His Joy, Our Joy

John 15:11 (NASB), "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full."

John 17:13 (NASB), "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves."

Hebrews 12:2 (NASB), "Fixing our eyes on Jesus...who for the joy set before Him endured the cross..."

One would be a bit pressed to find a concept more desired and sought, and less experienced and understood, than the virtue of joy. Joy is that marvelous possession which does not come by money or achievement. It cannot be bought or earned or artificially induced. Although one may feel that he has caught joy, often he does so only to discover what he has grasped is a fleeting fancy.

Equally tragic is the fact that many Christians haven't the slightest clue of the importance and central significance of joy in their faith experience with Christ. Joy goes with everything in the Christian life: obedience, worship, service, study, prayer, fellowship, ministry, and theology. The mature Christian realizes the painful necessity of walking with God through this vale of earthly tears because of the real nature of sinful reality. But it is only the few who actually rise to see through the clouds of despair the true vision of the color of joy in the glory of God made understandable through the suffering of this life.

Jesus made the issue clear and certain. He gives to His own His joy, and His joy cannot be less than full. This joy, the promised joy of the gospel of Jesus Christ applied with power and grace to the inner life of the true Christian, is the joy that enabled Jesus to EDURE THE CROSS. Therefore, I must say that the joy of which He speaks must be, along with all the divine virtues and grace that belong to the Lord, the greatest power on earth. It must be brother to the virtue of love. But what is Christian joy?

1. Christian joy is that discovery made in the heart of the believer whose soul has been transformed by divine grace that indicates Jesus is more precious and beautiful than the believer could ever conceive, and He belongs to the Christian. ("and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory." 1 Peter 1:8 NASB) Jesus is not the means to something else, but Jesus is Himself the gift, and in Him we have all. No wonder the New Testament describes the inheritance of the believer as the Lord Himself. What else could we want that is not in Him? What joy to know that we know Him as He indeed knows us, that we have Him as He has us, and we belong to Him as He belongs to us. It is oneness that is complete in its love and joy.

2. Christian joy is that assurance that all that matters most is most secure in His promise to us. Nothing can separate us from Him, and nothing can separate us from His love. There is not the slightest possibility of failing to experience and enjoy God's glory in heaven, for the child of God. Christian friend, you are as sure of heaven and the glory of God in which you will be an integral part, as if you were there already! This is not a reflection upon you, but it is a reflection upon the awesome power, love, and grace of God who chose you before the foundation of the world and who has accomplished His regenerative power in your heart. He who began His work in you will finish what He intended, planned and began in your life. And nothing, absolutely nothing, can stop God from accomplishing His holy will in your life. It was His will to save you, and God will not lose what He intended to save!

3. Christian joy is also hope, anchored in the soul by virtue of truth and the assurance by the Holy Spirit, that each and every tomorrow in the journey with God adds a layer of glorious perspective in our walk with Him. And each step in this journey only takes us closer and deeper and wider into the greatest and most magnificent experience a human could ever know - to join in God's eternal glory with Him. Christian brother and sister, one day you and I will know what even Adam in all of his innocence and ethereal experience could never have known - the joy of being found and saved and made like Christ, even though once we were utter rebels against God. Our failures will only cause the greatness of God to shine all the more. Our sin will only add luster to the glory of God's saving power and grace. Our weakness will only add more melody to the angelic song of God's glory in saving sinners. Sin, the worst act the universe will ever witness, is by God's power and grace, the means by which God's glory shines with an eternal beauty.

We have joy, everlasting joy, deep and abiding joy, joy beyond all human comprehension and imagination, JOY, JOY, JOY! May we rejoice this day in the joy of Christ made full in us.

