Month: March 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR MARCH 31 ~ ~ Matthew 28:6 ~ ~ “He is not here.  For He has risen, just as He said.”

Today, we start with a book called “Incomparable”, written by Nancy DeMoss Wohlgemuth, of “Revive Our Hearts” ministries.

HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY!!!!

While no one ever lived quite as Jesus did, other people HAVE lived.  And while no one ever died quite as Jesus did, other people HAVE died. 

But no one—-no one!!!!—has ever been raised from the dead, never to die again, as Jesus was.

So the resurrection makes all the difference.  As you read the New Testament, you realize that it matters supremely.  Apart from Jesus’ resurrection, you and I have no hope of eternal life.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” 1 Peter 1:3.

The cross without the empty tomb is simply not enough.  But Jesus, our unparalleled Jesus, is always enough.

So, on this momentous day, let’s spend a few moments to meditate on some of the implications of the resurrection.  What difference does the empty tomb make for those who have placed their faith in Christ – not just today, but next week, and the next?  What difference does it make when we are facing pain or tears or failure or fears?  Let’s look.

THE RESURRECTION MEANS THERE IS HOPE IN THE MOST DESPERATE CIRCUMSTANCE

It means God is all-powerful and can make a way out where there appears to be no way out.  It means that one day all tears will be wiped away and all sorrow will be turned to joy.

Easter reminds us that God has defeated death by walking through it and that no matter how many enemies seek to take Him down, He can never die again.  So when we walk through natural or relational disasters, the collapse of our health or of the economy, we can take a deep breath and know that He is alive and seated on His throne, in charge, no matter how dark it gets.

No situation, no matter how desperate, is beyond God’s ability to control its outcome  the God who on that day turned death into life is the One who EVERY day “makes the dawn out of darkness.,” (Amos 4:13).

THE RESURRECTION MEANS GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES.

The resurrection was only a surprise because people didn’t believe what they were told.  How many prophecies had spelled out what would happen when the Messiah came?  And how many times had Jesus alerted His disciples to the fact that He would ”suffer”, and “be rejected” and “be killed” —-and “BE RAISED” (Luke 9:22).   He said it again and again, but they just didn’t hear and believe it.  And the result was unnecessary stress, anxiety and fear.

How different would our lives be if we really laid hold of the promises of God, if we believed He means what He says?  The resurrection is the resounding AMEN to every promise God made.

THE RESURRECTION MEANS DEATH IS NO LONGER TO BE FEARED.

No one looks forward to dying.  And no one is happy when death separates us from those we love.  But as Jesus compassionately assured a grieving friend, “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live.”  (John 11:25-26).  So although death on this earth is inevitable – and painful – it need not terrify us, because the resurrection reminds us that death is not the end, that our separations and losses are temporary.

THE RESURRECTION ASSURES US OF OUR OWN BODILY RESURRECTION,

Nineteenth-century pastor Phillips Brooks once wrote,  “Let us say not merely, ‘Christ has risen,’ but ‘I SHALL RISE.’”  You and I are active participants in the resurrection story.  The apostle Paul wrote, “God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.” (1 Corinthians 6:14).  Christ’s physical resurrection is a pledge of our own future resurrection when God “will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body.” (Philippians 3;21).

THE RESURRECTION MEANS GOD, IN ACCEPTING CHRIST’S WORK ACCEPTS US AS WELL

“It is finished,” remember?  The resurrection was proof that God had accepted the payment Christ made for sin on the cross, that His righteous anger against sinners had been completely satisfied, and that He fully approved of Christ’s death.  Since we have been united with Christ in His death (Romans 6:3) and since God has ‘raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavens” (Ephes 2:6), we are assured that we are now wholly acceptable to Him.  Our guilt has been completely removed,  Jesus’ righteousness has been credited to our account, and God accepts and approves of us as He approves of Christ, because of Christ’s sacrifice.

GOD’S WORD FOR MARCH 30 ~ ~ Acts 4:27-28 ~ ~ “In this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus….both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.”

Today, on Jesus’ last day before His Resurrection,  we look at the last (50^th) reason that Christ suffered and died…….according to John Piper in his book, “The Passion of Jesus Christ”

Christ Suffered and Died………..

