The Jesus Story (4): A Story of Forgiveness

I am thinking and rethinking Acts, the gospel, the good news of Jesus. This sermon series seeks to summarize what I saw when I studied Acts. We know these stories—do we really know these stories?
I see in this series a study of first steps toward obedience, responding to and living out the Easter story, the Jesus story. How? Lesson #4, the story of Jesus, what does it mean?
The fourth truth—the story of Jesus is a forgiveness story. There may be a better word, there may be a word that connects with the contemporary world, but the story of Jesus is a continuation of God’s forgiveness story for the world. I am not sure how we can tell the gospel story, the story of Jesus, the Easter story, without proclaiming that the story of Jesus is a forgiveness story.
There are softer words—redemption, reconciliation; there are related words and phrases that seek healthier living, better relationships, etc. etc. etc. But the message must not be forgotten. My greatest need must not be overlooked. The Easter story is meaningless without an awareness of sin. The importance of the Jesus story in my life depends on my understanding of my need for forgiveness.

Forgive–
Acts 2:38, Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 5:31, God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins.
Acts 8:22, Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.
Acts 10:43, All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Acts 13:38, “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

Save–
Acts 2:21, And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Acts 2:40, With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Acts 2:47, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 4:12, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Acts 11:14, He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’
Acts 15:1, Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Acts 15:11, No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
Acts 16:17, She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”
Acts 16:30, He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Acts 16:31, They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

The Easter story is the story of my forgiveness, of your forgiveness. God doing what we could not do for ourselves. A death and life story for everyone, because everyone is need of God, restored relationship.

Bible backgrounds point to our need for a forgiveness story!
• Creator God exists, evidence all around us. There is a God.
• He wants to be recognized, he wants to be known, and he wants to be known as he is, for who he is—holy, loving, just. Recognize him.
• He wants to be reverenced, worshiped. Respect him.
• He created humankind for relationship, he desires relationship, which relationship was broken by the entry of sin into the world. Respond to him.
• He desired restored relationship—-reconciliation, redemption, he has acted; his gracious action motivates repentance and changed lives; he makes possible restored relationship vertically, but also horizontally.
• He wants us to reflect his glory.

When we tell the story of Jesus, do we make it easy for others to see its importance? In my observation, we too often begin in the wrong place, or we begin without establishing basic fundamental truths that make the story important to every person.

No matter how well I live, how good I am, how much I do, how active I am, I need the story of Jesus. I am grateful for the story of Jesus. It is life-saving, it is relationship-building, it orients me for life. I am seeking God so I can share him. I am forgiven to forgive. He saves, he keeps me saved.
He places me in a safe place, a place where he keeps all of his saved ones. That is the church. That is not the subject of this series, but that is a biblical concept that we human beings have also messed up royally. I want to come to that after we study God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

The story of Jesus is a story of forgiveness: help, hope, and home.

Why Does the Date of Easter Change?

A few days ago, my wife observed, “Easter is later this year.” A couple of days earlier, a friend had remarked that Easter seems to be a little earlier this year.” Can both be right? Can Easter be both early and late in the same year? How early can it be? How late can it be? And why does the date of Easter change?

Calendar making was not an exact science in times past. The first calendars were lunar and amazingly accurate, being based on the 13 lunar cycles per year (364 days). In the time of Jesus, the lunar and solar cycles were known, but the 12-month calendar we know today (which keeps our calendar in sync with a leap day every four years except in century years divisible by four) did not exist. The Jewish calendar had 12 months which varied from 29-30 days. As a result, the Jews had to add a shorter intercalary month periodically to readjust the calendar. Four years out of every 11 were 13-month years. The priests regulated this process to ensure that the feasts were observed at the proper time each year.

The Jewish calendar began counting the New Year at the time of Passover (there was also a New Year in the fall—both are mentioned in the Old Testament). These are sometimes described as the religious New Year and the civil New Year. The lack of precision in the Jewish calendar meant that the date of Passover varied from year to year in comparison with the Gregorian calendar we use today.

In western Christianity, Easter is observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (the first day of spring, a day when the day and night are of equal length). This calculation allows Easter to fall between late March (the earliest possible date is March 21 or 22 — March 20 + a full moon the next day, with the next day being a Sunday) and late April (the latest possible date is about April 24 — March 21 + 28 days to a full moon + 6 more days to the next Sunday).

The date of Easter generally correlates with the Jewish Passover–in 2010 the Passover was the Monday preceding Easter. Incidentally, I am glad the first day of Daylight-Saving Time has been adjusted. Before the date was moved to the second Sunday of March, Daylight Saving Time began on the first Sunday in April, and the “bad” time change sometimes occurred on Easter!

