Back to the beginning ...

Monday 31 Jan 2011 by Chris | No Comments
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In the song, ‘Do-re-mi’, from ‘The Sound of Music’, Julie Andrews, as Maria, sings: “Let's start at the very beginning / A very good place to start”.  Now it is difficult to argue with that commonsense approach; but what does it mean?  For Maria it meant going back to basics when learning to read and to sing.

After he was raised from the dead, Jesus took a similar approach with his disciples:

“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.  (Luke 24.25-27 ESV)

But, what do the (Old Testament) Scriptures say concerning Jesus?  Is it only the bits where we can see a clearly fulfilled prophecy, say verses in Isaiah that the Gospel writers quote?  Or, is there more to what Jesus said than merely pulling a few texts out and saying: “see, prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus”? John’s Gospel helps us here.  At the start of John’s Gospel we here words that are both familiar and strange: “In the beginning was the Word ...” John is taking us back to the beginning, he is reminding us what happened, but he is saying something new, something that we know from Genesis, but something that was not clear until Jesus spoke.  Jesus is the Word of God; not just the mouthpiece, not a mere messenger, or a public address system sounding out the words of God: no, Jesus is the ‘Word of God’.  When Jesus speaks, it is God speaking.  When God speaks, it is his Word at work.  The Son of God, Jesus, is the Word of God.

So, when we go back to the beginning and read the opening words of Genesis we see that when God speaks all things into existence, the Son (Word) of God and Spirit of God were active in creating all things.  This is what John’s Gospel tells us (John 1.3), and it is also what we hear elsewhere in the New Testament: e.g. Colossians 1.15-17, Hebrews 1.1-4.  Starting at the beginning should remind us that God acts together, Father, Son and Spirit.  Just as we see this in the creation of everything, we should also see that same close living and working relationship as God sustains all things, and as God redeems His people; God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit in a close living and working relationship.


An Angry God?

Sunday 2 Jan 2011 by Chris | 4 Comments
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The Bible presents us with difficult pictures of God.  In chapter 2 of Luke’s Gospel we learn about the birth of Jesus.  God’s messengers, the angels, announce that Mary will have a son who is the Son of God. Then they announce his birth as the Saviour, the promised one, the Lord. However, this great Son of God is born into the most difficult and impoverished circumstances.

We all know and delight in the words from 1 John 4.8 “God is love”, though we seldom read John’s letter to grasp what John means.  If we read a little more of that letter we also find that:

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.    1 John 4.10 (English Standard Version)

And, there is the problem: John is also telling us that God is angry with mankind, and with the sin of mankind.  A ‘propitiation’ is a sacrifice given in the place of a person. The ‘propitiation’ is an adequate sacrifice, it is an adequate, and acceptable replacement. John is telling us that Jesus took the full force of God’s anger so that we don’t have to face that anger ourselves.  How can God be love and be angry at the same time?  Does God’s anger cancel out his love?

First, we must be careful not to assume that God’s anger is the same as our anger.  When we get angry love often does go out the door.  When Jesus warns us about anger he treats anger as if it were murder (Matthew 5.22); even yelling at another person in anger is an action worthy of divine punishment.  However, God’s anger seems to be more measured and under control.  God is slow to anger, and is also forgiving (Exodus 34.6). That is not to say that it doesn’t have serious, life threatening consequences – God’s anger does result in death!  We see that clearly in many of His dealings with the people of Israel, and particularly with Jesus, the Saviour, the promised one, who takes the full force of God’s anger against the sin of Israel, and all humanity, on himself.  Jesus, the beloved Son, experiences first hand total alienation from His loving, but angry Father “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We hear in this cry of desolation the slow, measured, controlled anger of God worked out once and for all – for all who accept that Jesus was forsaken in their place.

Here we see our Heavenly Father’s anger and love working together.  God’s anger at sin and rebellious humankind is focussed on Jesus, as God expresses his love for rebellious humankind, by suffering that rejection in the person of His own beloved Son.  God’s love saves us from God’s anger!


The infant God?

Wednesday 24 Nov 2010 by Chris | No Comments
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There is a big problem with the way Christmas is presented. I don’t mean the Santa and reindeers nonsense.  That is just silliness beyond understanding; extraordinary escapism!  Of course, we only do it for the children: so that their enduring memory of Christmas is being told ‘porkers’ by the people who love them the most?

