Two marvels in one action...

 

Multitasker's really are not. We switch from one to the other but humanly only do one thing at a time. Not God. In redemption’s great climax at Calvary, He not only made clear two contrary affections at the same time and in one act, but dealt with both. Charnock writes of this and fills my heart with worship.

At the Cross, God manifests great hatred of sin, and the great love to the sinner by punishing the sin without ruining the sinner, and repairing the ruins of the sinner without indulging the sin. God shows His eternal love and eternal hatred by condemning sin to what it deserved, and advancing sinners to what we could not expect.

He showed His hatred of sin in other ways: in punishing the devil without remedy; sentencing humanity to an expulsion from paradise, yet ultimately pouring out His wrath on His Son. In condemning Jesus to a horrible death, He was a spectator who was “satisfied” by that horrible scene.

God put on His Son the pain we deserved that we might be restored to the place we had forfeited. He hates the sin so as to condemn it forever, and loves the sinner who believes and repents granting us joy and eternal life. He is at eternal defiance with sin, yet nearer in alliance with the sinner than he was before sin happened, almost as if our rebellion endeared us to Him. These verses sum it up:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:7–12)

God, in great wisdom, twisted together the happy restoration of our broken relationship with an everlasting curse upon sin which caused the breach. Satan who seduced the sin fell also in this great plan of redemption. Hatred and love manifested together — hate for sin in the death of Christ, and love to sinners. This is the wisdom of God: Redemption that defeats sin and recovers the sinner.

 Christmas has become a gift-giving and gift-receiving event, eating too much and, for many, not a very happy time. The plan of God is sometimes celebrated in token, sometimes in deep reverence, but mostly not at all. Even so, we sense the wonder even if we do not understand what it is or why.

PRAY: Lord Jesus, I’ve sung “little Lord Jesus” but You are anything but little in my mind and heart. You agreed to the Father’s wisdom and in the power of the Spirit and the reality of Your love to do His will, You arrived, lived, died, and then rose again to redeem and deliver us from sin. What a wonder You are, and the best gift that could be given — and received.

I spy God

Being a detail person, trying to see the big picture is a strain on my brain, however this month’s overview of the New Testament is helpful. It begins with four Gospels that are of different lengths. There are several ways of showing the way these books are organized to describe the life of Christ, but the chart I found yesterday helps my scrambled mind. It shows how each book is in sections or periods of: preparation, public ministry, suffering and triumph, big picture stuff.

Today I’m noticing differences in the lengths of these descriptions. Matthew is writing to the Jews, and Luke whose focus is on Jesus as a man, both describe the longest periods of preparation. In contrast, Mark who describes Jesus as a servant and John who focuses on Jesus as God both give far less description of His preparation for ministry. Is that significant? Does it suggest a pattern for Christians? Maybe in our humanness we need more time to prepare for Christian ministry? Being always filled with the Spirit could make a difference?

The big picture is that our fleshy nature has a desire to run things. It says, ‘I want what I want when I want it’ and those wants are to satisfy the desires of the flesh, the eyes and the pride of life. Interrupt me in that mode with a call to serve God in some way and it takes more than a few seconds to prepare to serve Him instead of myself.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:16–18)

However, if I am filled with the Spirit all the time as Jesus was, then the call of God takes not much more than a quick, ‘help me with this, Lord’ prayer. Preparation is shorter because I am already relying on Him. This does not mean that Jesus had to learn this, but each gospel writer wanted to put emphasis on certain aspects of His life. The way He lived shows me all sorts of things about how I need to live. The emphasis used by each writer speaks to various areas of my own life, and this big picture view is rounded out by the rest of the NT. It says in many ways how I need to depend on Him all the time.

I also notice that John gives far more description to the period of Jesus’ suffering and of His triumph than the other writers do. Is that because he wants to emphasize what God has done for us and that we need to keep our minds on that and the results? Certainly that is a huge part of the rest of the NT too.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15–20)

This and many other passages are clear: Jesus Christ is the priority, the most important person in all of my life. He created all things and rules things. He gives meaning to life as He brings sinners to God by grace through faith. There is nothing more important than the fact of His death on the cross for sin and His resurrection by the supernatural power of God. He changes my life and my destiny.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:7–12)

^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, the NT has more big picture and more details. However, my focus is to worship You, walking in the Spirit and giving no attention to the flesh, remembering all day what You have done and how much Your life has changed my life. You are all that I need for whatever comes my way and all that I need for eternity. Praise Your holy name.