Tag: teaching

Fifty Years of Seeing Jesus

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(John 12:20-33)

I recently attended our School’s 50th Anniversary Gala. It was a fantastic evening. Getting to dress up for a nice evening out is just plain fun to do. Doing it surrounded by those I get to do life together with in my church/school family made it extra special.

Yet, as enjoyable as the auction was, as fun as it is to win an item you bid on, or enjoy cocktails and a nice meal, or music and dancing, or an occasional laugh here and there, what made the night amazing was something else altogether. It left me in awe of the number of lives past, present, and future, who have been and who will continue to be so strongly impacted by our school. So this post is a celebration of our school. More accurately, it’s a celebration of the Jesus who is the center of our school. 

There are surely other verses in Scripture that summarize why the church exists, but we words from John 12 might capture it as simply and succinctly as any others: “we would like to see Jesus” (v.21). In the 1960’s, members of Reformation Lutheran, our sister congregation in Clairemont, saw a growing community in La Mesa that needed to see Jesus, so they established Shepherd of the Hills in 1965. About a decade after that in 1974, a school was established in what was essentially an effort to help more people see Jesus. That school has been doing just that for fifty years. We celebrated with a formal Gala, exceeding our goal of $40,000 to enable us to continue helping people see Jesus for future generations as we care for and improve what God has blessed us with for that purpose.

Five decades is no small thing! Most small businesses that start up fail within the first year or so! Being around for fifty years also means that we have outlasted the US space program, the Choco Taco, the Sony Walkman, and Blockbuster Video, to name a few. Sadly, during that same time, many congregations within our church body that operated schools have had to close their doors. By God’s grace, not only are we still operating, but in recent years we’re doing so at higher enrollment levels than we’ve seen in the past fifty years! That has allowed for more and more students to continue to get to see Jesus here. And what does that mean?

Jesus explained to Philip and Andrew what people looking for him would see. He used an agricultural picture to point to his death and why it was necessary. “Jesus replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (v.23-24). Some of you know what it’s like to have a fruit true that is so productive that it grows more fruit than you can even give away each season. It’s easy to forget how that tree started out. Just like every other plant, it was at one time just a seed. And if that seed had never been planted, it would never have become the tree that now produces such an abundance of fruit. 

Jesus’ death was necessary. It had to happen to bear a much more valuable kind of fruit. He had to die and be buried so that through his saving work others would be saved and blessed. Still today God is producing much fruit through that seed, through Jesus. That fruit continues to be produced where Christians gather around the Word of God and invite others to do so, so that through the Word others are brought to faith. This happens through the ministries that congregations carry out, including those with a school like ours. 

And those blessings come to those who embrace what Jesus said next. “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me” (v.25-26). But losing one’s life and following Jesus are not easy! Not in a world that encourages the exact opposite: love this life here and now and don’t bother with anything else. So we look for support and encouragement to help us along the way. And for fifty years, students and families have found that support and encouragement in our school to keep focused on the real target: eternal life. 

That help is needed. It is needed because we look around at the world today and we are troubled. Although Jesus himself asserted that wars and rumors of war would continue until his return, it still seems shocking that we see the astounding level of violence in the world between nations and among civilized societies. People lack both self-respect and respect for others. People brazenly walk in and out of stores grabbing whatever they like and stealing it in broad daylight. Attorneys promote divorce on billboards. We’ve contributed billions and billions of dollars to the pornography industry and wonder why sex trafficking is such an issue. We’re religiously passionate about politics while indifferent toward religion. And we aren’t only troubled because the world is this way, but also because we’re a part of the problem. We contribute to the very things that trouble us about the world. Our sin factors right into all the trouble we see, and so we are troubled all the more by our own role in it!

Does it help to know that you have a Savior who can relate to feeling troubled? “Now my heart is troubled…” (v.27). Jesus knows how you feel! Admittedly, the intensity of trouble/turmoil facing Jesus was on a level we’ll never come close to experiencing, but that makes us both more appreciative of him and connected to him. He has experienced any level of trouble we’ve faced – and then some! And because he faced the impending trouble of death by crucifixion and desertion by his Father, we’ll never have to process that crushing level of anxiety! Heart wrenching as it was, he knew he had to face it. “No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour” (v.27). 

What compels someone to face that trouble and follow through with it? His love for and commitment to you. “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (v.31-32). Jesus was intent on destroying the enemy who pesters and plagues us with his hellish desires. Through the cross, he not only dealt a devastating blow to the devil, but also built the bridge necessary for all of mankind to have access God. Two birds with one stone! By the cross, Christ both destroyed and delivered!

How unselfish of our Savior! We live in a world filled with so many clawing and clamoring to get known, to use this platform or that to put themselves out there and secure a following. We’re used to it. We get friend or follow requests from people we don’t know because they’re trying to get known. And why? For themselves. They may or may not have a talent or skill that enables them to actually produce something good, worthwhile, or valuable to others, but it doesn’t matter. They want to draw people to themselves to suit their own purposes.

Not Jesus. Jesus desired to draw all people to himself not because his delicate ego needed validation, but because condemned souls needed salvation. And he provided it. 

For fifty years, faithful teachers have taken their place in the front of our classrooms declaring that truth. Have all the students who have ever graduated from our school gone on to graduate from prestigious universities? Have they all become hugely successful in their lives, because we churn out nothing but lawyers, engineers, doctors, and physicists with PhDs and other pedigrees? Have we equipped them so well emotionally that they’ll never have to worry about struggling with burdens like anxiety or depression? No. We can’t make such claims. But neither are any of those goals first and foremost why our school has existed for fifty years.

But here’s what every student who has ever graduated has heard and seen: Jesus. And you know what happens when people get to know Jesus? They grow. And others get to know Jesus through them. I couldn’t say precisely how many families have become a part of our congregation’s ministry directly as a result of one or more of their children having been enrolled in our school, but it’s a significant number. Because that’s what happens when people come to see Jesus. When Jesus changes a heart, he changes the whole life, and when others see the difference he has made in their life, they wish to see Jesus, too. And we show them – in church every Sunday and in our school Monday through Friday. We show people Jesus. It’s why we’re here. It’s what we do. 

A couple of weeks ago we had a videographer on our campus for two and a half days to gather video footage and record interviews to put together a high-quality video showcasing our school. We were looking forward to being able to share the finished product at our Gala. I say “were” because we never got the video. Unfortunately, as the videographer was putting the finishing touches on the video, his hard drive crashed and he lost all of the footage he had captured. It was a huge bummer to not be able to watch the finished product.

But the real reason it was so disheartening was not just because it would have been a snazzy, well-done, professional video. No, the real reason was because it captured our stories about the impact this school has had. It highlighted the difference Jesus makes in the lives of those who are here to see him. Even though there is no video, I did get to talk with the videographer after he had interviewed a number of our parents, and it was clear to him that our school was making a difference. That’s not surprising. That’s what Jesus does. 

And so that is what we’ll continue to do through our church and school for as many years as the Lord allows it. Show Jesus. 

Sin’s Solution: Self or Savior?

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(Numbers 21:4-9)

One of life’s small joys is the satisfaction of being able to take something that is broken and fix it ourselves. Yes, it’s nice to save money not having to call a repair guy to come and fix it or take it in somewhere to have it looked at, but ultimately there is simply a satisfying sense of achievement in fixing something ourselves. It’s also easier than ever. You can find just about any video on Youtube to walk you through the process of fixing something. You can buy just about any specialty tool or replacement part for the job online and it will arrive on your doorstep faster than ever. 

Yet it’s for those same reasons, when we utilize all of those resources to tackle a fix-it-yourself project, following the steps in the video, replacing the part, and voila! – it’s still broken, that our frustration levels also rise higher than ever. To have all the resources available that we do and still not be able to successfully fix something is a tougher pill to swallow. At least in the past we could chalk it up to not having the right tool or part!

Why is fixing something that is broken such a challenge in the first place? Because we can get it wrong in multiple ways. We either misdiagnose the problem, and instead of fixing the part the needs fixing, we focus on a part that doesn’t. Or, assuming we do correctly identify the issue, we then misdiagnose the solution. We buy the wrong part or install it improperly. When either of these things happen, what are we left with? Something that’s still broken.

We know that there’s much that is broken in our world today. There’s no shortage of solutions offered to fix things and make them right. Moreover, we supposedly have access to far more resources than ever in the history of the world to fix things, yet here we are in a world that is still every bit as broken (and many would argue even more so!). How can so many solutions fail so miserably to fix everything? Well, sometimes it’s misdiagnosing the problem, and other times it’s misdiagnosing the solution. Just ask the Israelites how hard it was as they continued to wander there way out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land.

Israel identified what they thought was the problem and voiced their concern to God and his representative, Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” (v.5). They were longing for the steady, stable food they had in Egypt… while seemingly forgetting the oppressive slavery that came along with it. That didn’t matter, though – the problem as they saw it was a lack of bread and water and a miserable menu. So they supposed the solution was simply to let God know the problem so he could fix it. And while they had the right idea in going to God, they came to him with the wrong problem to solve. And, as they would discover, when we bring the wrong problem to God, we may not like the solution he offers.

The problem had nothing to do with their eating and everything to do with their attitude. This is evident from what precedes their complaint. “But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses…” (v.4-5). Food was far from being the real problem; all the food did was expose the real issue: their impatience. And, when the problem is misdiagnosed, we’re unlikely to seek out the correct solution. Again, they had the right idea in looking to God for the solution, but they had the wrong attitude in their approach. They didn’t come before him in humility, but in insolence, brazenly speaking directly against God and Moses! This detail of the account is crucial to a proper understanding of the whole story. 

