Just keep rowing! …. or not.

A young man in the student ministry at my home church came up to me recently. He asked me about a particular verse in Mark 6. This intrigued me because the pastor had just given a devotional out of Matthew and had everyone turned to that gospel, not Mark. The young man had read this verse in Mark 6 a long time ago and could not explain why it had popped into his head this night. The verse was Mark 6:48:

Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.

Indeed this is a curious verse. Let me explain what was happening in brief, though I hope you will read the entire chapter for yourself. Jesus had just given a talk to about 5,000 men (back then they tended to omit the women and children so it was likely far more). The hour was getting late and the disciples grew concerned about so many people growing hungry, so they suggested the crowd be sent away to find food for themselves. Jesus insisted on shaking things up, so He tells the disciples to feed the people. They were flabbergasted and could the most creative idea that came to them was to spend a bunch of money and order out. Since the disciples could not feed the crowd, Jesus ended up feeding these thousands with two fish and five loaves of bread. The disciples passed out the food and more was left over than they had to start.

Then Jesus sends the disciples off in a boat telling them to go to Bethsaida and He would meet them there. This is where it got a little crazy for the disciples because a big storm hit and they rowed for hours on end, making no headway. They diligently and faithfully kept going,though, attempting to do what Jesus directed. Jesus saw all this. He knew the disciples were straining against the wind; pulling on the oars with all their might, but getting nowhere. And here is where that curious statment at the end of Mark 6:48 comes about. Jesus “intended to pass them by.”

This seems quite callous. Isn’t Jesus love incarnate? Why would he not run to them and help them? Instead, through my own tainted filter of people letting me down, it seems like Jesus is abandoning them in their hour of need. Scripture, though, reveals a different story. The disciples end up seeing Jesus and they cry out in terror because they think this figure walking on the water must be a ghost. Then, Jesus changes course and joins them on the boat. The storm ceases and they end up at Gennesaret (not Bethsaida). But another curious phrase sticks out before we get to that conclusion of the story. It is in Mark 6:51-52:

Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.

The curious phrase here to me is “they were utterly astonished”. Seems that would be one of those “well, duh” comments. Of course, anyone would be astonished if someone walked across the water in the midst of a storm, got in my boat, and calmed the storm instantly. Woudn’t you be astonished? But, apparently the author saw it differently. Mark explained that being astonished was problematic. Their astonishments reveals a problem with the disciples – a heart problem – and this problem helps us understand why Jesus intended to walk by them.

The problem was a hard heart. Now that I look at the entire story, starting with the feeding of the five thousand, I get a glimpse of why they should not have been astonished in that moment. They had just witness a full on, unexplanable miracle of Old Testament proportions. Where manna from heaven fell and fed the Israelites in the wilderness, Jesus creates food out of nowhere – plenty to feed these Israelite descendants of those who ate the manna. If the disciples had been discerning and soft hearted, they would have gotten the truth Jesus was trying to convey: They (we) were made to rely on Him  entirely; relying on ourselves is sin. Relying on Jesus is salvation; relying on ourselves is death.

But, they missed it. Just like I miss it over and over again. Just like we all miss it at times. Even after we surrender intially to Jesus and pass from spiritual death to life, we keep turning back to self-reliance. Maybe it was because the miracle of the feeding was one they witnessed rather than one directed at them. Maybe they were just so intent on doing what Jesus said that they didn’t stop to think on it. Maybe, probably, it is because the essence of sin is relying on something or someone other than God and our sinful nature keeps clawing its way into our heart and mind every chance it gets. Call it pride or anything else you like, but sin comes down to placing our reliance where it does not belong. From the beginning when Adam and Eve relied on their own discernment and trusted Satan all the way to you and I relying on our own judgment as to what will fill us up – that is the nature of sin.

Even as the disciples were seeking to do Jesus’ bidding, they were in sin. They were in sin becuase they were obeying upon their own power; relying on their own strength. They must have been exhausted, ready to drop. But, they remained diligent . . . and sinned. The hardness of their heart was the belief in self-reliance that said, “I must do this thing. I must make it happen, even if it kills me. I must make it right and I must see it through.”  All these things sound a bit noble to you, don’t they? They do to me also. But, it is still sin.

