Jesus

Leave Your Status at the Door

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 6 Comments

In continuing with the theme of God’s kingdom, it is here that we can live status-free.

The world jostles for position all the time. It starts in the family. There’s a favorite aunt, or a special cousin. There are the relatives nobody likes, and there are others that everybody adores.

Then there’s school. The cool, the popular, and the geeks.

College is no better. Ivy league vs. state universities. Private vs. community colleges. Yale sounds better than Berkeley, Stanford more elitist than Cal State.

Once you get into the work force, you quickly slam into the status levels there. It’s called management and labor. The two great divides.

The only place on earth where this isn’t true is in God’s kingdom. There we have one head – Jesus. The rest of us are all brothers and sisters. We came into the kingdom on the same playing field – through the cross. We stay in the kingdom through no merit of our own, but solely on the merits of Christ and what he has done for us.

There is no room for posturing, snobbery, or reputation.

But there is plenty of room for compassion, love and service to one another.

Next time you’re tempted to elevate or belittle yourself – both are sin – remember that your life is defined by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

He’s the ruler of the universe. You can rub shoulders with him!

It’s Not About Sin

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 2 Comments

How do you handle suffering? (If you’re like me, I want to run and hide until it all goes away.)

Do you doubt God’s love for you? Feel his withdrawal? (You bet.)

Do you think he’s punishing you for something wrong you have done? (That’s what I think of right away.)

The truth is we’ve all done everything wrong, all the time, all our lives. That’s why we need a Savior. As Romans 3 says, none of us seeks God.

If we keep to that logic, we would deserve to be punished everyday of our lives. But even that would not be sufficient to a holy God.

The truth is we cannot pay for our sins. They are too awful, too deep, and too pervasive.

That’s why Jesus came to pay for them in our stead on the cross.

God isn’t angry with us anymore.

Let me say that again. God isn’t angry with us anymore if we have placed our trust in Jesus.

Jesus paid for every sin we have committed, are committing now, and will commit in the future.

If we believe in Jesus as God’s solution to our sin problem, then all of our sins are forgiven. We are adopted children of God. God now is our Heavenly Father. He loves us.

So with that in mind, trials and suffering are meant to mature us and build the image of Christ in us. There’s a real purpose to them. Read Romans 5 & James 1.

Don’t waste this opportunity to stretch your faith.

 

 

A Strange Story

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ Leave a comment

In the biblical drama, all our expectations, assumptions, and cherished ideas are thrown into question. God the judge bears the sentence that his own justice demands. The offended party becomes the redeemer; even as he is subjected to further acts of the most heinous violence from those he redeems. The outcasts become royal heirs, the outsiders become insiders and the insiders outsiders, those who thought they were righteous are in fact condemned and those who were beyond any hope of moral recovery are declared righteous. A strange story, indeed. – Michael Horton

For more by Michael Horton, please visit:

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/

Whose Virtue Are You Trusting In?

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 2 Comments

There are three levels of authentic faith:

1) you start with the historical facts and the creeds concerning Jesus

2) you believe these facts to be true

3) you cast yourself dead on the floor, trusting solely in Christ; his death on the cross will save you.

The moral plan is bankrupt!

The difference between law & gospel:

law = your obedience in order to win God’s acceptance – self-righteousness

gospel = Jesus obeyed for you and died for you; believe that and you have God’s approval

Your daily “spiritual” experience is captive to your diet, sleep habits, health, & emotional state. None of these is to be trusted for your salvation, or your nearness to God, or his love for you.

The apostles had first-hand experiences of Jesus. If there was ever a group of people who could tell their stories, relate their personal experiences with Jesus, it was them. With the exception of Paul, who was compelled to defend his ministry to the Corinthians, none of the apostles spoke of themselves. They spoke only of Christ and his saving work. (See the sermons in the book of Acts.)

When the apostles did speak of their experience with Jesus, they spoke of their doubts. They highlighted their weaknesses. (See Paul in 2 Corinthians 12.)

You have no virtue of your own, so don’t count on it to gain God’s approval.

