Branch of Righteousness

"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, " That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.”
Jeremiah 23:5

Branches are supposed to produce fruit, but crab apples are a big disappointment for someone longing for a Red Delicious. However, horticulture has solved this problem with various grafting techniques. Hearty crab apple root stock is used to support various branches from commercial apple varieties that by themselves don't flourish well in certain environments. The top and bottom of the tree have different DNA, but the quality of fruit is what people care about. 

David was a man after God's own heart who did His will (1 Samuel 13:14), so God promised that the Messiah would come through him. Yet, most of the descendants that came from the "root of David" missed the mark concerning holiness. Even David who wrote beautiful psalms of praise to God, tuned out to be a murderer, deceiver, and adulterer.

The anointed of the Lord not only had to be a descendant of David but a Branch of Righteousness that would bring back holiness to the Davidic dynasty. Since Mary, the mother of Christ, was of David's bloodline, connection with the root was established. Being conceived of the Holy Spirit without a human father, the Righteous branch was grafted into the character of the Savior. All the promises given to both the Jewish people and to the Christian church have certainly been fulfilled.  The Lord Jesus is not only David's kin, He is God's Branch of Righteousness.

The Lord from Heaven

The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:47

Adam was a home-grown hero. First man on planet Earth and was even made of earth. The Father of every human being was one for the record books, but his failures were also world-class and caused every human being after him to grow up to be a loser. 

God's Man project seemed to be going very poorly. After only ten generations, the Creator wiped the slate clean and began with a new forefather to be the root of mankind's new family tree. People after Noah were almost as bad and human history was once again filled with sin, rebellion, and violence. it was time to start over with a new business plan. Human DNA, whether it traced back to Adam or even righteous Noah, wasn't equipping people to return mankind back to fellowship with God. The new model, the Second Man, would have a definite spiritual element to Him. He wouldn't be from around here or made with local materials. He would be the Lord from heaven.

The typical stereotype of someone that is born in raised in Texas is that she or he boasts of the greatness of his or her state. If another person talks about something very nice from where they're from, the Texan interrupts to say whatever it is is bigger and better in Texas. Actually, this is not a stereotype: they are all obnoxious like that.

Anyhow,  to be from heaven, how neat is that? The Lord Jesus never made a big deal about his ethnic origin, but rather emphasized His humanity, choosing to call Himself the Son of Man. But being both God and Man, He was able to take Man's sinfulness on Himself and give mankind His righteousness. Those who came to Christ are conformed to the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29), adopted into the family of God (Ephesians 1:5), and are given citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Jesus is able to do this because, after all, He is the Lord from heaven.

He Whom God Raised Up

...but He whom God raised up saw no corruption.
Acts 13:37

It's not hard to understand that this verse refers to the Lord Jesus; especially if it is read in context as part of a sermon that the Apostle Paul gave at Antioch in Pisidia. That having been said, those who purposely choose to misunderstand something can and will do so, hoping that they can confuse others at the same time.

False religious witnesses have been known to twist this verse to teach what it does not say. They argue, “If Jesus is 'He whom God raised up,' then He can't be God, because the verse shows that they are different.” Actually, the verse doesn't show that they are different and here is the reason why.

The One, True God of the Universe can reveal Himself in three distinct ways as the Father, the Son, and as the Spirit. The Bible calls each God and each had part in Christ's resurrection.

God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4). “Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead)” (Galatians 1:1).

God the Holy Spirit resurrected the Savior. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

Christ raised Himself up from the grave. Jesus said “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again..." (John 10:17,18). “Jesus answered and said to them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up'” (John 2:19).

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit brought back Jesus from the dead. Confusing? It shouldn't be. Christ is He whom God raised up.

Propitiation for Our Sins

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
1 John 2:2*

Propitiation – now that's a mouthful. The term is used four times in scripture and yet probably not one in 100 Christians can give an understandable definition of the word. I've heard preachers try to explain what it means for over forty years and have never gotten a definition that I like; they're either too simplified or too complicated.

As a Bible teacher, I pride myself in making the difficult easy to understand. I have for years sought to explain this word, but haven't found an answer that is short and to-the-point. However, I can make it simple.

In the Old Testament, there were many different kinds of sacrifices that were used for different reasons and at different times. Once a year a ram was sanctified on the Day of Atonement for the sins of the nation of Israel. The High Priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice of the mercy seat which was on top of the ark of the covenant; this atoned for the peoples sin for one year.