Jesus did not care why the disciples dropped their oars. He did not care if they kept going until fatigue caused their muscles to fail or if in sheer desparation they simply gave up. I am sure He would have preferred that they suddenly realize, “oh, wait – Jesus will save us. He just fed five thousand people with squat, Put the oars down and let’s call upon Him!” But, it was sufficient that they dropped those oars our of sheer panic. He does not care why we relent, only that we do relent. And the moment we stop relying on ourselves and place that reliance on Him, He shows up.

Until we are at that point of surrender, He will intend on passing us by. Not for lack of love, but because He knows that showing up and bolstering our position while our hearts remain hard will do harm rather than good. If he shows up and helps us out of a bad situation when we are still struggling on our own power, even if all we have left is 1% self, then we will simply assume that “God helps those who help themselves.” That is a lie and Jesus will have none of it! God helps those who give up: who give up on doing for themselves, give up on self-help and self reliance, who give up on their way and their power. God helps those who let go of the oars when it make no worldly sense to do so.

Are you still rowing?

Are you close to your Father?

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

How many times have I (we) said or thought, “I need to do such and so to grow closer to Jesus.” We compare a relationship with God to our earthly relationships and conclude that because we must work at the human ones to have healthy intimacy, then we must work at this heavenly relationship with God to be close. But, this comparison is limited and stilted. We forget that the reason we must work at human relationships is sin. Sin divided; sin destroys unity. In human relationships, there are two parties fallen to sin. In our relationship with God, one party is untouched by sin and holy. So the analogy breaks down. 

This verse tells us that we are brought near (close in place or position; accessible) by the blood of Jesus). His blood brings us into peace (unionThis verse tells us that we are brought near (close in place or position; accessible) by the blood of Jesus (there’s a whole discussion about the significance of blood I hope to have someday). His blood brings us into peace (union; cessation of hostilities; absence of conflict) with Father. That work of the relationship is done; “it is finished!” 

Well then, surely there is something we must do. If it is all done, why don’t we walk about feeling His presence all the time? We must have to work at it because….(insert reason here). Yes, there is a part for me (us) but, let us let go of the scripturally inaccurate Well then, surely there is something we must do. Yes, there is a part for me (us) but, let us lay aside the scripturally inaccurate metaphor of a human relationship when it comes to our relationship with Father. 

Our part starts with surrender: yielding to our absolute dependence on Jesus to be able to come before Father holy and blameless. It goes on to surrender: the yielding of our entire selves to the transforming of our inner man by the Holy Spirit so that we become more and more like Jesus. Then the next part is surrender: yielding our clutch on sinful thinking and behaviors because they harden our hearts and keep us from experiencing the nearness of Father; sin clouds our view such that we see Father only dimly. Sin not overpower the work of Christ’s blood thus, driving Father away but, it allows lies to infiltrate our minds and truth to fade. 

We advance now to surrender: yielding daily space and time in our daily lives to learn more about Father through His word and His voice because by the word our faith is grown. And ultimately we get to the highest work on our part and that is surrender: yielding our will moment to moment to obedience to His will. And we know that His will is to love Him and to love one another, a love He supplies. 

If we insist on calling surrender work, then work there is. But, it is not the work of drawing closer to God or drawing God closer to us; it is the work of letting God clear away that which obscures our awareness of His nearness. A nearness that exists as a result of the blood – Jesus’ blood. 

On Father’s Day, join me on reflecting on the nearness of our eternal Father. I am grateful that He chose me as son established this intimate relationship, destroying the barrier between us through the blood of Jesus, the Beloved. All I must do is surrender. 

To whom should I pray?

