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Tag: Jesus Christ

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Friday’s Only “Good” Because of Sunday

“What’s so good about Friday” asked the voice over the two way radio; the demands of an understaffed and overwhelming night shift had exasperated the man to the point of asking a question that I could not ignore.

So, what makes this particular Friday – good?

My honest answer and the answer of the scriptures is – nothing….nothings good about it….IF Sunday hadn’t come.

Let me ask you, if death had gotten the last word in Jesus’ life would there be any basis for our faith?

The answer comes from the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth where we read the following [1 Cor. 15:12-19] :

“Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”

Paul’s answer to our question is “No, there would be no basis for our faith at all if Jesus had not risen.”

The Passion Week as Jesus went through it was the conclusion of the Lord’s mission on earth, the fulfillment of His obsession with the work of His Father to redeem mankind. The Passion Week is, above all other descriptors –the week of Jesus’ most incredible suffering and cruelest torture as our substitute, in our place, paying the price for the sins of all mankind.

At His crucifixion, Jesus Christ was dishonored and humiliated, a fact which led one modern church historian, the late Dr. Bruce Shelly to make this statement:

“Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central event, the humiliation of its God.”

With His own blood mixed with the spit of His torturers clinging to and dripping from His face, falsely accused and mockingly adjudicated by the religious leadership of the day, Jesus was nailed to and hung from the cross to pay for the sins of mankind – yours, mine and everyone else”s.

The Apostle Paul said in (Colossians 2:14) that God in Christ had “wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.N

The “handwriting of requirements which were against us God nailed to the cross of Christ” was the Law of Moses, both the ceremonial and the moral code.   One commentator wrote:

“Three expressions describe the law: (1) it is written in ordinances, expressed in decrees and commandments; (2) it was against us, had a valid claim on us; (3) it was contrary to us, because we couldn’t meet the claim. Paul states that bond was: (1) blotted out; (2) taken out of the way; (3) and nailed to His cross. This was once-for-all removal (2 Cor 5:21; Eph 2:15–16; Gal 3:13). In the East, a bond is cancelled by nailing it to the post. Our bond of guilt was nailed to Christ’s cross.”[i]

In a very real sense Jesus became not only the perfect and final  Passover lamb but the perfect scapegoat and sin offering to God, slain to atone perfectly for our sin (Heb. 9:12) “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”  You and I once stood as debtors condemned under the Law of Moses – the Ten Commandments but Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses (Matt. 5:17) liberating us from condemnation and cancelling the debt against us.

The Psalmist wrote in (Psalm 30:5)

“For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.”

What’s so good about Friday? The supervisor who asked that question has, no doubt, long forgotten the answer I gave which resulted in a memorable silence on the usually crowded radio frequency. But I told him what I’m telling you: Friday is “good” because it was on that day that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and on Sunday, He arose from the grave alive again!

Apart from the resurrection, the Lord’s death would have been a painful moment of grief and loss for a handful of men and women who had loved and trusted in Him but because He did not remain dead – because He rose again both His death and His resurrection have impacted the lives of millions upon millions over the ages.

God has placed great significance upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ – He has seen to it that it is written (Romans 10:9-10):

“…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Apart from faith in the Risen Savior and His resurrection – you cannot be saved.

Death did not have the last word in our Savior’s life and I for one rejoice in that fact. The question is, will it have the last word in your life?  It doesn’t have to…you don’t have to die in your sins; you don’t have to face God’s judgment alone.  Jesus died for your sins as well as mine and he rose again to make everlasting life possible for you in Heaven with Him – all that is required of you to start off is faith. 

Joy awaits – will you trust Him today?

[i] Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (pp. 2461–2462). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

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The Moral of the Story

One of the greatest and most whimsical stories of the season is the Dr. Seuss classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Who HASN’T heard the story about the grumpy green grouch living above the city of Whoville?

While the story seems to focus on the restoration of the main characters maniacally twisted, depraved and ever so tiny heart through the kindheartedness of a little girl named Cindy Lou Who, I think that most of us have missed the more subtle moral of the story.