TO SHOW THAT THE WORST EVIL IS MEANT BY GOD FOR GOOD

The most profound thing we can say about suffering and evil is that, in Jesus Christ, God entered into it and turned it for good.  The origin of evil is shrouded in mystery.  The Bible does not take us as far as we might like to go.  Rather, it says, “The secret things belong to …….God” (Deuteronomy 29:29).

The heart of the Bible is not an explanation of where evil came from, but a demonstration of how God enters into it and turns it for the very opposite – everlasting righteousness and joy.  There were pointers in the Scriptures all along the way that it would be like this for the Messiah.  Joseph, the son of Jacob, was sold into slavery in Egypt.  He seemed abandoned for seventeen years.  But God was in it and made him ruler in Egypt, so that in a great famine he could save the very ones who sold him.  The story is summed up in a word from Joseph to his brothers: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” (Genesis 50:20).   A foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, forsaken in order to save.

Or consider Christ’s ancestry.  Once God was the only king in Israel.  But the people rebelled and asked for a human king.  “NO!!!”  But there shall be a king over us” (1 Samuel 8:19).  Later they confessed, “We have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king” (1 Samuel12:19).  But God was in it.  From the line of these kings He brought Christ into the world.  The sinless Savior had His earthly origin in sin as he came to save sinners.

But the most astonishing thing is that evil and suffering were Christ’s appointed way of victory over evil and suffering.  Every act of treachery and brutality against Jesus was sinful and evil.  But God was in it.  The Bible says, “Jesus was delivered up to death according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.” (Acts 2:23).  The lash on His back, the thorns on His head, the spit on His cheek, the bruises on His face, the nails in His hands, the spear in His side, the scorn of rulers, the betrayal of His friend, the desertion by His disciples — these were all the result of sin, and all designed by God to destroy the power of sin.  “Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel did whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.”  (Acts 4:27-28).

There is no greater sin than to hate and kill the Son of God.  There was no greater suffering nor any greater innocence than the suffering and innocence of Christ.  Yet God was in it all.  “it was the will of the Lord to crush Him. (Isaiah 53:10). 

His aim, through evil and suffering, was to destroy evil and suffering:

“With His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5).  Is not then the passion of Jesus Christ meant by God to show the world that there is no sin and no evil too great that God, in Christ, cannot bring from it everlasting righteousness and joy?  The very suffering that we caused became the hope of our salvation.  “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  (Luke 23:34).

GOD’S WORD FOR MARCH 29 ~ ~ Hebrews 2:9 ~ ~ “but we see….Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death.”

Philippians 2:7-9

“And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name.” 

Revelation 5:12

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

Reason number 49 why Jesus suffered and died for us, in John Piper’s book, “The Passion of Jesus Christ.”

Christ Suffered and died….SO THAT HE WOULD BE CROWNED WITH GLORY AND HONOR

The night before He died, knowing  what was coming, Jesus prayed, “Father, glorify Me in your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.” (John 17:5).

So it came to pass:  He was “crowned with glory and honor BECAUSE OF the suffering of death.” (Hebrews 2:9).  His glory was the reward of His suffering.  He was “obedient to the point of death … THEREFORE God has highly exalted Him.”  (Philippians 2:8-9).  Precisely BECAUSE He was slain, the Lamb is “worthy….to receive….honor and glory.”  (Revelation 5:12).  The passion of Jesus Christ did not merely precede the crown; it was the price and the crown was the prize.  He died to have it.

Many people stumble at this point.  They say, “How can this be loving?  How can Jesus be motivated to give us joy if He is motivated to get His glory?  Since when is vanity a virtue?”  That is a good question, and it has a wonderful Biblical answer.

The answer lies in learning what great love really is.  Most of us have grown up thinking that being loved means being made much of.  Our whole world seems to be built on this assumption.  If I love you, I make much of you.  I help you feel good about yourself.  It is as though a sight of the self is the secret of joy.

