Have you ever wondered why Jesus died the way he did? Many might say that he died for our sins. That is true - but why die the way that he did? And besides, what is the logical connection between Jesus' death and the phrase "for our sins"?
If it was only Jesus' death that mattered, why didn't Jesus just die in his sleep, or of old age? Why a brutal death on a cross?
Some would say because he needed to spill his blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. True again. But he could have had his wrists cut and simply bled out. Besides, what is the logical connection between the blood and the remission of sin?
When I was first a Christian, I was told that Jesus died for my sins. Although I believed it, I know I didn't understand it. I knew that somehow Jesus showed us the full extent of his love by dying in our place. But I never understood how this exchange of places was made. Was it because God just decided to except Jesus death as mine, or was the connection more intrinsic and organic? Or both/neither?
Then I happened upon something that Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians. It reads like this: So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. 1 Cor 15:45-48 NASU I saw that Jesus was the last Adam. Last because when Jesus died, all in Adam died. How did this happen? I'm not sure. I think that in the way we are all in the first Adam is the way we were all included in the last Adam. God treated Adam as the human race, and Jesus too was the entire human race.
Things brings us to the reason why Jesus died the way he did. The human race deserved it. All of the evil and wicked stuff that has ever been done by the human race was scooped up by Jesus in himself. In one day God judged us all in Jesus. It was not enough to die a painless death. It was not enough to die a moderately painful death. Justice needed to be served from the Pol Pots and Hitlers to the backstabbing girls on a playground, justice needed to be done. The only act that could be just, that would satisfy my desire for someone getting what they deserved for murdering nearly all my Jewish relatives who died in Hungary during WWII, for stealing wealth and peace from the earth, was accomplished in the death of Jesus on the cross.
The cross is a statement to all, God hates sin. He hates sin because sin destroys love. Sin is the perversion of the will that makes love impossible. In the cross God put and end to sin for the human race for all those who agree with God's judgment and will believe.
This is also why Jesus is called the second man. A completely new beginning for all those who are found in him. A new creation; God's children - not Adam's.
May you be found in him.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Church Government
I think that even my title begs the question. We are so used to thinking that the church needs government that such a title passes under gaze so easily that we do not even give it a moments thought. But do churches need government?
My answer is yes, they do. Any time you have more than one person doing things, joint decisions have to be made. The larger the group, the greater the need to be able to coordinate and decide. Who sets the meeting times? Consensus? Ever try to set a meeting time that everyone wants? Someone always has to give in because it will not be the optimum time. What happens when a dominating person, someone who loves to be first as John wrote, keeps hijacking the meetings and trying to draw disciples after themselves? Who deals with this person? What of a person who is sexually seducing people and won't quit, although they have tears when caught? Someone needs to have the authority to handle these situations for the group.
But this is not the type of government that pops into your mind when you read the title on this article, is it? The kind of government that has a sole purpose of serving the group through leadership. The kind of government who's delight is finding and doing the will of our Lord Jesus - not in ordering everyone around so the governors vision and hope gets accomplished to the expense of everyone else's.
But is even this vision of leadership simply a product of the egalitarian age we American's are now living? It very well could be. I can see how in some other culture you can have loving, servant leadership and yet have it come in the form of a hierarchy. It is remarkable how little the Bible actually teaches on how to implement church leadership in practical ways.
But the Bible has lots to say on the ATTITUDES of a leader. We can know the heart of a leader. As so often the case, the Bible is interested more in the attitude by which we do something that what we do. I doubt if we be judged on what we accomplished as much as by the motivation from which we did them.
Jesus warned us of those who would do great miracles and prophecy in His name yet he would tell them that He never knew them. Nothing wrong with what they did, just the way they did them.
We can have all sorts of culturally relevant ways to govern - to provide leadership. What is more important is how and why are we doing it.
My answer is yes, they do. Any time you have more than one person doing things, joint decisions have to be made. The larger the group, the greater the need to be able to coordinate and decide. Who sets the meeting times? Consensus? Ever try to set a meeting time that everyone wants? Someone always has to give in because it will not be the optimum time. What happens when a dominating person, someone who loves to be first as John wrote, keeps hijacking the meetings and trying to draw disciples after themselves? Who deals with this person? What of a person who is sexually seducing people and won't quit, although they have tears when caught? Someone needs to have the authority to handle these situations for the group.