What I see as a real problem is the infant God syndrome. It is the way, when Jesus is mentioned at Christmas; he is constantly presented as a ‘babe in a manger’.  It is as if he never grew up! It is as if he is just a cute religious motif for the season. Please don’t get me wrong, it is not that I don’t believe that Jesus was born to the unwed Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, announced by angels, visited by shepherds.  Those facts are part of the historical record about Jesus[1].  Of course I believe it all happened.  The problem is this: while we focus our attention on the vulnerable infant in the manger, we miss the incredible significance of his birth.  The celebration of ‘Christmas’ becomes a homely festival, instead of the anniversary of a world changing event when the Creator stepped into His Creation to become its Redeemer. Could you imagine taming the anniversary of 9/11 and turning it into a sentimental commercial and gastronomic celebration?

When Jesus was born God set in action his plan to redeem and restore the world and the people he had made from scratch.  Now, God didn’t do what he could have done: He didn’t arrive with troops to round up the guilty parties, to administer justice and clean up the mess humankind had made[2]. Instead, he showed his true character: humble, loving and generous beyond compare.  Instead, He chose to take the consequences of humanity’s rebellion on Himself, in the person of Jesus.  By doing that, he saved people, wherever possible, from the certain, and indescribable horror of coming face to face with the unique and pure power of God, an encounter we could not survive. Jesus, both man and God, became the human shield for us – at one time both suffering for us, protecting us. Jesus was certainly born: he was only briefly the infant God, but he grew up more than we can grasp – he was born to die in our place, redeeming us and our world.

[1] If you read Matthew 1-3 and Luke 1-3 you can see how careful the ancient authors were to locate the events in time and space.  These things really happened!

[2] Jesus made it clear that he could have taken this course of action, but choice not to do that was consistent with God’s word.


Why resurrection?

Sunday 31 Oct 2010 by Chris | 2 Comments
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Broadly speaking there are two types of funeral: one for the person who knows Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour, and one for the person who doesn’t.

Often the funeral of the person who doesn’t know Jesus is a heavy with sadness that a life has ended and there is nothing left but memories.  So, the response of those who are grieving is to look for evidence, in the life of the person, that they had lived a ‘good’ life. The nature of the ‘good’ life is spoken of in many and various ways: was a good person, enjoyed life, was kind, lived life to the full ... etc..

The funeral of a person who does know Jesus, whilst it may contain some searching for evidence of the ‘good’ life, is at heart very different.  Although there is the sadness and grieving that comes with the separation of bereavement, there is also confidence and hope.

The search for the ‘good’ in a person is part of an unconscious desire (although sometimes it might be intentional) to make sense of the life that has ended.

Sometimes, when we talk about the resurrection of Jesus we take the same approach.  God raised Jesus back to life to prove that he was a good Son – we look back on the life of Jesus described in the Gospels, we see how Jesus was faithful to His Father, how he did and said so many good things, and we come to the conclusion that the Father made Jesus alive again, because Jesus was a good man.  But, in the Bible, God gives us a number of different reasons for Jesus being raised from death.

Jesus, himself, tells us (as he told his disciples on the night before he was killed) that he was going to his Father to prepare a place for his disciples, and that he would come back to take them there (John 13.36-14.7). He spoke clearly about returning.  Later that evening we learn, through his prayer, that his concern is for everyone who believes him through the message of disciples (John 17.20).  Jesus saw his death and his resurrection as necessary parts of bringing his friends home to his Father’s house.  If he didn’t die, and if he wasn’t raised, then none of what he had promised would happen.

Some days earlier, when Jesus was speaking with the bereaved sister of Lazarus, he announced to her that he, Jesus, is the resurrection and the life.  So, resurrection was not just a thing that would happen to Jesus, it is much more than that: Jesus is the resurrection.  Resurrection only happens because of Jesus.  Without Jesus there can be no resurrection; without Jesus there is no resurrection. We like to think that Jesus is love, but we should also remember that Jesus is the resurrection.

In our society that chooses to reject God, there is no expectation of resurrection. To have life after death would imply that there is some sort of unfinished business: some business that cannot be completed or resolved in this life.  Life after death suggests that there is more to life than what we see, smell, touch, feel, and taste.

Paul, the man who vigorously opposed Jesus, the man who Jesus challenged and turned around, adds to our understanding of the importance of the resurrection in many ways. When he was explaining his message to the ruling council of Athens, the Council of the Aeropagus, in around 49-50AD, Paul gave another reason for the resurrection of Jesus.  This reason also looks forward to a resurrection of all people – even those who don’t believe in God!

