Has there ever been a message to rival the wonderful Gospel message? The “Good News” that Jesus brings to us; the reconciliation and redemption of mankind back to its Creator. The Good News, or Gospel, was in the mind of God from before He created man. This means that God’s eternal plan was to create an image-bearer to live eternally with Him while providing the means to let nothing keep us from His presence.
Man was the pinnacle of God’s creation. In the physical realm, everything revolves around mankind. We were given dominion over the earth and set in the world to help God rule over His creation. This was God’s intent from the very beginning.
But sin messed that up. Rather than use our gift of free will to choose our God, who used His free will to choose to love us, we chose sin. We listened to the serpent and went our own way. We severed the relationship with our Creator and walked in our own willful way.
As a result of our rebellion, we suffered the consequences of that decision. Sin entered a sinless world. Curses turned the paradise we were intended to inhabit into a broken and painful place. This was the physical manifestation of what living a life without God looked like. Yet in His mercy and grace, God stayed the damage our sin wrought against us and allowed HIs presence to bring good into a broken world.
All good things flow from God, and He sheds his grace on the just and the unjust by giving life-sustaining rain and food to a world of image-bearers who still walk in defiance of Him. He does this because of His loving-kindness and deep desire that not any should perish but that all should come to repentance. He does this because if He can redeem man and bring man into the right relationship with Him, He can restore that Edenic relationship we were created to enjoy.
But man could not find His way back to his Creator alone. Man does not have the ability to do this without God. In fact, Only God could give man the means to be reconciled back to Him. This is perhaps the most precious of all the grace that our Creator sheds on us. This is the grace that cost Him the most. This is the grace that proves beyond all doubt how much the Creator loves His image-bearers. Even compared to the angels, God shows how much He loves us over all of creation.
“For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.” (Hebrews 2:16 ESV).
In spite of our continued rebellion, Jesus showed His love for us and laid down His life as a sacrifice to be the propitiation for sins that appeased the wrath of God and opened the way for us to be reconciled to the Father.
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10 ESV).
Before God laid the foundation of the world, He determined to create a being into whom He would pour His image. We would be more than servants; we would be His children and inherit all the rights of being His descendants. We are royalty by creation. We are children of the Creator. We have a birthright; no other element of creation has this birthright but us. We are created to rule with our Father, not only in this world but in the world to come.
But we cannot take our rightful place next to our Father with sin. Sin separates and kills. It makes it impossible for us to fulfill the eternal role we were created to have. We were predestined to be with Him from before the beginning of creation. Those who were free from the curse and guilt of sin were chosen from before the foundation of the world to be with Him. And our Creator loved His image-bearers so much that He gave His only Son that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have eternal life.
So Jesus left His glory in heaven to become a man for the sole purpose of becoming the sacrifice that atoned for our sins. This is how he helped the offspring of Abraham and not the angels:
“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17 ESV).
But everything I talked about thus far centers on us. The Gospel message I presented to you, though accurate as the Word presents it, looks only through the lens with man at its center. It tells us what is important to us. We kneel before King Jesus because we were once lost, but now we are found. We were paupers but were now made rich. We were dispossessed, but now we are royalty.
As great as all this is for us, I do not believe this represents the pinnacle of the Gospel message. The climatic element of the whole Gospel story has little to do with us and everything to do with our Lord and King Jesus. This is the climax of the Gospel message. This is what everything pointed to. We were part of it, yes, but it all centered on Him. From Genesis to Revelation, the climax of the Gospel message was foretold and revealed.
In my humble opinion, this is the climax of the Gospel message:
“So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” (Mark 16:19 ESV).
Yes, the coming of God to dwell with man, as a man, was important for us. Yes, His death and burial were the cornerstone of our faith, representing the sacrifice that cleansed our sins. Yes, His resurrection demonstrated His power over death, which paved the way for our resurrection and power over death. But His ascension into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Ancient of Days was the most precious part of the eternal Gospel message.
What centers on us is why we love Him. But what centers on Him makes Him worthy of our love and eternal adoration. It is what keeps us faithful. We kneel before our King, to whom the Father has given all authority. This climax of the Gospel message righted the wrong of sin and reestablished the eternal order we were created to be part of.
Jesus is on His throne, and we are given a way into His kingdom. Without a King, the Gospel is incomplete. Without God being restored to His throne, rebellion cannot be quashed. When Jesus took His seat at the right hand of God, it was the ultimate victory over all the powers aligned against Him. This was the final nail in the coffin of evil.