I am fascinated by prayer. I want to understand every aspect of prayer: the why, how, what, when, and who of it. Yes, there is even a “who” question that comes up with prayer for Christ followers, though I hesitate to spend much time on this particular topic. To Catholics who are followers of Christ, this may be a point of controversy because I find no place in the Bible that supports prayers to saints or to Mary, the beloved mother of Jesus, although I agree she should be held in reverent regard. Misdirected prayers are, in the least, entirely ineffective and, at their worst, opening the person praying up to dangerous spiritual consequences. To that end, speaking against prayer practices unsupported by Scripture is a necessary step into controversy. We should never pray to those who have died even if we are sure of their Salvation.

The one instance that I am aware of where a communication was documented with the spirit of a dead person and the living did not go well. In 1 Samuel 28, Saul became desperate because God had left him and quit responding to his prayers (I Sam 28:15). So, out of desperation and instead of accepting God’s judgment, Saul used a spirit medium to contact Samuel. We assume Samuel will be among the saints since he was a faithful prophet of God, and yet Saul had a conversation with his spirit. His response was:

Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has departed from you and has become your adversary?” 1 Samuel 28:16

Basically, Samuel is rebuking Saul for trying to do some sort of end run around God instead of accepting God’s decision and will in the matter. Saul was not specifically rebuked for this particular act of defiance of God, however this “prayer” or spiritual communication with Samuel was a furtherance of Saul’s ongoing self-directed defiance. Saul was already facing the full wrath of his rebellion.  So, the least that can be said of this prayer is that it was entirely ineffective. The most that can be said is that this prayer was like hammering the final nail into Saul’s coffin because was the pinnacle of a pattern of going his own way rather than God’s. If the only example of prayer to the spirit of a holy man or saint of God went so poorly, why would the practice of praying to saints or the Mother Mary now be an acceptable practice? I believe it is always an act of defiance, even if it seems to be rooted in a sort of reverent “let’s not both God with my petty self”. It is defiance of God’s call to fellowship with Him.

Among Protestant Christ followers, the “who” quest of prayer comes down to whether one can pray to Jesus instead of God the Father or can one pray to the Holy Spirit? Speaking into this very far is fruitless and would stir up what I believe to be needless controversy. So, I will not spend much time on it except to say that I believe God the Father, Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all One and, at the same time, they are different and distinct persons. They are so united in their nature, their intent, and their thoughts that they are indistinguishable. However, they also are different in that they manifest in different ways and they each have carried out different roles in the gospel of God’s salvation.

The Holy Spirit has always, even in Old Testament times, been the one to speak to our inner being (our hearts, the core of who we are):

As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 1 Peter 1:10-11

Jesus was the only born Son of God existing before this universe or any other of the creation began, yet humbled Himself to put on flesh and experience the fullness of being human:

…although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:6-8

I suspect, though I cannot prove by way of Scripture, that it was Jesus with whom Abraham interceded for Sodom in Genesis 18 because it records that the LORD stood physically before him:

Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the LORD. Genesis 18:22

since God exists outside of His creation, including time, this is entirely possible. Also, the Bible says that no one has seen God at any time (John 1:18). But, that is not a curiosity rather than a necessary point of faith.

And, Jesus tells us that He and the Father are One and further describes how the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, will come in the place of Jesus when He departs (see John 14). So, while the Bible’s many unmistakable references of prayers are to God the Father, I believe it a distinction with no meaningful difference to pray to Jesus or to the Holy Spirit. A prayer to one is known by all. Since Jesus and the Spirit of Christ have chosen to be entirely submitted to God the Father, then there is no contention, no possessiveness, and no jealousy among them for our prayers. All glory is given to Jesus who points only to the Father and the Holy Spirit is Christ in us.

Now, there are a couple of verses that are not eminently clear, but do support that it is perfectly acceptable to pray to Jesus:

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: 1 Corinthians 1:2

God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9

Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 2 Corinthians 12:8 (the term “Lord” is “kyrios” which Paul uses to refer to Jesus and can mean messiah).

