The Power of The Cross

This morning I am reflecting on several verses from Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth.  He starts out the letter with a nice greeting and then gets right into the first concern he has which is division in the church and how that was compromising the message of the Gospel, and the power of the Cross.  I included several verses for context - 1 Corinthians 1:10-25 NIV:

[10] "I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. [11] My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. [12] What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas ”; still another, “I follow Christ.” 

[13] Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? [14] I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, [15] so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. [16] (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) [17] For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel---not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 

[18] For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. [19] For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 

[20] Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? [21] For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. [22] Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, [23] but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, [24] but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. [25] For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."

What grabbed my attention first was the statement Paul makes about his preaching the gospel, "not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."  When I read that, my mind immediately started wondering when was the last time I heard someone speaking about the power of the Cross, and consciously ministering in the power of the Cross?  

Verses 18-25 are such a welcome confrontation of our earthly mindsets, even our religious expectations.  One of the ideas I have been reflecting on of late is how God's revelation and representation in Christ Jesus is so outside what we, as humans would expect.  

We tend to think that if the God of the Universes was present He would demonstrate that through awesome signs of power, might and majesty!  Instead we read of Jesus who was the very Son of God, hidden from the worlds view for the first 30 years of his life, ministered for about three years, and mostly never sought the limelight, power or political alignment!  He was humble and gentle, merciful, compassionate and forgiving.  He did do many miracles, healings, signs and wonders, even raising the dead, but the majority of the time he was in some remote area, and often told the person He healed to go and tell know one.  There was no arriving on the scene in some powerful display  and demanding to be taken to the leaders!  Then incredibly, He allows Himself to be captured, beaten and crucified on the cross.  What god in any of the different mythologies (human ideas of what god's act like) ever did something similar? 

Going back to Paul, He writes that it was "in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him" (Christ Jesus as Messiah). This is such an interesting statement about the intent of God, and the mind of God.  In other words, God planned it this way!  The Gospel, as Paul writes is foolishness to man.  It does not make sense; it is not the way we would do it; it is not a story man would create!  I am so often reminded of God's statement made in Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. [9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Last night we were watching videos of the Ashbury Revival, I must admit I was a bit underwhelmed initially.  The videos showed a bunch of unpolished students singing songs of worship.  The crowd though large for the venue wasn't impressive, there were no spectacular signs or wonders evident on camera, but there was a peace evident, there was affection for Jesus, there was clearly a gentle and loving experience of God.  This is such a great example of how the Lord operates and how He reveals Himself.  It is not what we think, yet when you read the accounts of those present they clearly experienced the love of God in ways they hadn't before!  

This IS one example of the power of the Cross.  Jesus, opened the way to God, through His death on the Cross.  He paid for our debts, took our punishment upon Himself, and restored the opportunity for relationship with the Father to us all.  He saved us, not through victory on a great intergalactic battlefield, but rather through humility and self-sacrifice.  His victory is the greatest victory of all time, for He now has all authority and all power, and sits exalted above every other being, and yet He reveals Himself to us in love, mercy, compassion, forgiveness and peace.  We struggle to comprehend this all, to make sense of this,  and Paul captures this all quite concisely in the verses quoted above.

My prayer today is that I might more fully comprehend the Power of the Cross, the Wisdom of God demonstrated through Christ Jesus!  My prayer is that we might embrace this "foolish" message, and not try to add some human "flash" to it, to make it fit our limited minds and expectations.  Let us pray for a greater revelation in the Church of "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."  I pray that as we approach the celebration of Easter, that we would not miss the message of the Cross, for to us who believe it is "the power of God".

Amen and Amen!

Admonishment or Correction?

This morning I felt led to reflect on Colossians 3, which is really a wonderful chapter talking about our duality, our life here  and our life hidden in Christ.  One could spend the rest of their life trying to fully comprehend the first few verses of this chapter.  However, my mind was drawn to a verse later in the chapter, here are the surrounding verses - Colossians 3:12-17 NIV:

[12] "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. [13] Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. [14] And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

[15] "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. [16] Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. [17] And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Specifically, I am reflecting on verse 16, and my first question was what Greek word was translated admonish?  When I read that word it always seems corrective and not necessarily in a welcome way. The actual Greek word used is  nouthetéō  and this note is from Strong's Concordance and Word Helps.  "("admonish through instruction") especially appeals to the mind, supplying doctrinal and spiritual substance (content). This "exerts positive pressure" on someone's logic (reasoning), i.e. urging them to choose (turn to) God's best.  [This root (nouthe-) does not strictly mean "chastise," though this can be involved – i.e. with needed admonishing, correcting, exhortation, etc.] "  The Greek word actually is a composite word from 3563 /noús, "mind" and 5087 /títhēmi, "to place"  In other words to bring a mind to a place (through reasoning).

