Motivated by what God has done…

Why is it that so many preachers or devotional writers focus on telling their listeners or readers what to do rather than glorifying Jesus for what He has done? It is the love of Jesus that motives godly responses. I’m rarely charged up by another sinner shaking their finger at me.

My first reading today was all about my need to follow Jesus. So were other readings. One of them quoted this passage: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend … I have called you friends.” (John 15:13, 15), and then used it to tell me I need to lay down my life for Jesus. That is true, but that is not what these words say. When my heart and mind are filled with the wonder and glory of God, responding easily follows. What folly to put the cart before the horse so why make this cart pull the load instead of the Lord?

One reading says what I always need to hear. It begins with, "Oh, what a Savior He is. Words can never express His mighty power to save! I never felt so utterly weak in myself, but Jesus is strong, and He is mine, and He saves me now. Praise His Name!"

A few lines later, the writer says, “Every moment, Lord I need the cleansing of your blood. And every moment, Lord, I have the cleansing of your blood.” I do not mean here cleansing from the guilt of sin, but cleansing from the sin itself, that cleansing which makes me “pure in heart.”

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)

Each day I need the good news of the gospel. My sins distract me from the reality of sins forgiven and from the power of redemption. It is knowing what is possible in Christ that gives me even the desire for purity of heart that He calls for, as well as the purity itself…

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:3)

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

Another reading says this: “God always answers the general design and intention of His people’s prayers, in doing that which, all things considered, is most for His own glory and our spiritual and eternal welfare. As we never find that Jesus Christ rejected a single supplicant who came to Him for mercy, so we believe that no prayer made in His name will be in vain.”

Such words edify, build faith. Telling me my duty is helpful only if I have decided not to do it and live as I want. But for the Christian who wants to live for Christ, His words of encouragement and reminders of what He has done for me always give me hope and the motivation to live for Him.

PRAY: Thank You Jesus for calling me Your friend and laying down Your life for me. Greater love has no one than this. Because of what You have done for me, I want to live for You and for the glory of Your name.

 

The only legitimate scapegoat

A scapegoat is a person or group that is made to bear blame for others. Scapegoating allows people to point their finger at others instead of accepting the consequences of their actions. These targets usually are outsiders who can be dehumanized. They might be in politics, religious groups, artists or in sports.

Even God has been scapegoated for people-problems with the idea that if God is perfect, why does he allow bad things to happen? One survey says two-thirds of Americans feel angry with God when they are suffering, or when they don’t get what they want.

Actually, scapegoat is a biblical term. In the Old Testament on the Day of Atonement, a priest confessed all the sins of the Israelites over the head of a goat and then drove it into the wilderness, symbolically bearing their sins away.

“And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:20–22)

While this seems odd to us, we need to realize that this ritual points to the greatest moment in history. The action of the OT priests and the bearing of sin by the scapegoat is a type or shadow that points to the future action of what God did with the sin of the world.

“(Jesus Christ) himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13–14)

“You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.” (1 John 3:5)

God put our sin on His Son, then sent Him to death and a grave, bearing our sin — as the ultimate scapegoat. While the image of a goat is not an appealing one, it gave the OT believers something visible as they trusted God for the Messiah to come. They knew that this ritual had to be repeated every year. What they may not have realized was that the Messiah would do it once — for all sin, for all time!

“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:11–14)

Blame-shifters usually pick someone they see as weak and helpless. Jesus not only made Himself weak, but also took the blame, accepting the accusation so that we could go free. This was not so sinners could exonerate themselves, for none of us can do that; we are guilty. It was so we could have peace with God, the Holy One who must punish sin. However, no one can say that Jesus died for them without believing it with all their heart. Calling Jesus my scapegoat only means my freedom if I totally agree with Him about my sin and my need for a Savior.

And I do agree and believe — Jesus took my sin and removed it from me as far as the east is from the west. This amazing sacrifice changes everything. When I believed, He gave me a new heart, a new life. I’m not perfect (as He is perfect) but I am forgiven and blessed. I cannot and seldom think of Jesus as a scapegoat, but in all actuality, He is the only legitimate scapegoat that exists! Humanity did not put our guilt on Him; God the Father did, and Jesus willingly and humbly accepted it.

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, thank You for taking away my sin. Even more, thank You for giving me Your righteousness, even Yourself. I live an abundant life because You were willing to satisfy the wrath of God on my sin. I believe it, yet I still shake my head in wonder at the marvel of You and at all You have done.

God’s answer to our sin

This morning’s ‘read through the Bible’ chapters were about the sin of David with Bathsheba. As a new Christian, I was told that because of David’s wars, he could not build the temple, therefore because I had been divorced and remarried, I could not join the church.

