God’s mercy and justice in the cross of Jesus

STUDIES ON THE CROSS SERIES

(III) God’s mercy and justice in the cross of Jesus

SCRIPTURE:

For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God’s anger against us. He used Christ’s blood and our faith as the means of saving us from his wrath. In this way he was being entirely fair, even though he did not punish those who sinned in former times. For he was looking forward to the time when Christ would come and take away those sins. And now in these days also he can receive sinners in this same way because Jesus took away their sins.

But isn’t this unfair for God to let criminals go free, and say that they are innocent? No, for he does it on the basis of their trust in Jesus who took away their sins. Romans 3:25-26(Living Bible)

OBSERVATION:

On the cross, Almighty God let His Son take the complete punishment for all our sins. Through the cross, God made the way to end His anger against us. At one stroke, God showed both His everlasting mercy and justice at the same time on the cross. He showed His mercy by allowing our undeserving selves to be saved while allowing for His justice, which was fulfilled in the punishment of His Son for our sake. If God was only merciful but not just, He could forgive us without requiring any payment, but that would be unjust. If God was just but not merciful, we would all die in our sins and be condemned to everlasting suffering. Only because God is both merciful and just that He allowed His Son to die for us that we can be saved. Sin had to be paid for. And only our perfect and holy Lord was worthy to pay for our sin and take our place so that we would not need to be punished.

The world cannot understand this because they cannot understand God’s righteousness. In a small way, we can only comprehend justice at our level when seeing murderers and robbers be punished by the law for their wrongdoings. The great majority of people think they don’t need mercy and they do not deserve wrath. They think they are supposedly good people, compared to the criminals of society.

However, in God’s eyes, there is no one righteous before Him, not even one. All the seed of Adam are corrupted and evil. All of us are selfish, all of us greedy, all of us will step over and discard others for our own benefit at the root of it. Parents know how to teach children that it is good manners to respect and thank those that have done good things for them. However, we ourselves fail to thank or acknowledge our God in Heaven who gave us all things and blessed us abundantly with every good blessing that we have. What we need to realize is that because God is so holy, even a single sinful thought or word or action by anyone already disqualifies him from entering God’s perfect, holy Heaven and there is not one of us on earth who pass a day without sinning in one way or another.

The problem is, we look at things only from our own perspective, and think we are ok if we are morally better than our neighbors. We don’t realize that we continually disrespect God by ignoring Him day by day, taking His grace for granted. We don’t realize that we show contempt for God by ruining His creation around us, and hurting each other who are special creations made in God’s own image. We are all actually criminals. Whether greater criminals or lesser criminals, we are still criminals, condemned by God’s righteous law, and without hope except for God’s mercy.

But because God is merciful, He made the way to salvation possible through Jesus Christ who died on the cross and shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins. However, this salvation is not just a blanket gift without any requirement. There is still a condition, and that condition is that we must put our trust in Jesus, believing that His work on the cross takes away our sins!

While Jesus’ death on the cross is a one time sacrifice, never to be repeated, putting our trust in Jesus is not a one time event! Instead, we need to keep on trusting in Jesus. The meaning of the Greek verb means to go on trusting, to go on having faith in Jesus. Jesus has warned that in the last days, there will be a great falling away and the love of many will grow cold! Many will stop trusting, stop having faith in Jesus! He has warned us so. We are not to be among those who fall away, or those whose love grow cold!

APPLICATION

Let us reexamine our faith, our trust in Jesus. What does it mean to trust Him? Jesus warned that in the Day of Judgment, many would come to Him and say “Lord, Lord, didn’t we do this and that in Your name” and He would say “I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of iniquity?” Mere profession of faith or even works seen to be done for God in the eyes of men were not accepted by Jesus. Instead, Jesus’ words showed two things. Firstly, they did know Jesus. Secondly, they had continued to live in sin. Their professions did not save them. Their service for God did not save them.

