Humbled before the empty cross and tomb…

 

Last week I had a conversation with a man we have known since he was a boy. He was not a Christian then but after being challenged to read the Bible by a woman who is now his wife, his life was transformed. As we talked about what it means to be a Christian, he stressed the importance of humility.

In other conversations with professing Christians, I often hear them say, “When I accepted Christ. . . .” and “I did this for the Lord” and wonder about the thinking behind those words. The Bible is clear. Jesus said,

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15:16)

Scripture is also clear that any good thing we do does not earn our salvation, nor is it totally our doing when we obey Him:

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4–5)

This week someone mentioned a well-known preacher with admiration. Years ago I looked into his teaching and concluded he was a false teacher so said so. I’d forgotten why so checked again. This person, now deceased, taught that anyone who believed that faith in Christ made us eternally secure was demon-possessed. He was convinced that we chose faith in Christ and be saved, but then we could also chose not to believe in Christ and become unsaved. While I’ve challenged that on the meaning of “eternal” it is also evidence of a lack of humility.

Pride says “I can” and thinks we have more control over our eternal situation than God. The one who thinks we can override what God promises His children is a proud person to think that “my decisions” determine destiny. Yes, we can make choices, but Galatians and the rest of the NT tell how the Spirit of God changes our hearts for those who believe. Also this:

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Corinthians 5:14–15)

Yes there are warnings about turning from Christ, mostly for those who waiver at His Word, but there are also promises like this one: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

Salvation is by grace, not by works, by God’s calling not my decision. Walking by faith is also by grace, not earned by my performance. Without Christ, I am nothing and would be lost in an instant the very first time I thought or did something to ‘live for myself’ — and I cannot claim even as a Christian that I have no sin:

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8–10)

Humility means honesty about what we do — and fail to do — in our walk with Jesus. Sometimes we don’t listen — an activity of our old nature, which the Bible continually tells us is now dead, separate from God. When we do listen and obey, that is evidence of His grace and the new nature He gives His children. Our lives are filled with learning how to walk in the Spirit and not the flesh, and in the end, when we see Jesus face to face, we will be like Him. God says so (1 John 3:1-3) and God does not lie nor is He unable to finish His work of saving us.

PRAY: Jesus, hearing on Friday the details of Your suffering was incredibly humbling. If I could do any of what it means to walk with You, You would not have needed to experience the cross. Nor would Your grace be necessary, nor Your sustaining power. To say You cannot keep me saved is another way of saying I don’t need You, a pride-filled nonsense and the mark of false-teaching. Today we celebrate that You rose from the dead. That is true and vital. It is because of Your obedience that Your people can say: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) You have risen! This demonstrates Your incredible love for those who humbly bow before You. You have risen indeed!

Our Solid Rock

 

We live across the street from an entrance to a wildlife preserve with paved paths that our city maintains, even removing the snow in winter. The path going slightly downhill into the preserve has been lined with painted stones. Some are just colored but many tell a story and reveal the character of the person who put them in place. This line of stones, several meters long, is a record left by those who love walking that way. I thought of that reality when reading this verse for today:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious (1 Peter 2:4).

As the devotional writers says, calling Jesus “a living stone” is odd because we often use the term for something that is “stone dead” or “stone deaf”—  anything but alive, yet this symbolism was used in the OT as a reference to the promised Messiah.

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. (Psalm 118:22)

And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” (Isaiah 8:14–15)

Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ (Isaiah 28:16)

Peter refers to these thoughts as he goes on to describe this “living stone” . . .

For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. (1 Peter 2:6–8)

This would be important to his Jewish readers as their expectations of the Messiah at last were met in the Lord Jesus Christ.

This idea of cornerstone is also about the church that He is building. Those who design and construct stone buildings know that the cornerstone is a vital part of what they are doing. It must be firm and square, in total alignment and in a perfect and immovable place that gives a solid reference point for the remaining parts of the building. This is true of Jesus Christ who is our solid cornerstone.

The word that makes Peter’s words leap off the page is that this stone is “living” pointing to the truth that Jesus is alive. Death could not hold Him. He is our hope because in Him, we have eternal life and all spiritual privilege that God promises to His people. That’s the believer’s hope and the basis for every spiritual privilege we have.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)

Jesus is the stone that possesses life — and because He lives, I will also live.

PRAY: Jesus, we visited Your child, LM, who is in the trauma ward of the hospital. She fell backwards down a flight of stairs, yet the most amazing thing is the joy on her face. You are her living hope and You hold her hand, even in her pain and the surgeries necessary to replace several broken bones. She said she yelled at You and wanted to know why, and You told her, “I’m not finished with you yet.” Because You are alive and because You are her solid rock, Your words gave her a satisfied peace. Trusting You in whatever trials we face is most precious. We do not stumble, nor are we offended by You. Instead, You are our Cornerstone and because of You, life does not have to be explained beyond the reality that You are in it with us. Bless and heal LM’s broken body and bless and heal this broken world.

PONDER: These verses from the psalms can be prayed, not only for LM but for all who need to be healed and need to stand firm on the solid Rock that is Christ: Psalm 6:2, 107:20, 147:3, and 1 John 5:11. Think of ways to help others remember the wonder of having life in Him.