Actually the term “mercy seat” is more a description of what the cover of the ark was, and not a true translation of the Hebrew word ("Kapporet"). A literal translation would be “propitiatory” or “place of propitiation.” Therefore, the blood of the ram was the propitiation and the mercy seat (propitiatory) was where it was placed.

When talking sacrifice, the propitiation is where the rubber meets the road; it's what makes a sacrifice work; it's what actually takes away the sin. In the case of Christ's sacrifice at Calvary for the sins of the Human race, the cross was the propitiatory and the Savior Himself the propitiation. It's not just the blood of Christ that saves us, but that He gave all of Himself without reserve to become the Propitiation for our sins. 

see also: Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 4:10.

Lawgiver

There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? 
James 4:12

At first glance, I’d put this name of Christ in my folder of “whoda thunk it” titles. After all, we’re now under grace and not under the law. This sounds more like the God of the Old Testament and not like Jesus Christ of the New.

At second glance, it’s my theology that needs reworking and not the classification of this title. There are not two Gods, one for each Testament. We don’t even have three which is how some people understand the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. There is one God who always existed and never changes. Anything different from that is just wrong.

Lawgiver is one name given to the LORD in the Old Testament: “For the LORD is our Judge, The LORD is our Lawgiver, The LORD is our King; He will save us” (Isaiah 33:22). The verse also mentions the LORD as Judge, King, and the one who saves. All these belong to Christ.

It’s true that grace is emphasized in the New Testament, but grace was shown all the through the Old Testament. (e,g. in Genesis 6:8 when it says “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD”).

Jesus clearly taught that He didn’t come to undo the law, but fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). The Savior never sinned; He kept the whole law and taught His disciples to keep the law and not to sin (John 8:11). If we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) we’ll naturally want to do what is right, because God’s laws are written on our hearts and minds (Hebrews 8:10).

It’s dangerous to think that God’s laws are ever optional. Christ Jesus died on the cross to deliver us from the curse of the law, but He wrote every law in the Book. In the New Testament, He gave us New Commandments (John 13:34) and we’re told to fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). We’re not saved from the law; we’re saved from sin by the Lawgiver Himself.

Glorious in Holiness

"Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?”
Exodus 15:11

After the children of Israel witnessed the total destruction of the Egyptian army, Moses led them in a song of triumph: “" I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!” Excitement and emotion filled the multitude of escaped slaves because they saw the power and glory of God.

The song continues for 18 verses in Exodus chapter 15. At verse 11, two questions are asked: “Who is like You among the gods?” and “Who is like You, glorious in holiness?”

To answer the first, Egypt had plenty of gods, even “puddy” cats were worshiped, but none of them could save the Egyptian army from the power of the living God. Nothing compares to the incomparable Creator of the universe.

The second question concerns God’s glorious holiness. Again, no comparison. Glory is a hard concept to define, but it is pretty easy to see the absence of it. Idols have no power, no splender, no supernatural qualities, and no glory. God’s glory was not just demonstrated in His power to defeat the ancient world’s number 1 superpower, He showed it in His holiness. He not only neutralized the bad guys, He obliterated them.

Christ is in all things the outshining of God’s glory. He was in the burning bush when Moses was commissioned and He was there when the waters of the Red Sea parted. John saw the glorified Lord as he was exiled on the Isle of Patmos and was overpowered by the vision. Certainly the Son of God is glorious in compassion, grace, might, and authority. But above all these, we must remember that He is Glorious in Holiness.

The Door

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
John 10:9

Doors come in many shapes and sizes. It can be as simple as a slab of ice that covers the opening to an igloo or an inlaid ivory and gold masterpiece before the throne room of the king. When all is said and done, a door is just a device that allows easy access to a place that was designed to keep other things out.

Some doors come equipped with locks or even armed guards which determine who can go in and who stays out. A bank would be worthless if everyone could go in and out anytime they wanted. 

         Heaven has a Door. His name is Jesus. In Luke 16, Christ told a story about a very rich man (unlisted name) and a very, very poor man named Lazarus. Lazarus was a believer and the other guy wasn’t. In the end, they both died. After his fancy funeral, the soul of the billionaire was cast into Hades. Lazarus died full of sores on some side street; no one paid much attention. That is, no one except for Jesus.

