The Son of God was revealed to...

"You are a king then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
-John 18:37

He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.
-1 John 3:8 (emphasis mine)

Seems pretty cut and dry, doesn't it? Jesus says He came to testify to the truth. John testifies that He came to destroy the devil's work, which according to John 8, is lies. What then are we preaching to a lost and dying world? More often then not, they don't understand Jesus' or your faith because they don't understand why He came anyway!

1. If He came simply to carry our burdens, guilt, and shame and nothing else then He's still carrying them and is a burdened, guilty, shamed God. Yes, that is the implications, He did take upon Himself those things, but something had to be done with them if He were to declare victory!

2. Eternal life is the benefit of His work, but I don't think it was the work itself.

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
-Romans 6:22

Re: Reconciliation

So I this has been weighing me down for some time because more and more I see this word, "reconciliation" being thrown around and I get the feeling we're letting the world define it and give us our mission rather than letting Jesus declare it and send us with it.
Here goes...

Dear you,
Your passion for reconciliation is good, but you have missed the point. Our Lord did not come to reconcile the world to itself. He did not come to bring peace between the gentiles and Jews, create political stability for Palestine and Israel, harmony between sexual orientations, union to Republicans and Democrats, familiarity for races, neutrality to genders, equality for the rich and poor, or agreement between any other differing ideals! Our Lord Jesus Christ did NOT die on a cross so the world would have peace with itself as if all sin were now abolished (by Him, not through Him) and the enemy no longer has rights to create havoc. The ministry of reconciliation that Jesus came to demonstrate is NOT the reconciliation of the world to itself. Indeed it is entirely the opposite.

• Rom 5:10-11: For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
• Rom 11:15: For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
• 2 Cor 5:18: All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…
• 2 Cor 5:19: that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
• 2 Cor 5:20: Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
• Col 1:20-22: …and through Him God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His Cross. And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, as as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him…

The concept and nature of this word does connote the idea of some restoration taking place or the exchange of some substance for something else and I think that the Theological implications are greater still. First, I think that the implication made is that a prerequisite for reconciliation is a fall. In order for something to be reconciled, a prior, somehow greater connection between the two things must have been lost. The implications are this, that we were at one time in right relation with God, but through our own choices, we broke the connection between us, offending God, and losing the original greatness of our bond. In order to regain that relationship, reconcile it, that is, payment, or an exchange of some kind must be made. Knowing that the result of sin (that is, the offense of God) is death, the only possible payment for sin (wages, that is) is death itself; therefore, restitution to God is made only in death. However, considering that all humanity has chosen this offense, and that it is impossible for that which is impure to purify itself, it is therefore impossible from humanity’s standpoint to reconcile itself to God. But if the pure were to die, fulfilling the just price of the offense, reconciliation might be had through the pure. That is what happened, the Pure, God himself, chose to reconcile us to Himself by paying the price Himself. The debt was not cancelled as if it never happened- it was paid in full by the indebted! The exchange of His life for each of ours is what defines the reconciliation of humanity back to right relationship with God. In this light reconciliation is in fact, payment, replacement, exchange, and substitution- all combined to identify the act of restoration carried out for debtors to God by God to God (not a redundancy, read it carefully).


The goal of Christ is the reconciliation of the world TO HIMSELF, all things come FROM THIS POINT FIRST, for it only THROUGH HIM that all things are made new. It is not the agreement of holiness and sin, it is the removal of sin to reveal what is holy! It is IN HIM that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, etc.- why are we attempting to reconcile that which cannot be reconciled without the work of Christ taking place first? There can be no reconcilation of the Church and the world outside of Jesus, and even then it is no longer the world, but an expansion and addition to the Church! To have friendship with the world is to be the enemy of God- have we forgotten this? Neither the Jew and Greek nor the Church and the world will be or can be reconciled without FIRST being made new in Jesus, for it is at that point that national origins, political preferences, personal rights and ideals SUBMIT THEMSELVES TO HIS WILL and are thus CONFORMED to the likeness of the SAME IMAGE- Jesus Christ. It is when we seek conforming to the same standard that unity is created, but for the saved, the Church, our standard is Jesus Christ Alone, Who is our Head and Author, can we then submit to the standard of the world which we have been alienated from and estranged to?