Jesus Wept

In preparation for my Sunday sermon this week, a sermon from Isaiah 53:3 on the sorrows and suffering of Jesus on the cross, I had opportunity to reflect again on John 11:35. The significance of this verse is not that it is commonly conceived as the shortest verse in the English Bible, but the significance of the verse is what the verse truly, deeply, and meaningfully says about God. Jesus was, and is, God. Here at the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus (God) is weeping. Twice more in this chapter (verses 33 and 38) the Bible speaks of how much Jesus was moved with emotion and compassion in the presence of death and grief. Jesus is not "putting on a show" for the crowd; Jesus is really and genuinely overwhelmed with emotion.

The thing that stuns me about this is that it is God who is weeping. He is standing at the tomb of a dear friend, a friend whom He will momentarily resuscitate from death, and He is weeping! Why? Is He weeping because He is bringing Lazarus back to a life of pain, sickness, and death? Is He weeping for Martha and Mary who grieve horribly over their brother's death? Is He weeping for His people who suffer, struggle, endure all sorts of sorrow and disappointments, sickness and ultimately physical death? Is He weeping for the world? Luke describes in his Gospel Account (Luke 19:41) that as Jesus approached Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, "He saw the city and wept over it."

God is not insensitive to the needs, pain, and heartache of His dear people. Isaiah 63:9 (NCV) says, "When they suffered, He (God) suffered also." Hebrews 4:15 explains to us that Jesus, as our High Priest, sympathizes with us in our weaknesses, faults, and failures. And added to this, Paul argues and teaches in Philippians 3:10 that Christians find in common suffering with Jesus (Note also Paul's reference in Colossians 1:24 to his filling up, in his suffering for the church, the suffering of Jesus.) a sweet and intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ. There is no more sweeter or more soul-satisfying fellowship with Jesus than the fellowship we have with Him in suffering.

In the film, Gods and Generals, at a particular point in the War Between the States, the Confederate General Stonewall Jackson has developed a friendship with a family whose home is near the place where the army is bivouacked. General Jackson enjoys the company of a young girl in the family. In the midst of a brutal and tragic war, General Jackson finds an innocent and precious respite in the fellowship of this little girl. But she becomes ill and ultimately dies of scarlet fever. When the report of her death is brought to General Jackson, he is immediately and obviously overwhelmed with grief at the news. He quickly and decisively walks away from the tent and his staff where he sits on a stump of a tree and begins to weep. He weeps convulsively and uncontrollably. His staff watches in stunned silence. General Jackson has never shown emotion before now; he has never cried over fallen comrades and friends in the war. Finally, one speaks voicing the confusion that many of them were feeling, "He has never wept before. When all of his VMI students were killed, when his friends and fellow soldiers were killed in battle, he never wept for them." But a wise man standing nearby says, "No, you are wrong. I believe he is weeping for them all."

When you think of Jesus weeping at Lazarus' tomb remember that He weeps for you as well. He is weeping for you when you hurt, when you are scared and uncertain, when you sin and fail and your heart is broken with conviction and guilt, and when you stand before death, He is weeping, He is weeping for you. HE IS WEEPING FOR US ALL."

The Suffering and the Glory

OK, I admit it - I'm addicted to Romans chapter 8! I love to preach the Bible, all parts of the Bible, but I especially love to preach from Romans 8. By the way, I am preaching through Romans 8 in my sermons at church as I work my way through the Book of Romans. Romans 8:28 was the source of comfort my mother gave to me repeatedly as I was growing up. She loved this verse so much, and she applied it is such a way in her life, that when she died we etched this passage in her headstone at the cemetery. Romans 8 just seems to house within it all of the great and comforting truths that extend to the extremity of life. I cannot fathom a circumstance in life for which Romans 8 would not speak or could not give comfort.

I was reading Romans 8:18 and pondering afresh the pervasive problem of human suffering in light of the majestic glory of Christ. The glory of Christ in its existential reality and eschatological promise form the expansive refuge of hope for the Christian. With weakened heart and trembling hands I take this word from the Word and press it to my aching soul. Here in God's Word I see the following:

1. Suffering, though in contradiction to God's un-fallen creation, is not outside of the realm of normalcy in terms of living in a world in rebellion against God.

