Step Two: After we realize our need for salvation we then experience His irresistable grace leading us toward faith
It is clear in Scripture that the Holy Spirit can be resisted in many ways. In Acts 7:51 Stephen calls the Jewish leaders stiff necked and resisting the Spirit as their fathers had done. Paul talks throughout the Epistles of the grieving of the Spirit and the quenching as well (Ephesians 4:30 and 1 Thessalonians 5:19). Think of the nation of Israel and the consistent resistance they displayed throughout the Old Testament.
The grace that is irresistable however is the reality that God is sovereign and can overcome all resistance when He so wills. Psalm 115:3 says, "When God undertakes to fulfill His sovereign purpose, no one can successfully resist Him." The summation of this Truth is simply that the sovereign God can overcome the rebellion of our sinful hearts and bring us to faith in Christ for salvation. Piper says that "If a person becomes humble enough to submit to God it is because God has given that person a new and humble nature. If a person remains too hard hearted and proud to submit to God it is because that person has not been given such a willing spirit." John 6:64-65 says that "But there are some of you that do not believe".
Repentance is refered to as a "gift" (John 6:65) "He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him": that seems pretty clear that even the prereqs of salvation are also a gift. God however never forces anyone to believe against their will, in fact the whole idea of irresistable grace is "compatible with preaching and witnessing that tries to persuade people to do what is reasonable and what will accord with their best interests" (Piper).
1 Corinthians 1:23-24 "But we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." Piper explains this passage well...the following is from a snipit of His writing:
Paul's call goes out to all, both Jews and Gentiles. This is a "general" Gospel call, offering salvation to all who will believe on the crucified Christ. It is mostly foolishness falling on unreceptive ears. Then Paul refers to a second call, the call that goes to the "called". This has to be the irresistable call of God out of darkness into light. If ALL who are called in this sense regard the cross as the power of God, the something in the call must effect the faith...irresistable grace. Since men are blinded to the worth of Christ, a miracle is needed in order for them to come to see and believe. The effectual call is the miracle of having our blindness removed, irresistable grace. Acts 16:14 says when referring to Lydia, "The Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul". This new birth that one experiences as Nicodemus was bewildered by as being "born again", is the enablement of a formerly dead person to receive Christ and be saved. Faith is the evidence that God has begotten us a new. This birth isn't possible by the will of man, as all of Ephesians 2 talks about and what we explained in the previous blog is that man is dead. A dead person doesn't talk, breath, move, blink...nothing, they are dead. It was HE who woke us up.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Chewing on Truth Part 2
Step One: Realizing our Depravity and Need for a Savior
The word depravity, the whole idea, refers to our condition apart from God's grace. Man being depraved could be more evil then he/she is, but our condition must be compared to God not to other men and women. Our rebellion against the creator God is total in that there is no desire for holiness or submission to a perfect GOd. Even though fallen man can be "religious", Jesus himself in Matthew 6:1-18 expressed the reality that religion, unless coming from a childlike heart of faith, is pride and self-reliance. We must realize, especially those of us who have been saved should be able to recognize and remember that prior to our coming to life in Him, we didn't seek after God. And for those of you who might say that you did, what were your motives? Self preservation? Romans 3 makes it clear that nobody does good, nobody seeks God.
Our depravity is the result of the fact that we sin because we are sinners not sinners because we sin. Romans 14:23 says that "Anything not from faith is sin". Paul himself said earlier in the book, Romans 7:18, that no good dwells within him. Our depravity causes us to be UNABLE to submit to God and do good. Romans 8:7-8 says "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God".
Need some more verses on depravity?
- Ephesians 2:1 "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins."
-Ezekiel 36:36 " I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
-2 Corinthians 4:4-6 "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."
And we must remember that as James 2:10 says, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." That means that well here think about this illustration for a moment; you have two PERFECT mirrors (just imagine). Then you take a pebble and throw it at the top right corner of one, and there is a tiny scratch, is the mirror perfect? No. And then you take a large rock and throw it at mirror number two and it shatters into hundreds of pieces. Is that mirror perfect? Obviously not. Both mirrors, although one way worse then the other, are imperfect. It is the same with fallen humanity. The standard is holiness aka perfection and nobody, not Mother Teresa, not the missionary who gave his life in China, not Paul, not Peter, not John the Baptist, not Mary the mother of Jesus, not Moses, Abraham or Job...NOBODY is perfect apart from Jesus Christ.
