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Tag: grace

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The Grace of Giving Generously

“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” Now may He who supplies seed to the Sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:6-15 NKJV)

Giving because God gave is the greatest expression of our faith, love, and gratitude toward God. In giving, we reflect the generous heart of our Creator, who has given us the greatest gift of all: His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The passage before us is often used in a sermon to promote tithing in the church.

Most people understand tithing as a demanded duty rather than a voluntary expression of gratitude and worship to our most Holy God.

In my younger days, I delivered papers for three local newspaper outlets, mowed lawns in the summer, and shoveled snow from driveways every winter – this was how I earned money. When the holidays came around, it became my greatest joy to spend the money I made on gifts for the people I loved – especially my mom. My mom was a generous woman. She went out of her way to make birthdays and holidays special for our family. My mom deserved to be showered with gifts. She did so much to care for us all. But during the holidays, it was not her worthiness that drove me with joy to find the best gift for her – it was my love. She did not demand my gift, nor did my dad insist that I have one for her – I did it from a happy and generous heart of love and appreciation for her.

In my mind, our giving to God ought to be just as sincere, voluntary, generous, and joyful as that of a loving child for his or her parents.

The Grace of Giving

(2 Cor. 8:2,7) “Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality…But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.”

The church in Macedonia was a general term for an association of three churches in the region: The Berean church, the church at Philippi, and the church at Thessalonica. Their “trial of affliction” was the persecution that they were suffering for faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Despite their hardship and “deep poverty,” the believers in this region joyfully expressed the grace of God through their own generous gift of grace to a group of people whom they had never met.

The Corinthian church along with the other gentile churches which Paul had established throughout the Graeco-Roman empire were made aware of the needs of the church at Jerusalem by the apostle. “The ministering to the saints” (2 Cor. 9:1) referred to a collection Paul had commanded in (1 Cor. 16:1-4) to be set aside in every church (in Galatia, Macedonia, and Corinth) on the Lord’s day and dispensed annually for (Romans 15:26) “the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.”

Paul’s concern in the first five verses about the readiness of the offering at Corinth serves as a reminder that we too should always be ready and willing to give.

Generosity Begins in the Heart

(vv.6-7) “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

In (v.6-7) Paul seems to be drawing from (Prov. 11:24-26) to appeal to the Corinthians:

“There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself. The people will curse him who withholds grain, But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.”

Paul and the writer of Proverbs used agricultural terms to say that “the size of the harvest corresponds to the scope of the sowing.”  Another way to put it positively is this: sow a blessing, reap a blessing. Consider these words from (Deut.15:7, 10-11):

“If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother…you shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand.  For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore, I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’”

It is worth noting that with the words “so let each one give,” Paul sets an expectation for those who have received grace from the Lord to give. While this is a command, Paul tempers it by saying, “as he purposes in his heart.” This phrase might be better communicated as: “let each one give as he is CONVICTED in his heart.” Paul’s intention was for the believers in Corinth to experience blessings through their generosity (Prov. 19:17; 22:9); blessings “which would not occur if they gave reluctantly or under compulsion because God loves a cheerful giver.”[i] Like our obedience to every other command of Jesus, giving must be a volitional response to God’s grace and command. The phrase “for God loves a cheerful giver” certainly suggests that good works done in Jesus’ name please God (Matt. 5:16, Acts 20:35), but it seems more accurate to associate generosity with one of the identifying traits of the Christian.

The Blessings of Giving: The Giver is Blessed with More to Give

(vv.8-11a) “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” Now may He who supplies seed to the Sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality.”

You have no doubt heard the expression “you can’t outgive God.” For clarity, the phrase should read, “you can’t outgive God’s SUPPLY.” Generous giving is derived from the grace of God, who makes His gracious supply of all needed things super-abound toward us so that every generous giver would super-abound for every good work or charitable deed.

