Just Give Me Jesus

Romans 1: 3 - 7

Jesus:  The Man

1)     In Roman 1:3 Paul establishes the Messiah (who was promised beforehand and later find out is Jesus Christ) was descended from the seed of David according to the flesh.

2)     What does this mean?  The Messiah would in fact be a human being.  Through the lineage of King David the Messiah would come and this was promised by God throughout the O.T.  Below are a few prophecies found in the O.T. concerning the Messiah

a)    2 Samuel 7:12 – 17 (God promises the Messiah would come through David’s lineage.)

b)    Isaiah 11:1 – 5 (One of the most well known prophecies concerning the Messiah coming through the line of David).

c)    Jeremiah 23: 5 – 6 (God promises the chosen one will come from the lineage of David).

3)     In Douglas Moo’s commentary on Romans he writes, “According to the flesh denotes being or living according to the merely human.”  He continues, “The phrase here, then, while obviously far toward the neutral end of the spectrum, also suggests that we have not arrived at the full understanding of Jesus if we look at him from the standpoint of ‘the flesh’”[1] 

4)     What Moo is essentially saying is that it is important for us to know the Messiah (Jesus) was a human, but his human(ness) did not merely  qualify him to be Messiah it is only a part of the equation.

5)     The Messiah was to be a human but he was also to be of divine origin.

6)     So “According to the flesh” establishes first off that he was a descendant of David.  A human being.  This is one of the attributes of the Messiah.

Jesus:  The Divine

1)     Not only was Jesus the descendant of David but he is also the Son of God.

2)     He was “declared” the Son of God in the “power of the Holy Spirit”. 

3)     The word “declared” means appointed, ordained, decree – a divine oracle. 

4)     Jesus was appointed the Son of God according to the Spirit and according to his resurrection. 

5)     Being appointed does not mean the resurrection is what made him the Son of God.  According to Charles Hodge, “Christ was not predestined to be the Son of God.  He was such from eternity.” [2]

6)     In other words Jesus did not become the Son of God after he rose from the dead, he has alwats been the Son of God from eternity past, remains the son of God in the present and continues as the Son of God in the future.

7)     I think what the text implies is that Jesus was publicly declared the Son of God through the resurrection.  We now can accept, acknowledge and draw near to God as a result of the resurrection of Christ.

8)     The death of Christ is imperative to our Christian faith however we cannot stop at his death.  The story does not end there it continues with the resurrection.

9)     Without the resurrection the plan of salvation is not complete. 

10)  The Spirit publicly declares Jesus divine but scripture tells us that he has always been divine. 

11) Jesus thus, is also divine in nature or to be more specific is equal to God according to scripture. 

a)     John 5:17 – 31 (Jesus calls God his Father and also claims equality to God.)

b)     According to John 5:17 - 31 Jesus…

1.           Does as the Father does

2.           Does all in the Father’s accord

3.           Knows what to do because the Father shows him.

4.           Gives life

5.           Does nothing on His own

6.           Judges

c)      John 10:30 – I and the Father are one

d)     There are numerous more scriptures that point to the divinity of Jesus Christ.  I would encourage you to get a concordance and do a study on all the times Jesus made an “I am” statement and this should help you better understand his divinity.

12) Not only does the resurrection from the dead declare him the Son of God but also the Spirit of holiness.

13) The Spirit’s characteristic is holiness

14) The Spirit proclaims Jesus’ sonship.

15)  The Spirit proclaims He is the Son of God and the resurrection validates all he taught and said.

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[1] Moo, Douglas:  The Epistle to the Romans.  Grand Rapids, MI/Cambridge UK:  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996, p. 47

[2] Hodge, Charles: Romans- The Geneva Series of Commentaries.  Carlisle, PA:  Banner of Truth Trust 1983,  p.19

I'm Not Ashamed

Romans 1:16, 17

1) Paul declares, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel…"Why do you think he declares so boldly that he is not ashamed of the Gospel? 

2) The cross of Christ (this is essential to the Gospel) and the Gospel itself is and was considered by many outsiders and unbelievers to be foolishness. It was a crutch, a superstition, a fairy tale or just plain idiotic.

3) People who followed the cross (Christians) are/were thus considered fools as well.

