The Blood

28 February

Dear Phyllis,.

Last week I was greatly struck by the simple expression in Col. 1:20, “having made peace through the Blood of His Cross...”. My mind went back to the moment when that Blood was shed and I came up with a surprising meditation.

It struck me very forcefully that that was the worst moment in human history. That was the greatest disaster that had happened on this planet since God said “Let there be light”. The night before had been an inexpressible disaster. It started out at the Last Supper. Jesus said, “With desire have I desired (with great desire) to eat this Passover with you” (Lk. 22:15). But that special occasion started out with the badly when somebody had forgotten to make provision for the foot washing. And Jesus Himself had to stoop to attend to that detail. That is like having a Birthday party for the king and the king has to serve tables. Then after three years of disciplining, the main topic of discussion was an argument over who was going to the top dog (Lk. 22:24). How discouraging! Then in the Garden, at the time of His greatest need Jesus asks His top three men to stand with Him in prayer only to find them sleeping. It would take pages to describe in detail all the things that went wrong that night.

But the scene at the Cross effected me deeply this past week. I stood there with Mary and John and tried to enter into their emotion with them. There is nothing, NOTHING, NOTHING more unutterable horrifying and sickening than to stand there and watch that Blood trickle down that Cross. I cannot describe the emotion; there simple are no words in any human language to express what it was like to stand there and watch Jesus die. The closest adverb I can come up with is NUMB It was past emotion. It wasn't sorrow, grief, anger, frustration, helplessness. The only word I can think of is numb. All emotion has been burned out and you just stand there numb. How would you feel to stand there and watch your husband or son die in agony with his blood trickling down a cross?

In the simplest possible terms the Emaus disciples spoke for all when they said, “We had trusted it had been He which should have redeemed Israel” (Lk. 24:21).

Religion was at an all time low. The most disgusting, worthless, men in the country had taken over as the highest level of priesthood. The chief priest was awful. Hypocrisy was rampant. There had been one burning and shinning light three years before when John was making waves. But he got killed. A foreign government was occupying Israel. Injustice was on every hand. And then the greatest prophet Israel had ever seen appeared. What hope! John had promised the Messiah was going to clean house. He said to the top religious leaders, “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”: that the ax was laid at the root of the trees and the bad stuff was going in the fire (Mt. 3:7,10). Indeed Jesus was a mighty prophet in deed and word. He had a message the likes of which had never been preached. He had authority to cast out devils, heal every manner of sickness and raise the dead. Time and again evil men had tried to kill Him but He was above all. Then the most unimaginable thing happened. The bad guys had Him captured and killed. The bad guys won and the greatest hope of Israel was murdered. This was infinitely worse than if Obama got elected for a third term. The death of Jesus was worse than just a mighty prophet getting killed. The truth is that God sent His Son into the world, and He got killed. Incontestably this was the greatness disaster that had ever happened on this planet.

We know the end of the story today but that day, amazingly, no one believed Jesus was going to come back from the dead. None of the disciples believed it. Even when Mary told them that He was alive they thought she was mad. The women didn't believe He was coming back. They went that morning to anoint a corps. He had told them repeatedly but the only ones that heard that message were the priests and Pharisees who asked Pilate to seal the grave so no one could steal the body (Mt. 27:62-64). For those who were following Jesus nothing could have been darker.

But God took the worst moment in human history to make it the greatest moment since God breathed the breath of life into that clay body and Adam opened his eyes in the Garden. This was the greatest jail break of all time. It was by the Blood of that Cross that Jesus tore away the bars of hell and opened the gate to heaven for all humanity. It was by the Blood of His Cross that Jesus undid the devil and paid the price for all our sin (Col. 2:13, 14; 1Jn. 2:2).

We know all this today. In personal work, in leading souls to Christ, the first thing we tell them is how Jesus died for their sins and His Blood cleanses them. In spite of the joy to know that Jesus had come back from the dead and was alive, it is highly doubtful that the disciples had any idea of the magnitude of what had happened at that Cross that first night when Jesus appeared in that locked room and ate fish with them (Lk. 24:36-43). And it is highly doubtful that the apostles had much understanding of the work of Calvary two weeks after Pentecost, even after the Holy Spirit came to show them the things of Jesus. I'm sure Paul knew nothing of this when he got unhorsed on the Damascus road and Ananiaus came to open his eyes (Act 9:10-18). It is questionable how much he knew even after he returned from his three years in Arabia (Gal. 1:17,18). Who knows how long it took before the fabric of the New Testament theology was fully woven together and the Apostles grasped what had happened that day on Golgotha. It would have taken many years before Peter could have written his epistle and told us about the sprinkling of the Blood (1 Pet. 1:2). Certainly he could not have done that at Pentecost.

What I am trying to say is two things. First, it is astounding that God took the greatest disaster in human history to make it to be the greatest moment in creation. It was by that catastrophe that He opened heaven for all of us. And He can take the greatest disaster in your life and make it into your greatest moment. He did that for me. Secondly, even after Jesus had accomplished all He came to do with His Cross and Blood, it was a long time before the Apostles had much awareness and understanding of the magnitude of that transaction. They didn't know the thousandth part of it. And neither do we.

