My God Came Down

God's word is more than a treasure we hold with our hands or read with our eyes.  It goes to work on our hearts and minds, revealing the reality of God's goodness to people who were once blind and in spiritual darkness.  It has power to cleanse our minds from error as we drink it in and works to strengthen our faith as we heed it.  It reveals plainly spiritual and practical realities that were in operation long before we were  made aware of them.  Paul said he would not have known sin except by the Law of Moses, and we Gentiles would not have known or recognised Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah without God's word.

It is remarkable how God chose to inhabit human form and come to earth to seek and save sinners Himself.  It was incredible enough when He thundered and spoke from Mount Sinai; it was wonderful how He spoke to Elijah in a small, still voice.  Yet God did more than stoop to behold us in our condemned state, for He became one of us.  He brought the power, wisdom and love of God down to our level as He walked among men.  Luke 6:17-18 says of Jesus, "And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, ¹⁸ as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed."

After calling His apostles on the mount, Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place--literally and in a spiritual sense.  He came down to the level of people who were from all over, a multitude of Jews and Gentiles who came to hear Him, be healed of their diseases and delivered from the torment of unclean spirits.  They were healed because they came to Jesus who is able to save all who come to Him.  The miraculous healing Jesus performed was a sign that directed people to consider Who He was, that He was the Messiah God prophesied would be sent.  They would see the excellency of God in what He would do among them as Isaiah 35:4-6 reads, "Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you." ⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. ⁶ Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert."

Who but Jesus has opened the eyes of people born blind, cause the deaf to hear and the lame to leap?  Who else can give the Living Water of the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?  Though His vengeance is yet to be displayed to all, let us praise Him with our whole hearts for coming down to our level, for revealing Himself as the Light of the World to those who were in darkness awaiting eternal judgment. May our praise, gratitude and thanksgiving be lifted up to His throne of grace, where having sat down He reigns on high over all.

Seeing Our Need

There are things in life that do not resolve well on their own.  Without medical intervention there are a myriad of health problems which persist until they are intentionally treated.  I remember my Granddad had cataracts, which is a clouding of the lens in the eye.  It progressed to a point while driving he struggled to make out whether the light was illuminated green or red!  After submitting to a surgical procedure, he was able to see clearly.  With the advances of technology, what was once a risky operation with common poor outcomes is now safe and very effective.

As cataracts are a condition which progress over time and cause blindness, so it is spiritually with pride.  If left unchecked, pride progressively leads to the destruction of people and nations--and pride does not appreciate being checked!  Even as cataracts are often a result of the ageing process, it seems success and prosperity can play a role in feeding and coddling pride.  At one time king Saul was a humble man, but only after a matter of years of being crowned he was no longer small in his own eyes.  He sought praise and adoration of his people, blowing a trumpet to announce his successful military operations.  King Nebuchadnezzar also was filled with pride, and though being warned by God was likely unwilling and unable to humble himself because he was saturated with it.  The person blinded by a cataract cannot see what they are blind to.

Pride is not only a dangerous pitfall for the powerful or wealthy.  After God delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, He warned them not to be lifted up with pride and forget the LORD God and all He had done for them:  they needed God in prosperity even as they cried out to Him for help in poverty.  Moses wrote to God's people in Deuteronomy 8:11-19:

"Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, ¹² lest--when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; ¹³ and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; ¹⁴ when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; ¹⁵ who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; ¹⁶ who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end--¹⁷ then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' ¹⁸ And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. ¹⁹ Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish."

When we have eaten and are full, we lack hunger that prompted us to eat in the first place.  Having a comfortable house, stores of food and money to purchase all we need can cause us to forget how much we still need God.  Amazingly, pride would cause the perspective of the people to be distorted to believe it was by their power and might of their hands that was responsible for their prosperity rather than God who delivered them from slavery, led them through the wilderness, protected them from harm, miraculously provided water from the rock, fed them with bread from heaven.  God brought them through difficult trials to humble them to learn to fear the LORD and rely upon Him for all things, for He is the source of all good we enjoy.  God made a covenant with His people to exclusively serve Him, and if or when they were lifted up with pride and deviated from his covenant, it would be their ruin.

Cataracts have been blinding people for millennia, and pride has led to the condemnation of Satan, kings and people from the beginning of time.  Samuel couldn't do anything about Saul's pride, and Daniel couldn't do anything about Nebuchadnezzar's pride.  Like my Granddad needed to make an appointment and go to the doctor, to humble himself to undergo a procedure, so we must each humble ourselves before the holy God.  Unlike cataracts which only affect a portion of people, pride is endemic to all people.  In His wisdom, God allows things we see as bad or negative to remind us of how much we need Him.  If you look around and see things as bad and growing worse, then our role is to humble ourselves before God.

Consider what God said to Solomon after he dedicated the temple in Jerusalem to the LORD with feasting in 2 Chronicles 7:13-16:  "When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, ¹⁴ if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵ Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. ¹⁶ For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually."  The implications of God's promise is immense when we consider the new covenant by the blood of Jesus makes every born-again Christian the temple of the Holy Spirit.  We ought to have no allowances for pride in us (though it rises up continually in the flesh), for Jesus came to seek and save lost sinners.