• I Cor. 1:18 – For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. But the power of salvation to those who believe
•  I Cor. 1:21 – Through the foolish preaching of the cross salvation is available to those who put their saving faith in Jesus Christ.
• I Cor. 4:10 – We are fools for Christ’s sake, but are wise in Christ’s eyes.

4) Paul was not going to shy away from preaching this Gospel nor was he going to hide it or try to act like it didn’t impact his life.

5) How many of us shy away from boldness in the Gospel? We make excuses like not wanting to come across as a pushy Christian, don’t want to be made fun of for your faith or we think that for some ridiculous reason we may come across as “overly righteous”.

6) We need to learn from Paul… There is nothing to be ashamed of with the Gospel. The Gospel message is to be proclaimed boldly both through our words and in our actions.

7) The word Gospel is derived from the Greek word Euaggeleion (Yoo-ang-ghel-ee-on) which means good tidings or good news.

• The glad tidings of the kingdom of God which has come and is still to come through Jesus the Messiah.
• Central themes of the Gospel – Ultimately it is salvation through Christ.
  
  a.  The death of Jesus Christ has reconciled (or made peace) with God and those who believe will be saved. He was bruised for our iniquity.
  b.  The resurrection and exaltation of Jesus Christ. He rose again for our justification.
  c.  The return of Christ in majesty and His coming Kingdom.

8) Why is Paul so bold about this Gospel and how can we take on this same attitude?

• It is the power of salvation – It is a mighty work of God to deliver, preserve and keep safe in Christ those who believe in Christ in faith.
• Future salvation – The redemption we will all receive when we pass from this life to eternity.
• As A.W. Pink states, “We are saved from the penalty of sin, saved from the power (influence) of sin, and the pleasure of sin” (no true believer can find pleasure in sinful acts without guilt to follow).
• Douglas Moo writes about salvation “can denote generally God’s provision for a person’s spiritual needs… It must also include the restoration of the sinner to share in God’s glory.”[1]
• Many Christians have the idea of salvation wrong. They think that the Gospel is a “get out of hell free” card or is a “fire protection” policy. 
• It is more than being saved from eternal death. It is the guarantee of a fruitful and abundant life on earth and the inheritance of future glory (eternal life).

9) This salvation is for everyone who believes. Saving faith or putting complete faith and trust in God who justifies sinners through the cross of Christ.

10) "Faith is not a work of mental exercise or an emotional experience. We cannot boast that we have sufficient faith to merit God's love. Saving faith expresses human yieldedness and confess that there is nothing about us that should make God love us. We rely on Jesus alone to save us from sin." Brian Cappell

11) “To the Jew first and also to the Greek” – Salvation (through the Gospel) is for everyone (Jews and Greeks) however this verse means the Gospel was first given to the Jews originally and eventually was made available to Gentiles.

The Gospel and the Righteousness of God

1) Not only does the Gospel show the power of God unto salvation but also in this Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed.

2) Righteousness – This is an attribute which means all that is right. The Gospel brings light to or uncovers the faithfulness, goodness, kindness, grace, mercy justice and proper(ness) of God. There is no wrong, evil or injustice in Him.

3) God’s righteousness is unveiled from faith for faith.

• From faith – God’s faithfulness (he keeps his promises)
• For faith – The faith of an individual (believing unto salvation)
• This ultimately means nothing but faith in Jesus Christ can make us right with God. Without faith it is impossible to please God.

4) Since in the Gospel God’s faithfulness is shown and our faith is sustained the end result is living by faith.

5) We are made right with God by the Gospel thus we live by faith.

6) The word live means made alive or enjoy life. We are made alive and enjoy life through faith in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

1) Pray you will never, ever, never shy away from or be ashamed of who you are as a child of God and the powerful message of the Gospel. For there is saving power in the gospel.

2) Pray you will live your Christian life to the fullest, that you will be fully alive in Christ through faith.

[1] Moo, Douglas: The Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids, MI/Cambridge UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996, p. 67

Praise You in the Storm

Psalm 13

Today’s Psalm is another short song written by David.  It is, once again, most likely a Psalm we can all relate with as it is a feeling we may have had at a particularly trying time in life.  It is a song with varying emotions which begins with crying out in despair and anguish, but concludes with joy and hope.  It was more than likely penned at a low point in David’s life; some have suggested he was fighting a life threatening illness or others suggest it was penned during the time of when he was fleeing from the pursuits of King Saul who was trying to kill him.  Whatever the situation he was facing it is apparent that he is in utter despair and at the end of his rope. 