                                                                                                                 bill

The Word

21 February 2016

Dear Phyllis,

When I was first saved I wondered at the strange way John introduced Jesus in his Gospel of John “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God” … “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:1, 14). Obviously the Word is Jesus,but why did John use this unusual expression to introduce the Lord to us?

First of all we must consider the importance of words. Words are one of the most basic elements in life and relationship with life around us. Without words communication would be utterly impossible.

But there are many different types of words. When I am preaching I ask, “What kind of a words am I using now?” The answer is obviously the spoken word. But I could write out my message,give a copy of everyone and I would accomplish exactly the same thing I am doing preaching except use a difference type of words. There are peopel who are deaf and dumb – mute. One time we had a mute wedding in Karuizawa. There were 50 people there but not a sound was uttered. It was the strangest wedding I ever attended. People laughed, cried, and rejoiced; and not a sound was uttered. In many TV news broadcast they have “signers” standing beside the announcer giving the message in sign language. That is a very real mode of expression except they use a different type of word. There is a fourth type of word using various types of visual presentation. When I build a house I must first have a copy of the blue print or plans. The layman may not understand them but that tells me where the doors and windows go and how big to make the building. We use pictures of things and sometime models. All these are a special type of word communication what you want the other person to understand. But there is a fifth type of word. If someone asked me what my son was like, I could describe him orally, or in writing. I could use sign language to explain how tall he is and how heavy; I could show them a drawing of him or a picture. But the best way to tell people what Dave is like is for the real person walk into the room. If they see him that will tell them more than I could explain using a different type or words.

When God wanted to communicate to humanity who He is, the greatest mode of expression God could possible use was to send His Son in the flesh. At the last supper Phillip requested, “Lord show us the Father and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said unto him, “Have I been so long time with you and yet you do not know Me. He that hath seen Me has seen the Father” (Jn.14:8.9). What a profound remark! Paul said that Christ was the image of the invisible God (2Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15). All that we can know of God is expressed to us in Christ. That is why Jesus is called the Word of God (Rev. 19:13), and when John wanted to introduce Jesus to us the first expression he used was WORD.

But the writer of Hebrews told us something more important about this subject. In his opening remarks he explains that God spoke to the fathers (Israel) by the prophets and in various ways, but “in these last times He has spoken to us spoken to us by His Son” (Heb. 1:1,2). When I was young I used to think if there is a God why doesn't He speak to us and reveal Himself to us? After I got saved I discovered that God has spoken to us and revealed Himself to us in the most profound way possible. That is an uncontroversial fact that God has spoken to all humanity by His Son and given us a crystal clear message.What is that message? I LOVE YOU. God didn't just tell us that message, He demonstrated it by sending His Son to take responsibility for all the crimes that I have committed and to die in my place. You can't prove a message more than that. And God gave us another proof to validate the first message – He came back from the dead in the resurrection of Christ.. Oh my goodness, what an eloquent message! Has God spoken! Jesus is the Word. You can't make it any more clearer than that.

As I was pondering upon that subject this past week, it came to me that there is a difference between information and communication. Information is interesting, but communication is personal. When someone has something he wants to impart to someone else he communicates with them. This is a personal exchange. Hebrews doesn't tell us that God has informed us about things but He has SPOKEN to us by His Son. This is communication. Study is information, but speaking is communication.

This cast light on a subject that has troubled me for some time. The last word in Jesus' prayer in John 17, He told the Father, “I have declared unto them (His own people) Thy Name and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved me might be in them and I in them”. That is an amazing statement. But the significant thing is that this is repeated as one of the present activities of what Jesus is doing in the church today (Heb. 2:11-13). In John 17:26 Jesus said “I have declared Thy Name and will declare it”; and Heb. 2:12 says He is doing it now. This is something that has bothered me for a long time. How is it possible that by declaring the Name of the Father the love of God is put in me – and even more – Jesus is in me? The Lord told me yesterday that it is by speaking that things are imparted by the speaker to the listener. That is certainly true in a teacher student scenario. A teacher has something in him that he wants to impart to someone else. The student wants to get it. An hour later the student walks out with something in him that he got from that from the teacher that he didn't have when he walked in. It is by speaking that something inside us is imparted to others. And in a way that transcends our understanding God is able to impart something of Himself to us by speaking . And declaring is the most authoritative way of speaking. We might tell someone by speaking but to declare it carries with a terrific note of authority. To declare something is over carries more weight than just telling them.

Oh my goodness, what God has done! When God wanted to speak to humanity He used the most unmistakable type of word possible. He became a man.That is why Jesus is the Word of God and the message God has spoken to is is so amazing that it is by declaring that Name that Jesus has come to live in my heart. Oh praise God!

                                                              bill

God's Law

7 February 2016

Dear Phyllis,

The most profound question I ever faced was when Dave Hanson asked me, “Are the Ten Commandments a prohibition or a promise?”. That one stumped me and it took years before I knew the answer.

