Grace for the Race

In a world marked by a lack of peace between nations, among countrymen, and even within families, the Gospel gives us the picture of the true peace that passes all understanding.

He himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.  (Ephesians 2:14-18)

Here we see that peace is not a process; peace is a person, and His name is Jesus Christ. Without Christ there can simply be no peace. Conflict will never be ultimately resolved through some prescribed peace process, because peace is more than the mere absence of conflict and outward hostility. Peace is a “oneness,” a wholeness that will only be found through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Without this oneness, every peace process inevitably breaks down and before long we find ourselves in the middle of a new battle.

Peace among nations will not last without the Prince of Peace in the center of it . . . just as peace within families simply cannot last without the Prince of Peace in the center of it.

Why? Because peace without the Person of Jesus Christ it is built upon shadow and not the Substance. Shadows are superficial and short-lived and do not hold up under pressure. Only the Substance of the Savior can support the weight of unrest and conflict that lies deep within the heart of every human being and bring to it permanent peace. It is impossible to live in peace at any level—among nations or within families—without first having peace in the person of Jesus.

Paul tells us that the One who is our Peace preached peace to those who were far away and those who were near. In a word, His promise of peace is offered to EVERYONE! No one is beyond the reach of our Prince of Peace. God doesn’t play favorites; you don’t have to clean up or “get right” before this peace is in your possession. As Jesus said so succinctly, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Matthew 9:12).

• Did you veer off to the wrong side of the tracks? He will make you right!
•  Dis you wander off into a far country? He will bring you near!
•  Have you fallen down and out? He will lift you up and in!

His peace is available to anyone and everyone who trusts in Jesus, who gives us access to the Father by the Holy Spirit. If this finds you in the middle of a season of great peace, thank Him today! And if this finds you in the middle of a season of great unrest, conflict, or distress, go to Him today and receive His peace. Then go to others whom you know are struggling and tell them about the One who can bring permanent wholeness, regardless of the problems they are facing. You’ll be glad you did. They will be too!

“Peace I leave with you,” Jesus said; “my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

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

We have all experienced that sickly feeling of shame when someone found out something about us that we wanted to keep hidden away in the shadows.  We all have skeletons hanging in our closets which, if exposed, would lead to shame on steroids!

Yet there is One who knows everything about us and still loves us, unconditionally.

Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.  Could this be the Messiah? (John 4:29)

These words from the stunned Samaritan women who met Jesus at the well have been recorded in sacred writ to give us comfort . . . and a dose of Gospel sanity.  Jesus knew everything about this woman who was living a sinful life.  And He knows everything about you.  There is nothing hidden from the view of our Lord (Hebrews 4:13); He even knows the sins you haven’t committed yet!

And yet, in spite of being fully known, we are completely loved.  With every right to condemn the Samaritan woman, Jesus offered her comfort that she could find in no other place.  This woman had been married and divorced . . . married and divorced . . . married and divorced . . . five times! And on the day she met Jesus at the well, she had apparently given up on the institution of marriage altogether and was living with a sixth man out of wedlock.

Jesus could have shamed her in a supernatural way.  But He did not.  Instead of shame He saved her from her sin-filled past.  He spoke to her of the living water that He had to offer. Instead of sending this woman away on a guilt trip, she went away filled with the joyful Gospel grace that transforms.

The Samaritan woman came for water from Jacob’s well; Jesus sent her home with living water that would slake her thirst for all eternity.  And He has done the same for all those who are His.  The Gospel frees us from shame and skeletons and sets us solidly on the Rock of our Salvation.  Think about this Gospel truth for a moment and then marinate in it for the rest of your life!

FULLY KNOWN . . . COMPLETELY LOVED!

Jesus knows our every thought and lustful longing.  He knows our every self-absorbed and self-centered deed.  He knows every gangrenous, gossipy, graceless word we have ever spoken.  And still He loves us in a way that always redeems and never ridicules.

The Samaritan knew for the very first time that she was fully known without the accompanying guilt and shame.  She came to the well at a time when she did not expect to meet anyone who would know her.  What a Gospel surprise she got that day!  She came to draw water and Jesus drew her to Himself.

