JESUS: RESURRECTED & ACCEPTED

And finally, here is the third part of my little speech I hope to share (in order to help us look to Christ and glorify Him more) this Sunday:

JESUS: RESURRECTED

But the story doesn't end at the cross. The promise in the last half of Isaiah 53:10 was that "he would prolong his days", that is, Christ would come back to life. According to the Scriptures then, after three days in the tomb, Jesus came back from the dead.

He appeared first to the women at the tomb (Matt. 28:9; John 20:18), then to Peter, and then to the rest of the apostles (1 Cor. 15:5). He ate with them, spending time with them, proving that he was physically alive and not a ghost (Luke 24:36-43). Although some doubted, Thomas repented calling Jesus, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28). After that, it was stated by Paul that he also appeared to more than 500 believers at one time (1 Cor. 15:6).

This was to fulfill what was written in Psalm 16, "For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol (i.e., the place of the dead), or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life" (Psalm 16:10-11).

After Jesus ascended back to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit, as He promised, and filled the apostles with power from on high to preach and to baptize and to teach believers in the Way. Everyone who believed received the Holy Spirit and were baptized and continued in the apostle's teaching and fellowship.

The apostles all taught that it is not through works according to the Law that we can be justified, but only through the work of Jesus Christ when He lived, died and rose again for us who trust in Him.

Paul wrote in Romans 5, that while we were helplessly weak (to be righteous in ourselves), Christ died for the ungodly. He said God showed his love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He also said that being now justified by His blood, we shall much more be saved from the wrath of God through Him. And that having been enemies of God, we are now reconciled, much more shall we live through Christ. (Romans 5:8-10).

"More than that," Paul wrote, "we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation" (Romans 5:11).

JESUS: ACCEPTED

This is the heart of the gospel, the good news of God. This is what makes it possible for a poor man in Peru to weep over the fact that God reconciled Him through Christ after he heard Scripture being read in his native language. This is what makes it possible for a wealthy American to give up pursuing his own glory and in turn seek the glory and joy of God in Christ. This is what makes it possible for us to be both bold and loving, strong and gentle, firm and gracious as we go and share it in a world that rejects the Son of God. We know through the cross that God is Sovereign over all people. We also know now that He kept His promises to send the Messiah, and He will keep His promise to send Him again at the end of the world to save all of those in His Kingdom, and to condemn all those who without it.

After the verse I read where John said Jesus came to His own, and His own did not receive Him, the next verse says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). It follows by saying that this was God's decision to give them a new birth, "who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13).

As children of God, those who receive Christ and all that He is according to the Bible, also have eternal life. Jesus said that a son remains in the house forever (John 8:36), and that He came to give eternal life to those the Father has given Him (John 10:28).

The cross of Christ is the answer to so many of our problems.

Maybe you think God is mean to let all kinds of evil happen? But look how He graciously took the punishment of our evil upon Himself at the cross.

Maybe you think you are too sinful to be forgiven and justified by God? Then look How God completely satisfied His judgment on the cross for you, if you will believe.

Maybe you think you don't have enough faith to trust Him? Then look How it is God who works through the cross to make you acceptable by faith. He gave His Son, will He not also give you faith if you want it?

Maybe you think you are not good enough? Then look at the cross, where the righteousness of Jesus Christ was exchanged for your sinfulness, so that you could have His righteousness.

Maybe you think you cannot be holy? Then look at the cross, where Jesus Christ sealed the guarantee that will make you holy by His Spirit.

If you haven't received Him, then receive Him by simple trust right now. If you have received Him already, then keep on walking before Him in the same way that you received Him, by faith, trusting His love for you through the cross!

Don't be like the people who rejected Jesus at the cross, but rather, let us follow those who believed in Him when He rose from the dead.

Let His steadfast love and grace through the cross always be our motivation for faithful obedience to Jesus, our Lord and King.

Amen.

JESUS: REJECTED

Here is the second part of my little speech I'm preparing for church this upcoming Easter Sunday:

JESUS: REJECTED

But although He created the world, and He came to His own chosen people, Israel, through whom all the promises of Scripture were given, He was not known nor received by them (John 1:10-11).