But this is not the type of government that pops into your mind when you read the title on this article, is it? The kind of government that has a sole purpose of serving the group through leadership. The kind of government who's delight is finding and doing the will of our Lord Jesus - not in ordering everyone around so the governors vision and hope gets accomplished to the expense of everyone else's.
But is even this vision of leadership simply a product of the egalitarian age we American's are now living? It very well could be. I can see how in some other culture you can have loving, servant leadership and yet have it come in the form of a hierarchy. It is remarkable how little the Bible actually teaches on how to implement church leadership in practical ways.
But the Bible has lots to say on the ATTITUDES of a leader. We can know the heart of a leader. As so often the case, the Bible is interested more in the attitude by which we do something that what we do. I doubt if we be judged on what we accomplished as much as by the motivation from which we did them.
Jesus warned us of those who would do great miracles and prophecy in His name yet he would tell them that He never knew them. Nothing wrong with what they did, just the way they did them.
We can have all sorts of culturally relevant ways to govern - to provide leadership. What is more important is how and why are we doing it.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Forgive
"He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." Romans 3:26
"In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
Colossians 1:14
Forgiveness as at the heart of the gospel, the message concerning Jesus Christ. Since forgiveness is so vital in our relationship to God and to one another, I thought it would be good to look at this topic again.
What is forgiveness? On what basis does God forgive us, and we forgive others? How do we know we are forgiven?
WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?
Inability To Think
In a recent chapel service bulletin from Chaplain Wendell C. Hawley, comes a classic illustration of forgiveness. When the Moravian missionaries first went to the Eskimos, they could not find a word in their language for forgiveness, so they had to compound one. This turned out to be: Issumagijoujungnainermik. It is a formidable-looking assembly of letters, but an expression that has a beautiful connotation for those who understand it. It means: “Not-being-able-to-think-about-it-anymore.”
—Minister’s Research Service
Forgetfulness is often thought of as a problem. Yet when it comes to forgiveness, forgetfulness is a primary ingredient. As it says in Heb 8:12 “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” We know we have forgiven when the sin against us no longer affects our relationship. If we are stewing we have not forgiven. If when we think about that person we do so in light of the sin, we have not forgiven. But on what basis can we expect to forgive? How we can say, it’s OK, I won’t think about it anymore, when it is not OK? After all, isn’t there any justice?
ON WHAT BASIS DOES GOD FORGIVE US?
Recently in the war in Rwanda between the Tutsis and the Hutus, one side simply slaughtered the other. Demonic rage was let loose in the streets. Hundreds of thousands of people where hacked up and left dead with no one to bury them. Hatred thrived on all sides. Yet afterward the leaders of the country who still lived called for national forgiveness. Since nearly everyone was involved, justice would be impossible to serve. So let’s just forgive.
The problem is that this kind of forgiveness is that it is only on the surface. Some Tutsi or Hutu would only have to have a bad attitude day and fear would spring up in other people’s hearts. Are they going to kill again, or get revenge? Are my children safe?
Indeed, there must be some villages or neighborhoods where some child has to look each day upon the killer of their mother or father and deal with the thought, “That person got away with murder - the murder of my family.” Forgiveness without justice is sentimentalism, and justice without forgiveness is cruel. Forgiveness and justice must work together, as demonstrated by God on the cross. Then we can have real love which then forms the basis for justice and forgiveness. It is only the cross of Christ that provides any basis for true forgiveness. Justice is served by the death of Jesus, who offered himself to die as the head of humanity. When Jesus died, we all died.
If you are having a difficult time forgiving because it seems that they are just getting away with it, remember the cross. When Jesus died for us, we all died in his death. The person who is to be forgiven has already been given what they deserve with Jesus on the cross. If that person by faith avails himself of that death, he will live. If not, then he will die that death. Justice is mine, I will repay, says the LORD. Romans 12:19
HOW DO WE KNOW WE ARE FORGIVEN?