I cannot help but let this go from here. As more and more throw this word around as if somehow it is our mission to reconcile others to others I will continue to cringe, for the reconciliation of Christ can only be done as we bring others to HIM and NOT to each other. Reconciliation is not about tolerance and false unity, the bringing together of light and darkness as if that were possible anyway. Rather, it is about being recreated in the same image as the ONLY reconciler, Jesus Christ, Who has paid our debt by His death on a cursed piece of wood. It is about the rebirth of our life, the renewal of our relationships, the restoration of our purpose, and the reduction of what is not of Him. Let us press on in the ministry of reconciliation as it is intended, not by what the world would rather it be.

In Him,
Me

Re: Declaration

So...

Today's chapel really has me thinking. I'm generally not one for legacies as motivation for doing anything, honestly, what you think of me makes no difference one way or the other. I try not to care what people have said about me in any way, I do not find it my prerogative to defend myself anymore; the Lord has promised such to His own. However, regarding this, "Life Sentence," I feel impressed on my heart and soul a mission. A statement I desire to accurately sum up the whole of my life. I here declare it my goal and intention in the hope of being held accountable to the Spirit's prompting by you and the Word. In the publishing of this, I cannot hide or nor deny it, but I feel it being branded on in my chest even as I type. I wrestled with many callings and purposes... but this one thing the LORD has burned into me and I cannot escape it. I want to leave this place and have it readily said of me:

"Greg believed God."

I care not for anything else save the notion that I remained faithful to the Word of my Lord. Is this shallow? Perhaps... it is indeed not lofty or noble or influential or powerful... I just want to believe and have that belief define everything I do and every part of who I am- that in my belief I may declare His glory and reveal the truth of Who He is. Belief cannot be separated from action and obedience... it's all the same, to love Him, believe Him, and obey Him are all the same... but oh my God, help my unbelief! I pray humbly and scared... help my unbelief! I just want to believe Him.


In Him,
Greg

Re: One Liners

So... I was reading through the books regarding Israel and Judah's history. Those books that tell of wars and mighty men and righteousness and God's provision, protection, sovereignty, and glory- I have come to love them. Anyway, I came across this ONE VERSE. I realized that this is beautiful story and it's all just one verse; it blew me away. I don't remember the last time I heard a sermon or discussion or anything of that nature devoted to it, thought it's entirely worthy! Anyway, I'm going to share it with you because it's pretty self-explanatory and amazing:

2 Kings 13:21

Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.

Dang.
I pray to see this happen in our times!

Re: Essentials of Community

So... today I was impressed with the knowledge that there is something greatly lacking in my life. Something that is so fulfilling and coveted in life that as it has been without immediate access for some time now many have nearly died of starvation. Honestly, to hear of its return and the response of the general public around me would make me think this thing were absolutely essential to life as we know it! Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I'll give you a hint- it's not Jesus or His Word. It's television...

*Gasp!*

Honestly, I can't believe how many people today I either talked with personally or understood through secondary means of communication (IE- Facebook statuses, friends of friends, class banter, etc.) had planned their evening around their television program airing tonight. Indeed my life must be empty, for I know not the joy of "The Office," or of any other television production. I suppose I should apologize to my friends whose enthusiasm I cannot share and whose conversations I will not be able to take part for the next week as reflections of so and so's new role/greatest line of the night create unity where nothing else can.

Okay... all cynicism aside. Is this really the case? Do we define our community and our lives by a television show? I asked five people if they were willing to do differing things this evening and the response of all five was, "I can't, the Office premier is on," in one aspect or another. Maybe this is coming down a little hard on something that seems so trivial in your minds, but I guess I'm more than just a little offended. Perhaps I see something that's not there, but that thing terrifies me nonetheless. What has happened to the Word of God? What has happened to His work in our lives?! Why is it that we need television to give us topics of conversation/ways to fill our time? What thing is this entering our mind? Is it TRUTH? Is it good, noble, pure, or lovely? When was the last time we talked about JESUS and everything that He did? I don't get it, perhaps I'm simply fanatical and obsessed with my Lord and what He's done... I don't hear talk of healing in television, I don't hear talks of miracles and extraordinary events and the fact that they can't be explained beyond saying, "GOD IS SO GOOD," as I watch most shows, in fact, as I watch ANY shows. I don't see anything other than what is common, and the common is precisely what we have been called to recognize and keep in an appropriate place!

What am I getting at? You tell me. I doubt I'll get a response to this, probably I'll just get more dirty looks. But I'd REALLY LOVE TO KNOW what you call your priorities and more than that I'd love to know if your actions reflect what you say!