Also, in support of prayer to the Holy Spirit, we are also called to be in fellowship with Him:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14

What is fellowship if not communing (communicating); fellowship and being in a dialogue or prayer seems synonymous or rather, one cannot experience fellowship without there being some sort of communication. And, I consider prayer simply spiritual communication. Let me now leave behind this preliminary matter and press on to more prominent aspects of prayer.

Adonai Shalom

As in my last post, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to make the impossible possible in and through us. He does this by teaching us all we need to know and reminding us of all truth. But, the Holy Spirit imbues us with far more than knowledge:

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” John 14:27-28

Jesus (Adonai Shalom – the God of Peace) brings us peace through the Holy Spirit. Yet, He is clear this is not worldly peace. It is not the absence of trouble or strife. In fact, we can be sure that if we follow Jesus in the radical way that He desires of us, then there will be opposition. People, institutions, and spiritual forces aligned against the true gospel of Jesus will oppose us directly. When we live out the principles of truth, justice, and love of Christ, then we will run contrary to the culture of this world. This will result in indirect resistance.

However, Jesus says to us to not be troubled in our heart or be full of fear. Again, this seems to be impossible. Again, it is impossible – on our own. Only through the Holy Spirit can this sort of peace permeate our being. This peace does not just manifest out of the blue – experience tells us this. This peace is an offer from Jesus that we can receive. He says He leaves peach with us. I suggest that also implies that we must take it up and embrace it. These verses also give us clues as to how we take up the peace Jesus left with us who follow Him.

Jesus reminds His disciples a second time in the last few verses that He is going away. He is reminding them that they will seem to be alone and vulnerable. But, He also reminds them that He will come back to them. And, yet again He calls them to love Him. So, for us to take up His peace, we must love and be growing in love with Jesus. Next, He tells them that they should actually rejoice over His impending death. They should not grieve like a person normally would when someone dear dies. And, He will not be dying quietly in His sleep; His death will be horrific. Yet, Jesus tells them to rejoice. If we can rejoice in that situation, then we can rejoice in all situations. We can rejoice by knowing that God is sovereign and all that He allows He will use to our good (Romans 8:28). And so even apparent tragedy can be an occasion of rejoicing.

Combine love with rejoicing and we have done all that we need to do on a heart level to embrace the gift of peace from Jesus. We do not fabricate the peace; we merely cooperate by being receptive to the gift. Both love and rejoicing are not emotions though they may result in emotional expressions. They are mindsets. They are attitudes we chose to hold deeply.

One final observation. This last verse is sometimes used to “prove” that Jesus is not God because He says that the Father “is greater than I”. This is not the only way to read that verse and to read it that way is inconsistent with the rest of the Bible. Take at look at this verse:

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:8

Jesus chose to limit Himself. He chose to take on a perishable body. He chose to limit Himself in many ways. This did not change His nature or the essence of who He is. This humbling of Himself stands in stark contrast to the self-exaltation that Lucifer engaged in leading to his rebellion and fall. And, it was all a choice. I give a fuller treatment of this doctrine of Incarnation in past posts.

Touching the Intangible

We are approaching the end of this series of posts on John 14. My last post was the crux of the whole thing where Jesus declares that although He will no longer be seen soon,  He lives. Jesus goes on to elaborate on this day when He will no longer be seen; no longer physically visible to people:

“In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” John 14:20

He knew the disciples would be tempted to discouragement at His death. He knew they would be looking for reassurance and comfort in those days of His absence after being physically present with them for three years. And, in response to their need, He told them that from which they should derive that reassurance and comfort they would soon seek.

So often we prefer to rely upon that which is physically present for our support, comfort and reassurance. I had dinner recently with some friends and the conversation was very authentic. One friend shared about letting alcohol take a place in their life where God should have been. Another shared that food was that to them. Too many times have I felt entitled to something of this world, whether food, drink or money because it was something tangible that gave me reassurance. If my bank account said I had $$$, then I could rest. If I had a tough day in some respect, I might overeat and fee justified because I had earned it. Many treat sex, drugs, relationships, appearances, prestige, possessions the same way. It is rampant in our world to find comfort and reassurance in things physically accessible to us.