I think this is helpful, in a pastoral sense.  Sometimes we can feel like we need to correct people, and can do so by demanding obedience, and here Paul is urging a more educational encouragement, helping people see where they are and where they need to get to.  This is really what repentance is about, someone recognizing their need to change and then choosing to change.  

Sometimes the church falls into  a more coercive approach, but this is clearly not Paul' heart here, for forcing someone to change behaviour does not bring about true repentance.  While repentance is recognizing that changing the way one thinks is needed, and then acting on that change, coercion does not appear to cause true repentance.  What does happen is people change the way they think about the coercer and they change their behaviour because they don't want to suffer the consequences.  They have changed their behaviour out of fear of punishment.  They don't choose to change because of recognizing a misalignment of heart and thought, they change behaviour because of fear, but their original thinking towards the subject is unchanged. 

As I look back at these verses, verses 15 and 16 cannot understood outside of the context of verses 12-14.  Our approach to one another must be kind, gentle, humble, patient and loving, and bring about peace, thankfulness and unity. 

The church has at times lost a focus on the invitation of love and relationship with the Lord, and made the message one of fearing the outcome of bad and sinful behaviour, namely hell, and God's judgment.  I am quite convinced that Jesus primary mission was to represent to the world what the Father was really like, and He did so by speaking of the Kingdom of God and then demonstrating that Kingdom through healings, miracles, signs and wonders, forgiveness, casting out demons, and raising the dead.  The Kingdom reality flows directly from the rule and character of the King, in this case God, and while Jesus did provide warnings, His primary message was one of relationship, restoration, and God's love for us all. 

I am reminded of a couple of different sections of scripture, but in an effort towards brevity, I won't include all the verses.  First, I am reminded of Matthew Chapters 5-7 which is titled the sermon on the Mount, and thought of as the best description of the Kingdom principles, some even calling it the constitution of the Kingdom of God. In several verses Jesus reveals the character of the Father such as Matthew 7:9-12 NIV: “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? [11] If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! [12] So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

The second set of verses that immediately comes to mind contains one of the most frequently quoted verses - John 3:16-17 NIV: 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."  The Father is inviting us to embrace this loving invitation, that we might experience salvation and redemption, and eternal life.

This morning I am encouraged to look at my life, at the way I represent the Lord, and to consider if and how my life leads others toward Him.  Do I  clothe myself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience?  Do I represent and demonstrate forgiveness in the same way I have been forgiven?  Do I clothe myself in love at all times?  Is my approach to brothers and sisters encouraging, and enlightening?  Do I embrace repentance in my own life, seeing the opportunity to adjust my thinking and my actions, and embracing that opportunity as an invitation from the Lord to become more like Him? 

Lord help me to represent You more faithfully in my life! 

Amen and Amen!

When God Visits

This morning I have been thinking a little about the Ashbury Revival that is happening right now in North Central Kentucky.  I felt led to turn to Romans 9, where Paul is writing about his heart for the Jews, for his people.  He is reflecting on how they could be missing the blessing of the Messiah.  I am going to quote the whole section, to verse 16, where Paul writes a very important fact - here are the verses: Romans 9:1-16 NIV:

[1] "I speak the truth in Christ---I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit--- [2] I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. [3] For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, [4] the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. [5] Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. 

[6] It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. [7] Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” [8] In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. [9] For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” 

[10] Not only that, but Rebekah's children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. [11] Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad---in order that God's purpose in election might stand: [12] not by works but by him who calls---she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” [13] Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 

[14] What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! [15] For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 

[16] It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy."

Paul uncovers, just a bit, the mystery of God and His ways.  We are desirous of God's presence, we pray for God's presence, we sing and we worship and do our best to be obedient, and all of that is right and good.  Many of us desire to see God move in our countries, in our churches, in our own lives.  The cries of the church, of God's sons and daughters go up to heaven constantly!  

Here in Kansas City we have the International House of Prayer, where for the past 20+ Years prayer, intercession and worship has been poured out 7x24x365!  History is full of people who have spent their lives crying out to the Lord.  Millions if not billions of people experience God's touch and presence in their daily lives, through prayer, worship and intercession.  We see and feel God move over and over in our lives.  

Yet, occasionally God, in His sovereign plan, decides to visit a certain place, in time, with a more significant experience of His presence, and as Paul writes, it is not dependent on our human desire or effort, but upon God's mercy!  

