oasisCHURCH

Colossians 1:3-13

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
Colossians 1:3-8

A Language of Grace, Peace, Truth, and Love
The thankfulness that Paul has for God’s work in the Colossian church is actually quite moving. The overflow of the thankfulness in Paul’s heart spills out here in verses 3 through 14. One of the lessons that we can take from Paul’s words here is precisely how he pours out that thankfulness.

(1) All things first happen or exist by God’s will or permission: When Paul heard of the faith of the Colossian church his first reaction is not, “What wonderful people. Let’s give praise to Epaphras who first gave the gospel to these people. Let us rejoice first in ministers of the truth and the minds of those who receive it.” Quite the contrary. Paul, realizing that all things first happen or exist by God’s design, gives God the praise, the glory and all the honor. Paul always puts the praise of God above the praise of people. This is, in many ways, a counter cultural message in America today. All you have to do is watch TV for one half hour to see the truth that so many things in America are self-motivated. By studying biblical language we can learn how to flip our thinking and our speaking. We can learn how to truly place God first in all things. This is certainly what Paul does here.

(2) The praise of people should always come 2nd to the praise of God: After Paul gives thanks to God for what God is doing at the Colossian church, he then begins to praise the faithful actions of the servants in Christ at Colossae. This is a representation of the proper order of praise. If God is working powerfully in your life or in your church, do not first be thankful solely of the gifts that God is bestowing. Be first thankful for the fact that God’s will is enduring among you. Be first thankful that God is displaying his righteousness and holiness by making the riches of the glories of His grace known among you and other fellow believers. Begin your thankfulness by first celebrating God as God. By doing this we set ourselves in the proper biblical framework to proceed with the encouragement or affirmation of others.

Establishing the Gospel as Truth
Separating truth from fiction will forever be important. Many people see the gospel as nothing more than a work of fiction. Those who would rather be god of their own life often meet the doctrines of the Bible with cynicism and contempt. Paul never fails in driving home the resounding certainty that the gospel is the truth of God. The latter half of verse 5 and the entirety of verse 6 ring out clearly that the Colossian church has not embraced some clever work of fiction. They have set their minds on the things of God because they have embraced the truth of God’s word. Paul affirms that this same gospel, which will forever sound out truth, is bearing fruit not only amongst them, but throughout the rest of the world. By God’s determination of design and will, He set his servant Epaphras among them with that truth burning brightly in his heart. By God working through Epaphras the Colossian church saw the truth of the grace of God. From that day the Holy Spirit filled them with the great power of the truth of the gospel of God. If it were not truth, then it would not have given birth to lasting fruit. Yet today, over two thousand years later, the gospel continues to endure. It continues to bear fruit all over the world. It continues to make the purpose of God known. It continues to make the glory of God known. The gospel accomplishes all these things because it is the truth of God and nothing can quell the purpose of our great King.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.                      
Colossians 1:9-14

What We Should Desire in Every Church
It should be the desire of every church to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” This is what Paul, and those surrounding him, pray would happen in the Colossian church. This is a great prayer not only for individual churches but also for churches everywhere. We should desire to see churches like this because it is the will of God for churches to exist in this fashion. God does not want lukewarm churches. God doesn’t want churches that walk only in world-centered ways. God commands that our churches exist in a manner that is pleasing to Him. Therefore, it should be our desire to grow in our knowledge of God. It should be our desire to be strengthened in His power according solely to his glorious might. It is God who has called us together for the sake of His will. May all churches exhibit endurance and patience with joy in the glorious light of God.

Why do we find so many churches devoid of joy? Why do we find so many churches devoid of works for the sake of God’s kingdom? Why do we find so much spiritual stagnation in churches today? The hard truth is that many churches have lost their way. They no longer truly desire to walk in a manner worthy of God in such a way that is pleasing to Him. They instead desire to walk in a manner that is worthy of public acceptance and fully pleasing to the comfortable traditions of people who exalt in themselves, not in God. This exhortation is coming from many different sources within the church community today. I believe it is the same exhortation that Paul would give to the American church. There are some difficult questions that arise from the text here.

