"Father, forgive...." who?

(Written July 30, 2012)

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

- Luke 23:34

Did you ever wonder whether Jesus was talking about a) the soldiers who did the grisly work of pounding in the nails etc b) the Jewish people and especially their leaders, some of whom knew exactly Who Jesus was in their hearts but still handed Him over to be crucified c) the wider world, inclusive of both Jewish people and Gentiles - that is, all of us. Possibly it is all 3 - a, b and c.

I believe this statement refers to every living soul, because we all are all accomplices in pounding in the nails; not just the soldiers (who actually DID the killing, just doing their duty) or the Jewish people at the time (who cried out "Let his blood be on us and on our children")

The revelation of what really happened at the Cross is an eye-opener for everyone who believes. The Bible is clear about that. To that extent, none of us actually "knows" THAT we crucified the Lord of Glory by our sins. We come to know of the reality of our sin only when we come to the Cross and believe. So Jesus' statement is perfectly clear if it is seen this way - we ALL are guilty (Romans 1) and we all had no clue about how lost, sinful, and murderous we were being especially to Jesus. So if Jesus indeed died for the forgiveness of our sins (which He did), then this is His specific request on our behalf to God that purchases our pardon. 

There is still one all-important thing we need to do in response - that is, BELIEVE that Jesus died for our sins. I need to admit that it was I who was under sentence, but He bore my sentence instead. Only then does Jesus' statement in Luke 23:34 bring the forgiveness of God to us.

I cannot imagine how Jesus, even as He was being done to death, could think of FORGIVENESS. He was human at the time, tempted to anger, to retaliation, to making His innocence clear and punishing perpetrators. He, being also God, was perfectly justified in doing so and putting the ones really responsible through our just deserts. And yet....... He continues steadfastly with His God-appointed task of purchasing our pardon! He shows this amazing love, this mercy that breaks my heart, this plaintive, lovesick yet purposeful wooing of me - the very one responsible! I deserved His death, and He took my place. What love is this, my Lord? 

I, for my part, have made my decision - I cannot bear to reject this love and still remain alive. Were I to reject it, I could no longer live with myself - I have that much integrity. Were I to reject it, I would be, though living, a dead man. A walking dead person. There is no part of me, however rebellious, that does not capitulate entirely to this love Jesus showed on the Cross. It is truly love CONQUERING rebellion and hatred by giving itself up unto death. I BELIEVE!!! Forgive me, my Lord.........and thank You for your amazing love that conquers me.

What will you do? Will you accept this love, this pardon, purchased, ransomed, at the cost of the DEATH OF THE SON OF GOD? No decision you will ever make is as important as this response.

The Cross - Jesus' hour of glorification

(Written July 29, 2012)

A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

 - John 19:29-30

"It is finished." The finality. The end of all sacrifice, of all of blood shed for forgiveness of sins. FINALLY, God had satisfied Himself with the death of His chosen, anointed Innocent One.

"It is finished." It was not a mere era ending; it was much more than that. A highway now lies between mankind and God, where for many thousands of years before there was just a huge chasm that could not be bridged. It was not the dawn of merely a new age; it was the dawn of a NEW MAN!

I find it absolutely amazing that Jesus had this perspective at the time He died. This cry was uttered at the doorstep of death. What was finished? His God-appointed task of substitution for mankind's penalty. It's amazing how little the people around the Cross that day might have known about what had been accomplished that moment.

Misunderstood, betrayed, His body a river of blood, hanging cursed and an outcast, a common criminal outside the city gates, Jesus still had His perspective so clearly before Him at the doorstep of death.

John has been talking about the "hour of glorification" of the Son of Man; at the moment Jesus died, that hour was finished. Jesus had been perfectly glorified.

The perfect glorification of our God is not in His majesty, or in any of His attributes, or even the mystery of the Incarnation, or Jesus' teachings, or miracles, or even His life. The perfect glorification of our God is HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS. 

How can we glory in this grisly symbol of murder? How is God glorified in Jesus' death? This, I believe, is where Christianity is unique. It is our belief that God chose the moment, the darkest hour, to win an irreversible victory. That which the world considers the most foolish thing - the Cross of Jesus - THAT is our greatest glory.

God indeed SHAMED the wisdom of the world, and frustrated the understanding of the "wise".....through the Cross. He silenced human wisdom for all time.

I want to dwell on the defeat that the kingdom of darkness endured at the moment Jesus cried out "It is finished." No longer could there be any hope of victory. Cosmic powers had been stripped of their power and the strength of their delusions. They were led captive in the train of the Victor, publicly shamed, disgraced, rendered powerless.

All that remained to the kingdom of darkness was the power of bluff - a bark far worse than its bite. There is no bite left, actually.

Let's call this power of bluff of the kingdom of darkness. It has no place anymore in the lives of us who believe in the substitutionary death of the Son of God for us. 

Jesus' 'cry of dereliction'

(Written July 26, 2012)

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 

- Matthew 27:45-46

This cry of Jesus is famously remembered as the "cry of dereliction". All the scholars agree that Jesus was quoting Psalm 22:1 (a Messianic psalm). Jesus quoted scripture to emphasize that it was fulfilled in Him.