It is for us, fellow believers, to humble ourselves, pray and seek the LORD's face, to turn from our wicked ways, and we have the promise God will certainly hear our prayers and answer.  He has forgiveness and healing for the land of all who draw near to Him in faith.  A land may be marred with bloodshed and soaked with tears, yet there remains hope in God.  His eyes are open to see believers' plight and His ear attentive to our voices, for He has chosen and sanctified us by grace.  We are His precious, purchased possession for all eternity.  God said of the temple that once stood, "My eye and My heart will be there perpetually," and this is true regarding the presence of the Holy Spirit who resides within us.  How humbling it is to know God, and blessed it the man who knows He needs God in prosperity.  Such will even praise and thank God in adversity, for it is a gentle, merciful and gracious reminder of our need for Him always.

Our Treasure in Heaven

The circumstances depicted in Genesis 13 are good for us to consider:  will we lift our eyes and take for ourselves, or will we wait on the LORD who bids us lift our eyes to receive all He has provided for us?  How good it is to realise all we need for life and godliness is in Him alone!

Conflict broke out between the servants of Lot and Abram because the land where they settled was not able to support all their flocks and herds.  Abram humbly approached Lot and pleaded that he separate from him, and offered him first choice of where he desired to go.  Lot lifted his eyes and saw the Jordan plain was well-watered, and it was likened to the garden of Eden God made to flourish before the flood.  Genesis 13:11 said, "Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other."  Lot chose what appeared to be the best choice, and they separated from one another.

Genesis 13:14-15 reads, "And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are--northward, southward, eastward, and westward; ¹⁵ for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever."  By faith Abram received the land and the promise of God of descendants when he was yet to have a son or daughter.  Lot took for himself land that would be rendered desolate in judgment in a matter of years, yet God gave all the land Abram could see with an everlasting promise.

What a good reminder this is for followers of Jesus Christ, that we would look to Him, wait on His counsel and remember His awesome works.  We have been born against by the Gospel and it is God's good pleasure to give us the kingdom where no rust or moth destroys, where no thieves break in and steal.  Our treasure is in heaven because Jesus is there preparing a place for us to abide with Him forever in His presence.  This world and everything in it will pass away, but we have the blessed hope by faith in Christ of an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for us.  May the power of God that keeps us through faith unto salvation also keep us walking in the love and fear of God, looking unto Him with joyful praise as long as we live.

Better than choosing for ourselves what we cannot keep, how blessed we are to be kept by God who has chosen us for His inheritance according to His grace. :)

Jeremiah and Jesus

The Law of Moses is a shadow of the new covenant of the Gospel Jesus would usher in through His death and resurrection.  Like a living, breathing person differs from a human likeness enshrined in a wax museum, so Jesus Christ excels all prophets and rulers who preceded Him.  The Law prepared God's people to receive God's forgiveness and love they could not earn or ever deserve.

Last night I was struck with the stark contrast between the prayer and desires of the prophet Jeremiah under the covenant of Law and Jesus who instituted the new covenant in His own blood.  Consider the prayer of the prophet in Jeremiah 18:19-23:  "Give heed to me, O LORD, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me! ²⁰ Shall evil be repaid for good? For they have dug a pit for my life. Remember that I stood before You to speak good for them, to turn away Your wrath from them. ²¹ Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; let their wives become widows and bereaved of their children. Let their men be put to death, their young men be slain by the sword in battle. ²² Let a cry be heard from their houses, when You bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have dug a pit to take me, and hidden snares for my feet. ²³ Yet, LORD, You know all their counsel which is against me, to slay me. Provide no atonement for their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from Your sight; but let them be overthrown before You. Deal thus with them in the time of Your anger."

Wow.  Under Law Jeremiah was justified in praying thus, for it followed the tenor of blessing and cursing throughout.  He was zealous for the Holy God of Israel and had bore the brunt of ungodly and wicked schemes.  Jeremiah spoke the truth and was hated for it.  He was persecuted for obedience to God and suffered great grief over their refusal to turn from their wicked ways to God.  Did not Jesus face all that Jeremiah did and more?  Men on earth and Satan contended with Him, and they schemed to murder Him.  They did not just plot wickedness but achieved their end through deceit, lies, betrayal and bribery.  Jeremiah prayed there would be no atonement for those who plotted against him, yet on the cross Jesus provided atonement for the sins of the world.  Among the words He uttered on the cross, those concerning His adversaries were brief and flavoured with love and grace in Luke 23:34:  "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."

Incredible!  Jesus knew His Father knew all things and thus had no need to explain His situation in detail.  Jeremiah desired no atonement or forgiveness of sin for those who had wronged him, but that was and is the desire of Jesus' heart.  Jesus was flogged and asked for them to be forgiven; He was crucified and killed according to their designs but breathed compassion and grace to the Father as He laid down his life for lost sinners.  The Law condemns without mercy, but the Gospel offers atonement and forgiveness by grace.  Followers of Jesus ought not to resemble Jeremiah in desiring the destruction of the wicked but to walk in agreement with the love of Christ that longs for their salvation and redemption.