John 1:1-18 Why did He have to come? Pt 1

The Gospel of John is a narrative.  It is a narrative telling the story of Jesus’ sojourn to earth, His death, His sojourn back to His Father and the significance of all of those things.  We call it the gospel.  It is the good news.  It is good news for so many different reasons.  Many of which are alluded to in the first chapter of John’s gospel.

This narrative has a prologue, chapter 1:1-18.  And this prologue sets the scene for what is about to happen in the rest of the story.  It is an introduction to the main character(s) of the story, namely God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.  What do we see about these main characters?

As I’ve mentioned previously, we start at the “beginning.”  And in the beginning was “the Word.”  He was in the beginning with God, He is God and He is the means by which all things came into existence.  It says that “apart from Him nothing that came into being that has come into being.”  That all seems pretty clear.  It further describes the Word as having “life” in Himself.  And that this life was the “light of men.”  That also makes sense because it just stated that all things came into being through Him.  Therefore to say that “in Him was life” is simply to reiterate that He is the source of all life, as He has created all things.

But then we come upon a very curious statement.  “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it” (NASB). The untrained mind might seek to gloss over such a statement.  But as students of the scripture we must pause to consider this.  How are we now to understand this “darkness?”  Where did it come from?  Why is it here?  What sort of power is this darkness?  And what effect does it have on the creation which the Word has just created?   We know that the life which the Word gives is “light” to men.  What difference does this darkness make for them?  Of course we can rejoice, because ultimately this darkness cannot “comprehend/overpower” it.  However as we read on, we see that this darkness has done a great deal of damage to the world of men.

It says that He, the Word, is the “true light” and that He “enlightens every man.”  However when He came into the world, the world “did not know Him.”  It goes on to say that He, the Word, “came to His own [but] His own did not know Him.”  What manner of darkness is this?  For, it has blinded those created by the Word.  It has kept them from recognizing His light when He came to earth to sojourn among them.  This darkness has distorted their vision so as to preclude their understanding of being in the presence of their maker and source of life.  We are not told, in this passage, when or how this darkness was introduced.  We are merely told that it is.  And that it is, clearly presents a problem for the creation, which it cannot overcome.

But again, there is hope.  For the darkness, though it has temporarily blinded the eye of His creation, has not overpowered the force of the light of the Word.  His light is far too great, for it has existed from all eternity.  His light is that of the Almighty Creator God.  Thus it must prevail.  It cannot not prevail.  He has authority and power to grant life, and the life which He grants is as eternal as He.  This life, the text says is adoption into the family of God.  “As many as received Him [the Word] to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name…for of His fullness we have received grace upon grace.”

“Holy, Holy, Holy, though the darkness hideth thee,

though the eye of sinful man, thy glory may not see

Only though art holy, there is none beside thee

Perfect in pow’r, in love and purity”

 

“Long lay the world, in sin and error pining

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth,

A thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn”

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged, he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the judgment that the light is come into the world and men loved the darkness rather than the light for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who practices the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” John 3:16-21

“Jesus spoke to them saying ‘I am the light of the world, he who follows me shall not walk in the darkness but shall have the light of life.‘” John 8:12

“Jesus therefore said to them, ‘for a little while longer the light is among you.  Walk while you have the light, that the darkness may not overtake you, he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.  While you have the light, believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light…I have come as light into the world that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness.  And if anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them I do not judge him for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has one who judges him, the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.  For I did not speak on my own initiative but the Father Himself who sent me has given me commandment what to say and what to speak.  And I know that His commandment is eternal life, therefore the things that I speak I speak just as the Father has told me.’” John 12:35-50

John 1:1 pt 3

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

The Word of God is God.  Herein is the point that we have been drawn to from the very first words of this sentence.  The Word is eternal.  Only God possesses eternality.  He exists prior to, apart from, above, and beyond anything created, for He created all things.  Thus He alone is eternal.  And anyone else attributed with eternality must be God.  The Word was with God.  Thus the Word is eternally related to God.  He has always been with God from “the beginning.”  There is not a time in which it can be said that the Word was not with God.  He is eternally with God which means that He must be equal to God and yet distinct in some way.  And the rest of the Gospel of John spells out exactly how He is distinct as He is said to be the “begotten God, the Son of God.”  And here, finally we are explicitly told that He was God.