The Jesus Story (3): A Story to Be Told to the Most Unlikely

I am thinking and rethinking Acts, the gospel, the good news of Jesus. This sermon summarizes my study of Chapters 8-10. I will not mention many details of those chapters. You can read them. Stephen’s sermon and stoning; the scattering of the saints which served to spread the gospel; to Samaria; to a proselyte Jew from Ethiopia; to Saul-Paul, to the household of Cornelius. We know these stories—but do we really know these stories?

We are studying the Jesus Story. What does it mean to obey the good news? How should we respond to and live out the Easter story, the Jesus story? We continue with Lesson #3, the story of Jesus, what impact does the Jesus story have in our lives? What impact should it have?

The third truth—the Jesus story is to be told to everyone in every place—even to the most unlikely!

We miss the unlikely aspect of Acts. Often in studies of the book of Acts, six summary statements are identified. Most of these summaries describe the results of preaching the gospel with quantitative words.

Acts 6:7-8. The word spread, a large number of the priests (Jewish priests!) were obedient the faith. They gave up their livelihood, they gave us status, prestige, power, position, prominence. Perhaps not at the beginning—with the integration of Judaism and Christianity, but certainly in the future. (Other summaries are found in 9:31, 12:24, 16:5, 19:20, and 28:31).

Acts 8:1-4. The believers are scattered to Judea and Samaria! Samaria! To the Samaritans, this is a new group, they believe and obey, they are baptized. The message being preached was the good news of the kingdom, the result was baptism. But in Samaria! Is this next step approved? Can the Samaritans really receive the good news? Is this result acceptable? The preaching in Samaria was not done by the apostles. This preaching was not the original authoritative group of preachers, the first witnesses. This is second-generation preaching, a second-generation preacher. Is it OK to preach to the Samaritans? Can they be accepted? These are somewhat Jewish by religion, but only half-Jewish by birth. We must put ourselves in the context of first-century Judaism, Jesus’ resurrection, the gospel. All of the first Christians were Jews, either by birth or proselytes. Doing this is not easy for us.

Acts 8. Did God withhold the Spirit (temporarily) in this case? If so, it was for the benefit of the Jews, so they would accept the Samaritans? What does it mean, that they Holy Spirit was not yet manifest, and that such was only possible by the imposition of the hands of the apostles? This is a traditional interpretation. Perhaps a key is in the fact that the gospel is expanding to a new group. Acts 2—to the Jews. Acts 8—to the Samaritans. Acts 8—to a Jewish proselyte, Gentile by birth. Acts 10—to a Roman centurion, a God-fearing Gentile. It seems that each expansion of the gospel brought its own unique description. Time does not permit a detailed explanation of this point—for note for your own study, that Acts is a continuing story of the gospel going to new ethnic and religious groups, and the details vary slightly as new groups are reached. My point today is that the gospel was being told to the least likely.

8:26ff. The gospel goes to an Ethiopian nobleman, servant of queen, a Jewish proselyte—Gentile by birth, Jew by religion. Philip goes to preach to him, by the direction of the Holy Spirit. This time there will be no problem, no coming of the apostles to bless the preaching of Philip, Philip has been approved, the message can go forth without hindrance to this eunuch, to the world. But do not miss the point that what is occurring is not normal, this is preaching to the most unlikely, but the preaching bears results.

Chapter 9 give us the story of the conversion of Saul, becoming the Apostle Paul. Perhaps there never was a more unlikely candidate. Jesus intervenes personally, Ananias still has doubts. But the gospel is received. And the church grew in number (a second summary, as previously mentioned, in 9:31).

Chapter 10 brings us to the conversion of Cornelius. Gentile, God-fearer. Can the gospel go to “pure Gentiles” who are God-fearers? Peter preaches and according to some traditional timetables and understandings, the Holy Spirit shows up early. In Samaria, the Holy Spirit came late. Now it comes early. Why? The answer suggested in the text is that the Spirit was present and visible to convince the Jews who had accompanied Peter. The Holy Spirit’s coming was made known by speaking in languages to praise God. Then, they were baptized.  Some aspects of the story do not change.  Baptism, the Holy Spirit; Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 10.

This is not the end of the unlikely candidates. We could continue through the book of Acts. We could find the gospel preached in unlikely places to unlikely people in the letters of the New Testament – a large number from the household of Caesar became Christians! The process continued through the centuries; the gospel continues to go forth to the unlikely even in our day.  Are we among those taking the gospel to the least likely?

I close with a personal illustration.  Throughout my ministry, I saw people in need of the gospel message in the families of church members, spouses, children extended families.  I usually asked the member about coming to visit in the home, making clear my purpose. One response I received, “You can come, but it probably won’t do any good!”  But it did.  Husbands and children and relatives came to Christ, hundreds through the years of my ministry.