Have you ever considered that Theodor Geisel aka Dr. Suess might have been railing on the flamboyant, over the top consumerism and materialism that seems to drive our own keeping of the season from before Halloween through our New Year celebrations?

What IS this season REALLY about?

As I see it, its about love.

It’s about the love of God who at just the right time, “sent forth His Son, made (born) of a woman, made (born) under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4) It’s also about WHY God the Father sent Him: “God so LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” (John 3:16) God loved the world – the kosmos in the Greek; He loved the world and especially its inhabitants. He loved you and me when we were green with envy, when we were grouchy and complaint filled; He loved us, the Bible says in (Romans 5:8) “while we were yet sinners.” He loved the sinner while hating their sin – a fact not written out in so many words in the pages of scripture and yet made evident by the actions He undertook on behalf of us all.

It’s also about the love of Jesus who died to reconcile us to God while we were still His enemies (Romans 5:10). Did He love God or each of us more, when He suffered unspeakable hate and torture and as He bore our sins on the cross and exchanged them for His own righteousness? The answer seems clear from the Bible that out of love and especially obedience toward His Father, Jesus endured all of those things (Luke 22:42, John 4:34,5:30, 6:38 ) nevertheless, love kept Jesus on the cross.

At His incarnation or birth into human flesh, the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ was given as an expression of God’s love toward the world in order to make us what none of us ever could be on our own – right with God. By His crucifixion and resurrection Jesus Christ made His Father’s love a literal reality for every person who has believed or ever will.

Christmas isn’t about Jing Tinglers, Flu Floopers, Tar Tinkers or Who Hoovers no matter how wonderful the music played on these can be! It isn’t about finding and giving the most amazing (and amazingly expensive) gift from the list of someone we love. While love is the only debt the Bible says we ought to owe each other (Romans 13:8), expressing it shouldn’t put us in the poor house. Christmas IS about the greatest expression of love ever known among men – God’s love toward sinners.

So this Christmas, if all you have is time to give – give it; your time given to the one forgotten is a priceless loving gesture to them. By the way, love the unbearable grouch at the end of your block or next to you in your work place or couch – do for them what Jesus did for you; who knows if it won’t just change their lives too.

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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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Being Christ to the Least of These

“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.’” Deuteronomy 15:11 (NKJV)

You see them standing on crowded street corners holding signs upon which are statements like, “Will work for food,” “Anything helps,” and a final “thank you” and “God bless you;” people who for various reasons find themselves homeless.

When you see them. What do you do? Do you turn away and ignore them? Do you rolldown your window and shout at them? Do you pray for them? Do you share the love of Jesus with them? Do you serve them?

You might call them the “least of these” (Matt. 25:40,45) but the reality is that while so many people treat them as if they were nobodies and nothing – the Lord God made them and the Lord Jesus Christ died for them. They are just like you and me and frankly, you and I are at best, one calamity away from being right where they are now.

In His word, the Lord said that they’d always be among us (Matt. 26:10) and in a round-about way He implied that when we served them – we were serving Him (see Matt.25:32-40).

I’d like to say that in the process of serving the homeless or anyone else you are also worshipping Jesus. Listen to ALL of what He said to Judas in (Matthew 26:10):

“You have the poor with you always…but Me you do not have always.”

I think that Jesus was calling Judas out for his hypocrisy among a few other things when He made the statement we find in (Matt 26:10) referring to the poor. It was after Judas had griped about the waste of costly fragrant oil which a certain woman used in her worship of the Lord Jesus, implying that her sacrifice could have been put to better use that Jesus said those words to Judas,

At that time, people could literally worship Jesus to His face; they could thank Him, praise Him and sacrificially honor Him like the woman did in (Matt. 26:6-7) but most of them did not. In His statement, Jesus was pointing to the fact that He was returning to His Father (see John 13:3, John 16:28, John 20:17) but He was also pointing to times like those in which we live, where our worship of Him is most often carried out in sacrificial service towards others who are often less fortunate than ourselves.