The student of Ashbury were not more desirous, or more holy than the millions and billions of other Christians who are crying out!  They didn't have a better worship set, better prayer times, or more dedicated obedience to the Lord!  They didn't desire God's move more than the rest of us!  God sovereignly chose this time and this place, in His perfect plan, and in His Mercy and Love visited their gathering.  

Thousands are flocking to Ashbury to experience this move of God and that is awesome.  What is equally awesome is that many of them will bring this experience back to their home churches and gatherings.  The move of the Holy Spirit is at times contagious and is transported from place to place in the hearts of His sons and daughters.  We see this over and over in the many revivals that have swept across lands and countries.  

We can and should be encouraged by what is happening!   We can and should be sending people to the revival in the hopes that they would carry back a Holy Spirit infection that spreads revival to our churches and gatherings.  We must resist the temptation to try through human effort or fleshly desire to whip up God's visitation through our own effort, for that is not how He works.  Let us pray for God's mercy and compassion to wash over our churches, our cities and our countries!  He is a good and sovereign God who desires all to be saved (1 Tim 2:4).

Amen and Amen! 

Remembering, Understanding and Faith: Looking Backwards Then Forwards

Yesterday I was reading some verses that were strange in Ezekiel 20:25-26.  They seemed to say that God gave the rebellious tribes bad laws and statutes, even allowed them to sacrifice their children.  This is a great example of why you can't take verses out of context, and must read Old Testament through the grid of understanding we now have through Christ and the New Testament.

I was just thinking that this is essentially like watching a movie and seeing a flashback scene that is best understood in hindsight. In this case, the later provides the key for understanding the earlier.

In many ways this is what we see in our own faith walk, we have clearer vision and understanding as we look back at our life. Faith is looking forward, and sometimes understanding comes from looking backwards.  We are called to look backwards to remember and then to look forward in faith and belief, understanding God's faithfulness, His ability to move and trusting that He will do so again.  

The Lord had the Israelites build monuments at critical junctures and locations in their journey, and they were meant to remind future generations of what God had done.  A great example is found in Joshua 4:4-7 NIV:

[4] "So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, [5] and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, [6] to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' [7] tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

They were meant to be a memorial, in other words to call to memory.  God intended the people of Israel to learn from their history with Him.  Unfortunately, they rarely did so.

The whole of Ezekiel 20 is God providing an account of how despite many chances, many interventions, and many bad decisions by the people, God continued to reach out to the Israelites, and they continued to choose wrongly.   He continues on in Ezekiel 20:25-26 NIV:  So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live; [26] I defiled them through their gifts---the sacrifice of every firstborn---that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the Lord. ' 

However, verses 25 and 26 must be understood in light of Romans 1:21-25 NIV:

[21] "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. [22] Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. 

[24] Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. [25] They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator---who is forever praised. Amen."

What was clearly "missing" in the verses from Ezekiel is the phrase "over to", in other words allowed for free will.  He gave them clear directions, but they chose another path, and God allowed them to do so.  This is no different then the story of Adam and Eve, and our own story for that matter.  We must all have the ability to choose for sin to be possible.  God allows us to choose, for it is the only way to actually have faith.  We have faith defined for us in Hebrews 11:1 NIV:

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." 

A computer program does not have faith, if only operates on the commands given it, in the same way a robot follows the exact commands it is given.  If we can only do what we are commanded, we are similar.  The ability to think, consider, hope, and then choose is absolutely key to our faith.  

In light of the verses from Ezekiel, God had clearly told the Israelites over and over what would happen if they rebelled. He warned them over and over and told them the other path was not good, did not lead to life, and would defile them.  These two verses represent a whole history, and clearly God allowed them to choose over and over again.  God did not suddenly give them new "false" laws and statues that wouldn't lead them to life, or suddenly command them to sacrifice their first born. He gave them the choice, and they chose poorly.

Today, as everyday, we are given the same choices, follow God and have faith in Him, or choose our own path.  We have he opportunity to look back at our life, to witness God's faithfulness and then to look forward into the unknown with hope and assurance that God will indeed guide us and be with us!  We don't know exactly how He will do it, nor when, but we have faith the He will.  I think this is one of the reasons Jesus always seemed to heal differently, so that we had to depend on Holy Spirit every time, otherwise faith is not really needed.

This morning I am encouraged that God does want us to learn form our History!  He wants us to look backwards and gain understanding, remembering how He moved, and then look forward into the future, trusting Him, believing in Him, having faith in Him.  He wants sons and daughters who have chosen Him, in love.  He wants us to choose wisely.  He gives us all the same choice!

