Name:
  E-mail:
  Comments:
 
     



Purity Series
Join us for our series on the blessing of purity in the month of February.
Getting Specific
Join us as we discuss the inivtation to pursue purity in our different seasons of life.
Only By Grace
Click here for the information about the CD created by Sovereign Grace Church.
2 Peter 3:9
This month SGC is memorizing 2 Peter 3:9 as we learn about patience.
 

Saturday, April 03, 2010
the greatest word of all...
Well the countdown is complete... and our final word is here: Celebration- choosing to rejoice when the outcome is certain. And there's no greater day for celebration than Easter Sunday- the day that sealed our new lives in Christ... our substitute, our redemption, our sacrifice, our protitiation.

As I write this Saturday night, the semi-finals of the Final Four are over. Butler beat out Michigan State (my dad's favorite) in a game that came down to the final seconds; currently, Duke is on top of West Virginia by 15 with about 5 minutes left. My guess is that (if Duke stays ahead) the celebrating will start up on the bench with somewhere around 3 minutes remaining. That didn't describe the Butler victory... everyone was tense, focused, nervous. The celebration couldn't be enjoyed until the clock ticked down and the outcome was certain.

For the disciples, there was no rest after Good Friday. Jesus' cry "It is finished!" was lost on them... and especially on Thomas. There was no finality to the Cross except in the defeat of his Master- the end had come for Jesus. So when we meet him locked in a room one week later, it's not surprising to hear that he doubts the reports that Jesus is alive. Let the ten disciples spout on, let Mary talk about her visit with Jesus, let the 2 on the road to Emmaus make their claims- Thomas wouldn't believe. But what a privilege to see ourselves in Thomas- to read about Thomas' transition in John 20.

Thomas was a skeptic: John 20:25 "The other disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord.' But he said to them, 'Unless I see the in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.'" Thomas had seen Jesus betrayed and arrested; Thomas later received news that he had been killed. Thomas had hoped for nothing and Thomas would never be taken for the fool again.
  • It's easy for us to have the same attitude sometimes. We had hopes and dreams for what God would do in us and through us. We were passionate about God, but something happened... or maybe it's what didn't happen. Have you ever felt this way about God and His plans for you? What tempts you to think that God isn't going to be faithful to His promises?

Thomas was a believer: John 20:27, "Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.' Thomas answered him, 'My Lord and my God!'" Can you imagine what the eight days between verse 25 and 27 must have been like? Thomas might have been remembering Jesus' statements about the Cross: buried for 3 days like Jonah, raising up the "Temple" in 3 days. Perhaps these prepared him for Jesus' arrival. But it seems like it would have to be more... because Thomas does more than acknowledge Jesus' life, he acknowledges Jesus' identity: "My Lord and my God!" But how can we follow THAT example?

Thomas was our example: John 20:29, "Jesus said to him... 'Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'" It's not just that Thomas doubts that unites us to him... it's how Thomas comes to faith- Thomas remembered Jesus' words. He remembered that Jesus had claimed to be God, that Jesus had done work like God, that Jesus had forgiven sins like only God can. And when he claimed hold of God's word, suddenly Thomas "saw" as well. Thomas saw Jesus rightly. Others saw Jesus' body; he saw Jesus' deity. Everything Jesus said to be true was true- and the Resurrection proved it. It proved Jesus was right about the Cross, right about forgiven sin, right about who He said He was. John started his book by saying, "The Word was God", but Thomas got to close the book saying, "Jesus is MY God."

  • When money runs out, when relationships get rocky, when sickness arrives... it's easy to shake our fist and claim "I will never believe." But although life brings trouble and doubt, Thomas reminds us that our only hope (our only blessing) is in believing in God's word... And it's God's word that reminds us that Jesus is our justification (Rom 4), that Jesus is our redemption from sin (Rom 6), that Jesus is our sympathetic high priest (Rom 8). And everyone of those promises is linked directly to the Resurrection.

In fact, because Jesus is alive, our best days are truly ahead of us: God's Son is ours, God's grace is ours, God's smile is ours- because when God raised His Son, God guaranteed His promises. Have a great day- the Lord is Risen!

Monday, March 29, 2010
Our fourth word...
PROPITIATION: HOW DO WE DEAL WITH ANGER?