So what then? What does our depravity deserve? All of us would believe the following (just a few examples):
- 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 "God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power"
- Matthew 10:18 "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
- Matthew 13:49 "This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous"
-Revelation 14:9-11 "A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name"
HELL! We deserve hell. Our depravity as Piper says, "means that our rebellion against God is total, everything we do is in rebellion is sin and our inability to submit to God or reform ourselves, save ourselves, is TOTAL, and we therefore totally deserve eternal punishment"...it just makes sense. There is no way that we can find even a single verse in Scripture that would teach the opposite, that would show that in someway, some of us or even all of us have even a pinch of "good" in us apart from the grace of God. I challenge you to seek to find even one verse. If we can humble ourselves to this Truth, when we can really understand the bad news, we will be able to see the awe and amazement of the Truth in a whole new light, the good news will be amazingly glorious.
The word depravity, the whole idea, refers to our condition apart from God's grace. Man being depraved could be more evil then he/she is, but our condition must be compared to God not to other men and women. Our rebellion against the creator God is total in that there is no desire for holiness or submission to a perfect GOd. Even though fallen man can be "religious", Jesus himself in Matthew 6:1-18 expressed the reality that religion, unless coming from a childlike heart of faith, is pride and self-reliance. We must realize, especially those of us who have been saved should be able to recognize and remember that prior to our coming to life in Him, we didn't seek after God. And for those of you who might say that you did, what were your motives? Self preservation? Romans 3 makes it clear that nobody does good, nobody seeks God.
Our depravity is the result of the fact that we sin because we are sinners not sinners because we sin. Romans 14:23 says that "Anything not from faith is sin". Paul himself said earlier in the book, Romans 7:18, that no good dwells within him. Our depravity causes us to be UNABLE to submit to God and do good. Romans 8:7-8 says "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God".
Need some more verses on depravity?
- Ephesians 2:1 "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins."
-Ezekiel 36:36 " I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
-2 Corinthians 4:4-6 "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."
And we must remember that as James 2:10 says, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." That means that well here think about this illustration for a moment; you have two PERFECT mirrors (just imagine). Then you take a pebble and throw it at the top right corner of one, and there is a tiny scratch, is the mirror perfect? No. And then you take a large rock and throw it at mirror number two and it shatters into hundreds of pieces. Is that mirror perfect? Obviously not. Both mirrors, although one way worse then the other, are imperfect. It is the same with fallen humanity. The standard is holiness aka perfection and nobody, not Mother Teresa, not the missionary who gave his life in China, not Paul, not Peter, not John the Baptist, not Mary the mother of Jesus, not Moses, Abraham or Job...NOBODY is perfect apart from Jesus Christ.
So what then? What does our depravity deserve? All of us would believe the following (just a few examples):
- 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 "God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power"
- Matthew 10:18 "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
- Matthew 13:49 "This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous"
-Revelation 14:9-11 "A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name"
HELL! We deserve hell. Our depravity as Piper says, "means that our rebellion against God is total, everything we do is in rebellion is sin and our inability to submit to God or reform ourselves, save ourselves, is TOTAL, and we therefore totally deserve eternal punishment"...it just makes sense. There is no way that we can find even a single verse in Scripture that would teach the opposite, that would show that in someway, some of us or even all of us have even a pinch of "good" in us apart from the grace of God. I challenge you to seek to find even one verse. If we can humble ourselves to this Truth, when we can really understand the bad news, we will be able to see the awe and amazement of the Truth in a whole new light, the good news will be amazingly glorious.
Chewing on Truth Part 1
Over the past 8 years of my walk with my Jesus I have grown in the knowledge of Him by His grace (Colossians 1:10) and have wrestled with many precious Truths of Scripture trying to I suppose reconcile what in my head seemed to be logical conflicts. What of course I discovered time and time again was the reality of my finite human brain and the greatness of our God and the fact that the more I studied and sought the Truth the more He revealed it to me. James 1:5 stood true, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." My prayer is that through this blog you would be challenged and encouraged to seek the Truth for yourself through His Word.