Consider the giving of the poor widow of whom Jesus took note in (Mark 12:41-44), she put into the offering all that she had. Likewise, the widow of Zarephath who having only (1 Kings 17:12) “a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar” made a cake from it for the prophet Elijah believing the promise He spoke from the Lord (v.14): “The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.” Both of these women believed that God’s grace would supply their need because they held His gifts with an open hand. Paul taught as much to the church at Philippi when he wrote (Phil. 4:19): “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” As that congregation continued to generously give to the needs of others, Paul was confident, as he was in Corinth, that God would graciously “fill them up again.” Not only does God bless the giver with more to give in (v.9) but Paul’s invocation in (v.10) entreats God to “multiply the seed which these believers have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness.” That phrase implies that material seed – like these shoe boxes, may reap a spiritual harvest. Such is the goal of all giving in the church – whether a tithe or a grace-gift, whether an act of kindness, a word of encouragement, or a moment of vulnerability as you bear witness to another person about the gift of God available to all through the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Blessings of Giving: Needs are Met and God is Glorified

(vv.11b-15) “…while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

Paul had a dual motive in taking up the “collection for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” On the one hand he says in (v. 11b) that it supplies the needs of the saints, and with his words in (v.10) the needs of potential saints as well but on the other hand, the “administration of this service” was to validate and serve as proof (v.13) to the Jewish believers at Jerusalem of Paul’s God given ministry to the Gentiles and to their conversion and confession of faith in the Lord Jesus.

The gratitude which generous giving produces is profound.

The recipients of the grace of giving pray down God’s blessing on those who had generously and sacrificially given for their needs (v.14). More importantly, since it is God who is ministering through the giver, super-abundant thanksgivings are lifted up to God. The final, celebratory phrase of (v.15) simply declares that no man has dived to the depths of the fullness of God’ grace – the half has yet to be told! “One cannot read these two chapters of Pauls’ second letter to Corinth without gaining a new attitude toward giving. In the Christian life, there is no such thing as “material” and “spiritual.” All that we have comes from God, and all that we have must be used for spiritual ends. Paul teaches that giving is not a burden but a blessing. He shows us that true Christian giving enriches the life and opens the fountains of God’s blessings. Giving is a grace (8:1, 6–7, 9, 19; 9:8 and 14), and the Christian who understands something of grace will understand how to give.”[ii]

[i] Beal, M. S. (2016). Corinth. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, L. Wentz, E. Ritzema, & W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Lexham Press.

[ii] Wiersbe, W. W. (1992). Wiersbe’s expository outlines on the New Testament (p. 501). Victor Books.

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Considering Things Which Made Peace with God Possible (part 2)

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, tears streaming down His cheek He considered both the first Passover as well as the reason He was there that day. I believe that He remembered “the things that made for the peoples peace” when they were in bondage in Egypt – two things then made for their peace:

…God’s hand and sanctified blood

“Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying…” (Exodus 12:1)

“‘… I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:12–13)

As Jesus rode in to the city of Jerusalem, the place where God said he would place His name (2 Kings 21:4), and the place, which after having been renewed one day in a distant future, God will dwell with men face to face (Rev.21:2); He wept because He saw that just as the people had seemed to have forgotten what God had done to deliver them on the actual day of Passover they also did not recognize the things which God was doing in the moment of Christ’s “triumphal entrance” into the city to make peace with God possible for them.

You see, just as in the first Passover, two things were about to work together again for the peace of God’s chosen people:

…God’s hand and sanctified blood.

When we talk about God’s hand we should understand that we’re speaking of God’s strength – He delivered Israel from Egypt by His strong and mighty arm:

“Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.” (Exodus 6:6)

He brought the plagues upon Egypt and later in His continuing act of deliverance toward His people He would part the waters of the sea and enable the people to cross the sea bottom as if on dry land. 

So, let me ask you something…was there power in the blood of the Passover lamb?

“No.” No there was no power in the blood of the Passover lamb; it’s blood, painted on the lintel and posts of the door (Ex. 12:22) was symbolic of the obedience of those who put it there according to God’s command. There was no power to save in that blood but when God saw the blood, recognizing and honoring both the peoples obedience and His own promise, He spared them from the destroyer (see Exodus 12:23) covering their door Himself.  The lamb’s blood was sanctified by God but the power to save was His alone…

…in Jesus Christ both God’s hand and sanctified blood are present.

Jesus is the power of God – today He not only sits at God’s right hand but is in fact God’s right hand man – He is the strength of God and unlike the blood of the Passover lamb Jesus’ blood has power – power to do more than cover one’s sins it cleanses us from sin (1 John 1:7) and removes sins penalty (Ephesians 1:7), power to give one a right standing before God, power to deliver one from death…Jesus’ blood has power.  Here’s the thing, the Bible states that “… according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22).  In order for the power of Jesus’ blood to be effective in our lives to grant us forgiveness and bring us to peace it had to be shed.