“In the past God overlooked such ignorance[1], but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this by raising him from the dead.”  Acts 17.30,31 (NIV)

Since the resurrection of Jesus is proof that the world will be judged, we will do well to be prepared for that judgement day by turning to the risen Lord Jesus, accepting his offer of safe passage, and trusting him to take us to his Father’s home as his friends.

Why resurrection? The resurrection of Jesus is yet another mark of God’s goodness mercy shown to a rebellious world, as the Almighty calls us back to engage with him as his people.  If we trust the one who is “the resurrection”, we can look forward to our own resurrection with confidence. If we continue to reject Jesus, resurrection is a prospect to awful to imagine, but it remains a real and present danger.

[1] The ignorance Paul refers to here is the idolatry of misrepresenting God by making false images of Him and treating Him as if He needs human services.


What God has done

Monday 2 Aug 2010 by Chris | No Comments
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I am challenged each time I read or hear about what people are doing in different churches around the world. In comparison I feel as if I am lazy and not doing enough; or ignorant and not teaching enough; or unspiritual and not believing enough. When I get news of other churches growing in leaps and bounds, and hear about the wonderful programs that have been implemented, I wonder if that approach or that program would work here. When I see pictures of the great building programs, and the expansion of facilities that some churches have undertaken in faith, I wonder if there is something more we need here so that our church can grow more effectively.

When I hear about the way God has blessed other fellowships with growth and baptism of new (on old) believers, I wonder if I should push for a greater level of commitment from people in our church.

But, when I read the Scriptures with the people God has gathered here in Sassafras, when we gather around God’s word and grapple with what he is saying I am challenged even more. On Sundays as we read through the book of Acts, and each Tuesday night at the Prayer and Bible group as we reading Paul’s letter to God’s people in Ephesus, I am challenged more and more by what God has done through Christ Jesus, and what he continues to do in his people here. It is so easy to have our heads turned by what is reported from other places, and to lose sight of what God is doing amongst us. It is so easy to start wondering what I can do, and forget to consider what God has done and what He is continuing to do. But, when God’s word is opened with His people, I am challenged to look to our risen Lord Jesus Christ, to see what he is doing in the lives of His people who he has redeemed with his own blood.

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 (New English Translation)


Buying into the Kingdom?

Tuesday 29 Jun 2010 by Chris | No Comments
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In a world where everything comes at a price and where ownership and membership come at a price, buying into the Kingdom of God seems like a sensible option for people who struggle in the goodness stakes.

However, when Jesus told his disciples not to stop the children from being brought to him, he said that “the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these”. (Luke 18)

But what did he mean?  Why does the kingdom of God belong to children and people who are “like” children?  And, what is it about “children” that makes them so worthy of the kingdom?

If we look at what was happening when Jesus said this we can get a few clues.  In Luke 17 we find the Pharisees asking Jesus about when the kingdom of God would come.  First, Jesus pointed out that the coming of the Kingdom of God would not be predictable or obvious.  Then, he made it clear that the coming of the Kingdom was linked to judgement as well as God’s undeserved goodness and mercy.  Second, Jesus pointed out that the Kingdom of God was already in their midst.  This was a reference to the fact that He was with them.   He connected himself to the judgement through the rejection and suffering he would experience.

Jesus continued to build a picture of what the Kingdom of God is like, and who is fit for the Kingdom. Trying to save ourselves will not work (17.33). God is more willing to give justice than we are to ask for it (!) so we should not lose heart, but keep praying (18.1-7). Then Jesus contrasted the Pharisee and tax-collector.  The tax-collector was a despised person because he did the dirty work of the Roman overlords.  They were not known for being particularly honest or fair about doing it! The Pharisee was so concerned to avoid doing wrong that he became obsessed with being super good.  Jesus shocks his hearers by stating that “bad” man who asks for mercy is in a better position before God than the “super good” man who rests on his own goodness.

Then, after the incident with the children a rich ruler who, like the Pharisee in the parable, has done everything right came to Jesus to ask what more he must do to ensure he would enter the Kingdom of God.

Often people are tempted to believe that Kingdom of God belongs to children because they are innocent or intrinsically good.  But, Jesus dismissed that notion with the parable about the Pharisee and the tax-collector.  Our own goodness will not make us right with God.  To underline that Jesus rejects the lifelong good-living of the rich ruler.  Good living will not get the ruler into heaven by his own efforts either.  And, he cannot buy his way into the God’s Kingdom.  His wealth has got in the way.  He has to get rid of it all!