          

David begins his song by asking God “How long?” four times.  The repetition shows that David is at a point of being unable to bear or endure the situation(s) he is facing.  He asks God, “How long YHWH will you forget me, how long will you hide your face from me, how long must I take counsel in myself and how long must I watch the enemy exalt over me?”  Initially one would think David is having a crisis of faith as he wonders if God is even around or even cares.  I should make it known that David is not questioning the existence of God nor does he literally think God has forgotten about him.  Remember this is a poem or a song which is intended to express a pure feeling or a raw emotion.  His song is not intended to be a theological treatise of God in any sense; he is just being real and open with his emotions and feelings. 

Questioning God was a practice many men and women of the Bible did over the centuries and still do today.  For example Abraham questioned God when He promised Abraham’s wife would one day bear a son.  Job questioned God when he lost everything that was precious to him. Elijah questioned God’s whereabouts when he flees for his life from Jezebel.  The Israelites continually questioned God in times of calamity.  It is disheartening to read about the struggles these people faced but they should also bring comfort to us.  Why?  Because we see what many consider some of the greatest people of faith having struggles and they had the guts to cry out to God with these tough questions to express their true emotions.

There are people who actually believe questioning God or voicing their true emotions and complaints to God are wrong, disrespectful and irreverent.  I could not disagree with them more.  God is not taken back, intimidated or offended when we bring our raw unfettered emotions to him.  In fact I believe He welcomes cries of despair and the raw emotions we express to him.  There are times in the Bible when God does get frustrated with the people who lack trust and faith in Him; especially in those times where he has assured his faithfulness in the situation.  There are many accounts in the Old and New Testament where God and Jesus responds to peoples cries of despair in exasperation and saying, “How many times do I have to prove myself faithful to you?” 

David, the Psalmist, is voicing his question to God by asking, “How long do I have to endure before you will intervene and take control of the situation?”  He feels alone and abandoned by God (yet he knows He’s there) and he is in despair as he faces his enemy at the moment.  The last thing anyone wants to feel when they are in the midst of a trial, a calamity or despair is the feeling of being alone and abandoned.  Yet this is how David feels and he is begging God to divinely intervene. 

In verse 3 he continues by asking God to consider or look favorably upon his request.  In other words, “God, hear my prayer!  I have made my request known and I implore you to give it consideration.  Give me the hope I need to know that I will emerge victoriously over my enemies for your name sake; lest my enemies think they have won.”  Thus far in the first three verses we see a complaint has been filed (How long O LORD?), a request has been made (consider and answer me), now the Psalmist waits with great expectation.  He does not have a shallow hope that God may pull through for him; he is expecting God to hear his prayer and respond in the appropriate manner. 

Verse 5 is the turning point as it goes from lament to confidence.  In despair David is faced with a choice; he can choose to continue in one of two ways… 

1. He can allow his feelings to dictate his relationship with God and stew in misery and anguish.  
2. He can remember the nature of His God and trust in His loving kindness.  He can believe God will hear his prayer regardless of what he is feeling and expect God to work.  

He chooses to not allow his feelings hinder his faith.  His choice is something we can all benefit from.  It is so easy to let our feelings or emotions determine our relationship with God.  However it is also very difficult to not allow our feelings and emotions determine our faith in God.  In other words if we feel down in the dumps we feel as though God is far away and when we feel happy we feel God is close.  This is not to imply that we should never listen to our feelings and suppress them so that we become emotionless rocks.  We should instead learn from David as he writes “But I have trusted…”  David will not allow his feeling of despair to dictate his faith.  The remainder of the Psalm shows us that although David is in great despair, he feels alone and hopeless but he will still trust in God’s steadfast love.  God has not failed him at all and he will trust Him to continually not fail him.  Instead of looking at the circumstances around him or the overwhelming feelings he has he will focus on the character of God (his steadfast love).  He will focus on God’s loving kindness and the many times He has shown David his steadfast love.  Not only will he focus on God’s character but also on his salvation.  In the OT salvation means being saved from physical and spiritual danger.  His rejoicing is a bit premature since nothing has changed from the opening of the song to the closing.  Instead he believes that God will deliver him from his enemies.  