(1) What does it mean to, as a church, walk in a manner worthy of God?
(2) How are we pleasing to God as a church?
(3) How do we bear fruit in good works as a church?
(4) How do we increase in the knowledge of God as a church?

Some might be inclined to ask, “Why all these church questions?” It is important to focus on how we function as a community of believers. We are not merely an autonomous group of individuals with no common purpose. At Oasis, we are a church body. We are a gathered group of believers. When we exist in community as the church it is important to do 2 things for the sake of growing in wisdom and understanding.

(1) Strengthen Ourselves as Individual Servants: It is important to work on self-discipline as a servant. We cannot deny that each one of us needs marked improvement in certain areas of the stewardship that God has entrusted us with. Therefore, we must maintain a commitment to personal discipline in God’s commands.

(2) Strengthen Ourselves as a Church: Paul wanted to see the Colossian church continue to grow in strength, spiritual maturity, and the knowledge of God’s will. What church would deny growth in these key areas? To grow in such things is vital to the continued life of every church. This means that the church can no longer be viewed as a passive entity. Many people like the idea of church because they feel that church asks very little of them. God, however, demands much from the life of every believer. There are no passive roles within the church. God has given all of us stewardship over something. Therefore, those who truly serve God have great responsibilities because God has entrusted that individual with an area of service for the sake of the endurance of God’s will. This usually varies from person to person but the bottom line is that we all have responsibilities as servants of the most-high God. As a church we carry those responsibilities together. You’ve heard it said, “Each of us has a job to do.” This is true within every church all over the world. Therefore we should pray for a clear understanding of God’s will so that we would not fail in serving God. It is right and biblical to pray, “God, fill us with your power according to your glorious might so that we might glorify You.” Our aim as a church should be the glorification of God and the spread of the gospel. To that end we should seek to strengthen ourselves as a unified body of believers, i.e. the church.

From this point Paul segue’s into a discussion about the proper perspective of God and what God has accomplished through Christ. Verse 13 sends chills down my spine. What has God done for those whom He has chosen for adoption? Verse 13 says, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Memorize that verse. Sink it deep into your heart. This is the God that we serve. This is the power that He displays in conquering. This is His righteousness and holiness on display for all to see. Oh, how the glory of cross resonates in all of time. And on that note…we will pick it up from right there in our next installment.

The Living Room 2???

Last night's house church meeting reminded me of this:

Back in November of 2005 we were having such a great time worshiping God together in song, and we were having many new songs written by Oasis people, so we decided to record a worship gathering live at one of our house church meetings. It started out as a simple acoustic plan, but we ended up adding drums and bass, and it came out pretty nice for an off-the-cuff effort. Here's a sample: Trading My Sorrows.

Back to last night. About 45 minutes of our time was spent invested in worship in songs of praise to Christ the King. Such an experience is evidence, in my opinion, that the church body is truly "getting it" in our study of Revelation. Revelation is not an intellectual book to be debated, but an artistic book to be experienced. Likewise, Christianity is not a philosophy to be argued and fully comprehended intellectually. It is a love song to be sung. Of course, this love song is rooted in truth and understanding. But it also must be felt and passionately responded to. The book of Revelation is filled with songs. People often wonder why the church sings songs all the time. Why is music such a large part of church gatherings? We can easily find our answer in the pages of Revelation. If God created humans as worshipers, then that is what we do. That means Christianity is about worship. How is worship most often done? In our Bibles we see that a great majority of the time when worship occurs it is accompanied with singing, playing instruments, bowing down, kneeling, lying prostrate on the ground, raising hands, dancing, shouting, clapping, and loud choruses of song after song after song! God LOVES music. And we are created in the image of Him. We love music because we are image-bearers of God.

God could have chosen anything He wanted to be the primary tool used as means to worship Him, and He chose songs, music, instruments, singing. Yes, there are many ways we worship Him as living sacrifices. But there is no arguing that the primary means surrounding the throne of God as we glimpse into heaven is song and music and loud choruses of praise made by all the created beings.

What does this mean to me? What should this mean to our church? It means that we have been given the privilege of participating in something here and now that occurs constantly in heaven. Concerts, light shows, sound systems, amazing guitar riffs, soothing vocal harmonies, all of those aesthetics combine to draw us closer to the throne of God. Why? My guess is because that is where those things originate. That is what currently, and eternally, surrounds the throne of God.

