Grace for the Race

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:15)

As you know, Easter is a celebration of the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ over our arch enemy, the devil. Through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection, Jesus defeated and disarmed the devil. This week, I want to encourage you by looking at three ways Jesus disarmed the devil and what that means to us today.

Freedom

Both the devil and death had a hold on us because we were “dead in our sins” (Colossians 2:13). Because God chose Adam to represent all of humanity, when Adam sinned and was condemned, we, as his offspring, were considered sinners and were justly condemned. But Jesus has set us free, “having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us” (Colossians 2:14).

This written code cancelled is the Law of God. Jesus came into this world to satisfy the demands of the Law through His perfect obedience and sinless life. The Law of God stood in stark opposition to us because of its demands for obedience, which we could not do, and a just payment, we could not pay. When Jesus went to the cross and died in our place, our debt to the Law was cancelled. This is called The Great Exchange – His righteousness for our sin. On the cross, Jesus got what we deserved – punishment for our sin – and we got what we did not deserve – His righteous record.

The devil has been disarmed because our debt has been cancelled and we no longer stand condemned in the court of heaven. Because of the cross, we have been set free and never again will there be any condemnation (Romans 8:1). Let that truth set you free to be all God is calling you to be.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you? (Matthew 6:30)

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches about worry and how it is simply a waste of our energy in light of the fact that God has promised to meet all of our needs, and so much more. If God cares for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, and He does, how much more will He care for you who He made in His image.

The care God has for you is incalculable. Without any need whatsoever to create anything at all, God, in His infinite wisdom, chose to create the universe and everything in it, including you. And if that wasn’t enough to encourage, motivate, and inspire you to live a life of meaning, significance, and purpose for God’s glory, after the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, God came after them and promised to save them from sin, Satan, and death.

It was one thing for God to create, it was another thing altogether for God to promise to re-create everything that we broke through our sin – at incalculable cost to Himself. The Savior God promised was His Son, the second person of the Trinity, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who went to a cross to pay the penalty for all of our sin. God the Father, invested the life of God the Son, not just to secure our eternal life, but our everyday life too. Jesus has promised the abundant life for those who love Him right now (John 10:10). Jesus has given you His truth, His strength, and His wisdom, so you can live a life that truly matters.

So, regardless of where this finds you today, remember, Jesus is for you, with you, and in you. Jesus wants the absolute best for your life and that begins with an intimate relationship with Him, not just daily, but moment by moment. Remember, Jesus paid for you with His precious blood. Let the incalculable investment He paid for you both comfort and challenge you to live for the expansion of His kingdom, rather than your own, regardless of the cost or circumstance.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Then Jesus returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. (Matthew 26:40)

Every wonder why Jesus continued taking His disciples everywhere He went after they continued failing Him over and over again. Here, in one of His darkest hours, Jesus brought His disciples into the Garden of Gethsemane and said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me” (Matthew 26:38). And when He returns from His time of prayer, His disciples were not watching, they were sleeping.

I don’t think the importance of this story can be overstated when we take an honest look at ourselves and see just how often we too, fail our Lord in countless ways. If all we had was the testimony of devoted disciples who were always on their “A” game in serving the Lord, it could be a bit discouraging. But the Bible tells us the truth about the frailty and failures of those who spent the most time with Jesus during His earthly ministry to encourage us when we find ourselves falling short in of service to Jesus.

What we need to remember is this – failure isn’t final unless we fail to get up. Remember, when Jesus returned to find His disciples sleeping, they did wake up and they did get up. They continued following their Lord imperfectly, and in a few hours, would scatter to the four winds in fear of their lives. Failure did not disqualify the disciples from serving their Lord and it does not disqualify us either. We all fail. We all fall short of God’s intended mark for our lives. But that’s ok. God knew we would fail and fall short. He does not give up on us. He simply keeps encouraging us to get back up begin again.

Remember, regardless of where this finds you, Jesus has called you to serve Him to the best of your ability. He already knows you will do it imperfectly. He already knows you will fall short. He already knows you will fail time and time again. In knowing this you know all you need to know to keep getting back up every time you fall. Oh, one final point. With Jesus leading the way in your life, every time you fall, you fall forward.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. (Romans 8:29)

Perhaps you are familiar with the story of the events of Israel’s deliverance from bondage and slavery in Egypt? It is found in the book of Exodus. God called Moses to lead His people Israel out of Egypt and in to the Promised Land. The word “exodus” literally means, “the road out.” All of this was pointing to the eternal exodus that would be led by a greater Moses, our Lord Jesus Christ, through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection from the grave.

If you are a disciple of Christ, you not only have been given the gift of this eternal exodus, having been set free from sin, Satan, and death. You also have what I call, “Everyday Exodus,” where you are given “the road out” of the sin of self-centered and self-absorbed, self-rule. God is bringing you to the end of yourself each day as you walk with Christ through the details of daily living. Your “road out” is paved with the presence of God. The more you draw near to God through all the means of grace He has given – Bible Study, Prayer, Worship, Service, Sacraments, Fasting, Giving, etc. – the more God draws you away from yourself and toward your Savior.