The Greek word for “know” here does not mean simply whether Jesus knows our names. Of course He does! Instead, it is a deep kind of “know”, like when a husband knows his wife. It is very deep and intimate, a knowing shared by the best of friends. If we genuinely put our whole trust in Jesus, we will naturally want to press in to know Him personally and intimately. To trust in Jesus means to be willing to hear His voice, and to please Him in whatever way we can. He is to be not just our Savior, but our Lord and Master.

Paul says in the letter of Romans that if we go on confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and we go on believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. Many Christians then think that this is easy, just keep saying Jesus is Lord, and believe in my heart He died on the cross for me and is raised from the dead! However, we need to realize that for the Roman Christians at that time to say “Jesus is Lord” instead of “Caesar is Lord” could come at a terrible price – death by crucifixion or being thrown to wild animals. Therefore, to be willing to keep saying Jesus is Lord means to be so sure of the reality of our faith that we are willing to give up everything, even our lives to stay faithful to Jesus! In these last days, this exact test looks to be coming again very soon, when the Anti-Christ will force everyone to say that he is Lord upon pain of death! Only those who are not cowardly, who truly believe with all their heart that Jesus is truly Lord, will keep the good confession that Jesus is Lord!

Christianity is not a set of rules, or a preset formula to get a ticket to Heaven! Christianity is real, just as the cross of Jesus is real! God is looking for real disciples who genuinely will turn to Him in completeness and work with His Holy Spirit to change them into the likeness of His Son. Christianity is about God taking what is useless like a piece of rubbish, and making it beautiful and precious to Him. And God does not force us. Only those who yield to God and work with Him will He change and transform by the power of the cross. Its no use professing Jesus is Lord, but showing by our actions that we are liars, and that we worship the world instead of God.

If we are not right with God, turn to Him, even right now! Be honest with Him! Tell Him that we need Him, that we know we need to change, that we want to work with Him to change us! Jesus said that whoever comes to Him, He will never turn away. Come to Jesus as we are, but desire and press on to know Him, and let Him teach us and change us by the power of the Holy Spirit!

PRAYER:

Abba Father God, Lord Jesus Christ, You did everything that we might come to You. You gave us the cross, that the way may be open for us to be reconciled to You, to have peace with You, to have fellowship with You and have eternal life. Great, wonderful Lord, You are merciful and You are just and righteous. Everything You do is good and perfect and right! We thank You and praise You, precious Lord. We bring our hearts before You, Lord, we come as living sacrifices before You. Take us, mould us, break us, change us. Turn our hearts to You more and more. Burn away the dross, the unclean things that do not please You. Show us O Lord, the mighty power of the cross! Work deep within our lives to change us, to revive us, to give us new freshness and new peace in You. Let Your Word spoken to us even today burn deep within our hearts. Forgive our pride, our impatience, our prejudice. Show us the way You want us to live, Lord. We praise You, and thank You, and love You, Lord. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Peace on Heaven and on Earth through the cross of Jesus

STUDIES ON THE CROSS SERIES

(II) Peace on Heaven and on Earth through the cross of Jesus

SCRIPTURE:

And through Christ, God has brought all things back to himself again—things on earth and things in heaven. God made peace through the blood of Christ’s death on the cross.

At one time you were separated from God. You were his enemies in your minds, and the evil things you did were against God. But now God has made you his friends again. He did this through Christ’s death in the body so that he might bring you into God’s presence as people who are holy, with no wrong, and with nothing of which God can judge you guilty. This will happen if you continue strong and sure in your faith. You must not be moved away from the hope brought to you by the Good News that you heard. Colossians 1:20-23

OBSERVATION:

Before the cross, man was separated from God. On our own, we are enemies of God in our own minds. We are rebels, descended from the first human rebels, Adam and Eve, who chose to disobey God and do things their own way instead of God’s way. Because of their greed and selfishness and pride, they chose to take the forbidden fruit, going against the will of the Creator who made them, and because of this, sin entered the world. Each one of us is like them in nature. Deep down inside, we are all rebels, wanting to do our own thing rather than please the Creator God who made us. Without God’s intervention, this heart of rebellion would ultimately lead us to eternal separation from God, which is essentially, a terrible existence in hell, the place completely devoid from any ounce of the goodness of God.  