Jesus wept not only because He was about to give His life for the peace and deliverance of his people and they neither knew it nor cared; He also wept because He knew the price that all who reject Him will pay.

It was by God’s hand and sanctified blood that His grace and forgiveness is ours today. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…” (Ephesians 2:8), praise Him for “His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)

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An Outburst of Mercy

You may have heard about what happened during the sentencing phase of a trial involving ex-Dallas police officer Amber Guyger found guilty of murdering a man named Botham Jean in his own apartment. Some people say that this was a racial issue between black and white, some say that the sentence is an overdue condemnation of racial profiling and the use of force by law enforcement but the brother of the victim, Brandt Jean in his heartfelt words to the convicted ex police officer made it about something more. (Please watch the video below)

That kind of mercy is UNCOMMON not only to the world at large but even among the followers of Christ.

WHY?

Revisiting the Old Testament book of the prophet Jonah, I think we find an answer to the question. Jonah, you might remember was not asked but commanded to go to Nineveh (see Jonah 1:2) but instead of obeying the Lord, the prophet in essence went in the exact opposite direction (see 1:3) toward Tarshish. The reason for his disobedient refusal to go to Nineveh may be understood by the words we read in (Jonah 4:2):

“So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.”

Jonah was a faithful Israelite, he saw the Ninevites as brutal enemies of his people worthy of God’s judgement but his disobedience was proof that he was willing to allow his patriotism to supersede his duty to God. As (Jonah 3:10) indicates, the prophet knew that the purpose in God’s declaring his impending judgment on those people carried with it the ulterior motive of mercy:

“Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.”

Jonah fled and disobeyed the command of God because he could not hold out mercy to a people as detestable to him as the Ninevites.

How about you and me?

We live in a nation so divided today. Hate – some real, some imagined and some invented keeps people partitioned, separated and segregated from one another and unwilling to extend the two things every one of us needs – mercy and grace.

Is there a group of people, a political leader or party or a type of person that you could not be merciful toward – someone for whom you hope the worst or at the very least don’t care about at all? Warren Wiersbe reminds us that “it is good for God’s people to remember what it is like to be lost and without hope.” He said, “How easy it is for us to grow hardened toward sinners and lose our compassion for the lost.”

Brandt Jean lost his brother and instead of condemning his brothers killer, he hugged her, wished the best for her and extended Christ to her – in one act he incensed those driving the narrative of hate with his expression of Christ like love while inspiring the rest of us by his example.

One thing I know, whether you are a merciful or a merciless person, each of us will one day be in need of some grace or some mercy at the hands of someone we harmed or offended and it is this reality towards which I would like to offer some food for thought from the word of God.

(Matt. 5:7) “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.”

(Luke 6:31) “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”

(Mark 11:25) ““And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”

(James 2:13) “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

In the comments about the video of Brendt Jean’s outburst of mercy on his brothers killer one man said, “you’re a better man than me.” Maybe we wouldn’t do what Brandt Jean did but that wouldn’t be because we couldn’t – John wrote in (John 1:16): “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” Join me in taking a lesson from our Lord, taught through the brokenness of a violently bereaved young man – try to fill your world with grace and mercy instead of hate and division.

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The Cornerstone of Eternal Security

Blind.  That’s the best way to explain our lives before Christ – we were spiritually blind.

We thought that we were ok – no better and no worse than the next guy; we hadn’t killed anyone after all and on the whole felt that we were pretty good people. I’d say that our blindness was more of a color blindness – you know, the kind of sight that allows you to see things but just not entirely as they are; or maybe it was more like tunnel-vision – we only see what is right in front of us. In reality, both are true to an extent but they don’t really hit the nail on the head: spiritually speaking, people DO NOT see things entirely as they are, not only that but their spiritual vision is further hampered by their limited perspective and understanding; most of all they are literally blind to the fact that they have a need that God saw fit to meet from the beginning of time.

The Bible states in (Revelation 13:8) that Jesus, “the Lamb of God” was “slain from the foundation of the world.” In other words, in God’s grace and omniscience a plan was set in motion from BEFORE time began to redeem people who had yet to be created. The apostle Peter says in (1 Peter 1:20) that Jesus (the Lamb of God) was “foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”

Why? Why, should be the question you ask when you read such words.