I remember my moment of salvation quite clearly, in fact if any of you know me, or have read my past blogs you know that my point of conversion was some 10 years after I thought I had been saved. Much like Charles Spurgeon I had come to Christ originally thinking that I was doing it all myself, that I was seeking Him, but what He revealed to me 10 years later was it was HE who was seeking me. I remember the moment when I realized that there was a complete exchange of resumes, Jesus' for mine and that nothing I brought to the table was going to make my standing before a holy God "good enough". When I began to think about how I became a Christian, I began to realize that I shouldn't have sought after Him if He hadn't put an influence inside my heart and mind. The doctrines of what have come to be known as "Calvinism" are taboo in many Christian circles and rarely discussed in depth leaving many "Christians" trying to chew on meat that seems impossible to swallow. Trying to reconcile a tension on our brains between the culpability for our own sin and the reality of a sovereign God who chooses us from before the foundation of the earth causes many to wrestle with countless thoughts night and day. So what to do then? Do we leave it alone because the tension is unresolvable? Do we not seek the Truth and treat it as a "minor" issue rather than a "major" one necessary for salvation? I don't think Paul would encourage us any differently then He did the Bereans who were good students of the word...we too must be the same!
I have wanted to write series of blogs about this topic for quite sometime but I have been a bit hesitant because of the weight of the Truths it would contain and because even more so I am only 8 years old in my faith and I myself still am not even close to understanding it all, but as I journey in the quest for Truth through the pursuit of the word of God I pray that what I have found biblically to be true would encourage you as well as you seek to grow in your holiness.
"The more you feast on his fellowship, the hunbrier you are for deepr and richer communication. We do not begin as Calvinists and defend a system. We begin as Bible believing Christians who want to put the Bible above all systems of thought. But over the years--many years of struggle-- we have deepened in our conviction that Calvinistic teachings on the five points are Biblical and therefore true. Our own struggle makes us patient with others who are on the way. We believe that all wrestling to understand what the Bible teaches about God is worth it. God is a rock of strength in a world of quicksand. To know him in His sovereignty is to become like an oak tree in the wind of adversity and confusion. And along the strength is sweetness and tenderness beyond imagination. The sovereign Lion of Judah is the sweet Lamb of God." -John Piper
Let us throw the word "Calvinism" aside for the time being and rather call what we are trying to discover Christianity, what the Bible calls it. Our desire, as believers, is to make sure that we honor God by rightly handling the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15). As Jesus is our perfect example of humility and as we are striving to be like Him (aka God is making us more like Him), we need to humbly be willing and open to change any of our ideas which could be contradictory to the Word of God. In order however to more clearly understand the process of regeneration I am going to use some of the words used in the system of Calvinism. Again I pray you will be encouraged!
I remember my moment of salvation quite clearly, in fact if any of you know me, or have read my past blogs you know that my point of conversion was some 10 years after I thought I had been saved. Much like Charles Spurgeon I had come to Christ originally thinking that I was doing it all myself, that I was seeking Him, but what He revealed to me 10 years later was it was HE who was seeking me. I remember the moment when I realized that there was a complete exchange of resumes, Jesus' for mine and that nothing I brought to the table was going to make my standing before a holy God "good enough". When I began to think about how I became a Christian, I began to realize that I shouldn't have sought after Him if He hadn't put an influence inside my heart and mind. The doctrines of what have come to be known as "Calvinism" are taboo in many Christian circles and rarely discussed in depth leaving many "Christians" trying to chew on meat that seems impossible to swallow. Trying to reconcile a tension on our brains between the culpability for our own sin and the reality of a sovereign God who chooses us from before the foundation of the earth causes many to wrestle with countless thoughts night and day. So what to do then? Do we leave it alone because the tension is unresolvable? Do we not seek the Truth and treat it as a "minor" issue rather than a "major" one necessary for salvation? I don't think Paul would encourage us any differently then He did the Bereans who were good students of the word...we too must be the same!
I have wanted to write series of blogs about this topic for quite sometime but I have been a bit hesitant because of the weight of the Truths it would contain and because even more so I am only 8 years old in my faith and I myself still am not even close to understanding it all, but as I journey in the quest for Truth through the pursuit of the word of God I pray that what I have found biblically to be true would encourage you as well as you seek to grow in your holiness.