Once upon a time I was like many people in my community, largely because I did not understand or really care to understand the plight of the homeless. I saw them as panhandlers and manipulators, as people who weren’t trying hard enough. In those days, even as a Christian I avoided them.

Now, my primary area of service IS to that same community. My heart hurts for them and I long to see them recieve Jesus as Lord and Savior and then to be transformed by the renewing of their minds through His Holy Scriptures.

Would you be Christ to the least of these? Dont sweep them under the rug, so to speak; don’t treat them as a nuisance to be rid of – treat them as people for whom Christ died; do for them what you’d have done for yourself if the shoe was on the other foot.

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The Valley of the Shadow

The 23rd Psalm is often read during the most trying times that we as humans experience – the grief of loss. But it expresses a reality which can only be known by someone who has learned to condition his or her life to trust in God at ALL times.

King David, the writer of this psalm began by acknowledging the Lord as his trusted and faithful shepherd; as the One who provides comfort, rest and refreshment while leading him on “paths of righteousness.” This was David’s lifelong confidence: the Lord would provide what he needed in every circumstance.

King David was a worshipper of God and while (as one pastor friend of mine reminded me recently) our worship is neither to pay God back or gain some benefit from Him; it is rather, indicative of our relationship with the Lord. I mention this because I’ve had fairweather friends (hopefully I’ve never been one) who only interacted with me when it was convenient or advantageous to them (I’m sure you had friends like that too), King David was not such a person.

So when David writes, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” he was not treating the Lord like we do our insurance agents, but was expressing his confidence that no matter how bad it got the Lord would be with him.

As I said, most often the reference to the “shadow of death” is mentioned to console us in our deepest moments of grief over the loss of a loved one in death but the grief common to us all is much broader in scope. Maybe today your marriage or family is under the shadow, causing you great grief and concern over what might become of your life together. You may have just received an unfavorable and even terrifying medical diagnosis. Whatever your “hopeless” moment might be I declare to you that there is hope in that dark valley.

We must be careful here though. We are not promised that an exit from the valley of the shadow won’t still result in loss of a life, the death of a relationship, an on-going illness or some other grieving circumstance BUT be assured, we will exit with Him who led us through that valley and because we understand that the Lord IS with us we, like David will not fear.

The goodness and mercy of the Lord WILL follow us all the days of our lives and because of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection we WILL dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Is the Lord YOUR Shepherd? Are you passing through the middle of the valley of the shadow of death? Sometimes, it is only in that valley that you are able to see that your greatest need in any moment is a deep and abiding relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Mountain Moving Faith

“If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you(!)” (Matthew 17:20 [emphasis mine])

What was Jesus talking about? Is one of the marks of spiritual maturity the ability to move mountains like Kilimanjaro or Everest where ever we wish? In (Matt.21:21) where again we see words to this effect with the added “If you have faith and do not doubt you will say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and cast into the sea,’ it will be done;” both the Mount of Olives and the Temple mount would have been in view, even so mountain moving faith is not concerned merely with geographical formations of rock – He is directing our faith towards the impossible.

Again, we are forced to ask, “Is this graduate level faith?” I would say, yes and no; in one sense, it is faith born out of trust in God. Part of our problem when we pray is that we are focusing on our ability to believe instead of God’s willingness to answer the prayers of His people, His integrity to keep His promises and His power to do the impossible; as we learn to (1 Peter 5:7) “cast our cares upon Him” who cares for us we develop greater confidence in the Lord. But I would also say “no” in the sense that mountain moving faith does not depend on our level of faith. Mountain moving faith is not faith in faith; it is not an amount of faith which produces a desired result – it IS faith in God which produces a result.

Are there any mountains in your life which need moving?

I know some people in my own life that are facing IMPOSSIBLE situations right now. Some of them are in despair not knowing that there is hope in every hopeless situation. But hope is not tied to our ability to figure out the solution to our problems, rather it is tied to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ – it IS tied to prayer and a reliance on the Lord for whatever is best.

