Tag Archives: Bible

Night at Golgotha

Posted by Jay on December 8, 2011 No comments

Night at Golgotha (Vasilij Vereshchagin)

I’m not usually a big art person but there are a few pieces of art that are simply stunning and the masterpiece above by Russian artist Vasilij Vereshchagin (1869) is one such painting.

As we near Christmas, this artwork reminds us that the reason for the incarnation was so that the Child in the manger would die for the sins of His people. (Matthew 1:21) We so often get caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas that we forget that the shadow of the cross lies heavily over that humble manger.

This piece of artwork shows the darkness over the cross reminding us of God’s wrath poured out on our sin Substitute and the cry coming from the cross that the penalty for our sins is forever paid in full – “it is finished!” The procession going off into the distance with that haunting light shows us the funeral march as the lifeless body of the Lord Jesus Christ is carried to the sepulcher. Yet, the light glimmering there reminds us that death cannot hold Him. His resurrection for our justification (Romans 4:25) is gloriously imminent in this painting.

The miracle of Christmas is the incarnation. The Creator became the creation. Christ the man represents humanity as our High Priest and as our substitute He died in our stead for our sins. Christ the Almighty God is the infinitely worthy sacrifice to appease the infinitely worthy and just God. The painting above reminds us of the great truth that Christ humbled Himself to become a man and was obedient unto death (Philippians 2:8) to purchase His people and adopt them into His Kingdom. Death could not hold Him! He is now seated victoriously at the right hand of God awaiting for His enemies to be made a footstool to His feet. (Hebrews 10:13)

Miraculously, this Almighty King is not ashamed to call me His brother. (Hebrew 2:11) Now that is something to be eternally thankful for! Thank you Lord Jesus for Your amazing grace that saved a wretch like me!

Merry Christmas!

Preaching the Gospel to Yourself Daily

Posted by Jay on November 8, 2011 1 comment

“Preaching the gospel to ourselves every day gives us hope, joy, and courage. The good news that our sins are forgiven because of Christ’s death fills our hearts with joy, gives us courage to face the day, and offers us hope that God’s favor will rest upon us, not because we are good, but because we are in Christ.”

— Jerry Bridges

Absolutely Beautiful

Posted by Jay on November 3, 2011 2 comments

Marvel at the Gospel…

True Revival

Posted by Jay on November 1, 2011 11 comments

How often as believers do we want God to change our circumstances but we don’t want Him to change us. I know in my own life I often pray fervently for God to change my circumstances but neglect crying out to Him to change me. How often I forget that God in His mighty sovereignty is using those circumstances to change me and make me more like Christ. I’m reminded as I read through Scripture that God is not primarily concerned with my happiness but my holiness. God’s will for the lives of believers is our sanctification. Far from the false teachings of those like Joel Osteen who proclaim that God wants us to be materially prosperous and happy all the time, Scripture is clear that God’s will for us is to be conformed into the image of His Son. It is appointed for us not only to believe but to suffer for the sake of Christ. (Philippians. 1:29)

Where is the crying out in the church today for sanctification? Where is the mourning over sin and a desire for the Great Physician to take out His divine scalpel and cut away the idols and worldliness in our lives that we think make us happy but actually drive us away from God and from the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

We do need revival in the American church today but revival does not come about by a church committee or throwing a tent up on the church grounds. True revival begins when the church returns to the true gospel, declares the full counsel of God’s Word, desires true repentance and cries out to God for conformity to the image of His Son.

I am preaching to myself in this post. I too am caught up in the worldly things and so often desire God to change my circumstances and not me.

Lord, forgive our foolish ways and grant us true, constant repentance and a desire to be holy no matter the cost. Conform us more and more into the glorious image of Your Son and drive us away from self and circumstance and help us not only cling to the cross of Christ but carry our own as we seek to die to self and live to You.

Soli Deo Gloria

Of First Importance

Posted by Jay on October 31, 2011 No comments

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

The First Killer

Posted by Jay on September 30, 2011 2 comments

If I were to ask you to name the first account of killing in Scripture you would most likely point back to the early Genesis account of Cain and Abel. In that scene, Cain invites Abel to join him in the field and then takes his life. It’s definitely a chilling account of the children of Satan and their enmity and hatred towards God’s people.