Because if we overlook this when we see how God responds, we could confuse the problem with the solution. “Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died” (v.6). If we fail to correctly pin the problem on the Israelites for their insolence, then God’s punishment could be perceived as the problem. We question how he could do such a thing. We wonder how God could have this kind of violence in his heart to want to harm his own people. How do we process these questions?

Remember, God’s response was not the problem; it was a part of the solution. Yes, that’s right – God sending venomous snakes was not the problem, but rather a part of the solution. If you find that hard to believe, don’t quit reading just yet. To help us better understand, let’s take an example from the world of how-not-to-parent-today that illustrates how the venomous snakes were actually part of God’s solution. 

Have you ever been in a public place when a child wasn’t getting his way and he was making it painfully obvious not just to mom, but to everyone within roughly a square mile? How the parent responds at that point is either going to be a part of the solution or the problem. When mom makes a deal to give the child what he wants (or something similar) as he stops whining, mom has now just become a part of the problem.

The mom’s behavior in those cases is not uncommon, because it deceptively feels as if she’s still in charge. After all, she is the one that proposed the offer. And, she very likely intends to follow through with it if her child stops whining. It feels to her like she successfully resolved the issue. But that is not at all what just happened. Instead, what just happened was that mom taught her child that whining was actually a productive method in getting his way. He simply has to act up and make a scene until mom promises something good if he’ll stop.

So mom thought she had provided a solution, but in reality she only contributed to the problem by reinforcing for her child that whining is an easy go-to to get his way. What she ought to have done instead was told her son that there would be consequences if he didn’t stop (i.e. no snack, an earlier bedtime, no screen time, etc.) and then – and here’s the only way this is ever going to work – she followed through with the consequence if her child continued to whine. 

Back to the wilderness. If God had dealt with his impatient people brazenly speaking against him by telling Moses, “I can’t handle their complaining anymore. Go ahead and give them juicy steak dinners, but only if they stop whining,” what do you suppose the Israelites would have realized? They would have concluded, “Hey, we just figured out how to turn God into our personal butler! Who needs a magic lamp and a genie – we have God! Turns out all we had to do all along was just complain loud enough and long enough!”

But God didn’t deal with them that way. Instead, he showed them that there were consequences to speaking out against him and sent venomous snakes.

And what was the result? It might surprise us! “The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us’” (v.7). Imagine that! They owned up to their sin and repented of it, turning back to the same God they had impatiently spoken against and basically said, “We were wrong! We’re sorry! Please help us!”

Do you know what that kind of message is to God? It’s music to his ears. There is nothing more pleasing to God than a humble, penitent heart that both owns up to its sin as the problem and turns to God for the solution.

The prophet Isaiah described God like this: “For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isaiah 57:15). And God’s permanent promise is that when anyone approaches him with contrition, that is, sorrow over sin, he will always rescue and revive with his deliverance. 

Among the snake-bitten bodies of the dead, God chose to demonstrate both his desire and his ability to deliver. And he did it in a way that so uniquely solidified that he was the one providing the solution; he was the one saving. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live’” (v.8). A snake on a pole? The very same thing responsible for causing so much death was now going to be responsible for delivering from it? That makes no sense. Why would God choose such a method?

To make it abundantly clear that rescue and deliverance would only come through him. There are half a dozen methods that would have made much more sense than a snake on a pole: suck out the poison, drink some sort of antidote, apply some medicinal oil on it, amputate, etc. As extreme as any human solution might have been, it still would have made more sense than simply looking at a snake on a pole!

So by using something as far-fetched as a snake on a pole, God pretty clearly ruled out that any snake-bitten Israelite would be able to save himself. His solution made no logical, reasonable, scientific or medical sense whatsoever. But it was also the only solution that was going to work. “So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived” (v.9).

Do you get it yet? This whole account isn’t just about learning not to complain before God. It isn’t about snakes – venomous ones or a bronze one on a pole.

It’s about Jesus.

Did you see Jesus in the wilderness with the Israelites and the snakes? His own words recorded in John’s Gospel help us see where Jesus was all along. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (3:14-15).

As absurd as we might think it was for a bronze snake on a pole to heal people bitten by venomous snakes, how about the perfect, innocent Son of God nailed up to a cross to pay for all of mankind’s sin? Many today reject such a notion in favor of countless solutions under the sun that would seem to be much more logical or reasonable. But just like any logical or reasonable solution that could have been devised in the desert, none of them would have solved the problem. We cannot ever solve the problem of our sins ourselves. 

Only God delivers from sin, and only in one way. Only the blood of Jesus forgives. Only his sacrifice saves. Only his death delivers us from death.  

This whole account? It’s not about the snakes; it’s about sin… and most importantly God’s solution to sin, his Son, the Savior.

One of life’s small joys may certainly be the satisfaction of finding a solution to a problem and fixing it ourselves. But one of life’s great joys – the greatest, in fact! – is the satisfaction of knowing and believing that in Jesus Christ, God has already provided the only solution we need for the problem of our sin. We have that joy.

Do you know anyone who doesn’t? Let’s be a part of the solution to that problem by directing them to Jesus, their Savior.

The What & Why of Worship

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(John 2:13-22)

“We really need to get together.” “Yes, let’s get it on the calendar sometime.”  “Sounds great – see you soon!” How many times in the past several months have you had some form of that exchange with another person? And… how many times has that agreed upon get together actually happened? What determines if it does or doesn’t? If the same person brings it up repeatedly, is it more likely to happen because you can tell they’re really craving your company? Do you make the decision whether or not the exchange was just being polite, with no real intention of following through (although one could argue that leading another on isn’t all that polite). Or, if the person is a priority in your life, do you stop right then and there and get a date on the calendar?

What if you got a text message from God asking if you could get together with him? Would you politely respond with “Yes, let’s get it on the calendar sometime soon!” but then proceed to ghost him or fail to follow up? Or would you drop everything, whatever you were doing at the moment, and immediately schedule it? 

I have good news for you this morning – it’s already been scheduled on the calendar for you every Sunday morning at church. How convenient – you don’t even have to stress out about figuring when to fit it in – it’s already done for you!  

Rethinking Religion gives us the opportunity to evaluate our relationship with God as it is reflected in our worship. Now if you were to skip that evaluation and jump ahead to conclude that the answer is simply to go to church every Sunday, you’d be wrong… sort of.

Sort of? Wouldn’t going to church every Sunday be the ideal? Isn’t that what God is looking for? He’s still waiting for that perfect church with 100% perfect attendance from 100% of the members. Wouldn’t that accomplish the bottom line of what God really wants from each of us?

No. No, it wouldn’t. Remember that friend reaching out to get together? Let’s suppose you were able to make it work. You set up a coffee date and met at your favorite spot. You spent 60 minutes together catching up. The only problem? She had her laptop open and was scrolling on her phone the whole time you visited. Would you feel filled up, satisfied that you finally were able to get together and spend some time together? You know the answer.

Something similar can happen even with the Sunday morning “regulars” in attendance. We can show up without really showing up. For some of us, the habit of going to church every week may have already been instilled in us from childhood (if that’s you, thank your parents – it’s among one of the greatest things they could have done for you!). But as with anything that becomes habitual, church can also become so routine that can we fly through it disengaged as if we’re on autopilot.

Or, worship can become more about fulfilling a responsibility than finding refreshment. Or, we’re there more to keep tabs on everyone else who is or isn’t there than we are for ourselves. Or, we’re there to make sure that everyone behaves properly and things are carried out in an orderly fashion, focusing more on what’s going on externally with others than what’s going on internally in my own heart. So if regular attenders aren’t careful when it comes to worship, it’s very possible to show up without showing up. 

But that in no way leaves the absentees off the hook. It might be easy to bash all those regular attenders for being there for the wrong reasons, feeling as if that somehow justifies one’s absence. But what’s easier to fix – working on the motives of one who is already in the habit of being there regularly, or having to do that and having to break the bad habit of being absent? Those neglecting worship don’t need to point to the distractions of regular worshippers to justify their absence – they already offer more than enough sad excuses for not going to church as it is!

But you know what? We also need to acknowledge that there are understandable reasons one might have for not being in church.

It would be hard to blame someone for not going to church if his only experience anytime he has attended was to be scolded or shamed by the pastor or others for not being there more often! And it would be hard to blame someone for not going to church if rather than feeling warmly welcomed and at home, they received a cold reception and dagger stares for sitting in someone else’s spot. And it would be hard to blame someone for not going to church if the only message was that they never measure up enough for God. And it would be hard to blame someone for not going to church if her only recollection of church was a painful memory or family experience associated with it. And if worship is where God longs to dispense his grace to the guilty, why do we sometimes sprinkle our parting comments to others with more guilt after the service?

All of this is to say, when anyone walks through the doors of a church on a Sunday morning, they may appear to be empty-handed, but don’t ever underestimate the amount of emotional or spiritual baggage they could be carrying with them as they step inside. Be sensitive to that, and take a page out of Jesus’ “Lost” parables in Luke 15. Simply rejoice every time anyone walks through the doors.

