Why Jesus Came

(What follows is an excerpt from John Piper's 2013 Advent devotional. It is available for free here)

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. —Hebrews 2:14–15

Hebrews 2:14–15 is worth more than two minutes in an Advent devotional. These verses connect the beginning and the end of Jesus’s earthly life. They make clear why he came. They would be great to use with an unbelieving friend or family member to take them step by step through your Christian view of Christmas. It might go something like this…

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood…”

The term “children” is taken from the previous verse and refers to the spiritual offspring of Christ, the Messiah (see Isaiah 8:18; 53:10). These are also the “children of God.” In other words, in sending Christ, God has the salvation of his “children” specially in view. It is true that “God so loved the world, that he sent [Jesus] (John 3:16).” But it is also true that God was especially “gathering the children of God who are scattered abroad” (John 11:52). God’s design was to offer Christ to the world, and to effect the salvation of his “children” (see 1 Timothy 4:10). You may experience adoption by receiving Christ (John 1:12).

“…he himself likewise partook of the same things [flesh and blood]…”

Christ existed before the incarnation. He was spirit. He was the eternal Word. He was with God and was God (John 1:1; Colossians 2:9). But he took on flesh and blood and clothed his deity with humanity. He became fully man and remained fully God. It is a great mystery in many ways. But it is at the heart of our faith and is what the Bible teaches.

“…that through death…”

The reason Jesus became man was to die. As God, he could not die for sinners. But as man he could. His aim was to die. Therefore he had to be born human. He was born to die. Good Friday is the reason for Christmas. This is what needs to be said today about the meaning of Christmas.

“…he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil…”

In dying, Christ de-fanged the devil. How? By covering all our sin. This means that Satan has no legitimate grounds to accuse us before God. “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33). On what grounds does he justify? Through the blood of Jesus (Romans 5:9).

Satan’s ultimate weapon against us is our own sin. If the death of Jesus takes it away, the chief weapon of the devil is taken out of his hand. He cannot make a case for our death penalty, because the Judge has acquitted us by the death of his Son!

“…and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

So we are free from the fear of death. God has justified us. Satan cannot overturn that decree. And God means for our ultimate safety to have an immediate effect on our lives. He means for the happy ending to take away the slavery and fear of the now.

If we do not need to fear our last and greatest enemy, death, then we do not need to fear anything. We can be free: free for joy, free for others.

What a great Christmas present from God to us! And from us to the world!

Because it was not possible

This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. -- Acts 2:23-24

For all the times I've read Acts 2, a certain aspect of verses 23 and 24 have escaped me until now. Read it again. Slowly. Soak it in.

Oh, there is so much there, but what struck me out of the blue when I heard it read yesterday was this reality: It was not possible for Jesus to stay dead.

Part of why this struck me hard is that I have often viewed Jesus as the participant in the resurrection. In other words, the resurrection happened to Him. And while this may be partially accurate, I think it misses the point. Peter's point here is that the resurrection had to happen, because the grave simply could not hold Jesus.

Kevin DeYoung recently used the illustration of childbirth -- tied to the word pangs -- to describe Jesus in the grave. Was he dead? Yes? Could he have stayed dead? Not a chance. Just like a baby cannot -- will not -- stay in the womb, Jesus could not stay in the grave. It could not contain Him. It could not hold Him. Add to that the imagery associated with labor, a baby needing to be born and mother needing to deliver her child and we begin to glimpse the heaven reality -- death could not hold on to Jesus.

This is important for at least two reasons. First and probably foremost is that the resurrection is the lynch pin of our faith. If Jesus didn't rise, we are still in our sins. Everything we believe, every hope we have is tied to this one historic fact.

Secondarily, but no less important for our daily walk with Christ is that Jesus has defeated death. We may not see all of the implications of this victory yet, but Jesus' resurrection proves that the victory has occurred. And because Christ has conquered  sin and death, he can -- and will -- rescue us from our sin and death. Spiritually speaking, we are safe and secure in Christ. Romans 8:33-34 say it best:

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

So, if you are believer in Christ know this: the grave that couldn't hold Jesus, can't hold you either. Your eternity is certain and Jesus' resurrection is the guarantee.

However, if you do not believe that Jesus' life, death and resurrection have anything to do with you, know that you are taking an awful risk. And yet, even in this moment, as you read these words, you can give your life, your future, your eternity into the hands of the One who made you, who loves you and was willing to die so that you might live.