However, Cain is not the answer to the question of the first killer in Scripture. Incredibly enough, the first killer in Scripture is God. Let’s back up to the Fall of man in Genesis 3. Satan tempted Eve to eat of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and Adam also took of it. This single act of disobedience and outright sin caused all of mankind and all of creation for that matter to be under a curse. One thing to note is that right after Adam and Eve sinned they tried to cover their shame themselves using fig leaves. If we really look carefully at this, we see that Adam and Eve were truly the first legalists. They attempted to cover themselves with man-made righteousness. They planned to cover their shame and guilt themselves which never works. Sadly, many today believe that they will be able to stand before God because of their own works or their own merit. Many mistakingly believe that if they go to church, feed the poor, sing in the choir or just believe that God exists they will be forgiven and a ticket will be waiting for them to heaven. Scripture teaches the opposite!

Recall that Adam and Eve hid from God because they realized their sin and shame. God then curses Satan and banishes Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden signifying that because of their sin they are now not only out of fellowship with God but now at war with Him. (Romans 5:10) That is mankind’s greatest problem. It’s not sickness. It’s not cancer or even poverty. Mankind’s greatest problem is God. God has a righteous and pure anger against sinful man because we have all broken His law. And since He is the author of that law, we have ultimately sinned against Him. As R.C. Sproul so eloquently puts it, “we have committed cosmic treason.” I’ve heard quite a bit from people that say God hates the sin but loves the sinner. There is great truth that God extends His love to those who will by faith embrace His Son for salvation but make note that God sends sinners to hell, not sin. Because of our sin we are born at enmity with God and God is at war with us. Make no mistake, we desperately need to be reconciled to God and there is only one way for that to happen and it’s gloriously illustrated in the end of the third chapter of Genesis.

But there is great hope and that hope is only found in what God Himself provides. Remember that Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together to cover their sin and shame. In essence, they did what so many today do in trying to cover themselves with their own works and self-righteousness. They believe that there is something they can do themselves to stand before God. Long before Cain killed Abel, we have a magnificent scene where God kills. Before banishing Adam and Eve from the Garden and setting up cheribum to block the way, God takes an innocent animal and slays it. He takes the skins of that animal and covers Adam and Eve. (Genesis 3:21) Our sin demands death. It demands the shedding of blood. God warned Adam and Eve that if they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would surely die. Something did die that day. In their stead it was an innocent animal. This scene gloriously points to Christ – the Lamb of God who was slain for the world.

Adam and Eve needed a righteousness outside of themselves since after the Fall they had absolutely no righteousness of their own. They needed an “alien” righteousness. God striking that animal and clothing Adam and Eve with its skin points us to our only hope. It points us to the perfect life and death of Christ. We not only need to have our sin’s penalty dealt with and God’s wrath satisfied but we also need perfect righteousness credited to us to stand before God. We need nothing less than God’s righteousness. This is exactly what Paul sums up in 2 Corinthians 5:21 when he writes one of the most magnificent verses in Scripture. It reads, “He made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf so that we may have the righteousness of God in Him.” God made Christ who was perfectly sinless to take on our sin through imputation so that God’s righteousness and justice would be met on the cross. Through repentance and faith in Christ we have Christ’s perfect righteousness imputed to us. It’s the glorious double imputation that should cause us to shout for joy at the wisdom of God. My sin imputed to Christ and Christ’s righteousness imputed to me. The great transaction!

The death of the innocent animal in Genesis chapter three and all the animal sacrifices throughout the Old Testament, and ultimately the death of Christ on that cross should open our eyes to the sinfulness of sin and the fact that God hates sin and must punish sinners. Our sin demands death. Only in Christ is forgiveness found. He is it. It’s not Christ plus works or Christ plus anything. In fact, the true equation is that Christ plus anything equals absolutely nothing. Solus Christus – Christ alone!