Now that doesn’t mean that He has ceased to be God, for God cannot cease to be so.  Merely that the Apostle uses what words he has to express who that eternal God has always been “from the beginning.”  Now there are many today as there have been throughout the course of Church History who have erroneously attempted to solve the mystery of the God Man. Some would seek to emphasize His divinity to the degradation of His humanity.  Conversely some would seek to emphasize His humanity to the degradation of His divinity.  But we must be careful not to do either.

How exactly are we to understand that the eternal Word of God has taken on human nature, where it says “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us?”  The Word of God as it is written does not spell out explicitly how it works.  So we don’t really know.  And some have the foolish notion that in order for this to be true, it must make sense in our limited minds.  The Faith is rational.  It is cogent.  It has rational elements which fit together.  It is taught and explained rationally.  It must be accepted rationally.  It is not less than rational.  And we do not teach so that what is rational is set aside for people to adhere to this Faith.  But there are elements of the faith which the rational mind must understand to be a mystery which can only be fully understood God’s mind.  If we believe that God is God and that so eternally then He must posses infinite knowledge which is far greater than those lesser beings which He has created.  Thus it is reasonable to assume that we won’t understand rationally all that is to know about God.  For example, and to the point, how can God exist as God the Word and as man in the same person without confusing, mixing or losing any aspect of either nature?  That knowledge is too great for us.  God knows that it is far beyond us, and further that we don’t have need of knowing how, and thus does not explain it to us in Scripture.  Therefore we are left to understand merely that it is true.  In the person of Jesus Christ is two natures, that of the eternal Word of God and that of man.

This truth is of great importance to affirm as the Church of Jesus Christ.  For the One in whom we have trusted to secure our salvation is none other than God Himself.  The One in whom we have trusted for forgiveness of sins is none other than the same God whom we have offended.  The One whom we have trusted to grant eternal life is none other than the God who in the beginning brought “all things” into existence.  And the One whose return we await to bring us to His glory, whose spirit indwells us as a downpayment of the same return and whose victory over sin, sinner and death we have been assured of is none other than God Himself.

Jesus Christ is the God-man.  He is the lone mediator.  He is the lone Creator and Savior of those whom God has appointed to that end.  Thus we are assured of our salvation on the basis of God’s work and not our own.  We are assured of its efficacy and sufficiency because it is a work conceived and wrought by the will and hand of God Himself.

“As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him…see to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy or empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world rather than according to Christ.  For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete…set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life is revealed then you will be revealed with Him in glory.” Colossians 2:6-10, 3:1-4

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” 1 Timothy 2:5

“Apart from the law the righteousness of God has been manifested…even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus…for the demonstration of His righteousness…that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:21-26

“Simon Peter, a bond servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ…” 2 Peter 1:1

“For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus; who gave Himself up for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession zealous for good deeds.” Titus 2:11-14

John 1:1 pt 2

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”

The Word was with God.  What does it mean that He was with God except that He is God but distinct from God.  I do not say that He is different from God for that would be to go too far.  He is not essentially different, though we understand that He is distinct in some way.  He must be God for only God possess immortality.  In the previous post I talked about this the fact that the Word is eternal.  He existed “before” all things created.  So it reasons that He must also be God and yet there is a distinction drawn between Him and God in that He is said to be with God.  What does it mean that He was with God?  This seems to suggest some sort of relationship.

The Word is eternally with God.  He did not come into existence at any point thus He has never existed apart from God.  He is eternally related to God in some way. How exactly, this prologue doesn’t tell us.  We learn more as we continue throughout the course of John’s gospel.  But it does suggest that this relationship is eternally binding.  The Word is eternally with God.  The creation has brought nothing to, nor taken away from this eternal relationship and it can never be said to have done so.  Whatever God is and however God is, He is eternally.  He created all things.  Therefore all things are subject to Him, and He is subject to nothing.  Thus how the Word relates to God is eternally settled.

This eternal relationship then is of great comfort for the believer.  Because the One who is the Word who was “with God” is also the same Word “who became flesh and dwelt among us.”  And it is that same Word with whom we have been united.  And it is that same God/Man in whom we have fellowship and if we have fellowship with Him when we believe, then we know that we also have fellowship with the Father, and that so eternally.