But we know better.  Even before we come to the Bible, we know this is not so.  Our happiest moments have not been self-saturated moments, but self-forgetful moments.  There have been times when we stood beside the Grand canyon, or at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, or viewed a stunning sunset over the Sahara, and for a fleeting moment felt the joy of sheer wonder.  This is what we were made for.  Paradise will not be a hall of mirrors.  It will be a display of majesty.  And it won’t be ours.

If this is true, and if Christ is the most majestic reality in the universe, then what must His love to us be?  Surely not making much of us!  That would not satisfy our souls.  We were made for something much greater,  If we are to be as happy as we can be, we must see and savor the most glorious person of all, Jesus Christ Himself. 

This means that to love us, Jesus must seek the fullness of His glory and offer it to us for our enjoyment.  That is why He prayed, the night before He died, “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory” (John 17:24). 

That was love.  “I will show them My glory.”  When Jesus died to regain the fullness of His glory, He died for our joy.  Love is the labor – whatever the cost – of helping people be enthralled with what will satisfy them most, namely, Jesus Christ.

That is how Jesus loves!

GOD’S WORD FOR MARCH 28 ~ ~ Hebrews 12:2 ~ ~  “For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Day 48 in the book, “The Passion of Jesus Christ” by John Piper

Christ Suffered and Died…..

TO GAIN HIS JOY AND OURS

The path that leads to joy is a hard road,  It’s hard for us, and it was hard for Jesus.  It cost Him His life.  It may cost us ours.  “For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross.”  First the agony of the cross, then the ecstasy of heaven.  There was no other way.

The joy set before Him had many levels.  It was the joy of reunion with His Father:  “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11).  It was the joy of triumph over sin.  “After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3).  It was the joy of divine rights restored:  “He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God”  (Hebrews 12:2).  It was the joy of being surrounded with praise by all the people for whom He died:  “There will be ….joy in heaven over one sinner who repents”,…not to mention millions.  (Luke 15:7).

Now what about us?  Has He entered into joy and left us for misery?  NO!  Before He died, He made the connection between His joy and ours.  He said,

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11).  He knew what His joy would be, and He said, “My joy will be in you.”  We who have trusted in Him will rejoice with as much of the joy of Jesus as finite creatures can experience.

But the road will be hard.  Jesus warned us:

“In this world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). 

“A disciple is not above His teacher….if they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.” (Matthew 10:24-25).

“Some of you they will put to death.  You will be hated by all for My name’s sake”  (Luke 21:16-17).

That’s the path Jesus walked, and that’s the road to joy—His joy triumphant in us, and our joy full.

In the same way that the surety of joy enabled Christ to endure the cross, our surety of joy empowers us to suffer with Him.  Jesus prepared us for this very thing when He said:

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.  (Matthew 5:11-12). Our reward will be to enjoy God with the very joy that the Son of God has in His Father.

If Jesus had not willingly died, neither He nor we could be forever glad.  He would have been disobedient.  We would have perished in our sins.  His joy and ours were acquired at the cross. 

Now we follow Him in the path of love.  We reckon “that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18).

Now we bear reproach with Him.  But then there will be undiminished joy.  Any risk required by love we will endure.  Not with heroic might but in the  strength of the surety that “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Psalm 30:5).

GOD’S WORD FOR MARCH 27 ~ ~ Hebrews 9:28 ~ ~ “Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.”

We’re looking at the 47^th of 50 reasons Christ suffered and died, in the book, “The Passion of Jesus Christ” by John Piper.

Christ Suffered and Died…………

TO RESCUE US FROM FINAL JUDGMENT

The Christian idea of salvation relates to past present, and future.  The Bible says, “By grace you HAVE BEEN SAVED through faith.”  (Ephesians 2:8).  It says that the gospel is the power of God “to us who ARE BEING SAVED.” (1 Corinthians 1:18).  And it says, “SALVATION IS NEARER TO US NOW than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11)  We have been saved.  We are being saved.  We will be saved.

At every stage we are saved by the death of Christ.  In the past, once for all, our sins were paid for by Christ Himself.   We were justified by faith alone.  In the present, the death of Christ secures the power of God’s Spirit to save us progressively from the domination and contamination of sin.  And in the future, it will be the blood of Christ, poured out on the cross, that protects us from the wrath of God and brings us to perfection and joy.