"The more you feast on his fellowship, the hunbrier you are for deepr and richer communication. We do not begin as Calvinists and defend a system. We begin as Bible believing Christians who want to put the Bible above all systems of thought. But over the years--many years of struggle-- we have deepened in our conviction that Calvinistic teachings on the five points are Biblical and therefore true. Our own struggle makes us patient with others who are on the way. We believe that all wrestling to understand what the Bible teaches about God is worth it. God is a rock of strength in a world of quicksand. To know him in His sovereignty is to become like an oak tree in the wind of adversity and confusion. And along the strength is sweetness and tenderness beyond imagination. The sovereign Lion of Judah is the sweet Lamb of God." -John Piper
Let us throw the word "Calvinism" aside for the time being and rather call what we are trying to discover Christianity, what the Bible calls it. Our desire, as believers, is to make sure that we honor God by rightly handling the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15). As Jesus is our perfect example of humility and as we are striving to be like Him (aka God is making us more like Him), we need to humbly be willing and open to change any of our ideas which could be contradictory to the Word of God. In order however to more clearly understand the process of regeneration I am going to use some of the words used in the system of Calvinism. Again I pray you will be encouraged!
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Truth Bearer?
"If you are of the truth, if you have learned the truth, if you see the sanctity of the truth, then speak truth. We are not called to be deceivers or liars. God is a God of truth, and His people are called to have an enormously high standard of truth." -R.C. Sproul
"Truth has no degrees or shades. A half truth is a whole lie, and a white lie is really black." -John MacArthur
I was recently thinking about the truth, the truth spoken from our mouths. I guess the reality is that most people have come to believe that lying, even small lies, are okay, not that big of a deal and can just be glazed over, but is that really what God's word says? James 3 is a powerful passage on the tongue and the truth behind the fire that it blazes. "And the tongue is a fire, a world of righteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell" (James 3:6). When did it become okay to tell half truths, when was it acceptable among Christians to lie to make someone feel better, or to omit truth in certain contexts? When did we decide to determine what was acceptable before a holy God and what was permissable in our own lives?
I guess I am foremost speaking to myself when I say all this, I have come to realize that although I would never have said I am a liar or that I struggle with lying, my speech and conduct don't always reveal that. Thinking back on the past week, how many times have I exaggerated, smoothed things over with a white lie, or not told the whole truth to make myself look better or to make a situation seem a certain way? I can't say it has never happend because the truth is it has, and often times it has happened as a practice, in other words I do it without even realizing I am doing it...that is scary! John MacArthur said it well, "Satan is the prince of this world, and since he not only is a liar himself but also "the father of lies" (John 8:44), it should not be surprising that the system he heads is characterized by lying... Our whole society is largely built on a network of fabrication, of manufactured "truth." We shade truth, we cheat, we exaggerate, we misrepresent income tax deductions, we make promises we have no intention of keeping, we make up excuses, and betray confidences - all as a matter of normal, everyday living."
As we read on James 3 it becomes obvious that with the same tongue that we sing praises to the Lord with, or tell of His wonderful deeds, is the same tongue that we curse with, make false promises to, and say things that are exaggerations or just plain lies...how can this be? Christians of all people need to be a people marked by Truth because we have the absolute TRUTH in the Word of God. If our lives are marked by half-truths, unkept promises, and white lies how can we be taken seriously when we share the real Truth of the Gospel? When I began to think of it that way, I began to realize the weight of the situation. I want to represent God in all areas of my life, especially in the area of my tongue, because it is there that I will represent the Truth of the Gospel as well in the most outright way.
May we as Christians strive to reign our tongues by the power of the Lord, may we listen to the conviction of the Spirit and respond, may we speak truth no matter what the cost, and may that give us the authority to preach the Gospel wherever we go!
