Romans 4:13-21
In God’s Covenantal Relationship his People he has made them a promise. That promise is typified in the promise made to the Father of Faith, Abraham. God showed up to Abraham when he was oblivious to the Person, Character, and Goodness of God. And God showed up and called Abraham to leave his homeland and to follow him (Genesis 12). And in following him, Abraham received promises of God's presence, protection and provision. These promises were not based on Abraham’s efforts to make anything happen, but simply on the faithfulness of the God who made the promises. On this journey Abraham lied and stumbled along the way, but God's promises held true not because Abraham deserved or earned them, but because He who promised is Faithful.
Our passage truthfully tells us that if we had to earn God's promises then our faith in Christ is of no value and the promises are made null and void because we have ALL broken the law. So for us lawbreakers it’s automatic disqualification from the inheritance. The wages of sin is death, that’s our reward. But the passage also positively teaches us that the promise is based on faith in God's work. Yes, simple trust in the one who made the promise. And because it's by faith, therefore the reason we receive the promises of his presence, protection, and provision comes to us not by working hard, but by His Grace alone. Grace implies Him working on our behalf.
So the Promises of God must be earned. BUT WE CAN'T EARN THEM. Christ earned them on our behalf. Through the work of his sinless life and his wrath bearing death on the cross he QUALIFIES US for the promises of God. And we are qualified not by doing anything, but by simply trusting in what He has done for us. That's the Gospel!!! And because it is by Grace through Faith: The promises are certain, sure and unshakeable...
Prayer: Father help us to understand the weight of the Gospel. The Good News is that we who are sinners, receive every promise from you as a yes and amen in Christ. His life and death is the only reason why the promises of your presence, protection, and provision are certain in our lives. May we boast and take confidence in the Cross ALONE.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Through the Deep Waters -- Feb 28th
Genesis 15:1-21
Genesis 15 is an extraordinary passage of Scripture for the understanding of our call into a covenant community as a people of faith. This is the story of God’s covenant with Abram where God promises Abram innumerable descendants even though Abram and his wife Sarai were very old and barren and way beyond the child bearing years. Even though Abrams’s situation seemed obviously hopeless Abram had faith and he believed in God’s promise of an heir and in one of the more remarkable verses of Scripture his belief was counted to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15 is an extraordinary passage of Scripture for the understanding of our call into a covenant community as a people of faith. This is the story of God’s covenant with Abram where God promises Abram innumerable descendants even though Abram and his wife Sarai were very old and barren and way beyond the child bearing years. Even though Abrams’s situation seemed obviously hopeless Abram had faith and he believed in God’s promise of an heir and in one of the more remarkable verses of Scripture his belief was counted to him as righteousness.
When God called Abram out from the land of his ancestors God told Abram that he would make of him a great nation and that in him all the families of the earth shall be blessed. When Abram placed his faith in God’s promise of an heir he was also placing his faith in the promise of the coming Messiah in whom all the families of the earth will be blessed. This Messiah is Jesus Christ in whom we place our faith which is counted to us as righteousness just as it was for Abram.
We are a community of people of faith who walk by faith in the promises of God even when our situations seem as desperately hopeless as Abram’s. Through God’s grace we muster what faith we can during such times and we trust in God to provide the solutions and the way through. It wasn’t the enormity of the faith of Abram that saved him, as he was questioning God, but it was the enormity of the God in which Abram placed his faith that saved him. We walk by faith just as Abram walked by faith but our comfort is not in knowing that God will provide but our comfort is in knowing that God is with us as God leads us through the deep waters.
Prayer: Gracious God thank you for the gift of a beautiful new day. May your grace encourage our faith today to rest in your loving presence knowing that you are with us and for us all throughout the day.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Through the Deep Waters -- Feb 27th
John 1:14-18
In Christ we behold the Glory of God. What an amazing reality, the invisible God took on flesh assuming the frailty of the human condition. He entered into our world to experience our pain, our struggles, our despair, our loneliness, and our temptation and yet not fall victim to our estate but to overcome it on our behalf. The bible declares that Jesus, as a faithful High Priest was touched by the feeling of our infirmities. Meaning he fully felt what it’s like to be us, from his birth to his death. The role of the High Priest was to do two major things: (1) to present the plight of the people to God AND (2) to clearly declare the character and truth of God to his people. Jesus set forth the full character of God...full of Grace and Truth.