Marvel at the love and justice of God displayed at the cross of Christ. Marvel that the only way to be saved from the penalty of our sin is to be in Christ by faith and dressed in the righteousness that only God can give. It pleased God to crush His Son. (Isaiah 53) I believe it pleased Him because it brought ultimate glory to Him by demonstrating to the world His love, mercy, grace, justice, wrath and hatred toward sin at the same time. In ways our finite minds will never be able to fully comprehend, the cross of Christ demonstrates God’s love and His wrath at the exact same time. Thanks be to God for the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Solus Christus!

God’s Sanctifying Crushing Hand

Posted by Jay on September 26, 2011 7 comments

We might well pray for God to invade and conquer us, for until He does, we remain in peril from a thousand foes. We bear within us the seeds of our own disintegration. The strength of our flesh is an ever present danger to our souls. Deliverance can come to us only by the defeat of our old life. Safety and peace come only after we have been forced to our knees. So He conquers us and by that benign conquest saves us for Himself.

A. W. Tozer (HT: A Voice Crying Out)

Can’t I Just Ask God to Forgive Me?

Posted by Jay on September 10, 2011 3 comments

“I know that if I just ask God for forgiveness, He will forgive me.” This is one of the most common responses I get when sharing the gospel with unbelievers. Shockingly, the response above is most often given by those who claim to be believers. Sadly, this demonstrates a very sad state of the American church. It would be different if I lived in an area of the United States that was more liberal and not as churched, but I live in the heart of the south – in the Bible belt where there is literally a church on every corner. (In some places there are several churches on a single corner!) We’ve become a church culture so gospel-less that the average person who attends church cannot articulate the gospel.

What alarms me is that the average church-goer believes that they are heaven-bound because 1) they attend church and have been baptized or 2) they have asked God to forgive them. I want to focus on the second response since this is one that I hear most often.

One way I like to share the gospel is to turn it around and get people to share it with me. I’ll tell them that I have lived a horrible life and I have three minutes to live and desire to go to heaven. I’ll ask them to tell me how I can be forgiven and go to heaven. What I most often get is a simple, “just ask God to forgive you and He will.” I’ll ask, “is that all I have to do?” They respond, “yep!”

This is where there is an inadequate understanding of God and how he is revealed in Scripture. God is a forgiving God. The Bible tells us He is. But the Bible also clearly tells us that God is also just and He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. He is a just Judge and must deal with sin. If he just forgave us of our sins without dealing with our sins then He would be unjust and frankly would not be good. He would be a bad judge. One of the greatest questions that fallen humanity must ask is, “how can God be just and the justifier of the wicked?” This truly is the ultimate question. I believe it was Horatius Bonar in his excellent work The Everlasting Righteousness who began his treatise on justification by asking that very question.

So, this causes a dilemma. If we really begin to delve into God forgiving sinners we really must ask how can He justly forgive sinners without there being a penalty paid for the sin? How can God be just and justify guilty sinners? In fact, I believe it was Paul Washer in one of his excellent sermons on the gospel who used Proverbs 17:15 to setup “the gospel dilemma”. This verse teaches us that it is an abomination to God if the wicked are justified and the righteous are condemned. So then, based on this verse if an unbeliever were to simply ask God to forgive him and God did, then He would be going against His own word and would be an abomination in His own eyes.

Here is where the gospel shines with all its glorious splendor. God can and does forgive sinners but only if our sin is dealt with and His justice is satisfied. It is impossible for us to do anything to satisfy that debt since we are already sinners and even our most contrite and heartfelt sorrow is in itself tainted with sin. The only solution is for someone who is without sin to stand in our place. What we need is a great transaction. This is exactly what Christ did for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21 is in my opinion one of the most glorious verses in all of Scripture. It tells us that God made Christ who was perfect and sinless to become our sin so that we would have the righteousness of God in Him. Christ is the answer to how God can be just and the justifier of sinners. God imputed all the sins of the elect on Christ on the cross (allowing Christ Himself to remain perfectly sinless) and poured out all the wrath on Christ in our stead. This way, God is just and has dealt with our sin. No created thing will ever be able to point the finger at God and accuse Him of being unjust in saving His elect. The other side of this amazing transaction is that through repentance and faith, Christ’s perfect righteousness is imputed to us. When God looks on believers He sees the perfect, spotless righteousness of His Son.