It has been arguably said that the Ten Commandments are the most profound words ever written. When God delivered His people from Egypt and led them into the desert to make a covenant with them, the first thing He did was to give them His Law on the two tablets. Then He told them to make a Tabernacle (tent) for Him so He could live with His people. Then the next thing He told them was for them to make Ark (box) in which they were to place the Law (Deut. 10:1-5).

There is no question but what the Law of God is the foundation of the Covenant, but there is considerable confusion in the minds of Christians as to what the Law is. The NT clearly tells us in several places that we are not under the Law (Rom.6:14). But there is a basic difference between the Moral Law of God (Ten Commandments) and the Levitical law. The Levitical law are regulations covering a broad spectrum of areas ranging from sacrifices, cleansing, dietary foods, clothing, agriculture, etc. Certainly, those regulations do not apply to NT Christians. This was a difficult issue in the 1^st century church and Acts 15 settled that argument. But we are not excused from obeying the Moral Law of God. It is abundantly clear that if God is to have a people they must be morally clean just like Himself (1 Pet. 1:15, 16; Heb. 12:14). Therefore the Ten Commandments are very definitely a fundamental part of the Christian life.

In discussing laws there are again two different types of governing laws. There are laws that restrict action and there are laws that cause action. Civil laws keep citizen behavior in check. It covers traffic laws, tax laws, immigration laws, etc. Natural laws determine what will happen. There are laws of physics – gravity, heat, light, etc. There are a tremendous amount of laws in botany and zoology. You can have a jar of different seeds. Each seed has within it the law that will determine what the plant will be. It will determine whether a seed will become a pine tree, an apple tree, a corn stock, or a rose bush. All those laws are hidden in the seed. Scientists have discovered that in all humans and animals there is DNA. There are billions of cells that determine whether he will be Caucasian or Negroid, if he is male or female, the color of his eyes, and thousands of other detailed features. Adam was crated a perfect innocent being, but as a result of his sin something fundamental happened in his spiritual DNA that is called the law of sin (Rom. 3:23,25; 8:2). Tragically that sinful DNA has been transmitted to every descendant of Adam since then. The reason we sin is because of the law of sin inside us. Sinful behavior is the outward expression of the law of sin in us.

May I suggest that the Ten Commandments are the expression of the character of God. The Ten Commandments are a moral code that covers ten different areas ranging from no other god, a break from idolatry, respect for parental authority, respect for the property of others, sexual purity, respect for human life, truth, and a few others. 

When Isaiah and John saw the Throne of God what they saw was exactly the same thing – seraphims worshiping God crying ceaselessly, “Holy, holy, holy” (Isa. 6:1-3; Rev. 4:8). Why? To answer that we must first determine what they mean by holy. Obviously this is the character of God. But how are they going to determine whether or not God is holy. There must be some standard to judge Him by. If there is no moral standard to judge Him by it cannot be said that He is holy. Paul was correct when he said without the law there is no sin (Rom. 7:8). The only thing we can judge God by is His own moral Law. Jesus told us that the law has two sides – negative and positive. The negative side of the Law is the prohibitive side – don't do it. But the positive side of the Law is love. Jesus summed up all the law by saying it is totally covered by two things, loving God and loving others (Mt. 22:36-40). And this is repeated in several other places in the NT. The moral Law of God is the code governing our conduct to things external from ourselves. When the seraphims watch God and see His conduct towards sinful. undeserving, humans, and see the love of God expressed to them, that blows their mind. They see God's performance in love towards mankind and they cry “Holy, holy, holy”. His character is the expression of His Law. It is the law is inside of Him that makes Him what He is.

God made three vehicles in which to place His law. The first was a box called the Ark of the Covenant. The Law was placed in the Ark. But 1500 years later God made another vehicle in which to place His Law. In speaking of Jesus, Hebrews 10:5 says, “In sacrifice and offerings Thou wouldest not, but a BODY hast Thou prepared Me”. This is quoting Psalm 40:6-8, which says, “Thy Law is within My heart”. One of the reasons why God prepared a Body for His Son was to make a vehicle in which to place His Law. The Law of God was in the heart of Jesus.And that determined what He did. The reason Jesus was sinless was because the very law of God was in His heart governing His conduct.

But then God has made a third place to place his law. The first tenant of the New Covenant is that, “I will write My Law in their heart” (Heb. 8:10). How does He do that? The very Spirit of Christ with the law of God has come to live in my heart. The very Law of God that distinguished Him as holy was in the heart of Jesus, And now that Law has come to live in my heart. 

We have a funny view of salvation. Most people believe that salvation means I won't go to hell. But the Bible says that “He will save his people from their sin” (Mt. 1:21). Salvation means deliverance from sin. Paul expressed that in Romans 8:2 when he said, “The Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death”. He expressed this another time in explaining that we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, but we are saved (from sin) by His life (Rom. 5:10). This is the answer to the question, “Is the law a prohibition or a promise?” Oh praise God, Jesus has come to live in me. His Law is in my heart. This is my assurance; “Don't worry, you won't steal, you won't kill, you won't commit adultery, etc”. Jesus is living in me. God first placed His law in the Ark of the Covenant, then secondly in the heart of Jesus, and now in me. Oh hallelujah, Thank You, thank You, thank You, Jesus!

                                       bill