I could hear and see last night that we are all starting to learn this fact. And we are learning it with more than our minds. God is doing something in our hearts. And He is moving our bodies to respond.

Is it time for a Living Room 2?

Colossians 1:1-2

A Greeting
We often downplay, or simply don’t talk about the way most New Testament authors begin their letters. Listen to how Paul pens out his salutation, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.” There are several things of note in these first two verses.

(1) Paul Does Not Qualify Himself: Paul says up front that it is not he, by the strength of his own will, that qualifies himself as a minister of the gospel. He makes it clear who has chosen him to be a minister of the gospel to the gentiles. Paul is, by his own admission, one chosen to be an apostle of Christ solely by the will of God. This is important because it establishes Paul as a servant called to a purpose. It means that he is not selling anything for the sake of his own self-gain. Some might say, “What’s the big deal? Many con-artisits claim to be messengers of God all the time!” Therein lies the rub. How do we sort out the liars? It’s usually obvious. Most “false teachers” have messages that serve the purpose of self. Virtually everyone wants to buy into that message. Paul’s message, the gospel which he and others purveyed all throughout the Bible, is as far removed from self-serving as you can get. The gospel lacks the classics marks of a scam. It seeks only to serve the will of God and it serves only the purpose of God. This is why it is important for Paul to establish himself as one chosen solely by the will of God. It was not by any power of will or exertion by Paul that has put him where he is currently serving. All that Paul does and suffers through is done with a servants heart who is in perfect submission to the will of God. It is God, not Paul, whom has qualified Paul in his role of servantship as a minister of the gospel to the gentiles.

(2) Foreign Language: There is language that we see in the Bible that we might never consider using. If you were writing a letter to someone in another church how might you begin your greeting? Would you use words like Paul uses here or would you feel slightly awkward using such language? What if we were writing a letter to our brothers and sisters at the Middleport Church of Christ? Would it be “un-biblical” for us to say, “To the saints and faithful in Christ at the Middleport Church of Christ?” Absolutely not. It might simply feel weird. What about finishing off that salutation with, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father.” This is foreign language to most Christians but there is nothing silly about it. This language that we see speaks many things. It speaks of a sense of unity. It speaks of a sense of understanding that we are united in the purpose of the gospel. It speaks of the love that we should have for all our brothers and sisters in Christ. Truly, I’m not a fan of “teachers” such as Joel Osteen, but if I were writing to Joel or to his church would I not give him and those at Lakewood a greeting of love, of grace, of unity? I hope that I would. While we are on opposite sides of the fence from a doctrinal perspective, it does not mean that I cannot love and embrace all those at the Lakewood Church as brothers and sisters united in the cause to glorify God and spread the gospel for the sake of His glory. Yes I might have exhortation for those people but it does not mean that I can’t embrace them in grace and love. Paul always has exhortation for the churches that he writes. But he never fails to embrace them in a sense of grace and peace.
Paul’s opening greeting resonates with something deeper than just a kind address. It speaks of the attitude that he seemed to hold for the churches that were growing all over the place. I get the sense, particularly in reading verses 3 through 14, that Paul had the mentality of “we’re in this together”. To this end he encourages, he affirms, he exhorts, he passionately rebukes…in short he does all that God has called him to do for the sake of the glorification of God and for the sake of the spread of the gospel. Churches do in fact matter. They matter in the sense that churches are communities of believers that God has drawn together for the sake of His purpose. Paul, of course, realized this. So what we see in all of Paul’s letters is his obedience to the understanding that God was growing His purpose all over the ever-expanding world. God was, in one way, accomplishing this through churches.

I say all this because I once had a great contempt for the church as an establishment. I knew that many people shared this contempt. Such people often sought out “better churches” than the ones that they’d previously been involved with. They find such a church but continue to harbor contempt for their “old church”. I finally learned that such thinking was simply unbiblical. We musn’t hold contempt for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We musn’t hold contempt towards other churches. We can be discerning about bad teaching in other churches but that doesn’t mean that we have to hold disdain against that church. We can exhort our own church, even other churches, in matters of spiritual growth, maturity and wisdom, without growing a sense of effrontery within ourselves or towards those other churches.