To God Alone be the Glory

1 Corinthians 15 challenge

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, (1 Cor 15:1-4)

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Cor 15:56-58)

The 1 Corinthians 15 challenge is simple really. Well, simple to articulate. Set aside 15-20 minutes (or more, if you wish) and prayerfully, reflectively read through 1 Cor 15. While reading (or maybe on a second pass), note (feel free to write in your Bible) all that hangs on Jesus' death and resurrection. Note all the positive, forward looking, hope filled promises that are ours, because Jesus died and rose again. Look at the whole Bible themes that Paul lays out as being fulfilled in Christ. And see anything else that Spirit desires to bring to your mind through this chapter. When this is done, spend whatever amount of time seems appropriate simply thanking and praising God for all that He has accomplished on your behalf.

This chapter is too majestic and deserves better treatment than to be summed up in a few paragraphs. So my challenge to you is allow the Spirit to be your teacher today as you reflect on 1 Cor 15, as you consider (again) the gospel in which you stand and by which you are being saved, and as you rejoice and rest in the reality that death itself will soon be defeated, because death will be swallowed up in Victory!

To God Alone be the Glory

related posts: The Gospel in 1 Cor 15

Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Rom 7:24-25)

Who among us, if we are honest, has not asked this question? Who among us, if we are honest, has not at some point looked at our lives and asked along with Job "Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’" Who among us, if we are honest, has not wanted to simply quit, start over or simply walk away?

If you think about it, that is the dilemma facing Paul in Romans 7. It is also the dilemma that faced Job. Even Nicodemus in John 3 is probing this question. There's a sense of this in what the author of Hebrews is addressing and also the churches that received the book of Revelation were facing this issue. Friends, when these aches arise in our hearts, we are not alone.

We do need a dose of reality as we face these times in our lives. One reality that we can't escape, but often try to anyway, is the fact that we are all physically dying. If you are reading this and are on the "upward slope" of "the hill", you may agree intellectually, but may not appreciate the pervasiveness of this reality. If you are "over the hill", you are beginning to grasp that your body is a finite machine that is wearing out. And for all of us, we are one accident, one illness, one phone call away from having this reality smashed into our face. Do I say this to depress? No, but to remind us all that physically we are all living in a body of death.

There is another reality that we need to keep in our minds. It is the fact that we are all in spiritual jungle. This picture is too nuanced to fully paint today, but the image we should all have in our minds is that while God has given us a clearing in the jungle by grace through the death of Jesus, the jungle keeps encroaching. We, by the power of the Spirit whack at the vines and insects, the snakes and the underbrush, but if we pause or get distracted, the jungle begins to over power us. And we feel ourselves drifting back to that body of death.

At this point, if we are honest, I think each of us can say with Paul "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" And while being at the end our ropes, or feeling like it, is not what we wish for or hope for or strive for, it is a place each of us has been (or will be some day). The question is how do we respond? Do we respond like Job's friends, with empty, pious religion? Do we respond like Nicodemus, probing but not grasping the simplicity of the answer. Do we respond like Job who sensed God was in the midst of everything yet needed Him to prove himself or at least explain what was going on? Or, do we respond like Paul and say this may be a struggle and this may be a fight, but thanks be to God because there is now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ?

You see what Job's friends and Nicodemus missed, what Job himself didn't see until God revealed himself but what Paul understood is that what we have here is not the end. Our physical bodies will fail and die. Our spiritual battles will require effort and strength and training and blood, sweat and tears. And we will lose some of those battles. But the decisive battle has already been won. There is a mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Who will rescue me from this body of death? Jesus will!

So as we move forward, our hope is not in physical deliverance and protection, even though God may graciously give us both. Our hope is not in spiritual victory, although we strive, in the Spirit's power to grow up into Christ. Our hope is that Jesus died to deliver a people to himself. And that the Triune God had a plan from beginning to end to rescue and protect his sheep and present them faultless before his throne  And that one day, every tear will be dried, every tongue will praise God and the Lamb, every sin will be vanquished and we will receive a body of life. And we will walk with God.

I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory

Preparing For Your Funeral

I ran across this quote from J.C. Ryle on Kevin DeYoung's blog. I think it sums up a reality I observed way too often and even in the last few weeks. The phenomenon is a lot people gathered around hoping the deceased is with Christ, but not quite knowing for sure. Ryle's admonitions: be sure and make sure others know you are sure.

When we have carried you to your narrow bed, let us not have to hunt up stray words, and scraps of religion, in order to make out that you were a true believer. Let us not have to say in a hesitating way one to another, “I trust he is happy; he talked so nicely one day; and he seemed so please with a chapter in the Bible on anther occasion; and he liked such a person, who is a good man.” Let us be able to speak decidedly as to your condition. Let us have some solid proof of your repentance, your faith, and your holiness, so that none shall be able for a moment to question your state.