The answer pertains to the other blind-spot in our spiritual vision – our need. Most of us didn’t know Adam from…well, Adam and many still don’t know today that as the pater familias of us all, his sin and the curse that resulted from it has been inbred into and applied towards every single man, woman and child of his race. Adam wasn’t a Jew, wasn’t Greek, wasn’t a Muslim, a Christian, an African American, Caucasian or Hispanic – he was the first man and he is the human father of the human race. He doubted God’s goodness and disobeyed (along with his wife Eve) the clear instruction of the Lord (see Genesis 3). His sin changed our standing before God. The Bible says in (Romans 3:23) that “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and that the payment or “wages for sin is death” but through Jesus Christ a gift has been given – “eternal life” at the expense of the life of the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Jesus wasn’t killed in eternity past; He was killed right smack dab in the middle of time – at “just the right time” or “in due time” the Bible says in (Romans 5:6) but it was for grace that He died – grace towards all of Adam’s race. Grace towards you.

Still we couldn’t see. He rose again from the dead (see John 20-21) sealing His promise of eternal life to all who believe (see John 3:16 and John 11:25-26) and still we couldn’t see. We have had the word of God concerning Jesus for over 2,000 years – we can all read what I’ve written here for ourselves in the pages of scripture but most don’t because most don’t see their need of grace as I said in the beginning of this article. In God’s grace, after Jesus had finished his redemptive work and returned to His Father (see Acts 1:1-11) the Holy Spirit of God began to “draw” sinners to God – to open their eyes to the fact they were sinners in need of God’s grace (see John 6:44; John 16:8-10) so that when their eyes ARE opened, they may “call upon the Name of the Lord and be saved” (Romans 10:13, see also 1 Corinthians 6:11).

When you have called upon the Lord, receiving both spiritual sight and life and having then been “sealed by the Spirit for the day of redemption” (see Ephesians 4:30) you become eternally secure by the grace of God (see Ephesians 2:8-10).

The life of Jesus Christ – His blood sacrifice, His resurrection from the dead and the grace He makes available to each of us IS the cornerstone of the doctrine of eternal security; without the grace of God made available to us through His Son, eternal security – a peace and a place with God forever could NEVER be possible.

Let the Lord open your eyes and see all that has been done to make such a peace possible for you…

*Yes, last week I did write on this same topic, stating that this week I would write about one of the dangers of an immature understanding of eternal security. But I realized that I needed to establish the foundation of God’s grace upon which the doctrine is built first. In the next post, we WILL address some of the concerns which a faulty understanding of this grace can produce in our thinking.

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Tears of Grace

I heard something the other day that I hadn’t considered before concerning our tears before the Lord. King David wrote in (Psalm 56:8) that the Lord collects our collective tears in a bottle; that is, that every tear of every child of God who has ever or will ever live, every one shed in grief, sorrow, loneliness and despair is being collected for the day when He makes (Isaiah 61:3) “beauty for ashes” and “joy for mourning” and causes the days of “our light affliction” (2 Corinthians 4:17) to be over shadowed by an “exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

But the same Bible which declares that also depicts the Lord Jesus as weeping.

Was He in despair? Yes and no. Was He grieved ? Again, yes and no. Was He afraid? Once more, yes and no, and to that last one some might be tempted to defend the Lord’s mightiness and say that our God is NEVER afraid. I say to you that in the garden, it was the human side of Jesus (the Son of Man) which cried out to His Father in (Luke 22:42), “If it is Your will, take this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will but Your’s, be done.” It was as the Son of God (the divine side) that Jesus earlier had said, ““Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.” (John 12:27)

So often, when we see the Lord crying, whether at the grave site of Lazarus or upon His humbly grand entrance into Jerusalem a week before His crucifixion, it is not for Himself. His are tears of empathy, compassion and yes despair – despair because those He came for were missing the point. He said then in (Luke 19:41-44):

“If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.“

God’s grace was costing Jesus everything and the ones He came for were missing it – are you?

I have a terrible tendency to hurt my wife, not directly, not with hands or even words but by my actions I sometimes wound her deeply. A week ago as the message on grace was concluding and a time of reflection was called for in advance of the Lord’s supper I saw her – she was wiping away tears as once again she both reflected on the costly grace of God towards her and His call for us to be gracious to one another. One more time she was being obedient to the Lord in showing grace to me.