God's grace implies the depths that He would go to to fully redeem his people without any assistance from them. That is Gospel language. It says that he would go before them and make a way for their deliverance before they even realize that they were trapped. That’s good news. The Grace of God implies God's effort and not ours in order to get the job done. His Grace is amazing!!!
And it is the Grace of God that allows us to confront the truth about God and about ourselves. God is Holy and we are sinful. We have rebelled against the King and are worthy of his severe judgment. This is what the law says to us, that we are guilty and justly condemned under God’s wrath. Oh’ but the Truth of God declares to us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. And in his death he set forth a new and deeper truth before us: the Love of God who sent his Son for us that we who deserve death would now through Jesus and in Jesus and because of Jesus alone have life and life to the full!!! Oh' behold the Glory of God in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Father help us to freshly behold your Glory in what Christ has accomplished for us at the Cross. He took on himself the full weight of our sin that we might take on the full weight of his position as your children, sons and daughters fully accepted!!!
In Christ we behold the Glory of God. What an amazing reality, the invisible God took on flesh assuming the frailty of the human condition. He entered into our world to experience our pain, our struggles, our despair, our loneliness, and our temptation and yet not fall victim to our estate but to overcome it on our behalf. The bible declares that Jesus, as a faithful High Priest was touched by the feeling of our infirmities. Meaning he fully felt what it’s like to be us, from his birth to his death. The role of the High Priest was to do two major things: (1) to present the plight of the people to God AND (2) to clearly declare the character and truth of God to his people. Jesus set forth the full character of God...full of Grace and Truth.
God's grace implies the depths that He would go to to fully redeem his people without any assistance from them. That is Gospel language. It says that he would go before them and make a way for their deliverance before they even realize that they were trapped. That’s good news. The Grace of God implies God's effort and not ours in order to get the job done. His Grace is amazing!!!
And it is the Grace of God that allows us to confront the truth about God and about ourselves. God is Holy and we are sinful. We have rebelled against the King and are worthy of his severe judgment. This is what the law says to us, that we are guilty and justly condemned under God’s wrath. Oh’ but the Truth of God declares to us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. And in his death he set forth a new and deeper truth before us: the Love of God who sent his Son for us that we who deserve death would now through Jesus and in Jesus and because of Jesus alone have life and life to the full!!! Oh' behold the Glory of God in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Father help us to freshly behold your Glory in what Christ has accomplished for us at the Cross. He took on himself the full weight of our sin that we might take on the full weight of his position as your children, sons and daughters fully accepted!!!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Through the Deep Waters -- Feb 25th
Genesis 1:26-2:3
This world is ultimately about God. You and I, our lives are mainly about the Goodness and the Glory of God. To live toward any other end or purpose is not only futile but a rebellious dishonor to the Creator of all things. In our portion of scripture before us we see several things:
Firstly, we see that, "It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves" - God is our Creator. And if that is the truth then the creator has final say in what we are to be and to what purpose we are to spend our lives. Our rebellion leads us to try and create our own identities and to live independent of his wisdom and his plans. How arrogant we are, trying to decide on our own, who we are and what our ultimate aims and purposes should be.
Secondly, we see that God has blessed us and we should bear the fruit that testifies of his blessing, not just in a procreative way, but that our very attitude and posture should reflect one who has been blessed, one who has been given what he himself could not provide for himself. Our lives should bear fruits of repentance (humble submission to our need for Christ) that screams to the goodness and glory of God, who has given us what we need most desperately, Himself.
Lastly, we see that God, who sees the end from the beginning, looked out at all that he had created and was satisfied with what He had accomplished. And he rested. May we take hold of that. So often we spend our energy trying to accomplish things so that we can rest in them and get our ultimate satisfaction from them. How fleeting is that rest and how temporary is that satisfaction. God created, God blessed and God has provided all that we need so that we might find our rest and our satisfaction in Him. Jesus said, "Come unto me all that are weary and heavily burdened down and I will give you rest." Our hearts will always be restless until our hearts are brought to find true rest in Him alone!!!