There are probably a little less than a couple hundred churches in Meigs County. There’s a little over 400 square miles in Meigs County. Our rough population is something like 23,000 or more. That’s anywhere between 100 to 200 churches in 400 square miles among 23,000 or so people. Meigs County is but a small sliver of Ohio. It’s not that highly populated. We only average about 53 people in every square mile. With as many churches as we have here in this small and not overly crowded county, you’d think we’d feel the impact of the gospel more than we do. But the truth is that we don’t. Could it be that churches have set themselves apart from their fellow brothers and sisters? Could it be that churches have made themselves largely self-contained entities? Could it be that the “church” as a whole here in Meigs county is not looking to it’s fellow brothers and sisters to help one another in the spread of the gospel? In reading Colossians we get the sense that the church at Colossae and the church at Laodicea had a relationship. How many churches in Meigs county truly have a relationship? Are we aware of any that truly work together for the sake of the gospel? There might be a few but one of the real questions is why are there not more?

We, as churches, should be united in the same purpose. Paul is going to echo that message out loud and strong in the first half of chapter 1. I know there are many logistical issues to consider in churches of today working together but the fact remains that we should regard one another in grace and love. To this end we can accomplish God’s work in even greater ways. It will help us in understanding how we can work together to do God’s will. In verses 3 through 14, which we will study in our next installment, we will look at the language that Paul uses to speak of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that he had never met. We will see the language of love, grace, and exhortation that Paul uses with a church that he had never even been to visit personally. By studying this language I believe it will broaden our ideas about how we communicate with other churches and how we can work together for the sake of God’s glory and renown. We are a community of believers. If Paul could write a letter to all the churches of Meigs County would he possibly say somewhere, “It’s high time that we all started acting like a community of believers!” This is an interesting gut check question for all the churches here in Meigs County.

What do you think?

(1) Should local churches be working together for the sake of the gospel?
(2) What are some of the logistical issues churches might encounter in working together?
(3) What are some ways that churches could work past their differences in the interest of accomplishing God’s will?

Colossians: An Introduction

Paul's letter to the Colossian church is a mere four chapters in our Bible.  Yet out of those four brief chapters some of the greatest teaching in all of Christianity has arisen.  After I completed a year long effort to memorize and commentate on the letter of James, God turned my heart on Paul's letter to the church at Colossae.  Admittedly, I've been tip toeing around this letter for some time now.  I can't truly say why.  Perhaps it has just been simple apathy.  Whatever the case, I can no longer ignore the calling to memorize and preach about the words of this powerful letter.  So here, today, I begin with some introductory thoughts about this letter. 

Background Inromation About the Colossian Letter:
Colossae , which no longer stands today, was a city in Asia Minor (modern day Anatolia, Turkey).  Scholars generally agree that this letter was written while Paul was imprisoned in Rome although some dispute the location of Paul's imprisonment when he wrote this letter.  What is widely accepted is that Paul wrote this letter from prison.  The exact date ranges depending on which course of scholarship you're reading.  In general, historians date this letter anywhere between 57 AD to 62 AD.  You will also hear arguments about the authorship of this letter.  Some do not believe that this letter was written by Paul.  This is, of course, somewhat ridiculous.  Many important early church figures can historically verify that Paul was in fact the author of this letter.  Of course, it does help somewhat that Paul announces himself as the author of this letter.  He may have had some help in the authoring of this letter.  After all, he does announce that this letter is from himself and Timothy.  The themes in Colossians are not unique.  Paul pounds home many of the same points throughout all of his letters.  I find it both amazing and somewhat assanine that scholars have the gaul to say, "Well Paul never used this Greek word or that Greek word in any of his other letters...must not be him."  Don't get distracted by such foolish arguments.  Paul is, without doubt, the author of this letter.

The church at Colossae seems to have been a good church.  In the first half of chapter 1 Paul praises the church for their qualities as a unified body of believers. 
(1) They trust in Christ and love all God's people
(2) Their minds are set in a "kingdom" based mentality
(3) Paul re-emphasizes how the Holy Spirit has given the church at Coloassae a great love for others. 