So, God does forgive sin but only through the vicarious, penal, substitutionary death of His Son. No amount of tears or begging for forgiveness will work outside of faith in Christ. Think about it this way. If God just forgave everyone who asked, then Christ died needlessly. If God could just sweep our sin under the “celestial rug” and not deal with it taking only our plea for forgiveness then Christ’s death was pointless. The cross demonstrates to us not only the love of God but also His justice.

One last point. It’s is inevitable that when sharing the gospel that unbelievers will quote 1 John 1:8-9. They will use this verse to “prove” that all they have to do is ask God for forgiveness and He will forgive. There is a problem though. This verse is not written to unbelievers. It applies only to believers in Christ Jesus. There is a very important little four letter word in this verse that is essential to our understanding of the gospel. That little word is “just”. John tells us that if believers will confess their sins to God as Father that He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. He can only be just in forgiving us our sins because Christ has stood in our place and bore the wrath. So this verse is speaking of the constant need for believers to confess their sins to God as Father so that fellowship with Him is unhindered. An unbeliever cannot claim the promises of this verse since he is not covered under the atoning work of Christ.

I hope that as you’ve read through this that you will marvel with me at the wisdom of God in the gospel. Marvel at His grace and mercy but be aware that His grace and mercy are made available only through the cross-work and merit of Christ Jesus. Our prayers as believers should go out to the church in America that it will return to proclaiming the full and true gospel of Jesus Christ and repent from the gospel of moralism and legalism. I see first hand week after week when evangelizing to people who are active church members who know absolutely nothing of the true gospel. They believe they are saved and going to heaven for every reason imaginable except for the one and only way through Christ.

I pray also that if you’re reading this and you have been trusting in your own act of asking for forgiveness for your salvation, turn in repentance and faith to the only One who can save you – Jesus Christ. Cry out to God to open your eyes to the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:6) that you may embrace Christ as your Lord and Savior. Today is the day of salvation!

Soli Deo Gloria

In Whom I Am Well Pleased

Posted by Jay on August 10, 2011 3 comments

“… and behold, a voice out of heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17

Oh the grace of our God! Not only did God demonstrate His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ came and died for us but even here at the baptism of our sin Substitute God graciously offer words of grace and comfort to the ears that will hear. I agree with Martin Luther that these words of Scripture and the spoken words of God from heaven were not for the benefit of Christ. Christ needed no encouragement of His sonship – that has been a reality for all eternity and forever will be. There is no doubt that these glorious words are for those who heard and for us today to remind us and assure us of glorious truths.

God is pleased in Himself. Only His righteousness can satisfy His holy requirements. Because of His perfect holiness, anything less than His righteousness demands punishment for it falls short of the His glory. Perfect righteousness is the requirement for God – nothing less. Oh to hear the sweet words from heaven that there in that water is God in the flesh – very God in whom the Father is well pleased. There is no spot or blemish in Jesus Christ.

To be married with Christ – to be found in Him through repentance and faith allows our hearts to hear the same words from the Father. That through the miracle of regeneration and adoption into the kingdom through Christ we are seen by God as having His absolute perfect righteousness. A true believer can also share in the heavenly herald of “in whom I am well pleased” because of that glorious union with Christ. The believer becomes and will always be well pleasing to the Father only because of the glorious imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. For “He made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf so that we may have the righteousness of God in Him”. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Oh to rejoice in the glorious doctrinal truths of Scripture! Do we truly take the time to simply meditate on the glorious truth that “God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son”? A world that hates God and covered with sin. And when we come to the reality that one sin against God is infinitely worse than all worldly tragedies combined the magnitude of Christ choosing to come to save His bride is astounding. Isn’t it time we truly put amazing back into grace?

