the righteous commands of God.  It used to make news when the 10 Commandments were removed from justice halls, schools, and war memorials.  Not anymore.

With each passing day, the government and culture of every nation seems to drift further and further from Biblical values.  This "drift" is more like an intentional departure!  It has been a slow, subtle, abandonment of godliness and a pursuit of humanism according to godless philosophy.  Those who hold to conservative Christianity tend to either become fierce advocates of political activism, throw up their arms in helplessness, or others wring their hands in fear.  Some simply bury their heads in the sand in willful ignorance.  We know that things will wax worse and worse, and man's departure from God and pursuit of sin will become as in the days of Noah before Christ returns.  Darkness is called light, and light is called intolerance.  What is your response when you see nations and people defy God with their laws?  Many rejoice in their "victory" when Christian values are thrown aside and replaced with outright wickedness.  What is God's reaction?

Psalm 2:4-6 explains:  "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. [5] Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: [6] "Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion."  People think they can overthrow the power of God by removing His laws and replacing them with their own.  God laughs at their attempt!  While we cringe in fear of "what this world is coming to," God laughs.  "Ridiculous!  I have already set up my Anointed on His everlasting throne!  He is the KING of Kings!  Your laws are no law!"  He sees the victory parades, the mocking, hatred, and the scorn blasted towards those who cling to righteousness.  The Day is coming when He will do something about it.  He has made a decree, and no law of man can overrule Him!

Psalm 2:7-12 says, "I will declare the decree:  The Lord has said to Me, "You are My Son, today I have begotten You. [8] Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. [9] You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel." [10] Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. [11] Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. [12] Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him."  Those who rebel against God will be smashed into pieces like a clay pot, both in the spiritual and physical realm.  It is wisdom to honor God with our laws and ordinances.  God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance - even those (like all Christians at one time) who once opposed Him in thought, word, and deed.  He tarries now, but He will not tarry forever!

Blessed are those who trust in Jesus Christ.  He is the King of all, the Creator and Master of all things.  Satan is the prince of this earth, steeped in sin and incapable of repentance.  Praise God He has given us opportunity to honor Him with our lives and repent!  Instead of trading barbs with those who oppose God, let us be firmly against their position yet choose to demonstrate God's love toward each person.  No matter what happens on earth, God remains on the throne.  Jesus is worthy to be trusted and obeyed.  He comes quickly, and His reward is with Him!

Accepted in the Beloved

"Then Job answered the Lord and said: [2] "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. [3] You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?'  Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. [4] Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer Me.' [5] "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. [6] Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

Job 42:1-6

 

Once a man sees God in truth, his condition becomes a brutal reality.  Job justified himself until God spoke.  When God began to speak, Job had nothing to say.  And after Job heard God and saw Him in His majestic glory, he humbled himself:  "Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."  It was only after Isaiah saw the LORD high and lifted up that he said, "Woe is me!  I am undone, a man of unclean lips among a people of unclean lips!"  God's purity and holiness shine with such radiance that our greatest works in contrast are as greasy soot smeared upon the whitest linen.  Though Job was wrong for justifying Himself, God accepted Job as His servant because he repented.  Verses 8 and 9 of this chapter emphasize the fact that God had accepted Job.  It was not by works Job had done, but according to God's mercy he was restored and accepted.  This is God's grace preserved forever in history, and the promise of His grace extends for eternity to all who will repent and trust in Him.

 

I read a disturbing article the other day.  The author presented many different "philosophical" problems concerning the existence of hell, a place where God's wrath is poured out in eternal fury upon those who practice sin.  In short, the author did not see sin as sinful.  God's wrath only seems excessive to those who see sin as very small and insignificant.  There is no greater evil than sin, for it was for sin that Christ died!  To atone for a single eternity-damning sin the precious blood of Christ was shed once for all.  There is no forgiveness without repentance, and there is no repentance without conviction, and there is no conviction without the commandment as the last part of Romans 7:13 says: "...so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful."

 

The Holy Spirit was sent by God to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.  Though we live in an age of the Gospel of grace, grace has not trumped the necessity of repentance.  God has always been gracious and we are deceived to think we outgrow repentance with age.  It was Jesus who taught His disciples this doctrine after His resurrection.  Luke 24:46-47 reads:  "Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, [47] and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."  If sin was not sinful, the righteous Messiah would not have suffered and died at the hands of man.  The crucifixion is a tangible scene of the horror and death sin breeds without atonement in a soul.

