The word is very near you

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The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. – Deuteronomy 30:14

Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union in the earlier 1960s, declared in regard to Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet cosmonaut who was first human to journey into outer space, “Gagarin flew into space, but didn’t see any god there.”

No matter how high we go, we will not find God. No matter how deeply we delve into the mystery of the human psyche or dig into the wonders of particle physics, we will not find God.

Yet he is not far from any of us.

Where do we find him? He reveals himself in his word. “The word is very near you.” It is no farther away than the Bible.

How does his word come into our hearts? As it is spoken and read. Notice how the passage lists the mouth before the heart. We don’t find God by delving into our hearts. Rather, he makes himself known as our mouths read his word. That’s how the Holy Spirit opens our minds to understand and writes his word on our hearts.

What does the Spirit teach us through the word? First, no matter how good we are, our hearts have failed to obey our God. We have failed to truly love our neighbor as ourselves and to love God above all. You and I have no excuses for failing. We can’t plead ignorance. The word is very near you.

But what good news the word reveals as well! We could not ascend to God, so he came down to us. He did not come to condemn but to save you and me. He came near to us not only in his word but also in person. Jesus is God with us, Immanuel. His mouth always spoke God’s truth in love. His heart reached out with unselfish compassion. His perfect record of obedience counts for you. His sinless life covers your failures and mine. Believe this with all your heart, because that’s what God’s Word promises.

The word is near you. Unbelief rejects what the word says. Then only guilt and hell remain. But faith cherishes the word, for it brings us Jesus, our only Savior.

Will I Rise from the Dead?

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Christians say:  “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.”  Christians believe Jesus when he says:  “A time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear my voice and come out.”  Essential to Christianity is the belief that every man, woman and child who has ever lived will rise from the dead on the day Jesus returns.  We call that day Judgment Day.

Right about now you may be asking yourself: “How in the world can Christians believe all those unbelievable things?”  I’ll agree with you.  The thought that all people will rise bodily from their graves someday, wherever and whatever those graves may be, is “unbelievable.”  But the God who tells us this is not in the business of only doing things that fit into the framework of our way of thinking.  In fact, Jesus once said: “With God all things are possible.”  If God brought the universe into existence out of nothing, as the Bible teaches, he certainly has the power to pull our bodies back together from the dust of the earth on Judgment Day.

So, the answer to “will I rise from the dead?” is a simple “yes.”  Perhaps the more uncomfortable question is: “What’s going to happen to me when I rise from the dead?”  The fact that it’s called Judgment Day sounds ominous.  You and I are going to be judged on that day.  When you consider that God, who is holy, demands that you and I be holy and sinless in order to escape his judgment in hell forever, then Judgment Day really sounds like bad news.

But there’s more.  The one who will come to call us out of our graves, the one who will judge us, is the same one who came to save us!  That’s Jesus.  About 2000 years ago he came to live in this world and give his perfect life in your place.  When he died on the cross he covered you with his holiness.  When he rose from the dead he proved that you, too, will rise from the dead.  He makes the same promise to you that he’s always made: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”

And there it is.  There’s the way a person can approach Judgment Day with confidence, not fear.  Jesus has taken away all your sins. Clothe yourself in his holiness and enter everlasting life when you are called forth from your grave.  Believe in the Lord Jesus and be saved.

Our Righteousness

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“In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6).

There is nothing that feels better than a crisp, clean set of clothes. I’ve been trying to take up running. After I come in from a three mile run, my shirt is gross! It’s smelly and drenched with sweat. It feels so good, after I’ve showered, to put on a shirt that is dry and clean.

We have all made our spiritual clothes sweaty, dirty, and gross. Our unkind words and self-centered thoughts are like mud caked on our spiritual shirts. God is not going to let us into his house—heaven—wearing those kind of clothes!

But there is nothing that feels better than a crisp, clean set of clothes! Jesus lived a completely righteous life. His spiritual clothes were never stained with a single sin. And then he said to you, “Change shirts with me.” He put on your shirt that was stained with sin, and in exchange he gave you his crisp, clean shirt. That’s what the Bible means when it says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus was wearing our sinful clothes when he suffered and died on the cross. In exchange, he gave us his sinless clothes. Now, when God looks at us, he does not see dirty, sinful clothes. Instead, he sees the crisp, clean clothes of Jesus. The Bible puts it this way: “He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10).

We haven’t lived a perfect life, but Jesus has. And he lets that perfect life count for us. He is “The LORD Our Righteousness,” (Jeremiah 23:6). Because Jesus’ perfect life—his righteousness—counts for us, that means that we can get into heaven!

