Being ready for the King…

 

This week we have been considering our future. We live in a small but lovely gated community with 15 units. However, there is no provision for the problems of aging. If one or both of us becomes unable to manage, we would have to hire help.

Instead of that, there are other communities where seniors can live independently and move to a nearby facility that gives partial care and then another that gives extended care. Instead of moving when we need to move, could it be wiser to move now when we are capable?

The plan of God for His people is being prepared, but this plan is not about aging and the end of life. It is about the return of Jesus. We are supposed to be ready for that by knowing what He wants from His people and knowing what will happen when that time arrives.

These days, with an evil mess extending to all parts of the world, some Christians are certain that the end times are culminating and Jesus will soon be here. That could be so, but even if it is not, I know that I need to listen to Him and do what He says. He does not reveal dates and times, but He does tell us what it will look like — all life will change, except God is the same. He sits on His throne. In the OT, Isaiah saw it and someday I will see it too:

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” (Isaiah 6:1)

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 7:14)

At the end of the NT, this vision is fulfilled: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” (Revelation 22:1) And they will reign forever and ever!

Jesus taught His disciples to pray “Your kingdom come” and that fits with what the OT teaches:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 23:5–6)

Yet Jesus also said that His kingdom was near or they were not far from it, and even that it had already arrived…

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:20–21)

When Jesus promised ‘eternal life’, he wasn’t so much thinking of never-ending life (though it included that); he was promising life that is characteristic of God’s kingdom being available to us right now; a life so powerful that it bursts through the doors of death and will continue in the life to come in even fuller expression.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24)

So how do Christians live in that kingdom until entering its fullness? By being filled with the Spirit of God, ceasing from self-rule, knowing I cannot do it and aware of my helplessness, yielding to Him. He gives me His thoughts, directions, ideas, love, peace, joy and all fruit of the Spirit and puts His hand in this ‘glove to move me as He wills. And I know it is Him for He is on the throne of my life…

I have been’ crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

PRAY: Lord Jesus, life in Your kingdom is all about You and a grand glimpse of eternity. The more You rule my heart, the more excited I am to be there for I am already being made ready for what is to come later. Help me trust You for all decisions and activities while still here, keeping in mind that it does not matter much where I live, but that I live in You!

Bad news, good news!

Last night one of our adult children gave us further insight into the unbelief and subsequent behavior of one of his adult children. Our conversation was uplifting because he shared his own faith, but devastating to hear the lengths of rebellion in another who should be acting more like a grown-up and less like a bratty child.

Rebellion is not new. It started in Eden and is described throughout the Old Testament, particularly by the prophets. They speak to God’s people, people who know better, but have chosen sin rather than obedience. The consolation is that God is not finished with them. Here is a bit of what Isaiah had to say after receiving a vision from God:

“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: ‘Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.’ Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it . . . . Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners . . . .

“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats . . . . Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me . . . . I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 1:1-23)

God is angry. His people are not only disobedient and rebellious, they ‘pretend’ to be religious with rituals and praying. Yet their hypocrisy is no match for His plan. If they change their attitude, He will wash away their sin and bless them. He is going to turn things around:

“Therefore the Lord declares, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: ‘Ah, I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes. I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy. And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.’” (Isaiah 1:24-26)

This last part outlines the Lord’s power to bring wrath upon those who forsake Him and righteousness to those who repent. This prophecy is repeated in the other prophetic books, summed up in two verses from Jeremiah:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23:5–6)

^^^^^^^^

Jesus, how good to read this today and be reminded that no matter how much a rebel might think they are living in freedom, their day is coming when all options run out. Hundreds of years before You were born, You promised to come, to confront sin but also to do the most amazing thing; You change hearts. You took wrath for sin on Yourself and paid our debt. You indwell sinners, helpless to change ourselves without Your grace, and become our righteousness. A changed life is our desire, not only for this grandchild of ours, but for all who are rebellious and unable to rescue themselves.

There is only one Savior

If anyone offered me a gift and I tried to pay for it, I would be insulting their generosity. If I denied that God’s salvation is by grace alone, I would be insulting the truth of God and turning it into a lie. From the first sin in Genesis 3 to His cry, “It is finished” the promise has been that God would save sinners, never that sinners could pay the price of sin for themselves.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 23:5–6)

If there is anything in the Bible that is black and white, it is the doctrine of salvation by grace. We cannot boast because salvation is God’s free gift. If the righteousness of Jesus Christ is not the sole reason for my acceptance with God, or if anything I do could be cause for acquitting my soul from guilt, then I would have something for which I could boast. But boasting is excluded in redemption.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

Eternal life and the righteousness of Christ is a gift. Endless verses affirm this, so to deny it would also deny revelation and the inspiration of the Bible. It would also deny my utter sinfulness and reveal the pride in my heart and my idolatry toward my own abilities.

I cannot merely entertain this doctrine of salvation by grace in my head. If I have not received the Lord Jesus Christ by a living faith into my heart, I’d only increase my damnation. He is my life, or I have no life at all. He is my righteousness because any “righteousness” I might claim is as filthy rags in comparison (Isaiah 64:6).

Not only does Jesus impute righteousness but He is responsible for any holiness that can be found in me. By His sanctifying power, God works these two together. That is, those who are justified and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ are also set apart for God by the Holy Spirit. This means that my attitude toward sin, even toward self-righteousness, is loathing. I don’t want to sin, even though it continually picks at me to drag me down and away from God. I detest it even as I struggle with it.

