Wilderness Wonderings

Wilderness Wonderings

sin

Hope Within the Uncertainty

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In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah 6:1-7

It has been said that one should never meet their idols, for they never live up to the lofty expectations that we build up in our heads. As with any form of idolatry, the created will always pale in comparison to the creator, no matter how brightly the created shines. In times of great uncertainty, it is natural and human to look to our political leaders for guidance. Yet today, when we see our political divide continually fomented by the very officials we purport to idolize, we are sorely perplexed and often left disappointed.

Isaiah begins in a time of political upheaval as King Uzziah, the ruler of the kingdom of Judah for 52 years has died. 52 years of relative peace have come to a screeching halt. However, Uzziah is perhaps best know for his pride as he entered the temple and burned incense to the Lord, a prerogative reserved only for the priests (2 Chronicles 25:18). We would be struck leprosy as a result of his disobedience and forced to live in isolation until his death, with his son Jotham ruling in his stead. It is in the midst of this political chaos and uncertainty that Isaiah has his vision.

When we humbly come into the presence of God, two things become immediately apparent. First, we see Him for who He really is. He is holy, set apart. He is omnipotent. He is righteous. And He is alone is the ruler of creation, which testifies to His glory. Secondly, we see ourselves for who we really are. The illumination of His holiness exposes our lowliness. We are unclean. We are unworthy to stand in the presence of One so glorious. Not only do we see ourselves for who we really are, we see others around us in the same light and recognize that we are no better.

But the omnipotent ruler of creation is also a merciful judge. When we acknowledge our lowliness in the light of His holiness, we are compelled to confess our sin and He is faithful to forgive our sin. It is interesting that the apostle John evokes this image when he writes “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) It is interesting because rarely do we perceive forgiveness as justice, but John makes it clear that He is faithful (consistent) and just to forgive us when we humbly confess our disobedience to Him. He is just because mercy and grace always carry an element of being undeserved. We cannot earn mercy or grace. We simply receive it. We cannot make others earn grace or mercy, because then it is merit.

Grace and mercy are just because the punishment is still fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. It is only when individuals place their trust in the atoning sacrifice of Christ that we can experience true grace and mercy that is faithful and just. My favorite analogy of the cross is this simply picture: it is the intersection of the stake of God’s judgement – from His holiness to our lowliness – with His outstretched arms of mercy, grace, forgiveness, and love. Grace and mercy still require payment to balance the ledger. That payment was meted out in the blood of Jesus on a hillside outside of Jerusalem on Friday afternoon in 33 AD.

If you look into the genealogy of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 1, you will find an interesting list of characters. Adulterers, murderers, foreigners, prostitutes, and even unfaithful kings, including Uzziah and his son Jotham. The genealogy that Matthew records is to prove the fulfillment of the promise of the eternal King of kings in Jesus as prophesied in Genesis 49:10: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, not the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”

The Price We Earn

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“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

The dirty little secret that we all carry deep down inside of us is the simple fact that we are all sinners. We have all transgressed the law of the holy, omnipotent, and sovereign God. However, our pride leads us to rationalize our sin and minimize it in our vernacular with such phrases as “Nobody’s perfect.” Or “We all make mistakes.” The problem with that perspective is that when we rationalize our sin, we simple perpetuate the rational lies of sin.

I firmly believe that the fruit of the Garden of Eden was not an apple, but is in fact more akin to the pomegranate. While I don’t believe this specific fruit exists in the world anymore, the pomegranate itself is a very interesting fruit. It comes with a deceptively hard shell and has a crown on the top. Inside there a hundreds of smaller seeds, each subtly sweet, but with a hint a tartness.

Sin is much the same way – it is deceptive and feeds your sense of authority over your own life and actions. But most sin is mostly “small” things, subtle and attractive to the taste but with just enough tartness to make you recognize the sourness of the experience.

Sin is not simply a question of right or wrong. It is a matter of life and death. All the way back to the Garden of Eden, Adam knew the consequences of his sin before he even committed it. He was a creature made from dirt who defied God’s word because of the deceptive promise of the serpent that fed his pride and ego: “You will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The word “knowing” in this verse has multiple layers of meaning. First there is the intimate experience of knowing the difference between good and evil. This is the same word used to demonstrate the picture of Biblical intimacy between husband and wife – the intimate joining together in an eternal bond that redefines our existence as separate individuals. In this instance, Adam and Eve became intimately and eternally bonded to the consequences of their sin, and thus passed the curse down to their children and the rest of humanity.

The word also connotes an authoritative declaration. The word ya-da indicates that the person not only knows, but declares this knowledge publicly with authority. It is similar in scope to the declaration or decree of a king. The dictation of law by executive fiat. The self-declared definition of what is good and what is evil. This is the very definition of moral relativism as it exist today.

The fact of the matter is simply this: only God has the authority to define what is good and evil. He created this cosmos and by that reckoning, His holiness demands that authority. As a result of our transgression, we earn our consequences – both temporal in the here and now, and eternally in the hereafter. Our sin earned us our spiritual death and separation from our relationship with God. It also earned us our physical death and brought corruption into our existence by our own choice. We earned our consequences and we cannot escape it.