So the next time you finish some strenuous activity, remember with joy that Jesus put on your grimy, sinful clothes. And when you open your dresser and find a neatly folded shirt, remember that Jesus has put a fresh, clean shirt on you. You are clothed in his perfect righteousness, and there is nothing that feels better than a crisp, clean set of clothes!

Blessed are those who die in the Lord

Blessed are the Dead Who Die in the Lord

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Many things are scary. Choosing a path in life. Watching your infant wiggle out of his car carrier, which you had momentarily set on the table—that’s scary. Witnessing a car swerve into oncoming traffic—that’s scary. Walking or jogging in an area that is threatening. Watching your child go off to school without you. But of all the scary things, death for many is the scariest.

It’s scary because of what we know and don’t know. We know death is certain. Its cloud hangs over us at every traffic intersection, on every consult with our doctor, and during every violent storm. What we don’t know is what dying is like. We don’t know what — if anything — happens after death.

If there is no God, then death is the end and that’s it. If so, then death may be final and sad, but it’s hardly something to be afraid of. But if God exists and is waiting to judge you for all the things you have done, if there is a life after death, then death is more than sad. It’s scary.

There are no ifs about God’s existence. He does exist and people know it, though some deny it. And the Bible explains what everyone knows in his or her heart: It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). Yes, that’s scary! So how happy can I be when I’m scared of dying?

If it were up to you find happiness in the face of death, you would be on an impossible journey. What we need to calm our fears and to find happiness is for someone to do something about death. Here’s the good news: someone has.

The God who awaits you after death, sent Jesus to destroy death. Jesus began that work by obeying God’s laws for you. Then he traded places with you. He gave you his perfect life in exchange for your sins. And so, with your sins laid on him, he suffered a most horrible death, which earned God’s forgiveness for you. With sin forgiven, death lost its power. So, three days after his burial, Jesus rose to life from the dead. He defeated death so that it can no longer hold the lives and bodies of those it has claimed. All people will rise from the dead.

Believe this good news and know for sure that the God, who is waiting for you, waits for you with open arms to welcome you into his Paradise. This is why the Holy Spirit told John to write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on (Revelation 14:13).

The unknown experience of death may still be scary for you, but because death has been conquered by resurrection and because there is a perfect life in a perfect place awaiting you, you can live happily, even now and ever after. Trust in the one who beat death for us.

I believe in…the resurrection of the body

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By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. – 1 Corinthians 6:14

The Resurrection of the Body

By the grace of God I am led to confess this truth: “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” The same God who powerfully raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will, by that same power, also raise me. That is his promise. When Jesus comes again, I am going to be raised from the dead!

As I confess this truth, I acknowledge that I am going to die. The Bible teaches, “The wages of sin is death.” Death is the wage of my sin. After I die, this body is going to be buried and decay, or in some other way return to the ground from which it came: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. In addition, I acknowledge that when God raises this body, he will once again breathe life into it. Together with Job, I confess, “In my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes” (Job 19:26-27). Then I will live with God forever in this body which, by the almighty power of God, will be changed from being perishable to a body that is imperishable, from a mortal to an immortal body. (See 1 Corinthians 15:35-58.)

My body is an eternal gift from God. Grasping this truth will impact how I care for it, and how I use my body in this life. However, I need to remember that there is something more to live for than preserving and enhancing my body. The fact that God will raise this body and I will live forever with him in this body leads me to be concerned about more than just how I take care of and use this body.

Knowing that God will raise, restore, and glorify this body so that I can live with him forever in heaven leads me to think about things beyond this body. It leads me to be concerned about the spiritual, eternal welfare of others. It leads me to proclaim the power of God. It leads me to point to Christ’s resurrection and its importance to those I love and even to those I don’t know. It leads me to cling to my Savior and direct others to the Savior, that more may join in this confession today, and that many may join in eternal glory when Jesus comes again.

Believe his promise about the resurrection of the body and thank God for it. No matter what happens to your currently-earth-bound body, no matter how worn out or broken it gets, through faith in Jesus you have a renewed, restored, revitalized reality to look forward to–an eternal life with God.

shepherd

The Good Shepherd

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“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

“Man Dies to Save Trapped Bunny” pops up as you scroll through your news app. You tap on the video. You see what reminds you of the furry little Cadbury Creme Egg mascot. A heroic rescue follows.

You’re baffled. You’re impressed! You think…What inspired that guy to give his own life for a bunny? Come to think of it, I sometimes forget even to feed my own pet!