When his body was cold, the angels of God carried his soul to paradise and he was cradled in Abraham’s bosom. When the rich man saw that, he wanted to go there too – Not Allowed! Then, he wanted that lowly Lazarus to bring him some water – Not Allowed!

People don’t get to heaven just because they want in or even because they think they deserve it. The bottom line of the story is explained in the chorus of the African-American spiritual, “Rock my Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.”

          So high, you can’t get over it
                   So wide, you can’t get around it
                   So low, you can’t get under it
                   You gotta go through the Door

Joint Heir

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs --- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
Romans 8:16,17

          OK, if you want to be technical, this title refers to Christians and not the Lord. However, if we are joint heirs with Jesus, then He is a joint heir with us. The title is a legitimate name of Christ.

          The idea is that the children of God will share with Christ everything that is God’s. Now, if Jesus got 50% of the total and the rest was divided between every believer; calculated out, that means that even the lowliest saint would at least get a galaxy or two.

          That sounds great at first, but stars and planets would have no worth if everyone had them. The title conveys that the Master shares with us things that are of far greater value. He gives us His glory, His power, and His position before God.

As Joint Heir, Christ shares with me His glory: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

As Joint Heir, the Lord shares His power: “So Jesus said to them, "… if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20).”Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” (John 14:12).

As Joint Heir, Christ shares with us His position with God: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!…” (1 John 3:1). “…by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). 

Only Begotten Son

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

Only Begotten Son – one of the better known titles of Christ because it is used in the most memorized verse of scripture. Actually, it occurs only four times in the Bible and was penned only by the Apostle John. Although the phrase is very familiar, what does it really mean?

Early in church history, there were heretics who reasoned that if Christ was begotten, he had a beginning, so He is something less than then the eternal God. There are plenty of people who believe this today, and they’re still wrong.

To try to correct this, the Nicene creed, written in AD 325, tries to define “begotten.” This early doctrinal statement declares Christ to be “eternally begotten of the Father" and “true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.” This refuted the heresy that Jesus was merely a “God Jr.” or “God, the Sequel” but rather, Christ was the eternal God joined in a human body.

The word in the Greek for only begotten is “monogenes” which can also be translated “sole” or “one and only.” The idea here is that Christ is unique. He wasn’t one of many sons of God, but the one and only Son. The Word becoming flesh, God manifested in flesh, and Only Begotten Son are three ways of saying what is this unique miracle of incarnation.

False teachers today do what they have been doing throughout the centuries. They redefine terms, plug a new phrase back into the verse, and try to make it say what it doesn’t. John 3:16 means exactly what we thought it did the first time we heard it and believed it. God loves us and gives us eternal life through His Only Begotten Son.

*see also John 1:18, 3:18; 1 John 4:9

Him who Endured such Hostility

For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

Hebrews 12:3

          I don’t like hassles, arguments or confrontations, so I avoid them whenever possible. I even avoid potential problems, so I’ll send my wife in to get directions at the gas station or hand her the phone when it’s a telemarketer. Angry encounters are worse, because when I’m yelled at, I usually yell back, so I lose the argument before it’s begun.

         

Now, compare that with the Lord Jesus. He left the grandeur of heaven where He was worshiped, to come to a world filled with injustice, violence, and greed. He was “despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). The Lord refused to speak in court when he was falsely accused, so His adversaries continued to curse, insult, and malign Him who endured such Hostility.

         

This name of Christ reveals the great depth of character of the Savior. He didn’t put up with the verbal abuse of sin because he had to; Jesus did it because He wanted to.  That’s a big difference. Homeless people walk places not because they want to, but because they have no choice. The Son of God wasn’t a victim of the evil in this world, but he chose to conquer wickedness by taking it on Himself.

         

The writer to the Hebrews explains why Christ put up with such antagonism from His own creation. He did it for believers, for us. We all know how weary and discouraged we get when we become the focus of loathing and disrespect. Jesus conquered all that by rising above it. We can also overcome the insults, if we can just take the time to reflect on Him who endured such hostility from sinners.

The Man who is My Companion

"Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion," says the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones.”

Zechariah 13:7

          The night that the Lord Jesus was betrayed, He quoted the verse above on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:31). The urgent message that He needed to tell them was that within hours, their Shepherd would be taken and all of them would be scattered. Obviously, this was the fulfillment of a Messianic prophesy, but hidden in this Old Testament verse is another title of Christ: “the Man who is My Companion.”