However, because of God’s incredible mercy, He prepared an amazing plan so that mankind would have a chance to escape this horrible destiny. And this plan, God embodied in the cross, where His only begotten Son was given up as the perfect sacrifice so that men might have their sins forgiven by His blood, and receive the right to become born again as children of God, born not of natural descent or human decision but by the will of Almighty God.

In our limited human wisdom, we simply cannot fully comprehend the marvelous work of Jesus on the cross. The Scripture says that through Christ’s work on the cross, God brought all things back to himself again, things on earth and things in heaven and made peace. What many of us do not realize is that not only is the cross the establishment of the way of salvation for the human race, but also the signing of the eternal death warrant for Satan and all his fallen angels. Through Christ’s death on the cross, every element in rebellion against God whether in Heaven or on earth will be completely removed and cast into hell below the earth, leaving behind only those who love the Lord and they will enjoy perfect peace in fellowship with God. And the complete work of Christ on the cross will come into fruition at His second coming when He establishes His millennial reign on earth!  

When the fall came on earth, the ground was cursed, pain came into life, and even the order of creation was confused. Men had to toil to get fruit from the ground, women began to give birth in pain and animals turned carnivorous and attacked others. In the millennial reign when all things are brought to peace, the Scripture speaks of a lion lying down with a lamb and a little child leading them.

Coming back to God’s relationship with man, the Scripture says that through the cross, God made us his friends again. Through Christ’s work on the cross, we are made holy and blameless before God. How precious it is to be friends with God, to be able to come guiltless before our loving God.

However, Paul reminds us that all this is ours provided that we continue strong and sure in our faith and that we not be moved away from the hope brought to us by the Good News that we heard. The entire Scripture is full of admonishment for the followers of Christ to continue in the faith, to keep true to Jesus, to be faithful until the end.

APPLICATION:-

Meditate on the cross, and appreciate how precious the gift of God that reconciled all Heaven and Earth to Himself, bringing Shalom peace that will enable us to have perfect, beautiful union and fellowship with our living God and all that He has made in Heaven and on earth. Praise God and adore Him for His perfect holy work in the cross. Praise our Lord Jesus for His loving sacrifice for us.

Pray to God for His grace and mercy to help us continue strong and be sure in our faith to the end, never being moved from our precious hope, always trusting in Jesus till the end of our lives. Resolve in our hearts always to be true to the Lord, no matter what. As we remain true to Him, God will give us the grace to overcome every trial and temptation because of His great love!

PRAYER:-

We praise You, precious Heavenly Father, for You created everything, and You blessed everything and You planned to bring everything back to Yourself through the cross of Calvary! We look forward, Lord, with eager anticipation, together with all creation, to the redemption of Heaven and earth, which You will complete at Your Second coming. Strengthen us O Lord. Protect us from deception. Let Your truth ring strong and clear in our hearts. Help us be faithful. Help us never waver and turn away. Help us be true to the faith, and be loyal to You, Lord Jesus. Quicken us, change us, empower us with pray, Lord. Lead us from glory to glory, knowing You deeper and dearer all the more as we look forward to Your coming. We praise You, and bless You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

The message of the cross – the power of God

STUDIES ON THE CROSS SERIES

The message of the cross – the power of God

SCRIPTURE:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

OBSERVATION:

In the eyes of the world, the message of the cross is foolishness. They cannot understand how the powerful Creator God would stoop so low as to sacrifice Himself in such a cruel fashion to bring salvation to tiny creatures made out of the dust. It would be like a man sacrificing himself for a colony of ants or a great elephant sacrificing itself for little grasshoppers. Humanly speaking, it just does not make sense. It is beyond our comprehension how God could do such a thing for us, who are like mere worms in comparison to the infinitely great and awesome God of the whole Universe.