This is not so removed from idol worship that we can completely automatically dismiss it. Throughout the Bible we are cautioned against relying upon idols. Are not these idols simply physical objects made or wood, stone or metal? Did we not turn to such idols because they seemed immediately present to us? Do we not still turn to physical, tangible things for this same reason? We justify these things because they often are not sin in and of themselves. We all must eat and eating is not sin. The Bible makes it clear that drinking alcohol in and of itself is not sin. Having fellowship and hearing words of encouragement from friends is part of God’s plan. God designed sex and the Bible gives us the framework within which sex is good, and so sex in and of itself is not sin. We lull ourselves into complacency on these sorts of things. But, they require no faith; they are physically present and usually readily available. We do not need to seek long after such things and there is no element of belief – we know they exist and we have an immediate result from their use. We say it is only natural.

But, that is not what Jesus tells us. Jesus says that He knows He will not be physically there with us (John 14:19) but regardless we should KNOW. We will not be able to touch Him, see Him, or hear Him with our ears. There is no tangible hand upon our shoulder from Him when we are weary or grieved. And, Jesus calls us beyond the physical pursuit of comfort and reassurance to be spiritually aware. He tells us there is something more real than that which we can touch or taste. He tells us in the verse above that we can KNOW beyond our physical senses that He is intimately present. He will be present beyond His physical presences because He will be IN you and IN me; IN all who follow Him. We are IN Him and so we are also IN the Father. Elsewhere Jesus tells us that if we seek first God, then the things we need will be added to us (Luke 12:31). Is there sin in turning first to the tangible? At what point does relying on tangible reassurances rather than God become sin?

It seems to me that I turn to the tangible rather than reaching to touch the intangible God because of my unbelief. If I adamantly believe that Jesus exists in me and I in Him, then would not my immediate response to something difficult be to turn to Him? Does not that lapse, brief as it is, where I turn to something other than Jesus reveal a point of disbelief? I cannot confidently say every time we turn to something tangible is sin. However, at some point I believe it becomes sin. For myself, I have been convicted that over eating and eating to make myself feel better emotionally is sin. This may not be so for you. Many will be saying that this word is too harsh; that I am splitting hairs and overstating the position. You may be thinking that if you over-eat a bit when blue that it is no big deal;  that God understands and it is just human nature rather than sin. Perhaps, but rather than trying to convince you of a position let me point to scripture and allow it to speak to your heart:

All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way…. Isaiah 53:6

Sin is not just some gross manifestation of bad behavior. Sin, in essence, is turning to our own way. That is why Jesus died upon the cross – we turned to our own ways. And, it is why Jesus’ death covered our sins – He never deviated from the Father’s will – He never sinned by turning to His own way. Realizing that sin is simply turning to our own way rather that obedience to God’s will, then a new perspective on sin emerges. Suddenly what seemed innocuous becomes iniquity. As we shed sinful practices from our life, we develop a keener awareness of sin. Jesus calls us to turn to Him as the source of all that we need. He calls us to touch the intangible.

You likely say, “But that is impossible!” Yes, of course it is impossible. On our own none can do what Jesus calls us to. And that is the other portion of grace. The first portion of grace is Jesus paying for our sins though we do not deserve it; justifying us as if we had never transgressed. The second portion of grace is that He does for and through us that which we cannot do on our own; He makes us progressively holy by sanctifying us. Through the Holy Spirit, He makes it possible for us to walk is such tremendous faith as He asks of us.

How can I be sure I have a relationship with Jesus?

I recently addressed the “why” of a relationship with Jesus. The “why” can be so hard to grasp for people who behave in really holy ways and have decent lives. However, we all go astray like sheep. Because of this, we need a relationship with Jesus. There are many aspects to this relationship, but there is one thing that can give us constant assurance that we are indeed walking in a relationship with Jesus: hearing His voice:

“To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” John 10:3-4

This verse is talking about Jesus as our shepherd and it gives a picture of our relationship with Jesus; it tells us that Jesus will talk to us and that we will know His voice. If you find yourself praying, but never hearing Jesus respond, be sure to talk to a trusted brother or sister in Christ about this because it is not how God designed your relationship with Him. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, wants to interact with us on a daily basis.