We’ve all sung about grace – most of us are familiar with the hymn Amazing Grace and some of us have sung songs about grace like the one we sang today with lyrics like “grace – comes – like – a – wave – crash – ing – o – ver – me.” We sing as recipients of grace with joy and exuberant gratitude but what does the song of the giver sound like? How do you know when grace has gone out of you? How do you know when you have shown grace? If I may, you know when grace has gone out because often time grace hurts the giver.

We are all called to be reconcilers (see 2 Corinthians 5:18) in a general and evangelistic sense and also in our most personal relationships (see Ephesians 4:26, Malachi 2:14-15). Ask the man (like Hosea) or the woman who has ever been betrayed in a relationship and then reconciled and forgiven his or her mate if the grace of that forgiveness hurt them and you will understand that often grace hurts the giver.

In order to reconcile the world to Himself, Almighty God dispatched His only begotten Son on a mission of reconciliation which would cost both Father and Son everything. Without question, the humiliation, suffering and torture of the Lord Jesus hurt Him but it also hurt the Father deeply nevertheless, without that costly grace we would all still be doomed to eternal suffering in hell; without that costly grace, relationships would fail and families would fall apart – nothing good results when grace is absent.

On our behalf, Almighty God weighed the cost of His grace and sent His Son anyways.

I wonder, can we sing of the Lord’s amazing grace as genuinely having only received it or does the song become more meaningful when being gracious has cost us too?

I think grace means more when its recipients give it away…

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From Rags to Robes of Righteousness

Look at that picture, what do you see?

Did you come to Jesus as bankrupt as this man did? Oh, he wasn’t penniless, the man depicted in this picture was a spiritual leader in Israel – the high priest Joshua in the days of the prophet Zechariah. His bankruptcy was not financial it was spiritual and the rags he wore represented the loathsomeness of the sins of Israel (and his own) in God’s sight – he was performing his priestly ministry, praying for the sins of the people and his own.

But I want you to look again.

What you don’t see is Satan, the accuser of the brethren, standing beside this man ready to oppose him – ready to protest any grace which may be afforded on behalf of the man or the people by God and to mercilessly accuse him before the Lord. You don’t see him but he’s there.

Before I go further, let’s look for a minute at where in the Bible this “picture” can be found (Zechariah 3:1-5 NKJV):

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.”

In the passage, “The Angel of the Lord” stood before Joshua and rebuked the accuser but note what He did not do – He did not condemn Joshua, instead He pronounced over him the grace of God which Satan hates.

In the picture, you may have noticed that the Angel of the Lord is depicted to look much like we have imagined the Son of God – the Lord Jesus Christ looks like. The reason for this is simply that in the Old Testament, every reference to and appearance of “THE Angel of the Lord” is a reference to the preincarnate Christ. Remember that Jesus always was, always is and always will be (see Revelation 1:8); Jesus has no beginning or end, He was present at creation (see John 1:1-4, 9-10,12-14) and at various times in the OT (see Dan 3:24-25). He appeared before Hagar (the handmaiden of Sarah and the mother of Ishmael) in Genesis 16:7-11; before Abraham as he prepared to offer Issac as a sacrifice as God commanded (see Genesis 22:11-19) and before Moses at the burning bush (see Exodus 3:2); these are a few of the numerous Old Testament appearances of the Lord Jesus as THE Angel of the Lord.

Returning to the picture, Jesus (aka THE Angel of the Lord) is depicted to be covering the man’s filthy rags with what appears to be a scarlet robe. In the fourth verse of the passage we read, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will cloth you with rich robes.” All of us come to Jesus in the same way – dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) and, spiritually speaking, wearing the “filthy rags” of unrighteousness (Isaiah 64:6) but the Lord covers us as He did the man in the picture – in garments of salvation and the robe of His righteousness (see Isaiah 61:10).

You see, when I look at this picture I also see me – do you see you?

This picture is a powerful illustration of each of our lives the day we met Jesus. Now I may be projecting myself onto Joshua at this point but can you hear the man saying through his tears, “Me Lord?! Who am I that you should do this for me?” Can you see the humility of this man and the profound gaze of Him who is not afraid to make sinners His friends? His gaze is not to say “This robe is expensive, it cost Me My life – don’t mess it up!” but to say, “I am giving this to you because you need it and I love you.”

The grace of the Lord is costly! His righteousness is priceless, but the Lord will so clothe you if you will but turn to Him in faith.

To hear more on the subject of grace and Christ-likeness, click the link https://www.thetextmessages.org/sermons/striving-for-christ-likeness-pt-8/

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