Without God, man is without hope. Man is always perishing, decaying, dying. Death is the destiny that awaits every man, and without God, there is nothing that can prevent this morbid process. In a legendary tale, a powerful wizard was cursed with hourglass eyes so that whoever and whatever he saw would be seen as decaying before his very eyes. Day by day, as man grows older, he withers like a flower, until he finally passes away.

Even then, if physical death was the end, man would still be comforted, for he would think “At least I ate, drank and was merry during my few days on earth”. However, deep down inside, every soul knows that one’s existence does not end with death, no matter how much one seeks to deny it. Every major religion through the ages has been sure of one thing, the existence of hell and its terrible and horrible torment of the departed.

On earth, we easily grumble and complain at the littlest things. We do not understand that the very basic comforts and enjoyments we have in life is because of the grace and mercy of God. Every easy breath of air, every morsel of food, every drop of water, every ray of warm sunshine, every gust of cool wind are all part of God’s gift to His creation. Many of us complain about work but we fail to realize that even work is a great and precious gift from God. To not work is to cease to be useful. Uselessness is a tragic thing indeed.

In Hell, there is nothing of value at all. There is no sunshine, no comfort, no food, no water, no work. In the darkness, where the worm does not die, the unsaved departed scream endlessly, suffering from unspeakable horrors. Even a single minute in hell would convince anyone on earth that every second on earth was a precious gift, and would do all they can to avoid and warn others from going to that horrible, accursed place.

The world thinks little about the afterlife. They are always concerned with the here and now, and all the pleasures they are able to get in this life. And so they are perishing and continue to perish, destined for the grave and the eternity of darkness, shut off forever from the presence of God.   

In contrast, to those who are being saved, the message of the cross is not foolishness at all, but the power of God. From God’s perspective, it is important to realize it’s not so much what we are saved from but what we are saved to. For those of us who turn to God to love Him and follow Him, He is able to save us to the uttermost. Through the Lord’s death on the cross, God is able to lift up useless pieces of garbage and refine it into something of great value in His eyes. Through the cross of Jesus, God is able to transform and change us more and more into the likeness of His Son which is His ultimate, good and perfect purpose.

It is at the cross that we exchange our old, perishing nature for a new, regenerative one. It is at the cross that we receive the washing away of our sins and the gift of new robes of righteousness. It is at the cross that we do away with the old self and its sinful habits, and take on the new self with its desires set on pleasing God. God does away with the old, so that the new can come and bring forth precious fruit.

It is when we understand and behold the work and message of the cross before us more and more that we can truly begin to change more and more into who God wants us to be. Paul speaks about us as being saved. We are not yet completely saved. We are going through a process. When we first responded to God and believed in His Son for salvation through the cross, we began this process, but we must press on and continue this process till the very end of our lives. We need to finish the race, to finish the fight, to press on till we overcome. Let the cross be ever before us, our past behind us.

APPLICATION:

The foot of His cross is holy ground. The cross of Jesus connects fallen men on the earth below to God Almighty in Heaven above. By faith, we are able to come to the very cross of Jesus where He died, and lay our burdens and our sins at His feet. At the foot of His cross, we are able to receive His precious flow of grace and mercy. At the foot of His cross, as we wait, God’s power comes and transforms more and more into Christ’s likeness. As we learn to meditate at the foot of the cross of Jesus, and behold the wondrous and marvelous provision the Lord supplied for us there, we cannot help but be changed.

Let us endeavor to learn to meditate at the cross of Jesus in our spirit. Thank Him, adore Him, praise Him, for His precious cross. Reflect and appreciate with wonder God’s marvelous and perfect work there. By faith, picture the precious blood of the Lamb flowing down upon us from the cross of Calvary, washing us, cleansing us, making us white as snow. Picture the Lord’s great power emanating from Heaven through His cross, basking us in God’s presence, melting away our sinful tendencies and giving us new life in His name.

