Obeying the Gospel

JESUS, THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH (APRIL 8)

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". . . looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2 NKJV).

IF WE ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, WE MUST NOT GET TO THE POINT WHERE WE TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. We must never fail to appreciate the magnitude of what God has achieved in His Son, Jesus, who is the “author and finisher of our faith.”

THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH. Faced with persecution, the original readers of Hebrews needed to fix their eyes on Jesus and His faithfulness in hard circumstances. He is the supreme example of faith: both the archegos (“leader, pioneer”) and the teleiotes (“completer, perfecter”) of faith’s endurance. As far as “the faith” is concerned, He is both the Originator and the Consummator of it.

HAS SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE THRONE OF GOD. Following His resurrection and ascension, Jesus took His place at the right hand of God, in fulfillment of the prophecies of the Messiah (Psalm 110:1; Acts 2:32-35). He rules today over the kingdom of God as the King of kings. “And he is the head of the body, the church . . . that in everything he might be preeminent” (Colossians 1:18).

All of these great things are leading up to a climax that will occur at some point in the future. Concerning our resurrection at the return of Christ and the ultimate victory that will then have been won over Satan and his forces, Paul wrote, “Then comes the end, when [Christ] delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:24-26).

So when we say, as we often do, that Jesus is our “Savior,” we are saying a great deal. If we don’t see the magnificence of that, it is because we don’t see the horror of what we had to be saved from or we don’t appreciate the wisdom, love, and power that it took to rescue us. After we cut ourselves off from God, we could never have gotten back to Him. To be delivered from death, it took more than a Great Teacher or even a Courageous Martyr. It took a Savior.

"God has set a Savior against sin, a heaven against hell, light against darkness, good against evil, and the breadth and length and depth and height of grace that is in himself for my good, against all the power and strength and subtlety of every enemy" (John Bunyan).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE (APRIL 7)

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"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?' She said to him, 'Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world'" (John 11:25-27).

LAZARUS HAD DIED SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE, AND MARTHA, ONE OF THE SISTERS OF LAZARUS, RAN TO MEET JESUS WHEN SHE HEARD THAT HE HAD ARRIVED IN THE VILLAGE. “Your brother will rise again” (v.23), Jesus said, and she expressed confidence that he would indeed rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

But Jesus had something more in mind than what Martha was thinking of. He intended to raise Lazarus from the grave, then and there. But He wanted Martha to understand something. Any resurrection from the dead, now or at the end of time, would always be by His power. “I am the resurrection and the life,” He said. “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” Jesus’ own resurrection would prove Him to be the Son of God (Romans 1:4) — and as God, the Giver of life, Jesus held the power of life and death. In John 5:21, He had made this momentous claim, at once sobering and hope-giving: “As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.”

Martha not only saw the force of what Jesus said; she believed that He was telling the truth. “I believe,” she said, “that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” She saw that the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament was not to be an earthly ruler over a restored kingdom of Israel; He would be nothing less than God Himself, breaking the power of sin and death — founding a kingdom where the redeemed people of God could enjoy a life that was eternal in every sense of the word. This life, then, is our great hope, as Jesus promised: “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40).

"The resurrection of Jesus is our hope today. It is our assurance that we have a living Savior to help us live as we should now, and that when, in the end, we set forth on that last great journey, we shall not travel an uncharted course, but rather we shall go on a planned voyage -- life to death to eternal living" (Raymond MacKendree).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

THE MESSIAH’S HUMILIATION (APRIL 6)

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"I can count all my bones — they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots" (Psalm 22:17,18).

ALL FOUR OF THE GOSPELS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT ALLUDE TO THIS PART OF PSALM 22. In Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; and John 19:24, there are references to the dividing of Jesus’ garments by the soldiers at His crucifixion. John specifically mentions that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. Yet this is only one of several details in Psalm 22 that describe Jesus’ death. Let’s look at some of the others, and as we do, ask yourself how these could have been fulfilled so vividly and specifically in the death of Jesus if He were not, in fact, the person being pictured in this Psalm.

(1) There is, as we saw yesterday, Jesus’ cry of agony from the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (v.1), which is quoted in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34. (2) The mocking that was hurled at Jesus, recorded in Matthew 27:39-43, is powerfully depicted in vv.6-8 of Psalm 22. (3) The devastation of the body of a person being crucified is pictured realistically in v.14. (4) The thirst described in v.15 is emphasized in John 19:28. (5) In v.16, there is the saying, “They have pierced my hands and feet.” This wording, while controversial, is supported by the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate translations and is attested by the earliest manuscript of Psalm 22 discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. (6) Finally, there is in v.18, as we saw above, the gambling for the garments of the one being executed. This point is included in all four of the gospels.