In this inward conflict, God grants a vision of the purity and beauty of Jesus Christ and gives me a thirst for Him and faith to reach out to Him. He also empowers me to fight sin with the Word of God for it declares He is my Savior and my righteousness. This battle can be powerful and requires the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20) with my total engagement. I must think of Christ’s love as He died for me, and talk of His grace as He lived for me, sharing Him with others by my words and actions as the way, the truth and the life, for no one can come to the Father except through Him.  

He is my righteousness

God created the human race in His own image that His glory, the glory of the God who is invisible, might be seen in this world. At that time, He could have insisted on obedience and ensured that humanity would live according to that lofty purpose. Instead, God obliged Himself by a covenant with one condition: humans could have eternal life by obedience to one command.

It was a simple command. They could eat from every tree in the garden but one. He told them to stay away from that tree, “For when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) From that, He inferred that as long as they were obedient and did not eat from it, they would surely live.

Genesis 3 tells how the first human beings broke this covenant. At that point, they fell into sin and needed a better righteousness than their own which was now ruined. Because of their sinful disobedience, that sin was imputed to the rest of humanity and we cannot make ourselves acceptable to God. We need something more than we have. Throughout the Old Testament, God promises to make that available to us . . . 

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 23:5–6)

The grand story of Scripture is the love of God to humanity, for what we could not do, Jesus Christ does it for us. As the New Testament says, in order that God might be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus, Jesus took the nature of a servant, even human nature. In that nature he obeyed, doing everything that God wanted of us. He displayed to the world the glory of God in human flesh. By His sinless life, Jesus fulfilled all of the moral law and that covenant in our stead.

But this sinless life angered the religious leaders and they determined to destroy Him. They had no idea that His death on the cross was part of God’s plan for sinners. He took our sin to that cross and died for it, taking the punishment we deserve upon Himself. As fully God and fully human in one person, He satisfied both the plan of God and the wrath of God. He worked out a full and perfect righteousness for us, a righteousness He offers as a gift.

How do we get it? Gifts are not earned. Rather they are given, and the Bible says this is an imputed gift. It means God attributes (righteousness, guilt, etc.) to a person or persons vicariously, ascribing it as derived from another. Just as the disobedience of Adam and Eve was imputed on the entire human race (for we all have sinned) so also is the righteousness of Christ made available for sinners. As the New Testament says, we become in Christ the righteousness of God because He became to us our righteousness.

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:28–31)

What touches my heart today is the reminder of what this righteousness means. It is not only the passive obedience of Jesus dying on the cross, but the active obedience of His life. Christ not only died for me, but also lived for me. He not only suffered for my sin, but obeyed God for me. Both His life and death jointly make up that complete righteousness that God imputed to me.

I tend to dwell on the negative, on my sinfulness and therefore on His death for sin as my substitute. This is good, but it is not all that the Gospel means. As I struggle to live for Him, I need this reminder that Jesus is also my substitute for that life that I am unable to live on my own.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Because the Lord is my righteousness, and because this righteousness is imputed to me, I don’t need to flounder or fret over my weaknesses and inabilities. By the power of God and the gracious gift of His righteousness, He has given me all that I need to live. 

The greatest gift

The human heart is an idol-making factory. John Calvin said it, and sadly, I agree. Today’s devotional reading begins by saying that self-righteousness is the last idol that is rooted out of the heart, and while I know that he means prior to salvation, that capacity to turn to idols creeps back again and again. While Christians do worship the Lord Jesus Christ, other gods tug at our loyalty.

Few true believers would say that there is salvation in any other name, but one definition of an idol is “something we depend on for our decision-making, emotional well-being, and mental stability.”

In matters of the will and choices, mine can be affected by my peers, advertising, personal preference and a host of other influences. Instead of asking God about the options before me, I might consider what is the most expedient, will make or save the most time and money, or will give me the most pleasure or comfort. While some might say that God does not care what I wear or which restaurants I eat at, He does care about what motivates me. Is it Him? Or a lesser god?

Emotional well-being certainly should not depend on pills or booze, but how many Christians seek things like achievement, popularity, possessions, prestige, and a host of other things to make ourselves feel good about ourselves? We glory in the things that we can do, the pats on the back we can earn, the growing numbers in our class, none of which are bad things, but I notice in my own heart how these push aside the joy of the Lord and replace it with a temporary delight that does not last.

Ideally, total mental stability might be a myth, but if I am comfortable and safe, my mind can rest easier. If my life is productive and healthy, I feel more secure, worthy. If I do not sin, I am much more stable than if my life has drifted off course. But then, in creeps that pride that tips my thoughts in the direction of “look at me; I am a saved and successful Christian” tinted with the self-glory that somehow I have caused it.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 23:5–6)

Of course I say that no one is saved by their own merit nor do we deserve any good at the hands of God, yet in the heart lurks that prideful notion that I had something to do with my righteousness, even if it is merely the statement that “I accepted” Christ rather than He grabbed hold of me.

The righteousness of Jesus Christ is a great mystery. Why should a holy God endue this on sinners? Why did He leave us with our dead, sinful nature that continually tries to replace what Christ has done, or at least take credit for it? Why this battle between the rule of self and a complete and willing surrender to the will of God?

Human pride flies in the face of the grace and gift of God. Human pride wants to put faith in itself rather than follow Abraham who “believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Human pride does not want it to be true that we need “the LORD our righteousness.”

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

And because of (God) you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31)

This gift of faith and salvation did not come from the market place or any other place, nor did I purchase it by my own efforts. It is only mine because Jesus reached out His nail-scarred hands and gave His righteousness and Himself to me.