Once, the Lord spoke to the great Bible teacher, the late Derek Prince, “Consider the work of the cross, a perfect work, perfect in every aspect, perfect in every respect.” We would certainly do well to constantly behold and meditate on the perfect work of the cross of our Lord!

PRAYER:

We thank You for Your precious cross, Father God, for on the cross, You gave Your Son that we might have hope. Through the cross, we have forgiveness of sins. Through the cross You enable us to change and be transformed. Through the cross You enable us to receive Your eternal life. We bless You and thank You, precious Lord. Help us appropriate and appreciate and behold with awe Your marvelous work more and more. Help us to meditate on Your cross so that it may anchor us, and change us, and strengthen our faith in You all the more. May Your name be praised and glorified forevermore precious Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

That they might be with him

SCRIPTURE:

Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Mark 3:14-18

OBSERVATION:

The calling of the disciples was a sacred and special occasion where the Lord specially chose and set apart 12 individuals from diverse backgrounds to be His divinely appointed ambassadors who would continue his ministry to spread the gospel to the very ends of the earth.

And the pattern and purpose of His calling teaches us valuable lessons. Firstly, the Lord appointed them that they might be with him. It was imperative for this ordained disciples to live with Jesus, to see what He did, to feel what He felt, to understand Him personally and know Him in the most intimate way. This relationship was foremost even before any ministry or authority that was given to them.

Secondly, the Lord called them so that they might be sent out to preach. They were to go out and do as Jesus did, to declare the kingdom of God, and call for people everywhere to repent and find God’s mercy through His Son. Even at this early stage, the Lord already impressed on the disciples their primary mission of evangelism.

Thirdly, the Lord called them to give them authority to drive out demons. Later, the disciples also healed the sick in the Lord’s name, but it was primarily in the casting out of demons, that people would realize the divinity and power of their calling. It was through this sign that the people would realize that the kingdom of God had come upon them.

Of the disciples, there were the four famous fishermen and brothers, Peter, James, John and Andrew, a tax collector, Matthew, and a member of a violent political group called the Zealots, Simon. Not much is known of the other disciples, but as a whole, they were common folk, not particularly rich or famous people. The Lord purposely chose such as these to show His divine power and purpose.

APPLICATION:

The first calling of every disciple of Jesus is that we might be with Him. This is our first and foremost priority, to have that close relationship with Jesus. All our service and ministry and whatever we do for the Lord must stem from that relationship. Originally, the term “Christian” was never used by believers themselves. Instead, it was what non-believers called them. The early believers were always disciples. In truth, there is no such thing as a Christian that is not a disciple. Every true Christian is called by Jesus to be His disciple, to learn from Him and obey Him as Lord and Master. And a true disciple must be serious. The Lord has already warned that it is not lip service and not everyone who calls him Lord, Lord will be accepted in the last day!

And our calling to be with Him is to be involved in evangelism, to be involved in preaching the gospel. Not everyone is called to be an evangelist, but everyone is called to be part of the great commission. We may not be able to touch the masses, but we can reach out to our colleagues, our neighbors, our friends. We need first of all to have that desire to reach out, and then pray for God to enable us to follow His leading in bringing others to Him.

Also, it is very important to understand our authority in the Lord Jesus over demons. We are not to fear them, but to know that we have authority over them. This authority is precious, and every child of God has this authority to stand up against any demon in Jesus name!

Remember that the early disciples were simple folk, like fishermen, tax collectors and traders. Whatever we do, whoever we are, God is able to use us as His disciples. Our part is to be available and trust Him to lead us and empower us.

PRAYER:

We praise You and thank You Lord Jesus that You called us to be Your disciples. Help us grow deeper and deeper in knowing You, and give us that strong desire to spend time with You, to seek You and learn from You. Open our eyes to see ways where we may grow and become stronger in our faith. Lead us to become strong disciples for You, we pray. Quicken our hearts and strengthen our will as we seek You. Give us hearts of compassion and courage that we may be able to reach out to others for Your sake. We praise You and love You and worship You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.