Do you notice we haven’t even dug into the words and actions of Jesus yet? Are we ready to? What makes us ready? Are you going to continue reading hoping to find what someone else needs to hear about worship, or are you open to hearing God has to say to you about your worship? If so, let’s look at John.

Jesus had to deal with people being in church for the wrong reason. That was pretty clear from the interaction described in John 2. “When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” (vss. 13-16).

Remember how Jesus as a boy was the Kevin McCallister of his family, only rather than his family leaving him at home, he was left behind at the temple, where he talked theology with the religious experts? How different that encounter at the temple must have been compared to what he experienced on the occasion recorded for us here! Instead of facilitating a conversational deep dive into spiritual truths and reflecting on God’s promises for his people, that sacred space had become a strip mall for small business to be conducted.  

It’s likely the vendors had become so good at deceiving themselves that they were convinced they were genuinely providing a necessary service to foreigners. After all, with so many out of town visitors coming for the Passover, they would need animals for their sacrifices, so they’d conveniently be able to purchase them right there in the temple courts. And if they needed to exchange their foreign currency to purchase those animals, the money changers were there ready to serve. So in their own minds, the sellers’ actions were completely justified.

But Jesus didn’t just see what was in their minds; he also saw their hearts. Jesus saw hearts that were seizing an opportunity to profit, to make a buck. And while there’s nothing sinful about working hard to make money, there was most definitely something wrong with using God’s house to do it. The matter of selling for profit in the same sacred space where God longs to dispense his blessings for free just wouldn’t fly. 

Here we have an example of what God doesn’t want in worship. So what does he want? We see it in the disciples’ application of the next verse, “Zeal for your house will consume me” (v.17). What drove Jesus’ actions that day? He had such a passion for his Father’s house that he couldn’t stand to see such a precious place so misused. His heart longed for God’s house.

That’s what God wants from you and me in worship: a heart that longs for his house. We can get so wrapped up in the details of worship that we overlook God’s real desire: he wants our hearts. When he has our hearts, everything else in our lives follows.

Think of a blossoming relationship between two people that is in its first stages. They can’t stop thinking about spending time with each other and everything revolves around that special someone. God wants us to think of him that way.

Now I realize that perspective may not appeal to some guys all that much, to talk about the heart and love and emotions, but can you question the masculinity of Jesus coming in and flipping tables upside down? And why? Because he was all-in when it came to passion and zeal. And to my fellow male Christians – husbands, fathers, leaders – honestly, we need more of that passion in Christianity. 

That doesn’t mean you need to show up and start tearing up the pews on a Sunday morning. But imagine if rather than a high-paying job, a fast car, or nice threads, a guy’s passion, zeal, and heart for God were his most admirable and attractive qualities. How influential could he be to other Christians witnessing how he puts his Savior first and holds him up as the greatest, most valuable treasure? 

But what if you don’t have that kind of zeal? Jesus has you covered!

That’s what makes Jesus so amazing as our Savior. He lived the holy life, filled with perfect passion, that we never could! That includes a holy zeal and passion for his Father’s house. The Father sees his Son’s zeal in you by faith. You don’t have to fake it. You don’t have to pretend it’s there – it is already there because of Jesus. His zeal was everything God required of us. We call that Jesus’ active obedience. He kept God’s law – event the Third Commandment to “Remember that Sabbath Day by keeping it holy” perfectly in your place. Let Jesus’ zeal fuel yours.

What else did Jesus do for you? Exactly as he promised in verse 19. “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’” John explains for us, his readers, that Jesus was not talking about the physical temple, as the Jewish crowd supposed. “But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken” (v.21-22).

Jesus predicted his death and resurrection. But he did more than predict those events; he fulfilled them. He did what none of those animals being sold in the courts could ever do. As the perfect Lamb they all foreshadowed, Jesus alone actually paid for sin with his life. All sin. Hearts absent from worship while bodies are present. Neglecting Word and worship altogether as optional or unimportant. All paid for in full and proven by his resurrection three days later, just as he had said. God accepted his payment for our woeful worship.

That brings us to the why of worship. Jesus is why. Jesus’ heart is not just for his Father’s house, but for you. You are why he was willing to allow his temple to be destroyed on the cross. You are why he was raised again in three days. His heart for you is why he longs to fill you with his presence and his promises in worship. His heart for you is why he invites you each week to come clean with your sins so he can send you off with a clean heart as you depart his house for all that your week holds. He knows the drain of living and surviving in a sin-infested world – remember he lived here, too! And so he longs to fill you with the grace necessary to overcome, to live with confidence and joy and purpose and meaning!

I could close by highlighting the many amazing blessings that come as a result of regular worship, but really there’s just one that matters. The rest all flow from that one: Jesus. Jesus is the reason we worship. Let Jesus be enough for you to take him up on his standing invitation to get together again soon.

Crosses: Burden or Blessing?

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(Mark 8:31-38)

As we continue our series, Rethinking Religion, in this post we give our attention to a topic that can be a deal breaker for people when it comes to Christianity. I’m not talking about how smug Christians can sometimes come across when our concern about being right overshadows our call to be loving. Neither am I referring to the perception that some of our beliefs are downright absurd.

No, what I’m referring to is the observation that in a number of ways, the believer’s life doesn’t really seem to be any different or better off than the non-believer’s. Therefore, if the casual observer notes no discernible difference, no greater appeal or attraction to the Christian and his way of life, then why bother? What’s the big deal?

Moreover, to many, the whole category of Christianity’s perceived requirements – the “have to’s” and the “musts,” arguably make it quite unappealing. Christians must live according to a strict set of rules. They have to go to church. Christians are supposed to give offerings. They are required to read their Bibles. You could add plenty more to the list, I’m sure.

While it isn’t the purpose of this post to address each and every one of these perceived requirements that may not make Christianity all that appealing, for the sake of brevity, I will simply respond that a Christian doesn’t have to do any of the those things mentioned, or anything else, for that matter. There are no requirements in the life of a Christian; he is free to live however he pleases.

But here’s the thing: a Christian wants to do these things. God’s grace and love have changed his heart, bringing it into alignment with God’s plan for how to live. Not perfectly, mind you – but changed hearts nevertheless now see as opportunities what used to be viewed as requirements.

There’s another observation some have of Christianity that doesn’t appear to be noteworthy or especially attractive. It doesn’t seem like the Christian has any special dispensation from God regarding suffering or hardship. So if a believer and a non-believer both have to struggle with traumas and tragedies like cancer and unemployment and divorce and sexual abuse and chronic pain and miscarriages and the list goes on, then why bother? If God is in the Christian corner, shouldn’t he guard and protect believers from such things? If he’s capable of doing so, which Christians claim to believe he is, then why doesn’t he do more to shield them from such things?

It’s this last question surrounding the matter of hardships that we’re giving our attention to in this post. Each of those hardships listed – and so many more – could be considered what we call a “cross.”

Although it often uses the term in a lighthearted manner, the secular world is familiar with that term, “cross.” She says, “This is my cross to bear,” referring to her love of chocolate and the need to show restraint whenever surrounded by copious amounts of chocolate that are available to her. He refers to his “cross” when being stuck living in Southern California with its beaches, sun, and near-perfect weather. 

However, when Christians use the term, there really isn’t anything lighthearted about it. The way Jesus used in in Mark 8 reflects this. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (v.34). 

The cross Jesus refers to in the life of a believer is a burden that tests or tries one’s faith. That burden is unique in the life of the Christian because of her faith in God. So even if a believer and a non-believer experience the exact same hardship, it affects the Christian differently. It is a cross.

For example, everyone would agree that cancer is awful all around, no matter who is experiencing it. But cancer doesn’t cause a non-believer to question or doubt God’s love in the face of suffering, because God isn’t a part of the equation for them. And while no one likes to struggle financially, such struggles don’t cause a non-believer to second-guess if God is really able to provide as he promised, because God isn’t a factor. So what makes a thing a unique cross for a Christian is the impact it has on one’s faith.

To help us properly understand the role of these crosses for the Christian, let me ask you a reflection question. Has anything of great worth to you or anything you truly value ever come without difficulty? Was anything that was really worth it easy for you? Now you might be able to fire off a short list of a few things that could qualify, but generally speaking, for a thing to be truly appreciated and valued, it probably involved hard work and adversity to get it. In fact, that hard work and sacrifice that was required are often why we value it.

Consider the gift of children. Even conceiving itself can be a hardship for many couples, let alone delivering a baby. When it comes to delivering a baby, I don’t know too many moms who would say that it was a piece of cake. The things we appreciate require hard work.

Like getting a college degree. Or getting – and staying – in shape. A great marriage isn’t easy. The list goes on, and we could share stories about the hard work and the struggle we’ve put in to get to enjoy many of the things in life we’d say are worth it.

So then, should it surprise us that following Jesus would be any different? Why should it shock us that he makes such a big ask of us to bear crosses – hardships – for a greater faith and deeper relationship with him? If virtually everything in life that we value or appreciate requires a great deal of sacrifice and struggle, surely we ought to expect the same when it comes to our greatest treasure, Jesus.

But we are surrounded by countless people who prefer the easier path of playing the victim and spending their lives complaining rather than putting in the hard work to achieve or acquire things they value or appreciate.

Sadly, Christians can be numbered among them. The result is that many of the things that should be crosses to bear for Christians are not, because of their refusal to pick those crosses up. There’s no cross when it comes to Sunday morning, because sleeping in and sports win over worship. There’s no cross to bear when it comes to lending my neighbor a hand, because I “don’t have the time” (or more accurately, refuse to make the time). There’s no cross to bear facing any ridicule or ribbing for being a Christian because nobody at work or the gym even knows I’m a Christian to begin with.