You may have your own example. I am confident there are countless examples about which it was said, “It probably won’t do any good.” But it did!  Have the conversations. Talk to your adult children. Talk to friends, talk to brothers and sisters who have strayed.

A final example… A visitor attended church.  I learned the visitor had grown up in the church, but had never been baptized.  I asked why. “No one ever asked me.”  I said, “Well, I am asking you.”  We studied the Bible, made clear the gospel message, and he was baptized, and his wife, and his extended family encouraged toward greater faithfulness.

The Jesus Story (2): A Story to Be Told

I am restudying Acts—seeking perspective, insights. I want to understand the gospel, the good news of Jesus, the story of the resurrection from the perspective of the early church. This study is based on my study of Acts 1-8. I will pass over many details of those chapters. I mentioned some of them briefly last week. Pentecost, the church, conflict with the Jewish leaders, suffering, Ananias-Sapphira, following Jesus is costly; Stephen–the sentence, the sermon, the stoning; the scattering spreads the gospel far and wide.

Why this study? The Sunday the world identifies as Easter Sunday is coming. People are already anticipating, some are involved in self-denial efforts, churches are making plans. What was Easter like in the early church? The word does not appear in the New Testament (although there is a mistranslation in some English versions in Acts 12.)
This study, at this time, in this season, because the first steps one takes in following Jesus, the first steps of obedience, are a response to and a commitment to live out the Easter story in one’s own life. How do we do that? What is it about the Jesus story?
A second study, the story of Jesus, what happened in the life of the early church?

A first truth, in the teaching and preaching of the early church, the Jesus story was a death and life story.
The second truth—-the story is to be told! In this lesson, we show how the early church lived out this second truth. We will study a few chapters from Acts, right at the beginning of Acts, Acts 1-8. I will not list the multiplied Scriptures throughout the New Testament that speak to the need to tell the story. (In a longer sermon, numerous Scriptures would be expanded. The notes here are abbreviated.)

  • In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, the story was told.
  • In Acts 3, Peter told the story to those who had seen the crippled man healed. This is, as it were, the second gospel sermon.
  • In Acts 4, Peter and John, and the apostles, were proclaiming Jesus and the resurrection from the dead. When they were commanded not to speak, but their response was that they could not help themselves! What would happen in the contemporary church if we could not help ourselves, could not keep from speaking the good news of Jesus? They rejoiced to have the opportunity to speak, and they prayed for even more boldness. This boldness was given to the believers. But it is only the apostles to this point that are mentioned as testifying publicly to Jesus’ resurrection, perhaps because they are the only “witnesses” available.}
  • In Acts 5, we again hear apostolic preaching, because it was the apostles who were arrested. But they were miraculously released, they returned to proclaiming Jesus and the resurrection that makes possible new life. Peter and the other apostles responded (v. 29), the apostles were flogged, and rejoiced to be counted worthy of proclaiming. 5:42 appears to refer to the apostles.
  • In Acts 6, the apostles chose a ministry in the word and prayer, the word spread, even to the priests.
  • In Acts 7, Stephen preaches the first gospel sermon that was not preached by an apostle so far as we know. We are seeing a transition, a shift. Do not miss this. It was the apostles as witnesses who preached in Acts 1-6. Now we have a sermon by Stephen, the result of which is his death. The story of Jesus is a life and death matter.
  • In Acts 8, persecution comes to the church, all but the apostles are scattered, and the believers go forth boldly preaching the word, wherever they go!

This next step in the story never ends—-in Acts or in the centuries thereafter. This next step is foreshadowed in Acts 1:8, and it continues today. The focus in Acts is mostly on special events, we will talk about some of those events next week. From Acts 8 onward, the story is about Christians sharing the story. Peter will get attention for a time, Paul will get the majority of the attention along with his companions, but a quick reading of Acts reminds that the power that took the gospel to the Roman world and to the then-known world in the first century was not centered in a few powerful preachers or unique personalities. It was a power that brought the gospel to Samaria through Philip; to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch by those who were scattered (11:19); to Galatia as those who heard the message continued to spread it; to Asia Minor (several of those who led in the proclamation are mentioned in Paul’s letters); to cities in the Roman Empire through Aquila and Priscilla; through Apollos…and the story goes on and on.

Takeaways–

  • The story is to be told
  • It was first told by the eyewitnesses, the apostles
  • Afterward, it was told in every place by every Christian
  • We must ask ourselves to what extent the story is still being told by every Christian in every place! Does the answer convict us?

