Soli Deo Gloria » Bible

Night at Golgotha

Jay — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:48:24 +0000

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

Jay — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:38:51 +0000

“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

Jay — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:57:49 +0000

Marvel at the Gospel…

True Revival

Jay — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:53:37 +0000

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

Jay — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:20:25 +0000

“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

Jay — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:15:33 +0000

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

Jay — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:59:51 +0000

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?

Jay — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:46:57 +0000

“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

Jay — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 01:09:41 +0000

“… 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?

Jay — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 03:00:06 +0000

“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.

Let us explore together the majestic wonder of our Lord and Savior as we look at only one of the seven sayings of Christ on the cross in this Holy Week meditation.

The Hint of Rabbinical Teaching
“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

As the High Rabbi and teacher of all things, many Bible scholars believe our Lord used a technique known as remez from the cross. Remez is a Jewish rabbinical technique that gives only a section of Scripture while assuming that the student will know all of the Scripture around that line. It is thought that Jesus used this many times throughout His life on earth. For example, the name “Son of Man” is an obvious remez to Daniel and even Christ writing in the sand is a possible remez to Jeremiah 17:13. We must remember that Christ is the word – the Word made flesh. He is all that Scripture points to and everything He did was tied to Scripture. So it is no surprise that the sayings of Christ from the cross are all tied to Scripture.

We even use a form of remez today. For example, if a pastor stands up before his congregation and begins with, “Our Father, who art in heaven…” the congregation will know exactly the verse, passage and the remainder of the Scripture and will begin speaking the passage aloud. This is the same technique used in early Jewish teachings.

Remez also illustrates to us the utmost importance of knowing God’s Word. Christ knew it, lived it and never left it – even while hanging on the cross. Every true Christian desires to be more like Christ and the saturation of the Word of God in their life is one way to imitate our Lord and Savior.

Let us examine one of the most intense sayings of our Lord on that tree. A saying that has been interpreted many ways – often to the point of reading into Scripture instead of allowing Scripture to speak for itself. My goal is to approach from the latter by following the thought that Jesus utilized the Jewish technique of remez while on the cross. It is my prayer that this will open up some of the deep depths of the glorious truths of what took place on that cursed tree.

Why Have You Forsaken Me?
“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

These words of Christ are recorded in Matthew and Mark. They are words that I believe have been misused for many years to paint an unbiblical account of what Christ is experiencing on the cross and a false understanding of what God the Father is doing.

The word “forsake” all through Scripture rarely means to “abandon”. Yet that is most often how this word is interpreted among Evangelicals over the last few decades. In Scripture, “forsake” almost always means that God allows His children to fall into the hands of enemies (all under His sovereignty). So to forsake Biblically implies more of coming under judgement than the idea of turning away. However, we must also understand that in a sense God did turn away – by turning all His goodness away from Christ but focusing intensely all of His righteous wrath fully on Christ. This is no doubt an accurate picture of hell.

To understand Christ’s cry as God completely abandoning His Son on the cross is a poor handling of Scripture in my opinion. Many teach that God cannot look on sin. This is not a Biblical statement. God goes eyeball to eyeball with sin in Satan as clearly seen in the book of Job. Looking on sin is not contrary to God’s holiness. Not dealing with sin, not hating sin and not punishing sin would most definitely be contrary to who God is. This is clearly demonstrated at the cross!

Let us consider carefully that God not once abandoned Christ in the sense that many believe as a separation between the Father and the Son. The moment that would have happened the eternal Trinity would no longer be eternal. This poses critical theological issues. Muslims use the errant interpretation that God abandoned Christ at the cross to attack Christ’s deity saying that if God abandoned Christ then Christ could not be one with God, therefore He could not be God. Even the pagan world can see the error in this interpretation yet most of Evangelicalism misses this.

Let us pause and allow Scripture to systematically teach us truth and not speculate or fall victim to the error of reading into Scripture and not allowing Scripture to speak.

So What Exactly Is Jesus Saying?
“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.” Psalm 22:1

We know that Christ taught up to His dying breath and then at His resurrection and ascension continues to teach through His Holy Spirit. From that cross the Father did not abandon Christ or turn away as many understand. What the Bible tells us took place is all the wrath and anger of God that we deserve was focused on Christ on the cross. The Father was pouring out the wrath we deserve on His Son as the darkness of judgment fell on the world. All the while Christ relied on the Father and knew that He was with Him even though He walked through the valley of the shadow of death.