In fact, that is one of the biggest problems with the world today – the lack of understanding of consequences. As humans we act like our actions have no bearing on anyone else. We do not want to take responsibility for our “mistakes” or our sin. We simply want to experience grace, without anyone having to pay a price. But grace does come with a price, but it is a price that is paid by someone else so that you might be able to experience it.
The consequences still stand.

But we do not get to experience the gift of grace until we repent of our sin and accept His grace and forgiveness. He has taken the punishment for our sin upon Himself through His Son. We must recognize that He paid the price for our sin. He took the wages that we earned upon Himself in order that we might have the greater gift of grace. While the free gift of God is eternal life, it requires the acknowledgement that Jesus Christ is our Lord. There is no separating the two.

Sin is an act of our rebellion. Death and separation is the price we earn. Grace is an act of His sovereignty. Eternal life is the gift He bestows. And it’s life here and now as well as beyond this world.

Who Do You Serve?

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“What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” (Romans 6:15-19)

One of the great tragedies of modern evangelism is has been the heresy that in order to “be saved”, all you have to do is “ask Jesus into your heart”. The truth of the matter is that I’ve personally never understood what that terminology really meant. The implication of this heretical teaching is that you don’t need to change your life because Jesus loves you just the way you are. The reality is that Jesus loves you too much to keep you the way you are. Otherwise, His sacrifice on the cross was meaningless.

If the life you are leading is no different after you “experienced Christ”, then you haven’t experienced Him. No person in all of Scripture has ever encountered Jesus and not walked away changed. Those who chose to follow Him experienced a renewed sense of life. Those who chose to walk away experienced despondency and some even experienced rage to the point of plotting His murder. A genuine encounter with Jesus leaves you changed; the question is what kind of change do you experience?

Do you draw closer to Him, recognizing that the life you were once leading wasn’t good enough because only He is good enough? Or do you reject His call to repentance and continue to live your life the same degenerate life you were already living serving only yourself and your appetites? Are you a slave to your self and sin or are you a bondservant of the Most High God? There is no in between.

The cost of discipleship is the taking up of your cross daily to follow Him. This means identifying with His death, recognizing that your old life was not enough. It was empty and devoid of eternal meaning. It has been said that we are all born with a hole in our hearts that we try to fill with all manner of temporal stuff: money, possessions, people, sex, drugs, entertainment. Anything to dull the pain of that longing to be truly fulfilled.

Like the woman at the well, we float from one dalliance to the next seeking comfort in the arms of another, but never experiencing hope or peace along the way. But Jesus comes along and offers water from a well that never runs dry. Water that quenches the eternal thirst. Water that refreshes and brings life unimaginable. This is the compassion of Christ – He loves us so much that He welcomes us and desires to have a relationship with us, even though we do not deserve His mercy or compassion. But He loves us too much to leave us in our sin. He seeks to transform our lives and instill within our hearts hope. Hope that only comes when we choose to follow Him.

Repent – Refresh – Renew – Repeat

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“For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:10-14)

Servanthood is inevitable. You either serve your selfish appetites (sin) or you serve the Father (grace). There is no middle ground and door between the two is dying to self, in order that you might experience a renewed life. With new eyes to have a vision of eternity. With new ears to hear the beauty of creation. With new hands to touch the lives of others. With a new heart broken for the things that break the heart of God.

Jesus once said “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23). I’ve never been one that likes the modern use of the phrase “my cross to bear.” Its use implies that in the experience of life, we are expected to inevitably suffer on a daily basis for just existing. However, the reality is that Jesus is calling us to do three things:

  1. Set aside our worldly passions and self-centered ambitions
  2. Identify with His suffering with gratitude and humility daily
  3. Renew our vision towards His Kingdom

It begins with repentance. It begins with laying aside our selfish ways that have caused us to continually run headlong into the same wall over and over again, frustrating our efforts at life. Instead of living life blaming everyone around us for why things are going our way, perhaps the best place to look is inward and examine our own heart. As Paul wrote “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

Once we experience repentance, we need to remember to daily and humbly recognize and honor and submit to the sacrifice that Jesus paid on our behalf. Yes, the Scriptures do say that there will be suffering in this life. But all of us suffer – it’s the human experience. But suffering is a state of mind, more so than a physical reality. Sure, there is physical pain and mental emotion pain, but suffering is allowing that pain to paralyze you to the point that you begin to implode upon yourself. When we identify with His suffering, it doesn’t mean that we go about our renewed life hunched over and complaining all the time about how difficult the Christian life is. It is difficult, yes. But it is far more rewarding when we recognize that we do not have to work for or earn the Father’s favor. He paid the price to make us His own. That blood redemption is what makes all the difference.

Once we recognize and identify with the price that Jesus paid to redeem us, then we are called to renew our vision for His Kingdom. This means not allowing our lives to be characterized by sin, but by redemption. Not to allow our lives to be ruled by the failed kingdom of this humanistic existence, but to be ruled by the grace of our Abba Father who love us, comforts us, and empowers us to be His ambassadors in this world.

