He's The Champion! Yes!

Found myself reflecting on the words of an old hymn at Easter and suddenly realising afresh the powerful meaning of them…

Look! you saints the sight is glorious!
See the man of sorrows now!
From the fight returned victorious,
Every knee to Him shall bow.
Crown Him, crown Him!
Crowns become the victors brow!

These words by Thomas Kelly alert us to the reality of that first Easter morning and in them he invites us to ‘look’ and ‘see.’

Yes, there had been a long, cruel and torturous fight, as the enemy sought to derail the life, mission and ministry of Jesus. He was tempted and attacked time and time again, but Jesus won every round. And then it came to this last one and this time the devil thought that he had got Him, that he had Him up against the ropes, that this time it was in the bag, but (and it’s a big one), in that last and bitter final round when Satan poured everything he’d got at Him, Jesus gave one last and devastating blow to him and to his ambitions, forever, and came out the mighty Victor!

Yes, from the fight He has returned victorious. He is Heaven and Earth’s Champion! He has won! Forever!

On Good Friday Satan and his minions had been cheering thinking they had finally got Him, but now their cheers were turned into the groans of total defeat. Satan, sin, death and hell were utterly and totally defeated, and through it all the eternal purpose of God had been worked out, the price for all our sin has been paid, and this Jesus was raised for/or because of our justification.

Yes, from the fight He has returned victorious. He is Heaven and Earth’s Mighty Champion! He has won forever!

Yes, loves redeeming work is done – the Father was completely satisfied with his Son. Now this message of victory and salvation in and through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone, is to be proclaimed to one and all, and all who believe in Him will be saved, and the pronouncement made to them and over them, “You are forgiven. Your sins I will remember no more! Go in peace, there is now no condemnation! Ever!” as new life is released in them through power of the Holy Spirit.

What about you, do you know Him? If not then stop and see that all is done, He has done it; change your mind, believe and be saved. It only takes a moment to be saved.

Maybe you do, but perhaps you’ve lost sight of Him and what He’s done. Then look away from yourself, your circumstances, and look once again unto Jesus. You may have failed Him – He paid for all that too. You don’t earn your way back, simply see and behold Him, your sufficient and wonderful Saviour and Sanctifier, the one who paid for all your sin and every mess up along the way.

It’s done! Hallelujah! You can’t add to it, you can’t subtract from it. Rejoice in Him the mighty Victor!

The Black Friday that is Good

Some thoughts on Easter.

A black Friday that’s good?

Strange to our ears isn’t it, calling it Good Friday, after all what is good about it, it’s about someone’s death, and more particularly the death of Jesus Christ, the co-equal Son of God the Father, and co-creator with the Father and the Spirit of the universe and the giver of life.

On Good Friday, God died! That sounds like the end of the world!

Yes, that’s right. Jesus was the Word incarnate. That’s what we celebrate at Christmas, God made flesh with man residing. As it says in the words of the carol and of the great confessions, ‘Very God, begottten not created.’ We must not reduce our thinking when it comes to the cross and think only of His humanity. Yes, this was truly none other than God. And on Good Friday, the Creator dies…… shocking thought isn’t it?

At that point in time it was the most cataclysmic day in history, no day before it was like it – and there had been some dark ones, but none as dark as this.

Satan no doubt rejoiced, and his minions were delighted. The battle had been tough. Right from the day of his birth they had tried to get Him. Time and again they thought they had Him, only to be beaten back again and again, as Jesus overcame temptation after temptation, remained obedient to His Father, went on mission, forgave sinners, healed the sick, delivered those they held captive… but now, ah now, they thought once again they had him, that this was it, He was dead – DEAD. The last breath had gone, his life had expired.  The lifeless body was sealed in a tomb. Surely, there was no way out of this.

But no, they hadn’t realised and reckoned on the fact that this was part of the great plan, the great strategy of the Divine counsels of eternity. He must die. He must go and face the very thing death itself – the result of the curse – and enter it completely for the price to be fully paid and the curse to be undone.

So what was black Friday turns out to be Good Friday as God in Christ defeats Satan, sin, death, and yes Hell itself, the ultimate end of the wicked, and in doing so He pays the price for all our sin, satisfying his own justice as a holy and righteous and God – but it wont be Good Friday unless Easter Sunday comes.

