Christ's Inheritance

(If you have not read yesterday's post, I would recommend you do so before reading this one. And it wouldn't be a bad idea to go through the comments as well!)

Seth, my fellow Institute Senior, made a comment yesterday about how Christ learned obedience. And though I was vaguely familiar with the statement, I was not sure where it came from. God is good. This morning my daily reading had me in the book of Hebrews chapter 5. I include verses 7-9 here, talking about Jesus:

(Hebrews 5:7) Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
(Hebrews 5:8) Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
(Hebrews 5:9) And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

We find reinforced here the point made that Father God was able to save His Son from death. The implication of verse 8 is that even though Jesus was the Son, He learned obedience through suffering to become a priest that could bear our infirmities. We find in verse 9 that Jesus became the author of eternal salvation unto all that obey Him, as He had obeyed His Father. Where are you going with all this, Andy? I'm glad you asked.

I can find two or three reasons why Jesus went to the cross. It is more than just because of His love for us. Yesterday, I de-emphasized that point, and was politely refuted in the comments that were made to me. So, three reasons why Jesus went to the cross:

1) Because of His love for us.

Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh. Before the incarnation, He shared in all of the glory of the Father. They are One in essence. Even though the time in the Garden confuses my weak understanding of the Trinity, the truth is that They even then were One. God so loved the world that He gave Jesus. God commendeth His love towards us by having Christ die for us. Jesus is God.

2) Because of His love for His Father.

This, I suppose, is the point that I emphasized yesterday. And, in my reading in Hebrews today, there was a cross reference to John, that further proves that I was right in making this point. The context of John 14 has Jesus telling His disciples that He was going to be leaving them, referring to the cross. John 14:31: "But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence." He tells them that His love to the Father, is that He is going to obey Him. Earlier in the chapter He said, If ye love me, keep my commandments. He demonstrates: I love my Father, I am going to keep His commandment of the cross. My point is further spoken of in John 10:18: "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."

But the context of that last verse in John 10 leads me to my third reason that Jesus went to the cross, and I believe that I completely ignored this one yesterday:

3) Because of His expected inheritance.

Hebrews 12:2: "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the trhone of God." Jesus endured the cross, "for the joy that was set before him." What was that Joy?

Phillipians 2:7-8, 9-11: "...form of a servant... likeness of men... fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Jesus laid down His life for His sheep. The sheep, John 10:29 tells us, are given to Jesus by the Father. The sheep (those that believe in Christ) are Jesus' inheritance, His reward. Jesus is to be the firstborn among many brethren.

There is more to my third reason that I have posted here, but alas, my time fails me, and I have already written more than most of you will read! So, I welcome your comments to try to expound on this third reason that Christ went to the cross - for His expected inheritance.

Just a thought...

It Was Not His Will

Ok, this blog is full of my "thoughts." I do not always think the same as other people. For that matter, usually I think differently than most people. That being said, I request right now that you put on your very discerning eyes as you read this. I am sharing with you some thoughts that I have on some subjects relating to God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I am going to suggest some things that you may have never heard before, and that perhaps I am wrong about, but they are thoughts that have come to me while reading His word. So, bear with me. I welcome all feedback, just be sure to keep it discerned as well.

Let me start with this, I believe that Jesus was a fairly wise Man. Wouldn't you say? He wouldn't just say something glibly or off the cuff, but everything He ever said was true, purposed and meaningful.

I heard in church yesterday a phrase that I have heard often before, "Jesus willingly gave up His life for us." And while hearing some of the lyrics in some of the music that I heard as well, my attention focused to the garden of Gethsemane. In the Garden, Jesus prayed three times to His Father. In the Garden, His soul was exceeding sorrowful. He was in such agony that His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Recognize that this time in the Garden must have been a time of turmoil in the universe. So, what about Jesus' will in regards to the Cross?

"he... fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me..." The cup He refers to is the cup of the judgment of God. The cup that pours out God's wrath upon the sin of this world. Jesus was about to be made sin for us, and the cup was ready to be poured out on Him. Jesus prays, having fallen to His face, sweating drops of blood, "Father, IF IT BE POSSIBLE, let this cup pass from me."

Not only that, Mark records (Mar 14:36) the prayer using these words, "Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me..." Jesus recognized that Yes, it was possible for the cup to pass away from Him. It would have been possible for God to say, "You know what, I have shown enough love to the world by giving them my word, by giving them rain and allowing them to live. I have given them life and knowledge of what is right, and it is NOT My fault that they have rebelled against Me. I have loved them enough, I choose not to give them My Son as well." That would have been just and fair of God to have done. Jesus knew this. He said, It is possible. He makes this request to God the Father: "Take away this cup from me." Jesus is not speaking lightly. This is a moment of agony and sorrow. Jesus truly meant what He said.

We all know the next phrase that Jesus says, after making this request to the Father to spare Him: "Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." Did Jesus mean that? Did He mean when He said, "not my will be done?" My suggestion is that Jesus' will was NOT to suffer the shame of the cross for you and me. His will was to be spared from that hour. His desire was that God would exercise His omnipotent sovereignty and let the cup pass from Him, and to keep Him from that hour.