Read (Mark 9:14-27) for one account of a man who brought His son to the disciples of Jesus and then finally to the Lord Himself. He had enough faith in the Lord to seek Him for help yet lacked a confidence in Him to do the impossible, saying, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief (v.24)!” If you can pray nothing else in your impossible moment – pray like that…

Finally, of the most hopeless and impossible situations which may trouble us none is more hopeless and impossible than our spiritual condition. Every last one of us is a sinner upon whom God’s wrath abides (John 3:36); the wage for our sin is eternal separation from God and condemnation in hell (see Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Revelation 20:15). We cannot deliver ourselves from this condition or condemnation but Jesus can and has made eternal life available to all who will call on and trust in Him (Romans 10:12-13, John 3:16). Jesus heals us from the illness which no doctor can (see Isaiah 53:5) and may heal and deliver us from any and all impossible illnesses in this life but He may not heal us now and He may not deliver us now.

His promise, to those who believe in Him in this life assures us however that in the life to come we will be healed, set free and made whole while in this life we will have peace (Isaiah 26:3) whatever the circumstance because we have trusted in Him who moves mountains.

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A Good Way to Die

The subject on my mind today is an uncomfortable subject to discuss, some might even say morbid but death is as important an aspect of life as living is and is a subject most often dealt with at the end of someone else’s life.

I was lying in my bed, tossing and turning, unable to really rest when the thought hit me – is there really a GOOD way to die? All sorts of thoughts then flooded my mind, circumstances – reasons or causes which lead to the end of life.

Some die in noble circumstances. Some die running into burning buildings and towers to rescue the injured; some die upholding justice; some as they strive for the safety and protection of their family during natural disasters like floods and earthquakes or from the invasion of some more sinister force; some die for their love whether it be their girl, wife, husband, man or child and some die for freedom.

Some die in ignoble or dishonorable and shameful circumstances. They die in the commission of or as a consequence of committing a crime like theft or murder or for some other evil against another person or people.

To this, the Bible says in (1 Peter 4:15-16):

“But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.”

Peter’s reference to suffering addresses imprisonment whether for noble or ignoble reasons but the verb used for suffering involves experiencing pain ( I would suggest, even the pain of death) as a consequence for an action, belief or behavior.

Death occurs as a result of many things: ignorance, carelessness, recklessness, hate; from a bullet, bomb or a car driven by a drunk. Death occurs from natural causes like old age, illness, diseases like cancer and worse; and from unnatural causes stemming from the abuse of our own bodies – from too much food, too much booze, too many medications and various other addictions. Some die in their waking hours, fully aware and some die in their sleep.

When thinking of the best way to die, many will respond – in their sleep but I want to tell you that the BEST way to die is in the arms of a loving Savior.

You see, the reality is that death is only a pause in our existence rather than a permanent end. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is quoted to have said in (John 5:25-29):

“Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

My friends, apart from receiving and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, every human being is dead already in a spiritual sense and because each of us is comprised of a body, soul and spirit – spiritual life and death matters. Life is not limited to this realm of existence only, in fact I would say that this life is only important in so much as in your lifetime you may turn to the living God for eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ and then to follow the Lord and live for Jesus, sharing the good news by word and actions…discipling others as you go. That’s a good way to LIVE!

The BEST way to die is as a good person or while doing good but Jesus said – “No one is good but One, that is, God.” (Luke 18:19) Likewise, Paul in (Romans 3:10) says that “there is none righteous, no not one!” (emphasis added) Only by trusting in Jesus Christ can anyone ever be “good enough” to enter into eternal life (see John 14:6). But when Jesus says some will be resurrected to life and some to the resurrection of condemnation He is saying that all who ever saw life in THIS world will also live in eternity either to experience all the joys of eternal life with Him in Heaven (see Matt. 25:21,23) or to suffer all the agony of eternal condemnation in hell without Him (see Revelation 20:11-15).