I wonder whether we have thought about this cry of dereliction. We do know Jesus FELT forsaken by God. But was He really forsaken? Was Jesus ASKING A QUESTION "why"? The most correct explanation seems to be that Jesus' cry was in fact a cry of REAL, ACTUAL dereliction - that God forsook Him IN REALITY.

I also wonder whether we think about the weight of sin. To bear the weight of our sin, it took God Himself to become a man, and die the kind of death Jesus died. It's not just about HOW FAR GOD WOULD GO.......it is also about how far He would HAVE TO GO. As human beings we are quick to shuffle off our responsibility and guilt. But the darkness of those three hours, and God not just "being away" from His Only Son but actually FORSAKING Him (depth of abandonment) gives us an idea of what cost was involved. Matthew also says that there were earthquakes during that time as the Son of God bore the sentence of the Father in our place. The horror of sin is not something we should take lightly, if it cost God Himself so much!

If Jesus, the very Son of God, Himself felt the "abandonment" so sharply that He cried out in such unbearable anguish, we ought to consider soberly whether, when the time comes, some of us will be able to bear eternal separation from God.

What we RISK in not believing is not "mere" eternity. It is the absolute horror of an eternity WITHOUT GOD. Forsaken, abandoned to our just desserts, our rewards for sin and rebellion.

The Gardener's hand

(Written March 1, 2012)

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

 - John 15:1-2

One of my precious friends sent me this verse the other day.

It seems quite expected for The Lord to say that He "cuts off" branches that do not bear fruit, even though in reality it is a very chilling thing. But what caught my imagination is what He does with those who DO bear fruit.

Does it say "He rewards"? or "commends"? "pats on the back"? "gives special blessings"? Of course He definitely does all of that too. But this verse is drawing our attention to the one all-important thing the Father does with those who truly bear fruit for Him - He PRUNES them. Pruning involves shearing off boughs and leaves to stimulate growth, which in turn stimulates more fruit.

Do you feel today that He has dealt harshly with you and you don't know why? Do you feel like here you are, going through the very valley of the shadow of death, and He does not seem to care? Do you feel prayers going seemingly unheard? Do you feel your efforts for the Kingdom are not precious to Him?

This verse tells me that in order for me to grow to fulfill His purposes and His purposes only, He must indeed let me go through the valley of the shadow of death. He knows the best way to teach me hard truths, to refine and purify me. And sometimes this involves feelings of abandonment, smallness, enormous feelings of having wasted efforts, and prayers not being heard. 

If you are in a bad way today, God knows what He is doing. Do not mistake your circumstances to be His displeasure or His abandonment. It is only MORE PROOF of His deep involvement, His appreciation of how precious your faith is to Him and how precious you are to Him. I can personally testify that when I come through the valley, He has taught me so much I never even knew I was learning. And I realise that He could only have taught me those truths in the valley. If I was in the plain, on level ground, happy and without a care, I would never learn those truths.

Another reason God PRUNES us is to refine us. Isn't our prayer to Him primarily to enter into His righteousness? To become like Him? Well, if He is going to have to answer that prayer, hard times are ahead because we are full of sin. He is going to have to purge, cleanse and perform surgery, sometimes without an anaesthetic. Sometimes, He is going to leave us crying for a while. Sometimes, He is going to have to be harsh with us, so that we will learn how sinful we are.

So, dearly beloved, let us remember John 15:1-2 in our troughs, valleys, and hard times. Let's pray what David prayed when God confronted him with his sin - David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men. (I Chronicles 21:13) Let us fall into the ever loving arms of our Lord!

Be blessed! I don't know why The Lord wanted me to write this, but I feel blessed for having written it...may it bless your heart.

Psalm 23

(Written June 28, 2012)

As the world hurtles at breakneck speed down only to find itself back where it began....
Slow down. Let it pass on.

Step off the path. On to the grass. It's fresh and new and is cool on your bare feet. Lie down upon it and gaze at the limitless expanse above you.
Do not look to the broad path, where everyone wants to get somewhere before everyone else.
Slow down.

Wander wondrously and dreamily over the rolling meadows. Sit by the clear, still, pristine stream and look up at the top of the mountain.
Don't turn back. The shrill metallic cacophony of the broad path - shut it out. 
Shut it out.
Slow down.

You won't be left behind just because you stopped to lie on the grass, or wander over the meadow, or drink from the clear, still water.
The ones on the broad path are very fast, but they're not really going anywhere; just round and round and getting dizzy.
Slow down.

Sit down to a meal. Take your time. Try out everything on the table. Have a chat with the host. Isn't it so fascinating that when you look into His eyes, the deafening roar of the broad path just dies away in the distance?
Take your time. This is the repast of kings, taken at their leisure and without a care in the world.

Aren't you glad you stopped? Here is the anointing. You are special to Him. Your soul is restored. Now you see things clearly as they really are.

