Grace for the Race

My heart, O God is steadfast, my heart is steadfast. (Psalm 57:7)

As the sheep of our Great Shepherd, we all have a tendency to wander. Sheep simply stray away from their Shepherd. But there is a huge difference between straying in our way and straying in our hearts.

When we read through the Bible, we are confronted, time and time again, with those who strayed in their way. Abraham lied about his wife Sarah being his sister to save his own skin, not once, but twice. Moses killed an Egyptian overseer who was beating a Hebrew slave. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and plotted to murder her husband. Martha gave a mild rebuke to Jesus instructing Him to tell her sister Mary to return to her duties in the kitchen. Peter denied Jesus three times on the night he was betrayed. These are just a few examples of those who strayed away from God in their way. But they did not stray in their hearts and that made all the difference in the world.

We all at times stray in our way. We say things we ought not say. We do things we ought not do. We think things we ought not think. And we desire things we ought not desire. We do everything we do imperfectly in our walk with Jesus. But this does not mean we have strayed in our heart. The heart that has been changed by grace through faith and beats for Jesus, always beats imperfectly. The heart that strays is the heart that is unconvinced and unpersuaded by the truths of God’s Word. This is what happened to the Israelites in their wilderness wanderings – God said, “Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways” (Hebrews 3:10).

The key to stay the heart on our Savior is to stay in the Word. The more we are in the Word, the more the Word will get into us and the stronger our hearts will beat for Jesus. Remember, when you mess things up and stray in your way, look to the One who is at work within you and promised to complete that work – but not until you are received in glory.

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

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

On Monday we looked at the freedom we have been given through the cross work of Christ. On Wednesday we looked at our forgiveness. Today we will look at our . . .

Faith

Once we have been set free through the forgiveness of our sins, we are now ready to live a life of faithfulness to our Lord Jesus Christ because “God made us alive with Christ” (Colossians 2:13). Through the cross work of Christ, we have been raised from death to life. God has given us a new heart, with new desires, and ultimately a new devotion to Jesus. God in Christ crucified our old sinful and rebellious nature and has given us a new loving nature. Before Jesus, we had no power to live a life that was pleasing, acceptable, and glorifying to God. But now, we have the same resurrection power coursing through our veins that raised Jesus from death to life on that first Easter morning.

We are no longer slaves to sin. Rather, we are sons of the Most-High God, and now have the ability to glorify God in what we think, do, say, and desire. Now, we will not do this perfectly until we cross the Jordan and are received into glory. But what we will do is desire living a life that is pleasing and glorifying to God and that will cause us to live increasingly more for Jesus and less for ourselves.

Remember, we were once dead in our sins. We were a cold, corrupted, contaminated, corpse that could not respond spiritually to God. We were, “dead men walking!” But, with our new life in Christ through a faith that has been given to us because we have trusted in Christ alone, we are moved by the power of the Holy Spirit to prefer Him more – to prize Him more – to please Him more. Having trusted in Jesus, we now treasure Him above all things. 

The ultimate disarming of the devil is through our new desire to live for something bigger than the self. You see, once you are in Christ, the devil cannot take you out of His hand. But what he can do is mess up your life along the way into glory. The devil’s goal now is to distract us from our devotion to Jesus to disrupt our lives.

Remember, through our freedom, forgiveness and our faith, we are given the power to say ‘Yes’ to Jesus and ‘No’ to the self. The devil has been disarmed. Let that truth set all of us free to live lives of meaning, significance, and purpose for the glory of God and the good of all others.     

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

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

This week, we are looking at three ways Jesus disarmed the devil and what that means to us today. On Monday we looked at the freedom we have been given through the cross work of Christ. Today we will look at our . . .

Forgiveness

Because of the cross work of Christ, we have been set free from our bondage to sin, Satan, and death. Because Jesus willingly went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, we have been graciously given the deepest need of every human heart – forgiveness!

We owed a debt of sin to our Holy, Righteous, and Sinless God, we simply could not pay. But Jesus stepped up in our place and submitted to the will of His Father and offered Himself as our substitute in His sacrificial death, receiving our just penalty for being sinners, both by nature and by habit. In the courtroom of heaven, God the Father has declared us, “Not Guilty!” because of the substitutionary and sacrificial death of God the Son.

Jesus took our sin, all of our sin, past, present, and to come, and “nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14). Washed clean by His precious blood, God the Father, accepted the sacrifice of God the Son, and has forgiven us of all our sins through the power of God the Holy Spirit. So, the next time the devil whispers in your ear that you are of no use to God and he does everything in his power to condemn you of your sin, remember, Jesus disarmed him through His cross on Calvary’s Hill. To continue on your journey with Jesus throughout this life, please remember this vital biblical truth – once forgiven . . . forever forgiven. Hallelujah, thank you Jesus.

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

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!