Action reflects belief.
........................
Philippians 4
2 Timothy 2-3
Titus
Colossians
1 Peter
Ezekiel 44
Isaiah 6
Galatians 5
Ephesians 4

Re: Love and Temples

The following is an excerpt from George MacDonald's sermon, "The Consuming Fire," and I do believe it speaks plainly into the necessity of consecration and purity in our lives.

Nothing is inexorable but love. Love which will yield to prayer is imperfect and poor.... For love loves unto purity. Love has ever in view the absolute loveliness of that which it beholds. Where loveliness is incomplete, and love cannot love its fill of loving, it spends itself to make more lovely, that it may love more; it strives for perfection, even that itself may be perfected-not in itself, but in the object. As it was love that first created humanity, so even human love, in proportion to its divinity, will go on creating the beautiful for its own outpouring. There is nothing eternal but that which loves and can be loved, and love is ever climbing towards the consummation when such shall be the universe, imperishable, divine.

Therefore all that is not beautiful in the beloved, all that comes between and is not of love's kind, must be destroyed.

And our God is a consuming fire.

If this be hard to understand, it is as the simple, absolute truth is hard to understand. It may be centuries of ages before a man comes to see a truth-ages of strife, of effort, of aspiration. But when once he does see it, it is so plain that he wonders he could have lived without seeing it. That he did not understand it sooner was simply and only that he did not see it. To see a truth, to know what it is, to understand it, and to love it, are all one. There is many a motion towards it, many a misery for want of it, many a cry of the conscience against the neglect of it, many a dim longing for it as an unknown need before at length the eyes come awake, and the darkness of the dreamful night yields to the light of the sun of truth. But once beheld it is for ever. To see one divine fact is to stand face to face with essential eternal life.

For this vision of truth God has been working for ages of ages. For this simple condition, this apex of life, upon which a man wonders like a child that he cannot make other men see as he sees, the whole labour of God's science, history, poetry-from the time when the earth gathered itself into a lonely drop of fire from the red rim of the driving sun-wheel to the time when Alexander John Scott worshipped him from its face-was evolving truth upon truth in lovely vision, in torturing law, never lying, never repenting; and for this will the patience of God labour while there is yet a human soul whose eyes have not been opened, whose child-heart has not yet been born in him. For this one condition of humanity, this simple beholding, has all the outthinking of God flowed in forms innumerable and changeful from the foundation of the world; and for this, too, has the divine destruction been going forth; that his life might be our life, that in us, too, might dwell that same consuming fire which is essential love.

Let us look at the utterance of the apostle which is crowned with this lovely terror: "Our God is a consuming fire."

"Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire."-We have received a kingdom that cannot be moved-whose nature is immovable: let us have grace to serve the Consuming Fire, our God, with divine fear; not with the fear that cringes and craves, but with the bowing down of all thoughts, all delights, all loves before him who is the life of them all, and will have them all pure. The kingdom he has given us cannot be moved, because it has nothing weak in it: it is of the eternal world, the world of being, of truth. We, therefore, must worship him with a fear pure as the kingdom is unshakeable. He will shake heaven and earth, that only the unshakeable may remain, (verse 27): he is a consuming fire, that only that which cannot be consumed may stand forth eternal. It is the nature of God, so terribly pure that it destroys all that is not pure as fire, which demands like purity in our worship. He will have purity. It is not that the fire will burn us if we do not worship thus; but that the fire will burn us until we worship thus; yea, will go on burning within us after all that is foreign to it has yielded to its force, no longer with pain and consuming, but as the highest consciousness of life, the presence of God. When evil, which alone is consumable, shall have passed away in his fire from the dwellers in the immovable kingdom, the nature of man shall look the nature of God in the face, and his fear shall then be pure; for an eternal, that is a holy fear, must spring from a knowledge of the nature, not from a sense of the power. But that which cannot be consumed must be one within itself, a simple existence; therefore in such a soul the fear towards God will be one with the homeliest love. Yea, the fear of God will cause a man to flee, not from him, but from himself; not from him, but to him, the Father of himself, in terror lest he should do Him wrong or his neighbour wrong. And the first words which follow for the setting forth of that grace whereby we may serve God acceptably are these-"Let brotherly love continue." To love our brother is to worship the Consuming Fire.