Depend on it, without this, those you leave behind can feel no solid comfort about your soul. We may use the form of religion at your burial, and express charitable hopes. We may meet you at the churchyard gate, and say, “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.” But this will not alter your condition! If you die without conversion to God, without repentance, and without faith–your funeral will only be the funeral of a lost soul; you had better never have been born. (Holiness, 228-229)

To God Alone be the Glory

Living and Dying for Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. - Phil 1:18b-21

Note: I drafted the first part of this blog post last Tuesday, but was unable to finish due to time constraints. By the time I was able to return to it on Wednesday evening, a co-worker of mine had died. So, on Wednesday I was unable to find the right words or balance to finish this blog.  But perhaps today, by God's grace I can do so.  SDG.

Sometimes there is a danger of speaking of more than we know. I have a sense that I am on the verge of that now. Sure most could probably talk about living for Christ although most would use examples of others who would portray these truths better than we do. But dying for Christ; that's a different story. I would dare say most us, while on the slow march toward the grave, are not dying in the immediate sense of the word. So, I will proceed Biblically, but with the acknowledgement that my reach may exceed my grasp.

I think at the outset it would be important to note that at one level Paul did not see any distinction between living and dying in Christ. His prayer was the Christ would be honored, whether by life or by death. Next week, Lord willing, we can see the tremendous differences and blessings of dying in Christ. It should also be noted that Paul is receptive to either course of events. Life or death didn't appear to matter to him. He seemed content in whatever God granted to him.

One question that is raised in my heart and in my mind as I read this passage is: How is Christ honored in my life? Paul could certainly be our example. He was sold out, dependent on the Spirit, willing to speak the truth in love, committed to the spread of the gospel, insisting (at least in Corinth) that he speak of nothing expect Christ and Him crucified, and the list goes on. The problem with Paul (or any Bible character) is that we tend to super-spiritualize them. we think things like: he had a direct line to Jesus, she was able to pray 23 hours a day, etc.The reality is that the folks in the Bible were ordinary people with an extra ordinary God. And their commitment to live for Christ and that Christ would be honored in their lives did not come from themselves. Rather it was (and is) a gift from God via the Holy Spirit. But, this tendancy to place the men and women of the Bible on a pedestal is why I try to follow Piper's admonition to read Christian biographies. To see "real" men and women how they struggled in the faith and yet kept going is a refreshment and an encouragement to my soul.  In one sense, at least for me, it is an extend edition of Heb 11.

Here, of course, is the tricky part, the risky part. We can all offer an opinion about what it means to have Christ honored in our bodies through our lives. Not too many of us are qualified to pontificate on what it means to have Christ honored in our bodies through our death. With that being said however, I think we can make some safe, albeit challenging observations from Scripture.

The first observation is that this life is not ultimate; eternity with Christ is ultimate. To have Christ honored through our death must involve this reality. It is so easy to get caught up in the "here-and-now-ness" of this life and we forget that not only is this life a mist, it is also a shadow. We must remember and be reminders of the shortness of our lives and the incompleteness of our lives. If we are not yearning for something more, how will Christ be honored in our death?

Another observation is that everything in this life should lead to, point to and drive us to the next. The author of Hebrews states we do not have a city here, but we seek the city that is to come. Seeking, pursuing, actively going after what is eternal, all of this demonstrates that this life leads us to eternity with Christ. Our deaths then will honor Christ as a culmination of a life spent on a journey toward the Celestial City.

My one final observation of the many that could listed is this: death is not an end nor is it a tragedy for those who are in Christ. This is often a hard truth, especially for those who have lost a loved one and  for those who are faced with death. In all honesty, I think it connects with our poor memories regarding the temporariness and incompleteness of this life. But Christ will be most honored in our deaths when we can proclaim we are eager to die because only through death (or Christ's return) can we actually receive the prize we've been longing for.

If our heart's desire is to honor Christ whether we live or die, the Spirit needs to continually reform our hearts. By God's grace our lives will become more and more a picture of Christ's love and our deaths will not be a tragic event to be avoided at all costs, but rather a long awaited reunion with the One who created us, redeemed us and loves us with a love that exceeds knowledge.

To God Alone be the Glory

Life Is A Mist

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. - Jm 4:14

Life is a mist. Monday afternoon a co-worker of mine collapsed at her desk. Wednesday she died in surgery.What was a vibrant life on Monday morning is now over. All of her hopes, dreams, plans and aspirations have been cut short. I don't where her true treasure lay. But her death makes it absolutely clear, no amount of success, no amount of ability, no amount of wealth can buy us another minute of life. And nothing in all of creation has any value when we stand before God, the One who owns it all.

As Piper is fond of saying: Only what is done for Christ will last. In this brief, mist-like life, I pray the I can spend more of my few short days working for Christ. If the treasures and the pleasures that are around me won't last and can be taken from me (or me from them) in a heartbeat (literally), I have to ask, are they really worth it? Perhaps instead I should count everything around me and about me as a loss compared to the greatness and the permanence of knowing Christ and being found in him and having a righteousness that is not my own, but depends on faith.