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20) Just as today, ambassadors between nations and kingdoms are sent to do 2 main missions: 1. represent the executive leader of the country they serve and 2. appeal for relational reconciliation between the members of the two kingdoms. Ambassadors are expected to represent the king, President, etc. in their behavior and actions and decisions in the execution of their duties. More importantly, we are called to reconcile the world to our Creator and draw all into a relationship with Him so that we might all experience the joy of His Kingdom.

That is what it means to no long let sin have “dominion over you” but to live “under grace.” It does not mean that we live wanton lives disregarding the dictates of God’s word. As with any Kingdom, there are rules for order and expectations of behavior in society. We cannot live a libertarian existence in the Kingdom of God and expect to experience the grace and joy that the Kingdom affords. If that is the case, then we are quite literally spitting in the face of Christ and saying that His sacrifice was worthless.

Repent your behaviors. Reset your attitudes. Renew your vision. It’s a daily habit. It’s a daily requirement. For the sake of the Kingdom.

It Is Finished

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“Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.” (Romans 6:8-9)

From death to life. The reversal of the natural order takes a supernatural effort that can only come through the grace of the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit for the glory of the Son, Jesus Christ. As a result, we can know with full assurance that because Jesus has died once for us all, He will never die again as He has defeated the very power of death.

There have been other stories of resurrection throughout Scripture. The first was the son of the widow of Zaraphath in 1 Kings 17. This was soon followed by Elisha’s raising of the Shunnamite woman’s son in 2 Kings 4 and the mugging victim that was killed and thrown into Elisha’s grave in 2 Kings 13. But these three isolated events are the only Old Testament mentions of bodily resurrection. In the New Testament, there are 7 other incidents:

  1. The widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7)
  2. Jarius’ Daughter (Mark 5)
  3. Lazarus (John 11)
  4. Many deceased “saints” or believers at the moment of Jesus’ death on Calvary (Matthew 27)
  5. Jesus Himself (all four gospels and even testified to by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15)
  6. Tabitha, or Dorcas, who died and Peter raised up. (Acts 9:40)
  7. Eutychus – who fell out of a window and was raised by Paul (Acts 20:9-10)

What is common to all of these resurrection events except for one is that the person who was resurrected later died again, this time forever. There has been suggestions made that the multitude that was raised at Jesus’ death have not died but are possibly still alive in the world today, yet in secret. I’m not sure I believe this one. I’m more inclined to believe that God took them up in a manner similar to the translation of Enoch.

But Jesus died, and was resurrected only to never die again. Forty days after His resurrection, He ascended to the Father so that ten days later on Pentacost, the Holy Spirit would descend and empower the apostles to spread the gospel to every corner of the globe. In most of the cases of resurrection, the scene is coupled with the order for the witnesses to serve the one who was resurrected.

For the widow’s son and the Shunammite woman’s son, the mothers were told to provide food to the raised child. When Jesus raised Jarius daughter, He ordered her to be fed. When Lazarus was raised, Jesus ordered the onlookers to unbind Him. As there was a group in the home with Peter as he raised Tabitha, it is reasonable to assume that he had them help her regain her strength. Paul fed Eutychus after raising Him up.

In each case, there is something to be said for being a servant to those who have freshly experienced new life. It is for this reason, that we are charged to “tend the lambs” and strengthen new believers in their faith so that they can learn to live the example of Christ so that “death no longer has dominion” over them. Yes, we will all die one day. It is the natural order of things and the natural consequence of our sinful nature.

But the supernatural consequence of a newly resurrected life in Christ is an existence that is no longer marked by death, but one destined for life eternal. It is the great spiritual paradox of our faith – that we must die to ourselves so that we might have life in Him. Only then in the end, can we echo the cry of Jesus from the cross: “It is finished!”

They mocked Him
Beat Him
Stripped Him bare
Paraded Him through the streets
Without a worldly care
His disciples cowered
As they denied His very name
Blood stained streets
Would bear His shame

They lifted Him up for the world to see
An example of what happens when you defy
The cultural and religious
The politically ambitious
That reign on high
As He cried “TETELESTAI!”

“It is FINISHED!”
The price was paid!
The debt redeemed!
As His blood was spilt
In a sight unseen

“It is FINISHED!” He cried
As the veil was torn
As He bowed His head
As He bore our scorn

“It is FINISHED!” He cried
As He hung there and died
Soldiers gambling for His clothes
What they truly did they did not know
Except His mother
As she slowly turned to go

“It is finished” she whispered
Through her tears
Remembering her baby’s years
How He grew to be a fearsome man
A faithful man
A loving man
A man for all time
Living Truth sublime

“It is finished” John breathlessly said
After running to the garden tomb
Rejoicing as he glanced
Into the empty happenstance
Seeing the King of grace
Was no longer in this fearful place

“It is finished” I will say
When I end this final race
And I look upon my Savior’s face
When His blood red wine I finally taste
And His Life bread upon my plate
I will feast with Him in glory
As we laugh and tell the story
Of how life is but a vapor
But grace brings life that is greater
And we will all stand together as one
For the glory of the Son
Who gave His blood so He could win us
And we could all cry together
“IT IS FINISHED!”

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