         

In context, the Shepherd was also a companion of the Lord of Hosts. Other descriptive titles of Christ are much better known such as Son of God, Servant of God, and Glory of God. These names emphasize the Lord’s deity and are a stark contrast to simply being a companion. There is more to this designation than initially meets the eye. The emphasis here is the humanity of Christ. The Savior’s equality with God (Philippians 2:6) is unquestionable. He is the God/Man who came to restore fellowship with His estranged creation. He reached out to multitudes, but He established a true bond of friendship with twelve special men. Jesus was more than just a rabbi, teacher, and shepherd to his disciples, He was a companion.

          Christ not only taught the apostles things about God, He demonstrated a relationship with God that was hard to even imagine. Clearly, Jesus was the companion of the Almighty and both the Father and the Son delighted in the relationship. The Lord would be alone for hours communing with God and the disciples also experienced the reality of this relationship.

          When Christ died on the cross, He reconciled the world to Himself. He restored the broken communications and communion with God, He allowed former enemies to become friends.

          The bottom line is this; the Lord Jesus Christ is not only my God and Savior, He is the Man who is my companion.

Unchanging Lord

" For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”
Malachi 3:1

When people list the attributes of God, Immutability is usually there. That is the stuffy, theological word meaning “unchanging.” God’s character never changes and that’s a good thing. People on the other hand can become happy or sad depending on the time of day, room temperature, and degree of hunger. Mood swings can happen in an instant depending on circumstances, so immutability is not a human quality.

The book of Hebrews describes the Lord Jesus: “Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail"  (Hebrews 1:12). As our great Unchanging Lord, He can be counted on to always be holy, loving, approachable, understanding, forgiving, patient, available, comforting, and real. The exciting thing about this is that He’ll be the same way tomorrow and next year. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). 

In the Muslim religion, Allah can change his mind and act differently with different people because he is "almighty" and answerable to no one. Although at times some Christians feel God has become distant and unresponsive, it is the human heart that changes and not the Unchanging Lord.

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;

The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.

When other helpers fail and comforts flee,

Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;

Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;

Change and decay in all around I see;

O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847)

Firstborn over all Creation

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Colossians 1:15

Long, long ago… there wasn’t even a galaxy far, far away. There was nothing as we know it now, not a planet, not a star, not a constellation. But there was God and He had His own separate dimension filled with Living Creatures, Cherubim, Seraphim, and a whole host of angels. There was a celestial city where the throne of God was placed, but nothing more than that has been revealed.

At the starting point of time, God invented visible light and probably the whole electromagnetic spectrum with radio waves, X-waves, and gamma radiation. Our universe then officially started. The Creator went on to make solids, liquids, and gases and formed them in a myriad of different ways, making Stars, galaxies, and nebuli. He must have had fun making whole new worlds, because He made so many.

The Almighty is not matter or energy, but He played with them. Often when He approached His creation on earth He would dress Himself in light and people would refer to that as the Glory of the LORD. After designing and constructing the male human prototype and his female companion model, God put on physical form, so He could walk and talk with mankind.

God was never created and Jesus was over all Creation long before He was born in Bethlehem. The title Firstborn refers to chronological order. By Christ “all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:16-17). In short, the Son of God is the Firstborn of all Creation.

False witnesses try to confuse Christians by saying that this title means that Jesus was the first creature God created. Nothing can be further from the truth, because the Lord Jesus is God. His deity is obvious when the whole section is read in context (Colossians 1:9-18) and the conclusion is “that in all things He may have the preeminence.”

Kinsman Redeemer/Deliverer – Gâʼal

'Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger's family, after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him.

Leviticus 25:47-48

...knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
1 Peter 1:18-19

This important name of Christ is very clear and observable in the original Hebrew, but is a little hard to grasp using only English translations of the Bible. Although it takes some effort to fully understand this title, it is well worth it.

In the oriental law of kinship, the gâʼal (literally “next of kin”) was required to buy back a relative's lost property, marry his widow, rescue him from harm, or avenge his death. Abraham acted as Gâʼal when he rescued Lot and his family from the four mighty kings of the East with only 318 trained servants; and Boaz was Ruth's gâʼal, marrying her and restoring her land.

The role of the kinsman redeemer is well-established in the Hebrew scripture with the word gâʼal appearing 71 times. We miss this in English because there is no direct translation. Gâʼal sometimes is translated as redeem, redeemer, Kinsman, relative, close relative, deliverer and even six times as “avenger of blood.”