Prayer: Father may you help us to see our deep dependence upon Christ our Savior and Redeemer. Help us to find our identity, satisfaction, and rest in what your Goodness and Grace has provided for us…namely Christ our Soon Coming King!!!
This world is ultimately about God. You and I, our lives are mainly about the Goodness and the Glory of God. To live toward any other end or purpose is not only futile but a rebellious dishonor to the Creator of all things. In our portion of scripture before us we see several things:
Firstly, we see that, "It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves" - God is our Creator. And if that is the truth then the creator has final say in what we are to be and to what purpose we are to spend our lives. Our rebellion leads us to try and create our own identities and to live independent of his wisdom and his plans. How arrogant we are, trying to decide on our own, who we are and what our ultimate aims and purposes should be.
Secondly, we see that God has blessed us and we should bear the fruit that testifies of his blessing, not just in a procreative way, but that our very attitude and posture should reflect one who has been blessed, one who has been given what he himself could not provide for himself. Our lives should bear fruits of repentance (humble submission to our need for Christ) that screams to the goodness and glory of God, who has given us what we need most desperately, Himself.
Lastly, we see that God, who sees the end from the beginning, looked out at all that he had created and was satisfied with what He had accomplished. And he rested. May we take hold of that. So often we spend our energy trying to accomplish things so that we can rest in them and get our ultimate satisfaction from them. How fleeting is that rest and how temporary is that satisfaction. God created, God blessed and God has provided all that we need so that we might find our rest and our satisfaction in Him. Jesus said, "Come unto me all that are weary and heavily burdened down and I will give you rest." Our hearts will always be restless until our hearts are brought to find true rest in Him alone!!!
Prayer: Father may you help us to see our deep dependence upon Christ our Savior and Redeemer. Help us to find our identity, satisfaction, and rest in what your Goodness and Grace has provided for us…namely Christ our Soon Coming King!!!
Through the Deep Waters -- Feb 24
John 1:1-13
Let there be light! This is the introduction to the story of God and the world. But John helps us see things even more clearly. The light that God made was not simply physical light, but spiritual light. The light was spiritual life. We are made not only to see the world around us, but to know God.
The image of creation in Genesis feels cosmic. John makes it personal and relational. God made the world through the power of his Son. Creation is not simply a collection of rocks, gases and water. It is the forum of our relationship with God. We are not made simply to be creatures. We are made to be children.
It is not right that we would simply keep a respectful difference from God and be thankful for creation. We are made for a relationship with God, and we are called to draw close to God, as children to a father. God is still creating. God is now creating a new community of people who can draw near to God in love and truth.
Prayer: Lord and Father, thank you for the intimacy you have invited us into. Thank you that you desire us to be more than creatures – but to become children. Open our eyes so that we can see the light of life, the spiritual light that teaches us who we are.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Through the Deep Waters -- Feb 23
Genesis 1:1-26
God started it all. It was his idea and his word that created the world. He didn’t do it accidently, half-heartedly or unwillingly. He didn't make the world because he was lonely or because he needed worship. God is a completely self-sufficient community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Yet, God desired us. So, he created the world with his word of power.
Over Lent, we are reading through the great themes of Scripture. The Bible is a collection of books, covering 4000 years, but it tells a common story – the story of salvation. It is a story of great recovery, as God rescues his people from sin, death and slavery. However, the story begins with God. God knew what he was getting into when he created you and me. And he made us anyway.
God wanted to get into this messy business we call life – and he kicked it off because he loved us, before we were even here. So, if we are discouraged, anxious or fearful, we can be reassured that God knew what he was doing when he started it all.
And it began good. We know that since then it isn’t always good. But it started good and it will be good in the end too.
Prayer: God, thank you for beginning. Thank you for making this world. Thank you that no matter how difficult things get, you gave us an enormous gift simply by creating us in a good world. Thank you that your vision of good will never fail. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)