I don’t know about you, but I need to be more like David in response to his feelings.  There are so many times in life where I get very anxious because maybe finances are tight, circumstances aren’t working the way I planned them and I find myself crying out to God.  I submit my concerns and feelings to him and inevitably I come to the realization that God has not failed me yet and He is not about to begin failing me.  We can all greatly benefit from the Psalms of the Old Testament because they are relevant to us today.  

Gerald H. Wilson writes in his commentary of Psalm 13 of three helpful responses to the question “How we can regain a sense of God’s presence when we feel as though we are all alone and far from his presence.”  I paraphrase what he writes… 

1. Voice your complaint.  Be honest with God.  When you are feeling overwhelmed, alone, abandoned or completely disconnected with God, then tell him.  One could do this through prayer, journaling, or writing your own Psalms, poems or songs.  Wilson even suggests that you can do this audibly. 
2.  Take the focus off of yourself.  When you begin to have the feeling of abandonment and despair then turn your attention to others and serving them.  When you focus on your problems then your problems are always before you.  When we take the focus off of self and start thinking and praying for others then we in turn grow closer to God and bless others and our problems begin to melt away.
3. Keep connected to the body of Christ.  None of us should ever have to face life or difficulties alone.  This is why Jesus established the Church.  We are called to love and encourage one another, and we are to bear one another’s burdens.  When we gather together we can pray together, worship together, cry together, laugh together, and lift one another up.  Many of us have the natural tendency to think that when faced in a difficult situation we need to keep it to ourselves and go through it by ourselves because we don’t want to be a burden to others.

Makes Me Wanna Sing (Part 2)

Psalm 98 (For us today)

          

As believers we are called to sing to the Lord in praise and adoration of the marvelous and divine works God has done.  We are invited to join with all of creation in singing about the greatness of our God and the salvation He has made available to us.  I have a hard time understanding how individuals do not get excited about salvation.  My mind is boggled when I talk to individuals who say they have a relationship with God or are believers in Christ and yet they have no apparent joy and their commitment to God seems to be more of a burden than an act of worship to the one who has given literally everything to us for our enjoyment and His glory.

Maybe I am naive but I don’t understand how singing praises to God can be such a dividing factor within the body of Christ.  Sure, we all have preferences of styles of music but we often look past the message of a song or hymn and base our worship experience on whether we prefer a certain style or not.  I admittedly confessed that I hate country western music, but I also am not so narrow minded to think that God cannot be glorified through that STYLE of music.  If I went to a backwoods country western church and they broke out the banjo, washboard, upright bass and 50 gallon cowboy hats and led the congregation in God glorifying praise then I would join in with the band of believers and worship God joyfully.  The same goes for organ music, rock music, acoustic etc.  I hear people talk about the old hymns and refer to them as funeral dirges or lifeless songs that are wordy and confusing.  That is just as narrow thinking as mine is when it comes to country western praise.  With hymns like “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” by Martin Luther which is a hymn so filled with praise, inspiration and joy that I cannot sing that song without being brought into the presence of God.  

I digress…

          If we are to step back for a moment and look at how Psalm 98 can apply to us today we can ask three questions.

1)     Since we have salvation this is a cause for singing and celebrating; so what shall we sing?  The answer: a new song.  What does that new song look and sound like?  It is a song that is sung with a new heart and with joy because you have experienced the life altering grace of God.

2)     How should we sing this new song?  JOYFULLY with our voices and with instruments.  You may not be a musical person by nature; but as a Christian (one who has been redeemed by the saving power of Jesus Christ) by nature you are now joyful.  Sing (whether in tune or out of tune) with a joyful heart.

3)     Maybe I don’t like singing; so why should I?  Because our joy in salvation can often not be expressed in words and through music we can express our gratitude to a God who has given everything to us so sing with your heart and express your joy in following Jesus.  If that isn’t convincing enough then we should sing because God’s Word tells us to.  In this Psalm the writer doesn’t say, “If you feel like it or are talented enough then sing to the Lord a new song.”  Sorry, it doesn’t read like that.  It is a call to all of the nation of Israel, the nations of the earth and all of creation to SING joyfully and noisily unto the Lord because He has given us reason (SALVATION – victory over death and evil) to celebrate and sing to Him.  My wife and I were talking to a dear friend one time about singing praises and my wife said, "I don't have a good singing voice."  He responded, "God gave you your voice so he has to listen to it."  So don't hold back in singing to God... Sing with all you have!

