When Judgment and Grace Kiss One Another: A Good Friday Meditation

"No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. " (John 3:13-15)

"Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die."   (John 12:31-33)   

Good Friday of Holy Week, Jesus was lifted up on a cross to die a horrific death that He didn't deserve to die... He died in our place - for our sin.

When righteousness and peace meet, they kiss one another    (Psalm 85:10)

When righteousness and sin meet, it is a violent collision (Isaiah 6:5; Luke 5:8) 

When God's wrath (toward His enemies -sin) and God's grace meet, it is at the cross               (2 Cor 5:21) 

Because of God's great mercy, He poured out His wrath on His Beloved Son (Isaiah 53:10), and we move from being sentenced on death row to a new, abundant, and eternal life!       (John 3:16-17) 

At the cross, Judgement and Grace kiss one another!

A Holy Week Meditation

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." - Zechariah 9:9 

    This mysterious prophecy is given a little over 500 years before Jesus made His entry into Jerusalem for the final time.. Throughout Jesus' earthly life He consistently obeyed God's Law. The final three years of His earthly life He consistently fulfilled Old Testament prophecies.. Some would see and rejoice - some would see and be angered. The time was approaching for Jesus to fulfill the supreme purpose for which He had come to earth (die for our sin) and fulfill the most incredible prophecy given (rise from the dead) Some understood that He was actually fulfilling prophecy - John writes; "And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!" - His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him." -  John 12:14-16.

     Although a relative few realized He was fulfilling prophecy, no one misunderstood what Jesus was doing... They believed the prophecy, they just didn't believe in the One fulfilling it.  The Jews were expecting a king...  Jesus rode into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday presenting Himself as the King of the Jews. Even without saying a word about being King, Jesus' actions show them the claims He is making. He presents Himself as Israel's long awaited King.. A one greater than David. Again to quote the apostle John; "He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him." - John 1:11. Later that week, after event filled days and many more prophecies fulfilled, Jesus is arrested and He is charged with blasphemy -  So Jesus, who had ridden into town presenting Himself as King is rejected - The Jewish authorities go so far as saying that Caesar was their only King (talk about your blasphemy!?) John 19:15. - This rejection also fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies.. Jesus is put to death on a cross and three days later, rises from the tomb (fulfilling prophecy). 

This Holy Week, take special time to read through the Gospel accounts. Note well the Old Testament quotations - this will strengthen your faith as you realize God not only WAS, but IS! 

Rejoice this Easter season with the hope of resurrection! This life is NOT all there is.. We MUST be prepared for the next... Have you trusted in the death of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to pay for your sin? If not, trust Him by faith. Place all your hope in Him... He is mighty to save! He rose from the dead to prove He is who He claimed to be, and to show that new, resurrection life awaits  all who trust Him by faith!  Rejoice, the Lord is King!  

Once Far Off - Now Brought Near

"Christ also suffered, once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God." - 1 Peter 3:18

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." - Ephesians 2:13 

Peter and Paul give us a double knock out punch of grace... in both these passages we see that a believer's status has changed from being unrighteous (Peter) 1 Peter 3:18 and far off (Paul) Ephesians 2:13, to being "brought near" to God. Peter and Paul both attest that this miraculous change of status is because of the suffering and blood of Christ. We who were away from God because of unrighteousness and sin are drawn in close to God through Christ... We who once were His enemies are now His friends... Once strangers - now family... For a believer, Jesus Christ has changed the conversation... From hostility and aloofness on our part and sacrificial love on God's part. Once we were far away from God... but He has brought us near... very near... REJOICE! 

At the Cross We Shrink to Our True Size...

"Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, 'I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.' Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size."

 - John R.W. Stott, The Message of Galatians, London, 1968 

HUMILITY

"There is nothing that will put you in your place, nothing that will correct your distorted view of yourself, nothing that will yank you out of your functional arrogance, or nothing that will take the winds out of the sails of your self-righteousness like standing, without defense, before the awesome glory of God." - Paul David Tripp, "Dangerous Calling",

Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2012, pg.121

Be Careful What You Treasure

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21 ESV)

   To treasure something is to assign value to it. When we treasure something we are assigning it's worth. When Jesus says that heavenly treasures are to be desired over earthly ones, He is telling us where to assign value -  To delegate "worth."

    The word, "worship" comes from the word, "worth."  "Worth-ship" describes the value we place on something or someone.   So what Jesus is calling us to in the passage is a life of worship (placing Him - the "heavenly things" above all else). 
 So the question is -  "What is Jesus worth?"  
                           - More pointedly, what is He worth to you?   

   Paul Tripp writes this very convicting statement: 
 "Once something is our treasure, it will command our desires and shape
   our behavior."      (Dangerous Calling, 2012, Crossway Books, pg. 103)
                           


My prayer for myself - and for you, is that more and more each day we will see "the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."  (Philippians 3:8), 
and that HE will be my treasure.    

"... till we are united to Christ."

"The eyes cannot see what is right, and the ears cannot hear, and the feet cannot guide us in the right way, till we are united to Christ."  - John Calvin, 1509 - 1564