By taking His seat upon David’s throne, Jesus paved the way for man to be reunited with God in this age and the age to come. We are again being prepared to rule at His side, not only here but in eternity.
Just like we were created to do.
I am in Exodus in my daily Bible reading. When the most mighty nation in the world had pressed the Israelites against the sea, they stared defeat in the face.
“Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14:12 ESV).
Yet it would be in chapter 15 that they would sing the victorious song of Moses:
“Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.” (Exodus 15:1 ESV).
And then in the next chapter, facing hunger, this happened:
“and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:3 ESV).
Can we see ourselves in the Israelites? When things go well, our faith is strong, but when we face trials, do we quickly forget God and look back to our life of sin and claim how good it was before we decided to serve God?
We need to be people who can rejoice when God delivers and faithfully trust all will be done for His glory when we face our Red Sea and hunger.
How can we guard ourselves against covetousness?
By love.
If my parents or children achieve great things, I am genuinely happy for them and rejoice with them.
If I have love for my neighbors, I will be genuinely happy for them and rejoice with them when they achieve great things.
Love, indeed, covers a multitude of sins.
I am in Exodus in my daily Bible reading. God told the Israelites over and over not to mix with the people of the land because they would be a snare to them and cause them to serve foreign gods.
Is it fair to say that the same admonition is true today? Should we be careful about mixing with the pagans of our land? If we are not careful, the evil in our land will be a snare to us and cause us to serve their gods.
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15 ESV).
Let us be careful of the vows we make. They are not only binding when they are convenient for us, they are binding when they become inconvenient for us as well.
I'm still convinced God is sovereign over all, despite what I see on TV.
When I see nations act in oppression over people God charges them to protect,
People committing all kinds of terrible things against other image-bearers,
Judges delivering injustice, protecting the guilty, and oppressing the innocent,
People mocking God, taking His holy name in vain, and attacking people who kneel before Him.
None of these people act with impunity. There will be a day of reckoning.
Rulers, haters, judges, and blasphemers will all look into the eyes of the sovereign God one day,
And His citizens will be vindicated.
I am in Exodus in my daily Bible reading. Toward the end of the book, we are introduced to a couple of people, Bezalel and Oholiab. God inspired these men to carry out the artistic building of the Tabernacle and all the things God had commanded them to build for worship.
They were masons, woodcutters, jewelers, and embroiderers. God gave them the skills they needed to do all He commanded them.
This reminds me of when God was with people and gave them favor in the sight of men. God gave Joseph and Daniel favor in the sight of the people they worked with and worked for.
How often do we try to live life with our own skills, with little thought to ask God to grant us favor with the people we work with and those we work for, to grant us wisdom to deliver what is asked of us? When we ask for the Lord's favor, we learn that the success we have belongs to the Lord, and it will help us not lift ourselves in pride before God.
I am reading the book of Leviticus. God explicitly gave details for everything he wanted people to do as His pattern of worship. He leaves no details left out. There is very little left to figure out.
When Jesus came and fulfilled the Law, these elements of worship were fulfilled. Yet, we love patterns. We love to find meticulous lists to live by.
Let us all be careful not to indulge our love of lists for laws to the extent that we see hidden patterns in the New Testament where none exists. God was always explicit when He gave patterns. If we are not careful, we can create laws where none exists.
We must all approach God's will with the reverence that seeks to obey His will and not fall into the condemnation of the religious leaders whom Jesus condemned for teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
Today is the Lord's Day. Jesus serves as sovereign King, Lord of over all, High Priest, and Mediator.
Soon, He will also serve as the final Judge over all people.
Let us yield to Him as King, Lord, High Priest, and Mediator so we will be ready to stand before Him as Judge.
I am in the book of Leviticus in my daily Bible reading. Not only do the prophets warn against injustice, but God codifies it in His law. We say justice is blind, but this principle is seen all the way back in this passage.
“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:15-16 ESV).
How does our society stack up to this principle of judgment? Are we partial to the poor and take from the rich in the name of justice when no justice is warranted?
Do we defer to the rich at the sake of the poor? From the beginning, the principle of justice is blind. If the rich have done no wrong, we should not take from them because they can afford it. If the poor have done no wrong, we shall not let the rich take from them.
Our justice should not be based on whether we like the rich or poor, but rather, it should be based on whether injustice has been committed, whether the offender is rich or poor. God punctuates this principle by saying, “I am the Lord.”