Spirit Filled Puritan

“When Jesus says that he came “to give his life as a ransom,” the focus is not on who gets the payment. The focus is on his own life as the payment, and on his freedom in serving rather than being served, and on the “many” who will benefit from the payment he makes. If we ask who received the ransom, the biblical answer would surely be God. The Bible says that Christ “gave himself up for us, [an] . . . offering . . . to  God”  (Ephesians 5:2). Christ “offered himself without blemish to God” (Hebrews 9:14).  How many did Christ effectively ransom from sin? He said that he came “to give his life as a ransom for many.” Yet not everyone will be ransomed from the wrath of God. But the offer is for everyone. “There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). No one is excluded from this salvation who embraces the treasure of the ransoming Christ.”

Reflecting on this, I am struck by the fact the God is the one to whom the ransom is paid.   R C Sproul, in his book “Saved from What?” explains of how we are saved by God, from God; a “grand paradox” as he calls it.  Christians common use the phrase “I’m saved”.  I am not sure how most would articulate that meaning but in my case when I used it it meant being save from “hell”.  And this is right, to an extent.  Yes, a true Christian is saved from hell but how many would go on to see their salvation in Christ as an act of rescue from God himself.  I never considered that until I read RC’s book years ago.  Again, when I view God as a God of purpose, not as a God of possibility, I can understand the extent of Jesus death satisfying the demands of God, in the form of a ransom for many, rather than just “hush money” paid on my behalf to keep his hands off me, if I pass some test.  Jesus death was effectual not potential. 

Questions.  Did you ever consider that in Jesus death, a ransom was paid to God?  Did you ever consider how much God required in payment for the salvation of sinners?  Did you ever think about the fact that whether Jesus died for millions upon millions or just one sinner, the ransom to be paid would have been the same? 

Quote from “The 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die”.

Picture – The cross at Mount Erebus, Antarctica, commemorating the 1979 Air New Zealand Crash near Mount Erebus.

“What a folly it is to think that our good deeds may one day outweigh our bad deeds. It is folly for two reasons.  First, it is not true. Even our good deeds are defective, because we don’t honor God in the way we do them. Do we do our good deeds in joyful dependence on God with a view to making known his supreme worth? Do we fulfill the overarching command to serve people “by the strength that God supplies— in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11)?   The second reason it is folly to hope in good deeds is that this is not the way God saves. If we are saved from the consequences of our bad deeds, it will not be because they weighed less than our good deeds. It will be because the “record of [our] debt” in (Colossians 2:13) heaven has been nailed to the cross of Christ. God has a totally different way of saving sinners than by weighing their deeds. There is no hope in our deeds. There is only hope in the suffering and death of Christ.  There is no salvation by balancing the records. There is only salvation by canceling records. The record of our bad deeds (including our defective good deeds), along with the just penalties that each deserves, must be blotted out—not balanced. This is what Christ suffered and died to accomplish.”

Reflecting on this reminds me of the way I used to think of how God viewed me.  There was a time when I thought of myself as a good person, most of the time and believed that God will focus on my “most of the time” and ignore my “occasional” [sic]  failings.  Yet, throughout the Bible, God never talks of weighing scales, yet  He does talk frequently about atonement.    This word “atonement”  is grounded in the idea of cancelling, wiping out or satisfying a debt.   God’s judgment of us is not based on what we can offer but on our account balance.  Our problem is that our debt can’t be cancelled by us, only by the one whom we owe it to.  We can faithfully attempt to pay it off but in the end, no matter how hard we try, we will always owe God something.  It is in this fact that the death of Jesus becomes real.  It is the only remedy.  For it was through His death and its effectual application of the debt-cancelling work (atonement) that God has the basis to stamp our accounts are debt-free. 

Questions.  Have you ever been in a situation where you owed so much that you couldn’t pay?  Did you go to an intermediary who helped you cancel your debt?  Jesus is our mediator and through him our debt to God can be cancelled.   

Quote from “The 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die”.

Picture – The cross at Mount Erebus, Antarctica, commemorating the 1979 Air New Zealand Crash near Mount Erebus.

“The death of Christ is not only the demonstration of God’s love
(John 3:16), it is also the supreme expression of Christ’s own
love for all who receive it as their treasure. The early witnesses
who suffered most for being Christians were captured by this fact:
Christ “loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). They
took the self-giving act of Christ’s sacrifice very personally. They said, “He loved me. He gave himself for me.  And what do I mean? I mean that he paid the highest price possible
to give me the greatest gift possible. And what is that? It is the gift he prayed for at the end of his life: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory” (John 17:24). In his suffering and death “we have
seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). We have seen enough to capture us for his cause. But the best is yet to come. He died to secure this for us. That is the love of Christ.”