Try another headline: “Man Dies to Save World.” That headline actually does pop up when you read the Bible. At first it may sound like it’s from a too-predictable superhero movie. It seems too good to be true. But it is true! Jesus is that man. He died an agonizing, humiliating death on a Roman torture-pole to save the world. He wasn’t saving it from global warming or hunger or war, but saving it from damnation. And despite what some speculate, Jesus didn’t come to post the Ten Commandments at every town hall and enforce them. No, the world already stood condemned by the law because of its sin. Instead, Jesus came to rescue the world. By the way, “world” means everyone in it. You too!

Look at the extraordinary heroism in Jesus, this world’s Rescuer! Really, it was more than heroism. He, being true God, displayed God’s love and God’s plan to give forgiveness and eternal life to all! Jesus’ life, death, and bodily resurrection show us the very heart of God. This is a headline worth your time. It is worth hearing and reading more about. Scroll on.

Here’s a way to picture Jesus your God and Savior: Jesus is The Good Shepherd. He describes himself, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” We’re the sheep. We’ve strayed and “bleated up” life because we’re sinful. We are lost sheep needing rescue. Not just by a hired hand. Not just by any shepherd, but by The Good Shepherd. Not just a no-name hero, forgotten tomorrow. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who, being both God and man, laid down his life for you. He really did save the whole world. Your sins are forgiven.

Your life’s headline reads: “Good Shepherd Dies to Save THIS Sheep.” It’s a headline others need to hear about too! Share it!

Good Friday

Good Friday

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If you wanted to know about God, where would you look? For some people the question is irrelevant because they say, “There is no God.” Others say, “God exists but cannot be known.” Others suggest, “God lives in you, so meditate and get to know yourself.”

The Christian answer is different. To know God, you need to know Jesus. The Bible says, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” (John 1:18). Jesus is not a man who aspired to be God; Jesus is God born in human flesh. A disciple once said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus answered, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8-9). Another disciple called Jesus “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). If you want to know God, know Jesus.

Know what about Jesus…his teachings, miracles, or acts of kindness in feeding the hungry and healing the sick? Those are good things to know, but the Bible focuses our attention elsewhere. About one-third of each of the four Gospels in the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) describes the last week of Jesus’ life. Our attention is drawn to his death on a cross. There on the cross you see the character, nature, heart and mind of God.

God died! Now we know the justice of God. He said sin must be paid for. There, on the cross, God himself paid the penalty for our sin.

God died! Now we know the love of God. Rather than punishing us, he bore the pain himself.

God died! Now we know the will of God. From eternity he planned to save the world through this sacrifice. And on that cross he accomplished his eternal purpose.

God died! Now we know the wisdom of God. “Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

God died! Now we know the power of God. He crushed Satan and freed us from the control of our evil foe. Trusting Jesus we will not perish in hell.

God died! Now we know the glory of God. Jesus brought glory to his heavenly Father by completing the work of salvation that the Father had given him to do.

Jesus died! Now we know God’s justice, love, will, wisdom, power and glory. What is the best part? We also know that he didn’t stay dead. With his resurrection on Easter Sunday, his mission and our eternal salvation are confirmed!

Joy versus Pleasure

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Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. (James 1:2-3)

Have you ever been one of those recreational joggers who decided that it would be a good idea to run a marathon? I was once. However, life’s responsibilities got in the way and I never made it to the starting line of a marathon.

I have watched others do it. I think I get the strange attraction. You punish yourself for several months just so that you can really punish yourself on one specific day for 4-6 hours until you cross the finish line 26.2 miles later. Then what?

Then you bask in the glow of the deep joy of great accomplishment. I don’t know that anyone considers marathon training to be the pursuit of personal pleasure. Joy, yes. Pleasure, no.

If you want to please yourself, take a slow stroll around the park while enjoying a tasty ice cream cone. If you want the satisfaction of the deep joy of great accomplishment, then pound the pavement for 8 – 10 – 12 miles or more.

So it is with the Christian faith. If you are after personal pleasure, you can find it everywhere. The world is full of fun things to do—things that please with very little effort on our part.

Joy, however, comes from “pounding the pavement,” that is, from the stress and strain of great personal trials—the “testing of your faith,” James calls it. Why test my faith facing “trials of many kinds?” Because when the testing is done, I have perseverance. Perseverance is “the ability to see past present problems and anticipate future blessing with confident reliance on God every step of the way.”

Consider Jesus. The Bible book of Hebrews says that Jesus “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus, the sinless Son of God found joy in the brutally hard work of bearing the sin of the world in his death on the cross. Don’t forget, this came after the 33-year marathon of living a completely sinless life on our behalf.

When we live our Christian faith no matter what painful trials we may have, we are living the life chosen for us by God. We are part of his joy. The testing is his testing. The perseverance is his perseverance. So “consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,” when Jesus sets you on his path leading you to his finish line.