This is how the Son of God was treated when God came as a man to earth:

• He was sought after to be killed by Herod and became a fugitive in Egypt as an infant.
• He was disbelieved by His own home town, and when His words offended them, they tried to throw Him over a cliff.
• He was disbelieved by His own brothers.
• He was hated by the religious leaders of His time, who repeatedly plotted to have Him arrested and put to death.
• He was accused of being demon possessed.
• While many believed in Him during the time He was healing and doing miracles, everyone forsook Him when He was arrested.
• A man who had followed Him, heard His teaching, saw Him heal thousands and perform countless miracles, betrayed Him for money and afterward, Judas committed suicide.
• Peter, who was one of Jesus' three closest followers, swore with curses that he did not know Him after the betrayal.
• Only false witnesses spoke at His trial, nobody defended Him.
• The high priest and all the Sanhedrin accused God's Son of blasphemy.
• He was punched, spit on, mocked and condemned.
• Pilate wanted to let Him go as innocent, but the Jews insisted that He die in place of a murderer.
• The Romans beat Him and mocked Him and crucified the Son of God.
• Jesus was rejected and hated all His life, from His birth to His death.
• When God came into the world, the world quickly got rid of Him.

The words of Jesus came true when He said, "And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their works were evil" (John 3:19). And Isaiah had written long before that, "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53:3).

Jesus taught that each one of us are in the same sinful condition apart from His saving grace. He said we are slaves to our sin if we do not continue in His Word, because only the truth will set us free (John 8:31-32, 34). Jesus also described our hearts as the source of all kinds of evil in Mark 7:21. No one is guiltless, because Jesus said in Mark 10:18 that "No one is good but God alone." Jesus clearly taught that all human beings, including you and me, are sinfully wicked by nature and need to be born again and cleansed from our sins. Therefore, we should not think that we are somehow morally better than those who rejected Christ, since we have the same sinful nature as they did.

Nevertheless, His rejection and murder, Jesus had said, happened to fulfill what was written in Scripture (Matthew 26:24,31; Luke 20:17; 22:37; 24:46; John 15:25). Isaiah 53:10 said, "Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand."

It was God who sent His Son to die. It was God who worked through the events of the betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus, by crushing him under the wrath and judgment that our sins deserved.


But of course, the story doesn't end here at the cross...

JESUS: GOD IN FLESH

OK, so I've been making some edits to my little speech for Sunday. Here's the first part, "JESUS: GOD IN FLESH", and following will be two more, "JESUS: REJECTED" and "JESUS: RESURRECTED & ACCEPTED".

JESUS: GOD IN FLESH

Jesus is God Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth.

We read in John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into existence through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into existence that has come to exist."

Isaiah said the royal child who was to be born would be called, "Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).

Micah wrote that the Judge of Israel from Bethlehem, who would be struck with a rod on the cheek, had His origin from of old, from the days of eternity (Micah 5:1-2).

The gospel of John presents Jesus from beginning to end as completely and 100% Divine, God revealed in human flesh.

So also Jesus is the "One like the son of man" spoken of in Daniel 7:13.

John 1:14 says, "And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

So while Jesus is God, He is also 100% human. A flesh and blood man who ate food, fasted, became hungry, worked, rested, felt physical and emotional pain, was tempted just like we are (but without sin), wept with sorrow, rejoiced and sang hymns. The Scripture was fulfilled which said, "the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14), which means "God with us" (Matthew 1:23).

He is the fulfillment of God's Word in Genesis 3:15, where God promises a man who will defeat Satan, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you will bruise His heel."


The next post will be on the REJECTION that God experienced when He came in His Son to our world.

Grace Abounding: New Layout, Witnessing and Prayer

I'm trying a new look for the All-Grace blog. Hopefully it freshens it up a bit.

I was in Philly again witnessing for around an hour today, then went to pastor Mark's for prayer. He was at a 9marks weekender last weekend at Capitol Hill Baptist Church and had some exciting things to say about it.

The witnessing is going great as far as being able to speak to people in Spanish. I also met two Pakistani guys today and tried to persuade them to read the Bible. I gave a gospel of John to one of them and he handed it to his friend. May God Sovereignly move both of them to read it!

We are praying about taking another trip to Santo Domingo for evangelism, and certainly need prayers from brotherly/sisterly saints for that.

Grace Quote for today:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14 ESV)

God's Redemption History

After the fall into sin of Adam and Eve from the paradise of God, God cursed the ground and subjected man to hard labor for food, and he subjected woman to pain in childbearing and conflict in relationships. When God cursed the serpent, He declared that a Son from the woman would come who would deal a crushing blow to Satan, while the serpent would wound the heel of that man.