The Christian life is pretty easy when we don’t bother with those crosses Jesus called us to pick up… until we come to find out that neglecting those crosses brings with it its own set of struggles later on. Have you ever counted the cost of avoiding hard work or effort life in general? It often ends up costing more in the end, doesn’t it?

So it is with our crosses. When we avoid them, it often ends up costing us more in the end. Like maybe my marriage. Or my job. Or a friendship. Or my self-control that results in an addiction. So avoiding the hard crosses potentially leaves us much worse off than if we had picked them up and done the hard work in the first place. But just as hard things are worth it, so are crosses. 

In fact, the more we pick up the crosses Jesus allows in our lives, the more we see them for what they really are – not burdens, but blessings. But in order for us to see the blessings of our own crosses, we must first look to the greatest blessing that would ever come from a cross – the cross of Christ.

Jesus’ cross is hands down the greatest blessing. There alone do we find relief from the burden of our sin. For every cross we neglect, avoid, or ignore, Jesus’ cross forgives. For every time we blazed a path of our own making instead of following in his footsteps, Jesus’ cross forgives. For every time we pridefully presumed to know better than him, Jesus’ cross forgives. For every time chose wrong over right, Jesus’ cross forgives. And at Jesus’ cross we find not only forgiveness, but also freedom – freedom from guilt, from shame, from regret, from fear, and ultimately freedom from self.

Here’s how it works. The forgiveness that flows to me from Jesus’ cross leads me to look differently at my own crosses to bear. That’s because, to pick up a cross and bear it, carry it, I have to let go of something else. What, exactly? Self.

Jesus told the crowd, along with his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (v.34). Deny self. In our society today, you will not find a more radical ideology than that! To a culture that has cemented its celebration of self in how we identify – gender, sexual or political orientation, skin color, and an endless list of other labels, Jesus demands that we let go of it. Deny it. To a culture that says the real problem is everyone else failing to embrace me for who I am, Jesus says, “Wrong – who you are is the problem. Self is the problem.

You want something that is real, something that matters, not just for this short life, but for eternity? Then listen up.” “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (v.35-37). Insist on self and risk losing everything. Let go of self and gain everything in following Jesus. 

Then, when we aren’t so enamored with individualism and consumed with self, we can see what matters most. “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this…” (v.31-32). THIS is what it looks like to deny self and be free to serve others. Jesus, God-in-the-flesh Jesus, denied himself and suffered and died, not for self, but for you. For me. For everyone else. For the greater good. For eternity. For suffering to be temporary and for salvation to be forever. For limiting the number of occupants in hell. And for freeing us to put each other first. That’s what the gospel does. 

Who benefits when we are free of serving self? My neighbor. You may disagree with me, but that care for my neighbor, care for the greater good of the group over self, seems to me to be what is sorely lacking in our culture today.

One of the things I find so appealing about World War II history is the selflessness of that generation. I’m aware that movies and books covering that period may occasionally go over the top in glorifying the spirit of those times and the heroes who served them. Nevertheless, there was a very real awareness of the need to come together to serve the greater good of society over the individual, and if that hadn’t happened, the outcome could have been disastrous. 

I don’t know that it could be done today. Oh I don’t doubt there would be many armchair quarterbacks sharing their opinions of what should be done. I don’t doubt there would be many activists somehow imagining that their boycott or opposition or stand for this or that might be making a grand difference. But I do doubt that our self-absorbed, self-serving society would be able to come together for the greater good if it means sacrificing our individualism.

But Jesus can change that, because the cross he died on not only forgives us, but frees us from self and empowers and equips us to pick up our own crosses. When we pick up those crosses, others are blessed. We are blessed. And God is at his best through us.

Trials: Test or Trap?

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(Genesis 22:1-18)

Can you imagine? A father-to-be having to wait 25 years for his promised son to arrive, with each passing year casting compounding doubt on whether God would deliver? Then, the son is born, and the father-son bond is allowed to be firmly forged into and possibly well beyond the teenage years? Then suddenly, the loving God who gave him demands him back. And not just in any manner, mind you. Not by some humane means that would limit suffering, but in one of the most vicious manners still even to this day by which one ends the life of another: a violent stabbing with a knife! Can you imagine???

This account is really a good fit not only for the start of the season of Lent, with its emphasis on the ultimate perfect sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus, but also as the start of our seasonal series, Rethinking Religion. To anyone outside of Christianity, this is the sort of account that could so easily serve as justification for rejecting religion, particularly the Christian God and the shocking demand he makes of a father in these verses. What kind of a twisted, blood-thirsty God could ever not just condone – but go so far as to command – child sacrifice?

The window of understanding as to where God’s heart truly is in this encounter is revealed right away at the beginning. “Some time later God tested Abraham” (v.1). Before we explore the significance of testing, take note of Abraham’s response. After God called out to him, Abraham replied with “Here I am” (v.1). How different Abraham’s response was from the first time God called out to a man, Adam, after he sinned! There was no, “Here I am,” from Adam, but rather hiding and shame. At that time, the fallen sinner wanted nothing to do with a holy God.

What had changed? God’s gracious promise of deliverance through a Savior that would come had been passed along repeatedly to Abraham. His relationship with God was not one based on fear or terror or shame, which is why he stood ready to listen to what his good Lord had to say. He listened with ears that knew his good Lord’s gracious promises and good intentions for his life and his eternity. That confident faith in his good God might also explain why Abraham didn’t question or pushback on God’s gut-wrenching demand, but instead dutifully followed through with the wishes of his gracious Lord. 

Now back to the matter of testing, which is how this whole account is introduced. If we are to know God’s heart, we have to revisit his purpose for testing. We must not confuse a test with a trap. Though they may even appear to look identical externally, their purpose is entirely different. The purpose of a trap is to catch someone in the wrong. It does not have the target’s best interest in mind, but rather stems from a mind already made up that a wrongdoer needs to be caught, exposed, and punished. A trap is not an attempt to gather more information in order to determine guilt or culpability; it is a setup to catch the guilty person in the act.  

But a test is different. Really, ultimately, a test is for the benefit of the one taking or receiving it. As you look back on your education and consider all the quizzes and tests you spent countless hours studying for, they probably didn’t feel like they were for your benefit at the time, but they were. A test allows the taker to assess how well they are grasping the material. Some are better than others in achieving this purpose, but ultimately, the test shows you where you’re at.

When you are ready to get your driver’s license and get behind the wheel of the car, you don’t take a driver’s test for the instructor’s benefit, but for your own. If you don’t pass it the first time, the test reveals what you need to work on to become a capable driver. And while passing the test and getting your license provides all the other drivers on the road with peace of mind, the greatest benefit is for you to feel comfortable and confident behind the wheel. Tests are for your benefit.

So it was with God’s test of Abraham. The test wasn’t for God’s benefit, since nothing is hidden from him. God was not waffling in indecision about what he thought of Abraham. It wasn’t as if he just wasn’t sure what to make of him or somehow couldn’t get a good read on him. No, God’s omniscient eyes see the heart of every man and know exactly what is in each man’s heart. 

But man, on the other hand, does not. Oh, we often think we do, but we could not be more wrong. The prophet Jeremiah captured that frustration when he wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Jesus taught the same striking truth: “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come…” (Mark 7:21). So we if we are deceived by our own hearts (which, by the way, is why the advice to “follow your heart” is some of the worst advice you could ever give or receive), how can we ever hope to accurately discover anything dangerous or sinister dwelling inside our hearts? How can we ever determine if we are genuinely growing in grace or remaining stagnant in our faith? The answer is through testing, which is for our good.   

We might wonder why Abraham needed to be tested. But the test itself often reveals the potential heart issue. When we look at what God was calling Abraham to do, it becomes quite clear to us. God knows the inclination of the human heart to worship people and places and possessions – created things – rather than the Creator who gives us those things. Therefore, he was well aware of the potential danger of Isaac, Abraham’s long-awaited gift of a son, becoming Abraham’s greatest treasure and number one priority.

Now to the ears of many, this makes God come across as an insecure deity who needs and feeds off of attention and significance – as if being primary importance in our lives is for his benefit. But God is not worried about himself. He is God regardless of what we think of him. Even if all refused to believe or trust in him, God would still be God. He doesn’t need our faith in him; but we do.

His desire to be number one in our hearts is for our sake, not his. Because he is well aware of another force at work against us, one not interested in using tests to bless us, but traps trip us up. Satan is constantly looking to spring his traps to distract us from what is most important in life: our salvation. 

And there is absolutely no trap that Satan considers off-limits when it comes to his goal of seeing us forfeit our salvation. Sure, he will use sin, dressing it up and making it desirable and pleasing to us so that we become so attached to it that we either cannot escape getting tangled up in it or are so entrenched in it that we believe ourselves to be beyond being forgiven and saved. 

But he is just as likely to trap us with good things – blessings from God, even, like family, children, jobs, belongings, etc. – so long as these good things fill our hearts so there is little room for God and his salvation to remain there. The evil one cares very little what it is in our heart that crowds out our love and devotion for God, as long as it serves to fracture our faith bit by bit until it is all but swept out of our hearts. Satan will delight in anything that takes root in our hearts, so long as it isn’t the grace and forgiveness of God through the gospel. 