In the words of Charles Wesley:

O love divine, what have You done!
The immortal God has died for me!
The Father’s co-eternal Son
Bore all my sins upon the tree:
The immortal God for me has died;
My Lord, my love, is crucified.

Charles Wesley

Whose Glory are You Living For?

We come to the last in this mini series on the Lord’s prayer, a phrase not in the early manuscripts but found in the later ones, ‘Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever. Amen.’

Our own little kingdoms, power and glory are something that fallen humanity desperately craves, we want to be somebody, have some some power, achieve and be in control of something, and be applauded for it. Sinatra’s song fits well, “I did it my way” – I could do it, I did it, I deserve the credit.

Yes, power, success and fame are what we all want, what we crave – it’s exhibited in all the TV shows that offer the opportunity of stardom, and for many young people today that’s the aim, to be a great singer, a great footballer, to be a star one way or another.

It was what precipitated the fall of humanity – Lucifer wanted to be somebody other than God had created him to be, in fact he wanted the top spot, he wanted to be God, and in doing so he fell. Later he was to tempt Adam and Eve that God was not as good as he appeared to be and that he was withholding something from them – they could be like God. The thought was sown and entertained and they fell for it. And it has been humanities curse ever since. In some way or other we all want to be ‘gods’ in some way or another, having our own power, doing our own thing, controllers of our own destiny. Sadly in our hands it becomes distorted, abusive, dominating, controlling, manipulating, deceitful, destructive – we could go on, but you get the picture.

As we come to the end of this prayer it reminds us that to God alone belongs the kingdom, the power and the glory and we do best when we recognize that and live within it. The breath that we have is given to us by God, it’s in him that we live and move and have our being. It’s God who gifts and enables. It’s God who saves and sanctifies…..

Yes we are reminded that the best life lived, is a life under God, a life that lives for and returns the glory to God.

Sadly though the passion for power and glory creeps into the heart of God’s people. There can be rivalry and competition between churches, ministries, streams. It has wrecked lives, relationships and ministries. None of us is immune, we are all prone.  If we are honest with ourselves we love opportunities to exalt ourselves – evidenced in the desire to trump the story someone has just told us, or tell a better joke, to score a point in some way. We can be more concerned about what people thought of us in how we led worship last Sunday, how the preach went, than whether God was glorified and people encountered him. When I’m blogging I can can be more concerned about what people think of me about me than conveying the heart of God and seeking his glory.

In the world in which we live there is a lot of talk about the need for significance, which in reality is much the same thing under a different guise.  In reality there is a big difference between living for the glory of God and the desire or need for significance. Significance is more about me, about leaving my mark on the world, making a name for myself, and be known for and getting the glory for it. It can be more about the big things than the small things. It can be more about what is seen than what is not seen, and even our serving can be become very subtly self-serving.

It’s also evidenced in the cult of personality, something Paul faced when he wrote to the church at Corinth – if we can’t glory in ourselves then we’ll glory another, in who we follow, and for the Corinthian Christians it was about who was the best teacher/preacher, and Paul would have none of it.  He points them back to God as the one in whom it all works, and summed it by saying, ‘It’s because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who he has been made unto us wisdom from God, that is our righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that we should not boast in ourselves, but in the Lord.’ (1 Cor. 1:30,31), and bit later, ‘It’s God who gives the increase.’ (1 Cor. 3:7).

That’s why this prayer is important, and this particular phrase in it. We need the reminder, we need the challenge it brings as we honestly pray it. It gets under our skin. It challenges why we are doing something and who we are doing it for. It leads us from the place of control to one of surrender. It leads us from pride to humility. It leads us from confidence in ourselves to confidence in God and the way he leads, gifts and talents us. It leads us to say, He must increase, but I must decrease.

As Paul said, ‘By grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not a result of our own efforts, so that no one would boast in themselves’ (Eph. 28,9), and again,

Yes, the kingdom, the power, the glory are all his forever! Amen!

Temptation and Deliverance

As we come towards the end of the Lord’s prayer we are confronted by a request for very specific help about living in this world.

Temptation and sin are common to all humanity. It doesn’t matter where you live, east or west, north or south, whether you have money or none, educated or uneducated… we all know temptation, we all know sin.