"Think about how much falsehood and deceit there is in the world! How much exaggeration! How many untruths are added to a simple story! How many things are left out, if it does not serve the speaker's interest to tell them! How few there are around us of whom we can say, that we trust their word without question!" -J.C. Ryle
"Truth has no degrees or shades. A half truth is a whole lie, and a white lie is really black." -John MacArthur
I was recently thinking about the truth, the truth spoken from our mouths. I guess the reality is that most people have come to believe that lying, even small lies, are okay, not that big of a deal and can just be glazed over, but is that really what God's word says? James 3 is a powerful passage on the tongue and the truth behind the fire that it blazes. "And the tongue is a fire, a world of righteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell" (James 3:6). When did it become okay to tell half truths, when was it acceptable among Christians to lie to make someone feel better, or to omit truth in certain contexts? When did we decide to determine what was acceptable before a holy God and what was permissable in our own lives?
I guess I am foremost speaking to myself when I say all this, I have come to realize that although I would never have said I am a liar or that I struggle with lying, my speech and conduct don't always reveal that. Thinking back on the past week, how many times have I exaggerated, smoothed things over with a white lie, or not told the whole truth to make myself look better or to make a situation seem a certain way? I can't say it has never happend because the truth is it has, and often times it has happened as a practice, in other words I do it without even realizing I am doing it...that is scary! John MacArthur said it well, "Satan is the prince of this world, and since he not only is a liar himself but also "the father of lies" (John 8:44), it should not be surprising that the system he heads is characterized by lying... Our whole society is largely built on a network of fabrication, of manufactured "truth." We shade truth, we cheat, we exaggerate, we misrepresent income tax deductions, we make promises we have no intention of keeping, we make up excuses, and betray confidences - all as a matter of normal, everyday living."
As we read on James 3 it becomes obvious that with the same tongue that we sing praises to the Lord with, or tell of His wonderful deeds, is the same tongue that we curse with, make false promises to, and say things that are exaggerations or just plain lies...how can this be? Christians of all people need to be a people marked by Truth because we have the absolute TRUTH in the Word of God. If our lives are marked by half-truths, unkept promises, and white lies how can we be taken seriously when we share the real Truth of the Gospel? When I began to think of it that way, I began to realize the weight of the situation. I want to represent God in all areas of my life, especially in the area of my tongue, because it is there that I will represent the Truth of the Gospel as well in the most outright way.
May we as Christians strive to reign our tongues by the power of the Lord, may we listen to the conviction of the Spirit and respond, may we speak truth no matter what the cost, and may that give us the authority to preach the Gospel wherever we go!
"Think about how much falsehood and deceit there is in the world! How much exaggeration! How many untruths are added to a simple story! How many things are left out, if it does not serve the speaker's interest to tell them! How few there are around us of whom we can say, that we trust their word without question!" -J.C. Ryle
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thankful...With ALL My Heart
As I sit and think about thanksgiving this year and the many things I am thankful for I can't help but remember the cross, and the free gift of grace that was given to me; to say thank you just doesn't seem like enough. I don't really even think I can begin to comprehend what God has done for me through the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross, no matter how many times I read passages like Ephesians 2 or Isaiah 53, I don't fully grasp it, I feel as though I am digging deeper into a love that has no end. A love that is more precious than gold and will never change or fade, a love that is forever mine.
I was thinking about what thanks even means, what does it mean to say "thank you" or to be thankful? Is it merely a word, because quite frankly I can be honest and admit that I have said "thank you" without really being thankful for it. I looked up the word "thanksgiving" in both the dictionary and in the Greek and Hebrew and here is what I found:
Merriam Webster: a) the act of giving thanks (grateful thoughts, gratitude) b) a prayer expressing gratitude c) a public acknowledgement or celebration of divine goodness
Hebrew Lexicon: a celebration of thanks, an acclaim, s inging
Greek Lexicon: an expression of thanks
When I looked at all these defitions the common theme was an expression, or in other words, an action. I guess what I realized was that thanksgiving, being thankful had to be cultivated from within the heart, it had to be something mediated upon, and expressed not merely a word, or a passing thought. I realize that I must have a response to something in order to be grateful for it, or thankful; I must actually respond with an expression of thanks and not merely just look at and not ponder it often. I was thinking about how I should and need to respond to the cross of Christ ALL THE TIME, not just during thanksgiving, and that is with a response of loving Him with all my heart. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Of course we are quick to say that's impossible, but is it something that we shouldn't strive for then? That we shouldn't want to do? Absolutely not! We should desire with everything within us to love God with everything that is within us, to strive towards loving Him more everyday and to ask Him to enable us to do that.