Is there a good way to die? Yes, Jesus declared it so in (John 5:24):

““Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

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Free Indeed!

One of the great paradoxes of the Christian faith is that the servants of Jesus are also free and not just free a little but free to the uttermost.

In reality we exchanged masters when we came to trust in Jesus Christ. But the “bondage” to sin to which we formerly submitted is not the same as the relationship we have with Jesus.

“And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:18 (NKJV)

Jesus Christ set us free from our former task-master to live in a new way and for a new reason. As sinners we lived for the gratification of our own flesh but because we received salvation through Jesus Christ our desire turned to a desire to please and glorify Him who saved us (John 15:8, Philippians 1:11, [2 Timothy 2:4], 1Peter 4:11).

Our slavery comes at the cost of a life…as slaves of sin, our own life is required resulting not only in physical but spiritual death which is eternal separation from God but as slaves of God (Roman’s 6:22) the cost is the life and precious blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 7:23, 1 Peter 1:18-19) resulting in eternal life.

“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:11–12 (NKJV)

Because Jesus set us free in such a way we love Him (1 John 4:19) and our servitude is not seen by us as bondage (1 John 5:3) rather it becomes our greatest joy.

All of us want to live life to the full and will spend a lifetime trying to make such abundant living their reality but Jesus made a point to His disciples in (John 8:31-36) that I think those looking for such a life should consider:

He said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

To what have you presented yourself as a servant to obey? Sex? Money? Fame? All of these seek only to TAKE your life but only Jesus GIVES life “and that more abundantly.” In Him, you will be free indeed….

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Ancient Myth or Mysterious Truth

I have often thought that the Wizard of Oz was another effort on the part of those who did not fear and on the contrary had a more than skeptical view of God and His church to illustrate their skepticism. In the end, the participants in the story discovered that “The Wizard” was merely a man controlling the narrative through various mechanics and that there actually was no real wizard; the thought behind that illustration as it pertains to Christianity seems to be no different today.

As we continue into the “post Christian” dispensation of time we hear men refer to Christianity as “another ancient mythology” passing into the annals of time and ceasing to be a controlling influence on our world, to say nothing of the central figure of it, Jesus Christ, the son of the actual and living God. But unlike Aesop’s Fables, the Iliad or the Odyssey of Homer or other classical Greek and Roman mythology which tell fantastic stories of mythological heroes, the Bible is a testimony of eyewitnesses who either heard and/or saw Almighty God or His Son Jesus Christ.

In Daniel chapter 2 verses 31-45, the prophet Daniel interprets an upsetting dream from God (see Dan. 2:29) for King Nebuchadnezzar of a great statue made of Gold, silver bronze, iron and clay which was subsequently destroyed by a stone which was “cut out without hands.” In his interpretation, Daniel revealed from the Lord that each of the various material components of the statue were representative of several kingdoms, each of which would be weaker than the first and yet fall to the one to come after it.  The “head of fine gold” represented Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom – the Babylonian empire, the “chest and arms of silver” represented the Medo-Persian empire, the “belly and thighs of bronze” represented the Grecian empire, the “legs of iron” represented the Roman Empire and the “feet of iron and toes of clay” (vv.33, 42) represented the progressive weakening of the more or less divided Roman empire.

Daniel, writing well before the advent of the Medo-Persian, Greek or Roman empires saw their consummation and obliteration by a rock which became a mountain (Daniel 2:35) or, since the Biblical record often refers to Jesus Christ as the rock; each of these empires gives way to Almighty God and ultimately to His Kingdom.

I bring the narrative of the falling empires into play because of the “mythology” of especially the Greeks and Romans. Their mythology drove their religion, their world view and their general perceptions of nature – but Zeus never walked among men nor did Jupiter or Hercules or Dionysus or Diana and Artemis or Mars and Ares nor Hades nor any of the rest of the gods of their mythologies. In reality, the Romans adopted many Greek customs including their myths, modifying them slightly to suit their own purposes. But over and against all of this is Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, born into flesh by way of a virgin (Matthew 1:23) and yet having neither beginning or end (Rev.1:8). This Jesus walked among people, did miracles among people, spoke to and taught people, suffered and died for the sins of people and rose again bringing forgiveness to people from God and restoring every believer’s relationship with Him.