Jesus did not want to suffer the wrath of God for me.

I believe that Philippians 2:5-8 gives us the clarification of that phrase, that I really don't like saying. It says that Jesus humbled Himself. Being equal and sharing in the glory of God the Father, Jesus took on Himself the form and fashion of a servant man. And the phrase that I want to focus on is this, "he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Jesus' humbled Himself, put aside His will, which in this point in time apparently differed from the will of the Father, and went to the cross to glorify His Father. To demonstrate for all mankind the Love and Mercy and Grace of God the Father. Jesus desired to glorify the Father more than He desired to have His own will fulfilled.

Jesus suffered the wrath of God, for the glory of God, not because He loved us so much.

After you let that sink in for a minute... continue reading.

How dare we think that we should get what we want! How dare we think that we are owed something by anybody. Jesus made one request to His Father, "Father, I know it's possible, take away this cup." In agony, He made one request, but determined that to be obedient to His Father was more important than His own comfort or desire. How dare we do something against God's will just because it makes our life easier or more comfortable, or just because we want it!

The next time you are taking for granted your salvation. Remember the garden. Jesus, the wise Son of God and Son of Man, prayed to His Father to let Him skip the sacrifice. The results of answering that prayer would have left us all to pay for our own sins with eternity in Hell... And Jesus was willing to let that happen. But, He was more willing to give to the Father that which He wanted.

He laid down His life. No man took it from Him. But that was not from His own desire, but rather from His Father's.

A sobering thought...

All The Way Better

I had the privilege of being home with my sick wife these past two days. Wednesday morning she woke up sick as could be (well, very sick, anyway). I went home from work and stayed with the kids while she stayed in bed... the ENTIRE day!

So, yesterday, I stayed home too to make sure she was alright. She was still fairly sick... However, yesterday she actually got out of bed. She even went upstairs once. The huge body aches, and fever, and the vomitting were all pretty much gone. She still had the headache, and was still sore a bit. She had the chills a little, but definitely not as bad as Wednesday.

Towards the evening we were talking, and she was standing in the kitchen... we were both commenting on how she was doing 'better.' She was actually happy that she was feeling that way. She was happy that she had: Headaches, soreness, some chills, and was weak.

Two thoughts today (two for the price of one, good deal!): First of all, we should be thankful for the health that we do have, even when we may not be feeling the best. Just remember it could be worse.

Secondly though, kind of taking the other route around this. This sickness is like sin. Sometimes we fall, and fall hard. Sometimes it is like we are laid up for an entire day, incapable of doing anything... that's how 'sick' our sin is. Then, we get a bit better. We take care of some things, and we all of a sudden feel that we are doing pretty good. But really, we still have the headaches, soreness, etc...

My point? We need to get better all the way before we are happy about it. Improvement is good, but let's never settle for just a little sick. Let's push forward for the prize of the high calling of God!

Just a thought or two...

Even a Child

Ok, so this is nothing more than a plug for my favorite missionary family friend that is still in Rochester yet to go on the field...

Pray For Italy

It is a cute post! And he has a lot of good posts on his blog.

Just a thought...

What Would the Governor Say?

(Malachi 1:8) And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.

If you were employed by the governor of the state, would he be pleased with your service? If he were to watch you all day long, what would his estimation be at the end of the day? I am quite sure that if I knew the governor, my boss, was watching me every step of the day, I would be sure to demonstrate the most dedicated, diligent and dutiful service I could for him.

God says, that some are more apt to do things to please the governor than they are to please God. And really, what has the governor done for us? And what has God done for us? We should be much more attentive to be pleasing God at all times than we are to please him that can do little for us eternally.

Just a thought...

Foolish Me

I believe I may qualify for a fool....

(Proverbs 29:11) A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.

I can't think of anything to write on today. I have uttered all my mind.

Just a lack of a thought...

Snow like wool

Well, I am looking outside my window at work today (Actually, it is the window that is in the conference room across the hall from me, when if my door and the conference room door are open I can see out it.), and I notice that it was snowing... A lot.

Then I read the weather report calling for about a foot of snow by Wednesday morning here.

Then I read Psalm 147:16: "He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?"

I recently saw the movie Santa Clause 3 (don't tell anyone, ok?), and Jack Frost was the villain in the movie. Part of the movie has Mother Nature and Father Time as characters along with of course, Santa Clause. Often, the world tries to give God's glory to other things, or even to their own made up things (we call them idols). All of the characteristics that the world wants to give to these others, God controls.

He controls the snow and the ice. The verse before those, in Ps. 147:15 says He sendeth forth his commandment supon earth: his word runneth very swiftly." What an awesome and powerful God.

I like the snow for now, but soon I will be praying for the fulfillment of His promise in the next verse, Ps. 147:18: "He sendeth out his word, and melteth them..." We're not there yet, though!

Just a thought.