2. Suffering is the part of the experiential fabric of Christian's life as he or she seeks to live out in this world authentic faith in and love for Jesus Christ.

3. There is a sense in which suffering Christians continue to share in the sufferings of Christ (see Colossians 1:24).

4. As such, Christ suffers with His suffering people as they live out their active and anchored faith in Christ for the sake of the Gospel.

5. Because of this suffering Christians have a sweet fellowship with Jesus, and Jesus makes Himself known to them in the context of their pain.

6. The Christian life is not intended to be an escape from suffering, but rather a glorious declaration to the universe of the worthiness of God and the wonderful life Christ gives in spite of any and every circumstance.

7. Suffering becomes the ambiance in which the Christian begins to formulate an understanding of the greatest gift of all - the gift of glorification in eternity in which the believer will join Christ in eternal joy, hope, peace, and glory! Thus, suffering becomes, in effect, the window through which we see the glory of God, and death becomes the door to our greatest victory.

Oftentimes we Christians will confess these truths through the veil of our tears. We will weep and grieve, yet rejoice in the process. For pain and sorrow and suffering are nothing to be compared with the glory Jesus shares with His darling Bride, the church. And, Christian friend, you and I are part of that Bride. Our destiny is GLORIOUS! Rejoice today in all things through Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Remarkable Purposes of God

Reading Genesis 27 one wonders how in the world God could ever use such a family as Isaac's. I mean, talk about dysfunctional - this bunch would make a great reality television show. Here we have the wife/mother conspiring with one of her sons against her husband (father) and another son, and we have the conspiring son deceitfully arranging a situation whereby he can steal the firstborn son's blessing. Add to that the so-call "great" firstborn son is really a hair-brain: impulsive, shallow, undisciplined, and willing to trade his future for immediate gratification (What a great leader in the making! Can you feel the sarcasm dripping from my statement?). Esau, the firstborn, would have been voted by his class to be the most likely to succeed in the soup business (Ha! Sorry, couldn't help myself). On top of this we have the husband/father (Isaac) who seems to be the doofus in all of this.

The burning questions one must asked in all of this is...Can God use this family? Can God bring about His sovereign plans in the midst of this mess? One might assert that surely such sinners as these would be disqualified for God's use. But, if we think like this, then we would be mistaken.

In fact, Romans 9:10-12 says, "And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according his choice would stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, 'The older will serve the younger.' Just as it is written, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." Wow! There is more going on in Genesis 27 than first meets the eye. That is usually the case in life. Don't look at the surface of things; learn to look deeper, and learn to trust God.

I take from all of this the following:

1. God's plans are bigger, more complicated, and more involved than any of us can determine. We must learn to trust God's plan and choices.

2. God picks folks for His own reasons; we must learn to accept that.

3. Sin does not stop God's plan. God is so transcendently great that sin (evil though it may be) can only serve to enhance the grace and glory of God. God's purposes will be established.

4. Folks are saved by God's grace without contributing anything to their salvation. Even the faith we exercise to trust Jesus as Savior and Lord is a gift from God.

5. Don't analyze a situation too quickly; wait till God is done with it. In the end, God will be shown to be the sovereign and good God in charge of all things accomplishing His will.

When I read passages like Genesis 27 informed by Romans 9, I have only two things to say: (1) Praise God for His all-powerful sovereign grace and plan, and (2) I'm glad God uses sinners; that gives me hope.

Same Question, Different Meaning

Oftentimes there are clues to the proper interpretation found right in the biblical text itself when interpreting Scripture. One must learn to make careful and close observations of the text and make insightful and correct conceptual connections within the text itself.

I think this is true in Matthew 25:31-46. This is what is commonly called the Olivet Discourse named for the place where Jesus made predictions relative to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the end of time (eschatological) events that will occur. But there is a major theme included in this section - the theme of divine judgment and divine redemption.