But while the devil doesn’t care about our hearts, God does. Immensely. Intensely. How much does he care?

Can you imagine? A father-to-be having to wait not 25 years, but thousands of years for his promised son to arrive? Then, the son is born and the father-son bond is forged, with the father witnessing for the first time ever in history what it looks like for someone to finally live the holy life he created mankind to live. And the Father can’t hide his delight, verbally expressing his pride multiple times during his Son’s life! Then, the loving Father-God, with the full awareness of what the future held, a full awareness of the bitter rejection his Son would face, a full awareness of the soul-crushing suffering he would endure, knew he had to turn away from him and abandon him? And not just in any manner, mind you! Not by some humane means that would limit suffering, but rather one of the most excruciating methods of death ever devised: crucifixion! Can you imagine???

That’s how much he cares. He cares enough to allow – and even send – trials that test us and test our hearts. Not to trap us. Not to trip us up in the faith. But to gauge where our hearts are at, so that when we are lacking in faith, we can first of all realize it. But then even more importantly, we can run to the God who can strengthen it, who can forge it through testing into something stronger than we could have ever imagined it to be. Through his faithful forgiveness, he can purify our hearts, rid them of impurities, clean house, and dwell in us unopposed. He carries out this work repeatedly when we recall our baptism, when we receive his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, and when, after sweeping out the sin from our heart in confession, we hear the sweet music of absolution.   

Can you imagine? You don’t have to. God graciously provided Abraham with a substitute sacrifice in the place of Isaac. To Abraham he provided a ram. To us he provided the Redeemer, his own Son. The Substitute who sustains and strengthens us to endure trials and tests and see them for what they are, God’s ongoing work of drawing us ever closer to him and making us more sure of our salvation in him.

A Real Glimpse of God’s Glory

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(2 Corinthians 4:3-6)

Nobody likes a fake. Especially when you paid a lot of money for it. The Saudi Crown Prince had da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” proudly displayed, hanging in his personal yacht – or so he assumed. Imagine how he must have felt then, having paid $450 million for the work of art, only to find out it was a fake. Art professionals determined it wasn’t actually an original, but rather a copy. Nobody likes a fake.

Fake art is one thing; fake people are another. When we refer to someone as a fake, we are not paying that person a compliment. What we’re saying is that they may present themselves one way, but it isn’t an accurate representation of who they really are. They are pretending, like an actor so immersed in the character he’s playing that he refuses to ever depart from the role.

If people didn’t know who Jesus was, it wasn’t because he was a fake. Jesus wasn’t pretending to be something he was not. No, any groups or individuals who had an issue with trying to figure out who Jesus was struggled because of their own preconceived notions or opinions about who he was or who they thought he should be. Jesus didn’t hide who he was. Nonetheless, even though he wasn’t hiding who he was, he did still need to reveal himself.

That’s what the season of Epiphany in the church year is all about: revealing who Jesus is. At Jesus’ baptism the voice of his Father’s approval was revealed. At a wedding in Cana his divine power over nature at even a molecular level was revealed when he changed simple H2O into the finest wine. Through his words and actions, his teaching and preaching, at a pace which allowed the Holy Spirit to work in the minds and hearts of the slow-to-believe, Jesus was revealing who he was over the course of his ministry. As his time on earth drew to a close, he knew the view that awaited his disciples and onlookers on Good Friday. So he gathered on a mountain with just three of his disciples and made his most spectacular revelation yet. 

That event – the Transfiguration – could have been what Paul had in mind in verse six. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” Where else was God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ as it was at the Transfiguration, where the Gospels describe him as emanating a light brighter than any natural light they had ever witnessed? “There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light” (Mt. 17:2).

Jesus’ face shifted supernaturally right before the disciples’ eyes, and the glorious light beaming from it was more than the human eye could handle. If you’ve ever had the chance to watch a solar eclipse and tried to view even the slightest bit of it without the recommended eye protection or other protective measures, you learned the hard way how unwise that is. Staring into the sun is a sure-fire way to go blind! 

But seeing that light in the face of Christ was so very important for the disciples, for in a short matter of time, it would appear that that light would be snuffed out. They would descend from that glorious experience to the foot of the mountain, where the final walk of Jesus would end in Jerusalem. There he would endure a week of enemies plotting to extinguish that light. Finally, as the last breath of life escaped from Jesus’ lips on the cross, surely it looked as if the light of Jesus’ life had given way to darkness, that death had won yet again, continuing its 100% success rate. 

For death had always won up to that point, with the exception of two miraculous occasions by which God chose to circumvent death and usher his own directly to heaven without experiencing it (Enoch and Elijah). Otherwise, death darkened the light of life in everyone who was ever born. No one has ever been able to manufacture a method of keeping that light of life burning forever. Nor will they.

So Jesus revealed who he was, pulling back the veil briefly for his inner circle of disciples to witness. And in the face of Christ the disciples could truly see a taste of what God was all about. God and his glory were and are inextricably linked to the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Savior of all.

While God did in fact reveal his glory in the Old Testament, we notice that God’s glory in those cases was terrifying. Why should his glory be terrifying in those cases? Because God’s holiness was so clearly and profoundly on display, not only through the giving of the law, but in the show of holiness that was powerfully manifested both audibly and visually. That glory was terrifying! Yes, his righteousness, his perfection, his holiness rightly cause sinners to crumble in his presence. But it was only one side of the coin of God’s glory.

Christ, however, completes the picture of that glory. Christ not only embodied the righteousness, the perfection, and the holiness in his flesh and flawless life, but also the grace, the compassion, and the mercy of God, which are also very much included in the full picture of his glory. We could not know that forgiving grace apart from knowing Christ, and God’s glory would remain only a terrifying thing. But in the face of Christ, God’s glory is made complete. That makes perfect sense, because in Christ we see what God looks like. That is the big reveal: Christ shows us the face of God. 

Yes, in Jesus, we see what God looks like. Paul states it plainly in verse four: “Christ… is the image of God.” You know how frustrating it can be when someone tries to describe what a person looks like. They describe the color of their hair, maybe the cut. They might describe any pronounced features. Perhaps they’ll try to compare the person to a celebrity or an athlete who may have a similar look.  At any rate, no matter how detailed their description may be, there’s a better way.

That’s why we ask if they have a picture. A picture shows us what the person looks like. Whereas a description gives us a fuzzy likeness, a picture sharpens the detail and fills in the blank. When we see a picture, an image of the person, we know what they look like.

To see Christ is to see God. Christ is the image of God. Christ is what God looks like. 

And the image of glory is maximized when we see the Christ on the cross. There the glory of God’s holiness is plain to see as the wrath against lawbreakers and the unholy is poured out. There also the glory of God’s forgiveness is plain to see in how God’s grace put his Son in my place to endure it. It’s not me on the cross, but the Holy One! It’s not his sin being paid for but mine. It’s not his sin needing forgiveness but mine! That is the greatest glory of God, and we see it more clearly because of the glory Jesus first revealed on the mountain.

What is tragic is that not all see this glory. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ” (v.4). It isn’t that God’s glory isn’t there, but some simply cannot see it. They have been blinded to it. The “god of this age,” Satan, is the one behind this work.

Why does Paul refer to him as the god of this age? He isn’t somehow putting him on a similar plane to the true God, but is rather underscoring two things: 1) unlike the true God, Satan’s power is limited. Whatever power he has will come to and end when Jesus comes again. Unlike the true God, his power is not eternal. 2) the title simply reflects that he dwells in the heart of all of those who don’t belong to the true God. No, they may not outwardly worship the devil, of course (most don’t!), but to reject the true God is to belong to the one who opposes him, the one who calls truth lies and lies truth. To not have the Triune God as one’s God is to have the devil rule in the heart in his place. 

But One who revealed his glory on the mountain still reveals it today. Though not through a brightly beaming face, his glory is nonetheless revealed powerfully through the gospel. What is the gospel other than pointing to Jesus and his saving work? Paul wrote, “For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (v.5). The god of this age delights in keeping the attention on self and selling the lie that we are in control and calling the shots in our lives. But Paul and his companions preach a different message – as do we today.

Jesus Christ is Lord. The One who paid the precious price of himself wants not only to be our Savior, but our Lord, the One who calls the shots in our lives because he alone knows the absolute best paths of blessing for our lives. The One who bought and paid for us to be his own longs to guide and direct his own in paths of righteousness and fulfillment. 

And he isn’t asking to be the equivalent of a business partner, going 50/50 in overseeing our lives; he longs to be the Lord, the authority, the ruler in our hearts and lives. And this is no outrageous demand that causes us to bristle or stubbornly dig in our heals in defiance, but one that we crave, a relationship arrangement that we are obliged to submit to, for we know he has our best interests in mind more than we ever could. When the Lord of love is the Lord of your life, blessings in Jesus reach new heights.

That allows us to humble ourselves to new lows, to truly see ourselves as Paul did, as “your servants for Jesus’ sake” (v.5). When Jesus is my Lord, overseeing my life better than I ever could, I am free from the stress and strife of thinking I can somehow manage my life better than he can, and that freedom then allows me to be your servant for his sake, and you to be your neighbor’s servant for Jesus’ sake. 

If the veil is ever going to be lifted, if those blinded by the god of this age are every going to see, it’s going to be through you and me. The glorious Jesus reveals himself to his disciples, as he did on the mountain, not only so that we can see his glory ourselves, but also to awaken in us a burning desire to serve others in ways that might allow us to point them to Jesus through his gospel.

