Saturday, April 23, 2011

DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?

Justin Holcombe writing for THE RESURGENCE


Sin & Its Effects

We all know we will end up dead. Because of sin’s entrance into the world, every human dies, every human suffers, animals suffer, tsunamis sweep cities and villages away, volcanoes destroy whole regions, AIDS and malaria and cancer and heart disease kill millions of people old and young, and droughts and famines cause millions to starve.

Because of sin, we also hurt ourselves and others. Because of sin, others hurt us. This is why we experience condemnation, guilt, shame, despair, pain, and filth.

Our Hope--God Endures

We collapse under the weight of this destruction. Only God could endure all this. And that’s exactly what God did in Jesus—who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorned its shame, and is now seated at the right hand of God. That’s the world’s one hope, and that hope is fulfilled in the resurrection.
If we don’t pin our hope for redemption on Christ, then we are left to our own feeble strategies to fight back at death and guilt. Here’s an example.

Death, Where is Your Bling?

A strategy for dealing with death is seen in the newest piece of art by the British artist Damien Hirst. A few years ago, he unveiled his masterpiece—a diamond-encrusted platinum cast of a human skull priced at $98 million. The skull, cast from a 35-year-old 18th-century European male, is coated with 8,601 diamonds, including a large pink diamond worth more than $8 million in the center of its forehead.

His explanation of his work is fascinating: “I hope this work gives people hope—uplifting, take your breath away…. It shows we are not going to live for ever. But it also has a feeling of victory over death.” Unfortunately, that’s the only hope some have for dealing with death—a feeling of victory over death.

What We Need

We don’t need diamond-encrusted skulls that give the feeling of overcoming death. We need substitutionary atonement and real victory over death. What we need is not myth or feeling; we need sin and death overcome. That’s why Romans 4:25 is so important: “Jesus Christ was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

He is risen! Because of the death and resurrection of Christ and your faith in him, you are declared pure, righteous, saved, blameless, holy, forgiven, and without condemnation. These are all words God uses in Scripture for those who are in Christ. This good news relates all the way down to your anxiety, the memories of specific sins, your fears and insecurities, the shame you feel because of what’s been done to you, the sinful impulses that seem to control you.
We don’t need the feeling of overcoming death. We need substitutionary atonement and real victory over death.
Because of the resurrection, we have the hope of heaven and being with Christ, and “he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).

Christ Conquers

The resurrection is why Paul taunts death in 1 Corinthians 15. He does it much like a child would do to his bullies when his father is behind him and he feels secure in his father’s protection: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

In the cross, God turned his wrath away from you and toward Christ. In the resurrection, God turns your eyes away from your sins and directs them to Christ. Our sins hurled him to the ground and trampled him, but God delivered Christ and made him alive. He has conquered the tyrants of sin and death. Christ is too strong for them. He overpowers them and he takes sin and sorrow captive and rules over them for all eternity. Because there is no condemnation, you can have a clear conscience—loves replaces darkness, joy replaces despair, and peace replaces fear.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

PERRY NOBLE ON WHY WOULD YOU NOT DO IT?

Why Would You Not Do It?

One of my life verses that is always in front of me is Hebrews 11:6
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

One of the myths that has been crippling to Christianity for years is that Jesus has called us to “play it safe”…when that is not taught OR modeled by Jesus OR His followers in the Scriptures.  (See Acts 20:24 and Galatians 2:20)

Jesus didn’t play it safe…Paul didn’t play it safe…none of the Apostles played it safe…the church in Acts 4:23-31 upon being threatened and persecuted did NOT pray for safety…they prayed for boldness!
Yet today we seem to want to play it safe…that cannot be the goal.

So what about you church leader?  Church member?  Whoever…what is that ONE THING that you KNOW the Lord is calling you to do?  You know it’s a risk…you know that in order for it to take place you are going to need divine intervention?  What is it?  Why not do it?

People have asked me before, “Pastor P, how do I know that it’s God telling me to do it and not just an idea I had?”  GREAT question…allow me to share three identifying marks that I have personally experienced.

#1 – This thing that you believe you are called to do by God will not contradict God’s Word! I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit…and I believe that He speaks as loud today as He did in the book of Acts; however, I also know according to the teachings of Scripture that the Holy Spirit will not contradict the Word of God.  So…if “that thing” that you feel called to is in direct conflict with God’s Word…then it’s not God telling you to do it.

#2 – You can’t get away from this thought…it dominates your thinking and the more you marinade on it the more you feel like you might explode. For example…I really did believe back in 1996 that Jesus was telling me I needed to start a church.  BUT…instead of running out and doing it immediately I began to read books on it (Rick Warrens books and Bill Hybels book on the subject of church planting impacted me significantly) and dove into the Scriptures to see what they taught about the subject.  AND…the more I prayed, studied and read about it…the hotter the fire inside of me became.

#3 – Godly people in your life affirm it. (SEE Proverbs 15:22)  What I have learned from personal experience is that if I do not want to share my idea with those in my life who I know really do love Jesus and love me…then…I usually know it’s not a “God idea” but rather a Perry idea.  One of the things that EVERY believer in Christ needs is godly men and women who love Jesus and love the person enough to speak the truth in love…people who value the friend more than the friendship and are willing to say what needs to be said.  ANYTIME I have ever shared a thought/idea that I really believe the Lord has placed in my heart and the people the Lord has placed in my life to love and challenge me push back…I ALWAYS take a step back and pray and think through the idea more until the Lord either gives me greater clarity OR shows me that the wise counsel of my friends is exactly what I needed to hear.

That is what works for me…so how about you?  What is that thing that you know you should do?

Life is short, hell is hot and eternity is forever!!!  The world has NEVER been impacted by Christians who spend their whole lives in a car seat and beg God to never let anything bad happen to them!
Ask HIM to set you on fire with HIS plans…and THEN GO FOR IT!