Often we idealize the love of God as something filled with compassion and tolerance, gentleness and meekness- we love the love of God as it is Jesus picking up children and responding to the thief on the cross next to His own. What of the nature of His love that loves to purity? What of the love that drove men from His Father's house? What of the love that called the pharisees white-washed tombs? Do we desire that nature of His love in our own lives? We have been called to be holy as He is holy. To not be taken captive or succumbing once more to a yoke of slavery once having been set free. We love referring to our lives as God's new temple- the place His Spirit dwells and resides, filling us with His joyous presence and overwhelming love. Have we yielded to the love that will ransack our very lives and drive out all that cannot be in His presence? Do we ask Him to love us in that way? To receive the love that makes it possible for us to be near Him is to ask for and seek out a love that is far more umcomfortable and irritating than the love that we picture so often, yet that is HIS love- can we deny Him His nature? God is love... but God is not tolerant of sin. The definition of grace is not the ability to live in sin, but the idea that we are alive at all. To ask and accept the love of God is to submit to His purification... to allow/invite His removing of all that is not of Him. It is a consecrating love... a purifying love... a sanctifying love... but no doubt a terrifying one at times! Let us press on in His love, all of it, the nature of it wholly, not partially- for the same love that drove Him to purify a temple built with human hands, that which falls away in its temporality, must drive Him to purify that which is built of His blood and Holy Spirit. Are we submitting to that work? Are we counting the cost? Are we asking for the purification that hurts and burns away what cannot be near Him?

We ought to be.

"For our God IS a consuming fire," not that He MIGHT be... He IS. What has He left to consume and what keeps us from offering it to Him RIGHT NOW?

Ref:
Matthew 21
Mark 11
Luke 19
John 2
1 Corinthians 3
2 Timothy 2
Titus
Hebrews 12
James 4
1 Peter 1-2

A Word

Four weeks… two weeks it has been since this all started and it’s still there. I’ve been going about my business for four weeks and this word lingers in my mind, surprising me in my prayers, haunting me in worship, and it demands that I prepare.

“FLOOD.”

Do you know it?

I feel as if we’ve somehow in speaking “Christianese” with it we’ve tamed it… but I’d like to remind us that it’s not meant to be a comforting word! It is not a slow movement of water gently rolling over the hills, reminding us of butterflies and pretty fish… it is the definition of devastation in the unstoppable total form and I cannot escape this word that has come at me from all sides. A storm is coming… rains, quakes, flashes of light and electricity in the air… the Holy Spirit has a work to do and nothing is going to stand in His way. I don’t know if we stop to think of the words we sing and pray so often… “flood this land,” “rain down,” “pour out your Spirit,” etc… do we realize that we are asking God to devastate and RUIN these lives? I see two accounts of “flood” in Scripture (Genesis 6, Luke 6). I’m not about to get into an exegetical argument of any kind, I simply have one observation to make- the things that floods destroyed in each of these accounts are the things that were not of God. Are we ready to pray that prayer? “Lord, destroy in my life every thing that is not of You”- because ready or not, that’s what we’ve been asking for, and I believe the Lord has heard! Do we realize that in asking God to bring us closer to Him we are asking Him to purge us of everything that CANNOT be in His holy presence (not that He chooses what is bad and what is good and there are excused things and pardoned refuse, but that by HIS NATURE it CANNOT exist near Him)? We have uttered some dangerous prayers in these past days, will be bless God when He works them or will we stand and question His cleansing work?

Floods bring messes… mud, silt, river waste, all that nasty stuff we’ve dumped into it for so long- all of it comes rushing right up into plain sight when that water rises…

Do you follow?

This is going to be messy, yet with the flood comes such a new opportunity. Spiritually speaking, all that remains is what has been anchored in something solid- the foundation that cannot be anything else (1 Corinthians 3:11), Jesus Christ. So I suppose this small note is meant as both an encouragement and a warning- let us continue to pray for the flood, but let us also expect and not despise the WORK of the flood- the cleansing and the removal of what cannot stand up to the movement of the Spirit/the presence of God. Let us look solely to the author and perfecter of our faith and seek His face only, yes, a flood is coming, and no boat is going to save us- this time we learn how to walk on water.

What think you? Are you ready?

Curious

I recently posed a question regarding the possibility of living a pure/sinless life after coming to salvation through Christ. I now open that same discussion to this blog- do you think it is possible to live in Christ without sinning? Why or why not? I know you're out there...