In addition to these points, there is the general impression in Psalm 22 — an absolutely profound impression — that one is reading an actual description of what happened when Jesus died. If it was only a vague resemblance, one might argue that the similarity was just a coincidence. But an account with this many specifics, and corresponding so closely to the death of Jesus, can be explained in only one way: David was enabled by God’s Spirit to predict what he could not have known about in any other way.

So we come back to the point we began with yesterday. How can it be that the Messiah, of all people, would die such a death? It is simply that His death was required for our atonement. He reigns in glory today, but the cross had to come before the crown.

"It is suffering and then glory" (Robert Crawford McQuilkin).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

IT WAS FORETOLD THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD SUFFER (APRIL 5)

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"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?" (Psalm 22:1).

PSALM 22 IS A PROPHECY OF THE MESSIAH’S SUFFERING. The familiar words of v.1 were spoken by Jesus while He was in the throes of death, as recorded in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34. Among those expecting a personal Messiah, many would have been horrified at the very thought of the Messiah being killed — but that is exactly what David, as a prophet (2 Samuel 23:1,2), had predicted. Psalm 22 ends on a note of triumph (vv.21b-31), indicating that the Messiah’s death would not be the end of the story, but it is v.1 that Matthew and Mark single out. Their quotation of Jesus’ cry of agony on the cross showed God allowing Him to suffer, exactly as David had said in Psalm 22 that the Messiah would suffer.

When Jesus began to tell His disciples what was going to happen to Him, they did not comprehend it (Luke 9:43-45; 18:31-34). After it happened, however, Jesus explained that His suffering had to take place. “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled . . . that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:44-47). The Messiah’s death was not an unexpected interruption of God’s plan. It was the most important part of the plan, foretold in the Scriptures long before.

We will look at some of the details of Psalm 22 in tomorrow’s reading, but for now, I ask you simply to get a Bible and read the Psalm. It is the gruesome, heartbreaking picture of an innocent person being tortured to death. Death by crucifixion was intended to be torture, and Jesus was certainly not the only man to be put to death in this way by the Roman government, but as you read Psalm 22, just contemplate what it means that the Son of God was subjected to a death like this — and that even the particulars of it were foreseen ten centuries before it took place.

"Psalm 22 makes it clear that Messiah was first to come and die for the sins of the world. It is a picture of the crucifixion, years before crucifixion was a method of capital punishment. The parallels between this Psalm, written nearly 1,000 years before Jesus, and the Gospel account are uncanny" (Mitch Glaser).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

THE UNSEEN GOD IS NOT UNREAL (APRIL 4)

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"At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, 'The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill'" (Zephaniah 1:12).

THROUGH ZEPHANIAH, AS THROUGH THE OTHER HEBREW PROPHETS, GOD PROMISED SURE JUDGMENT UPON THOSE WHO LIVED WITH NO REGARD FOR RIGHT AND WRONG. Then, as now, there were many who had declared independence from God, for all practical purposes. Perhaps still believing in His existence, they saw no need to take Him into daily account. He could be disregarded. “The Lord,” they said, “will not do good, nor will he do ill.”

Might not this “practical atheism,” as I call it, have been partly the result of God’s unseen nature? The people of Jerusalem could not see Him with their eyes, so eventually their minds drifted into a lazy disobedience. “If He expects us to obey Him, why doesn’t He show Himself openly?” is what they might have been saying.

There is no denying that the things our physical senses can experience — right now, in the present moment — seem much more real to us than intangible realities. Even things that can be experienced physically don’t seem as real if they are in the past or the future. What is here and now has such a powerful pull on our minds, it sometimes blots out everything else. We know full well that the here and now is not all there is, but it has such a strong gravitational force that its orbit is very hard to break out of.

Yet God expects us to use the powerful minds He gave us. We are able to deal responsibly with unseen realities, and if we do not, there will come a day of reckoning. The foolish man who “says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1) is not necessarily the philosophical atheist. He may be the man who simply disregards God in his daily affairs. “Out of sight, out of mind,” as we say.

Yet we do not diminish God by disregarding Him. He created us, and it is He “to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). He continues to be a benevolent Father whose promises have never failed to be fulfilled when the time was right. So let us not suppose that a mere “never mind” on our part will make Him disappear.

