One and Done

How come it seems that we are simply wired to constantly justify ourselves?  Just the other day my wife was pointing out a response that I had to my daughter, and I instantly began to justify myself.  If we do not vocally express our justification we certainly play it out in our minds.  Unfortunately, I think the latter is what we are most guilty of.  
We may have come to a point in life that it is easy to spot how we vocally respond to others and we work on controlling our tongues.  One cannot help but see this called wisdom throughout the book of Proverbs or in James; however, I don't think that we can stop there.  It is important to work on the outward manifestations but that is the easy work.  The tough work is to get right at the root that is lodged in our hearts.  Our only hope for inward change is in the Gospel.


Hebrews 9:24-26 reads, "For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself,, no to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.  Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world.  But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."


This is the greatest news in the world.  One that can bring hope and piece to the lives of sinners because of what Jesus Christ has done on our behalf.  


If one were to understand this passage one would have knowledge that when God made His covenant to Israel he gave Moses instructions for proper worship.  Included with this was the design for the tabernacle which as stated is a copy of the heavenly reality.  


Each year the high priest would go into the holy of holies, the place of God's dwelling, and make a sacrifice for all the people.  This was not something done lightly.  In fact the high priest was required to make a sacrifice for himself first before entering into God's presence.  On top of this a rope would be tied around him, with a bell, in case he did not approach God correctly.  If done incorrectly, he would be struck dead and the bell would ring and the people would know to drag his body out.


This was the yearly sacrifice on behalf of all the people.  Going alongside these yearly sacrifices were the daily required sacrifices and a host of other daily sacrifices.  All this done to justify the sinner.


The Good News of Christianity is that by the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross accomplished for us what we could never accomplish ourselves.  Before a holy and perfectly just God we could never justify ourselves.  On the cross Jesus became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).  When we put our trust in Jesus (his life, death, and resurrection) then our sins our washed away and our debt has been paid.  Even more, Jesus continues to serve as our high priest.


Hebrews 7:25 says, "Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them."


Jesus constantly intercedes for us.  In the divine courtroom he is there!  


Because he constantly intercedes for me and we know that one day He will judge with perfect justice, I do not need to justify myself.  I can listen to others criticism and listen for the truth that they can contain.  Yes, sometimes criticism is hurtful but often this hurtful criticism does contain elements of truth that we need to hear.  If we jump to our own defence we will suffer the loss of peace that can be ours, we may hurt those we love, and we may lose an opportunity for growth in our own lives.

In Light of the Blessing

This morning I had the opportunity to worship with God's people at Christ's Covenant Church in Winona Lake, Indiana. The pastor was sharing from God's Word found in the third chapter of 1 Peter.

There is much to commend from the sermon but I just want to share one facet that I have found of great value. Below is the text.

1 Peter 3:13-17;
"Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to share. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil."

Looking at the opening verse we can see what seems on the surface to be a simple straight forward, if not silly, question. Why would anyone cause harm to a person who does what is good? We all like people who do good things. When people give you a gift, it is a nice gesture, and we consider the act of giving the gift to be a good act. Going and cleaning up the gulf or not littering are all "good."

Our idea of good can also easily encompass the idea of benefit. In the sermon this morning, this is where I thought Pastor Larry did a great job. Sometimes benefit comes through a deceitful act. The example made this morning was an employee being pressured to fudge on tax reporting in order for his employer to avoid entering into a new tax bracket, potentially costing a loss of large profits. In the light of business larger amounts of profit is a good thing.

However, as Christians our definition of good comes from a much higher standard. In the preceding verses Peter writes, "For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good let him seek peace and pursue it." I think we could easily assume that one who keeps themselves from speaking deceit will surely pursue integrity in all its forms.

I believe that it is crystal clear, that on this side of Jesus' second coming, Christians will cost a perceived good by doing and pursuing what is right in the eyes of God. This can make us extremely unpopular. We may be shunned for our faith, lose a promotion, left off a guest list, or scrutinized for any form of dishonesty.

Going back to our verse. "Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? The answer; ultimately, nobody. The verses go on saying in verse 14-15, "But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy."

This is great. Compare what Peter says here with what is written in Isaiah 8:13. "But the Lord of host, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." Peter has taken what was written about God in the Old Testament and applied it to Jesus. He is in control. Like Stephen in the book of Acts, as he was being stoned saw our risen Lord standing, we need to train ourselves to look beyond our circumstances, or our persecutors, and look to our glorious Lord.

Lastly, Pastor Larry said something beautifully hard. He said that this passage should cause us to cry out for those who persecute us because if they do not repent and turn to Jesus they will face an eternity of hell.

As we rejoice in knowing that our lives are in the hands of a loving Savior let us pray that God will shine the light of the gospel through our words and lives that the world and those that hate us may know the hope that we profess.

If you want to check out the rest of the sermon, I would encourage you to do so. It was a good one. Here is the link: www.christscovenant.org/sermons/