It can never be said for the believer that he has lost fellowship with God for if he is a believer then He must be in fellowship with Christ and if with Christ then also with the Father.  And those who are with Him, He holds, and that eternally, such that none can pluck them from His hands.  Thus the salvation of the believer is secured in Christ because of His eternally secure relationship with the Father.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me, and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” John 10:27-29

“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the Word of life, and the life was manifested and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us, what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also so that you too may have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ…if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:1-3, 7

John 1:1

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”

The Word of God is eternal. He has eternally existed. There was nothing “before” Him, for to be “before” Him, He would have needed to be created. But this verse, taken plainly, clearly asserts that He was in the beginning. In the beginning of what you might ask? Well, some would put focus on the term “Word” to attempt to understand the nature of the Word in terms of Greek thought and philosophy. Perhaps this is what the Apostle had in mind and perhaps not. It would seem a more straight forward, natural reading of this verse would draw one’s attention back to “the beginning.” Genesis 1:1 asserts “In the beginning God created…” Thus the beginning that this verse suggests is the beginning of time itself. And for this Word to have been “in the beginning” in the same way in which God is said to have been “in the beginning” is for Him to have eternally existed. He always has been. The passage will go on to say that “all things came into being through Him (the Word) and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” If then all things came into being through Him and if there is nothing that has come into being apart from Him, then He must have existed “before” everything else. He cannot possibly have been created Himself. He must exist eternally.

This Word then is eternal. He has always existed. He is not dependent upon anyone or anything for His existence. He does not need anyone or anything for His existence. He always is.

This is a great comfort for the true believer. For the true believer understands that this One who is called “the Word” who was “in the beginning” is also the One of whom it is said “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The One who has always existed, the eternal Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. And it is this same Word who became flesh who has also become the Savior of all who believe in His name. Thus His salvation of them is as eternal as His very existence. Should He be dependent upon anyone or anything for His existence, the believer would have reason to fear or tremble. However this One who is Himself eternal, by His indestructible life, saves eternally those who through faith believe in Him.

Thus our hope is eternal. For the thing in which we hope is eternal.Many people have hope.  But the thing in which they hope will fail them because it is temporary.  They trust in their friends, their family, their wealth and possessions, they trust in their strength, they trust in their emotions and feelings, they trust in “love,” they trust in other selfish sinful people.  And they are disappointed because those things in which they trust are temporary and uncertain. Our hope is eternal.  Because we trust in the Lord, the eternal Word of God who became flesh for us, who also dwelt among us, who died for us, rose again for us and who lives eternally before God on our behalf.

“The former priests on the one hand existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus on the other hand because He continues forever holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:23-25

Where is your victory?

I just learned that a dear sweet older saint was taken to be with the Lord just recently. I don’t know when, my wife just received word. It was a bit shocking, not so much of a surprise, though she was not – to our knowledge – sick to death. She was of great encouragement to my wife, so it was difficult for her to hear about. And yet as we both sat down thinking about this dear sweet woman and the impact that she had, on my wife in particular, and the love that she showed for us when we were married, we couldn’t help but rejoice.

We rejoiced for her, instead of weeping for her, because the Lord has shown Himself gracious again. The death of a saint is not a thing of itself to rejoice in. The manner in which a person may die has no innate glory of itself. But the product of that death – that they are instantly taken into the presence of the Lord – is certainly something over which to rejoice.

The more I grow and learn about the Lord, the more I grow and learn about the vileness and wickedness of this life and those who love this life, the more my inner man yearns to see the day when we stand in the Holy presence of Almighty God forever. And the more I understand these things, the more I understand the death of a saint to be His grace to them in bringing them sooner into His presence than later. Death will never be easy for us. And indeed death was never intended to be easy for us. I think that I’ve said in an earlier post that death was never intended to be. Death, or separation is not what God intended for His creation. He created us to be together. He created woman for man and that they be together. He designed us to “be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it.” He intended for us to all, together fulfill this plan throughout the earth. But because we sinned, when we sinned, instantly separation arose. Separation arose between us with one another and separation arose between us and God. And eventually that separation, that death, bore itself out in our physical bodies. The reality of spiritual separation became a physical reality as we are not just spiritual or physical beings but both. And what happens to one happens to the other part of us. Thus we all die because we all sin. But because of God’s rich mercy He has graciously bestowed the righteousness of His Son to us who believe. Thus the curse and penalty of sin have been forever removed. And He has granted us life, everlasting, a renewed relationship with one another and with Him for eternity. While this is a present reality – our renewed life – His plans and purposes are still being worked out in this life, thus we presently still await the final consummation when He will totally renew all things. Until that day, we who believe, still die. But we no longer have to fear death – as those who are without the hope of Christ. For Christ has conquered death for us – having proven that by rising from the dead. Thus the death of a saint before the return of Christ is God’s grace, in bringing that saint home to be in His presence, to enjoy eternal rest, comfort, peace, grace, no more to experience hurt, pain, sorrow, sin, or death.

