Song of Eternal Praise.

“You will say in that day: ‘I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.’” (Isaiah 12:1-

 

Isaiah prophesied of the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of His awesome kingdom. In that day, we will offer Him ecstatic praise. What else can we do when all these things come to pass? We will be praising and rejoicing for eternity. The first reason we praise Him is because we want to thank Him for His deliverance and salvation. He has forgiven our sins. He is not angry with us for He loves us more than we can think or imagine.

We also praise God for Jesus. He is the Lord our God, the wellspring of life. Those who come to Him and drink of these waters find strength, wisdom and new life for ever and ever. Salvation and eternal life are found no where else in the universe but in this well of life. Then we want to praise Him for has bound together all believers in Himself as the one righteous community of faith. In Jesus and in that community, the unity and peace which all humanity longs for and struggles toward today will be ours. It will not be established by governmental fiat or by the efforts of human beings, but by God Himself.

This then is what we declare to the nations. We praise God that they might hear the Good News of life that is in no other but in Him. We have found the greatest news, the meaning and purpose of life and we must share it with others before it is too late. If we do not tell them the Good News then they will perish. The joy we have in the Lord enables us to preach the gospel to everyone we meet.

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God’s Peace.

“In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”  (Isaiah 26:1-3 ESV)

Isaiah likened the Kingdom of God to a strong city, a fortress, one where God dwells with the redeemed. Our strength as the people of God is in Jesus Christ our Lord. He has delivered us by His cross from sin and death. He gives us peace in the midst of chaos and suffering.

Perhaps the ancient Jews who heard these prophetic words as Isaiah spoke them thought he was referring to Jerusalem for at the time good King Josiah had launched sweeping religious reforms throughout Judah. God would be pleased with them now, so they thought. Josiah knew that whatever he did would not change the determined judgment of the Lord. He undertook reform not because it would assuage God’s wrath, but because it was the right thing to do. He acted with righteousness even though he received no benefit from doing so.

Many people today would not do as Josiah did if they knew it would have no benefit to them personally. They want the peace and joy God promises but without the cross. They want to know what the advantages of Christianity are to them before they will believe. What’s in it for me? Will it heal my illness? Will it make me happy? Will it make me prosperous and rich? And many churches, preachers and individual Christians go out to their way to accommodate them to make Christianity more palatable. Yet the message of Isaiah is that we should do the right thing because it honors God, no matter what the cost to us. And the good news is that the Lord will give us peace.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33 ESV)

Jesus calls His disciples to seek to promote the needs and agenda of His Kingdom first over all our own needs. This is because when we look at people in the world who are prospering we are often tempted to compromise with the ideology of the world and compromise with sin, to seek our own agenda over God’s. This is easy if we buy into the lie that the media loudly proclaims that we are missing out on the important issues of life if we do not have this house or take that vacation or are not enjoying our life with food, feasting and fun!

Jesus reminds us that the life to which He calls us is the most important issue of existence, not money, fame or pleasure. He tells us that we should not worry about anything not even the things we need. He is telling us, His people, that our worries and concerns in this life are unrealistic. As long as we trust Him, we should not worry or fret because He will supply us with everything we need, not all the extras that we think we cannot live without. As we face the future it is easy to lose faith, to forget that Christ is going to return. Yet when we face the future with hope and expectation that He will, we will begin to realize that all the injustices we see will be righted and all the suffering we endure now will vanish. Therefore we should always be mindful that since we have been called into God’s kingdom we must then carry out the work He has given us with gladness and peace. The entire resources of His kingdom are at our disposal. We are to use those resources, not to glorify ourselves or increase our personal prosperity or prestige but build His kingdom, not ours. Then we will have all that we need and will be blessed with the peace of God.

The Expression of God’s Love.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, ESV)

The opening verses of John’s gospel take us back before the book of Genesis. Before God created anything, He existed. The Word that John writes of is Jesus. He has come to speak the truth and to bring the light of God into the sin-darkened world. He is the Messiah who was promised to the Jews, yet He existed always; He created all things; He holds all things together by His power. He is God incarnate, in the flesh. If we want to know what God is like, we must look at Jesus who is the fullness of God’s revelation to man. He is full of mercy, truth and peace. The Law of Moses too was truth but it revealed that we needed God for the Law was an onerous burden which was impossible to keep. The good news is that though we cannot keep the Law Jesus came to do this by becoming the Lamb of God, the sacrifice which would atone for the sins of all mankind.
Jesus is who He says He is, but not all would agree, particularly the rulers of the Jews, the ones who held religious authority in the time Jesus was born. Though they claimed to walk in the light they were dwelling in spiritual darkness. While it was true that they looked for the Messiah, Jesus was not who they expected. They looked for a warrior King who would throw off the yoke of Roman oppression and establish a new and victorious nation, not a baby born in a manger, not a suffering servant who would be executed like a criminal. Those who were oppressed by sin and Satan, these would accept Jesus. They would no longer dwell in darkness, but in the light of God’s truth revealed in the Word. They share that light that all may enter into the peace of God’s Kingdom.

Suffering With Christ.