In that way the veil can be lifted. The blind can see. And what shall they see? Not a fake. Not a pretender. No, they shall see the most glorious sight imaginable: their very real loving Lord and Savior, Jesus.

The Devil Is Real. So Is Deliverance.

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(1 Peter 5:6-11)

While I enjoy the outdoors and being in nature when it comes to things like hiking and camping, I’ve never had much of an interest in hunting. I have no experience hunting and have little desire plan a hunting trip anytime soon. I certainly wouldn’t be much of a threat to any game being hunted. In fact, I’m sure that any animal being hunted would actually be better off if I accompanied the hunting party. One way or another, it’s highly likely that I would end up alerting and scaring off any animal.

That being said, I think I get the basic gist of hunting, which is to do your absolute best to go undetected by the game you’re hunting. Then, when the animal unsuspectingly comes into your crosshairs, you have as good a chance as possible of bringing home a trophy. So long as the animal doesn’t smell, see, or hear you, then it doesn’t even know you’re there and is less likely to be scared off. That gives you the best chance of success.

When it comes to something like hunting, we are used to being the predator pursuing the prey. But in our verses from 1 Peter, he turns that around and warns us that we are actually being hunted, and by a predator who can do much more damage than just end our physical life; he can cause us to stumble and lose our eternal life. Peter warns us, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (v.8). The devil is real, he is dangerous, he is on the hunt, and you are what he’s hunting!

But just like any unsuspecting animal being hunted, if the predator is not detected, then neither is the perception of any real danger. It doesn’t surprise us that this is the case for the secular world that brushes off any talk of Satan being real. Satan’s got it easy picking on those prey, because they are oblivious to his existence and are therefore unaware that they live each and every day right in the center of his crosshair. Unless they become aware of their prowling enemy and nothing changes, when they breathe their last physical breath, Satan’s kill shot will then usher in their eternal death. 

While it doesn’t surprise us that the world would brush off any satanic threat, can Satan make inroads in the Church picking apart drifting believers who refuse to acknowledge him as a threat or even question his existence? You tell me. If we don’t feel he’s really all that dangerous, we aren’t going to be on high alert and have the focused mind that Peter encourages. And that’s exactly how a predator would want it. If he isn’t perceived as a threat, then the prey will carry on without a second thought, head in the clouds and aloof to the danger.

While I’m pretty good about it most of the time, I admit that once in a while I do get sucked into nature video clips of predators gobbling up their prey. The ones that really catch my attention are the predators swallowing their prey whole, while it’s still alive. A snake slowly engulfs a frog. A komodo dragon gobbles up a baby goat in seconds. The prey is completely devoured!

While Peter likens the devil to a lion rather than a snake or komodo dragon, the threat is nonetheless clear. The devil is on a hunting party 24/7/365. He will not think twice about devouring unsuspecting prey.

What are we to do? In addition to being vigilantly alert, Peter calls on Christians to put up a fight. He writes, “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (v.9). Resist! Put up a fight! Stand firmly in the faith, and be encouraged that there are many more Christians who are a part of that same resistance, refusing to be helplessly devoured by the evil one. When he does attack, resist him; fight back! 

Too often we don’t even put up a fight! That may be because in weakness we honestly find sin to be more pleasing than living in grace. We don’t even want to put up a fight because we don’t wish to say no to sin. But be extremely careful when this is the case. The more we give into sin, the more we crave it, and it can consume us until we are willing to permanently trade in grace for gratification. Sin is never content to be the occasional guest in our heart – it wants to take over the throne of our heart entirely!

We can also fail to put up a fight because we give too much credit to the enemy and not nearly enough to the Victor who has already defeated him! We let the gloom of Good Friday get the better of us. We reason that if the devil could successfully scheme to sentence the Son of God to death by crucifixion, then how could we ever stand a chance against him? How quickly we forget, though, that that day of mourning, that tear-filled Friday was not how the story ended! 

No, it was not defeat that took place at Calvary; it was merely the battleground where our perfect Substitute soldier made the most noble sacrifice of all, not to be dealt defeat, but to deal defeat to his enemy and ours! That defeat came when Jesus offered up himself to ensure victory. And three days later it was confirmed!

Freed from the restraints of death, the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples to share the glorious victory together. Jesus won. Victory was ours. Jesus won. Victory still is ours. So fight back with all the courage and confidence of one facing a defeated enemy. When Christ is in you as a believer, then victory is in you as well – fight back!

But how? How do you fight back? How do you resist? It’s one thing to speak of battle and talk about predators hunting prey. But how do we fight back when no physical weapons are involved? How do we resist when there’s no one on whom we can land a physical punch?

There’s a sure-fire way not to do it. Don’t resist by relying on your own willpower. When we look back on the battles we’ve lost to the devil in the heat of temptation and determine that we were just weak in that moment, but next time we’ll be stronger, we give ourselves far too much credit. We are deceived into thinking we’re on a level playing field with the one who is the experienced, expert tempter! How downright foolish of us!

The question is, how many times are you willing to cycle through that lie as it repeats itself in your life? Will months go by? Will it be years, decades even, that you regularly enough lose the battle but keep pretending that “next time” you’ll just try harder and won’t give in to the temptation? If that is your only course of action, to determine that “next time” you won’t give in, be ready for a very long and very frustrating soul-sapping, unwinnable battle.

No, the key to successfully resisting the devil is to make sure our footing is solid. We fight best, we give ourselves a chance, only when we stand firmly in the faith and in the object of our faith, Jesus.

Now if that is true, then it makes sense that the stronger our faith is, the more effectively we’ll be able to put up a fight, right? Well then, how do we fortify our faith? How do we firm up our footing? If we look earlier in the verses, Peter provides two examples of how to better prepare for battle with the evil one by bolstering up our faith. 

First, he wrote, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (v.6). Remember who already defeated the devil! If in Christ we have the One who already handed the devil defeat, why would we foolishly insist on securing victory against him on our own? In humility, acknowledge our weaknesses and limitations, own up to and confess that our sins give Satan the upper hand. In humility, let us lower ourselves beneath God’s mighty hand, both acknowledging our inability while also relying on his powerful ability to deal the devil as many blows as it takes to knock him off his tempter’s track.

Think of the person getting caught in a sudden downpour. So long as he stays out in the open, it will not take long until he is completely drenched, soaked from head to toe. But if he seeks shelter, a covering over his head or a large umbrella, just as quickly is he protected from the relentless raindrops. So when we humble ourselves beneath God’s hand, our pride no longer in the picture, we see how powerful and protecting God’s hand really is. And as we do so more and more, our faith is at its best because it is relies on God’s mighty hand instead of our own frail fists.

The second way to firm up our footing is to “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (v.7). Worry, anxiety, concern over the day-to-day or the long-term unknowns – when we insist on carrying these things around with us everywhere, it’s like we’re walking around in lead boots, dragging our feet one sloooooow step at a time. Could you imagine fighting an enemy if you had heavy feet? How could you ever expect to have a chance while insisting on being weighed down by worries? Your enemy would cut you down immediately. That’s what Satan would do. 

So get rid of them. Gather up all of that anxiety and drape it over Jesus. He can carry it. And, when you see him do just that, you are reminded about how much he cares for you. And when you are reminded about how much he cares for you, you are rejuvenated. You are refreshed. You are strengthened. You are standing firmly on the right footing – the footing of faith. Depend on his deliverance in the time of temptation, and you will not be disappointed. For he has already delivered you, and will do it again as many times as it takes until he can deliver you home.

Changed & Charged by Christ

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(2 Corinthians 5:14-21)

Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been referring to it as the “new” year, just we do every January when we switch out our completed calendars for new ones. But really, there is nothing intrinsically different between 2024 and 2023 other than the change of the last number. Just to prove my point, I went back and looked at my old calendar from last year and sure enough, there was also a January 21 in that year as well. On the last day of December, we celebrate the final hours of one year as we roll into a new year, but if you’ve ever noticed, there is no magical change that happens between 11:59 p.m. on December 31 and 12:00 a.m. on January 1. Often times the way we use the word “new” may not be in the strictest sense of the word at all, but may refer to something used that is just “new” to us. But even when something is genuinely new, the novelty of newness wears off rather quickly.

But as it’s used in our verses from 2 Corinthians, “new” represents that most dramatic change anyone could ever experience. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (v.17). The newness a person undergoes in Christ is the most radical change that can happen! It starts with trading in self-made notions and narratives of who we are and who God is for reality. Like a magician’s disappearing act, the old “pretty good” or “better than others” version we perceived of ourselves has suddenly vanished. And as it turns out, the depiction of God we had constructed who is just tickled as long as everyone is trying their best and doesn’t bother getting bent out of shape over sin – such a god doesn’t actually exist.

No, the change we’ve experienced started with the revelation of who we really are and who God really is: real sinners absolutely repugnant to a righteous God. Only then, though, is the full picture able to be seen, as the gospel reveals God’s real love that makes us righteous saints. Who we were is not who we are. Condemned sinners have become confirmed saints. The old has gone, the new is here! It’s true! In place of the damnation we deserved is the salvation that God has secured! Praise God, we have been changed in the most profound way possible – and that for eternity!