They have gone on ahead of us. They have traveled to those shores of which our hearts assure us, of which our souls long, of which this world has no knowledge.

“O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Corinthians 15:55-57.

Coram Deo – God’s choice, God’s glory

Strange what being sick will do…I missed church this past Sunday for being sick.  I’ve missed church before, being out of town or else having some other specific thing to do…but I don’t remember missing for being sick…at least not much.  I did get to listen to a few MacArthur messages on Ephesians so that was time well spent.  Ephesians is such a beautiful book.  A staple of sorts for the Church.  Anytime you want to think back and meditate on the church and what it is, pick up Ephesians and drink deeply.

Ephesians is packed full of doctrine in almost every paragraph.  Least of which is the doctrine of election which the book of Ephesians so eloquently teaches.  I’m not really sure how anyone can walk away from Ephesians and not come to the conclusion that God has determined that some should be saved solely based upon His free will.  Particularly in Ephesians 1.  Paul reiterates time and again the truth of God’s choosing, predestining, His will – which was that all things be summed up in Christ, and the like.  Furthermore that His free will, His predestining had nothing to do with anything of us, whether work or faith.  It matters not what works we do/did, and it matters not what faith we have/had.  God’s plans, His purposes, His counsel was amongst Himself, for His own glory and pleasure.

This does two things for us.  First it humbles us.  It helps us to see that we are all on the same level playing field.  There is nothing of which it can be said “I had this or that and therefore God chose me.”  It doesn’t matter if it be a work or faith.  There is no thing within man of which God was obligated to choose to save Him.  Salvation is God’s grace which necessarily must be free and without obligation or else it is no longer grace but payment for what is due.  And may it never be said that the Church of Jesus Christ teaches that God the Almighty is in anyway obligated to respond and save anyone apart from by His own free, unmerited (whether by work or faith) grace.

Second it must cause us to rejoice.  This whole sentence which Paul writes in chapter 1 is an expression of thanksgiving and praise to God for what He has done for us in salvation, the least of which is that this salvation is His predetermined plan from before the world was made.  What joy should that afford us!  That God Almighty set His affections on us before time began.  He could have set His affection upon any of His created beings and yet He has chosen to do so for us.  If ever there were a thing for someone to have confidence in, if ever there were a thing for a man to boast it, it must be this…that the Lord has done great things!  And that the Lord has done great things for us in Christ!

God chose us.  God determined that we would be united with Christ.  God called us.  God justified us.  And God has glorified us.  And now we may be certain that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!”

To God be the Glory!

Promises…

Hebrews 6:11-20 “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.” And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

I was reading this passage of Hebrews to my daughters tonight…yes to my very young daughters. You might wonder what such young children will be able to glean from the book of Hebrews. Well, you’d be surprised how much children can understand and particularly how powerful the Word of God is in the lives of young impressionable minds. We feed their minds with so many other things on a daily basis – somethings we have control over and some things we do not. Why not feed them that which is living and enduring, that which is pure and upright, that which is able to save their souls? Why not feed them the Words of God and allow the Word of God to do what it says that it will do…”make wise the simple”? I digress…

The thing that impacted me in reading and explaining this passage to my girls (hoping to highlight the Supremacy of Christ as our High Priest and as the sacrifice which He has offered on our behalf to God) is the greatness of God’s promise. For that is the very point of this section.

Men make promises daily. And often (as we did when we were children) men will substantiate their promise by swearing by something that appears to be greater than them. “I swear on my mother’s grave…” or “I swear on the Bible” or some other perhaps semi-blasphemous oath. At any rate, men swear by such things in order to confirm the authenticity of their oaths. Even our judicial system (surprisingly) made use of the Bible as a means of authenticating their oath of truth before their testimony. However as we already know, these oaths that men take are really only as reliable as the one making the oath.

In reality the thing that they swear by has no real power over them to cause them to keep the oath. A person’s mother’s grave for example has no power to persuade and enable a man to keep an oath, any more than the physical Bible that a person places their hand upon has power to enable them to keep their oath. It is really the quality of a man’s heart that will determine his trustworthiness, the authenticity of his oath.