Adam's son, Abel, was a righteous man by faith, but was murdered by his brother Cain. Then Adam and Eve had Seth, who had a descendant called Noah. God showed grace to Noah and his family by sparing their lives in the ark, during the destruction of the world through the Flood. From Noah's three sons the earth was repopulated. Noah blessed his son, Shem, from whom came a man named Abram. God called Abram away from his homeland, and promised him another land, where He would make a great nation from his descendants. From that nation, God said He would bless every nation who would bless Abram, and those who cursed Abram would be cursed. God changed Abram's name to Abraham and showed him that his descendants would be slaves for 400 years in Egypt, but that God would deliver them. Abraham believed God, and so God counted him to be a righteous man by faith.

Abraham and his wife Sarah did have a son according to the promise, even though they were both very old. From that son, Isaac, came Jacob, and from Jacob, came the twelve tribes of Israel. They all moved to Egypt during a famine, and their descendants later became slaves in Egypt. After 400 years, God raised up Moses, by whom He miraculously delivered Israel out from slavery in Egypt and brought them through the desert wilderness to the land of Canaan. Because the people had rebelled and disbelieved the Word of God, every single one of them except 2 died in the desert, and their children went in to take the land under the leadership of Joshua, who's name means "God saves." God instituted sacrifices for the people under a high priest, in order to remind them of their sin and need for forgiveness. But they often turned away from God to idolatry.

From the nation of Israel, God raised up a king, named David, to rule His people. David trusted in the Lord God, so the Lord promised that one of his descendants would rule on the throne forever. From the family tree of David, God brought Jesus into the world, who's Hebrew name is Joshua, and means "God saves." The angel that appeared to Joseph and Mary told them to name him Jesus, because "He will save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). He was also called Immanuel, meaning "God with us."

Jesus fulfills all the promises, and showed himself to be the Son of God and Son of David by the miracles he performed. His rejection and death at the hands of his own people, proved that he was the Messiah, or Christ (Anointed One), which the Scriptures had predicted. When Christ rose from the dead, he showed himself to his disciples, who could not believe He was alive until after they saw him eat and drink with them. These men He filled with the Holy Spirit, and sent them to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name, that all who believe would receive the Holy Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ when they repent. Everyone who believed was baptized, shared together the symbolic Lord's supper, and continued living under the teaching of the apostles as they put their hope in Christ. This salvation came as a work of God, and it extends not only to Jews, but to every person on earth who receives it as a free gift, and accepts God's testimony about His Son.

Reader, will you turn open the pages of the Holy Bible, and learn from them who Jesus Christ is, and how He came to save you from your sins if you trust Him? God promised that His final judgment is coming on this world, and everyone who is not born again by the Spirit of God will be condemned to eternal hell. But Jesus provides eternal salvation for all who come to Him by faith before His return. Praise God that He accepts every sinner who repents! Don't wait or ignore Him, because Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, and all who truly turn to Him have access to God the Father and are His beloved children!

Premillenial exposition of Revelation 20

I always get excited when I hear a Biblical scholar show from the Bible what I have come to believe concerning the 1,000 year reign of Christ from Revelation 20:1-6.

Listen here to a message answering objections and explaining this interesting text:

Thy Kingdom Come by Matt Waymeyer (from the Shepherd's fellowship)

Romans 3:10-26 in Modern Talk

I simply took Romans chapter three, verses 10-26 and made them fit better with the way we talk today. I based it off of the NASB updated version of the Bible. It is still accurate according to what the passage really says, only a bit modified. After you read it, please tell me what you think in the comments. Thank you.

Romans 3:10-26 (paraphrase):

As it says in Scripture,

No one is upright, not one;
No one has understanding,
No one looks for God;
Everyone has turned away, and have become all together worthless;
No one does good, not one.
Their throat is an open grave,
They keep deceiving with their their tongues,
Viper poison is behind their lips;
Their mouths are full of bitterness and cursing;
They are quick on their feet to shed blood,
There is destruction and misery in their paths,
And they don't know the way of peace.
There is no fear of God in their eyes.

Now we know that what the Law says it says to those under the Law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may be held guilty before God; because nobody will be justified in His sight by the works of the Law; since the Law brings the knowledge of sin.