That change changes how we look at other people. “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view” (v.16). We see people differently because what Christ has done for us makes us different! We don’t see people the same way we used to. And it’s true. People who used to make our blood boil are souls for whom Jesus died. People who are polar opposites of us politically are souls for whom Jesus died. People who have no filter almost every time they open their mouths are souls for whom Jesus died. People we would otherwise want absolutely nothing to do with in life are souls for whom Jesus died. I see all of them differently now because I am different. I have changed. And I attach to them a value not that the world does (or doesn’t!), but the value of priceless worth that God attaches to each soul. This changed view we have of others also happens to line up very well with one of the reasons God changes us in Christ: we’re charged. 

When we’re changed, it leads us to see that we’re also charged; we are entrusted with a task. But before we further explore what that means, we must recognize that the sequence of these two things – being changed and charged – matters. The order in which they happen matters.

If we jump right to Jesus’ charge before we’re changed, everything is backwards. We then view Jesus’ charge and our ability to carry it out as the prerequisite to God changing how he feels about us. If we do a good job, then he favors us; if we don’t, then he doesn’t. We see his charge to us as an obligation to be fulfilled so that our status before God changes. We cling to Christ’s charge in hopes that our accomplishment of it might cause him to think and feel differently about us. But that’s backwards.

And it is this confusion that turns off many to Christianity – and understandably so! Their perception is that God lays out his demands and prohibitions for us to abide by, favoring only those who follow through with them. Christianity is viewed as a restrictive form of religious oppression or enslavement that only the weak, the disenfranchised, or the brainwashed are sucked into. Then, led blindly by a cult-like commitment, Christians try to satisfy a domineering God in the hope of achieving a better status in the life to come, a hope that is based on how well they adhere to his charge of unquestioning obedience.

So it is instrumental that we understand the proper order: changed first, then charged. Paul stated what initiated that change in verse 15: “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” First, Jesus died, and he died for all – not just for those who made his list. Not just for the obedient. Not just for the religious. Not just for Christians. He died… for all. That death changed our lives so that we live for the one who died for us. And living for the one who died for us means desiring to conduct our lives according to his will. 

What is his will? What has Jesus charged us, his believers to do? “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (v.18-20).

The word Paul uses – reconciliation – isn’t used as much outside of the Bible, so maybe it helps us to think of the word “restore” instead, even if it isn’t an exact synonym. We are familiar with the need for old, uncared for, or broken items or pieces of furniture to be restored, or made like new again.

That restoration (reconciliation) is exactly what we need. God’s creation, including mankind, was perfect right from the beginning, just as it was when he created it by the power of his spoken word. But sin changed that and brought everything, including mankind, into ruin and destruction. Our sin separated us from God, cutting us off from him forever.

But Paul is saying that God changed our eternity by reconciling – restoring – us through Jesus Christ. If it was our sin that separated us from God, and at the cross Jesus rendered full payment for our sin, every last one, then there is no longer any sin remaining to separate us from God. We have been reconciled – restored – into a perfectly lovely relationship with him.

Now, having discovered this lifeline of grace for ourselves, and fully believing it, God charges us to make it known to everyone else, to be, as he calls us, “Christ’s ambassadors.” We have been restored – but so have all people; now we – you and me, those who know it – are called to go out and make it known to those who don’t.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that God would charge us with such a task because anyone in sales knows that the absolute best way to sell a product is through personal testimony or word-of-mouth. A person who has experienced the benefits of a product or service is much more likely to lead someone else to purchase that product or service because they are the proof that it works. An infomercial including the science and the data validating the effectiveness of a product or service might be fascinating, but that alone will not typically generate sales. A humorous commercial might garner some attention about the product or service, but it doesn’t generally drive significant sales, either. But get someone personally talking about and demonstrating all the ways the product or service works for them, and people will buy it. 

You are the proof that Jesus Christ does what he says he will, that he works, that Christianity “works” (to use a term that appeals to our pragmatic culture)!

Others see it in your thoughtfulness expressed to them and your kind words of support. They notice it in how calm you are in stressful, anxious moments. They get wind of it by how quick you are to forgive, how loving you are even toward those unloving toward you. It stands out as you relay the joy and privilege of getting to be a parent raising kids, rather than the complaining and the burdens they hear from other parents.

And, lest we all overlook the signature characteristic of Christianity, they hear genuine apologies and a willingness to say sorry and own up to our mistakes and our sins. We confess to others when we have done wrong or wronged them personally. Who better to serve as ambassadors than those who know first hand the joy of living in reconciliation with God?!? Who better to carry out this important charge than those who have so clearly been changed?!?

Paul is even modeling what it looks like for those who have been changed to then carry out this charge. As an ambassador, He addresses his readers in the same way he is encouraging them to address others: “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (v.20-21).

Paul is not just talking the talk, but walking the walk by demonstrating exactly what he’s calling us to do. He is teaching his hearers about reconciliation and as one who has himself been changed – reconciled – he is carrying out his charge of encouraging the Corinthians to be reconciled. He invites them to believe that what God did for Paul in Christ Jesus, he also did for them (“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ…”).

Changed, Paul carries out his charge. Let us follow suit, always making certain that grace – and not guilt – is what compels us to carry out that charge.

As we carry out this charge, remember the driving force behind it. Read the first five words of verse fourteen again: “For Christ’s love compels us.” We could imagine a lot of other words or phrases in place of “Christ’s love,” that could prompt us. But Paul didn’t write that “guilt” compels us. It isn’t “the hope that we’re good enough for God” that compels us. It isn’t the impossible desire to please everyone else that compels us. It isn’t even that we love God so so so so much that compels us.

Nope. It’s Christ’s love – his love for us – that compels us. He loves you. That’s all I need to hear for me to want to change the world for Christ, just as he has changed me with his love. 

The Glory & Grace of the Gospel

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(2 Thessalonians 2:13-17)

Jim Harbaugh, the polarizing head coach of the National Champion University of Michigan football team, has established the practice of asking his players and fans the same question. He brings up the question so frequently that the response is chanted in unison as if just one booming voice. His question? “Who has it better than us?” The response of the crowd? “Nobody!”

As Christians, fresh off another celebration of Christmas and again seeing Jesus reveal himself as the world’s Savior, we can’t help but ask the same question: “Who has it better than us?” “Nobody!”

But when we consider who we were on our own, who we are now in Christ, and what that means for our present and future, do we really know how good we have it? Do we?

Paul wanted to make sure the Christians in Thessalonica knew how good they had it – and why. It wasn’t because of their own achievements or some outstanding accomplishment on their part, but rather because of everything God had done for them through Jesus Christ. So when Paul celebrates them, what he is really celebrating is what God has done for them. He thanks God for them – because they are loved, they are chosen, they are firstfruits, they are saved. And he recounts what brought all of this about: the gospel.

Simply put, the gospel was/is everything. There would be no letter, there would be no celebration, there would be no congregation of believers even gathered in Thessalonica, if not for the gospel. Paul hits that point home directly after all of the reasons to celebrate who they are because of what God has done when he wrote, “He called you to this through our gospel…” (v.14). The gospel was why they were who they were and the gospel is what God used to call them to be who they were.

That is the case for all Christians. Anyone who belongs to God, anyone who has ever believed, including anyone who is right now basking in the sinless joy of heaven while we wait eagerly for the Last Day, is so because God called them.

It’s how he called you and it’s how he will continue to call others. In the Word of God, God has revealed that the Bible is how he has chosen to call us. The gospel message – the good news for sinners that forgiveness of sins and salvation are ours through Jesus – is what God uses to call us today and tomorrow and until he comes again. This good news is God himself calling sinners to him for refuge and rescue. So what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians he might as well be writing to us and to anyone else who ever comes to faith in Jesus: “He called you to this through our gospel…” (v.14). 

Since the gospel is how God calls everyone – anyone – to faith in him, then in that gospel we have everything we need to flourish in the ministry that Jesus has given us. Go then and tell people the good news that Jesus is their Savior because he paid for their sins. That’s it. It’s that simple.

Don’t complicate it. Don’t skirt around it. Proclaim it – so that God can call others to faith through it. Don’t argue about it. Don’t apologize for it. Don’t avoid it. Don’t try to sweeten it. Just proclaim it. Just share it. Just pass it on to others, fully trusting that God calls others through the gospel – and only through the gospel.

What makes this gospel so amazing? Through it we know and will continue to know glory and grace. 

The rest of what Paul writes at the end of verse 14 ought to blow your mind. “He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.14). What?!? You realize that when we speak of the glory of Jesus Christ that we are on another whole level of glory, right??? Paul described it in his letter to the Philippians, explaining the glory that would follow Jesus’ incarnation (i.e. God becoming man) on earth. 

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). Jesus is the glory of God the Father! Every knee bows and every tongue confesses who Jesus is – and YOU share in that glory! Page through John’s visions in the Book of Revelation and see the glory of every creature lavishing praise and acclaim on Jesus on his throne – and YOU share in that glory!

Imagine being brought up on the stage for the Golden Globes or Academy Awards, or with a team after they won the championship game. You had absolutely nothing to do with winning, but they still call you up on the stage to bask in the glorious celebration. Although you made zero contributions, nonetheless, there you are, relishing the glory that someone else earned for you. Christ earned a far greater glory, and he shares it with you!