The key phrase: We Cannot Help Ourselves!  Acts 4:20.
May that become a reality in our lives during this Easter season.

The Jesus Story (1): A Life and Death Matter

Can you hear the story? Take care what you hear. Take care how you hear. I am rethinking Acts, the gospel, the good news of Jesus. This study is a summary of what I see when I read chapters 1-5. I will not have time to mention many important details which are found in those chapters. This is the story of the early church: Pentecost, the church established, the infant church, conflict with the Jewish leaders, suffering, Ananias-Sapphira, following Jesus is costly.

We must respond to and live out the Easter story, the Jesus story. How is it possible? The first step is hearing the story correctly. Getting the story right — hearing the Jesus story — is a life and death concern. I purposely said, “life and death” rather than “life or death.” Hearing the story correctly requires hearing it again and again, hearing it afresh. Reading, studying, thinking.
We have oversimplified the gospel. The contemporary version often recited is not the whole truth. Because it is not the whole truth, it is lacking in power. It is simplistic, it is not the result of intense Bible study. Jesus came preaching the gospel (Mk. 1), the gospel was announced in advance to Abraham (Gal. 3), those who fell in the wilderness had the gospel preached to them (Heb. 4). The gospel that Jesus is the Messiah is rich, fulfilling, challenging (Ac. 18).

The world does not understand the story. Many in the church do not understand the story. The story must be told again and again. The world focuses at Easter on resurrection life. The Jesus story says that life comes only through death. The “old person” must be crucified before the “new person” can exist.
In Acts, Luke uses a code word for the process of moving from death to life; that word is “saved.” We use the word in the same way today: he was saved from the swirling flood waters, the firefighters saved her, the doctors were able to save the boy. These are descriptions of life and death situations.
Listen to Luke–
• Acts 2:21, And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
• Acts 2:38, Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins. [In this text, remission of sins is equal to saved]
• Acts 2:40, With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
• Acts 2:47, And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
• Acts 4:12, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
• Acts 11:14, He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.

Let’s look at some other life and death references from Acts. Acts makes clear that this life and death content. First, the Jesus story is a life and death story as it tells the history of Jesus. Second, it is a life and death story for every human being, because Jesus is the only source of life.
• Acts 2:32, God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.
• Acts 3:15, You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
• Acts 5:20, “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
• Acts 11: 18, When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.

The content of the story of Jesus (the Easter story, the Passion) makes it a life and death story. Acts 2:23, 24, This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. The preaching of the early church was the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Near the beginning of this century, the movie “The Passion” made clear that the story is a life and death story. Because it is a life and death story, it seems to have less appeal in today’s world. People want the life story without the death story. People want the blessing without the sacrifice.

The story of Jesus as reflected in the lives of his followers has always been a life and death story. Acts 5:33, When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. The early followers of Jesus understood well that this was a life and death story, because their lives were threatened. Acts 7 tells of Stephen’s death. Acts 12 records the death of James the apostle. Church history and church tradition tell the story of martyr after martyr.

The story of Jesus is a life and death story today. Even today, some are martyred for their faith. Too many Christians have forgotten that the Jesus story, the gospel, is a life and death question, a life and death decision. We choose death to self to live to him, we choose death to sin to live to him. The old gives way to the new. Rom. 6; 2 Cor. 5. It is easy for us to forget. Christianity is for many of us today easy, comfortable, undemanding. We easily fall into habits that keep Christian commitment on the fringe of life. Life is not intentionally Christian, purposefully Christian, focused, discipleship-demonstrating. We may never be called to give our physical lives for Jesus, but the Jesus story, the Easter story, the gospel story, is still a life and death story. It is a story of dying to self to live to Christ. Gal. 2.

Baptism illustrates that following Jesus is a life and death proposition.
Christian living, biblical discipleship, demonstrates that following Jesus is a life and death proposition.
The story of Jesus is a life and death story for me, for you, for this church, for every person.
Deciding to follow Jesus is costly, demanding, sacrificial, life changing.

What Does God Want? (4)

What does God want?  What is the message the church is called to share? I am thinking about ministry, I am thinking about mission work. I am thinking about local evangelism, worldwide evangelism. I seek more complete, clearer understanding. I wish to focus and sharpen the message the church.

This is the last in a series of studies: What Does God Want? The primary application should be personal. I must understand the answer. A secondary application seeks to understand how we can more effectively take the gospel to our world.  How can we make clear what God wants from human beings, his creation made in his image?  I have previously set forth that God desires that we recognize him, respect him, and respond to him.  God wants to be known, God wants to be worshiped, God’s redemptive purpose in re-creation in Jesus Christ is rebirth and renewal making possible restored relationships, reconciliation. These are broad categories that deserve more study than our brief introductions have provided.