When my first spiritual father, Dr. D. James Kennedy said, “God saved you then, is He saving you now?” I had no idea what he was talking about. I am a whole lot older and a little bit wiser and I understand now. God’s greatest goal for our lives is Christ-likeness, by any means necessary (Romans 8:29). God is leading us out of our self-centered and self-absorbed, self-rule, and into a Savior-centered, Savior-absorbed, and Savior-ruled existence. This is the only life worth living because when Jesus in on the throne of our lives, we begin to discover our true selves and the purpose for which we have been created – to be like Christ!   

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers in this world to abstain from the sensual urges that wage war against the soul. (1 Peter 2:11)

I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word “alien,” I think of the movie E.T. along with images of small, green, extraterrestrial creatures with antennae’s coming out of their oversized heads. Back in 1989, theologians Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon authored the book, Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony – discussing the nature of the church and its relationship to the surrounding culture. Confirming what the Bible teaches, the authors make the point that as followers of Jesus, we live as “Resident Aliens” in this world.

As followers of Jesus, we are still living in this world, but we are no longer of this world. We have been transferred from one dominion to another. We become “Resident Aliens” in the surrounding culture in which we live. At times we can feel disoriented and displaced while still living in the same place we have lived for years. This is because we are no longer what we once were. We are new creatures in Christ living for a new Master who has given us our marching orders that will, more often than not, have us marching in the opposite direction from the culture in which we live.

In Christ, we have been set free from the bondage to sin, Satan, and death, but we are not yet home. We are living in a land that is not yet ours. We are “aliens and strangers” as the apostle Peter puts it. Now, one day this land will be ours. When Jesus returns, He will establish the New Heavens and the New Earth where we will rule and reign with Him for ever and ever. But until then, we must remember this place is not our home. Yet, as Christians, we are to make an eternal difference in this world by being eternally different from this world. We are to seek both the peace and prosperity of the culture as we cultivate it for the glory of God.

Remember, God so loved the world – not the evil systems of the world – but the beautiful world He created very good. We are to love the world by holding in tension the inherent goodness of the world God created and the corruption Adam and Eve brought into it through their sinful rebellion. We must live as citizens of two kingdoms. When we are living for the glory of the Kingdom of God we will be living for the good of the kingdom of man. May this be the confession of our lives as “Resident Aliens!”

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee would bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

Far too many have removed Jesus from the throne of their lives. Yes, they love Jesus. Yes, they proclaim the name of Jesus. Yes, they serve Jesus. Yes, they pray to Jesus. But they see Jesus more as their colleague – someone who is on equal footing as they live out their faith. They feel they can critique and even criticize some of the demands Jesus makes for those who are His.

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: Jesus is not our colleague. He is our Christ – the Anointed One who is the Ancient of Days, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End of all things. Perhaps you have seen the bumper sticker – Jesus is my co-pilot. Jesus is not our co-anything. He is Christ the Lord and we must relate to Him as the Lord over every aspect of our lives, even those aspects that are not currently measuring up to our current aspirations. You know you see Jesus more as a colleague when you confine Him to areas of your life, and not the entire whole of life.

When we have surrendered our lives to Jesus and given Him rule and reign over every area, Jesus is our Christ, not our colleague. This is where Jesus belongs, on the throne of our lives, as we surrender everything we are and everything we have to Him. We give Jesus our time, our talent, and our treasure. We give Him our dreams and our desires. We give Him our goals and our glories. As it as once been said, “Unless Jesus is Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.” So, have you brought every area of your life under the sovereign rule and reign of Jesus?  

Remember, Jesus will tolerate no rival. There is only room for one to sit upon the throne of your life and His name is Jesus the Christ, not Jesus the colleague. One final point – when the issue of “Lordship” is settled in our lives, every other issue is settled too because we give Jesus the last word regarding everything.  

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20)

As Jesus continued teaching and ministering, the crowds continued gathering and growing from all over Judea, Jerusalem, the coast of Tyre and Sidon. The people had been waiting for the promised Messiah to free them from Roman rule and reestablish them as a nation, and now standing in their midst was Jesus. His healing touch and His hopeful teaching gave them cause to believe everything was now about to change for them. And change it did, but not in the way the people were hoping or expecting.

The blessings Jesus promises in today’s passage from the pen of the good doctor Luke (6:20-23), also known as “Beatitudes,” are promised in their current condition, right then and right now. He told them if they were currently poor, currently hungry, currently mourning, currently excluded, currently reviled, and currently rejected, they were blessed beyond measure. And the reason for their current blessed condition that to the natural man would seem more like a curse than a blessing? Because of the Son of Man.

This is the lot of the Lord’s people. When we are followers of Jesus, often we will be forsaken by the world. It comes down to the difference between the values in the Kingdom of God and the values in the kingdom of man. On this side of the grave, the greatest blessing for the followers of Christ is Christ Himself. As His disciples, He suffered and so will those who are committed to following Him wherever He leads. In the words of the apostle Paul, “It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him” (Philippians 1:29).

