April 2006 Posts

Bitter Fruit

April 23rd, 2006. Bitter Fruit. Genesis 3:16-24.

Hail To The King from Psalm 2

He didn’t look much like a king. He never seemed to carry himself as royalty did. I never saw him command any troops or servants for that matter. In fact he actually seemed to take joy in serving others. He most definitely did not engage in some of the questionable behaviors that other rulers did like cavorting with mistresses. Truth be told it appeared that the most sinful women in town felt comfortable in his presence as if they knew they were completely safe. He also didn’t keep the company of a king. Instead of surrounding himself with the rich and powerful he chose to hang around and befriend peasants like Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. His closest followers weren’t drawn from the religious elite, but from working class folks.

That’s not to say he wasn’t powerful. He did things that no emperor, governor or king ever did. Not even the Pharisees demonstrated the power of the peasant-prophet from Nazareth. There was the time when blind (well he’s not blind anymore) Bartimeus heard him along the road and cried out with all his might to be healed and he was! I’ve heard of people with leprosy cleansed at his touch and of course everybody knows about his close friend Lazarus.

Then there was the teaching. It is said that he held the close attention of multiple thousands for hours simply teaching the way and word of God. His teaching wasn’t like the other religious leaders who are always quoting rabbi this and rabbi that to prove their point. He began his teaching by saying things like ‘truly, truly, I say to you’. It’s as if he was speaking on his own authority that could not be questioned! No doubt the subject of much of his teaching was the kingdom of God, which makes some of his actions so puzzling. I mean he could have easily raised an army of thousands, overran the Roman garrison at Jerusalem and had himself installed as king.
Here was a man who taught on his own authority, stood up to and confounded the Pharisees, healed at will, and demonstrated genuine compassion for people just like us. Yet, when the crowds tried to force him to grab for the throne he refused. For some reason this would be king just didn’t want political power. Doesn’t he know that our main problems are here and now? Isn’t he aware of the humiliation we endure because of the Romans? Does he not see that we’re dealing with real issues in the real world? Yeah the meek might inherit the earth in some pie in the sky future, but I for one am sick of being poor, sick of being oppressed and sick of being ruled by ruthless idiots like Pilate.

But then there was a day like I’ve never seen in Jerusalem. We were hanging in the temple when in the distance we heard the deafening sound of a huge crowd singing and shouting. As we ran out to see what was happening the scene before us was nothing less then breathtaking. It appears like hundreds if not thousands of people were walking while spreading cloaks and palm branches and shouting ‘Hosanna’ at the top of their lungs. I’ve experienced some wonderful things in my life. I recall the look in my wife’s eyes when we were first married and the joy I felt in my heart at the birth of our first child. But I’d never seen or felt anything like this. This… this was from God. Our women had the look of hope on their faces and even our little children were filled with praise. And our men… our men finally walked with their heads held high not fearing the religious elite or the Romans. In the middle of the scene there he was, the man who would be king. But unlike other times when he walked right among the crowds (remember I said he didn’t act like regular kings) he actually rode on a donkey! This was too strange. Here he was, the peasant-prophet of Galilee riding from the Mount of Olives straight into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey with people singing and shouting before and behind him saying ’Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! It was if he set out to intentionally fulfill the prophecy written in Zechariah. (see Zech. 9:9) We could almost taste the kingdom being restored to Judah.

None of this was lost on our religious leaders. They heard and saw what was happening and immediately confronted him for misleading our precious children. ‘Do you hear what they’re saying’ they demanded of him! He most certainly did and still most certainly accepted their worship! I thought surely he is the Son of David, the king of Israel. But then the week went on and our would be king lost. It seems he got into the religious leaders faces and corrupt business one too many times. One of his closest followers betrayed him and after a corrupt trial in a kangaroo court he was beaten, led up to Golgotha and crucified. The faces of our women that were filled with hope were now covered in grief, our children whose mouths shouted praises were strangely silent and our men who just last week walked with dignity once more bowed our heads in anger frustration and bitterness. Once more we all felt the brunt of Roman brutality as one of our own felt the sting of their barbarity.

I was thinking of these things when sitting in synagogue one day waiting for worship to start. Yes, I too heard the rumors about him ‘rising from the dead‘ but the only thing rising up around here are Roman taxes I mused. The service began and proceeded to the sacred reading and that’s when it happened. The attendant gave the scroll to the reader who began with the psalms. When he arrived at the portion that read,
"As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. (see psalm 2:6-7)

something happened to me. It was if all the things I’d seen and heard about him suddenly fell into place. He is the king spoken of in the psalms, the one the leaders conspired to kill. He is the king who Zechariah spoke about. The reading came to an end with the passage that declares
‘Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.’ (see Psalm 2:12)

There was no time to explain. I told my wife and children (yes all six of them) to get up. We were leaving. Yes, I was causing a small disturbance but that didn’t matter. I took hold of their hands and began to walk ( I was later told that I broke out into a run) to the area where his followers gathered daily for teaching, prayer and fellowship. I saw one of his closest disciples, ran up and falling on my knees with tears streaming from my face looked into his eyes not knowing how to articulate the truth that burned in my soul. The man looked at me with a mixture of joy and compassion and then taking me by the hand bid me to stand up and said ‘rise friend, we bow before no one save God’s last prophet, our great high priest and the eternal King. . . Jesus the Christ.

To Him Who Loves Us…
Pastor Lance

Christ Alone

April 16, 2006. Christ Alone. Genesis 3:14-15.