Makes Me Wanna Sing (Part 1)

Psalm 98

Anybody who knows me at all knows that I love music.  Ever since I was a young boy at the ripe ole age of five I have been a music lover to the core.  Music has always played a vital role in my life.  For most of my teenage and early 20’s years I was involved in performing music in one sense or another.  Even today I like to twiddle around on the guitar a bit.  I tell you this because in today’s Psalm we are going to venture down the road of praising God through music.  Many times when we refer to praise and worship in the church we are speaking of the music aspect of a worship service. 

Music has played a key role in the modern church service.  Why is that?  I personally believe music is a form of expression and a way of communicating in ways we can't naturally communicate.  This is made perfectly clear throughout the Psalms.  The word Psalm itself means “song”.  There are 150 songs in the middle of your Bible that are various forms of expression and of praise and worship towards the Almighty God.  Singing songs was and remains an important part of the believer’s life both in the Old and New Testament.  Time spent together singing praises to God is a beautiful and holy gathering because this is the one time where we can truly open our hearts to God and proclaim with an unadulterated heart how great, mighty and awesome He is.

          

This brings up the question then, if praise and worship (or the music aspect of a church service) is such a vital part of the assembling of believers, then why has it been a point of contention in the church throughout the centuries?  This seems like a silly question since praise and worship is intended to unify the body of Christ but in more recent years has been a major driving force in dividing the body.  I will admit it is not necessarily the act of praise and worship which is dividing but the root of the division falls in the category of personal style and preference. 

We all have a personal preference of style of music we enjoy and prefer.  I DO NOT like country and western music at all.  I am more of a product of the 80’s where I like my music a little heavier and a lot less twangy.  Does this mean that I believe one cannot praise God in country and western music?  Yes it does!  I am kidding of course.  No, as believers we can praise God with any style of music… even country and western.  I think the Bible (and the Psalms in particular) is clear in setting up guidelines for praise and worship and they are as followed

1)     It needs to be done with a joyful heart.

2)     It needs to be genuine and heartfelt.

3)     It needs to be done.

Unfortunately in this day and age I am seeing less and less praise and worship done this way.  As a pastor and a participant in the church setting I sometimes wonder if there is any joy in praising God at all.  Please don’t take that to be a criticism in any way since I am not here to make anyone feel guilty at all.  If anything my goal is to help you be free in praise and worship to God.  Today we will look at Psalm 98 and hopefully glean something from it pertaining to our hearts and attitude towards praise and worship through song.

Psalm 98

Psalm 98 is one of celebration of the Kingship of God through music.  You may or may not know this particular Psalm was the inspiration behind Sir Isaac Watts hymn “Joy To the World”.  It is broken down into three parts 

1. God’s people singing praise to God for salvation 
2. Inviting the world to join in on the praise 
3. Creation joins in on praise for the righteous judgment of God. 

Vs 1a:  “Sing to the Lord a new song”…  First off the Psalmist invites the people of God to sing.  In this passage we are not only called to sing but we are called to sing a new song.  This does not necessarily imply that the song needs to be a fresh composition (so there is no need to write a new song every week and it certainly doesn’t mean that we should always sing fresh new songs all the time); but it may mean that we are to sing a song in response to an experience of God’s grace.  We are to sing with a new heart. 

           

Vs 1b “For he has done marvelous things…”  The second part to this verse tells us why we should sing this new song because God has done marvelous things.  God always does marvelous (extraordinary, far surpassing, great acts) things and should continually be praised for them. 

          In this particular song God is to be praised for his right hand and holy arm.  This is symbolic for God’s salvation.  Right arm represents God’s strength and power and his holy arm represents His intervention.  Through God’s almighty power and intervention salvation is attained. 

          In the OT salvation generally refers to God intervening in battle and saving, delivering or bringing victory to the Israelites.  God saves them from their enemies.