Regardless of where this finds you today, because you are a follower of Jesus, you are blessed beyond measure in your current condition. Here is a truth that needs to be fixed in the heart – Jesus plus nothing equals EVERYTHING. And when you breathe your last, you will be received into glory where it is said, “Great is your reward in heaven.”

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

It is finished. (John 19:30)

Looking back a little over 2,000 years ago on Calvary’s Hill, the only people who would be thinking there was any “good” that Friday, would have been the enemies of Jesus. To be sure, the followers of Jesus would not have imagined anything good could come from what they had witnessed that day:

• Jesus was falsely accused
• Jesus was beaten and spit on
• Jesus was sentenced to death
• Jesus was scourged
• Jesus was given a crown of thorns
• Jesus was nailed to a cross
• Jesus was mocked and ridiculed while dying
• Jesus was dead before sundown

But three days later, on that first Easter morning, when Jesus walked out of the grave alive and well, the followers of Jesus, all those who loved Him, began to understand what God was doing on Friday, and it was indeed GOOD beyond measure. God sent His Son to die on a cross to pay the penalty for our sin. And God put His stamp of approval upon His Son on that third day when He raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus walked out of that grave alive and well. The question is this:

Has Jesus walked into your heart, making you alive and well?

If yes, then today is a great day of celebration, for it is indeed GOOD FRIDAY. If no, then why not simply surrender your life to Jesus right now. Admit your sin and the fact that you simply cannot save yourself, no matter how hard you try. Cry out to Jesus for salvation. He has promised to save all those who call upon His name, for there is “no other name under heaven given to man by which we must be saved” (Acts 4;12).

Remember, the GOOD in GOOD FRIDAY has a name and it is JESUS CHRIST. Call on Him and know these twin truths: Jesus will never leave nor forsake you . . .  and . . .  the good work he has begun in you, He has promised to bring to completion. Let those truths set you free.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Between yesterday’s deliverance and tomorrow’s dreams, we will be confronted by the unpredictable and inevitable storms of life. Jesus has promised us storms as the Lord of the storm. Now, these storms come in many different forms: disappointment and defeat; poverty and pain; sickness and sorrow; alienation and accusation. And more often than not, they come when we least expect them. But they come not to cause us to doubt God’s love, but to drive us into His presence to experience the depth of His love.

Storms are His servant’s sent to teach us how to surrender more and more of our lives to His control. Many people have a hard time seeing God as loving if He is the One sending storms. But it is because God is Love that He sends storms as His servants in the life-long process of our sanctification – growing in Christ-likeness. God sent a storm to retrieve His rebellious and run-away prophet Jonah. God sent a storm on the Sea of Galilee with all the disciples in a boat in order to see the omnipotent power of Jesus to calm it right before their eyes. The storms God sends are not designed to disrupt your life. But rather, they are designed to deliver you from the disruptions in your life distracting you from God.

So, what storm has God sent into your life today? Remember, your past is littered with one deliverance after another and your future is filled with dreams and desires. In the “in-between” you will face many storms that you think has been sent to break you, but when God brings you through the other side, you will know it was sent to make you. Here is something I once read that has stuck with me –

I asked God, “Why are you taking me through troubles waters?”

God replied, “It’s because the enemies chasing you can’t swim.”

May that truth set all of us free to find the Lord of the storm in every storm we face knowing God has promised to get us safely to our divine destination.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? (Job 1:10)

When Satan came to God asking permission to tempt His servant Job, Satan speaks about a hedge God has put around him. Satan knew God had a special hedge of protection around His servant Job, and in order to be able to do anything to Job, God would have to allow him access inside of His “HOLY HEDGE.” Make no mistake, we serve a God of hedges.

God is in the business of protecting His children. He installs hedges of protection – spiritual walls, fences, or partitions – around us to protect us. But we must learn a biblical truth from the story of Job. Sometimes, God allows Satan to gain access inside of the hedge He has put around us in order to grow and mature us in our faith. In His infinite wisdom, God allows Satan to tempt us, and just like in the story of Job, we often do not know the exact reason why. But what we do know is this – God is using all things for our ultimate good and His glory. When God allowed Satan inside the hedge around Job, Satan was allowed to take everything from Job except his life. And in the end, Job never lost his integrity and commitment to God.

You see, as children of God, we are eternally protected. Satan can do nothing to keep us out of heaven. But God does allow him to tempt and test us. What we need to remember is we have a “HOLY HEDGE” in Jesus. He is our refuge and our fortress and has promised to keep us from eternal harm. Whatever storm wind God allows to blow in our lives is to strengthen us in our faith and conform us more into the image of Jesus.

Remember, when you face trials of any kind, if God does not remove you from the trial, He is refining you in the trial. Look to Jesus and trust Him no matter what it is you are facing, knowing you are never facing it alone. You not only have a hedge of protection, Jesus is that “HOLY HEDGE” for you.  

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!