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Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Was 3 Hours of Suffering Enough?
The following is an edited transcript of the audio.
If our sins are punished by eternal separation from God, why did Jesus only have to suffer momentary separation?
That's a good question, and I think there's a pretty clear answer.
Another question would be, How can one man suffer when millions should've suffered? Same kind of issue. How does one suffering become the suffering of millions? The math doesn't work! How does suffering for 3 hours on a cross correspond to delivering people from eternity in hell? All those kinds of questions apply here.
The answer is that the degree of suffering, indignity, reproach, degradation, and fall that Jesus endured is not simply determined temporally. And it's not simply determined by the exquisiteness of the pain of a nail cutting through a nerve in your wrist.
It's determined by the difference between the glory that he had with the Father in heaven and the ignominy that he suffered, naked and hanging like a piece of meat as the Son of God on the cross. It's that distance that is the magnitude that provides the scope needed in his suffering to cover an eternity in hell and to cover the sins of millions of people.
The way to think about it is that we commit a greater indignity against God, not just in accord with how many sins we commit or how bad they are, but in accord with how great he is. Therefore our sins are infinitely great because they're against an infinite person and deserve an infinite punishment.
Christ, being an infinite person, became so low that that drop in suffering, that drop in indignity was such a huge drop—it was an infinite drop—that it suffices to cover the sins of millions and to cover the entire length of eternity that we deserve to be in hell.
He is a great Savior.
[source: http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2326_was_3_hours_of_suffering_enough/]
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Stand Firm, Hold Your Position, and See the Salvation of the LORD
After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar" (that is, Engedi). Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. (2 Chron. 20:1-4)
Jehoshaphat, king of Israel at that time, responded to trouble with prayer and fasting. Not only did he seek the LORD, but enlisted the entire nation to do the same. Did Jehoshaphat seek the LORD with a repetition of religious words and chants, or did his words reflect a genuine knowledge of the LORD and an honest petition for help and mercy? Let's read on.
And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, and said, "O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 'If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you--for your name is in this house--and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.' And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy-- behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." (2 Chron. 20:5-12)
Notice that Jehoshaphat remembered the works of the LORD in the past and is appealing to God's faithfulness in keeping His promises. He acknowledges God's might and sovereignty and ability to do all things. After leaving Egypt, the LORD commanded Israel to leave Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir alone (Deut. 2:8-9, 19) and now it is precisely those nations that are becoming a threat to Israel's peace. How many times have we trusted God in something, only later to doubt Him because the very thing that we trusted Him in the first place seems to be falling apart? Could it be that the LORD is allowing those nations to be a threat in order to teach His children something greater, to experience something more than simply peace and prosperity? Let's continue.
Meanwhile all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you." (2 Chron. 20:13-17)
The first thing I noticed, the most striking thing about the word that came from the LORD is "You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem." This goes against conventional wisdom because anyone in that situation would either attack or retreat. Instead, God tells His people to stand firm and hold their position. How in the world can anyone expect victory this way? Indeed, there can be no earthly victory, but only victory that comes from the heavenly realm. "See the salvation of the LORD on your behalf." True salvation comes from the LORD.
Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed." And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, "Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever." (2 Chron. 20:18-21)
Adoration, praise, and worship is a natural response when one receives a direct word from the LORD. There is also a real sense of fear and trembling when one comes in contact with the Creator of heaven and earth. After he was convinced that the LORD has responded, Jehoshaphat encourages the people to believe and be established in the LORD.
And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped. (2 Chron. 20:22-24)
As we keep our eyes on the LORD, we see Him working out His promises. We see Him work all things out for good to those who love Him. In this case, the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir ended up destroying each other. The sovereign LORD allowed the sinfulness of their hearts to run its course, uninhibited and without restraint. One thing to keep in mind -- though the wicked may prosper, even their ends will bring glory to God. At the end, the victory belongs to the LORD. Who can hinder His will? How we need to plead that God will continue to restrain and ultimately destroy the sin that lives in us now, the flesh that we will battle until that glorious Day. How we need the renewing work of the Spirit of God to help us in seeking Him and His kingdom.
Monday, March 22, 2010
God Justifies the Unrighteous
In the resurrection, instead of vindicating the self-righteous, God justifies the unrighteous.
God is holy. The Israelite Hannah prayed, "There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God" (1 Samuel 2:2). And Moses proclaimed, "Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?" (Exodus 15:11).
Because God is holy, he requires holiness and perfection from us: Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16).
To use other words, God requires us to be righteous—i.e., perfect and having no fault. However, none of us can possibly be righteous by our own strength or effort. There is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10).
Instead of expecting us to become righteous on our own strength, God accomplishes our righteousness for us—he justifies us—by taking our sins upon himself in Christ's death and resurrection and by giving to us Christ's righteousness. In Christ's death, God justifies the unrighteous: Just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men (Romans 5:18; also see 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Romans 4:25).
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