          In the NT salvation means victory over spiritual powers.  God has wonderfully intervened on our behalf through Jesus Christ and has given us victory over death and evil.  This is a great cause for us to sing about and celebrate.

          Salvation is not done by human means, or in an ordinary way.  Salvation is through an unprecedented manner.

Vs. 2 -3:  God has revealed or uncovered his salvation for all to experience.  He has done this for his righteous name sake.  He showed his power in salvation to the Israelites and then He made his divine power of salvation known to the gentiles.  In God’s mercy (steadfast love) He brought salvation to Israel.  He made a promise to the nation that He would be their God and they would be His people and God remembers his promise.  As a result of God’s faithfulness the nations have seen this marvelous work of salvation.

Vs. 4 – 6:  The response is an invitation for all of humanity to join in singing this song of celebration.  They are not called to joyfully make a noise to the Lord.  “Joyful noise” – shout, war cry, a shout of triumph, to shout in applause - to the Lord.

          The Psalmist encourages the use of instruments to praise God.  Play your instruments with heartfelt joy and complete praise to God.  The use of instruments in music is not intended to be a time for the musician to show off his talents, but is genuinely to play with all he has to the Lord with joy.  Perform for an audience of ONE.

Vs. 7 – 9:  Israel is singing about Gods salvation, the human race is joyously making a noise because of salvation and now creation joins in with the beautiful song of praise and adoration to God.  Creation is rejoicing at the coming of God to righteously judge and rule the earth and set all things right.  Creation rejoices because God is a fair and just judge and this time will be a wonderful time of renewal.

The Fragrance of Forgiveness

Psalm 51

Four Pleas of a broken and guilty man

-         Plea for mercy (Vs 1):  Once David’s sin (adultery and murder) is exposed he begs for pity on him and for God to be gracious and show him favor.  David knew he was guilty of sin but he also knew God was a loving and forgiving God.  He was not asking for forgiveness because he wanted an escape route or even because he deserved it; he was genuinely pleading for God in His loving kindness to grant him mercy.

-         Plea of confession and forgiveness (Vs 2, 3):  Upon acknowledging his sin David begs God for forgiveness.  The remorse has become so great that the only thing that can make the looming guilt subside is to plead for a washing away of his trespass.  He publicly confesses his sin to God in repentance to God.  David knows he has done wrong in the site of God and he owns up to his sin.

-         Plea for cleansing (Vs 7 – 9):  He is asking God to blot out or obliterate from His memory the transgression before him.  The process spoken of in verse 7a (purge me with hyssop) is a cleansing ritual of a leper.  In 7b the "washing" may refer to the ritual washing that was involved after contact with a dead person.  David knows he is unclean and he acknowledges his unworthiness and seeks to be purged and cleansed by God so that he may be spiritually cleansed.     

-         Plea for spiritual restoration/ New life (Vs 10 - 12):  David knows his sin is great.  He knows the consequences of sin also means separation from God.  He asks God to create (make new) his heart and reboot (if you will) his spirit because they have become dirty and foul.  He also begs that God would not cast him from his presence but instead give him back the joy he once had in the salvation God had promised.

Pleasing Sacrifices to God – In verse 17 David comes to the realization that his cleansing and new life does not come through ritualistic means.  Most people in his time knew that if they sinned they would just have to go through the rituals of cleansing and then they would feel alright with God.  This is the ritual of religion… trying to do something for God (following the rule book) and yet not really doing anything to change or guard yourself from it happening again.  David acknowledges what God truly desires of him.

-        A Humble spirit – To know and understand the magnitude of sin and change his sinful ways.

-        A Remorseful heart – True repentance.  Repentance is not just being sorry for what you did.  A Bible college professor explained to me that repentance as “being sorry enough to change.”  It simply means to change one’s mind and actions.

David longed for that which you and I have today.  He was awaiting a Savior, one who would take away the sins of the world and establish a new covenant with his people.  He longed for the intercessor (Jesus) to come and stand in His place so that his relationship would be made right with God. 

Jesus, Repentance & Forgiveness

          Because of Jesus we are…

§         Granted mercy – 1 Peter 1:3:  As David pleaded for mercy to be made new we can know that mercy is available to us through Christ.  Because God is merciful and we can experience the opportunity to receive the gift of being born again (salvation, the new birth).