There is a real judgment coming.  The Bible describes “a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:27).  It calls us to live  “with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29).

Jesus warned the people of His day to “flee from the wrath to come.”  (Matthew 3:7).  For Jesus Himself will be “revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might.” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).

Some pictures of this final wrath of God are almost too terrible to ponder.  Ironically, it is John, the “apostle of love,” who gives us the most graphic glimpses of hell.  Those who reject Christ and give their allegiance to another “will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of His anger, and …will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.  And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night.”  (Revelation 14:10-11).

Until we feel some measure of dread about God’s future wrath, we will probably not grasp the sweetness with which the early church savored the saving work of Christ in the future:  “We wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).  Jesus Christ, and He alone, can save us from the wrath to come.  Without Him, we will be swept away forever.

Burt when He saves us in the end, it will be on the basis of His blood.  “Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.”  (Hebrews 9:28).  Sin was dealt with once for all.  No new sacrifice is needed.  Our shield from future wrath is as sure as the sufferings of Christ in our place.  For the sake of the cross, then, exult in future grace.

GOD’S WORD FOR MARCH 26 ~ ~ John 11:51-52 ~ ~ “(Caiaphas) did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”

John 10:16

“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.  I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.  So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

Still in John Piper’s book, “The Passion of Jesus Christ”.  Today’s chapter:

Christ Suffered and Died…..

TO GATHER ALL HIS SHEEP FROM AROUND THE WORLD.”

Without knowing it, a donkey may speak for God, as in Numbers 22:28.  So may a preacher, or a Jewish priest.  It happened to Caiaphas, who was the high priest in Israel when Jesus was being tried for His life.  Unwittingly he said to the  leaders of Israel, “it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”  (John 11:50).  This had a double meaning.  Caiaphas meant:  “Better that Jesus die than that the Romans accuse the nation of treason and destroy the people.”   But God had another meaning.  So the Bible says, “(Caiaphas) did not say this of His own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”  (John 11:51-52).

Jesus Himself said the same thing with a different metaphor.  Instead of “children….scattered abroad,”  Jesus spoke of “sheep” outside the fold of Israel:  “I have other sheep that are not of this fold.  I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice.  So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”  (John 10:16).

Both of these ways of saying it are astonishing.  They teach that all over the world there are people whom God has chosen to be reached and saved by Jesus Christ.  There are “children of God…scattered abroad.”   There are “sheep not of this (Jewish) fold.”

This means that God is very aggressive in gathering a people for his Son.  He calls His people to go make disciples, but He also goes before them.  He has a people chosen before His messengers get there.  So Jesus speaks of converts whom God had made His own and then brought to Christ.  “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out….Yours they were, and You gave them to Me.”  (John 6:37; 17:6).

It is an awesome thing that God looks down on all the peoples of the world and names a flock for Himself,  then sends missionaries in the name of Christ, leads His chosen ones to the sound of the gospel, and then saves them. 

They could be saved no other way.  Missions is essential.  “The sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out …the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. (John 10:3-4).

Jesus suffered and died so that the sheep could hear His voice and live.  That’s what Caiaphas said without knowing it:  “Jesus would die …not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” 

He gave up His life to gather the sheep.  By His blood He bought the mercy that makes His voice unmistakable to His own. 

Pray that God would apply that mercy to you, and that you would hear and live.

GOD’S WORD FOR MARCH 25 ~ ~ Revelation 5:9 ~ ~ “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

John Piper’s book, “The Passion of Jesus Christ” brings us to the chapter entitled:

Christ Suffered and Died………………
TO RANSOM PEOPLE FROM EVERY TRIBE AND LANGUAGE AND PEOPLE AND NATION

The scene is heaven.  The apostle John has been given a glimpse of the future in the hand of God.  “I saw in the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne a scroll….sealed with seven seals” (Revelation 5:1). 

Opening the scroll signifies the unfolding of world history in the future.  John weeps that there seems to be no one to open the scroll.  Then one of the heavenly beings says, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that He can open the scroll.” (5:5)  This is a reference to Jesus Christ, the Messiah.  He had conquered by His death and resurrection.  Then John sees Him:  “I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain.” (5:6).

