Tag Archives: evangelism

Day 1: For All Christians, Exhortation

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“Sing to one another in songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:19

One of the signs of the filling of the Holy Spirit is the ability to relationally and whole-heartedly express oneself in conversation with God and one another. This hymn is a rare juxtaposition of these two conversations, each being done in the presence of the other in one Trinitarian-plus-us community. The basis for this juxtaposition is the thing in common we share: Jesus carried His own cross and told His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23. Each time He said this, He did so in the context of Him being the anointed Son of God, and in His foretelling His future suffering.

For us, this cross-bearing is different and similar in important ways. It is different because His was a capital-T “Thy cross” because the cross He carried and died upon is where He fully accomplished salvation once for all. Christ alone has borne that cross fully, nor are we able to pay for our own sins by our own suffering to any degree. It is also similar in an important way because we can only grow into the full stature of Him in whose footsteps we are following by carrying our own cross to the end as He did. The whole Christian life can be seen as preparation to one day give your life in a shameful and humiliating fashion for His sake.

However, this exhortation doesn’t make sense to many who bear the name “Christian.” After all, “Jesus died a shameful death so I wouldn’t have to, right?” If Jesus truly intended that, would He have called His disciples to follow him and carry their instrument of ignoble and excruciating execution? What else would they need it for? The beauty of what I’ve discovered is that the church of Christians alive today is Jesus’ body still on earth, and therefore, she has much of the same physical work which He did: healing the sick, casting out demons, preaching the good news, and bleeding for the world. The whole Bible story from Genesis to Revelation bears out the ugly, inescapable reality: the world is only redeemable through the blood of the guiltless, trusting surrender to God. Before Christ, it was sacrificial lambs; after Christ in full, those echo the sacrifice of the Lamb of God in laying down their lives even for their enemies. These are indeed His disciples.

If we want to be His disciples, we must answer the question: What does it mean to carry your cross? It means to live a life on earth that is constantly being laid down for God and others, in preparation for the day and the way He chooses for it to end. This entails resistance to searching it out, as some martyr-wannabes might mistake my meaning, being eager to be done with the heavy load they carry for a consequently cheaper glory. Instead, it means living faithfully in full surrender until that last day so that we can share in the glory to be revealed at His coming. This is the joy we are offered if we do, the same “joy that was set before Him.” (Hebrews 12:1-2), “That I may know Him in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings being conformed to His death.” Philippians 3:10

Reflection Questions:

  • Is there anything you are still holding onto that you haven’t fully surrendered to be put to death in your life? What fundamentally motivates you in what you do that is really about you and not about God?
  • What does carrying your cross look like in your current life stage? What will it look like in the next? How can you prepare for it?
  • How does a person embrace the cross in such a way that avoids the traps of “cheap grace” theology, while also avoiding the trap of legalism?

9. Israel–Obedience under Judgement

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“By Faith he kept the passover and the application of blood in order that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as through dry land, the Egyptians taking their try were drowned. By faith Rahab, the harlot, who welcomed the spies with peace was not destroyed along with the unfaithful.” ~Hebrews 11:38– (translation mine)

Photo Cred: posted on Nov 22, 2011 by adamsart. accessed:
https://bibleartwork.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/crossing-the-red-sea/

Judgment

Sin deserves judgment. Humanity, yea the world, is inextricably and implicitly bound up with it. The Justice of God demands that He be feared, respected, and obeyed. Faith sees this reality plus one more. Faith sees that the same God who is Judge is Savior. He is also working to rescue those who are under his judgment if they will look to Him for their deliverance.

All three stories are astounding in that God was bringing about horrific judgment upon the world–Egyptian people, Egyptian army, and the people of Jericho. The Judgment of God upon the world being created by Him and refusing to worship Him is just.

And here we see the people of God showing us what faith is, and why it is so important. As Enoch knew, without faith it is impossible to please God. But Israel was the poster child to show the world that without faith it is impossible to appease God. Indeed, it is through the final gate of God’s Judgment that faith alone can carry a person to eternal life.

Salvation

All three times in this passage, God has come down hard upon the peoples of the world. God is not cruel to punish Egypt, who had refused to let his people Israel go. He is not cruel to slay the army who presume upon the goodwill of his miracles to soundly slaughter those who would without his hinderance end his people’s lives. He is not cruel to save only the one who believed in him when destroying the first city of the land of Canaan who had long ceased walking with Him or worshipping Him. Even so, God will not be unjust, cruel, vindictive to destroy all those who do not obey and believe. In fact, one might say that His work to save His people is a proof that he will not be unjust to do so. (See Romans 3:21-26 for some food for thought about this.)

Look at Israel. In Egypt, they cried out to God to deliver them. God starts fighting for them. The final plague and final test was a warhead of the most deeply devastating magnitude. He in essence told Israel, “Build a bunker.” They obeyed. They survived. Off they go to the promised land while everyone else who did not fear God lost their first-born son.

(For any people who think God was not just in what he did, please read the whole book of Genesis through Exodus 15, and then talk with me if you still feel that way.)

And then comes the Red Sea. The archetypal representation for Baptism and Salvation itself. By the miraculous mediation of God’s messenger the people are delivered through the water. And when the world tried it, they were utterly destroyed. God had to pass his people through the waters of Judgment. (See To a Mature Man: Stage 3–Baptism) It was the obedience of Faith which said, “He will fight for me. I will do the impossible, and He will deliver me.”

And then coming into the promised land, what should happen to those who are outside Israel. Those who fear God and have that faith are delivered, but those who are not (the “un-faith-ful” [those without faith]) are destroyed. Faith is the only means of Salvation.

New Testament

More than this, my seminary professor taught me that Paul in his ministry wrote to the Roman church to show what he was going for in his whole ministry for Jesus Christ. It’s in the beginning and the ending of Romans. “The Obedience of Faith” for all nations. There is One Judge of all the earth. All are under His judgment from our sinful birth. But faith alone is the way to Salvation, and faith without obedience does not deliver from Judgment. Therefore, because of Judgment, faith without obedience is not saving faith. As James said, “What good, brethren, does it do if someone claims to have faith but no works [of obedience]. Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14)

No.

Application

  1. Flee. Bestir yourself that judgment is coming against the whole world, and you are a part of that world.
  2. Trust. The same God who justly judges this world, will also save all who call upon His name for deliverance.
  3. Call upon the name of the Lord, for Him to save you, and do as He tells you.
  4. Obey. If you believe in him as your King, your Judge, your Savior, do as He says. It is through listening under Him and obeying His commands that you will know His salvation through and through.