If there is no greater glory we could ever experience aside from the glory we share in Christ, then why is it that we still seek out self glory? Isn’t that really what we’re doing when our pride is wounded or when we insist on demanding a certain level of recognition or acknowledgment for what we’ve done? Why do we resent the teacher for not rewarding our hard work? Why do we feel that the coach only seems to harp on our mistakes but ignores our contributions? After so many years and all I’ve done for my company, why does the boss still hardly give me the time of day? Why won’t my spouse give me the respect I deserve for all that I do for us? I never get recognized for anything I do at my church.

Friends, do we forget the glory that we share with Christ? How could any of these things, or even the sum of them all together, ever amount to the glory that is already ours in Christ?!? And that is why the gospel is so amazing. We could not know of this glory that is ours with Jesus apart from the gospel. 

That same gospel doesn’t just assure us of the glory we’ll share with Christ; it also reveals the radical side of God that is responsible for that glory, which is totally and completely unique to Christianity: grace.

Christians are familiar with the word “grace.” But if we aren’t careful, something so profound as grace, so radically life-changing and unparalleled anywhere else in the world like grace, can become… ho-hum. When that happens, grace seems less and less amazing. Its usage can become so routine and so frequent in how we speak that we begin to be less in awe of what it really is. So how do guard against losing that awe of grace? How do we recapture its greatness? How does it crash into us a like an ocean wave smashing into a rocky cliff so that we are left completely drenched by it, refreshed and and re-awakened?

We remember what makes grace so amazing. Christian author, Randy Alcorn, shared a story about that very hymn, Amazing Grace:  

Before I spoke at a conference, a soloist sang one of my favorite songs, “Amazing Grace.” It was beautiful. Until she got to the tenth word. “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a soul like me!” My heart sank. The word wretch had been edited out! I thought about John Newton, the songwriter. This former slave trader, guilty of the vilest sins, knew he was a wretch. And that’s what made God’s grace so “amazing.” Mind-boggling. Knockdown awesome. If we’re nothing more than morally neutral “souls,” do you see what that does? It guts grace. (The Grace and Truth Paradox: Responding with Christlike Balance)

When we define grace as God’s undeserved love, we have to remember what makes it so undeserved: we do. If grace is just “God’s generic love in general,” it loses so much. It is love that is undeserved. It is love for wretches. It is love for the worst of the worst, love for me. No matter the sin, there is always more grace. We sin in ways old and new. We sin in ways planned and premeditated. We sin in ways unexpected and even unknown. And grace covers all of it.

And it is the good news of the gospel that assures us that God’s love for wretches will never be exhausted. It is that gospel which takes the ugly reality of my sin – all of it – and crosses it out at Calvary, at Jesus’ crucifixion. It takes the whole record of my sin, every last sin that I’ve stored up over the course of my life, and completely empties it, just as Jesus did his tomb.

Dear Christian, who has it better than us? Nobody. Now if that’s true (it is!) and if you believe it (you do!), then let it be plain as day in how we live our lives, just as Paul encouraged: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word” (v.16-17). 

It Begins with Baptism

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(Romans 6:1-11)

Every amazing contribution that mankind has had throughout history has at least one thing in common: a beginning. Anything meaningful and significant happened because someone started. The first step was taken. The rough draft was drawn up. The initial trial run took place. While the first attempt is rarely the final attempt, since polishing and trial and error are typically required to fine-tune things, none of that happens without a start, without a beginning. Countless good thoughts or ideas never amounted to anything because without taking a first step or beginning, those thoughts and ideas remained just that – thoughts and ideas. Beginnings are hugely important. 

Beginnings are also undoubtedly on our minds at this start of the new year. There is a 100% chance that every one of us will experience new beginnings this year. Some of them will be by choice; others will not. The start of high school or college will mark a new beginning. A new beginning may be in store regarding a job or relationship.

But 2024 may also bring the beginning of a new treatment plan or surgery. For those having lost loved ones, this year will include new responsibilities that used to be carried out either by or with that loved one. Beginnings, both the ones we choose as well as those we don’t, can serve as major turning points in our lives. 

The start of Jesus’ public ministry was one such turning point. As he carried out his work as preacher and teacher of the Word and Savior of the world, how did it all begin? With his baptism. 

During the season of Epiphany, we celebrate that the child born in Bethlehem was born to serve as the Savior not just of one nation or race, but of all people everywhere. And the start of Jesus’ saving work of everyone everywhere began at his baptism. In the days of the early Christian church, in one of his sermons that he preached in the house of a Gentile named Cornelius, Peter highlighted the importance of Jesus’ baptism when he said, “You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him” (Acts 10:37-38).

Jesus’ baptism was the beginning. It marked him as loved and chosen by the Father. It anointed him with the Holy Spirit, arming him with the power necessary to take the battle to the devil, healing the hurting and freeing those under his control. It was a milestone in his perfect life of obedience, not because he needed to be baptized for the forgiveness of his own sins, but to give power to our baptism for the washing away of our sins.

Baptism didn’t just mark the beginning of Jesus’ ministry; it also marked the beginning of his work in many of our lives as well. Baptism marked us as loved and chosen by the Father. Baptism anointed us with the Holy Spirit, arming us with the power necessary to continue taking the battle to the devil. Baptism was a milestone, a turning point in our lives, because through it God applied Christ’s perfect life of obedience and washed away our sins.

When others limit baptism’s significance to only being reflective of our devotion or commitment to God, they bottle up baptism and the full measure of its power. Baptism is so much more than our effort at grabbing God’s attention so he takes note of our intended allegiance to him! Rather, it is God grabbing us and claiming us as his own to demonstrate how devoted he is to us and to our salvation. Can you think of a better way to begin?!?

There is something we’re drawn to about beginnings. They hold out promise. Beginnings make us optimistic. We get excited about possibilities. Think of the beginning words of a new book or opening scenes of a movie that instantly grab you. Think of that great first day of work or school that far exceeded what you had expected. We love beginnings.

But as important as they are, beginnings are also just that: beginnings. While a beginning can offer unlimited possibilities and potential, what happens after the beginning is going to determine the finish. The statistics of failed new year resolutions serve as a proof that what happens after the new beginning matters very much! Many a sports team has started strong at the beginning only to fall apart after that. Many businesses get off to a flying start at the beginning but still end up bankrupt and broke. What happens after the beginning matters, too!

So, Christian, how has it been going in your life since your beginning, since your baptism? What happens after the beginning matters, too! Like the doting grandparents commenting on how big their grandchildren have grown, would God say the same about you, spiritually speaking? Would he look at how far you’ve come since your baptism and say, “My, how you’ve grown!”?

Are the fruits of the Spirit more abundant in your life, or would you have trouble even being able to list one of the fruits? Are you more likely to invite a friend to church because you’re so excited for them to experience what you have in Jesus? Or, do you tend to be the one explaining to others that a person doesn’t have to go to church to be a Christian? Do you find yourself proud of how consistently you give an offering but quickly overlook that your giving hasn’t increased in years? Do you view needy people as an obstacle or an opportunity? Is your prayer life as active as your social media accounts or is it more like 9-1-1, reserved only for emergencies? Do you have a devotional life? Is it daily? Is it driven by duty or delight? Are you more forgiving? More loving? More discerning? More humble? 

Which one struck a chord? If you need help, it may have been the thing I wrote that caused you to think, “there he goes with that again.”

When we take the time to assess our spiritual growth – which is itself an indicator of growth, as so many don’t ever even bother to do that! – not only do we see areas where little to no growth has occurred, but we also see troubling trends of digression. Instead of making progress, we digress!

Forgive us, Lord, for our lack of attention to the most important matter of our spiritual growth! Don’t treat us with the same indifference that we treat our sanctification! Don’t hold against us that we have made so little of our Christian living that started out with such promise at our baptism! Don’t give us the wretched end we deserve for taking for granted the beginning you graciously worked in us!

And here is what makes baptism so profound and powerful: it isn’t just the beginning; it is everything after as well!

How can this be? Because by your baptism you are handcuffed to Christ. What was his is yours. When he died, was buried, and rose, via your baptism, you died, were buried, and rose. Paul put it this way: “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:3-4). New life! New beginning! Newness in Christ each and every day – all of which began at our baptism. 

Again, how can this be? Paul explains, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin” (v.6-7). The old sinner in you was nailed to the cross with Christ. So if that sin has been paid for, then you are no longer a slave to it. If you have already died – which you have, with Christ – then you have been set free from sin.

Now let us make sure we understand the full extent of this freedom that our baptism offers. Baptism isn’t just freedom from the condemnation of sin; it is also freedom from the control of sin! That accuser Satan cannot charge you with sin that has already been paid for and forgiven. By that same token, sin that has already been paid for and forgiven has no power or control over you, either! You are free to choose a different path, the path of righteousness.

At your baptism, the Holy Spirit didn’t just zap you with some spiritual superpower; he completely changed who you are. See in these verses that Paul is revealing how powerful baptism is – it doesn’t just give you the power or ability for good in your life, but also entirely changed your status. You were a slave to sin with a reservation in hell. Now, though, you are free and to you belongs a reservation in heaven, where Jesus still lives in service to God. 

You know the Wanted posters from the wild west. They showed a picture of of an at-large criminal with the promise of a reward if the criminal was turned in – whether dead or alive. One or the other – it didn’t matter, so long as the criminal was no longer a risk. 

In baptism, we aren’t dead or alive, but rather dead and alive. “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v.11). You were baptized, but that was just the beginning. Because of it, you are now very much alive to God in Christ Jesus. This year, perhaps more than any other, let’s begin to live like we’re alive in Christ – because by virtue of your baptism, you are!