The only virtue worth having is Christ’s virtue. And he gives it to you as a gift.

Have you received it?

A Re-Write of Your Story

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 3 Comments

Are you resting in God’s approval or are you still seeking your own? If you’re still seeking your own, chances are you don’t handle criticism very well. (I don’t either.) In the end, criticism is losing the approval of others. But if you are in Christ you can rest in God’s approval and then you can handle criticism. (I’m improving, sort of.)

The entire story of the Old Testament is a story of broken lives. Adam was the original broken life that resulted in a world enslaved to sin. But when Jesus entered into the human family, he re-wrote the script. He came for a radical rescue, to undo the curse of sin, untwist the distortions, and re-write the whole human story.

Is your name in his script?

Success At Last!

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Jesus shows you the goodness of God by sending him to succeed where you failed. You are in his triumphant procession. No longer do you have to work for God’s approval. If you are in Christ, God approves of you.

Adam in the garden failed, Israel in the wilderness failed, but where they couldn’t live up to God’s law, Jesus did. He is the better Adam, and he is the true Israel, who delighted to do God’s will. And that perfect record God has put into your account, so you are now as perfect as Jesus.

 

All Is Free

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Pardon, peace, spiritual life—all of them are gifts, divine gifts, brought down from heaven by the Son of God, presented personally to each needy sinner by God. They are not to be bought, but received; as men receive the sunshine, complete and sure and free. They are not to be earned or deserved by exertions or sufferings, or prayers or tears; but received at once as the purchase of the labors and sufferings of the great Substitute. They are not to be waited for—but taken on the spot without hesitation or distrust, as men take the loving gift of a generous friend.

— Horatius Bonar

Gospel Transformation

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“The gospel transforms us in heart, mind, will, and actions precisely because it is not itself a message about our transformation. Nothing that I am or that I feel, choose, or do qualifies as Good News. On my best days, my experience of transformation is weak, but the gospel is an announcement of a certain state of affairs that exists because of something in God, not something in me; something that God has done, not something that I have done; the love in God’s heart which he has shown in his Son, not the love in my heart that I exhibit in my relationships. Precisely as the Good News of a completed, sufficient, and perfect work of God in Christ accomplished for me and outside of me in history, the gospel is ‘the power of God unto salvation’ not only at the beginning but throughout the Christian life. In fact, our sanctification is simply a lifelong process of letting that Good News sink in and responding appropriately; becoming the people whom God says that we already are in Christ.”

— Michael Horton

Was There Any Jesus in Church?

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 6 Comments

If a Jewish rabbi could have preached the sermon you heard this past Sunday, you didn’t hear from God.

A biblical sermon is always about Christ and the gospel. It’s not about world affairs, personal stories, the latest movie, a list of helps, or a feel-good message.

It’s not, “Do this and live.”

“I don’t know about you, but if a person’s understanding of the gospel isn’t scandalous to my natural way of thinking, if it doesn’t call into question everything I think I know, if it doesn’t subvert the wisdom of this age, then when you preach it I can barely muster the energy to yawn.” — Jason Stellman

As Jesus said in Luke 24 to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, the entire Old Testament is about him. The entire New Testament is about him. That means the entire bible points to him. He’s the protagonist of the story.

So not everything you hear in church in kosher.

Listen well.

Have You Repented Today?

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 4 Comments

Your biggest problem in life is not your suffering, but your sin.

The Christian life is one long repentance on your way to heaven. Real repentance goes down to the heart. It’s recognizes the depth of sin, the depravity of the heart, the unwillingness to bend to God’s will. Even as Christians.

True repentance confronts your idols. What are you really trusting in? Your earning power? Your youth? Your intellect? A good reputation? Your personality? Your body? Your talents?

Religion is about performance and performance is about changing bad behaviors.

Life in Christ is putting your hope in him. He is the changer of hearts. He is committed to your heart transplant. And the way to an intimate relationship with him is to keep short accounts. Repent often. Repent daily. And your love for God will increase.

Don’t settle for a cosmetic makeover.