Then the heavenly beings around the throne fall down and worship Christ.  They sing a new song.  Amazingly, the song announces that it is the death of Christ that makes Him worthy to open the scroll of history.  The implication is that Christ’s death was necessary to accomplish God’s global purposes in history. 

“They sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (5:9).

Christ died to save a great diversity of peoples.  Sin is no respecter of cultures.  All peoples have sinned.  Every race and culture needs to be reconciled to God.  As the disease of sin is global, so the remedy is global.  Jesus saw the agony of the cross coming and spoke boldly about the scope of His purpose:

 “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.” (John 12:32).  As He planned His death, He embraced the world.

Christianity began in the East.  Over the centuries there was a major shift to the West.  But increasingly now, Christianity is not a Western religion.  This is no surprise to Christ.  Already in the Old Testament His global impact was foretold: 

“All the ends of the earth shall remember the turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.” (Psalm 22:27).

“Let the nations be glad and sing for joy”  (Psalm 67:4).

So when Jesus came to the end of his ministry on earth, He made His mission clear:  “that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to   ALL NATIONS.” (Luke 24:46-47).

The command to His disciples was unmistakable:  “go therefore and make disciples of ALL NATIONS.” (Matthew 28:19).

Jesus Christ is not a tribal deity.  He does not belong to one culture or one ethnic group,  He is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29).

“There is no distinction between Jew and Greek (or any other group); the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him.  For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” (Romans 10:12-13).

Call on Him now!   Join the great global band of the redeemed!!!

GOD’S WORD FOR MARCH 24 ~ ~ 1 Corinthians 1:18 ~ ~ “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Romans 1:16

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

From the book, “The Passion of Jesus Christ” by John Piper, we are in the chapter entitled:

Christ Suffered and Died…..

TO UNLEASH THE POWER OF GOD IN THE GOSPEL

“Gospel” means good news.  It’s news before it’s theology.  News is the reporting that something significant has happened.  GOOD news is the announcement that something has happened that will make people happy.  The gospel is the best news, because what it reports can make people happy forever!

What the gospel reports is the death and resurrection of Christ.  The apostle Paul makes the news quality of the gospel plain:

“I would remind you…..of the gospel….that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried that He was raised on the third day …and that He …appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive.”  (1 Corinthians 15:1-7),

The heart of the gospel is that “Christ died for our sins…was buried….was raised….and appeared to more than five hundred people.”  The fact that he says many of these witnesses are still alive shows how factual the gospel is.  He meant that his readers could find some witnesses and query them.  The gospel is news about facts.  And the facts are testable.  There were witnesses of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection life.

The tragic thing is that, for many, this good news seems foolish.  Paul said, “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18).  This is the power that Christ died to unleash.  “The gospel…is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. (Romans 1:16).

Why is the death of Christ not seen as good news by all?  We must see it as true and good before we can believe it.  So the question is: why do some see it as true and good and others don’t?  One answer is given in 2 Corinthians 4:4:

“The god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” 

Besides that, sinful human nature itself is dead to true spiritual reality.   “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him.”  (1 Corinthians 2:14).

If anyone is going to see the gospel as true and good, satanic blindness and natural deadness must be overcome by the power of God.  This is why the Bible says that even though the gospel is foolishness to many, yet “to those who are called….Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:24).

This “calling” is the merciful act of God to remove natural deadness and satanic blindness, so that we see Christ as true and good.  This merciful act is itself a blood-bought gift of Christ.  Look to Him, and pray that God would enable you to see and embrace the gospel of Christ.

GOD’S WORD FOR MARCH 23 ~ ~ Colossians 2:14-15 ~ ~  “He set aside the legal brief against us, nailing it to the cross.  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him”

1 John 3:8

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

Today’s reason in John Piper’s book, “The Passion of Jesus Christ” is this:

Christ Suffered and Died……

TO DISARM THE RULERS AND AUTHORITIES

In the Bible, “rulers and authorities” can refer to human governments.  But when we read that on the cross Christ “disarmed the rulers and authorities” and “put them to open shame” and “triumphed over them,” we should think of the demonic powers that afflict the world.  One of the clearest statements about these evil powers is Ephesians 6:12.  It says that Christians “do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against RULERS, against the AUTHORITIES, against the COSMIC POWERS over this present darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Three times Satan is called “the ruler of this world.” Just as Jesus was coming to the last hour of His life He said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31).