In this lesson, let me set forth and support the claim that God desires that our relationships reflect his presence in the world.

  • For the Jews, as Jesus summarized the law, the two great commands were love for God and love for one’s fellowman. That God puts his image within us changes how we react and interact with other people.  Relationships established on the basis of God’s presence in the world and in our lives as disciples of Christ shapes every relationship–with other disciples, in our family, and even with those who are not disciples.  These relationships are properly guided by recognizing the nature of God, and his desire for respect and response.
  • The idea that we are representatives is captured by the “ambassadors” concept set forth in 2 Corinthians 5.  We are experienced, we are seasoned, we are spiritually savvy, we reflect spiritual principles and values in our lives, our priorities, our talk, our attitudes.
  • The idea that we are reflections of his glory is set forth in the closing verses of 2 Corinthians 3.  We see his glory, mirror-imaged into our own lives as we are transformed from glory to glory.  We reflect his glory. We are not the glory, his is the glory, glory revealed in the face of Christ, 2 Cor. 4:4-6.  We see, we help others see.
  • Finally, with rejoicing. This idea was not in my original list and did not appear in my second list.  But after I presented some of these ideas in an advanced Bible class at McAlester Christian Academy, a student wrote me suggesting that rejoicing certainly should be included as a part of God great desire for the lives of those who are Christ-followers.

The brevity of this final lesson does not speak to its importance. Ultimately, this is where the validity of these ideas is demonstrated, in how we live our lives.  The brevity of these thoughts does allow a brief review.

What does God want?

  • God reveals himself. Why? Because he wants to be known. God is a personal God, he wants to be known personally, he wants to be known correctly, as he is.
  • God is worthy of and desires worship. His nature is “worship-worthy.” God desires respect and reverence based on who he is. These truths begin to come into view in the Old Testament as God penetrates the human dilemma.
  • God desires our response. God recreates with the purpose of restoring relationships.
  • We are enabled as reflections of his glory, modeling rejoicing.

What Does God Want? (3)

What does God want?  What is the message the church is called to share? I am thinking about ministry, I am thinking about mission work. I am thinking about local evangelism, worldwide evangelism. I seek more complete, clearer understanding. I wish to focus and sharpen the message the church shares with the world. How do we effectively communicate the message of God for the world? How do we help others know God and the salvation he provides through Jesus Christ?

In two previous studies, I suggested that God desires that we human beings recognize him and respect him. To those truths we must add that God also desires that we respond to him, but the response he desires has a larger purpose: the restoration of relationships, the renewal of that which was lost in Eden. In sending Jesus, God is working toward the re-creation of humanity.  Restored relationships require redemption and reconciliation. Romans 3 speaks of justification, redemption, and propitiation as the work of God in Jesus. Ephesians 2 describes the restoration of broken relationships–both vertical (between human beings and God) and horizontal (between human beings). Our response must involve repentance, allowing God to complete the process of re-creation, renewal, and rebirth, remaking us once again in his image.

By now we have seen that the response he desires from us is multi-faceted. Knowledge, respect, responsive hearts seeking relationship restored. Churches disagree and divide, churches are distinguished, by how they define the responses God desires.

God’s ultimate goals are that we become like him and that we fulfill his purpose for making us in his image. Whatever words we may use to describe the response, the response falls short if it does not lead us to imitate him and become like him (a common New Testament theme), and to follow him (in discipleship).

Interestingly, our imitation of Jesus begins even before we imitate him in our daily lives. Our imitation of Jesus begins as we reflect his death, burial, and resurrection (the gospel summarized, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) in our own baptism, signifying our own death and resurrection. Our baptismal response confirms God’s promise that imitation is possible, not only by becoming like Jesus in his death, but also in his resurrection (Rom. 6:3-6). Our baptism is not an imitation of his baptism, but rather is an imitation of his death and resurrection. Baptism is not merely a symbol of a commitment to be an imitator – baptism as the response and pledge of a good conscience that initiates our imitation.

My purpose in this lesson is not to study what the New Testament says about baptism, but the truths revealed in our texts show the importance of baptism.  New life is not possible without the death of the old person. Some teach that new life begins before the old person dies, before the resurrection to newness of life. Some teach that new life begins before baptism, which leads to the self-contradictory idea that baptism is the death and burial of a newly alive person rather than of a spiritually dead person ready to be resurrected.  This brief survey suggests that the illustrations and examples Paul uses should be studied carefully to understand the relationship between baptism and the resurrected, saved persons that we become in Christ.