The sheep follow the shepherd because they continuously hear his voice; not just every so often; if they only heard the shepherd’s voice every few days or weeks, they would continually be going astray. So too, your Shepherd, Jesus, wants to stay in continual contact with you and without this, you and I are easily led astray.  As you gain more experience in prayer and listening, you will discover that you do know His voice. Even though most people experience Jesus’ voice as sounding similar to their own thoughts, there is a quality that is different when it is Jesus.  In prayer, ask Jesus, “Open up my spiritual ears and teach me to know your voice.”

Fantastic Five: The ATONEMENT

My last post pointed to the incarnation as an indispensable article of faith. The incarnation refers to Jesus being divine, existing with God the Father as one, and while remaining fully God being manifested as fully man. If this were not true, then the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross would only have been a tremendous example of love and sacrifice, but it would not save anyone. Because Jesus was the only sinless man and also God, He became the entirely sufficient Passover Lamb.

There are many verses I could quote to show the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, but these verses written hundreds of years before speak deeply to me:

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed…. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:4-5

I implore you to read and re-read all of Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12. This passage contains the entire gospel in 15 succinct verses. We often focus only on Jesus death on the cross as the atoning sacrifice, but that was just the culmination of it. The entire gamut of ridicule, shame, and torture that Jesus encountered are part of the atonement and also the grief He experienced. His entire life as a man from the temptations He rejected in the desert, the hatred He encountered at the hands of His chosen people, the intense strain of grief resulting in sweating blood in Gethsemane, ripped flesh, mockery, naked exposure, and even feeling abandoned by His Father all combine in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.

The reason this is an irreplaceable article of faith is because:

All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. Isaiah 53:6

Not all of us have sinned in ways that the world would see as profound or overt. Many who have led very wholesome and decent lives struggle to recognize the need for Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. But, it does not take gross sin to separate us from God and bar us from His Kingdom. Simply going astray; just doing our own thing and going our own way is sufficient rebellion to condemn us. The horrid sins just make it more obvious to ourselves.

But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. Isaiah 53:10

Even when we recognize that God loved us enough to send Jesus to be our Savior, we miss the full extent of God’s love. Many seem to hold that God did this begrudgingly. Some never seem to let go of the guilt of their sins because they feel a crippling sense of shame and failure when they sin again. I have heard people tell believers that when they sin they might as well be hammering the nails into Jesus’ hands right then. While I believe it is true that Jesus became each of those sins (2 Cor. 5:21) and, I think, is/was aware of each of them during the atonement, such statements only serve to condemn and manipulate. Jesus died to make us free!

The truth is that God the Father loves us so much that it actually pleased Him; actually made Him feel good to offer His only begotten Son up as a sin offering. When Jesus chose to be obedient and walk into His own crucifixion, God the Father felt joy. Perhaps He felt other things as well, but scripture shows He felt joy because He knew the gap between us could now be bridged. That is how much He loves us; loves you.

I do not believe God is angry at us. I do not believe God feels wrath or anger towards believers or unbelievers because Jesus’ died for us all (1 Tim 2:6) though we have not all received His grace. I have heard it said that God gets mad at non-Christians who pray to Him. I believe, instead, that God exhausted ALL His wrath upon Jesus in the atonement so there is none left, at least not until the judgment reserved for the end of days. In verse five above, the word “well-being” can also mean “peace” so that the phrase would read “the chastening for our peace fell upon Him.” So, we do not live under wrath but peace. I am not saying we all just automatically get God’s peace; rather, Jesus’ atonement gave us a covering of peace available to all that we can step fully into only when we receive Jesus.

To step into that peace we must come to know Jesus; we must enter into a relationship by coming to know who He is and what He has done. To truly know Him, we must believe in the incarnation as well as the atonement of Jesus – and also in His resurrection. Join me for my next post where I dive into why the resurrection is an essential article of faith.

