The One and Only Luther

 Take it to heart and doubt not that you are the one who killed Christ.Your sins certainly did ,and when you see the nails driven through his hands ,be sure that you are pounding, and when the thorns pierce his brow ,know that they are your evil thoughts .Consider that if one thorn pierced Christ you deserve one hundred thousand.   Martin Luther

 The need to get this crucial truth drilled into out hearts is so central . Apart from understanding what Christ accomplished on the cross , we will fail to grasp our own depth of sin and really experience the love that flowed from the cross .


Psalm 22:16
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet

I'm a Murderer , A Liar , A Thief ......

  "Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.

                                                                                                                                   John Stott

The great theologian Stott nails it on the head with this very simple statement . Until we take a honest look in the mirror to see the sinner , we cannot see the Savior on the cross. Our sin nailed Him on that cursed tree , it was I who drove those nails , it was I denying who He is . I was in the crowd shouting crucify Him. 

Unless convicted and humbled we will not see the cross as the greatest symbol of love ever displayed.  But if you can see yourself like that repented thief , crying out I deserve wrath , for I am a wretch , a worm of a sinner , then hear the Lord of all say , today you will be with me in paradise. May the Holy Spirit convict you of your sin and open your dead eyes to see the Lord of life who died and rose again that we may be reconciled , justified before a holy God this Easter week.

Romans 4:25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

 

Telling it Like It Is

1 Corinthians 15: 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and  you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only,  we are of all people most to be pitied.
 
There are those who cling to a fuzzy , spirituality. They say  believe in a god, hope in life after death and  Jesus as a good teacher , great moral example or use him as an example of love . But they do not hold to the fact he rose from the dead.  They have what I call crisis belief that comforts them when someone dies or bad things happen. Its disjointed and has no depth but their own imaginations.

You also have those who deny God , life after death out right . That this material universe is all that exist. But at the same time they still talk about meaning , hope and purpose. They practice a form of morality , holding  you shouldn't lie,steal,murder etc.. you get the picture. However why should they? From what truth can they hang the hat of the need to be moral at all if we are just a random bunch of cells , evolved by accident and all our love,joy,awe and wonder are nothing more than chemical reactions in our brains making us feel these things that ultimately serve and have no purpose.

I was in both of these camps at one time or another. But God was very gracious to me , a sinner who deserved no mercy , awakened me from my dead walk of sin to repentance and faith.

So I love what Paul says to both of these camps . That as plain as possible , that if Jesus has not been raised from the dead , then there is no resurrection. Without Christ risen , then we are dead , period. No hope , no nothing.  Even if you say you follow Christ , apart from the resurrection , your faith is futile.Its useless and we are to pitied . We would be fools to even follow him or exult him in anyway .

Paul goes even further in verse 32 . "What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” If Jesus just died , his corspe laying , rottening in a grave , who cares what he said , did . It means nothing . If it means nothing then what of life . Should we try and be nice , form a type of morality . Paul says it very clear . Its party time.If I do not have to worry about ultimate judgemnet , what does it matter if I pursue pleasure to satisfy my cravings . Do not talk to me about being concerned for those in Haiti , Africa or wherever , its all about me . Thats there problem . I will eat , drink and be merry for if this is all I got , maybe 70-80 years fill my cup with whatever I can to numb my senses form this meaningless life. Thats the honest reply , you may not like it buts too bad . I don't care what you think.

But , and that's a big word , Christ has been raised .If He is raised, it means He is who he said He was , God the son , the one true Savior who  calls sinners to repentance and faith in Him . It points to the fact one day a judgment will happen , all will stand before a holy God . He is Lord of every life and all authority has been given to Him form the Father to execute judgment . So I will tell you like it is , there is no fence seating . If Jesus Christ is not risen , then why worry , party , drink and live only for you .Indulge your sin , oh wait if there is no "god" , no sin , no morality . But here is the deal , He lives and you are a sinner , a wretch to the core . Christ came to give His life a ransom to satisfy holy justice for our rebellion and in His perfect , sinless life , death and resurrection we can be saved , justified . So repent , believe the gospel or face the wrath to come .

The Only Thing

1 Corinthians 2:2
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified

If the preaching you get on Sunday morning makes barely a mention of the cross of Christ and the resurrection , then your not getting the gospel .

And Now the Early Good News .............

Genesis 3:15
"I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring  and  her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

Protoevangelium , that is what this portion is called by theologians. It is the very first mention of the gospel , good news to come in Christ when he crushes the serpents  head.  The serpent is Satan and the enimity is the person of Jesus Christ. To think of the mercy of God towards man should humble us. Adam and Eve had rebelled , sinned and deserved more than what they were given . Yes ,they were punished, but God in his mercy and love shows his eternal plan of redemption by giving them good news of the one to come and rescue depraved sinners for from sin,death and the Devil.  Oh what love and grace given .

By His Stripes....

Isaiah 53    

 Verse 5 : But he was wounded for our transgressions;
                he was crushed for our iniquities;
                upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
                and with his stripes we are healed.

The atoning work of Jesus revealed in this prophetic passage . Spend some time in this deeply moving portion of God's word .