People have always longed for acceptance.  When Cain's offering was rejected and Abel's accepted by God, Cain was upset.  Genesis 4:7 reveals God's perspective:  "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."  Like Cain, we have all sinned.  We have not done well, and for this we have been denied heaven and a relationship with God.  Yet wonder of wonders! God has extended His grace and acceptance to all through Jesus Christ.  Though we were sinners, Christ died for us!  Ephesians 1:3-6 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, [4] just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, [5] having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, [6] to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved."  Though we are feeble and flawed, according to God's will those who are born again through the Holy Spirit by grace through faith are accepted in the Beloved.  We have been accepted in Christ:  us in Him, and He in us.   

May sin be more and more sinful in our eyes as we follow Christ in faith.  Instead of trampling His sacrifice and favor under our feet, let us be examples of holiness, humility, and meekness.  Acceptance is often gained in human circles through conformity, but with God it is not so:  the only way to acceptance with God is transformation!  Repentance paves the way for becoming born again, and only those who are born again will see the kingdom of God.  To be eternally accepted by our Creator is not just a dream, but both a daily and eternal reality to all who humble themselves and trust in Him.

The Tree Story

There is an interesting story behind this tree growing behind our church building.  Near the walls of the structure of Calvary Chapel El Cajon there are many potted trees, and this used to be one of them.  It was over a year ago when this particular tree fell over in the pot due to saturation from rain.  The concrete pot remained firm on the ground, but the weight of the tree caused it to tip.  For about a week it lay horizontal, the root-ball partially exposed.

The falling of the tree coincided with my very first trip to Australia in April of 2009.  Since the tree didn't die immediately, the church staff figured we would try to save the tree.  The assistant pastor and I began a morning hacking the tree from the pot.  At most we were able to salvage half of the root system.  We dug a hole, planted the tree, lashed it to the fence, and waited to see if our efforts would be rewarded.  We had concluded an early morning prayer meeting when a brother in Christ remarked how this was similar to the transplant which God would do with me and my family.  He said something like, "We'll keep an eye on that tree," as if it was an indication of whether this transplanting of our family in the spiritually barren land of Australia could happen.  The tree went into shock, almost all the leaves fell off, and it seemed doubtful the tree could even take root in that barren soil.  I cut off all the dead wood and kept on watering and feeding.  Nearly every day I would go out and soak the tree before starting work in the church office.  I wondered if that tree would ever grow.

I resigned from my paid position as youth pastor in September '09, and I didn't give the tree any thought.  I went to Australia for two months immediately thereafter, and went again with Laura for two weeks this March.  Today when I went into church early with the ushering team, one of my Christian brothers came up at random and said, "Have you seen that tree you transplanted outside?  It's really going off - it's almost too big for the spot it is planted in."  My mind went back instantly to what the man of prayer to God had said.  I went outside and looked at the tree and took the above picture.  There was no dead wood, no bare spots.  The tree appeared healthy and flourishing.  I smiled as I thought about the implications, the LORD speaking encouragement to my heart:  "If I can make a tree grow in soil like this, can't I make you take root and flourish where I plant you?"

At the time I thought my friend could have read a little far into the tree being transplanted, comparing the tree to me and my family.  Today before the service (without my foreknowledge) it was announced that I would be soon moving to Australia with my family to minister at Calvary Chapel Sydney.  No matter what the future holds we serve a God who will supply us with exactly the strength and fortitude we need to glorify Him.  A story from the book His Part and Ours illustrates the point well:

Divine grace is infinite and exhaustless, but it is never dispensed superfluously.  We must not expect that grace will be given for the doing of the needless.  There are some Christians who stir up needless opposition to themselves and then think they are the Lord's special heroes because they have to suffer.  We should guard against this.  Grace is only promised for real need.  God does not give grace for the spectacular heroism of public martyrdom to one who is called to keep an office ledger.  He gives grace to that one to keep patient and gracious amid the tediousness of the office routine.  Somebody once asked D.L. Moody, "Have you grace enough to be burned at the stake?"  Mr. Moody replied, "No."  The questioner pressed him further, "Do you not wish you had?"  "No," replied Moody again, "for I do not need it.  What I need just now is grace to live in Milwaukee three days and hold a mission."  (J. Sidlow Baxter, pg. 15)

God knows how to make trees grow, for He created and designed them to do just that.  He knows they need sunlight, water, and nutrients.  God also understands  what a family needs to grow, what marriages need, what children need to thrive, what a church fellowship needs to flourish, and what every person needs individually to mature into fruitful Christians.  I am not able, but God is able!  God knows all things, and I know Him!  As it says in Philip. 4:19, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."  We serve a God whom through His power has given us ALL things which pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).  Praise God for His great and precious promises.  May we lay hold of every one with unwavering faith by the grace only He supplies.  Won't you trust Him too?