Moving on…. The response God desires must not be limited to baptism! Christianity cannot be defined exclusively by whether one has imitated Christ in baptism. Nor can one’s response be limited to weekly worship, or any other simply formula that would distinguish Christians from non-Christians. The biblical description is “disciple”—used much more often in the New Testament than “Christian.” Discipleship is the most common word in the New Testament to describe the imitation God desires. “Whoever will not take up his cross and follow cannot be my disciple.” This view of discipleship demands daily response. (Taking another brief detour – I wonder if we would do well to use disciple to describe responsive faithful Christ-followers, while limiting our use of church member, Christian, and other less common biblical descriptions.)

God’s desire that we respond to him, that we imitate him and become like him — this desire God honors by committing himself to participate with us. (Remember God with us, in us, for us, beside us, before us.) Our commitment to be responsive disciples brings also the gift and presence of the Holy Spirit within us, confirming truth, empowers our continuing response, guaranteeing God’s promises.

What Does God Want? (2)

To be respected and reverenced, according to his nature, honoring who he is and recognizing who we are.

Last week, we began a new series: What does God want from us? This is a series for churches and church leaders. This is also a series for Christians who want to share the gospel. This is a series for people who are seeking God, desiring to understand his will and his way.

As Christians attempt to make people aware of God and his plan for their life, what are the foundations? What are the most important details? What must we share? What must we say? Is what we are doing working? Are we evangelizing effectively? Is the church growing?  Is mission work bringing souls to Christ and planting more and more churches? Is there a better way?

A quick review. In the first study, we learned that the first desire of God for his human creation is that we recognize him for who he is, according to his nature. Understanding God’s desire and purpose begins with accurately understanding God.  Companion pieces include understanding reality–the nature of our world, and also who we are as human beings, God’s creation.  Of great concern are questions such as, how we communicate the reality of God’s presence and involvement in our world, how we communicate his nature, and how we communicate his purposes for his creation.

This second study deals with another essential question: worshiping God.  What does God want from his creation?  God desires to be respected, to be reverenced.  For human beings with freedom of choice, God wants us to choose to worship God.

Respect and reverence God; worship God. God desires worship—as he is, that is, according to his nature. I am affirming that God created a world that continually calls attention to his majesty, splendor, and grandeur. Inanimate creation declares the glory of God unceasingly. God created a world that he declared good, a world that evidenced his honor.  All creation worships God automatically–except for human creation. Human beings, made in God’s image, have a choice — to honor and worship God, or to reject God.

God’s desire is that his creation honor him and worship him. Further, the worship God desires will be based on and consistent with his nature, who he is. God does not want us to honor false gods or to cling to false ideas about him. God wants us to worship him for who he is. Thus, a correct understanding of worship begins with God, who God is. Worship is given by the creation to the Creator. The worshipful heart recognizes God and recognizes the nature of reality (all that is not God) and of humanity created in the image of God.  Think with me.  If we are correctly reading Scripture, beginning with Old Testament examples of worship, we quickly see that acceptable worship is defined by God and his nature and not by human beings and our preferences.

At some level, worship and respect are possible even before a committed response to God (Romans 2; Acts 10). Worship is God-defined, not human-defined. Look at the religious landscape today. Many churches have distinguished themselves by emphasizing various aspects of worship. We worship in this way, and not in that way. We are for this and against that, or against this and for that. How many of our ideas about worship are based in human desires and preferences? How many are based in an understanding of God and a careful reading of and obedience to God will as revealed in God’s Word? The kind of worship that is acceptable to God is based on who he is, what he is like.

Worship reflects the human desire to find, have, and declare glory.  All of life is a search for glory. Where can we see, experience, find glory? What / whose glory are we seeking? What causes others to glorify us? An interesting word group in the original New Testament language suggests that glory, boasting, rejoicing, and pride are closely connected. The translation chosen depends on the context.  In the context of glory-seeking, I am asking about those things that cause us boasting, pride, or rejoicing.

The glory-search reveals more than we have realized—our values, the meaning of life, our goals, our pleasures. Ultimately, glory is yet to be revealed in us. Worship declares our values, our hopes, the center of our lives. Worship declares our understandings of glory.  Many think, “If I can only have, experience, do certain things, then life will be fulfilling and glorious.”  This search for glory leads us to bigger barns, more expensive luxuries, bigger houses, more experiences, new places, longer vacations, different foods…  The list is endless.

God is not seeking ritual nor liturgy. Worship that little considers God will never suffice. He will not be pleased with heartless, thoughtless worship. Nor is he pleased with worship that does not reflect and result in a total sacrificial commitment to him as God, Lord, and King. Respect demands worship to God consistent with his nature. If we do not accurately understand and proclaim the nature of God so that people recognize and understand him as he is, we will have an empty message when it comes to respecting and worshiping God.