"Were every man on earth to become an atheist, it could not affect God in any way. He is what he is in himself without regard to any other. To believe in him adds nothing to his perfections; to doubt him takes nothing away" (A. W. Tozer).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

KINGDOM AND CHURCH (APRIL 3)

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"But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women" (Acts 8:12).

STUDIED TOGETHER, THE WORDS “KINGDOM” AND “CHURCH” HAVE A GREAT DEAL TO TEACH US. The first emphasizes authority, and so the expression “kingdom of God” has to do with God’s rule or authority as King (1 Timothy 1:17). The second conveys the idea of an assembly of persons “called out” from the world to belong to Him (Matthew 16:18). Perhaps we might say that “kingdom” focuses more on God and His sovereignty, while “church” looks more specifically at the people — those who have answered the call to come back to God, be forgiven, and live under His rule.

As far as the citizens of the kingdom are concerned, one cannot be a member of the Lord’s church and not be a citizen in His kingdom. The reverse is also true. To be in the kingdom is to be in the Lord’s church (with some responsibilities to other “called out” ones). This is an important point because of the popularity of the “spiritual but not religious” concept. Many who speak favorably of the “kingdom of God” would quickly say they have no desire for anything that could be called “church.” However, in the New Testament, those who were members of God’s kingdom were the same people as the members of Christ’s church, and vice versa. They weren’t two different groups; they were the same group.

In regard to kingdom and church, there is another confusion we need to avoid. The Scriptures do not teach that we are in the “church age” now but the “kingdom age” will begin when Christ comes back and establishes a government on the earth. The kingdom age is right now, and so is the church age. In fact, the very thing that defines the church is that God has “transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13). That’s what a Christian is: a loyal subject in God’s kingdom, joyfully accepting all that Jesus taught about how God’s rule should govern our lives. Jesus Christ did not fail. He began His kingdom, as He said He would. We can accept the gospel — and the kingdom — right now.

"As saints and faithful brethren in Christ at Colossae were delivered from the power of darkness and “translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:12-14), so the true people of God today are citizens in Christ’s kingdom and a manifestation that His power is yet very much alive" (Robert F. Turner).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

A DIFFERENT KIND OF KINGDOM (APRIL 2)

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"Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world'" (John 18:36).

IT TOOK A LONG TIME FOR JESUS’ DISCIPLES TO UNDERSTAND THE KIND OF KINGDOM HE CAME TO ESTABLISH. They assumed that the Messiah, when He came, would lead His people in throwing off the shackles of any earthly empire (like Rome) that might be ruling over them and reestablish the Davidic dynasty of kings in Jerusalem. We see this misunderstanding in the disciples’ question in Acts 1:6, even after Jesus’ resurrection. But we shouldn’t be too quick to criticize them. If we had been in their shoes, we wouldn’t have understood things any better than they did.

Today, many people still strongly desire for Jesus, as the Messiah, to be the king of some sort of earthly government or nation-state. That, however, was not His aim. “My kingdom is not of this world,” He said. We would do well to consider how His rule is different from the kingdoms that are of this world.

It does not have a capital city. David had a physical throne situated in a particular city, but Christ’s government does not have a home office anywhere on the globe. He does indeed rule, but He does so from His seat at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1).

It does not have a territory defined by geographical boundaries. In political science, we can hardly think of a “kingdom” without thinking of the physical “territory” it controls. But the kingdom of Christ is not defined by the boundaries of any earthly territory — nor are its citizens defined as those born inside a certain territory.

It does not grow by means of military conquest. Earthly kingdoms have armies that fight, either to defend their territory or to expand it, and Jesus was being honest when He said, “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting.” But it is not territory that Jesus wishes to rule over — it is the hearts of men and women, no matter where their earthly citizenship is. His kingdom exists wherever there are people who have truly given their hearts to Him, so that their “citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).

"Jesus made clear that the Kingdom of God is organic and not organizational. It grows like a seed and it works like leaven: secretly, invisibly, surprisingly, and irresistibly" (Os Guinness).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

AN EVERLASTING DOMINION (APRIL 1)

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"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed" (Daniel 7:13,14).

THE KINGDOM THAT GOD WAS GOING TO ESTABLISH THROUGH THE MESSIAH WAS REVEALED TO DANIEL IN VARIOUS WAYS. He was enabled by God to interpret a dream of Nebuchadnezzar’s in which four earthly kingdoms were envisioned, but in the days of the fourth kingdom (which was the Roman Empire), “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people” (Daniel 2:44).