Paul had never personally been to the Colossian church.  He knew of their struggles and their triumphs through a fellow worker of Christ named Epaphras.  Epaphras was the one responsible for planting the Colossian church.  Paul is writing to the Colossian church to affirm and encourage them as well as to exhort them in certain matters.  One of Paul's largest concerns for the Colossian church seems to have been the influence of outside criticism and false doctrines that were looming all around them.  Such examples are:
(1) Saving grace is achieved through a righteousness of works
(2) Angels are to be worshiped
(3) Jesus could not have been fully human and fully divine
(4) Trust only those who have been given "special revelation"
(5) The strength of human wisdom and knowledge can be reliably leaned on for all understanding
(6) There is no true immorality

These examples are but a mere spattering of the things that the Colossian church was facing down.  To counteract this Paul re-inforces the foundation of Christ as God, Christ as head of the Church, and Christ as the Sovereign authority over all things.

Where Will Colossians Take Us
Colossians is almost unimaginably impacting.  The preeiminence of Christ is so powerfully on display here that it really does take your breath away.  There is much hard teaching here.  Be prepared to encounter great challenge as you consider this letter.  Be prepared to have your perspective of God's glory widened.  Be prepared to come to grips with the full extent of our sinful nature.  Be prepared to have your mind stretched.  I believe that Colossians will inspire you to worship.  I believe it will enhance your understanding of the need for steadfastness, prayer, servantship, and discipleship within your own life.  God has glorified himself with such great majesty in this letter that it is almost too much to take in.  Study this letter.  Store it in your heart.  It will change the way you live your life.

May God receive all glory by what is to follow. 


   

Good Friday Letter to Church

The following is a letter I emailed to the Oasis community last Friday.

Dear friends,

Today is a day of paradoxes. It is a gloomy, yet glorious day. It is a sad, yet joyous day. It is a frightening, yet comforting day. It is a day of great loss, yet a day of eternal gain. It is a day of death, yet it is a day of life. How can this all be? How can a cross of execution—used in the 1st century as a symbol of control, fear, and ultimate punishment—be something that today we wear around our necks with great joy, hang them in our homes and in church buildings to show dedication and love, and include them in our song lyrics to give adoration to God? How can such a symbol mean so much?

Because there is no gospel without the cross. We love Christmas, but the birth of Christ is no gospel. The life of Christ is no gospel. We also love Easter, but even the resurrection—important as it is in the total scheme of things—is no gospel by itself. The Good News is not just that God became man, nor that God has revealed a proper way of life for us, or even that death, the great enemy, is conquered. Rather, the Good News is that sin has been dealt with (of which the resurrection is a proof—so the two events do go hand-in-hand); that Jesus has suffered sin’s penalty for us as our representative, so that we might never have to suffer it; and that therefore all who believe in him can look forward to heaven.

This morning I sat at the breakfast table with my 7-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son, and I asked them if they understood what this day, Good Friday, symbolizes for us. They knew that Good Friday was the day that we remember Jesus’ death on the cross, and they were quick to point out that he rose again on the third day, which is why we go to church on Sunday. You might say that’s a good, basic understanding of things. And I am sure my kids have that understanding because they are growing up in a Christian home, with a Christian family and even Christian extended family. But, as my children continue to grow older and gain more understanding in this life, the most important thing I can teach them is that, even though they are being raised in a Christian family and are learning to lead a moral life, they are sinners who desperately need the substitutionary death of Christ to be forgiven by God.

So not only do I need to teach them the basics of “what happened.” I need to teach them the gospel, every day. I need to tell them that they are sinners, just like their mom and dad, and that sin is a serious problem. Sure, I will need to put it into words that their young minds can understand, but I should not ignore or minimize the seriousness of sin. Through their actions and attitudes they have rebelled against their Maker. And this great God is perfectly holy and must respond with fierce opposition to sin. He must punish it.