To that end we need a saviour, a deliverer, for none of us is able to save or free him or herself from it’s strangle hold. We all live under the prince of the power of the air and are subject to the passions/lusts of the flesh. As much as we might try to extricate ourselves we can’t.

Praise God Jesus came to do just that. He beat the devil and temptation at every twist and turn of his life. When dragged before the courts on trumped up charges, he was found to be not guilty. Yet, the masses wanted his death, and he was scourged and cruelly crucified on a Roman cross.

In the sovereign purposes of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – his death is part of the great plan of to bring salvation and deliverance from sin and it’s consequences, and make right with Him all those who would hear and believe the message of salvation – a salvation wholly achieved by Jesus Christ, and not by anything that we have done.

Let me ask you, do you know Him? Have you come to a saving knowledge and experience of Jesus Christ? He is able to save you, forgive you, set you free and give you a new life. The scripture calls us to repent (change our minds and direction), and believe in Him and we will be saved.

Becoming a Christian though doesn’t mean we will never be tempted or not sin again. We still live in a fallen world. We still await the redemption of our bodies. We do have an enemy. Hence the necessity of this prayer, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver from evil (or the evil one).”

Yes, there will be times when you will have thoughts, unexpected thoughts and desires to do wrong. Sometimes they will will be connected to your own particular passions, at others totally out of the blue, like, where did that come from?!

This is about living the saved life. Yes, we are saved and no longer under condemnation, and have a sure and certain hope, but we are still living in a fallen world, and we need saving day by day. Our enemy is extremely cunning, having lost us to the Kingdom of God he is constantly devising strategies to cripple us in our Christian walk. Paul says “we are not ignorant of his devices,”  but it would appear today many are – we need to wise up.

Part of our daily praying should be, “lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil/evil one.”  1. It will alert us to the fact we can and will be tempted and help to set our antenna, and set our hearts and minds on knowing God’s presence and help, and 2.  It will keep us alert to the fact that it’s not our will power or strength that beats the enemy but knowing the presence and power of the Lord.

One last thought, temptation doesn’t define us. You may be powerfully and sorely tempted. The devil might suggest it’s unique to you, that you are an exception. Don’t believe him. Temptation is not sin. Adam and Eve were tempted prior to the fall, Jesus Christ being without sin was nevertheless tempted in all points as we are. Don’t allow the fact that you are tempted to define or bind you. Go forward knowing that Jesus is present to rescue you from every temptation, to deliver you from the power of the evil one, and that he always provides a way of escape.

Forgive us as

Forgiveness is something we all stand in need of. We’ve all missed it and we’re all messed up.

No matter how hard modern man or woman tries, guilt still runs deep. We still stand in need of redemption.

Down through the centuries humanity has sought to deal with it and it’s consequences, above all the need for absolution, to be freed from guilt and blame, and released from the consequences, obligations or penalties.

Yes we all need it, we still need it. The modern world may well want to excise us of it, but we cannot run from the reality of it or excise ourselves of it, and the Lord’s prayer reminds us that as much as we need our daily bread we also stand in need of the daily mercy and grace of God.

As someone once said, “forgiveness for man is the plainest of duties but for God it’s the profoundest of problems.” We should forgive as we are all on the same level, but for God to forgive is another matter.

In the heart of the triune fellowship of the Trinity the Son volunteered to come and deal with the guilt and blame, to release us from the consequences, obligations and penalties of our sin.

In time Jesus came and lived the life we should have lived, and then died the death we should have died, the Just for the unjust that we might be reconciled to God.

Today, from the death and resurrection flows the gospel proclamation, calling all to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. It was and still is the emancipation proclamation!

All sin, every sin is covered, past, present future, the word stands true – there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ, none, period. Hallelujah!

But because we still fall short, we still mess up, there needs to be the daily appropriation of it to our lives.

We’re not perfect and we need to admit it; own up to the fact that we haven’t arrived, that we still fail, sometimes bigtime – yes, confession is good for the soul.

“As we forgive….” It shocks us to hear those words, it sounds like a condition, but no it’s the kingdom, as we pray it in ourselves experiencing the massive mercy and extreme grace of God the natural outcome is to forgive. There is a wonderful cycle going on here, the two are tied together. The person who can’t forgive hasn’t understood the forgiveness they receive. For the kingdom to come as we pray, we need to be both forgiven and forgiving.