I am reminded of a few verses from Paul's first letter to (1 )Timothy 2:1-6 NIV:

[1] "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people--- [2] for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. [3] This is good, and pleases God our Savior, [4] who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, [6] who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time."

He has made the way, it is our choice now.  I for one, am choosing to learn from my history, and I am looking forward in faith! 

Amen!

Friendship With God?

The theme of 'Friendship with God" is my point of reflection this morning.  The first thing I think about is Moses, of whom it was said, "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent." (Exodus 33:11 NIV).  I guess we could say that the quality of relationship, and specifically communication, is key to friendship.  

Jesus, in a similar exchange promoted the Apostles form servants to friends in John 15:13-15 NIV:

[13] "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. [14] You are my friends if you do what I command. [15] I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."

Again, we see a level of intimacy and communication that seems to be the defining characteristic of friendship with the Lord!  In the verses from John, Jesus continues on and talks about how He chose them, and clearly Moses was chosen by God as well, so we could say that friendship with God in initiated by Him.  I am reminded of some significant verses from Paul from his letter to the Ephesians, saying that God,  "chose us in Him before the creation of the world" (Eph 1:4 NIV). This choosing is indicative of His desire for relationship.  Jesus finished his discourse to the Apostles found in John 15-17 with the following statement, speaking about the Father - John 17:26 NIV:  "I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Clearly to have relationship and friendship with anyone, whether speaking about God or another person, there must be communication.  All of these verses speak of personal communication, and it is always two-way communication.  I was doing a quick bit of research about friendship as it is defined in the Bible and came upon this quote, which I thought was helpful.  "In both Testaments the ideas of friend and friendship involve three components: association, loyalty, and affection. There are also three levels of meaning: friendship as association only; friendship as association plus loyalty; and friendship as association plus loyalty plus affection." ( Https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/friend-friendship/).  

I believe that this is the invitation we all have, in the Lord, to real friendship, to experience a two-way relationship that is defined by association, loyalty and affection.  For this to be true, we must be able to offer to the Lord these qualities, and experience them back from Him. 

Wow, that really made me stop and think.

Have I offered these things in my pursuit of Him?  

Have I been found near Him?  

Do I like to hang out with Him?  

Do I act like Him?

Have I been loyal to Him?  Even when I haven't understood, or questioned Him?

Has He been the object of my affection?

I also stopped to reflect on whether I have experienced these from the Lord?  

Does He associate with me?  How have I experienced that?

Is He loyal and faithful to me?  When can I say that I have encountered Him in this way?

Has He expressed affection for me?  How does He do this, how does He show affection?

I could write at length about each of these questions, but this morning I am just going to leave them as questions.  I want to let these percolate in my heart and mind today, causing me to bring to remembrance my interactions and experiences with Him, as well as my own actions and words.

I want to allow this invitation, this open door, if you will, to draw me and make me aware of the quality of my relationship with Him!

Lord, help me to see truthfully where I am and where I am going, in You.

Amen! 

Blessings and Curses?

This morning I am reflecting on a set of verses that are often quoted in our day, verses where God promises to hear if a nation turns to Him and prays.  I have included the whole section, for we are often only quoted part of the message from God.  Here are the verses - 2 Chronicles 7:12-22 NIV:

[12] "the Lord appeared to him at night and said: 

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. [13] “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, [14] if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. [15] Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. [16] I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 

[17] “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, [18] I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.' 

[19] “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, [20] then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. [21] This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, 'Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?' [22] People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them---that is why he brought all this disaster on them.' ”

I have heard the first set of verses referenced many times as a call to our nation to repent and turn back to the Lord!  This can never be a bad thing, turning toward the Lord.   

However, today I continued reading and realized that it is a promise for blessing for obedience and curses for disobedience. I find that often times we like to lift a few verses out of context, and not include the whole word.  The question I have today, is do these verses match the further revelation of Jesus?  Do these verses faithfully represent the Father as Jesus presented Him?

We know that God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8), but our understanding of God has been progressive in time. In our own lifetimes, our understanding of God has changed, and God is constantly revealing more of Himself.  In the life and history of the Church, God has been constantly revealing more of His unchanging self. In the Life of Israel, there was a constant revelation of God's character.  It seems to me that there will never be an end to this constant revealing, for it is impossible to fully know the infinite Godhead!  