Some of you reading this right now might find it surprising that I would teach a 7-year-old and 9-year-old about God’s wrath toward sin. But I would contend that I find it surprising that any loving person would withhold this truth from another person they love. Because only when we understand God’s wrath toward sin can we realize that we need to be saved from it. What makes Good News “good news”? Usually good news comes when we are smack-dab in the middle of some serious bad news. You don’t know good news until you know bad news. That is why so many people in our world, who have lived moral lives and are thus considered “good people” by culture’s standards, do not recognize their need for Good News. If we don’t know of any bad news, then why do we need good news?

So, this is the message I want to teach my son and daughter as the hope of their life: Jesus, God’s perfect, righteous Son, died in their place for their sins. Jesus took all the punishment; Jesus received all the wrath as he hung on the cross, so people like Brock and Kaylee and their sinful mommy and daddy could be completely forgiven.

Do you know the gospel? Do you know that the cross is the center of your life in Christ? Can you explain that to someone else? Is your life cross-centered? I want to give you something to contemplate on this Good Friday. The symptoms that arise from not being a cross-centered person are actually quite easy to spot. Do any of these describe you?

• You often lack joy.
• You’re not consistently growing in spiritual maturity.
• Your love for God lacks passion.
• You’re always looking for some new technique, some “new truth” or new experience that will deepen your faith or pull all the pieces of your faith together.

If you can relate to any of these symptoms, then take some time today to re-focus your life on what really matters. It’s never too late for you to reestablish the obvious truth of the cross as the most important truth in your life. The message that Paul had for Timothy is the same message he has for you. You need to rediscover the truth that first saved you. The key to joy, to growth, to passion, isn’t hiding from you. It’s right in front of you. In fact, He actively seeks and passionately pursues after you with this message. The gospel.

If you have been reading these emails and posts this week and you sense that Jesus is speaking to your heart through the Holy Spirit, we encourage you to respond to the revealed Christ and give your worship to him. Some of you who have read these emails this week have become very committed to the fellowship of Oasis, and you know that God is calling you to partner in ministry with Oasis Meigs. But undoubtedly there is a number of you who are reading this right now and you know you have distanced yourself from the church in general, and thus you recognize a greater distance growing between you and Jesus.

Friends, we cannot exist alone. Your relationship with Jesus Christ is more than just a personal, private, autonomous relationship. You have been created by the Creator to, first and foremost, glorify and give worship to Him. Yes, you can and should do that on your own and in private times. But the worship we so often see demonstrated in the Scriptures is a corporate, community act. The encouragement that the early believers received in the Bible was through public gatherings of preaching and teaching. And one of the most common ways God’s people have been strengthened, comforted, and encouraged has been through the fellowship of the gathered church.

If you are thinking to yourself, Man, it sounds like he is trying to get me to come and join the church, you are exactly right. I care enough about you to exhort you in this vitally important aspect of your relationship with Jesus. Don’t try to do it on your own. One of the things worship requires is humility. It takes a humble person to admit need. We need one another. We need to be together, living out our salvation in a community of grace, love, and truth.

I hope you had a great Resurrection Weekend.

Death & Heaven

"Into Your hands I commit my spirit!"

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (Luke 23:44-46, ESV)

After Jesus had willingly endured horrific pain, humiliation, and suffering to overcome sin, to conquer death and darkness, he once again willing committed one more act.  He committed his spirit into the Father’s hands and then he died.  This is the part of the story that usually makes everyone cry in sadness, but in reality this is where true peace begins for human kind. During the entire process of conquering death and sin, Jesus was acting on our behalf.  Jesus didn’t need saved—we did.  Jesus was our replacement, our sacrificial lamb. He took the punishment we deserved and he was victorious over sin when we could not have been.  He became our representative in order to save us.  When Jesus offered his spirit into God’s hands he was also offering our spirit—the very thing that he had just defeated death to rescue.

During Jesus’ life on earth he was an example to all of us.  He showed us and taught us about how to love each other, how to worship, how to teach others and how to lead others. In these last words he once again was and example and teacher, only this time he taught us about death and eternal life. It is often very scary to think of death and hell, but as a believer we have the eternal confidence that we will eternally, now and forever, be “in the Father’s hands.” After fighting a hard battle and winning Jesus found rest and peace in the Father’s hands, once again teaching us by his example.

[Devotional thought written by April Stewart]

The Will & Plan of God

"It is finished."