In this section the saved and the unsaved are clearly indicated and delineated. There has always been, and there will always be, those who "get it" and those who don't. When Jesus comes again the Scriptures say that there will be one taken and the other left.

One of the most fundamental differences between saved people and unsaved people is how each group thinks. There is a world of difference between the two groups. Notice in the text in Matthew 25 that this contrast of perspective is clearly marked by a question that both groups ask God in the day of judgment. The day of judgment, for God's covenant people who are saved by grace through our Lord Jesus Christ, is really a day of salvation. Yet it is clear that the people of God know instinctively and experientially that they are not worthy of salvation. God commends them - the lives they have lived and the heart they possess, in verses 35-36. But the saved respond to God in verses 37-39 that they do not believe themselves to have been obedient to God in their lifetime. They cannot remember the times in their lives when they saw themselves faithfully performing the duties that reflect their salvation. When God said to the saved, "You gave...you gave...you invited...you clothed...you visited...you came...", the saved respond, "When?...When?...When? (verses 37, 38, 39)." The saved never feel pride, arrogance, and self-achieved honor. The saved always feel that they are the unworthy recipients of divine grace and mercy, which in fact we are.

But look at how the unsaved think! To the unsaved the Lord says, "Depart from Me...you gave Me nothing...you gave Me nothing...you did not...you did not...you did not... (verses 41, 42, 43)." With stunning dullness, insensitivity, and hard-headedness the unsaved say in response, "Lord, when did we...and did not?" Theirs is not a heart of repentance, contrition, or even admission of guilt, sin, and failure. Instead, the instinctive nature of the wicked, unregenerate heart is to make excuses, to seek to justify, to cover up, and to deny all guilt and sin. What a difference there is between the heart of the saved and the unsaved!

The heart of the saved people of God never feel that they have done enough, they never feel they have been as obedient as they should, they can never forget the awesome, sovereign grace of God poured out freely and abundantly upon them in Christ. The people of God, when they ponder their salvation through Jesus Christ, marvel that God would love them and choose them and want them for His own. They do not speak of God not being fair to them; they do not demand justice from God. Rather, the people of God relish the divine mercy lavished upon them in Jesus Christ. They rejoice in the cross of Christ, and they take hope in Christ's resurrection. They (we) are a joyful people; they (we) are a grateful people.

If this Scripture narrative is indicative of a saved heart (and it is), in which group does your heart seem to fit? Are you joyfully and gratefully amazed that Jesus loves you? Or, are you one who will hear a different message from God in the end, and will your heart rise up on self-centered denial revealing the blindness of your soul?

Faith and God's Provision

Genesis 22 is a marvelous passage of Scripture. We call passages like this "Messianic" passages because they anticipate, foreshadow, or predict the Messiah/Christ in some way. Genesis 22 is so sweet because it anticipates the death of the Lord Jesus as a substitute, atoning sacrifice for our sins. On Mount Calvary Jesus Christ gave Himself as our sacrifice for sin, as God the Father's sacrifice for sin. Just as God provided the ram for the sacrifice on Mount Moriah for Abraham, so God provides Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, for our sins on the cross. Wow! Just thinking about this is glorious! Indeed Calvary is God's provision for the sinner. In the cross of Jesus Christ, we see God's provision for the sinner.

1. God provides forgiveness for our sins.

2. God provides cleansing for our sinful guilt and shame.

3. God provides justification whereby the sinner in Christ is wonderfully acceptable to God and clothed with divine righteousness.

But there is also a teaching on Christian faith in Genesis 22 as well. Using sanctified imagination I wonder if Abraham struggled when God told him to sacrifice his son, his only son, Isaac. Surely Abraham wondered why God would give to him a son of promise, and then ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on the altar. And yet, Abraham demonstrates absolute, undeniable, and unwavering confidence in God. He did as God commanded. Whew, that must have been tough! But Abraham did it, and he did it because he believed God that much!

