What Jesus Did For You

It's a good day to think about what Jesus did for you! But let's go beyond John 3:16, shall we?

Did God save us because we were "good people"?

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. - Titus 3:4-7 ESV

Do we have something to live for? Is there any hope for us?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. - 1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV

Some days I feel so angry about things! How can I ever be good enough for God?

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven... - Colossians 1:21-22 ESV

I'm nobody special. I don't even understand God. How could I be part of His family?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. - Ephesians 1:3-10

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Teflon

Photo credit: Polka Dot Images

I've been thinking about Teflon. Teflon is the gray surface on your pots and pans that makes it easier for food not to stick while you're cooking. You can put food on Teflon, and it sits there on it and cooks on it. It won't leap off the Teflon on its own, but once the food is cooked, it's easy enough to get it off of the Teflon. In theory it slides right off. (Now I'm no cook by anyone's stretch of imagination, but even I know that it's wise to spray some cooking spray stuff on there too, because the Teflon isn't always perfect, but let's ignore that elephant in the room right now. Let's pretend that Teflon is a perfect non-stick surface.)

I've also been thinking about a Bible verse. Okay, two Bible verses (one of them quotes the other one):

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
   and with his wounds we are healed.
 - Isaiah 53:5 ESV

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. - 1 Peter 2:24 ESV

I've heard about this pair of Scriptures my whole life. "In Isaiah," the story goes, "it looks at Jesus' healing provision in the present tense, as though the healing is being provided right now. When Peter quotes the prophecy, he puts it in the past tense, showing that our healing was accomplished on the Cross and we are already healed."

That certainly "preaches" when I'm at church and feel fine. It seems a little fishy, though, when I'm in bed with a fever, or throwing up something bad I ate, or suffering from some disease a doctor just told me is not healable by medical science.

So if I'm the healed already, and have been since something like 2,000 years ago when Jesus died on the Cross, how come I still can catch COVID-19?

The answer lies in Teflon. When I drop the egg in my skillet, the egg stays there. It cooks and it fries. It may ooze around the skillet a little bit, but it basically stays there. That is, it stays there UNTIL I pick up my spatula and pick the egg up. Turns out it was never stuck to the Teflon at all. At any time, it could have been removed. It was never attached. The only reason it was there was because I left it there.

When I experience sickness, I don't pretend it's not there. I don't lie and say that I'm feeling fine. I might even see a doctor if it's starting to seem serious. But I also don't give up hope when sickness looks bad. Sometimes when I don't feel good it's tough to keep from getting distracted, but I keep my eyes on Jesus. I know what He's provided for me, and I know what sticks to me and what doesn't. I look to Him as my healer, and I know that the sickness can't stick to me.

I am Teflon.

Live Like There's Every Tomorrow

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. - Romans 13:11-14 NIV

Paul wrote that to the church in Rome thousands of years ago. He was writing to Christians — people who had already given their hearts to Jesus "when they first believed." These days, we call that "salvation", but Paul refers to salvation here as a future thing. Didn't they already have salvation? Weren't they "saved"?

Of course they were! At least, they were the way we use the term today. What I realized when I read this passage this morning was that Paul is talking about our full salvation... not just the salvation of our spiritual selves, which we obtain by putting our faith in Jesus, but the salvation of our bodies and minds, which will happen in the resurrection at the end of time. Jesus will come back, the dead in Christ will rise first, we will meet them in the air, and we will all be changed! (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NIV, 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 NIV)

What Paul is telling them and us here is that we need to seek to live our lives as though this had already happened. Live as though you are already in God's kingdom of light, wrapped in his armor, behaving like someone who has been fully saved, spirit mind and body. Act like Jesus has returned, the book of Revelation has been played out, and eternity has begun. This is the life of faith! This is God's best for us. But if we figuratively stay in bed, if we don't "rise and let Christ shine on us," we won't access this best life that Jesus has made available to us until then.

Paul says we can have it now! Don't live like there's no tomorrow... we're living in the first day of eternity! Let's live like there's every tomorrow!

Worthy

This week at my church the worship songs were all about how Jesus is worthy of our praise. Whenever I hear a song like that, my mind immediately thinks, sure, God is worthy of praise, but what makes MY praise desirable to a holy God? In Isaiah it says that our sin makes even our righteousness like "filthy rags". What does God want with my filthy rags praise and worship?

 

Years ago the church I was attending had a worship choir. Every Sunday we were up there on the stage, singing along with the worship team. Some Sundays we would perform a choir piece, but regardless, every Sunday we were up there during the worship part. One Sunday a young lady was asking about being in the choir, and I encouraged her to show up for rehearsal and see if she liked it. "Oh, I don't know. I don't think I'm good enough," she told me. "It's okay," I said, "we have people with all skill levels in our choir. You don't have to be an expert singer to participate." "No, you don't understand," she told me. "I don't think I'm good enough."