Many pictures of the atonement show that although the forgiveness is given to all, it must be received. The communion has to be individually received. The Passover must be individually partaken of. All those who were outside the house where the blood was applied were given over to the destroyer. On the day of atonement all the nation's sins were individually named over the goat. So all are provided for, but we must partake. John wrote “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2
How then do we partake of this forgiveness? In 1 John 1:9 John writes, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Confession of sin is crucial, both for us to be forgiven and for us to forgive others. This confession must be made from a heart touched with the gravity of sin. As the parable of the Pharisee and the publican tells us that, “God be merciful to me a sinner” is sufficient for justification. Declaring bankruptcy is often the only way to go. Like the thief on the cross who said, “We are getting what we deserve while this man (Jesus) is innocent.” This is how we are forgiven. To receive it we must believe the scripture. And when we believe, we act on it by confessing our sins, and the Holy Spirit gives us assurance that we are truly the children of God.
1 John 3:18-20 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
"In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
Colossians 1:14
Forgiveness as at the heart of the gospel, the message concerning Jesus Christ. Since forgiveness is so vital in our relationship to God and to one another, I thought it would be good to look at this topic again.
What is forgiveness? On what basis does God forgive us, and we forgive others? How do we know we are forgiven?
WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?
Inability To Think
In a recent chapel service bulletin from Chaplain Wendell C. Hawley, comes a classic illustration of forgiveness. When the Moravian missionaries first went to the Eskimos, they could not find a word in their language for forgiveness, so they had to compound one. This turned out to be: Issumagijoujungnainermik. It is a formidable-looking assembly of letters, but an expression that has a beautiful connotation for those who understand it. It means: “Not-being-able-to-think-about-it-anymore.”
—Minister’s Research Service
Forgetfulness is often thought of as a problem. Yet when it comes to forgiveness, forgetfulness is a primary ingredient. As it says in Heb 8:12 “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” We know we have forgiven when the sin against us no longer affects our relationship. If we are stewing we have not forgiven. If when we think about that person we do so in light of the sin, we have not forgiven. But on what basis can we expect to forgive? How we can say, it’s OK, I won’t think about it anymore, when it is not OK? After all, isn’t there any justice?
ON WHAT BASIS DOES GOD FORGIVE US?
Recently in the war in Rwanda between the Tutsis and the Hutus, one side simply slaughtered the other. Demonic rage was let loose in the streets. Hundreds of thousands of people where hacked up and left dead with no one to bury them. Hatred thrived on all sides. Yet afterward the leaders of the country who still lived called for national forgiveness. Since nearly everyone was involved, justice would be impossible to serve. So let’s just forgive.
The problem is that this kind of forgiveness is that it is only on the surface. Some Tutsi or Hutu would only have to have a bad attitude day and fear would spring up in other people’s hearts. Are they going to kill again, or get revenge? Are my children safe?
Indeed, there must be some villages or neighborhoods where some child has to look each day upon the killer of their mother or father and deal with the thought, “That person got away with murder - the murder of my family.” Forgiveness without justice is sentimentalism, and justice without forgiveness is cruel. Forgiveness and justice must work together, as demonstrated by God on the cross. Then we can have real love which then forms the basis for justice and forgiveness. It is only the cross of Christ that provides any basis for true forgiveness. Justice is served by the death of Jesus, who offered himself to die as the head of humanity. When Jesus died, we all died.
If you are having a difficult time forgiving because it seems that they are just getting away with it, remember the cross. When Jesus died for us, we all died in his death. The person who is to be forgiven has already been given what they deserve with Jesus on the cross. If that person by faith avails himself of that death, he will live. If not, then he will die that death. Justice is mine, I will repay, says the LORD. Romans 12:19
HOW DO WE KNOW WE ARE FORGIVEN?
Many pictures of the atonement show that although the forgiveness is given to all, it must be received. The communion has to be individually received. The Passover must be individually partaken of. All those who were outside the house where the blood was applied were given over to the destroyer. On the day of atonement all the nation's sins were individually named over the goat. So all are provided for, but we must partake. John wrote “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2
How then do we partake of this forgiveness? In 1 John 1:9 John writes, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Confession of sin is crucial, both for us to be forgiven and for us to forgive others. This confession must be made from a heart touched with the gravity of sin. As the parable of the Pharisee and the publican tells us that, “God be merciful to me a sinner” is sufficient for justification. Declaring bankruptcy is often the only way to go. Like the thief on the cross who said, “We are getting what we deserve while this man (Jesus) is innocent.” This is how we are forgiven. To receive it we must believe the scripture. And when we believe, we act on it by confessing our sins, and the Holy Spirit gives us assurance that we are truly the children of God.