Reflecting on this reminds me of the costly nature of love.  Love that is not costly, is not love.  The cost of the love directly translates into to value.  If God loved everyone in the same way and then left everyone in their state of despair, it could not be described as love.  It would be more along the lines of  “concern” or “sympathy”;  a passive emotion.  But the Bible says that Jesus prayed purposefully for the salvation of those whom the Father had given Him.  Simplistically I think it’s  safe to say that if Jesus prays for something, it is going to happen.  For if God wouldn’t answer the prayers of His Son, what assurance is there that he would answer ours? 

Questions.  Have you ever considered the fact that Jesus prayed for sinners personally?  Did you ever stop to think that Jesus knew each and every person whom the Father had given him?  How does this personal, directed and purposeful love of Jesus toward sinners affect you?

For further study on Jesus personal love for sinners, listen to John Piper’s sermon here

Quote from “The 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die”.

Picture – The cross at Mount Erebus, Antarctica, commemorating the 1979 Air New Zealand Crash near Mount Erebus.

“The measure of God’s love for us is shown by two things. One is the degree of his sacrifice in saving us from the penalty of our sin. The other is the degree of unworthiness that we had when he saved us.  We can hear the measure of his sacrifice in the words, “He gave his only son” (John 3:16).  The measure of his love for us increases still more when we consider our unworthiness.   I have heard it said, “God didn’t die for frogs.  We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They aren’t bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it.”

Reflecting on this quote reminds me of the futility of trying to impress God in an attempt to win favor.  What separates true Christianity from other religions is not the ritual or the requirements but, in fact the lack of them.  Christianity is not the religion of do’s and don’ts as some people believe or as others attempt to change it into, but a religion of God’s initiative and grace shown to sinners.  I used to see God’s grace as a reward for doing what I thought was right.  However, that violates the fundamental definition of grace.  Grace is the unmerited favor of God shown to ill-deserving people.  It comes to us by the power of God, through Gospel with the purpose of saving sinners which ultimately glorifies God.  God’s grace irresistibly draws, it commands, it empowers, it transforms.  It creates a desire in the hearts of people to love God as more valuable than anything else.  It transforms those who have no place for God or those who want to gain His attention or those who only see him as saver from hell, ticket to heaven conductor, sin forgiver, gift giver, body healer, etc into those who see him as the “pearl of great prize”.  Too many times today, grace is portrayed as a sort of unending free banquet table set before gluttons.  We can consume as much as we want and never have to worry about it being taken away.  This is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer referred to as “cheap grace” or “God’s grace we bestow on ourselves”.  However God’s value of grace is just the opposite.  It’s costly.  Not that we have to pay or work for it in some way but that fact that its value is of infinite value.  It was earned on our behalf by the suffering and death of Jesus.  Grace is costly because it cost God his Son and it’s bestowed by His hand, not ours, for His glory in the name of His Son.

Questions.  Do you view yourself being worthy of grace?  Do you view  God’s grace a reward to you for doing something good for Him?  If we had the power to do something good for God apart from His grace, what would be the value of Jesus death?

For an appreciation of grace and its cost, see Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book “The Cost of Discipleship”

Quote from “The 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die”.

Picture – The cross at Mount Erebus, Antarctica, commemorating the 1979 Air New Zealand Crash near Mount Erebus.

One of my favorite quotes:  "To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have the power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ to none effect" – John Owen, English Puritan Theologian

“The wrath of God was satisfied with the suffering and death of Jesus. The holy curse against sin was fully absorbed. The obedience of Christ was completed to the fullest measure. The price of forgiveness was totally paid. The righteousness of God was completely vindicated. All that was left to accomplish was the public declaration of God’s endorsement. This he gave by raising Jesus from the dead.
When the Bible says, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17), the point is not that the resurrection is the price paid for our sins. The point is that the resurrection proves that the death of Jesus is an
all-sufficient price. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then his death was a failure, God did not vindicate his sin-bearing achievement, and we are still in our sins.”

Reflecting on this shows that the resurrection was not just to another event that proves who Jesus claimed to be.  It was not just another miracle of Jesus.  Neither was it God’s best attempt to insert a happy ending in a divine drama that went terribly wrong.    The Resurrection was in fact God’s stamp of approval on Jesus own words, “it is finished”.  It was the perfect fulfillment of what was said at Jesus baptism.  Through it is removed any doubt that what Jesus accomplished by his life and death would be sufficient to save sinners from God’s wrath.

Questions.  Do you see the resurrection as merely a divine “I told you so”, in the face of those who mocked and killed Jesus?  It is more to you than just a happy ending?   Do you take refuge in the fact that the resurrection is a seal of a covenant with God,  a covenant whereby God declares the war between sinners and him over?

Quote from “The 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die”.