A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:29-30, ESV)

The final cry of Jesus on the cross, “Tetelestai (it is finished),” is not a cry of defeat.  It is a resounding proclamation of victory.  The scene of the cross, while violent and grisly, stands out as a deeply impacting portrait of God’s sovereignty.  We often make the mistake of looking at the cross and considering only how it impacts us.  In doing so some people tend to think that the crucifixion is entirely about us above all things.  Such is not the case.  Consider the opening words Jesus’ final prayer in John 17, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you…”  The cross is not about us.  Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying.  The necessity of the cross cannot possibly be overstated, for the reconciliation of our sinfulness through the imputed righteousness of those whom God has chosen for adoption in Christ is inexorably tied to the actions of the cross.  (Romans 8:15-17)  So yes it is true that our salvation is tied to the manifested grace of Christ which flows from the cross, but there is a higher definition beyond “us” and how the cross benefits “us”.  The cross, above all things, is about the glorification of God.  It is about the righteousness of God.  It is about the holiness of God.  It is all about God’s plan.  It is all about God’s will.  If not, Jesus would not have said, “…glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.” 

God’s will is firm, fixed, immutable, changeless, inalterable, inevitable, irreversible, permanent, resolute, steadfast, strong, and unmodifiable.  God’s plan is certain, definite, ironclad, settled, clear, distinct, indisputable, undeniable, unequivocal and unquestionable.  The cross was decided before time.  God was always going to prevail.  God has always prevailed and God will always continue to prevail.  There is nothing anywhere in the universe that stands as equal and opposite to our great God.  The cross echoes out this message across the centuries and all over God’s creation. 

Let your mind be fixed, today and everyday, on the absolute and unchangeable nature of God’s enduring plan.  There is nothing above God’s plan or God’s will.  He ruled before time, He rules now in all time, and He will continue to rule when time is but a distant and insignificant memory.  TETELESTAI!!!  This is one of the most glorious words of our age.  “It is finished”… “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”… “Glorify the Son that the Son may glorify You”…

The moral of the story:  God triumphs and is glorified forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever………………………….

[Devotional thought written by Chad Dodson]

Evangelism & Fulfillment

"I am thirsty."

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” (John 19:28, ESV)

If one or both of your parents asked you to endure awful and excruciating pain, maybe not ones that would end in death, but almost, would you do it? Pain such as walking over burning coals, walking in extreme heat carrying a huge amount of weight, lying on a bed of nails, stabbing a huge knife into your leg, etc., would you? Would you do it if there was some incentive at the end of these painful trials, such as, a brand new car, a lot of money, etc? Or would you do it simply because your parents asked you to, sincerely out of respect for them? Or what if it involved making a difference in other people's lives? I would honestly have to say, I probably wouldn't. The above painful scenarios to us seem to be the most excruciating pain one could endure, but it's nothing compared to what Jesus endured.

Jesus knew all along that God asked Him to fulfill His will, which involved severe pain, suffering, and DEATH. God had this planned long before Jesus had even set foot on this earth. Take a look in the book of Isaiah:

Isaiah 53:5 says, " But he was wounded for our trangressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed."

Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." (ESV)

You may be thinking, well, Jesus knew He'd be saving everyone from their sins, that was the ultimate end result. And Jesus is Jesus, come on. We can’t compare ourselves to Jesus, He is God's Son. But the truth is, in a small way, we can. Yes, Jesus fulfilled God's will, and yes He knew the end result was saving us and showing us what unconditional love really is, but He was also real. At the end of accomplishing God's will, He asked for a drink, because He was thirsty. John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, "I am thirsty." (NASB)

It wasnt until this moment that he said anything that alluded to Him asking for any help or complaining about this journey He had taken. He endured it all, fulfilled it all, did everything God asked of Him, and now He was thirsty, He was done.

Jesus was a testament to us that out of love to His Father and His love for us, He was willing to do anything, pain, torture, humiliation, even death.

Are we willing to live our life the way God wants so that others will know the love Christ has for us? We even know the final result, Heaven! Can we live each day fulfilling God's will even if it costs us pain and trials? The next question is, are we? If not, others will never be able to experience the true unconditional love of Christ.