Well…what does God swear by? In our passage, looking back upon God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis, God swears by Himself. “I will surely bless you.” And it is the fact of God’s unchangeableness, God’s inability to lie, God’s own trustworthiness that gives credence to that oath. There is no one or no thing greater than Himself by which God may swear by. And alas, there is no other one/thing necessary for God to swear by because He Himself always speaks the truth. Every word of God is truth – that is the testimony of our Lord Jesus.

Thus it is this same promise that God made to Abraham, and Abraham’s faith in this promise which is held up for us as an example. It is an example for us to persevere and to show great diligence in holding to our confession regardless of what may come. Circumstances in life may change, people may change, our own heart attitudes and emotions can and will change. But God and His promises remain constant. And whatever promises He has given to His elect, it is these promises which are to us “an anchor to the soul.”

Life is replete with inconsistencies, disappointments, disasters, troubles and uncertainties. But God’s Word endures forever. The promises of God are yes and Amen! The Hope that we have is sure and steadfast, as sure as our Lord and Savior has already entered in behind the veil and has sat down at the right hand of God, forever as our Great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Health, finances, family, weakness in the flesh, etc. will come and go. We, ourselves, are continually being changed and transformed. But God remains the same. His promise of rest remains. The sacrifice of His Son is eternally sufficient for those to whom it is promised. And His power is eternally great to usher them in to that rest when that day should come.

Should your heart feel adrift in the current of circumstance and uncertainty, let this one truth anchor your soul…that the Word of the Lord endures forever. And if this is the Word that was preached to you and you have believed, then trust that His Word is eternally and fully sufficient to keep you until that day. Our salvation is secure beloved, not because of our deeds of righteousness but because of the righteous sacrifice of the righteous Son has secured it.  In this let your heart rejoice.

And as our heavenly Father is perfect, be ye perfect.  Let your yes be yes and your no be no.  Do not swear by heaven or by earth.  Be a man or woman of truth.

Maranatha!

Recent Messages

Here are a couple of recent messages.  The first has been one of my favorite studies recently, drawn from 2 Timothy.  I’m starting to feel a certain kindred spirit with Timothy for a number of reasons.  I can appreciate his situation there in Ephesus though I am no where close to it.  But certain elements of his character and calling I can relate to.

The Blessing of a Word Drive Disciple

This next message is on Psa 67 and is a part of our Missions Emphasis weeks at HBC.  The three messages were to work together, the first (the one I delivered) to give a general view of Missions as God’s overall plan for redemption.  The second to talk specifically about a Biblical philosophy of Missions for the church.  And the third to be even more practical in terms of how to develop and implement missions in the local church.  As I listened to it again, I realize that it could use a lot of work, though I think that the point is made.  I would definitely recommend listening to the other two as well.  “What is Biblical Missions” and “Send them in a manner worthy.”  Their links are in the “HBC – Audio” on the left side of this page.

The Joy of the Nations is in the Rule of the Lord

Ever dependent…

Psalm 104:27-30

“They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good. You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground.”

The words of this Psalm speak of absolute dependence. The creation of God, the works of His hands, is ever subject to His rule, governance and provision. Every element of His creation owes its existence and purpose to Him. He has created it. He has established its boundaries. He formed it. He gives it direction. He commissions it to do His bidding. And much more than that, He provides for it. He cares for it. He watches over it. He is actively involved in its nourishment and care, from the greatest of His creation to the very least and insignificant.

All of God’s works wait for Him. Regardless of whether they understand it, acknowledge it or celebrate it, all of His works wait for Him. Because we are utterly dependent upon Him.

The Psalmist sits back and meditates upon this and is glad. He thinks about the creative work of God and His benevolent care for what He has created and he sings for joy!

Who are the sinners and the wicked but those who fail to acknowledge the grace of their Creator in His first and enduring work of grace towards them? Who are they but those who fail to acknowledge and praise Him for that same grace?

Let your soul rejoice in the Lord today. Your creator God. The One who sustains all things by the Word of His power. The One whose glory endures forever. Let your heart rejoice in that One for He is worthy of our praise!

Indeed may all who fail to acknowledge and rejoice in their creator God be consumed from the earth to be no more.

