The Blessing of Jesus Christ

"To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities."

Acts 3:26

Peter said this to men of Israel who gathered at the temple in Jerusalem, amazed at the miraculous healing performed on a lame man in the name of Jesus.  As I consider what Peter said, what strikes me is how Jesus has been sent to bless people.  People ask for God to bless them, yet I wonder if people know what they are asking for.  Blessing from God is not health, wealth, and comforts - though those are blessings indeed.  The blessing provided by Jesus Peter referenced was very specific:  "in turning away every one of you from your iniquities."

Have you ever thought God's blessing is to turn you from your sins?  The thing about our sin is it is always personal.  I used to have an idea that sin is always terrible, awful, and disgusting.  It is all this and more.  But the truth is, our sin (especially at the beginning) does not seem bad to us.  In fact, it may seem strangely exciting, even liberating.  Sin always appeals to our flesh.  It has a strong upside which allows us to justify our behaviour.  And because our flesh is by nature sinful, the roots reach down into our very soul - almost tangled up in our personality.  To deny our sin is to deny a part of us - a part we have grown very fond of and helps to define us as a person.  God wants to bless us, and Jesus was sent to turn us from our sin.  This is indeed a blessing for which we ought to be thankful and rejoice in.

In the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the "Ring of Power" provides a great example of sin in the life of a person.  The Ring came to Frodo, having ensnared and corrupted all who held it previously.  All previous ring-bearers held and stroked the bright ring with wide eyes, yet it was actually the Ring which gripped them.  The three Lord of the Rings films chronicle the epic tale of Frodo's trek to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring.  Heavier and heavier it became as Frodo carried it along.  When he finally held the Ring over the river of lava which would destroy it, a wicked gleam came into his eyes.  He was unable to drop the Ring, nor did he want to.  "The ring is mine!" said Frodo as he slipped it onto his finger.  Frodo found himself just as far from destroying the Ring in Mount Doom as he was in Rivendell or the Shire.  Frodo, nor anyone who had been taken by the Ring would be capable of destroying it, and the same can be said of sin.  Once it has you, it will never let go.

Praise be to God, for He has blessed us by sending Jesus in turning away all of us from our sins.  He grants faith and makes repentance possible.  So the next time you pray for God to bless you, realise as a Christian He has blessed you and wants to continue blessing you:  He desires that we would turn from all sins which easily ensnare us.  The blood of Jesus is able to cleanse us from all sin.  In turning away from sin, let us turn to Jesus.  Only He can lead us to walk in righteousness and enable us to experience the peace and joy He supplies.

The Rejoicing Father

I woke up this morning with rain pattering down and a series of thoughts flooding my mind concerning the Parable of the Prodigal Jesus told in Luke 15.  A young man demanded his share of inheritance before his father's passing, and his father actually agreed to give it to him.  He promptly left home and wasted all his money partying with prostitutes and drinking.  There was a famine in the land and the man found himself in want.  He was reduced to a job of feeding pigs to survive.  When the pig-food began to appeal to his grumbling stomach, he finally came to his senses.  In his poverty and brokenness he hatched a plan in desperation to return home to his father and plead for a job as a servant.  This man knew he had done wrong and had treated his father terribly.  He had wasted his father's money and lived in scandalous rebellion.  It flew in the face of propriety to think he could slink back as a son:  no, he would beg to be a servant.  Perhaps then his father would show pity on him and allow him to stay.

When the destitute young man was even a long way from home, the chain of events which followed showed the son grossly misjudged his father and the depth of his love and forgiveness.  The father saw his son afar off and ran to him.  While the son was stammering out a rehearsed request for the position of a servant to earn acceptance, the father threw his arms around him and kissed him.  He called for his servants to provide rich clothing for his once wayward son, placed a ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet.  There were no sharp words of rebuke, no angry stares or silence, no distance:  love, acceptance, and forgiveness spanned the rift.  The son had hoped for food marginally better than what the pigs ate, but the father commanded the fatted calf be slaughtered for the joyous occasion:  his son who was as good as dead had returned! (See Luke 15:18-24)  The son who saw himself as possibly a servant was gladly welcomed by the father as a son.  The illustrates the fact when recognise our unworthiness because of our sin and humble ourselves in returning to God we will be accepted by Him with great rejoicing.

Jesus told this parable to illustrate His previous statement in Luke 15:7, "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."  We have much to learn from the father's response to the change of heart and repentance of his son.  Our natural response when people make mistakes is to take pains to ensure they realise how greatly they have screwed up.  Because we are insecure we might arrange a series of hoops for people to jump through to prove their worthiness for us to accept them again.  We would not imagine putting a ring of value on a son who had spent half our money.  We would not place shoes on the feet which had been so quick to run to evil.  Our natural response to being hurt is to make sure they know how much we have suffered and they should appreciate the great sacrifice it is for us to even consider uniting with them in fellowship, friendship, and as family again.  We see none of this rubbish with the father in the parable, nor our Heavenly Father.  In the pigpen the son realised he had sinned against heaven and against his father.  It took desperation to return to the one he had wronged.  Some do not deem humble repentance enough for the restoration of relationship and celebration.  But God does.