Picture – The cross at Mount Erebus, Antarctica, commemorating the 1979 Air New Zealand Crash near Mount Erebus.

“The very book in the Bible [Hebrews] that says Christ “learned obedience” through suffering, and that he was “made perfect” through suffering, also says that he was “without sin.”  This is the consistent teaching of the Bible. Christ was sinless. Although he was the divine Son of God, he was really human, with all our temptations and appetites and physical weaknesses. There was hunger (Matthew 21:18) and anger and grief (Mark 3:5) and pain (Matthew 17:12). But his heart was perfectly in love with God, and he acted consistently with that love. Therefore, when the Bible says that Jesus “learned obedience through what he suffered,” it doesn’t mean that he learned to stop disobeying. It means that with each new trial he learned in practice—and in pain—what it means to obey. When it says that he was “made perfect through suffering,” it doesn’t mean that he was gradually getting rid of defects. It means that he was gradually fulfilling the perfect righteousness that he had to have in order to save us.”

Reflecting on this gives me great hope for two reasons.  First, I know that Jesus was not an emotionless divine robot.  He experienced humanity in all aspects but did not sin.  What this means is that he felt what I do and what you do but he overcame the sinful desires and responses that plague each of us.  Thus I have a savior who knows and relates to me. 

Secondly, I know that by his perfect obedience to each command and desire of God, he earned the righteousness that was required to complete his saving transaction for sinners on the cross.  It’s one thing to be forgiven, it’s another thing to be made perfect.  Our salvation requires both forgiveness and perfect righteousness.  Jesus life of perfect submission to God earned that righteousness that was transferred to those who would accept Jesus by faith.  

Questions.  Have you thought about the fact that Jesus felt life in the same way we do?  Have you ever considered that Jesus life on earth was just as important as his death?  Did you realize that Jesus not only died for sinners but lived for them as well? 

For more information why forgiveness of sin is not enough to save us, see Jerry Bridges book, “The Great Exchange”

Quote from “The 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die”. Bracketed text and emphasis, mine

Picture – The cross at Mount Erebus, Antarctica, commemorating the 1979 Air New Zealand Crash near Mount Erebus.

“Jesus did not wrestle his angry Father to the floor of heaven and take the whip out of his hand. He did not force him to be merciful to humanity. His death was not the begrudging consent of God to be lenient to sinners. But what is most astonishing about this substitution of Christ for sinners is that it was God’s idea. Christ did not intrude on God’s plan to punish sinners. God planned for him to be there. It was a breathtaking strategy, conceived even before creation, as God saw and planned the history of the world. One Old Testament prophet says, “It was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10). That is why the Bible speaks of God’s “purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Timothy 1:9).

Reflecting on this fact disturbs many people.  It originally bothered me.  It’s easy to rationalize this away, as many do, by saying God “allowed” it to happen rather than believing what the Bible actually says.  The result is that many people today wrongfully think that Jesus death was the result of a tragic accident or a divine plan gone wrong.  That rationale or teaching can be found no where in the Bible.    It wasn’t until I understood that God was not just a God of “possibility” but a God of  “sovereign purpose”, that I understood why God would do something like this.  Jesus didn’t come to earth “hoping” to accomplish something, if all went well.  He came to specifically accomplish the perfect will of His Father on schedule and according to His plan.

Questions.  Have you ever considered the fact that God didn’t just “allow” or “permit” the Roman authorities to execute Jesus but that He personally ordered his death?  Have you considered that the reason He ordered Jesus death was because he loved you? 

Quote from “The 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die”.

Picture – The cross at Mount Erebus, Antarctica, commemorating the 1979 Air New Zealand Crash near Mount Erebus.

“If God were not just, there would be no demand for His son to suffer and die.  And if God were not loving, there would be no willingness for his Son to suffer and die.  But God is both just and loving.  Therefore, his love is willing to meet the demands of his justice.  God’s law demanded, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5). But we have all loved other things more. This is what sin is—dishonoring God by preferring other things over him, and acting on those preferences. Therefore, the Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We glorify what we enjoy most. And it isn’t God.”

Reflecting on this reason, I can easily find myself in this definition of sin.  I certainly don’t love God in this way.  I love so many more “things” than I love God.  I am thankful to God that he has shown me this fact, clearly explained to me the implications of my actions BUT also provided me a remedy.  Justice demands a payment, and God sent His Son to make the payment for me.  I am encouraged not only in the fact that Jesus came to die to absorb the wrath of God on my behalf but that He has changed me in a way that I can begin to love God in this way.

Question.  All other sins, possible sins or other failings aside; can you answer “yes” to God’s command for perfect love of Him?   If Jesus death is sufficient to remedy a direct and personal insult to God, how much more sufficient is it to remedy all our other sinful failings. 

Quote from “The 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die”.