Yes, God’s grace is that big, it truly is hyper-grace! It covers all our sin, at the same time it extends it through us to others also!

Give us Today our Daily Bread

Daily bread, we all need it.

Bread represents what’s necessary for life – there’s a lot we think we need that we really don’t. There’s a lot that we want and seek and when we get it actually adds to our perceived needs rather than reducing them.

When David said in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…” he didn’t for one moment mean the wants of the 21st century, he meant the daily needs of his life.

It’s good to have food to feed and sustain our lives, but life is so much more than that. We are more than flesh and blood, we are body, soul and spirit.

It had been a busy and tiring day for Jesus and his disciples when they finally arrived in Sychar in Samaria. As they were hungry the disciples went into town to get some food and left Jesus sitting down by the well. When they came back and found Jesus ministering to a spiritually hungry woman they were amazed. Wasn’t he tired? Wasn’t he hungry? Where did he get the energy? They thought perhaps someone had given him something to eat and he was feeling renewed, but Jesus said, “I have food to eat that you do not know about…” (John 4:32), but by implication they were going to!

Yes, food and drink go so far, but they don’t and can’t sustain the spirit. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” says the scripture. Yes we need the Word, food for our souls, the bread of heaven. To that end God has given us his Word, the scriptures, God-breathed and profitable in every part. Not just the favourite parts but all of it. The whole counsel of God. We need to feed on them.

Then again there is the Bread of the Word that he quickens to us in a moment – a scripture perhaps we’ve known and read many a time that suddenly comes alive by the Spirit in that moment of need and speaks to and energises our lives.

There is also the Bread of his Presence – he himself is the Bread of life. It means spending time in His Presence, being with Him, sharing fellowship, listening to His Voice – didn’t Jesus say, “my sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me”? God’s voice is not locked into the printed page, he still speaks today, and we, you need to hear Him. One Word from Heaven (the context of the prayer) can make all the difference!

Today we hear a lot about the right kind of diet, what we should and shouldn’t eat – we take great care of our bodies, but what about our souls, what kind of diet are you living on? Are you spiritually malnourished? Are you getting a complete spiritual diet? Do you only read certain parts of the Bible? Do you ever stop to listen to his voice?

What is the bread you really need today?

Go ask Him for it.

Your Kingdom Come

The next phrase in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Your kingdom come,’ reminds us that God is King, he is sovereign. His will and word are final. All the rights are his. He is the One who creates. He is the One who sustains. He is the One who makes the big decisions. His will, will be done.

In Genesis we discover that God created humanity in his own image, male and female he made them, and following their creation they were charged with subduing and ruling the earth – in other words they were made to be vice-regents.

This wasn’t to be done as they chose, but in relation to their creator King. Day by day they would come into the garden, God’s temple on earth, and meet with God, and receive from him the wisdom, strength and provision to fulfill his purpose on the earth. They then went out to subdue, to rule.

Then one day they listened to the wrong voice. Not only did they listen, but they took heed to it, and did as was suggested, and suddenly things were turned upside down. The world in every way was not as it should be. Something happened in them (they were spiritually corrupted), something happened in their relationship with God (they found they didn’t look forward to or like God’s company anymore), something happened between them (they started blaming one another).

A sad and sorry story. Suddenly blame, victimization, power plays, control, intimidation, fear, injustice, exploitation etc. entered their universe – the world was not as it should be.

But God the Trinity had a plan, to right the wrongs, and put things the right way up, and that plan was Jesus. When Jesus came, he came proclaiming the kingdom (or reign) of God. He declared that it was at hand, that he had come to destroy the work of the evil one. As the Servant King he modeled a different way of being and doing. He healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, proclaimed the Good News, confronted sin, forgave sins and ultimately went to the cross paying sins price, and defeated death itself.

When asked by his disciples how they should pray Jesus said, “Our Father… Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” Our Father is a King, the King, and he has a kingdom, and we are called on to pray it in.

What a way to pray, praying down heaven, something of heaven now – praying something of the not yet now, something of the future into the present.

It means acting as vice-regents once again.