More on whether God hears the prayers of non-Christians

A couple of days ago I began looking at the question of whether God hears the prayers of non-believers (non-Christians) otherwise referred to as “sinner”. In that post I laid out why I considered it acceptable to use the terms “sinner” and “non-believer” or “non-Christian”. I also laid a foundation for looking at isolated verses to see if they were intended to convey a spiritual truth or if they provide context; whether they are a verse to adopt and believe or if it provides a backdrop to make the truth of other verses stand out. To that end, I posited that it was unclear whether the quote of the healed man born blind, that God does not hear the prayers of sinners [John 9:31], was reflecting his personal belief (or a commonly held belief) only or was it meant to be a truth to which we hold fast.

Despite many pastors using John 9:31 as proof that God does not hear the prayer of sinners, I hold that we must look to other verses to see whether it is contextual only or meant to be God’s truth.  So, another oft quoted verse is in Isaiah:

“So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.” Isaiah 1:15

Context matters in looking at this verse. The verses of Isaiah 1:1 through 1:14 preceding this one paint a picture of full-out rebellion by God’s people. The context of God hiding His eyes and refusing to listen is this:

Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him. Isaiah 1:4

From this we can be confident that if we are in a like state of all out rebellion where we have starkly turned away from God, then He will not hear our prayers. Here is another example:

“When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence.” Jeremiah 14:12

Just as in Isaiah, Jeremiah is speaking to those turned utterly away from God towards sin. What about your more run of the mill sinners (if degree matters)? Perhaps another verse can shed light:

If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear; Psalms 66:18 (NASB)

And in another version of that same verse:

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. Psalms 66:18 (NASB)

Cherishing iniquity or holding wickedness does not indicate some kind of “in your face” sin, but it does spell out an attitude where we are rather fond of the sin and do not want to turn from it. This attitude towards sin is important. How about one more verse:

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. Isaiah 59:2

Again, context matters:

For your hands are defiled with blood And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters wickedness. No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity. Isaiah 59:3-4

This harkens back to a profound level of sin where faith is placed anywhere but in God. However, another key is delivered to us when it says “they trust” and “they conceive”. This is language of relationship; of intimacy. So, if one is intimately related to their sin, then God will “hide His face… so that He does not hear.”

From all these verses I believe it is very safe to say that when one harbors sin then there is no guarantee that God will hear one’s prayers. I will address the impact of sin for a Christ follower on God hearing them in another post. I also believe it is clear that if one turns away from God in extreme rebellion, God will not hear one’s prayers. But, it also seems safe to say that if you are in that state of mind, you will not likely be praying to God about much except for your rebellion to be blessed.

Given all these verses, I can easily see why the healed man born blind would believe that God does not hear the prayer of sinners. However, I am not ready to jump on board yet. I want to see if there are verses that show God listening to the prayer of sinners and so I will take that up in my next post.

The Essential Promise of Jesus continued

I wrote a few days ago about what the core, essential promise of Jesus consists of by referring to Isaiah 43. My friend who was part of one of those conversations I mentioned reminded me of this beautiful scripture. It also conveys the same idea as Isaiah 43:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus’ rest correlates to the promise of Isaiah that He will be with us. The rest He promises is not a rest from challenges and catastrophes of this world, but a soul’s rest. Our life’s circumstances may not change when we give our life to Jesus, but our soul will change.

Jesus does not promise to remove the yoke, but that He will exchange a single yoke for a double yoke. The yoke is the wooden bar that goes across an oxen’s shoulders with a loop that goes under the neck to hold it in place. Prior to receiving Jesus, we have a single yoke and pull our burdens alone. When we give our lives to Jesus we enter into a relationship and He is yoked with us in a double yoke. This makes the burdens of life that He never promises to do away with light upon us because He carries the lion’s share of that burden.

The essential promise of Jesus is not the cessation of difficulties, but that He will be with us in those difficulties.

What is so special about this Jesus fella?