Picture – The cross at Mount Erebus, Antarctica, commemorating the 1979 Air New Zealand Crash near Mount Erebus.

Lent is a season of preparation.  Preparation of our hearts in contemplation of the mystery of Christ’s suffering and death for the sins of people from every tribe and people and tongue and nation. 

Jesus life was a preparation.  It was a preparation for death.  Most of us know something about the causes of Jesus death, his execution on a cross by the Roman authorities.  But how many of us know the “purposes” of his death.  Jesus wasn’t just killed in a tragic series of events…He purposed to die. 

John Piper wrote a book a few years back called, “The 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die”.  In it he listed 50 things Jesus “purposed” for us in his death.  What did God achieve for sinners like us in sending his Son to die?  Over the 2009 Lenten season, I’ll blog my comments and thoughts about each of these 50 things.

The current flare up between Hamas and Israel is only a symptom of the larger underlying political problem.  The problem is simply this:  the indigenous Palestinian’s who live within the borders of of Israel, want a piece of land and government of their own.   The Israeli’s, on the other hand, want peace but have real reservations since it’s from these areas that Palestinian terrorists have launched attacks on Israeli property and citizens.  Yet, neither government, Palestinian or Israeli is unified in their position.  This is evidenced by the fact that:

1. The Palestinian government is split ideologically, politically and territorially.  The Palestinian Authority (PA) is the recognized political structure representing Palestinian people and issues in the area, who recognizes Israel’s right to exist.  they govern the West Bank.  However Hamas, a para-militarized political organization, who rejects Israel’s right to exist, controls Gaza. 
2. While it is the stated goal of the Israeli government to work towards Palestinian independence, they simultaneously continue to consolidate power and annex land in the disputed West Bank.  Their words and actions do not match up.

Further complicating this matter is there are agents who use these divisions to fight a sort of proxy war for their own benefit, at the expense of the warring parties.  Sadly, American evangelical Christianity has historically been one of these agents. 

Again, many popular Christian leaders have seized on these events to preach a message of opportunistic eschatological fulfillment.  In essence they teach that by supporting Israel’s military and political actions unconditionally, Christians can fight a sort of proxy war with Satan, help ensure that God will win and ultimately gain some favor with Him.  Their position allows them to cheer their team on to victory, insulated from the horrors of war, all the time picking up points (blessings) along the way, that are beneficial to them in their view of the end-times.  The problem with this view is that it’s not Biblical.

American evangelicals need to stop their mob-like behavior as if they were watching gladiators fighting in the Colleseum in Rome.  The Palestinian Israeli conflict is not some blood-sport and Christians are not called to be end-times cheerleaders.  The answer is not in military might, politics or forcing eschatological fulfillment.  The answer is simply in the Bible.  American evangelicals need to stop listening to end-times obsessed preachers and prophesy pundits and start reading their Bibles.

If we look at what Jesus said in Luke chapter 6, he gives us an outline of how to deal with conflict and those we see as our enemies.  Oh and yes in Jesus’ economy, the modern nation of Israel is our enemy, as is every person or nation who is not for Christ.   (Philippians 3:15-21, James 4:4, Romans 5:10)

Jesus says some amazing things here.  First he demonstrates God’s love and grace in front of the political hypocrites of his day and heals a man in front of the “you can’t do that” crowd.  Next, he tells his disciples and other followers that they are blessed if they “do” what God has commanded, on account of Christ.  He then pronounces “woes” on those who are meddling for their own benefit among the “connected”; the hypocritical opportunists of his day.   Then in verse 27 he begins to give concrete examples of what his followers should be doing in response to their faith.  Most popularly is the command to “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” in Luke 6:27. 

This is what Mosab Hassan did.  Mosab is the son of Hamas founder, Sheikh Hassan.  After being raised Muslim, growing up in a radical household, becoming and member of Hamas’ youth wing and serving time in an Israeli prison, Mosab opened a Bible and read it.  In it he found peace: the peace of the Gospel.  His public conversion to Christianity in 2008 has resulted in a threat of death from Al-Qaida.  Yet he remains steadfast and desire to minister to the people of Palestine. Through this one act, this man has done more for the Middle East than all the political rallies, fund raisers and conferences held by populist Evangelical Christianity over the last 30 years.  You see, Mosab realized what Jesus said in Luke 6.  Peace is not through military or political victory, but through a change of the heart.  Hatred, anger and pride are sin and solve no problems.  They only further complicate matters.  The heart needs to be changed and that can only be done by God through the Gospel. 

I would propose the Christian’s correct response to the Middle East crisis should be leave all our self-righteous acts and prideful intents at the foot of the Cross, repent of these sins, embrace the Gospel and support those who preach the Gospel of God’s grace to those in the Middle East. 

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek [non-Jew]”  Romans 1:16  ESV (brackets mine)