To The Point

As Easter comes closer I want to share scripture verses and quotes concerning this pivotal weekend that changed everything . It shook the world then and still does.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

If you want to share a verse that in a brief but powerful way , communicates the gospel ,this is it.  Jesus was made to be sin , so that we who repent and believe on Him are made the righteousness of God. In this verse the doctrines of the atonement and justification are clearly displayed.  What amazing love , what amazing grace.

Sin at The Door...

"Take heed of little sins" John Bunyan 


In life , after we have confessed to be a Christian , a fall into sin never happens with the quick leap into the harlots bed . We would be repulsed by throwing ourselves into wanton sin. The fact is it would be too gross and we would in general flee. 


But when we start allowing little sins , those small insignificant ones that we rationalize , the foot has already begun its walk towards the harlots bed . Perhaps its looking at swim suit models on line , exaggerating a bit with a story , fudging on our taxes etc.. whatever it may be , before too long one can be set up for a full fall . 


Galatians 5:9
A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

If we give a foothold in our life to sin , and we become numb to it ,  the fall can be swift and fast. Can we be totally without sin , not this side of heaven but if we are not killing our sin daily , confessing and going to the foot of the cross of Christ for forgiveness and arming ourselves with Gods spiritual armor as described in Ephesians chapter 6 , we are falling into the enemies hands of the world , the flesh and the Devil.

I speak from personal experience and it cost me much . But  it has been sweet to taste the sweet love of Christ in returning to my Savior .

The Other Brother ....

Within atheist circle everyone knows who Christopher Hitchens is. He has been called the pit bull for his rather brash and full on hate of the christian faith. His book ,God is Not Great : How Religion Poisons Everything ,  caused quite a stir ,but in general his arguments are really nothing new. They have been soundly dealt with by numerous christian apologist like Doug Wilson.
But what many don't know is his brother Peter , is a devote christian . He is about to release a book entitled, The Rage Against God : How Atheism Led Me To Faith. It is the story of the journey he took back to the faith after he abounded it , embracing a life of rebellion and pleasure seeking. It is one book that I look forward to reading. Is it not ironic that the brother of one of the most strident atheist has a confessing brother.  People don't think God has a sense of humor . I beg to differ.

The Real Delusion

“There is no Creator and there never was.  The universe is pure unillumined matter where senseless atoms and vicious creatures stage the awful pageants of their wills.”
Reynolds Price

Richard Dawkins The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should ... no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

These quotes  come from what I call , honest Atheists.  I have no time for those who deny God and then try to dance with "life has meaning" . If all we are or ever have been are grand cosmic accidents , whose feelings of love ,sadness,joy etc...are nothing more than by products of chemical reactions in the brain , then we are to be pitied. For we would be creatures without any purpose , meaning or value. Any thoughts of good or evil,right and wrong are the true delusions. 

But who truly lives that way. No one , even the most strident atheist practice some type of morality. This gives weight to what Paul says in Romans chapters 1 to 3 , he lays out it all out. Stating that man is without excuse because in the creation we can see God's handiwork , His power and majesty. If that isn't bad enough , Paul points to the fact we, in general know right and wrong (the law is written on our hearts) but in our fallen , sinful nature we suppress the truth. In turn we either worship false gods or the creature ( the cosmos is all there is ).

Those who deny God (practicing atheist) or those who live their lives with no thought of God ,will be without any excuse when they stand before Him and give account . In our sin we hate God, and  are in open rebellion when we live as if God does not exist. That is the real delusion. He has displayed his glory in the heavens , He has spoke in the Bible and revealed Himself  in the Son , Jesus Christ as the savior , who came to fulfill the plan of redemption . Born of the virgin , lived a life of perfect obedience , died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin , rose again on the third day and is coming again to make all things new . 

A meaningless universe , I don't think so ......now that's the real delusion.
Psalm 19: 1
The Law of the Lord Is Perfect
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Some Days

“Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace, nor are your best days ever so good that you are beyond the need of it.”
- Jerry Bridges, Discipline of Grace

This was one of those days for me. Oh  that I may start each day at the foot of the cross and reflect on the grace of God.

Reflecting on Gold

Well the 2010 Olympic games have come and gone. Canada placed number 1 with the stat that matters most , gold medals. Regardless what one may say , Gold is what you compete for , who wants to lose . Coming up short after one puts in so much time must be hard . In reality , even if you are a contender and have trained to the max of your ability , so many things still have to go just right . So the fact we won 14 is a great achievement. But can you imagine that the ultimate standard of perfection would be to win every Gold , every event . Not just once but again and again . No slips,no missed strides or targets.    

That is how  morally perfect we would have to be to enter into heaven , perfect every second. God is holy ,  without blemish and to be in his presence we need to be as well . But we know even if we grade on our own curve , who could in all honesty say we live up to our own standard. But if we apply the gold standard , God's, we stand utterly naked with all our wretchedness exposed.  What hope do we have? Our hope is in God , the God who came to live a perfect life, who is the Gold standard , his righteousness is perfect ,Jesus Christ. His perfect righteousness is given to us , when we repent and believe.

So realize the gold standard is only found in Christ . Call upon his name and be saved .