Have you ever played a game with a very small child? Every kid is different, and things get different as they get older, but usually when I play a game with a really little kid, I want them to win. I want them to succeed. I don't want to beat them! I want them to experience victory! So what do I do? I throw the match. I play like a complete moron. Or I take the deck of cards and stack them so the kid always gets the good cards. Whatever it is, though, I try to give the child a victory. Why? Because I can, and I want them to know that they are a winner. I want to give them success! Did they earn it? Well, they probably played the best they could, but in the end, they couldn't beat an adult. They couldn't win without my help!

This week listening to these songs I remembered and internalized something I already knew in my mind - that our praise and our worship are worthy of God because they are placed there by God in the first place! Our personal goodness is irrelevant. It was a game we couldn't win. We had less of a chance than a toddler winning a chess match against a grand master. The deck wasn't just stacked against us - we didn't even get any cards! There was no way we could be worthy enough to reach to God. There is no way we could ever be "good enough." We were destined to fail.

Then Jesus entered the picture.

Jesus was the only person who was unstained by sin. He was the only one who could ever win the chess match, who could ever beat the house, who could ever hope to get the ball into the basket. Jesus lived a life of righteousness when none of us ever could, and then by dying on the cross, Jesus made that righteousness available to us. He won the Super Bowl, but we get to stand on the stage and receive the trophy! We weren't worthy of anything good - but Jesus made us worthy!

Our praise is worthy of a holy God because it comes from the righteousness placed in us by Him. He's stacked the deck for us! He's worthy of our praise, and we can't help it - our praise is worthy to be offered! Are you still asking yourself "But am I good enough?" Well, the answer is, NO, you're not. Or at least you weren't. But the moment you received Jesus, asked Him to be Lord of your life, His worthiness became yours. So give Him your praise!

Hide and Seek

This morning I was listening to our pastor's message from Resurrection Sunday last week, and I was thinking of all of the appearances of Jesus after He rose from the dead. They are so surreal! For someone who spent His time on Earth revealing Himself and His Father clearly and plainly, after He rose it's like He was playing games with them. First He appeared to a woman at His own tomb, but He seems just fine letting her think He was the gardener at first. He didn't lead with "Hey, check me out, I'm Jesus!" Then He appeared to two of His own disciples who were traveling, and He let them think He was just some random guy the whole time. They're telling Jesus the story of what happened to Jesus, and He never said "Um guys, did you notice that here I am, I'm that guy?" What He does do is explain to them what He had told them before He was crucified, without actually telling them that He is Jesus. Then as soon as they finally recognize Him, does He hang out and visit? Nope... He vanishes!

Then later he reveals Himeself to Thomas by just sort of appearing in a house with all of the doors locked. Then later the guys go fishing, and Jesus just shows up on the shore of the lake, and Jesus is like, "Hey guys! Catch anything?" He doesn't say "Hi, I'm your risen Messiah!" He just acts like He's a guy talking shop with fishermen. This time, though, John recognizes Jesus, and when he tells Peter, Peter recognizes Him too, and jumps in the water to get to Him faster!

Was Jesus just messing with them? That's the question I asked myself this morning. Was this a childish game of hide and seek or something? BOOM I'm here, BOOM I'm gone, hey check out my disguise, haha you didn't know it was Me! Obviously, that's not what Jesus is like. I think what was really happening was that Jesus was showing what it's like for believers between the Resurrection and the Second Coming. It's rare that someone actually visually sees Jesus. Sometimes things happen that are the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and we have to recognize them with the eyes of faith because they're not obvious. But Jesus is there, popping up at unexpected times and in unexpected places! We just have to open our eyes, remember what He has told us and what His Word says, and recognize the work of Christ in our lives!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

"My sin was great, Your love was greater!"

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Song Thoughts: "Build My Life"

Worthy of every song we could ever sing
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
We live for You

...

Holy, there is no one like You
There is none beside You
Open up my eyes in wonder...

from "Build My Life" as recorded by Housefires

Wait just a sec. Jesus is holy, yes. There is nobody else holy like He is. That includes me. So that means that every song I could ever sing and every breath I could ever breathe are tainted. Everything I do on this plane of existence is just a little bit messed up. Why would God possibly want the messed-up offering I have of imperfect praise from a person who daily has to fight just to keep from committing a new sin, not to mention the number of sins I've committed over the years of my lifetime? That's like saying "You did good work building me this house! You are worthy of payment! Here's ten cents, plus a half-eaten peppermint I found in my pocket! Sorry about the lint." Why would a holy God possibly want to be worthy of the meager, messed up, out of tune and out of whack praise we would be able to offer?

Within ourselves, we cannot offer God anything of high enough value to honor Him. We don't have anything that valuable. That's why we shouldn't live and exist in the context of our own worthiness - we don't have any! Only Jesus is truly worthy. BUT: the amazingly cool and exciting thing about the message of the cross is that when Jesus died, He took all of our unworthiness down with Him. All of the stain, all the guilt before God of every sin we have committed or will commit, when we choose to accept what He has done for us, is paid for and removed from us!

Jesus made us worthy. Because of that, we can offer praise that God accepts as a sweet scent, an offering fit for the only One holy enough to deserve it. With every breath you breathe, live for Him!