The cross is the ultimate display of perfect holy love and perfect holy justice. We can turn the diamond of the cross over and over and never ever exhaust every facet of goodness, love, mercy, wrath, grace, justice and all that is God Almighty.

So if our Lord’s cry does not mean that the Father abandoned Him what does it mean? Let us recall the rabbinical technique remez and the Biblical illustration of Christ never, ever leaving Scripture. Even when Christ did not tell His disciples that what He was doing was to fulfill Scripture they are opened to that truth after His death and resurrection. Scripture makes every effort to point this fact out.

Our Lord, even from the cross, is teaching. He is showing the glory of God’s planned gracious event in history. I believe that Christ is using remez to point to a set of Psalms – to be sure it is Psalms 22-24. History teaches us that the early Jews considered these three psalms as a connected set. Christ’s cry of being forsaken would have immediately brought to mind the teachings and content of these three powerful psalms.

Let us review those three Psalms to see what Christ is teaching us as He hangs on that cross becoming a curse for us, for “cursed is the man who hangs on a tree.” (Galatians 3:13)

Psalm 22 – A Cry from the Messiah
Jesus’ cry from the cross is the very first line of Psalm 22. As we have learned, this is likely a technique called remez. We have also learned that the Jews held Psalm 23 and 24 in tandem with this psalm so we need to keep that into consideration but our focus in this section will be on Psalm 22. This is one of the most powerful and prophetic Messianic Psalms in the Old Testament. It gloriously describes what Christ experienced on the cross as our Messiah. Here we see almost an exact detail of the events that took place hundreds of years later. It is as if David were there at Calvary as a witness to the entire event. This is a testimony to the glorious truths of God’s Word and that it is truly inspired and perfect in every way.

This psalm shows Christ being reproached and despised by men (Isaiah 53:3) and how the Jews and Gentiles mock Him while on the cross. Verse 8 is a direct tie to Matthew 27:43 where the leaders actually quote Psalm 22 in mockery of our Lord! It shows how blind they are to the truths of Scripture as Jesus told them that they search the Scriptures thinking that in them they will have eternal life but that it is the Scriptures that tell about Christ.

Let us be reminded that all of this is what Christ wanted us to hear from that one cry from the cross. Let us take notice from this the importance of knowing, studying and memorizing God’s Word. But oh, that is not all that was heralded from that one remez – there is more in Psalm 22 that we should heed.

The psalmist continues with utter reliance and dependance on God from peril – and of course this is ultimately fulfilled in the passion of our Lord. Oh what our Rabbi teaches us here – to trust and rely on God and His glorious goodness always. (Romans 8:28)

All of this causes the psalmist to burst into a charge of praise to God – to stand in awe of Him! God’s perfect holy love and justice at the cross – at the very event unfolding to those in earshot of Christ and His cry of Psalm 22 should cause us to break forth in absolute praise and adoration. Notice in verse 24 we see that God at no time turned from Christ or turned His face from Him. At the same time God looked intently at His Son pouring out divine wrath He never left or abandoned His Son – the second person of the eternal Trinity.

This Psalm ends with all focus on God – that He alone gets the honor, glory and praise because He alone has graciously provided salvation through His Son. All of creation will remember the most important event in history of all time. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. You will either bow in adoration as a Christian or you will be forced to bow in honor or the great Judge and Lord who you have rejected. As our Lord’s last words, “It is Finished!” ring across Calvary, the psalmist echoes the same words of completion that God alone has done it and it is truly finished!

Psalm 23 – Eternal Trust in the Father
“Even though I walk Through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4

As we recall that the Jews traditionally treated Psalms 22-24 as one unit it brings even greater insight to one of the most beloved psalms – a perspective that puts our Lord Jesus in the focus of Psalm 23.

As we read through this psalm we are reminded that the entire time Jesus was on the earth He was constantly following and trusting in His Father. He equally taught us that we should be as dependent – not storing up treasures but looking to Him. Reminding us that if our heavenly Father so clothes the lilies of the fields He will surely care for us. Christ was hoping and trusting in the Eternal Father while on the cross – knowing that He was fulfilling the eternal plan of the Trinity long before the foundation of the world.

All that is done is done for His glory! Let us be reminded of the thundering voice from heaven in John 12:28 of the Father’s response to Jesus’ request for the Father to glorify His Name! God is glorified in all that He does and deserves proper worship, trust and obedience – the epitome of the life of our Savior who perfectly obeyed the Father without fail!