What Does God Want? (1)

In my life, ministry, mission involvement, a few questions continually resurface. Answers are elusive. I constantly refine my understanding. This is not a new series, but neither is it an old series simply re-preached.  This is the struggle on display. THE question. “What does God want?”  A previous series focused on understanding God – God with us, for us, in us, beside us, before us. Four questions summarize the challenge of faith.  Who is God? Who are we? What was God doing in Jesus Christ? How should we respond?  The first two questions are correlating questions, because human creation is made in God’s image, in his likeness.  We cannot answer the second without answering the first. We cannot understand the human situation without first understanding God. The other questions can be summarized like this: the goal of the Christian life is the formation of Christ in us, to be conformed to his image, to be transformed via mind renewal.  This theme echoes throughout the New Testament.

Thus, I return to the question: What does God want from me? More broadly, how can we summarize clearly God’s desire for us as human beings?  There are important applications in ministry, missions. Let me recount briefly the genesis of the question, how this particular question was first presented to me. Jan and I traveled by bus from Guatemala City to Tegucigalpa, probably about 15 years ago. We saw remote villages on hillsides in eastern Guatemala. I wondered, hypothetically, what would I saw to the inhabitants of those villages if I had only a brief time to explain to them my faith in Christ?  What would I say? What would I exclude? What does God want from the persons with whom we interact? What does God want from people around the world? What does God want from his church? What does God want from me today? From you? From us?

Knowing the background of the story, you will also understand my desire to simplify the answer. We have made Christianity complex. We have drawn distinguishing lines based on minutiae. My initial efforts to answer these questions suggested a sequence of four parts: God wants us to recognize him, respect him, respond to him, and relate to him and our fellow human beings.

We begin with the question, who is God? Then, what does it mean for us recognize God?  And, to recognize him as he really is? God wants to be known, AND he wants to be known accurately.  This is our beginning point.  God, recognizing God, knowing God, growing toward an understanding of God.  Recognizing God allows us to recognize reality. Two categories – God, not God. Seen, unseen. Permanent, passing away. What is the nature of this temporary world? How do we define, grasp, live in present reality?  How often do we treat the temporary as permanent?

Recognize God. God desires that his human creation, made in his image, recognize him. God wants us to be able to see him and to know him – for who he really is.  The gospel, good news, begins with who God is. If we are image of God people, who we are depends upon who God is. Who is God? What is God like? God is above nature. In Jesus, the Creator steps into his Creation. God is Creator, Sustainer, and Savior. We cannot effectively preach the gospel without making certain that the foundation is laid – God’s identity, who God is. Misconceptions of God exist. We must rethink who God is to understand his desire for his world, what is wishes to accomplish in the world as we know it.

God sent Jesus so we could know God fully, for all that he is. God is not only revealed in the natural, physical world. God reveals himself in Christ Jesus. We are not dependent only upon a written word. God has now been seen and understood in the life of a real person, living out the reality of the presence of God. That God can be seen in the lives of people has implications for what we do and how we do it as we live our daily lives in his presence and service.  Preaching the gospel, sharing the good news, begins with the person and purpose of God. God desires that people recognize him and come to know him in the full reality of who he is.

The purpose of this series is not to expand each point—the expansion of this first point, God’s nature, would require a parenthetical study series – a series within the series. But know this, the first step is to recognize God, to know God as he is.  Without such understanding, we will not understand ourselves, and we will struggle with the fullness of the gospel. We will struggle to understand God’s actions in Christ, and our response.

Recognize reality. We are human beings, how do we understand the human experience, our human environment, this biological world in which we live? Who are we? We are dual natured beings – image of God, living beings.  Recognizing divine reality, and human reality, God and the reality in which we live in this world, already points to Jesus, the divine Word that comes among us, dwells among us, takes our nature, combining divinity and humanity.  Just thinking about where we are going—but that is getting ahead of our story.

Before we consider what God was doing in Jesus, we need to consider that God wishes to be respected or reverenced.  That theme we will explore in the next lesson.  For now, we have only set the stage. God. Human creation. In his image but living in a temporary physical world.

It All Begins with God–“Before” [#5]

In the final sermon in the series, we seek to understand what it means to say that “God goes before us.” We look at what God accomplished in Jesus by studying three New Testament descriptions of Jesus, descriptions that suggest that Jesus is our trailblazer.