§         Forgiven – 1 John 1:9:  In Christ we know that we are truly forgiven if we confess our sins to God and seek his forgiveness.  If we ask for forgiveness we will receive forgiveness.

§         Cleansed – 1 Cor. 6:11:  In Jesus Christ we are cleansed… Every one of us has a past.  Some of our pasts are more colorful than others but we need to take comfort in the words of Paul in this verse… “and such were some of you.”  We are all sinners and unworthy of the Kingdom of God, yet when God called you to be his son or daughter you were cleansed, you were sanctified (made holy), and justified (made right with God) through Jesus Christ.

§         We are spiritually restored/ New Creation – 2 Cor. 5:17:  If you have confessed your sins and sought forgiveness from God, you are clean.  Not only are you clean but you are now a NEW creation.  You are not a better you… you are a new you and the old sinful nature has passed away and now all things are new.  If you are a believer in Jesus then you have been made right and your relationship has been restored with God.

Conclusion

           In Jesus Christ it is no longer necessary to offer sacrifices for our sins because the ultimate sacrifice has been made through him.  So let us rejoice in the new life… May we know full well that those who are in Christ have received mercy, forgiveness, cleansing and a new life here on this earth and a new life for all eternity in the presence of our Almighty and loving God.

Be Still

Psalm 46

Psalm 46 is a song of celebration for Jerusalem as the special city of God; or as some call it a “hymn of Zion” or a “Zion Song”. This is a familiar Psalm for those brought up in the Lutheran denomination. This was the inspiration behind Martin Luther’s timeless hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” which was written in 1529. It became known as the “Battle Hymn” of the Reformation as it helped gather support for the cause of the Reformation.

Not only is this Psalm the inspiration behind the beloved hymn of Luther but is also one that has been held dear to many believers throughout history. I was actually surprised how many people told me this was one of their favorite Psalms of all time. I guess it should be no surprise it is held in such high regard.  Once one reads through these 11 inspiring verses they show you how great, mighty and trustworthy our God is.

Psalm 46 resembles in content and structure to Psalms 48; 76; 87; and 122 as they too are called “Zion Songs”. The song is broken down into three sections and are as follows

1. God is our security and might
2. God protects with His presence
3. Peace comes from God

This is a hymn written by the choirmaster for the chief musicians (Sons of Korah) of the Temple. “According to Alamoth” is probably a musical term and was intended to be for the female or soprano voice. We are not sure what the occasion for writing this Psalm was but some believe it was written after Jerusalem was spared from imminent destruction from the Assyrians under the guidance of Sennacherib. You can read the account in 1 Chronicles 32. In short story it is God sending an angel to destroy all the warriors, commanders and officers of the Assyrian army thus saving Jerusalem.

Verse 1a – “God is our refuge and strength” = YHWH was Israel’s source of power, and security. Over the centuries they had witnessed God’s hand and favor for them in battle and they had absolute faith in God. They were secure in the fact that He would keep Israel safe and would be their source of victory in battle.

Verse 1b – “Present help in trouble” – When times got tumultuous, tense and dangerous God was present and made his presence known. He was a help that could be found when He was sought after.

God is not only a refuge and strength for Israel but is also our source of security and power. In this world we need to a place of safety and a source of strength to live the life of a believer and God is that source. As believers we must have an absolute trust and faith in God to be our strength, our provider, our deliverer etc. Do you trust God? Is He your source of strength? Is He your place of solace?



Verses 2 – 3: Since God is the refuge and strength and his presence was with the Israelites in the hard times they had no need to be afraid. Their confidence was in God and God alone. Their confidence was in Him when they were faced with attacks from their enemies, they were confident when natural disasters hit them, they were even confident when they were faced with what seemed to be impending death.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in his inaugural speech, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Yet as Christians we can respond by saying we have no one and nothing to fear period. I John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, perfect love casts out all fear.” Jesus Christ is our perfect love and in him there is no fear. Through his death, resurrection and ascension he has set us free from fear. We are no longer to have a paralyzing fear of anything that man; beast, nature or spiritual being can do to us.