As a “friend that sticks closer than a brother,” the Lord Jesus has become our gâʼal. He is our Deliverer from the powers of the devil, sin, and death and  restores us to the close relationship with the God that Adam lost in the Garden of Eden. He redeemed us from the slavery and self-destruction of sin and adopted us into the family of God. As Kinsman-Redeemer, Christ sought us, bought us, and fought for us. He is our Gâʼal. 

Eternally Blessed God

...of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

Romans 9:5

The Apostle Paul was hurting when he wrote this section of Romans. He realized that the Jewish people were eternally lost because they had rejected their Messiah and he was grieving the loss. They could be saved if they repented of their denial of Christ and embraced Him as Lord, but for a huge number of those who heard the gospel, it wasn’t happening. How much more serious could it be? The man they had crucified was God incarnate, the Eternally Blessed God.

Herein lies the great irony. The Eternal God came to this world to be able to bless Adam’s sinful race with everlasting life. However, to reject this gift of the Savior’s sacrifice outright is to be cursed forever with separation from God. The saddest part of all is that many of the early Jewish leaders, who handed the Savior over for torture and death, did so thinking they were doing the work of God.

            As Paul preached the gospel in the pagan world, it wasn’t usually the polytheists who shouted him down, but the expatriate Jewish leaders living in the Greek speaking world. Again, they convinced themselves of their own righteousness and assumed they were doing the will of God. They were tragically wrong and sadly deceived, because they were following the direction of the god of this world and not the Eternally Blessed God.

Just like Paul, Christians should feel sad and burdened that the lost are going to hell, but they should be careful not to think it is not their fault that they made bad choices. Just like ol’ Pharaoh and Judas Iscariot, Christ rejecters don’t flip a coin and pick wrong. They go through life, refusing to acknowledge the sovereignty of God and respond repeatedly to their sinful desires even though they generally reap bad consequences from these choices. They have purposefully and methodically believed the "father of lies" throughout their lives and drown out the still small voice of God.

People are saved by agreeing with the Eternally Blessed God that they are hopeless sinners rather than trying to explain or justify their actions.

Beginning of the Creation of God

"And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:
Revelation 3:14

  Titles that are misunderstood, misinterpreted, or misrepresented certainly miss the mark regarding the truth that they were intended to convey. Such is the case in the verse above which is sometimes used by false witnesses to teach that Christ is a created being. Nothing could be further from the truth.

God created atoms and energy. He thought them up. They never existed before, but He brought them into existence. He owns the physical universe. He has the patent.

God is spirit. He is before the material world and superior to it. Although God can’t be seen, He produced everything that can be, evidently using materials that are also invisible. Our finite minds have real trouble understanding this. For that reason, God manifested Himself in a physical form to reveal Himself to His creation. He is Christ, “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15).

When the Lord presented His credentials to the wishy-washy church in Laodicea, He called Himself the Beginning of the creation of God. He was trying to impress them with who He was. Jesus is before all things created; He is their Head. The NIV translates this name of Christ as “the ruler of God’s creation.”

It was true that spiritually, the Laodecians weren’t on fire for the Lord, but they weren’t stone cold either. The same can be said about many churches today. And that’s a big problem. How can anyone remain mediocre to the one who is in charge of the whole universe? The fear of God should grip every believer when they realize that one day they’ll have to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, the Beginning of the creation of God.

Him Who is Able to Present you Faultless

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
Jude 24

 This verse makes me smile. Jesus is going to present me faultless before God and the Lord knows that I have many faults. It’s been said, “to err is human”, but I guess I am more human than most. That doesn’t really matter, because some way and some how Christ will conform me to His image (Romans 8:29).

Salvation is complicated. It isn’t a matter of simply issuing a “Get out of Hell Free” card to someone once they say a sinner’s prayer. A sinner is not just saved from the punishment of sin; he’s saved from sin itself. The Savior starts transforming him into a new creation; old things are passed away and everything becomes new (2 Corinthians 5:17). A soul’s human nature gets washed, sanctified, and justified (1 Corinthians 6:11). Believers are chosen by God to be adopted into His family and accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:4-6). The job isn’t easy, but in the end, Christ is able to present them faultless before the throne of grace.

This title applies to the Lord in His role as Intercessor as He pleads for and purifies the saints: “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

“That He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27).