Here are the three texts. Jesus is–

  • In the book of Hebrews, Jesus is pioneer or trailblazer. Older translations say “author.” He is one who cuts the path through the brush, he blazes the trail. He enters the holy place with his sacrifice, he blows open the divider between heaven and earth so that we can also enter.
  • 1 Peter 2 says that Jesus is for us an example. Further, he enables us to follow in his steps. Many other NT passages suggest that Jesus is a model or example, it is enough for the disciple to be like the Master.
  • In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul describes Jesus’ resurrection as first fruits. Jesus is the promise that God’s plan has become operative, that the restoration of broken relationship is secured, that our resurrection is certain.

In a university class focused on ministry, I asked the students to do self-reflection papers. The goal is to try to see ourselves honestly and thus to understand ourselves better.  I shared a model autobiographical reflection. Afterward, one of the students approached me and said that she had a word to describe the ministry Jan and I shared.  Her word—unhinderedly.  Her word caught my attention because that is perhaps my favorite translation of the last work of the book of Acts. The gospel went forth unhinderedly.

Henry Blackaby, in his book, Experiencing God, writes about finding out where God is working today so we can go to join him in his work.  Seems much better than trying to convince God to join us in our work?  Where is God at work today to advance his eternal purpose?  How can I join him in his work?  Seems that my work will be much easier if I simply join God in his work.

For me, this is an example of God before us.  Obviously, there are many good things I can do today, good things you can do.  But, if we would be faithful followers: where is God, where is Christ, at work today?  What is he calling you and me to do today to advance his saving purpose?

Through the years, Jan and I have tried to be especially aware of open doors.  That does not mean we have immediately jumped at every opportunity that was presented. Our ministry work was primarily focused in two churches where we served for 12 and 8 years respectively. We spent 11 years in the university, in two separate assignments.  We have tried to live out “God before us.”  It is fair to say that this principle, God before us, explains much about our current involvement in mission work.

Why does it matter that God goes before us?  What different does it make in your daily life?  The opposite idea would be that God is behind us, the idea that we just need to stop all progress and go back to the way things used to be, the idea that we somehow get closer to God in reverse than in forward gear. Many in my tribe have tried to find a way forward by focusing on the past.

  • For me, the Jesus narrative is a story that pulls me forward rather than pulling me backward. God has in mind a future that is unimaginable. Jesus has already walked the road that he now calls me to walk as his follower.
  • Therefore, my primary commitment is not to going back and making things like they used to be.
  • I am committed to an inspiring vision of what can be, what the future holds, what is beyond our imaginations, more than we can ask or think.

In the study of these three descriptions of Jesus, I see two options described–will we go forward or backward? Which is the correct view of God? Does God call us to live in the past, to live in the future, or to live in the present?

The first day I went to work at OVC, I was approached by a current student who happened to be on campus during the summer. He was accompanied by an incoming student. Both planned to be in my Bible program.  They had a question?  Are you conversative, or are you liberal?  Sometimes, when God goes before us, he gives us answers we haven’t thought of. We wonder where that answer came from.  My response went something like this:  many who lean toward the conservative side tend to live in the past, many who lean toward the progressive or liberal side tend to live for the future.  I think God calls us to use his Word to live in the present, informed by the past and pointing toward the possibilities of the future.

I know well the “old paths” passages of the Old Testament. They are Old Testament. God before us must take into account that God sent Jesus. God sent Jesus to walk a new path. Now he calls us to follow where he has gone. He gives us principles to guide us. What contributes mightily to the lack of daily application of religion in our world today is the idea that we need to go back—when God is calling us to possibility living in the present, keeping our eyes on the goal.  This is the thrust of our study of the God who is “before us.”

Let’s briefly reexamine the Bible foundations of these three concepts in light of the challenge I just shared–

  • Pioneer and trailblazer, Jesus makes possible our salvation (Heb. 2, 6:19, 10:19-25, 12:1-2).
  • Pioneer and example in life. Jesus demonstrated compassion, humility, service, sacrifice. He calls us to follow. This is God before us, calling us forward (1 Peter 2).
  • Pioneer and first fruits. Jesus is the promise of resurrection, he is promise that the process works (1 Cor. 15). We follow him—-in service, sacrifice, suffering, death, life, relationship with God.
  • [In a full-length sermon, each of these would be explored and expanded.]

How will we discover what God is up to without careful study of Scripture, trying to understand the God who wants us to move forward at warp speed, the God who goes before us. God has a vision for humanity – joyous, fulfilling, possible. How can we simply plod along? The dominant view in the majority of churches holds us back from the kind of growth God intends.  We are too self-centered (it is not about us, about our group).  We are too self-confident (we cannot solve the problems). We are too self-contained.

Let us go forward–because God has come to be “with us,” has accomplished a saving work “for us” in Jesus, now lives (dwells, is at home) “in us,” promises to be “beside us” always, and is constantly “before us” leading us forward.