[Devotional thought written by Jacynda Lynch]

Substitutionary Atonement

"My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?"

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  (Matthew 27:46, ESV)

Sin was a major problem. It is still a problem, but now in time and space it is a problem with a solution. God decided that in our inability to make things right between humankind and Himself, He would take away the penalty and potency of Sin. Humankind's self-rule/self-worship had a penalty which was death (Gen 3:19, Rom 6:23). Blood was needed to satisfy the penalty of our Sin to bring reconciliation, to bridge the gap. Jesus was a sacrifice for sin, not unlike of the blood sacrifices of that which are reported in the Old Testament (See Leviticus). God has always been bailing us out of our self-love, our self-obsession to self-rule and self-worship ourselves.

The active ingredient of the phrase "substitution atonement" is grace. It is a bit simplistic, but God has never accepted anything that we have made with our bloody, sin-stained hands to offer to God that wasn't already His.

God had allowed His people, His imperfect people to sacrifice the blood of animals for their sin. Yeah, his people would slit the throat of the best of his herd and offer it to God an offering for atonement for his or her sin, but it was God's lamb. It was God's cattle--His creation. Innocent blood not tainted by man's curse that was needed to make things right for a while. Yet, no animal's blood could completely cure God's desire for justice for sin's heartache. God's Justice is the judgment of sin for man like the sentencing of a man convicted for murder of an innocent. Crime deserves punishment.

God did in human form the deed that settled the score for all time. Looking back to the past, the here-and-now present and the future going forward: God supernaturally claimed the Sin of ALL-TIME when he died so that we could have life.

The Scriptures confirm it. 2 Cor 5:21 says, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Isaiah 53:6 says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

God chose to do this voluntarily and purposefully destroyed the power of sin over humankind to bring them in fellowship with Himself; All this to, in effect, win us over.

Literally, God's action and good news is explained in full in Colossians 1:13 by Paul: He (God) has delivered us (by His own power and will because we aren't ABLE) from the domain of darkness (He has taken us from self-rule and self-governance which leads to death) and transferred us (and God has mortgaged Himself as the blood sacrifice) to the kingdom of his beloved Son (from the realm of death to the realm of life. Jesus is the vehicle through which God gives us real life.)

We are often numb to images of Jesus physical death on the cross in this image-driven generation. This week, look briefly at the physical torment and horror and solemnity of humankind's mistake in wrongfully murdering the God of the universe and then focus straight on to the supernatural act of God to intentionally adopt us as family no matter the cost of sin for all mankind. How much of a price was His death? Physically, it was horrible and excruciating. The truth is, we'll never know how much it hurt to take on the entirety of blackness taint and sickness of sin that Christ, God of the universe in human form had yet to ever experience until death was upon his earthly body

Remember Jesus' words in John 19:30, "It is finished" and may it bless you this week.

[Devotional thought written by Josh Lynch]

The Blessed Mother & Son

(To his mother Jesus said) "Dear woman, here is your son," (and to John the disciple he said) "Here is your mother."

...standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.  (John 19:25-27, ESV)

One can only imagine the deep grief Mary the mother of Jesus, and John, the beloved were experiencing at the cross.  After all, it isn’t ordinary for a mother to witness the death of a child.  Neither is it ordinary to witness the execution of your best friend.  But then Mary was no ordinary mother. Luke 1:26-38 gives the account of the Virgin Mary being chosen to carry and give birth to God’s only Son, Jesus.  The NIV calls her “highly favored” (vs.28).  Young, engaged, scared, and confused, Mary answered the Lord’s call saying, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Verse 38 ESV)  Later in the chapter Elizabeth says to Mary in a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Verse 42)

Likewise, John was no ordinary friend.  In the Bible we are given numerous accounts of John being present with Jesus including His transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-3); the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46); and reclining at His breast during the last supper, where John was referred to as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. (John 13:23-25 NIV).   It is no wonder that John was present that day, and it is no wonder Jesus entrusted him to care for His mother. But most remarkably of all, it is no wonder that Jesus would consider the care of His blessed mother in His final hours.

Our prayer today is that the loving bond Jesus had with His mother and friend will be a model for us as well.

[Devotional thought written by Mike & Sharon Stewart]