Maranatha

Coram Deo – Reckon the Reward

Sin is a lack of faith.  It is short sightedness.  It is an affront against the goodness of God.  It is the choice to partake in the passing pleasures associated with this world above that which is eternal and infinitely more enjoyable in God.  Consider what is said of Moses in Hebrews as he is praised for his faith in the God who is a rewarder of those who seek Him, “Moses when he became of age refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter, choosing rather o suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”

In this description we notice 4 things, not in any particular order:

1)  Sin is pleasurable.  The alternative for Moses were the “treasures of Egypt.”  What pleasures would have been available for the son of Pharoah’s daughter?  It was not a small thing for Moses to simply choose not to partake in these things.  They were treasures.  They were glorious.  He probably would have had any number of pleasurable things at his disposal.  And so for us, in our “Egypt.”  Though we are not sons of Pharoah’s daughter, we have so many “treasures” and “pleasures” available at our very finger tips.  It does the believer no good to attempt to deny the desirability of sin.  James says that temptation is temptation precisely because it caters to a desire within the person who is tempted. Sin is desirable, just as the fruit was desirable to the eyes of our first father and mother in the garden, such that they sinned against their God.

2)  Sin must be deal with. Sin cannot be ignored.  Temptation cannot be ignored.  And it cannot be fought.  A person cannot man-up and struggle their way through a temptation as to overcome it.  We are told, in Timothy to “flee” from immorality.  Peter told us to “abstain” from fleshly lusts because they wage war against our souls.  Abstain – hold back from, keep away from anything that pertains to the lusts of the flesh.  We must flee from it, we cannot simply ignore it.  The problem is that most of the time, that which tempts us is not the wife of Potipher.  In those situations, many of us who have the spirit of God would turn in run.  But it is often not those situations in which we find ourselves.  We find ourselves in situations where we have to make a thousand little choices every single day in order to flee.  And every one of those thousand little choices can either bring us closer to sin or closer to the Lord.  Perhaps you’ll never have to decide whether to stay in Egypt or not.  But each day you must sit in front of your desk at work and decide to waste time or be productive.  Each day you must sit at your computer and decide to spend time looking at worthless things or to spend you time wisely in the Lord.  Each moment you must decide to complain and gripe about a situation that is difficult for you or to accept it as the Lord’s will for this season.  Each moment you decide how to respond to an arrogant, ignorant, hostile or demanding person in your life, whether you will continue to pursue righteousness or respond to them in the flesh. The point is that fleeing is not often a one time event, but rather a conscious decision that must be made daily, yea even each moment of your day.

3)  Often association with God brings affliction. This is clear and obvious from the text in Hebrews as well as it says plainly that Moses’ choice was to suffer affliction with the people of God.  Paul said to Timothy that “all who desire to live godly will face persecution.”   And that in the greater context of 2 Timothy where affliction and hardship is a major theme that Paul sought to convey to Timothy.  The man of God will face persecution from those who are crooked and perverse in his generation.  It must happen.  This world is anti-God and anti-Christ.  Those who are called by His name will receive just what He received.  Turning from sin to serve God is not an easy thing.  It is not a turning to “your best life now.”  It is a turning from the pleasures of this world to the cross of Christ, and it is taking up our own cross and making that same journey of death with Him…though it is a death to eternal life. If it were not for the cross, the world would be flocking in droves to the call of Christ.  But that is not the case because the call of Christ, a crucified and slain Christ, is foolishness to them.

4)  That brings us to our last point.  Pursuing holiness leads to the reward. Holiness is the opposite of sin.  Sin seeks its own apart from God.  Holiness seeks the pleasure of God in doing what is pleasing to Him.  While sin’s reward of pleasure is indeed enjoyable for a moment it is in reality only an illusion.  The one who is deluded may find great pleasure in his psychotic episode.  He may run free with reckless abandon in a secluded wood.  He may spend endless hours feasting upon his favorite meal.  But when he awakens from his slumber his belly will still be empty.  And if he were in his  delusion for long, the hunger pains may well lead him to starve himself to death.  There is no true reward with sin.  Only the image of a reward and an empty belly.  The reward of God is a reward indeed.  It is the reward of a better country.  Though a spiritual reality, a reality indeed.  Though unseen, its substance is what yields eternal pleasure and everlasting joy.  The reward of God is as real and eternal as God Himself, for He is the reward.  And the Christ of God is the reward giver who gives to all who both believe God and believe that He does reward those who diligently seek Him.

Reckon the reward.  Know that no matter how scintillating or how pleasurable the sin may be, beneath its surface lies a whirlpool which drags its captive down to the abyss of death.  But beyond the treacherous roads of Holiness mountain lies greater reward.  “In His face is the fullness of joy and in His right hand are pleasures forevermore!”