But now, the righteousness of God has been shown apart from the Law, being attested to by the Law and the Prophets, that is, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe; since there is no difference; because all have sinned and fall short of God's glory, and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; who God has publicly displayed as a propitiation (a sacrifice to appease God's wrath) in His blood through faith. In order to show His righteousness, because God, in His patience, passed over sins committed in the past; in order to show His righteousness at this time, so that He would be both Just and Him who justifies the one who has faith in Christ Jesus.

Justified by Grace

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (Romans 3:21-25 ESV).

This is good news for bad people (see Romans 1:15; 3:12). For those of us who are humbled before God; knowing we are sinful, having a heart that goes astray, utterly worthless as far as doing any good, helpless, hopeless, spiritually lifeless; for such there is good news! "The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law." This righteousness is God's righteousness. It is given to those who believe. I like the way the KJV says it, "unto all and upon all them that believe."

For those who are righteousness-less, there is a righteousness freely given unto and upon all who believe the gospel. It is a gift. The gift is a right standing before God, justification, forgiveness and peace with God. It is given "unto" those who believe, and it is given "upon" those who believe. We have received a righteousness from God by faith in Christ, and it is put upon us by Him.

It says this is all "by his grace as a gift." Justified by his grace. Not by our grace. Not by anything in us or done by us. It is a justification by His grace for all who believe. How is that possible? The answer is, "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." God made it possible to count a sinful, hell-deserving, unholy, wretch like me perfectly righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. It is possible, because Jesus suffered and died as a propitiatory sacrifice for those who believe.

Jesus is precious to me! Is He precious to you? Are you justified by His grace?

"Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible."

God's presence among His people

This Moses did; according to all that the LORD commanded him, so he did... the tabernacle was erected. ...So Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
Exodus 40:16-17,33-34.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."
Revelation 21:2-4.

Publically Burning Our Sins

Always, those who follow Christ should be ready to part with whatever is sinful in their life and work, that Christ may be honored above all. Sins kept in the heart--poison the life, hide God's face, and shut out blessing. No matter what it may cost, our sins must be sacrificed, or they will destroy us!

"Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number of them who had been practicing magic brought their books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars!" Acts 19:18-19

(J. R. Miller, "Paul's Message for Today" 1904)

Taken from the Grace Gem: The burning of these old Ephesian books!

Grace Gems: Beauty and Manliness

Ugly corners made beautiful

(J. R. Miller, "Christian Manliness" 1909)

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely . . ." Philippians 4:8

Beauty is another quality of true manliness. It is not enough for a man to be true, to live honorably, to be just, to be pure and clean--he must also have in his life, whatever is lovely.

All God's works are beautiful. He never made anything that was not beautiful. It is sin which spoils everything!

There are many lives that are not lovely in every feature. You see things in others which you cannot admire--things which are not beautiful.

Fretting is not beautiful.

Bad temper is unlovely.

Discontent, jealousy, irritability, unkindness, selfishness are unattractive.

It is the work of God's grace--to make lives beautiful. All that grace does in us--is toward the fashioning of beautiful Christian character in us.

On a florist's signboard are the words, "Ugly corners made beautiful". The florist had reference to what he could do to beautify an ugly spot or a piece of landscape. He would trim out the weeds, plant flowers and shrubs, and transform a wilderness into a garden.

That is what grace can do in our lives. Some men seem to think that the fine and graceful things are only for women, not for men. But Christ was a man--a perfect, complete man--and there was not a single unlovely thing in His life.
He was strong--but also gentle.
He was just--but kindly.
He was firm--but patient.
He was righteous, and his indignation burned like fire against all hypocrisy and injustice--but his tenderness never failed.

Fine manliness is beautiful, like Christ. "Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!" Song of Songs 5:16

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We have posted J. R. Miller's insightful article, "Christian Manliness".

Earthquake in Haiti

I noticed through facebook, that many Dominican Christians are praying for their Haitian neighbors and doing what they can to help in various ways, but especially through prayer. To me, that is so encouraging to see, knowing that Haiti and the Dominican Republic have not always gotten along well.

I pray our LORD will be with those Haitians during this time, and that He will use Dominican and Haitian Christians to evangelize many people who are in such great peril of eternal judgment.

Christ came to seek and save the lost, and to gather the outcasts, bind up the wounded, heal the sick and raise the dead to life again. May He be with His people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic in a powerful way at this time of such great need and may the name of Christ Jesus be glorified.