Verses 4 – 7 – God protects with his presence.  Israel’s confidence and lack of fear came in the fact that the Temple “the holy habitation” was in Jerusalem. The Temple was a symbol of God’s presence among the people. Since Jerusalem was God’s "special city" He was expected to protect her. As the Israelites looked to the Temple, they felt secure because they were reminded that God was present among them, dwelling in their midst. There was a wall around the city that was built for protection but the people of Jerusalem didn’t put their complete trust and faith in the wall, they instead put their absolute faith and trust in God.

The Temple was not always the symbol of God’s presence because as time passes people began to place a false sense of security in the Temple. They began to view the Temple as their source of power and favor and placed it above the presence of God. They worshiped the created thing and not the Creator. The Bible is pretty clear telling us God will not take the back seat to anything or anyone including the Temple. The irony here is the people began to worship the Temple and not the God of the Temple. This edifice became the God and soon it went from being a Holy dwelling of God to a place of abhorrent evil and idolatry. Read Ezekiel 8 and 10 to see how God viewed the Temple at that time… The evil practices and idolatry that was going on in the Temple resulted in God’s presence “leaving the building” and eventually the Israelites are led into captivity.

These verses refer to Jerusalem but also reference the New Jerusalem of Revelation. We know this because there is no river that flows through Jerusalem today, but Revelation 22:1 speaks of a river that runs from the throne of God that is the abundant life giving water that flows through the streets. Plus Jerusalem did fall to the Babylonians and the New Jerusalem will never fall and the presence of God will never leave.

We do well to understand that God is still a protector of His people. However His favored nation is not one specific location. His favor lies in His people... believers. As Western Christians we sometimes place our future and current security in having a mighty army, a strong nation, and at times a decent and fairly stable economy. Thus we can begin to have a false sense of security in these things. We must realize that our protection and security comes from God and God alone. He is here among us we do not have a physical Temple that is made with hands where God dwells on this earth. Jesus tells us that the physical dwelling place for God has passed; we are now His temple. Corinthians tells us our bodies are now the Temple of the Holy Spirit. He is present in us we are protected from any powers, principalities and eternal death. We can take great strength and comfort in this.

Let me also note (as a side note) since God is present in His children let us not fall under the false precepts of the church edifice as the Holy place of God. Sure the church building can serve as a reminder that God is with us but it is not THE place where you go to be in God’s presence. It is the place you come to be with other people who have Christ in them. Certainly his presence is here because we are here. This building is just a shell. It is a shelter from the terrain. It’s a place of memories and history but it is not the dwelling place of God.

Verses 8 – 11: Peace comes from God.  God is a God of peace. The song invites the people to see that God is the God of peace. He brings peace by destroying the tools of destruction… “”he breaks the bow and shatters the spear…” The Jews sought peace in all areas of their lives. They knew with all the death, destruction and war around them that peace was only able to come if God was the initiator of it.

The Psalmist then writes… “Be still and know that I am God.” I know many of us take this to mean, “calm down, relax and trust God”; which it does in the English rendition. However the original language suggests this is synonymous to “Cease and desist!” or “STOP what you are doing”, it is the referee whistle to put to end the turmoil around and pay attention. Only when Israel does this is when they can realize that God is God and He will be exalted or lifted up among the nations and in all the earth. True peace cannot happen until we stop, listen and acknowledge God as God.

We humans are really no different than the ancient Israelites, we still want peace and we want to see wars ended. This cannot happen without God being the initiator. On a personal level we basically want peace in our own lives. None of us desire to be in constant turmoil and conflict. We often get caught up in trying to right wrongs, seeking justice or accusing someone of hurting us and we try to mend things in our own power. We can learn a great deal from looking at the context of Psalm 46:10 and stop trying to do things in our own strength. This verse doesn’t necessarily mean to be quiet or calm as much as it means “stop meddling and relax. Allow God to do his work.”

When we are faced with, turmoil, anxiety, despair, worry and etc let us take comfort in these words… “Be still and know I am God.” Jesus tells us in the gospels that worry and anxiety do nothing to help us so “relax (this is really what the words “be still” literally mean), stop doing what you are doing and trust me to take care of this.”

May we celebrate and rejoice in the fact that God is our source of power and security; God is our protector from evil; and He is our peace. Let us take great comfort and security in this Psalm and know that God is God and He is worthy of all our praise. So let us trust Him as our God to be all of these things to us.