The importance, for me, is that in all of this I must always read the Old Testament through the grid of understanding that is the Revelation of Jesus!  I can't just say, "this is truth, its in the Bible!"  The Jews of Jesus' time had the Old Testament and for the most part completely misunderstood the role of the Messiah, which was certainly one of the main points of the Old Testament!  I must read and ask for understanding, as Paul so wisely wrote in his letter to the Ephesians 1:17-23 NIV:

[17] "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. [18] I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, [19] and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength [20] he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, [21] far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. [22] And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, [23] which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."

So back to the verses in 2 Chron, how do I understand these verses in light of Jesus?

First, I must understand that God perfectly embodies multiple characteristics that to me seem almost opposites.  He is perfectly just, and perfectly merciful!  He is jealous for me, and at the same patient and understanding.  He will judge sin, and He has offered forgiveness of sins to all!   

When I struggle to understand, I find it simplest to go back to how He describes Himself in Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV:  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. [9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Second, I must recognize that the Gospel of Grace is true!  I have been offered forgiveness for my sins, and Jesus has made payment of my debts, and has  taken the punishment required for those sins upon Himself. This is His free gift to me, and the only required action on my part is belief, and relationship.  Paul writes extensively about the Gospel of Grace and was this Gospel's greatest defender in the early church.  The struggle at that time was that all sorts of well-meaning people wanted to add to the Gospel of Grace, actions based on the requirements of the Law, or requirements that made sense to them (human thinking).  One of my favorite authors, Graham Cooke, says, "the Gospel is so good it sounds too good to be true, but it is!"

Thirdly, I must understand that God allows for man's free-will.  I was thinking about many of the different warnings God proclaimed in the Old Testament, even the one above, and many of them were really proclaiming the ramifications of bad decisions on the part of the leaders and people.  God constantly warned them, giving them opportunities to repent, to change their minds, to act differently and they constantly chose poorly, and suffered the ramifications of their bad choices.  In the case of Solomon above, He rejected the ways of God and his son Rehoboam, who ruled after him, saw no apparent reason to follow the ways of God.  He quickly lost the favor of the people, any allies and started to see the repercussions of his bad choices almost immediately, and thus began the downward spiral that would end in the destruction of Jerusalem, as promised by God.   I find it possible to ascribe this fulfillment of God's promise, not so much to God's active punishment of Israel, but more to the ramifications of bad choices that Solomon, Rehoboam and kings after them made.  It seems that God was prophesying to them what would happen if they disobeyed, what would be the ramifications of their bad choices, rather than telling them what He would do.

If I look at Jesus' life, again as a perfect representation of the Father (Heb 1:3), I do not see Jesus punishing anyone for disobedience, even for violence towards Him.  He clearly confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees, but He did not strike them down, and continued to engage them in conversation, warning them of things to come, but never enacting violence.  In fact on the Cross, after He was beaten, wrongly accused, abused and suffering incredible anguish He prays this prayer, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” ( Luke 23:34a NIV).  When He is raised from the dead, He does not reign destruction on those that killed Him. We are told that He died for the sins of all men (1 John 2:2), that included the Pharisees, and Sadducees, and all that had wronged Him, and the same offer of grace was available to His worst enemies, as we see later experienced by Saul, the lead persecutor of the early church (See Acts 9:1-31). 

One last thing, Jesus does talk about judgment, but it seems to me that He is always pointing to a final judgment.  In fact He says that though He could pass judgment He won't.  Here is a quote from John 12:47-48 NIV:  “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. [48] There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day."

Going back to the Scriptures first considered from 2 Chron. I find myself thinking about the blessings promised for repentance, which in reality is a deepening of relationship with the Lord, or in the case of an unbeliever, the establishment of relationship!  I find that the Lord is always waiting for me to turn back to Him, always welcoming me back to deeper relationship!  There is no threat of punishment for disobedience, for He has taken all the punishment for my sins upon Himself (Is 53:5).  This can be true for every single person on the face of the earth, for this is the Gospel of Grace!  This is the New Covenant, and the old covenant is no longer in play (Heb. 8:13), and any judgment in-line with the Old Covenant is no longer accurate, according to the revelation of Jesus.  

That there will be a final judgment, is understood (Matt 12, Rom 2, 2 Peter 2, and 1 John 4), and we still suffer the consequences and ramifications of bad decisions, but we live under the New Covenant, and relationship is available to all who cry out, and believe in the Lord!  Relationship with God does bring blessing and provision, healing, compassion and mercy.  

So today, I am encouraged to press into my relationship with the Lord, to repent of all of my sin, and turn towards Him at all times.  I am encouraged to call those in need to call out to the Lord, to turn towards Him and/or return to Him.  I am encouraged that the Lord has blessed me with the Gospel of Grace!

Amen and Amen!