The Lord Jesus has been working in my life for over fifty years and has polished out a lot of rough edges. I know I’m not Christ-like yet, but I’m getting there. Please have patience with me, because I’m being re-created by Him who is able to present me faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.

  

God Full of Compassion

But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
Psalm 86:15*

King David viewed the Lord as the strong and powerful God who taught his “hands to make war” (Psalm 18:34), but He was also the God full of compassion who forgave him of his terrible sins. David certainly feared the Lord, but even when he faced the wrath and judgment of God for his willful transgressions, the king knew that God would not utterly abandon him if he cried out to the God who was filled with compassion and mercy.

This God that David knew was almost totally forgotten by the children of Israel at the time Jeremiah began to preach. The prophet begged the nation of Judah to humble themselves and repent so that God could hold back his wrath and show them mercy. They refused and the promised judgment did fall and the nation was destroyed. Only a small number escaped because they were taken captive. God is compassionate and yet He judges sin. This dual nature is hard to understand, so Christ was sent to be a clear and understandable object lesson.

Jesus saw the poor and downtrodden and reached out to  them. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and raised the dead. But the problem is that people still get hungry the next day or fall victims to any one of the thousands of diseases on another day. Even the resurrected just live to die again. Since Christ as truly God full of compassion, He dealt with the core issue, the sin problem.

People need to totally get out of this sin-cursed world and into the presence of holiness, but that is not going to happen if people take their sin with them. For that reason, Christ took on Himself the sin of the world so that the sons and daughters of God could take on His righteousness. Now, when believers finally leave this planet, they can go to a place where they will never again be hungry, get sick, or face death, and they will live forever with their God full of compassion.

*see also Psalm 111:4

Peace

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation

Ephesians 2:14

Jewish people have a real thing about peace. In Hebrew it is called “Shalom.” That’s the way they say hello and goodbye and it’s how they give a blessing. It’s interesting that the highest concentration of these peace conscious individuals is in Israel, where rocket attacks or bombing can occur at almost any moment.

The Savior came to bring them peace. He has reconciled both Jews and Gentiles by breaking down the old wall of separation between them. He continues to knock down barriers and “to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:20).

Christ didn’t come to this troubled world to bring us peace; He is our Peace. Sorrows, frustrations, trials, and tribulations melt away when the Lord Jesus is in our hearts and we’re trusting Him. What happens and how it happens is rather difficult to explain; I suppose that’s why the Apostle Paul explained it as “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

To the world, peace is the absence of conflict. But what Christ has brings peace into a conflict and overcomes it. While Christ hung on the cross, even before He died, He rested in peace. This same unexplainable peace has been given to the Lord’s followers:  “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

Peace is who the Lord Jesus Christ is. When life gets really overwhelming and the stress and anxiety begins to become unbearable, flee to the arms of the Savior, cast all your burdens on Him, “and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).

  

Lord and God

And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"

John 20:28

“Doubting Thomas” earned His nickname honestly. He asked the Lord serious questions when he didn’t know the answers (John 14:5) and He followed Christ sincerely believing that he was the Jewish Messiah. But when he saw his Master crucified, and he was overcome with grief, he lost it; he lost his faith. Nothing made sense to him anymore. All his assumptions and expectations were dashed to pieces and he wanted to be alone.

The resurrected Lord only appeared to believers. He appeared to the women at the tomb, the ten apostles in the upper room and two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He didn’t show Himself to Pontius Pilate, the Roman soldiers that crucified Him or the Sanhedrin. They had rejected the Lord of Glory and they would not be forced to believe.

Jesus, however, made one exception. He appeared to Thomas. A week after Christ first appeared to the apostles, Thomas was in the upper room and he really wanted to believe but couldn’t. As soon as he saw the risen Savior he fell on his knees and cried out “My Lord and my God!”

Over the years, I’ve had many young people tell me they have “given up” their faith. Actually, just like true salvation can’t be lost, true faith can’t be given up; but in any case, these doubters now want to shed their Christian beliefs. Many have been active in their youth groups or counselors in Bible camp but they somehow become disillusioned by some aspect of Christianity.

My heart really grieves for these spiritual drop-outs and I pray for them continually. The bottom line is that Christ never became their Lord and God. My prayer for them is that they can be honest with themselves and sincerely desire to make their faith real. At that point, Christ will make Himself known to them in such an unmistakable way that they drop to their knees and confess Jesus as their Lord and their God.