Later, we hear very similar language in 7:13,14. During the reign of Belshazzar, Daniel saw a vision in which “one like a son of man” came with the clouds of heaven and was given by God, the Ancient of Days, “dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.”

This prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus ascended back to heaven after His resurrection and was seated at the right hand of God (Acts 2:32-36). It is the coronation of the Messiah, God’s Anointed One, predicted in Psalm 2:7-9, where we hear the Messiah say of God, His Father: “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.’”

The kingdom of the Messiah is now a reality. It was established in the days of the Roman Empire, and as Daniel had said in 2:44, it shall not “be left to another people.” That is, there will never come a time when it falls apart and its place is taken by some other kingdom. This kingdom is permanent. It is indestructible. In fact, not even the end of this world will bring it to a close; it will continue in eternity. When we become members of this kingdom, our “citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20,21) — and we need not fear the rise and fall of any of the kingdoms of this world.

The kingdoms of earth pass away one by one,
But the kingdom of heaven remains;
It is built on a rock, and the Lord is its king,
And forever and ever He reigns.
(Henry R. Trickett)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

For more information, visit http://AreYouaChristian.com

COME, ONE AND ALL (MARCH 31)

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"The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come'. And let the one who hears say, 'Come'. And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price" (Revelation 22:17).

HAVING SEPARATED OURSELVES FROM GOD, WE NEED TO COME BACK TO HIM. By His grace, in the death of His Son on our behalf, He has made it possible for us to come back. By accepting the gospel, we can be baptized into Christ’s death and receive the forgiveness of our sins (Romans 6:3-5). And as Paul said, “if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (v.5). But the question is: will we do this? Will we make the decision to receive what God is offering? He invites us, but what will we do?

All that stands between us and God’s mercy is our stubborn will, our persistent refusal to accept His invitation. The Book of Revelation, the last book in the Scriptures, ends by emphasizing the desire of God for everyone to come and partake of the salvation He has provided. The fifth-from-the-last verse in the last chapter of that hopeful book says, “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”

We accept this invitation when we repent of our sins, confess our faith, and are baptized into Christ. As a child, I heard Charlotte Homer’s hymn sung often as an “invitation song,” inviting people, at the end of a sermon, to come and obey the gospel. “Hear the invitation, come, whosoever will; praise God for full salvation, for whosoever will.” Powerful words, these. And we are the losers if we have heard them so often they have lost their appeal.

In its most far-reaching application, Revelation 22:17 is an invitation to drink of the “water of life” in eternity. There is no conflict of meaning here — we drink of this water now, as a foretaste, but it will also be ours to enjoy in eternity, in an even greater sense. But we need to bear this in mind: only in the here and now can we accept God’s invitation. When this life is over, it will be too late for us to decide that, yes, we would like to enjoy the water of life.

Hear the invitation,
Come, whosoever will;
Praise God for full salvation,
For whosoever will.
(Charlotte G. Homer)

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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IS JESUS THE ONLY WAY? (MARCH 30)

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"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

WHEN JESUS WAS BORN, THE CHILD WAS NOT MERELY ANOTHER HUMAN BEING. He was God in the flesh, come into the world to “save his people from their sins.” This is an astonishing claim.

Several years later, after Jesus had ascended back to the Father following His death and resurrection, His apostles were directed by the governing authorities in Jerusalem not to preach anymore in His name. Respectfully, they refused to comply with this order. “This Jesus,” they said, “is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11,12).

The idea of Jesus being the only way makes a good deal more sense when we consider the nature of the problem that has to be fixed. If all we needed was a little moral instruction or the example of a noble life, there might be many teachers and many paths to the goal. But if the problem is actually sin, then we have a very different situation: this problem will have only one solution.

GOD. If we have, in fact, alienated ourselves from our Creator by rebellion against His rule, only He has the right to set the terms of our return to Him. Reality is an objective fact, and facts are stubborn things. We need not expect that the path to reconciliation with God will involve anything less than the real truth about God — and that truth will inevitably exclude everything except itself.

SIN. A part of our problem is our insistence on writing our own rules. But if sin is the objective violation of the will of a God who truly does exist, the rectification of that problem will require letting God define exactly where we have gone wrong.

SALVATION. If the gospel is about sin, that means “salvation” must be seen from a different perspective. Various proposals by the world’s greatest teachers will not be enough. What we need is a grace that only our God can supply, and it is God who has said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35).

"Anyone can devise a plan by which good people may go to heaven. Only God can devise a plan whereby sinners, who are his enemies, can go to heaven" (Lewis Sperry Chafer).

Gary Henry - WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com

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