What is so special about Jesus? There have been many great and wise men and women who have encouraged us and cast vision of hope. There have been many great nations that have brought good and order to humankind; the United States is just such an example. So many religions help people look beyond their own present lives and make the world a better place. So, what is so special about this Jesus fella?

One thing all the nations and religions have in common is law. Even great teachers have adhered to some sort of code. Law is a set of prescribed practices showing what is right and proscribed practices that are wrong. Since all nations and religions have this in common, let us start there. Law has always demanded justice.  Justice is “the administering of deserved punishment or reward”. In Christianity, justice also holds a prominent place because God is a just God. The Law was given to Israel through Moses.

The other thing all these people, nations, and religions have in common is that they were all flawed and fell short of the promise they offered. For example, the Law could not be kept by anyone because we have all sinned (rebelled) and fallen short (Romans 2:12). That is the backdrop that reveals the key difference of Christianity, namely Jesus, from all other religions gives Him context and meaning.

God the Father, worshiped by Jews and Christian’s alike, could not change His nature and simply let rebellion (sin) go without the deserved punishment. Historically, the Jewish nation of Israel offered sacrifices on a regular and prescribed basis to forestall that punishment. But, it was an imperfect sacrifice and so it had to be repeated. Unlike any other religion though, God sent Jesus to take that punishment once and for all AND He was without flaw. Christians and Jews alike believe in this prophecy:

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

Christians believe this has already happened while Jews still wait for Immanuel. Jews missed, in part, Jesus as the messiah because they were looking for a political leader who would restore the nation of Israel in a present world sense. Christians, though, recognize that the restoration was actually a spiritual one where we could be brought into right relationship with God. This could only happen through a perfect sacrifice; a fulfilling of the demand for justice:

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus could pay price because He walked in this world as a man. He faced every single temptation you and I face. He was fully a man and He could have given in to any one of those temptations. He could have rebelled against His Father and taken upon Himself the powers and pleasures of this world. It was no mere formality that He came as a man and faced those temptations. The crisis point of all history was real. God placed everything on His Son and it all could have come unraveled. Consider, if there was no real risk, then what Jesus did would not have been the perfect sacrifice; He would not have paid the full price. It would have been a mere formality. Yet, Jesus WAS obedient to His Father’s plan. He did NOT sin. He was without any blemish or stain:

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15

And, though He did nothing to deserve it, He took on our sin and died for it. This was not just to forestall the punishment as those earlier sacrifices, but it fulfilled all punishment. Jesus satisfied God’s demand for justice so that we do not have to live under the law. We do not have to face justice. We do not get what we deserve because Jesus covered the cost. He gave grace to all who would receive it and believe Him as their Lord.

And that is not all! Jesus’ sacrifice was not limited to facing temptation and saying “no” to it. Jesus did not just pay the price of our sin. He did not ONLY die to bring forgiveness for our sin, though that gift would have been enough. His gift to us went far beyond that. He wanted to also redeem us into a full life in relationship with God. He wanted to heal us:

Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. Isaiah 61:4.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10

And, to do this, He also experienced everything we experience. Jesus took on Himself the heartache and pain we experience; He walked through the grief and sorrow we face and felt it all:

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. Isaiah 53:4

Jesus did this so we could trust Him. We could turn to Him because He could relate to us and yet remained the perfect example that we could embrace and emulate. Jesus did this so that the price He paid would be complete. There would be absolutely no crack in His coverage where Satan could slip his accusation into; the Adversary could never say, “Yes, Jesus did this and that for you, but He left you hanging on your own strength in this one area.” Never! Jesus left no room for such a lie. He covered all our sin, grief and sorrow in His torture and death upon the cross. Jesus descended into hell in those three days in the tomb so that we might ascend with Him into heaven.

We do not have to wait for our passing from this world to experience such joy and healing. Jesus’ brings ‘right now’ rebuilding to the ruins of our lives; raises us from the former devastation we existed i; and he repairs the broken places within us from the desolation of many generations.

That is what is so special about Jesus.