So, what about the children receiving the Kingdom of God?  If it is not because they are intrinsically good, or “innocent”, then why does the Kingdom of God belong to such as these?  In each case the men who are not worthy have assumed that their behaviour and their achievements have made them fit for the Kingdom.  A child has come naked into the world (Ecclesiastes 5.15).  A child has nothing to commend him or her, no achievement, no attachment to wealth or status.  So, a child must rely entirely on the mercy of God to enter the Kingdom of God.  But, we must also be careful to note all that Jesus says here.  He is using the children as examples: he doesn’t say that the Kingdom belongs to children, but that the Kingdom is received by such as these.  No personal achievement, no wealth, no status can get anyone into God’s Kingdom.

The rich ruler cannot even contemplate entering the Kingdom of God while he puts his trust in all his wealth.  The Pharisee cannot even contemplate entering the Kingdom of God if he behaves as if he has a right of entry.  His arrogance before God excludes him just as effectively as the rich man’s attachment to his wealth.

We cannot buy our way into the God’s Kingdom by our achievements or good works.  The only way into the Kingdom is through a humble trust in Jesus to take us to His Father.  People who are welcomed into God’s kingdom are people who Jesus has saved through his own suffering and death; people who the Father has given new life along with His precious Son, Jesus.


Good enough?

Wednesday 16 Jun 2010 by Chris | No Comments
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How often have you heard, or even thought, about a person's goodness, making them fit or unfit to heaven?  At some time it's a problem for all of us.  We might be the person who thinks we're good enough. Or, we might be the person who despairs because we know our own faults so well that we know we could never be good enough.

For the person who doesn't know that Jesus came to save them the problem can work both ways.  Either they are like, say Bob, who knows himself so well, and is honest enough to admit that there's nothing good in him; or, they are like, say Gloria, who has a very high view of herself and is confident that because of all she has done, she is good enough for heaven.  Of course, Bob and Gloria are extremes but they serve to show us how easy it is to be tripped up with ideas about our own goodness or lack of goodness.

In the Bible, although "good" is often talked about, we hardly ever see it applied to a human; and when it is applied to human, it never carries the idea that the person is naturally good, or is in some way good enough to deserve God's blessing.  Even the "good man" in Proverbs 12, 13 and 14 depends on God, for his goodness.  The man does not have any goodness that is independent of God.  As Jesus points out, in Mark 10.18 only God is "good".  Jesus rebukes the man for his loose language and challenges the man about his view of his own goodness.

At this point it's probably helpful to think about a misconception that circulates in society.  There is a widespread idea that only good people go to heaven.  If we listen to Jesus we find that the opposite is true:

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark 2.17

People who think they are "good" do not go to heaven.  There is another place for them.  Jesus has very little time for people who believe they are "good enough", especially those who think they are better than others.

But what about a person like Bob?  Well, Bob could give up and lose all hope or, he could throw himself on God's mercy.  The choices a person like Bob makes here often depend on information or misinformation he has been given about God.  If the god that Bob has heard about is like Santa Claus, then Bob might believe the game is up, and there is no hope for him.  But, if Bob has heard the truth about Jesus coming to save the sick and the lost, then he might know that despite the darkness of his heart, there is hope for him with Jesus.


“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His people.” Ps 116.15

Wednesday 5 May 2010 by Chris | No Comments
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Why is the death of God’s people precious?

First, we must remember that death is offensive to God. He didn’t want death in His wonderful world.  (When God finished His work of creating He saw that the world was very good. (Genesis 1.31))  That is why the Lord warned and commanded Adam not to eat from that one tree.  But, Adam did eat, and death was the result; not immediately humankind was not wiped out immediately, but a long slow death entered the world.  Death became part of living.  We are always surrounded by death and decay.

At the other end of the Bible (Revelation 21) God tells us that there will be a time when there is no more death. This still doesn’t tell us why death of God’s people is precious – but, it points us in the right direction. You see, before there could be no more death, God had to deal with death, He had to destroy its power over life.

When He sent Jesus to call people back to Himself, the Almighty God showed that death can be conquered.  The Son of God was killed, but God raised Him back to life.  When He did this, the Lord God showed that He can, and He has, beaten death. But it was costly to beat death. Our Heavenly Father allowed His own Son to taste death for us. In order to destroy the power of death, Jesus died for us. That is one reason why the death of His people is precious in the sight of the Lord.

Breaking the power of death cost God the life of His only Son.  Every death of one of God’s people is a reminder of the heavy price God paid to save people from death.

Now, there is a bit of a myth, no, it is more than myth – it is just a falsehood that has grown up about how a person gets to be one of God’s people.