I have SO much to be thankful for, the neverending blessings that our God has showered upon me is but a taste of the eternity we have to hope in. But our thanksgiving for ALL things must begin at the reflection of what happened over 2000 years ago in a small town in Israel, when a man of lowly form, his image distorted by wounds unbearable, wearing a crown of thorns, bore a cross down a road as the crowd, His chosen people, who had once accepted him, followed him chose to mock him and crucify him openly... And I wonder what thoughts could be pouring through the head of our precious savior, and then I realize it was me...it was you! And as he hung like a prisoner from a tree with nails and struggled just to breath what did He see? He saw YOU and ME. And then His Father, His perfect Father, crushed him, in fact according to Isaiah 53 He was pleased to crush Him, he was PLEASED to crush Him with the weight of all of my sin and all of yours and pour his wrath upon His precious and beloved son...but why? Because He loved YOU and He loved me! And the pinacle of the redemptive story was accomplished as the King of the Jews bled, hung and died there, all of creation crying as the ground shook below. And in that moment, the victory was WON, it was finished and He conquered death forever. And then three days later rose from the grave, HE HAD WON, and now and forevermore He reigns victoriously in heaven with the Father! It is there that our thanksgiving must always begin both on thanksgiving and each day, and it is from there that we drive motivation and desire to truly love him with ALL OUR HEARTS in response...how could we not.
I was thinking about what thanks even means, what does it mean to say "thank you" or to be thankful? Is it merely a word, because quite frankly I can be honest and admit that I have said "thank you" without really being thankful for it. I looked up the word "thanksgiving" in both the dictionary and in the Greek and Hebrew and here is what I found:
Merriam Webster: a) the act of giving thanks (grateful thoughts, gratitude) b) a prayer expressing gratitude c) a public acknowledgement or celebration of divine goodness
Hebrew Lexicon: a celebration of thanks, an acclaim, s inging
Greek Lexicon: an expression of thanks
When I looked at all these defitions the common theme was an expression, or in other words, an action. I guess what I realized was that thanksgiving, being thankful had to be cultivated from within the heart, it had to be something mediated upon, and expressed not merely a word, or a passing thought. I realize that I must have a response to something in order to be grateful for it, or thankful; I must actually respond with an expression of thanks and not merely just look at and not ponder it often. I was thinking about how I should and need to respond to the cross of Christ ALL THE TIME, not just during thanksgiving, and that is with a response of loving Him with all my heart. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Of course we are quick to say that's impossible, but is it something that we shouldn't strive for then? That we shouldn't want to do? Absolutely not! We should desire with everything within us to love God with everything that is within us, to strive towards loving Him more everyday and to ask Him to enable us to do that.
I have SO much to be thankful for, the neverending blessings that our God has showered upon me is but a taste of the eternity we have to hope in. But our thanksgiving for ALL things must begin at the reflection of what happened over 2000 years ago in a small town in Israel, when a man of lowly form, his image distorted by wounds unbearable, wearing a crown of thorns, bore a cross down a road as the crowd, His chosen people, who had once accepted him, followed him chose to mock him and crucify him openly... And I wonder what thoughts could be pouring through the head of our precious savior, and then I realize it was me...it was you! And as he hung like a prisoner from a tree with nails and struggled just to breath what did He see? He saw YOU and ME. And then His Father, His perfect Father, crushed him, in fact according to Isaiah 53 He was pleased to crush Him, he was PLEASED to crush Him with the weight of all of my sin and all of yours and pour his wrath upon His precious and beloved son...but why? Because He loved YOU and He loved me! And the pinacle of the redemptive story was accomplished as the King of the Jews bled, hung and died there, all of creation crying as the ground shook below. And in that moment, the victory was WON, it was finished and He conquered death forever. And then three days later rose from the grave, HE HAD WON, and now and forevermore He reigns victoriously in heaven with the Father! It is there that our thanksgiving must always begin both on thanksgiving and each day, and it is from there that we drive motivation and desire to truly love him with ALL OUR HEARTS in response...how could we not.
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