The death of Jesus was the decisive defeat of the “ruler of this world”– the devil.  As  Satan goes, so go all his fallen angels.  All of them were dealt a decisive blow of defeat when Christ died.

Not that they were put out of existence.  We wrestle with them even now.  But they are a defeated foe.  We know we have the final victory.  It is as though a great dragon has had his head cut off and is thrashing about until he bleeds to death.  The battle is won.  But we must still be careful of the damage he can do.

In the death of Jesus, God was “canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.  This He set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).  This is how He “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame.” 

In other words, if God’s law no longer condemns us, because Christ canceled our debt, then Satan has no grounds to accuse us.

Accusation of God’s people was the devil’s great work before Christ.  The very word “satan” means “adversary or accuser.”  But listen to what happened when Christ died  These are the words of John the apostle:

“I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the ACCUSER OF OUR BROTHERS HAS BEEN THROWN DOWN.” (Revelation 12:10).   This is the defeat and the disarming of the rulers and authorities.

Now in Christ no accusations can stand against God’s people (those who have given their lives to live for Jesus Christ):

“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?  It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33).  Neither man nor Satan can make a charge stick.  The legal case is closed.  Christ is our righteousness.

Our accuser is disarmed.  If he tries to speak in the court of heaven, shame will cover his face.  Oh, how bold and free we should be in this world as we seek  to serve Christ and love people!

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.  Let us then turn away from the temptations of the devil.  His promises are lies, and his power is stripped.

GOD’S WORD FOR MARCH 22 ~ ~ Romans 6:5 ~ ~ “For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.”

Romans 8:11

“If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His spirit who dwells in you.”

2 Timothy 2:11

“If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him.”

In John Piper’s book, “The Passion of Jesus Christ”, we’re talking about the reasons Christ suffered and died.  Today……….

Christ Suffered and Died……….

TO SECURE OUR RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD

The keys of death were hung on the inside of Christ’s tomb.  From the outside, Christ could do many wonderful works, including raising a twelve-year-old girl and two men from the dead –only to die again. (Mark 5:41-42;  Luke 7:14-15;  John 11:43-44).

If any were to be raised from the dead, never to die again, Christ would have to die for them, enter the tomb, take the keys, and unlock the door of death from inside.

The resurrection of Jesus is God’s gift and proof that His death was completely successful in blotting out the sins of His people and removing the wrath of God.  You can see this in the word “therefore.”  Christ was “obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.  THEREFORE God has highly exalted Him.” (Philippians 2:8-9).  From the cross the Son of God cried, “It is finished”  (John 19:30).  And by means of the resurrection, God the Father cries, “It was finished indeed!”  the great work of paying for our sin and providing our righteousness and satisfying God’s justice was finished in the death of Jesus.

Then, in the grave, He had the right and the power to take the keys of death and open the door for all who come to Him by faith.  If sin is paid for, righteousness is provided, and injustice is satisfied, nothing can keep Christ or His people in the grave.  That’s why Jesus shouts:

“I died, and behold I am alive forever, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18).

The Bible rings with the truth that belonging to Jesus means we will be raised from the dead with Him.  “If we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.” (Romans 6:5).

“Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:14).

“God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.” (1 Corinthians 6:14).

Here’s the connection between Christ’s death and our resurrection:  “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law” (1 Corinthians 15:56).  Which means, we have all sinned, and the law sentences sinners to everlasting death.  But the text continues.  “thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (verse 57). 

In other words, the demand of the law is met by Jesus’ life and death.  Therefore, sins are forgiven.  Therefore, the sting of sin is removed.  Therefore, those who believe in Christ will NOT be sentenced to everlasting death, but will “be raised imperishable…then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’” (1 Corinthians 15:52 & 54). 

Be astonished, and come to Christ.  He invites you:

“I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall He live. (John 11:25).