He was seen. People bear witness to Him (John 1:14, 2 Peter 1:16-21, 1 John 1:1-3). People died because of their unstoppable testimony of that which they had both seen and heard and they still die to this day because of faith in His name. No other religion on earth at any time can say that their God came down to men. No other religion on earth is MORE persecuted than Christianity is because of the name of Jesus and no religion sees more of its adherents killed than those of the Christian faith. To this day, all other religions are tolerated in our nation but Christianity – if it were merely a myth why do so many willingly die and why are so many people and governments intimidated by the name of Jesus?

Myth or true fact – you decide; but consider these words of Paul in Romans in your process (Romans 1:18-25):

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

Next time you consider the complex biology and function of every living thing or of even a single living cell or atom and the next time you consider life in general or the vast universe above just ask yourself, “Did all of this really happen by accident; a big bang led to all that I see above, beneath and within me?” Which is harder to believe – that an all-knowing creator God, from nothing, made the heavens and the earth, the stars and then set them in motion, and that He made every living creature with unique qualities, traits and characteristics and then gave them life; or that it all began in a primordial stew of muck on a planet uttered forth from some cosmic explosion of materials that must also have either formed from the blast or preexisted it? In which case you would also have to ask, “where did the canvas – that blank expanse of nothingness come from?” Time just started on its own with no outside, intelligent impetus…I doubt that.

In fact, that’s a myth I cannot accept.

“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.” (Psalm 14:1–3, NKJV)

No mockery intended, but as foolish as it would be to base one’s life on a fable or myth it would be more so to fail to receive and believe in the true and living God, Jesus Christ, who as one man put it long ago, was “a sure enough somebody” who came into the world to save sinners…

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Everybody’s Chasing Something

What are you in pursuit of?

Some people are in pursuit of fame; they want to be known. Others are in pursuit of knowledge; they want to know. Still others are chasing after success believing that he who has the most stuff at the end of his life wins.

Some chase dreams, some chase shadows, some chase after the past and some a distant tomorrow…EVERYBODY is chasing something.

Your pursuit is your priority – your everything. You’ll move heaven and earth the acquire it. You may go broke chasing it, you may go crazy….you might even catch it but the chase WILL cost you something if what you’re chasing REALLY is your hearts desire.

Let me tell you about Jesus Christ

He left His Father’s side in a perfect place called heaven to come to our own very imperfect world. He did not come of His own accord….He was sent (John 3:16, Galatians 4:4) His Father sent Him. He was sent with a purpose: He was sent to acquire what His Father was in pursuit of – YOU and to accomplish His task He had to deal with the one thing that stood in the way – your sin.

He came in pursuit of you.

His Father was SO determined to connect with you that He not only SENT His eternal Son to be born into flesh but also to suffer the brutality of man and God’s own wrath to make the connection possible (Philippians 2:5-11). His pursuit cost Him His life but bought you an opportunity. You see, Jesus was not conquered by death, He conquered it (Hebrews 2:9, Isaiah 53:7-8, Acts 8:32-33), rising the third day (Matthew 16:21, Acts 10:40, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4) and in the process destroying every obstacle between you and God and yet…

To have what He died to provide you MUST receive it by faith (Matthew 10:40, John 1:12, Roman’s 10:9-10 Ephesians 2:8-10).

Have you received Him into your life?

Assuming you have, are you now in pursuit of Him? Once upon a time, we all chased after things which pleased and gratified our flesh but also grieved the Lord, are you now pursuing Him with as much passion and intention? (2Cor 5:15)

If you have NOT yet received the Lord into your life, He is still relentlessly pursuing you, through circumstances, through other people, through His Word and by a gnawing conviction from His Spirit that you are incomplete, that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness.

Will you receive Him today?

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