In the novel and soon to be movie entitled The Di Vinci Code the author Dan Brown asserts that the Jesus of Scripture is a manufactured myth of fourth century Christianity. The key to the novel and the movie are a series of hidden clues embedded in various places like the Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo Di Vinci. Mr. Brown’s novel has been wildly successful and has many questioning the authenticity of the New Testament, the Person of Christ and the entire basis of historical Christianity.

The Di Vinci code sounds plausible because many want to believe in conspiracy theories generated by powerful people for the purpose of fooling the masses into docile submission.
The issue regarding who Jesus is, what He came to do and if He’s dead or alive is the most significant issue in your life now and for your next life. Yet what if Mr. Brown and those who agree with him are correct? What if the real Jesus of history was only a somewhat charismatic religious figure who although he said some memorable things was merely a human being just like you and me? What if he never made any claims to divinity, did not die on a cross, lived a normal life, got married, died like everyone else does, was buried and never rose from any grave? What if the Scriptures are really a concoction of fables put together by a group of religious leaders intent on grabbing power?

We are convinced however that Jesus is very much alive. Moreover, we’re convinced that His life, death and resurrection were the most significant events in human history. It’s clear from this passage that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection have at least three implications.

Through Christ God has confronted Satan and evil. God promises that Satan and all that is evil will eventually be defeated. The metaphors used regarding crawling on the belly and eating dust refer to the humiliated position of an adversary that’s been utterly and permanently defeated. Satan will not achieve his desire to replace God as the object of worship and obedience. He will not achieve his goal of spreading sin, evil and chaos throughout God’s world and God’s universe nor will realize his purpose of permanently separating God’s people from Him.
Satan will be completely powerless to stop God from continuing His eternal plan to establish the human race as the objects of God’s loving affection and the ones who will inherit God’s earth. Psalm 37:8-11 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.
If Jesus is a dead man just like the rest of us will be then all that the meek will inherit is an ongoing ghetto.

God promises that He will establish an eternal kingdom characterized by truth, peace, righteousness and biblical social justice. The Lord Jesus Christ will reign over all God’s creation doing what is right and just for His people. Jesus Christ and what is right, peaceful and just will have the final say on this earth not Satan. However, if Jesus is simply another dead Jew slaughtered by the Romans you can be certain that the rich, corrupt and powerful will extend and establish their unjust rule throughout the world.
Psalm 72:1-4 Of Solomon. Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice!
Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!

What hope do we have that evil will end on its own? Are you willing to put your trust in the goodness and integrity of people? Do you fully trust your political leaders, business leaders, academic leaders or even religious leaders?
The only one powerful enough and good enough to defeat Satan and evil thoroughly and permanently is the Lord Jesus Christ. If He really is dead and His bones long ago turned to dust then we are without help and without hope.

Christ is in present conflict with Satan through His people.
God promised to establish hostility between Eve’s offspring and Satan’s. That is, God promised that there would always be a people who sought to know, worship, obey and serve Him instead of going with the flow, serving themselves and by consequence serve Satan. These people take their life direction from the word of God. Instead of following the ways of the world and the deception of Satan they’re determined to model the lifestyle of Jesus Christ. Through their way of life and their constant commitment to do good Christ’s followers act as a restraint on evil even as they highlight God’s goodness, morality, truthfulness, and justice. Matthew 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
The metaphor of salt refers to preservation and attractiveness. The metaphor of light refers to illumination from darkness. Both metaphors call for God's people to be constant contact with our communities.

Christ calls us to oppose Satan through biblically driven lifestyles. He calls us to this knowing that we will face trouble, pain, persecution, hardship and even death by following Him in this way. Matthew 5:10-12 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

If Christ is still dead however then the last thing you want to do is throw your life away by following His teaching and example. Yet, if He is alive then the Christ directed life is the only way to live a significant, satisfying life.

Christ alone is God’s appointed Savior, the one who crushed Satan and rescued God's people.
This is the first biblical prophecy about Jesus. It refers to how He will ultimately defeat Satan and stop the curse of death. Jesus did this through the cross when He paid the penalty of our sins and thus executing God's eternal plan of redemption.
Those who want to solve the 'mystery' of the Person of Jesus Christ need look no further than the wealth of clues contained within the Old Testament, for the Old Testament is primarily about the revelation of the Person and work of Christ, not the history of the Jewish people.

Jesus Christ alone is the reality symbolized by the Passover lamb in Exod. 12. Jesus Christ alone is the reality behind the symbol of the Day of Atonement in Lev. 16. Jesus Christ alone is the reality behind the bronze snake recorded in Num. 21. Jesus Christ alone is the prophet spoken of by Moses in Deut. 18. 'I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.'

Jesus Christ alone is the ultimate Joshua who defeats evil and brings His people safely into an eternal land of promise where God lives. Christ alone is the great king, David’s son yet David’s Lord who is destined to rule God’s people forever. Jesus Christ alone is the reality behind the temple Solomon built that’s recorded in the book of 1st Kings. Christ alone is the good king who unlike the good kings in the book of Chronicles doesn’t remain dead and leads His people in eternal faithfulness to the Father. Christ alone is the One who rebuilds the people of God so we can take our rightful place in worship and service to our Lord thus embodying the work of Nehemiah. Jesus Christ alone is the One who goes before the Father to rescue His people from certain death like Esther did.

Jesus Christ is blessed man of Psalm 1, the anointed Son in Psalm 2, the good Shepherd of Psalm 23, the King of Glory of Psalm 24 and the One who is both David's son and his Lord in Psalm 110.
Christ alone He is the wisdom of proverbs. Jesus Christ is the lover of the Song of Solomon the One who brought us into His banquet house and whose banner over us is love.

The Fugitive

April 9th, 2006. The Fugitive. Genesis 3:7-13.