Her skeletons were finally exposed, but instead of those old bones crackling they were crushed.  Her shame was given room to strike, and instead it was shut up for the rest of her life.  She was free!  There was now no condemnation for her.  Jesus had set her free and she was free indeed.

So to it is for everyone who has trusted in Jesus. Our Savior covers the shame and crushes the skeletons.  Oh what a Savior we have in Jesus! Oh what a Gospel He has given to us!

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

I have heard many sermons and Bible studies over the years that focused on spiritual warfare.  I have taught many of them myself. It’s easy to get caught up in over-spiritualizing our spiritual battle. Some teaching seems to produce more fear about spiritual warfare than it does faith. Other teachings create far more phobias than freedom. And still others shift our focus away from the Light and put it squarely on the darkness.

I’m afraid that sometimes we simply make it harder than it has to be.

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:6-7)

The Bible tells us that when we resist the devil he will retreat and flee from our presence. The problem is there are times when we simply do not want to resist him!

• We choose being right over being loving.
• We choose making a point instead of ministering to another.
• We choose being winners regardless of the costs.
• We choose being served rather than serving others.

These are just a few of the countless ways we refuse to resist the devil and instead give him a foothold on our faithfulness.  James gives us the key to resisting the devil and watching him flee: submission to God.  We are to submit to God’s purpose in our lives. We are to submit to God’s plan for our lives. We are to submit to God’s power through our lives. When we focus on submitting to God, we are strengthened to resist the devil . . . even when we would rather not!

We need the Gospel as much now as we did when we first believed. The Gospel is the power of God and it is only God’s power that renders the devil powerless. Because of the cross work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the devil is a lion without teeth . . . a bear without claws . . . a snake without a slithering tongue. We have victory because Jesus had victory. We need only tap into the power that is available to us moment by moment in the Gospel and watch the devil flee from our presence!

What a wonderful picture of the power of the Gospel: to see a fleeing devil on the run from the people of God! The devil’s schemes are nothing to be laughed at. They are real and they are relentless. But our God is on the throne of the universe and nothing happens to us that doesn’t first pass through His nail-scarred hands. And that, beloved, is the comfort we have in knowing that our God never gives to us more than we can handle. And He always provides us with a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13).

We need only submit to God and resist the devil. God has promised to send Satan into retreat!

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

Last month I took my son, Brock, to the fishing pier on his 16^th birthday.  Brock doesn’t care if he catches anything; he simply loves to fish.  While we were out on the pier, I was struck by the gentle breeze, cool air, and the calmness of the water.  It was a beautiful day.  As a sailboat went by I thought about how effortlessly it sailed across the calm water.

To be sure, calm seas make for smooth sailing, but in the life of the Christian, the seas are not always calm.

[Jesus] got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.  The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”  (Matthew 8:23-27)

I’m sure the seas were calm when Jesus and the disciples got into the boat.  But suddenly a furious storm came up.  Often the storms of life come up “suddenly,” bringing with them furious waves of challenge that sweep over us.  Storms in our student lives . . . Storms in our family lives . . . Storms in our professional lives . . . Storms in our personal lives.  You will remember that storms were promised by our Savior:

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.  (John 16:33)

Here we see God’s promise of both storms and a secure landing.  Because Jesus has overcome the world, all those who are in Christ have overcome the world too.  Our future is both promised and secure.  This Gospel truth is the fuel that is to ignite the fire of our faith.  Knowing that Jesus has overcome the world by His sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection is the comfort we need in every storm we face, especially those He chooses not to calm instantly.

Storms in the hands of our Savior are used to sanctify us and grow our faith.  Our storm experiences prepare us to walk alongside others who are in the midst of storms similar to the ones we have experienced.  Think about the last time someone came alongside of you when you were going through a particular storm.  They were able to bring comfort and clarity because they had gone through the same kind of storm.