Take your time. He heals. He restores. You won't be left behind. Surely, His goodness and mercy follow you always. But you have to slow down to know that.

"And now these three remain......"

(Written May 16, 2012)

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
- I Corinthians 13:13

I am absolutely entranced, enchanted, fascinated and insatiably intrigued by the way the Bible WORDS things. It has a way of reaching out to your heart, pulling you by the heartstrings and saying to you, "isn't this the truth? and how did I know you were thinking about this?"

The context of this absolutely pivotal and significant verse is what Paul has been saying to the Corinthian church about love. It yanks the word out of the miry depths into which the Corinthian world had buried it, and sets it up as an unreachable ideal, stressing that unless we aspire to the unreachable, we will get nowhere. When Paul is done with what he has said about love, love has become such a pure thing that the reader will want absolutely no impurity to be associated with it. It is an "aha" moment for the Corinthian church.

This verse has been on my mind for a few months now, very strangely. I even went out and searched for a song that specifically explains this verse, which I hope to do with our church choir soon:)

One of the things that slowly came clear to me is that these three are 1) inextricably linked to each other, and none can truly exist without the other 2) Neither faith nor hope can truly breed if there is no love 3) All three are intangible. I believe that these thoughts have important implications for me.

There can be no faith without love; there can be no love without faith. And both faith and love need to exist, if there is to be any (tangible) hope at all. Faith and love are handmaidens; together, they inculcate a sense of hope which is so powerful that it helps us overcome handsomely ANYTHING the evil one throws at us.

Faith without love is suffocating legalism. Love without faith is hypocritical. Faith or love without hope is inhuman. Hope without faith and love is impossible and a delusion.

If we have faith, it is because God first loved us. If we have hope, it is because we have faith in God who first loved us. If we have love, we have faith in God and hope for the age to come.

In the Corinthian church, probably mooring the word "love" inextricably with its two handmaidens faith and hope was a totally new concept. It was absolutely an eye-opener to realise that true love cannot exist unless we have faith in God, and that this gives us hope not just for this world but also in the age to come. The Corinthians were well-known for their purely earthly definitions of 'love'. In their view, it was possible for love to exist all by itself. By mooring love with faith and hope, Paul was indeed opening their eyes to new vistas and an altogether heavenly vantage point.

We need this so much today too!!!!! Why?

Because in our world today, if something is intangible, it is assumed to not exist. If it cannot be observed, described, measured, proven, demonstrated, seen, touched, felt, in fact, if it doesn't show up on any dial, scientific or even emotional, then we are exhorted to consider whether it exists at all.

Notice a few things about these three intangible things - 1) all of them have to do not only with the age we're living in, but more primarily in a future time and place 2) though intangible, they are the only things that "REMAIN" (v.13) - that is, when all is said and done, and our lives on earth are complete, all that will truly 'remain indelibly' for future generations is whether we had faith in God who loved us, and whether we attained our hope in Christ. Three intangibles, inextricably linked, are all that remain from our lives for eternity.

Lots of us think our world is WYSIWYG - 'what you see is what you get'. We do not suspect that there might be any reality beyond the physical that we see. Though there is evidence that God exists, that a spiritual reality exists, that the evil one exists, and there is a cosmic spiritual battle going on, which affects life on earth in many significant ways, the average person does not consider the existence of an unseen spiritual reality. And yet, faith, hope and love ultimately have to do with the spiritual reality. It is there that they become tangible. In the physical world, they cannot be proved to exist as entities. In essence, Paul is also exhorting us to consider our spirituality. Do we have faith? if so, in whom or in what? Do we hope for true eternal life? And do we respond in love to God's unfathomable, first, amazing love for us? If not, what do we achieve in our physical lives that will ultimately "REMAIN"?

Sometimes I feel Christianity is extremely simple. Have faith in God, who provides an imperishable hope for us through His love for us in Christ Jesus. If we live this way, we will impact life on this planet significantly and our faith, hope and love will REMAIN as testimonies to those who come after us.

The "greatest" of the things that "REMAIN" is LOVE - God's love for us in Christ Jesus, and whether we responded to His love so lavishly poured out on us through His grace. God's love is the greatest, because it is the point where we come in to the picture. If we did not know His love, it would be difficult to have faith and understand the hope God provides for us in eternity. God's love is also the greatest, because it is the only remotely tangible thing among the three - faith cannot usually be proved, there is no guarantee of hope realised, but we can feel, know and respond to God's love while we live.

Consider His love. Consider how He steadfastly searched for us (remember the lost coin? the lost son?) and remember where and how He found us. Consider how He places His arms around us and carries the lambs among us upon His shoulders.

Look up beyond what you see. Can you feel God's love? Do you have faith in God? Do you know the hope He provides for us in eternity?

In the verses just before verse 13, Paul says, For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

This speaks of a spiritual reality where we will fully know, as we ourselves are fully known. There will come a day when the only reality we know will be the spiritual one. In that day, our faith in God, hope for eternity and God's love for us and our response will be all there is, because only these three "REMAIN". Are we ready for that day? That's the only question that matters while we live in the physical realm.