“At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2: 8b-9, ESV)
The writer of Hebrews presents us with a stunning explanation of the Incarnation. Jesus is God Almighty. Yet He surrendered that glory to become man to identify with us, to become one of us, a human being. He did so in order to suffer and die for our sins and so destroy the power of death and Satan over us. He became perfect through suffering, meaning that He fulfilled the Father’s plan completely and He was the perfect sin-offering. He now is ruling and reigning in heaven.
With this magnificent portrait of Christ, the writer lets us know that all our suffering here on earth is within the plan and purpose of God. Our oneness with Jesus means that we receive the glory and salvation He achieved but it also means that, like Him, we too must suffer. Our suffering gives glory to God for it is part of His plan for the triumph of His kingdom and His sovereign will. At the same time our suffering helps us to grow into the image of Christ. And because Jesus was like us, endured pain and temptation, He can help us to persevere because He knows what we are going through. We must never forget this no matter what He calls us to endure. Be sure that that trial, that pain can bring us closer to Him as we cling to Him as our constant source of strength and peace.

Wisdom and Peace

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Blogging With Saint Peter: Do good to those that hate you.

1 Peter 2

As Peter continues to exhort believers to persevere he tells them that because of the nature of the gospel, persecution is inevitable. The same rock, Jesus, not only provides the believer with salvation and strength but also causes unbelievers to stumble. The people in the world prefer to reject Christ because He calls them sinners and condemns the life lived according to the desires of the flesh. They hate the gospel because it tells them that salvation and peace is not obtained by human works, rituals or religion. This is offensive to us human beings because we all like to think we have control over our own lives and destinies.

Those who hate Christ will hate His followers. The people in the world may think they have the upper hand and may mistreat and persecute us, but we are the fortunate ones: we have been blessed by God’s mercy. Yet Peter cautions his audience to always act in godliness towards those who persecute them. This is what Jesus did in the face of those who persecuted and killed Him. Believers are called to behave with kindness, compassion and goodness to their neighbors despite how they are treated in return. This shows them the glory and love of God and will lead many to Him as was often the case under Roman persecution. Pagans were so impressed by the faithfulness and love of Christians that many became believers. It still works the same way.

Peter also urged Christians to respect and obey the government even if it acts with injustice towards them and treats them unfairly. Peter tells the believers that by doing good they show their persecutors that the bad things they say about Christians are unfounded. It is better to suffer because we do not deserve it, for if we sin by reacting with harshness, anger and/or violence we deserve the punishment the government gives us and the odium our neighbors feel towards us.

Blogging Through Proverbs: The Dangers of Sexual Sin.

Proverbs 5

The teaching of wisdom is vital for the maintenance of a healthy marriage for we are all tempted by sexual allures. The warning here is against all sexual sins but in particular, adultery. Sexual temptation entices the unwary with promises of physical pleasure, emotional ecstasy, and spiritual comfort but provides none of those things. Instead sexual sin ruins a person’s finances, health, reputation and leads to sorrow and separation from God. If you try to take what does not belong to you, you will lose all that does. Sexual pleasure is not the goal of life or even a main pursuit. Sexual enjoyment comes only within a marriage where a husband and wife are in covenant with God and each other. This covenant is one which they must keep and uphold no matter what, for it is vital for a life that honors the Lord.

This lesson about marital fidelity is one which we must hold onto and remember every day for we are under constant temptation to do otherwise. The world proclaims the importance of sex for a pleasurable and fulfilled life, and we must fight against that assault. That assault broadcasts a world view that is centered on pleasure and self and is hostile to God.

The passage also teaches us of the importance of our faithfulness to the Lord. We must be guarded in our approach to all the philosophies and false religions of the world. We must be wary of all the media and religious gurus who promote compromise and unrighteousness as a means of self-actualization. We must aim to remain faithful to the covenant the Lord has made with us. Wisdom guarantees that spiritual fidelity will always lead us onto a path that is a blessing filled with peace.

Blogging Through Proverbs: There is no easy way to attain wisdom.

Proverbs 2

Even though the Lord makes wisdom available to all who believe, those who desire it must work hard to achieve it. This work should be the primary focus of life, touching every facet of life including the emotions and the will as well as the intellect. The search for wisdom is of vital importance for us because it sets everything else in life in proper order and perspective. As we seek wisdom we develop an understanding of the Lord and a healthy fear of and respect for Him and His commands. In addition it gives us the ability to discern good from bad so that we will not fall victim to the tempting allures of sin, of bad companions, or the seduction of the material world that assaults us through the media.

The motivation for the quest for wisdom then is a desire to honor God. This means that we aspire to live for Him. We who trust Him desire to walk in righteousness and obedience. We who trust Him seek His way first, not success, prosperity or a life of ease and peace. There are many who seek those first and above all else, who use others to satisfy these desires as well as their greed and lust for pleasure and power. They will never achieve lasting satisfaction in this life and will face an eternity of unhappiness. Those who seek the Lord in earnest will find their peace and satisfaction in the knowledge He grants as well as the blessings He bestows. Wisdom, therefore, is its own reward.