Again, this psalm shows us that at the cross the Father never leaves or abandons His Son. Christ will fear no evil for the Father is eternally with Him and that bond cannot and will never ever be broken. In the same way that God did not abandon His Son on the cross He will not abandon His elect who are in Christ in the valley of the shadow of death. Oh what a loving, merciful God we have!

Oh how the last words of our Savior before His death on the cross should bring us comfort, awe and humility and cause us to dip our finger into the unfathomable riches of grace and love that is exemplified in the cross of Christ. No matter what we go through, Christ suffered more! Because He suffered, those in Him will never experience the ultimate suffering – that of the wrath of God. (Romans 8:1) Let us learn from our Great Rabbi to rest fully on Him as our Great Shepherd and be not in want – for He is our All in all.

Psalm 24 – Who is this King of Glory?
“Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!” Psalm 24:7

Now we move to the glorious resurrection of Christ and His triumphal entry into heaven. We have many other Scriptures that tell of of the Messiah’s resurrection including Psalm 16 that is quoted by Paul in his sermon in Acts 13:30-37. Paul uses this text to show that God had planned before the foundation of the world not to allow His Holy One to undergo decay.

In Psalm 24 we have the triumphal entry of Christ into the throne room of God – likely at His glorious ascension after walking on the earth 40 days after His resurrection.

This psalm is profound. It begins with a proclamation that everything is God’s. God created everything and is over everything. It begins with God and focuses on who He is – all of His glory and majesty as the Creator of all things. It begins where we must always begin and end – with God. Given who God is – that He is perfect and holy, who can possibly come before Him? What human can possibly enter the threshold of His throne room? The psalmist tells us that only one with a pure heart and clean hands – one who is spotless and perfect. Only one Man fits this condition – the God Man Jesus Christ.

Verses 7-10 paint a profound and awesome scene. Here we have Christ – fully man and fully God approaching the threshold of God’s throne room. The psalmist seems to write envisioning a throng of angels asking boldly, “what man dare approach the throne of the Almighty? No man has dared approached God!” But oh the glory of the immediate verse that this King of Glory is not only man but fully God – the Lord strong and mighty! Take in the beauty of this scene – our representative in heaven as fully man and our righteousness as fully God walking victoriously into heaven as the first fruits presenting Himself as the perfect sacrifice completed while throngs of angels proclaim that Jesus Christ is the King of Glory!

The very Lord of Hosts is the King of Glory – God in the flesh who sits at the right hand of the Father living forever to constantly intercede for us that we may be saved to the uttermost! (Hebrews 7:25)

Oh how Scripture is so true with, “My ways are not your ways”! Those in Christ who will live forever with Him will for eternity never exhaust or be in awe of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. Eternal life is truly to know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent! (John 17:17) Amen!

Taking It All In…
It is my prayer that this study will cause a yearning to delve deeper into the glorious truths of Holy Scripture. Sadly, the god of this world blinds the minds of people so that they cannot see the truth and come to the Light. No doubt this is what was occurring at the cross of Christ as crowds hurled insults at the uncreated Creator who became the creation and mocked Him as He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf so that we may have the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) The truth of knowing that we too are just as hostile to God further causes us to glory in the grace of our God who causes us to be born again and grants us the gift of faith to open our eyes to His glory so that we run to the cross as our only hope. To be saved means that God alone has done it all. As the psalmist penned in the 22nd psalm, “He has done it!”

This study is one that overwhelms me for in one sentence our Savior points to the entire Gospel in three Psalms. The description of the suffering Messiah whose hands and feet were pierced, Christ’s trust in the Father while on the cross and the triumphal entry into the threshold of the throne room of God is all part of Holy Week and should be a part of every thought of the true believer as they live a gospel-centered life every day of our lives. May we seek to purify ourselves as we wait expectantly for the King of Glory to return to collect His elect from the four corners of the earth.

It has been said that Psalm 22-24 is the fifth gospel. These three psalms together offer us an astounding account that would make most believe that the psalmist was actually there witnessing the entire event.

This Holy Week may we be reminded of the truths of Scripture and all that our Savior endured for us – both physically and spiritually and all that He provides for us in His atoning and substitutionary death, resurrection and ascension.

Let us be reminded of the importance of studying and memorizing Scripture so that we will have a truthful understanding of the things of God and let what Jesus said from the cross and the expectations He had for those around Him to understand press us to delve deep into the Scriptures.

May we be reminded of who Christ is as we meditate this Holy Week on the unmerited and undeserved grace and mercy to us by our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him by the glory forever! Soli Deo Gloria!

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Then and Now…

Jay — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 02:24:12 +0000

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?

Jay — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 22:02:21 +0000