Some folks think that you have got to be good to get into heaven. But, that is not true.  Jesus made it clear that He didn’t come to the religious people who thought they were good enough for heaven.  He didn’t come to people who thought they were OK! We see this again and again in the Gospels. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10.25-37, Matthew 22, Mark 12), Jesus said “Woe” to those people who thought they had the right to get into heaven because they thought they were good enough (Matthew 23).  No, Jesus came to rescue people who were trapped, people who were stuck in a world that is falling apart because people have chosen to turn away from the Lord God. From the time of Adam’s first act of “self determination” when he chose against God and for himself the whole world has been groaning because death entered the world (Romans 8.18-23).

But, people still die.

Does that mean that Jesus failed?

No; not at all.

When Jesus was raised from death to life He showed that death is not the end. He showed that there is a way through death to new life; and, Jesus himself is the way (John 11.23-27; 14.1-6).  Now, that is another reason why the death of His people is precious in the sight of the Lord.

When God’s people die, they are still with Him, death is not the end. When God raised Jesus from the dead He changed death. It is no longer the end; it is now a new beginning – where Jesus leads the way home to His Father.  And, His Heavenly Father is waiting for all those people He is calling back to himself.


There is something about Jesus ...

Sunday 25 Apr 2010 by Chris | No Comments
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On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” John 6.60

Shortly after this, many of those who had been following Jesus, many of his disciples, turned back and left him. It was only the day before that 5000 people had shared a simple meal Jesus had provided for them. And they continued to follow him until he told them that they would have to eat his flesh and drink his blood if they were to have eternal life. We don’t know what turned all those disciples away. Perhaps they were looking for something else; perhaps they didn’t like the way Jesus talked about Moses; perhaps they didn’t have the courage to continue with Jesus when it became clear that his life was under threat. If the Jews were looking for ways to take the life of Jesus when so many were following him, what chance did his followers have? Perhaps they didn’t like the way Jesus confronted them; he was challenging them to choose between himself and their traditions.

I grew up with a very different picture of Jesus from the picture John presents in his Gospel. The Jesus I was told about was only ever “nice”. I never heard about his uncompromising strength. I never learned that he knew he was under threat long before the night of the “Last Supper”. I never heard that Jesus love for his Father and for those the Father had given him would drive him on to taking his throne on a rough wooden cross. The “pastel coloured” Jesus I grew up with had been wrapped up in religious humbug. But the Jesus John describes is a man who resists all the trappings of religion, all the religious gamesmanship that men invent so that they can ignore God. The Jesus that John introduces is resolute in doing what he was sent to do. He wouldn’t be defended or turned away from his mission.

“Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” John 18.11

What are you discovering about Jesus?


Whatever are we thinking ...

Wednesday 24 Mar 2010 by Chris | 4 Comments
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It is Easter time again!  The shops have been full hot cross buns and Easter eggs along with other chocolate treats for months, but now you can barely move without being confronted by chocolate.  It must take the chocolate confectionary manufacturers months to gear up for Easter. The variety of products and concepts is so all encompassing that you can buy chocolate themed for any interest a person may have; and somehow many of the offerings are egg shaped, or contain egg shaped objects.  Now, even though I enjoy good chocolate, and I do find something quite attractive about the symbolism of eggs and new life, I struggle to find anything in it that is vaguely related to the Gospel of Jesus, his death and his resurrection.

By now you might be saying, but Chris, the symbolism of eggs and new life are strongly connected to the resurrection of Jesus. Right?

Well, certainly Christ Jesus is credited, as the Word, in the beginning, as the one who made all things, and through whom all things are made (John 1.1-4; Colossians 1.16).  And, certainly the life that comes through Jesus, by his Spirit, to those who believe, is “new life”.  But, the new life of the risen Jesus is very different from the new life we see emerging from an egg!  The new life of Jesus is not the fluffy yellow new life of a chick that needs protection, nurture and the training of a mother hen.  God’s Spirit speaks of the risen Jesus in very different terms:

“all things were created by him and through him and for him. And, he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1.16b-20)

The “new life” of Jesus, the new life that he owns and that he gives to his people is much more than the new life of a chick hatching from an egg, wonderful and adorable as that is.  The life that Jesus has, the life that Jesus gives is life itself.  His life is not a naive infancy, but the all knowing life of the one who made and sustains all things. He is the living God, from whom all life is given and is sustained.

So, as you give your gifts of superfine chocolate, and as you enjoy the gifts you receive in return take a moment, or more if you dare, to consider how much better and richer is the new life that Jesus holds out to those who trust him for life itself.


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