Friday, August 31, 2012

Things that are Free

“Sometimes the things that are free are those that cost the most.”

- Dr. Parker

What is given away freely to others is often obtained at a high price. The most notable example that comes to mind is the gift of salvation. Although Christ enrobes whomever He chooses with His “robe of righteousness” (Is 61:10), it cost Him everything to part with it. On that blood-stained cross, Jesus did not just undergo the pains of death by cross. He felt the full brunt force of the hell-fire wrath of His Father. On that day Jesus Christ stood in the place of millions. To first understand the enormity of the debt that Jesus paid, one must first realize that God and His Law are infinitely good, and our rebellion against them are just as enormous.
            
Jesus said that His Father is perfect, or infinitely good (Mt 5:48), and this Infinitely Good King has made a Law. The Law is basically a reflection of Himself. The reason the Law says, for example, “Don’t be a false witness,” (Ex 20:16) is because God cannot be so. It’s the same thing with stealing, murdering, being faithless, etc. And this Law, because it’s a reflection of God, is just as infinite as He is. The problem, therefore, is that everyone has broken every single law (Jas 2:10), and everyone in his own nature is wholly corrupt and perfectly evil (Rom 3:10-12). It’s as if a man was lying beneath a giant anvil infinitely bigger and heavier than he was, which is only suspended by a thin cord, but the man continues to have someone add more and more weight to it. Then the rope is cut.

Now King Jesus sets aside His robe of Glory in Heaven, and adds onto His eternal nature the nature of man (Phil 2:6-8). He is thus born of a virgin, lives utterly obediently, and is called to be executed on the cross. In this hour-most-dark, God the Father legally treats Jesus as sin itself. So Jesus, in the hour of His death on the cross, was legally declared to be the sin of the elect (2 Cor 5:21). In so doing He set aside His robe of righteousness to put on the filthy rags (Is 64:6) of believers’ sins. And then God cut the rope holding the massive anvil of the world’s sin over Jesus. And it fell from Heaven and crushed Him (Is 53:5, 10). And blood was spilt at the foot of the cross.

The one who was delivered over to death for our sins arose again to justify us.” (Rom 4:25). This Christ, who paid for His church with His own blood, rose again as Champion of God. And this Champion now picked up that robe He shed at the cross and with it clothes whomever He wishes. This robe is Christ’s perfection. It is His blood. It is Salvation and Justification. And Christ bestows it freely, without cost. So it is certainly true, “Those things which are free are those which often cost the most.” 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Jesus, the King of glory.

The earth is mine, and the fulness thereof;
The world, and all they that dwell therein.
For I have founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the floods.

Who shall ascend into the hill of mine?
Or who shall stand in my holy place?
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;
Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
Nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive my blessing,
And righteousness from me, the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of them that seek me,
That seek my face,
The God of Jacob.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors;
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this "King of glory"?

I, the Lord: strong and mighty.
I, the Lord: mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
And be lifted up, ye everlasting doors;
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this "King of glory"?

I, the Lord of hosts.
I am the King of glory.

Psalm 24.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Far Greater is the Gain

"Thus each true believer boasts, "In the Lord I have righteousness," and knocks at heaven's gate with the unanswerable plea. In Christ, my law-fulfilling surety, I bring the Righteousness of God. Great was the loss in Adam; but far greater is the gain in Christ!"

-  Henry Law, Chapter 2: Adam - the Gospel in Genesis

Friday, August 24, 2012

Jesus Christ, the Light that Is.

In the beginning God made the Heavens and the Earth. The Earth was chaotic and void, and darkness covered its depths. But the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters, and said "Let light shine out of darkness." And light shone. 
- Genesis 1:1-3

Do you realize that the first three verses of the Bible depict an empty man being filled with the Light of Christ? Look at these verses again, but let's replace "Heavens" and "Earth" with "man," and "Light" with the true light, Jesus.

In the beginning, God made a man. The man was chaotic and empty, and darkness filled him. But the Spirit of God came near to the darkness which filled him, and said, "Let Jesus shine out of this darkness." And Jesus shone.

Genesis 1:1-3 depicts the most miraculous event in the history of time.
God takes the Earth, being covered with water, twisted and empty, and lets shine the light of the Sun.
And so God takes man, being covered with sin, wretched and void, and lets shine the light of the Son.

See Chapter 1: Light, The Gospel in Genesis

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Jesus Christ, the Beacon of Time

"As the sun can be seen only by its own light, so Christ can be known only by His own Spirit."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jesus Christ is a lighthouse. Think about a lighthouse: When ships at sea sail dangerously close to the rocks, the flashing rays of the lighthouse's lantern beams across the expanses of water to warn the sailors. It's a warning light. In the same way, think about your life: When you were sailing dangerously close to being smashed against the pleasures of sin forever, the glowing light of Jesus Christ shone across those desolate waters of your life - to warn you. And you, dear Christian, heeded that warning.

You can also think of a man lost at sea. When a man is adrift in the ocean, he'll probably fear for his life. But when he spies that Light shining across barren straits he cannot but weep for joy - Land! In the same way, when the Holy Spirit convicts a man of his sin, he cannot but fear for his life. But when the Holy Spirit shines the gospel-light of Christ the man must surely be overcome with joy - Salvation! And what a salvation it is!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Five Quotes to Make You Think

The First about Holiness:

"Holiness is not found in strict rule keeping alone.
Holiness is found in our pursuit of the Holy One."
 -Tyler Braun

The Second about Evangelism:

"I believe that if an angel were to wing his way from earth up to Heaven, and were to say that there was one poor, ragged boy, without father or mother, with no one to care for him and teach him the way of life; and if God were to ask who among them were willing to come down to this earth and live here for fifty years and lead that one to Jesus Christ, every angel in Heaven would volunteer to go. Even Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Almighty, would say, "Let me leave my high and lofty position, and let me have the luxury of leading one soul to Jesus Christ." There is no greater honor than to be the instrument in God's hands of leading one person out of the kingdom of Satan into the glorious light of Heaven."
-D. L. Moody

The Third about Insulation:

"Nobody worries about Christ as long as he can be kept shut up in churches. He is quite safe inside. But there is always trouble if you try and let him out."
-G. A. Studdert Kennedy

The Fourth about Speech:
"Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness."
-Mother Teresa

The Fifth about Effectiveness:

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."
-Henry David Thoreau