Hebrews 11:17-19 says, "By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, 'In Isaac your descendants shall be called.' He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type."

Two main ideas are given here: 1) Abraham's faith in Genesis 22 is a type of Christian faith, as is indicated in Hebrews 11, and 2) The essence or core of Abraham's faith, and Christian faith, is the belief that God is able to save us in Christ. Thus, the critical component of Christian faith is not the faith itself, rather, it is that God is able to do what He has promised in Christ.

OK, I want to draw some relevant and associative connections between Abraham's faith and true, Christian, saving faith, such as...

1. True faith is based in the revelation of God.

Abraham believed what God had said to him. He believed God's word and promise. Today we must believe God's word which is God's Word, the Bible. The Bible is the focus of our faith today. God has spoken today, but not in dreams or visions or prophetic thoughts in our heads (see Hebrews 1:1-3). Rather, God has spoken in His Son (Jesus) and the Scriptures; we are called to believe God's Word, the Bible.

2. True faith is real hard.

In fact, true faith is impossible for people to provide. This is why God gives faith as a gift (see Ephesians 2:8). If one has faith, true faith, then God is operative in his life to provide this as a gift to him. It must have been very hard for Abraham to have faith in God when God asked him to sacrifice his son. But Abraham did the hard thing; that is faith.

3. True faith is sacrificial and life-changing.

Faith in Abraham's life radically changed him completely. It changed where he lived, what he wanted in life, and what his life was all about. This is true of true faith. Faith in Christ is not a "ticket" to heaven or a "fire insurance" policy to keep us from hell. True faith is certainly the means by which we are brought into a saving relationship with God, and thus avoids hell and gains heaven, but this is not mean that faith leaves us unchanged. True faith transforms our will, our affections, and our mind. This is so radical in our lives that Paul calls Christians "new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17)."

4. True faith is convinced of God's ability and promise.

True faith does not look at itself; true faith looks at God. It depends upon God. It takes God at His Word; it rests upon the veracity and integrity of God alone. This is true faith.

Now for a final caution: Be careful to not misinterpret a non-prescriptive biblical passage and make it prescriptive. For example, some might read Genesis 22 and say, "Well, God called Abraham to sacrifice his son, therefore God calls all of us to do the same." No, no, a thousand times NO! The text in Genesis 22 is not prescriptive, that it does not command us to do the same as Abraham did. Rather, the passage is DESCRIPTIVE and ILLUSTRATIVE. The passage is descriptive in that it describes what God told Abraham to do, not us. But it is illustrative of true saving faith. The application of Genesis 22 has nothing to do with offering one's children to the Lord as sacrifices. It is about how God provided a type or foreshadowing of Christ in a remarkable moment and event in the life of a man long ago. If a biblical passage is prescriptive and exhortative, then it will be clearly seen all through the Scripture. Just a word of caution...

The Comfort of God's Faithfulness and Compassion

When I teach biblical hermeneutics to my college students I tell them to take the biblical text very seriously. Many questions must be asked concerning the text including, "Why does the Bible say what it says in the way it says it?", and "What does God want us to know about Himself in this text before us?" Often approaching the text in such a way will enable us to perceive, with meditation and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, some important truths that are meant to be extrapolated from the text.

I was reading Genesis 21 today, and I was struck by two verses that seem to shout out a marvelous truth about the nature of God's sovereign goodness and faithfulness - verses 1 and 17. Verse 1 reads, "Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised." The application and reference concerning the content of this verse is the conception of Isaac in Sarah's womb in keeping with God's covenant promise to Abraham and Sarah. God had promised Abraham and Sarah that though they were childless, He would give to them a son through whom God's covenant to Abraham would be realized. This verse (above) speaks about the person and nature of God in light of that promise. God did not forget His promise, and God kept His word to Abraham and Sarah.