"The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the LORD and died, and the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place..." Lev 16:1-3

What a horrible moment Leviticus 10 must have been for Aaron. His sons were both set in as priests in chapter 9, and then they were both killed by God for their disregard for His holiness! The shift in tone between those chapters is palpable... it's hard to imagine what must have been going through his mind. Nadab and Abihu improvised with their roles in God's presence by choosing to change the way they offered incense in the Tabernacle. Not a big deal, right? Wrong... and they were struck down by God as a result. What a terrible moment- not just of grief... but also of trying to answer the question: what can be done to avoid God's wrath again? What we saw yesterday is that God directed Aaron to the one place where God's anger towards sin could be taken care of: the mercy seat... the "place of propiation." And Aaron was to go there only one day per year- the Day of Atonement. Three things come to light as we studied a bit more about that day...

First, God's holiness is foreign to the earthly: God told Israel to make the Tabernacle so that earthly people could interact with a holy God. The patterns weren't just based on random proportions... instead, they were to mirror the reality of heaven. Hebrews 9:1-5 was clear that all the regulations from the Old Testament were pointing to other realities... to other places. And at the heart of the Tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant- covered by the mercy seat- the place of propitiation. So on the Day of Atonement, after great sacrifice to atone for his and Israel's sin, Aaron brought blood into the Most Holy Place, behind the curtain and sprinkled blood on the mercy seat. Why? Because the Ark represented the heavenly throne of God. And you don't just waltz up to the Throne.

Second, God's anger is justified against the guilty: God didn't need to apologize, therefore, about his treatment of Aaron's sons. In fact, God was merciful by helping Aaron to understand how to prevent his OWN death. Remember, on the Day of Atonement, Aaron walked into the courtyard (past the altar and basin), into the Tabernacle (past the table of bread and the lampstand), he would pause at the altar before going beyond the curtain. He would take coals on a censer and place it in the Most Holy Place, then return to get incense to throw on that fire. What must that have been like? This was how his sons died... they offered incense that was common and profane before a God who was uncommon and holy. Hebrews 9:6-10 reminds us that deep down, Aaron knew the system wasn't fully operational yet. His conscience wasn't fully cleansed... even after a year of sacrifice, even after the Day of Atonement. Aaron was still sinful, and all the blood of bulls and goats could never remove his sin.

Sadly, I think too many of us as Christians start here... and never leave. We know that God was at least satisfied by Christ's death to forgive our sins. But we live as though God is bearing a grudge against us because of the lack of perfection that defines our lives now. We have bad habits, give into old sins, forget to exercise self-control, and go weeks without reading the Bible. These things are serious, but not in the way we feel them... our consciences are never fully purified... and we wonder if they ever could be. We avoid God's presence because we're afraid of His anger. Enter propitiation- the process by which God's wrath is removed from His people... because...

Third, God's sacrifice is sufficient for our purity: Hebrews 9:11 begins "When Christ appeared"- what glorious truth... Christ appeared to deal with God's wrath (not in some earthly copy of heaven) but in heaven itself! Christ's blood pleads for His people at the Throne, and Christ is seated at the Father's side as our propitiation. The Cross has now become our mercy seat- the "place of propitiation" for us... all pictured in the two goats of the Day of Atonement. One goat slaughtered with its blood sprinkled on the Ark, the other one banished from the people of Israel as a representation that the guilt from their sins was removed from the nation. As our scapegoat, Jesus has removed our sins from us... and as our propitiation, "the blood of Christ purifies our conscience from dead works to serve the living God." Heb 9:13-14

The wonderful upshot of it all is that God is not angry with His people. What would be different if we really believed this... if the threat of God's anger didn't hang over the shoulders of God's church today?
  • I think we'd be calm in the Father's presence, remembering that Christ came to be made like us, to become a priest for us to make propitiation for the sins of the people. He suffered like us so that He can help us. Don't believe me? Read Hebrews 2:17-18... it's right there.
  • I also think we'd be quicker to love others rather than to get angry at them. Love doesn't find its source in our capacity to love. Instead, it's defined by the fact that our Father loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. God was not content to let His wrath dwell on us, and so we ought to make sure that we are committed to the same mindset with others. That's from 1 John 4:10.

Have a great week!

  On Sundays at 10:30 am ...
29047 Lorain Road
North Olmsted, OH 44070
(440) 614-0227
office@sovgracechurch.net