Let us also treasure this great truth and realize that if we are in Christ, not one thing we do good or bad changes are legal standing with God. Our performance (or lack thereof) has nothing to do with our justification. Christ and His performance has everything to do with our justification. What an amazing truth. And when we rightly understand this grace we will seek to live for Christ and seek to mortify sin all the more. For “how shall we who have died to sin continue to live in it?”

May we rejoice that in Christ we are safe and secure. The cross is truly the “double cure” as the hymn writer sings. Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension not only save us from the penalty of sin, which is God’s wrath and eternal damnation, but also from the power of sin – a changed life being progressively sanctified to be made more and more into the image of the very One who saved us. Because of Christ, and all because of Christ God is well pleased. There is peace between God and man all because of the merit of the Lamb who was worthy to be slain.

Soli Deo Gloria!

My God, My God Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Posted by Jay on April 14, 2011 No comments

“About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’, that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Matthew 27:46

Our Lord never leaves Scripture
“Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” Luke 24:27

Let us be amazed at the passion of Christ. Throughout the entire life of our Lord he never, ever leaves Scripture – even during the final hours as He is nailed to a cross. As He cried from that cross every moment of His life is a fulfillment of the majestic promises of Scripture and the fulfillment of all that was planned before the foundation of the world. The spotless Lamb of God came to die – all the while knowing that we would sin and heinously rebel against Him, and “yet while we were yet sinners, Christ Jesus died for us.” This is truly amazing grace! Time and time again we read in Holy Writ that Jesus does things and says things “so that the Scripture will be fulfilled.” He is the Word of God – the very Word that became flesh and tabernacled among us.

As two disciples were walking the road to Emmaus we see the amazing truths that the life, death and resurrection of Christ and the glorious truth that everything – absolutely everything was fulfilled in Scripture. Let us recall in Luke 24 how Jesus told the disciples that everything written in the Law and the prophets pointed to Him – the Christ, the Messiah.

My intention in this study is to show from one glorious statement heralded from the cross that every word of Scripture points to Christ. I also seek to challenge a common teaching in Evangelicalism today that teaches that the Father “abandoned and turned away” from His Son on the cross.

Then and Now…

Posted by Jay on April 14, 2011 No comments

There are few books besides the Holy Bible that I could honestly say have made an impact on me. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and John Owen’s Mortification of Sin in the Life of a Believer are two I could immediately mention. However, there is one Puritan gem that tops my list of magnificent writings and it is John Flavel’s The Fountain of Life. Sadly, it remains out of print and it can be hard to find. I was blessed to find a very old copy and it has become a treasure in my library. Flavel’s book focuses on Christ. It’s 556 pages of Christ – His birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension and everything in between. It is truly a Christological masterpiece.

As we approach Easter, we also need to reflect on the ascension of Christ. Flavel has several chapters dedicated to marveling at Christ’s ascension. Following is an excerpt from the chapter entitled “Christ’s Exaltation” in which he compares Christ’s humiliation with His exaltation. It’s stunning…

He was born in a stable, but now He reigns in His royal palace. Then He had a manger for His cradle, but now He sits on a chair of state. Then, in contempt, they called Him the carpenter’s son; now He obtains a more excellent name than the angels. Then He was led away in the wilderness to be tempted of the devil; now it is proclaimed, “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” Then He had not where to lay His head; now He is exalted to be heir of all things. In His state of humiliation, “He endured the contradiction of sinners;” in His state of exaltation, “He is adored and admired by saints and angels.” Then “He had no form or comeliness; and when we saw Him, there was no beauty, that we would desire Him;” now the beauty of His countenance sends forth such glorious beams as may dazzle the eyes of the celestial inhabitants round about Him. (pg. 512)

Marvel at these great truths. Meditate on the majesty and glory of the God-Man Jesus Christ who is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High waiting for His enemies to be made a footstool to His feet. Marvel also that the ascension and exaltation of Christ is a direct fulfillment of Daniel 7:13-14.

Soli Deo Gloria Indeed!

Did God Cause the Tsunami?

Posted by Jay on March 24, 2011 No comments