Abraham and Sarah had disobeyed the Lord by trying to work out God's promise on their own. They had utilized an ancient culturally acceptable arrangement whereby a man could have a son to call his own by having a child through a female servant of Sarah's (Hagar, Genesis 16). But when Sarah had her own son, the promised son, friction developed between she and Hagar and Hagar's son, Ishmael. The result was that Hagar and Ishmael were driven away into the wilderness of Beersheba (Genesis 21:14). There, destitute and without any resources for survival, Hagar thought both she and her son would die. One can hardly imagine the emotional trauma this mother felt as she gently and lovingly laid Ishmael under the shade of a bush knowing that soon he would die without water. She could not bear to endure the suffering of her son, so she moved a distance away because she did not want to watch him die. There she wept in agony of heart and soul (Genesis 21:16). But in verse 17 the Bible says, "God heard the lad crying." It also says in the same verse that the angel of the Lord called to Hagar from heaven and said, "Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is." The angel of the Lord gave her the promise of the Lord's provision and pointed her to a nearby well where water was available for them. And they both survived.

Now, why did God put this passage here? Why does God tell the story in the way He tells it? What is God wanting the reader to grasp from the story and how the story is presented? Perhaps, as some would suggest, this story essentially describes the origins of the descendants of Israel and the Ishmaelites (nomadic Arabic tribes in northern Arabia). But I feel differently on the matter. As interesting and helpful as this information in the story is concerning the ancient genealogical referencing of people groups, I think more is being said here. I believe something is being said about God; God wants us to see Himself in the story. What can we learn about God in this passage?

1. God is the God who sees, understands, cares, and acts.

There is an essential, absolute, transcendent goodness in the character and nature of God. And God is involved in His creation and human history in such a way that His wisdom, truth, and goodness are seen in evidential means giving hope and purpose to history. This will be ultimately demonstrated in the application of the Lordship of Jesus Christ at the end of history. The Bible wants us to know that God sees, and this should comfort us. God understands what we are going through, and He cares about us. And God acts in accordance with His eternal decrees, sovereign wisdom, and providential will to bring about goodness for us in our circumstances. This is our hope.

2. God never forgets His promises.

The very fact that God makes promises to humans is a phenomenal truth. God's promises can be categorized into a number of categories including promises regarding the physical continuance of the earth and seasons and His promise not to flood the earth again, but most of God's biblical promises are identified with His covenant of redemption and the people He has chosen in that covenant. All through the Scriptures God is shown to be trustworthy and faithful, keeping His promises to His people (Numbers 23:19; Joshua 21:45; 23:14) . God cannot fail to keep His promises to His people, because God is the faithful God. God can be counted upon to stand by His Word absolutely and undeniably.

3. God is compassionate and merciful.

God delights in showing His compassion and mercy in the lives of people. This is most powerfully seen in the life of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 20:29-34 two blind men cry out to Jesus to heal them as He was passing by. When Jesus asked them what they wanted, they replied, "Lord, we want our eyes to be opened (verse 33)." How simple and straightforward this request is, and yet it is so full of pity and pain. The very next verse says (verse 34), "Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes..." God is moved with compassion; He is full of mercy, grace, tenderness, and compassion. Thus, did God declare Himself as He prepare to pass by Moses hidden in the cleft of the rock in Exodus 33:19.

4. God is the Master of the big picture.

There is one more point to which I turn my mind for our deliberations this day. Even though God showed His faithfulness and mercy to Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Hagar, and Ishmael, there is something greater being revealed here. We must not miss the underlying point in all of the story - God is working on a larger scale to bring about His redemptive plan and will for the benefit of the world and His own glory. If we think God is simply present to help us because we are so important to Him, we miss a bigger point that is included. We must understand that our lives are part of the larger historical and eternal mosaic of divine glory. Everything that happened to the people in the story in Genesis 21, and everything God did for them, resulted in blessing to many other people. And ultimately redemption is achieved in accordance with God's plan, and God is shown to be the glorious God that He is. We must never lose the understanding of the purpose of our individual lives as connected to God's greater plan.