Instead of lamenting the loss of money or the sinful rebellion of the son the father rejoiced when his beloved son returned.  The father did not rejoice because his son was responsible but because he freely chose to return.  The son did not need to prove he was trustworthy but was accepted because his father loved him regardless.  Like the son, we Christians have come to God without demands, realising we have sinned against heaven and others.  Before the Father we have knelt without any rights or claims.  We knew we were not responsible, trustworthy, good, or worthy even to approach the Almighty God in our filthy state.  Yet He has bestowed such love upon us by His grace to celebrate us!  Since God lavishes such love upon us, isn't it fitting we do the same for others?

In the Clefts of the Rock

When I visited Israel in 2015, I enjoyed seeing and teaching the Bible at many historical sites.  Yet of the entire trip, the most memorable incident was when God spoke to my heart from His Word.  One morning our group had just passed through the security checkpoint to gain access to the Western Wall.  I took this picture of the Western wall as we waited for the entire group to assemble.

The picture shows the women's area to the south (right side) and the men's area to pray on the north.  There are nothing particular picturesque about this shot.  I have seen finer pictures than this one, and several I have taken myself!  But what you likely did not notice was the little white dove that flew into a depression in the stone over the women's side.  As I was pulling my camera out, it alighted in the wall.  It is in the far right of the photo.

At the time I had been teaching through Song of Solomon at Calvary Chapel Sydney.  Instantly the words of the Beloved came to mind found in Song of Songs 2:14:  "O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely."  I was blown away.  At a place designated for prayer to the Almighty God, this dove was a sign of God's invitation to me to take refuge in Him through prayer.  In Jesus Christ God's people find refuge.  God is more desirous to hear our voice and see us seek Him in prayer more than we are willing to pray.  How beautiful to God are the praying voices of His people!

Pastor Drew Macintyre said during that trip to Israel, "Many people say the Bible comes alive in Israel - I say people come alive to the Bible in Israel."  I heartily agree.  In the Song of Solomon, the Beloved affirmed his love to his self-conscious future bride, the Shulamite.  Her Beloved came to her, calling her name, because he desired to spend time with her.  God's love has been demonstrated through Christ's sacrifice on the cross and He says to us:  "Rise up, my fair one, and come away!"  To God His chaste children are as white doves with sweet voices and lovely faces.  He has washed and purified us; He has forgiven and redeemed us.  For all who take refuge in the cleft of the rock - in our Rock of Salvation Jesus Christ through faith - He looks upon us with love, and His ears are open to our cry.  We want God to answer our prayers, but shouldn't we first respond to His gracious invitation with humble thanks?  How God delights in us, that He would allow us into His throne room of grace through prayer "...obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)

There were many clefts in the rocks of the Western Wall, yet only one dove sought refuge there.  In Christ there is safety and rest for all who come to Him in faith, yet many do not take the time to seek Him in prayer.  Do you cultivate a secret time of prayer in the presence of God?  Do you have a particular time or spot when you will come away from the cares of this world and speak to Him?  He bids you come without delay, "for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely."

"If It Pleases The King"

Nehemiah is a man I greatly admire in scripture.  He exuded great faith in God, was a man of prayer, and found favour in his role as cupbearer before king Artaxerxes.  When he inquired and heard of the hardships faced by people who had returned to Jerusalem after seventy years of captivity, he grieved deeply.  He sought the LORD in prayer about the correct course of action for him to take.

When the king noticed Nehemiah being out of sorts, he asked Nehemiah if he was ill.  Some people would not admit the true source of their sadness, but Nehemiah was honest about he source of his despondency.  He told his king he mourned over the sad state of Jerusalem.  Nehemiah 2:4-5 reads, "Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it."  Chapter 1 of Nehemiah is mostly a prayer to the God of heaven, and when King Artaxerxes asked for his request he continued to pray.  He was a cupbearer by trade but Nehemiah was willing to ask the king to send him to Israel to rebuild Jerusalem.  That is faith and boldness in action.

Twice in chapter 2 Nehemiah prefaced his request to Artaxerxes with, "If it pleases the king..."  Here was a man whose true KING was God, yet he carried himself with an attitude of humility before Artaxerxes.  He did not demand; he would not force.  He had orders and guidance from the Most High God, yet he made his petition before the king with grace, patience, and respect.  He did find favour in the sight of the king, and the king was happy to send him for a set time so the walls and gates of the city could be rebuilt.

It struck me:  how important it is for us to have such an attitude of humility before God!  Because Nehemiah said "If it pleases the king..." it follows he desired his king would be pleased!  Since Nehemiah showed such respect and humility before his king, isn't it critical that Christians would desire that God be pleased?  Shouldn't we ask ourselves concerning our behaviour or choices, "Does this please my King?"  The LORD has used this line of thinking to convict me of sin.  If Jesus is my King, then pleasing Him ought to be important to me.  I am reminded of Paul's prayer in Colossians 1:9-12:  "For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ¹⁰ that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; ¹² giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light."  We walk worthy of our Saviour when we fully please Him for He is the One who ordains cupbearers to build walls and qualifies Christians to be fruitful in all seasons of life.

Are your requests, attitudes, and choices fully pleasing to King Jesus?  If we will be fruitful and have our prayers answered, we must not only pray according to God's will but live in the way that pleases Him.  Nehemiah ended up returning to Jerusalem and in less than two months the monumental task of building the walls and gates - which had been destroyed about 140 years before - was completely finished.  When people from all walks of life gather as one in obedience, seeking to please the LORD in His service, God does marvelous things.  Let us seek to please our King, for this pleases Him.