One final thought. Part of Edwards' resolutions emphasizes his desire to see and do things as if they were the last things we would be doing. He saw and needed to remind himself that life is a mist and that mist can lift at any time. I too need to continually be reminded of this reality, perhaps sometimes with the stark truth.

So, I want to close by asking any who may read this to examine your walk with Christ. Perhaps you are not a believer. My friend that is where you must start. Your life is in a very dangerous predicament.Pick up a Bible. Read Romans or John. Probe the claims of Christ in the gospels. Consider the transformed lives in the book of Acts. Ask yourself why such urgency in all the New Testament writers? Place your life, your eternal life, in Jesus' dependable hands.

If you are a believer, I would ask you do a serious, Spirit-invested assessment of your life. Do not be afraid of the hard questions. Do not be afraid of the hard answers. Trust that Christ wants whats best for you and what is best for his Bride, the Church. And, as you do this assessment, praise God for all the good things you find, all the ways Christ is already exalted in your life. But commit to him the shortcomings and the areas that need attention. Work these things out, because it is God who works in us, to will and to work according to His good purpose. And do what you can today, because life is a mist and tomorrow may be in eternity.

To God Alone be the Glory

With the Breath of His Mouth

"And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming." 2 Th 2:8

Most movies & stories try to set themselves up so that the hero, while very brave and determined, usually will need to go against huge disadvantages, take huge risks with no certainty of the outcome. In fact, some of the best movies and stories leave the outcome in doubt almost to the last page. And, for three days 2,000 years ago, that is exactly how the disciples saw it. Their Messiah (a.k.a. the next David) was just crucified and buried. Now the Jewish leaders were after them. But, the Resurrection changed everything.

Now Jesus is alive. Now Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. Now Jesus is interceding for us. Now all authority on heaven and on earth have been given to Jesus. Now Jesus is opening the scroll of human history.

And one day soon Jesus will face His enemy and ours. The battle may be cosmic, but it won't be dramatic. In fact in sporting terms it will be a blow-out. Jesus' mere presence and his mere breath will defeat the singular evil that has held this universe in bondage ever since his temptation of Adam and Eve in the garden.

My point? Jesus is the ultimate hero of our faith, but He is unlike any other hero we have, real or imagined. He endured the greatest humiliation (no one will ever approach that) and defeat, but because of this and his perfectly righteous life, He is now undefeatable, unconquerable and inexorably moving history to His ultimate victory. And if we have put our faith in Him, if we take Him at His word, if we trust Him to do what He says, then His victory will be ours.  There is no fear in death. There is no fear in Satan. Both are toothless, venom-less snakes that hiss and lunge, but can no longer poison or kill.

To God Alone be the Glory

Last Day?

There may be a follow up entry, if the Lord allows, but I felt like simply recording some of my disparate thoughts as they tumble around in my brain. Edwards got me going two Mondays ago when he said

"Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life"

Since then I periodically ask "What if this were the last...?

• Last good bye with my wife
• Last time I take my kids to school
• Last blog I write
• Last lesson I teach
• Last conversation I have with an individual

These last things could be because my earthly days have ended or the others with whom I interact have died. Trust me when I say that my thoughts are not morbid, but rather they are Spirit convicted to ask ""are those really the last words or thoughts you want to leave on that persons heart?" Or, because I watch too many movies, is that the way you would want your earthly movie to end?

Unfortunately, I don't have any strong, profound answers other than what Edwards wrote and Jesus, Paul and the rest of the NT church lived.

It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  Phil 1:20-21

To God Alone be the Glory.

A Prayer of Encouragement

I ran across this prayer by a pastor who recently lost his dad.  It is an encouragement to me to see not just a Christian perspective toward death, but also toward Alzheimer's and broken relationships between believers. Please take a look and bring a Kleenex.  SDG

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scottysmith/2010/11/29/a-prayer-about-burying-my-dad/

Something Worse than Death?

One cool thing about reading (and re-reading) through the whole Bible every year is that one can always find new ways that God underscores His eternal truths. I've known for a while that the opening verses of Luke 12 (vv 4-5) teach that there is something worse than death.  But, does God pick up that theme elsewhere?  Well... Take a look sometime at 1 King 14.  King Jeroboam's son is dying and his wife goes to the prophet.  He tells her that not only will the son die, but Jeroboam will lose the kingship.  Then in verse13 he says "And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the LORD, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam."

What!? "for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the LORD"? Jeroboam's son died because he was pleasing to the LORD. Would God really do that?  Maybe a God who is truly loving knows that sometimes death is not evil, but rather a gift and a protection from worse things to come. SDG