Last year, I was told that David’s relationship with God and his usefulness in the kingdom were diminished after his sin with Bathsheba. This one makes me wonder how much a person has to sin before God writes them off and puts them on a shelf. The older I get, it seems the more I can see (and regret) all those times I did not obey God.

Both dismissals of David seem to have scriptural basis, but both accusations forget something: David may not have flourished in some ways because of sin, but he did get to write most of the Psalms!

Had David been born a few centuries later and after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, would he be fighting the same accusations? I know that many Christians are convinced of things like, “I am useless to God because of the way I’ve lived” or “My sin was too great and the consequences have ruined my life.” If we don’t think it of ourselves, like Job’s comforters, we may think others have sinned and are therefore in trouble with God.

These accusations also forget God’s grace. The Holy Spirit often reminds me of a passage in Revelation that reveals that grace and also where those accusations come from:

And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God . . . . (Revelation 12:9–10)

The next two verses give God’s message to those who are being accused:

“ . . . And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Revelation 12:11–12)

His time may be short, but Satan still tells lies. He suggested to Eve that God didn’t really say that (command) and that He didn’t really want the best for her. This liar deceives the whole world with junk that makes us doubt the Bible, and doubt His great love for us. He accuses us before God and we hear those accusations in our minds, sometimes recognizing them, and sometimes feeling they are true and we and other people are ruined.

The victory is in the blood of the Lamb:

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

The victory is in the word of our testimony:

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Romans 10:10)

The victory is in not loving our lives even unto death:

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25)

The victory is in remembering that Jesus died for my sin so I can live for Him. I am healed from sin’s deadly blows. Every time that I proclaim it, I am strengthened. Every time I deny my fleshy self, the eternal life Jesus gave me wins a victory over the lies of the enemy.

Chambers says that the Cross is God’s superb triumph that shook the foundations of hell. There is nothing more certain in time or eternity than the redemption that took place there. The whole human race — sinners all of us — were given a way to be in a right relationship with God!

When Satan lies and accuses, the answer is Jesus, always Jesus – and the Cross – and His marvelous grace.

After seeing the horror of sin…

When rattled with a problem or a temptation, the Lord takes me back to the basics of the Gospel. That is biblical. I’m to live out my faith in the same way as it began…

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6–7)

Today’s devotional was written by Martin Luther many years ago, but the principles of how to deal with sin are the same today as they were in his day. First, he points to the reason Jesus died…

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities… he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. (Isaiah 53:5, 8)

Yesterday’s piece was about looking at the suffering of Jesus and feeling the horror of sin. However, Luther warns that being terror stricken in my conscience can be terribly negative and leave me in deep doubt — if I do not cast my sin on Christ.

When I first read his words, I’m thinking, “Of course” but then realize that it is possible to confess sin and then brood about the fact that it was committed. In the brooding, there is no joy, no release from guilt, no sense of being forgiven and cleansed. This is an emotionally worse place than before.

Instead, I am to think about and believe that my sins are His wounds and suffering. He carries them, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). This and other passages like it must come into focus and replace the deadly weight in my conscience. As Luther says, if I deal with my sin in my conscience and let the horror of what I have done continue in me, it is a form of cherishing the thing in my heart and soon enough it will become much too strong for me to manage and will live forever.

Yikes. I understand that statement. Such activity is usually accompanied by agonizing thoughts such as, “How could I ever do such a thing?” or “This is wrong… why am I even interested…?” Instead of dwelling there, I need to say, “Jesus died for that sin. It was placed on Him at the Cross. Jesus has forgiven and cleansed me by His death and resurrection” and so on.

Of course, those Gospel thoughts must be believed. It is a fact that in Christ my sin is washed away and powerless. Romans 4:25 says that Christ was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification; that is, by His death and resurrection He makes us righteous and free from all sin.

Luther adds this most startling statement “… even if we believe differently.” I understand that too. If my house is on fire, it is on fire, whether I believe it or not. Christ died for my sin; it is a fact. Luther says if a person is not able to believe it (generally for salvation or for a specific sin for sanctification) then that person should pray to God for faith. This matter is in the hands of God. Faith is entirely free and He bestows it; I cannot conjure it up.

Luther says I must now stop looking at the suffering of Christ. If being at the cross has done its work to literally put the fear of God in my heart and make me hate the sin I loved, then I must “press through all difficulties and see how full of love His heart is toward” me, a love that compelled Him to bear the heavy load of my conscience and sin. In this, my heart is assured of forgiveness and my faith is made stronger. I am drawn to the heart of God through Christ and more deeply understand His goodness and love. My faith and my conscience are clarified, and I stand firm in the One who died for me.

This is the Gospel in action, of course for salvation, but also for ordinary life when ordinary sinners, saved though they may be, get pushed against the wall by temptation and sin. I must look at the cross to see the awfulness of my sin and foolish foibles, but then must gaze at the immense magnificence of my Savior and God.