1 John 3:18-20 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Persection in Kamchatka
Persecution can take many forms. In Kamchatka, the peninsula hanging down from the farthest east of Russia, it has been burdensome regulations and regulators. Churches are not allowed to rent, yet cannot buy property. Why can't they buy? Because they must buy from the State who owns it all and won't sell. I know of one instance where a large church, about 500 or so, had been meeting in a theater in Petropavlavsk. They wanted to buy their own land and build. So the government sold them a trash pit behind some buildings. Then they were told that they had to build it to be able to withstand a 9.0 earthquake - same as a nuclear power plant. They were building it to seat 1500 people. Each of the supporting pillars had to have its own foundation that went two stories deep. Additionally, it had to be made with a continuous pour method. Since such methods needed delivery trucks that were not in existence there, this church ran a 1/4 yard mixer 24/7 for two years making these foundations. The cost was astronomical. They had support from people outside Russia, but the lions share was raised by the local church themselves.
In the middle of this building project, the theater was slated for demolition. So this church tried to lease a facility. Having found one, they went to use on the first Sunday morning and found it chained and locked. The new manager of the building told them that unfortunately the church would not be able to use it.
"Why not?" he was asked.
"Because the last manger lost his job for renting it to you and I can't let that happen to me" was the reply.
The only alternative was to meet in the basement of the unfinished building. The basement was safe and could be warmed. So for two years or so this church has been meeting there while they try to complete their building.
During all this time the trash pit they were given to build in's location became prime real estate. It was right in the middle of the high rent district. Fees and costs continued to skyrocket and harassment from the media grew intense. Just recently, in June, they were told that they cannot meet in the basement anymore for violation of codes.
So they bussed the entire congregation, at the cost of $800 each Sunday, to another facility they had that was used as a camp and a school. Now they find out that all of a sudden they are in violation of fire codes and will be sued and closed down there too. The whole country is in violation of fire codes! It could easily be worked out or dismissed if anyone were so inclined. But not with these folks in the government.
So now this church is in a dilemma. They need to come up with over $1,000,000 to finish the project before the end of the year and the powers that be want this land for themselves. Most people there make just over a few hundred dollars a month. If everyone gave all their income from now to then it wouldn't even be close to enough. So they are asking for prayer.
Pray for the money and the workers (both there and for those who are willing to go), but also pray they they wouldn't be distracted from their real call of reaching the world with the gospel and establishing churches. They have already established more than 25 other churches in the midst of all this turmoil. People are still coming to the Lord each week. They need the help of the body of Christ around the world to pray with them to our God who answers prayer.
Our God is faithful and He can do anything - nothing is impossible to God.
In the middle of this building project, the theater was slated for demolition. So this church tried to lease a facility. Having found one, they went to use on the first Sunday morning and found it chained and locked. The new manager of the building told them that unfortunately the church would not be able to use it.
"Why not?" he was asked.
"Because the last manger lost his job for renting it to you and I can't let that happen to me" was the reply.
The only alternative was to meet in the basement of the unfinished building. The basement was safe and could be warmed. So for two years or so this church has been meeting there while they try to complete their building.
During all this time the trash pit they were given to build in's location became prime real estate. It was right in the middle of the high rent district. Fees and costs continued to skyrocket and harassment from the media grew intense. Just recently, in June, they were told that they cannot meet in the basement anymore for violation of codes.
So they bussed the entire congregation, at the cost of $800 each Sunday, to another facility they had that was used as a camp and a school. Now they find out that all of a sudden they are in violation of fire codes and will be sued and closed down there too. The whole country is in violation of fire codes! It could easily be worked out or dismissed if anyone were so inclined. But not with these folks in the government.
So now this church is in a dilemma. They need to come up with over $1,000,000 to finish the project before the end of the year and the powers that be want this land for themselves. Most people there make just over a few hundred dollars a month. If everyone gave all their income from now to then it wouldn't even be close to enough. So they are asking for prayer.
Pray for the money and the workers (both there and for those who are willing to go), but also pray they they wouldn't be distracted from their real call of reaching the world with the gospel and establishing churches. They have already established more than 25 other churches in the midst of all this turmoil. People are still coming to the Lord each week. They need the help of the body of Christ around the world to pray with them to our God who answers prayer.
Our God is faithful and He can do anything - nothing is impossible to God.
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