This is one of the rich fruits of weathering storms: sharing our experience with others who are going through the same thing.  A friend of mine who went through addiction recovery likes to talk about sharing our “experience, strength, and hope.” We empathize through our common experience; we stand on the strength given us by the Spirit of God; and we rejoice together in the hope held out to us in the Gospel!

Regardless of what you are facing today, remember that Jesus is with you in your storm and has promised to get you on the other side of it.  Experience has taught me that there are some blessings that can only be found on the other side of storms.  God does not promise smooth sailing . . . but He does promise a secure landing!

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

The term weed is used in a variety of senses, usually centering around an undesirable plant that is considered to be a nuisance. In the spiritual sense, weeds are thoughts, words, deeds, or desires that disrupt or distort our Christian walk.

Let’s take a brief look at the weeds of worry.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 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—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  (Matthew 6:25-34)

Worry is a weed that waters down our witness and weakens our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is why He makes it crystal clear that, for the Christian, worry is to be removed as far as the east is from the west. If God feeds the birds of the air and clothes the flowers of the field, and we are much more valuable to God than they are, what is there to worry about? Absolutely nothing! Besides, each day has more than enough trouble to send our way without our adding to it by worry!

Worry robs us of our intimacy with Jesus because it puts our focus on ourselves, rather than on the One on whom we should focus: Jesus. Worry is a lack of trust in God. We worry because we don’t trust God to make good on His Word. He has promised to meet all of our needs in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19); but instead of resting in that promise we become restless in our worry.

God has never broken a promise in the past. Why would we worry about Him breaking one in the present or future?

The key that keeps us from watering the weeds of worry is the Gospel. Standing in the shadow of the cross and fixing our eyes on our bleeding Savior cures us of all worry. If Jesus was willing to suffer and die in our place, will He not provide for our every need? Of course He will!

Let me close with a quote from Billy Sunday:

You can’t love right unless you hate wrong.

You can’t love good unless you hate evil.

You can’t love flowers unless you hate weeds.

Hate those wicked weeds of worry and refuse to water them! Pull them out by the root and rest in the reality of your redemption, knowing that your Redeemer lives—and He lives for you.

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

We have all heard the phrase “living large” used to describe someone living an extravagant or self-indulgent lifestyle. The phrase is often applied to someone who recently won the lottery or experienced some other financial windfall.

But for the believer, “living large” has nothing to do with worldly wealth or self-indulgent pleasure. Christians who are living large are those who are living for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and the expansion of His kingdom. Recall our Lord’s words from the Sermon on the Mount:

Do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

(Matthew 6:31-33)

When Jesus holds first place in our lives, we truly are living large, because we are living for Jesus—and there is nothing larger in life than living for our Lord. The problem is that we live in a world that has been possessed by its possessions. Many of us have bought into the lie that seeking “stuff” can seem functionally more life-giving than seeking our Savior.

We are so easily satisfied by things that are smaller than Jesus! We find ourselves “living little,” focusing on the expansion of our own little kingdoms. Countless “little things” can seem more life-giving than living for the Lord, but their promise of life leads only to a slow and agonizing death. They can never and will never do for us what only Jesus can do.

C.S. Lewis said it beautifully in The Weight of Glory:

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.

This was the essence of Satan’s promise to Adam and Eve who had been living large in a garden paradise. You and I can only imagine the beauty and perfection. Yet our first parents quickly flung all that aside to squat in a mud puddle. Satan promised them “more” life apart from God; they quickly found out that Satan is a cruel, deceitful slumlord. He never has been able to deliver on his promises and he never will.

There is no investment in this life as poor as investing in the expansion of the kingdom of self. If you and I are going to live large, we must pursue God’s will for our lives instead of our own will. It is there—when we are seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness—where we find meaning and significance . . . peace and security . . . purpose and passion. This is how we live a life that truly matters. This is the place where we expand the borders of our lives to fill the borders of the Kingdom of God, and that, beloved, is living large!

When Jesus told us to seek His kingdom first, He was telling us that the life God designed us to live is a life rooted in Christ. Living for Christ must not be an add-on or an afterthought. Jesus is to be on the throne of our personal lives . . . our professional lives . . . in every area of our lives. He deserves that place and will tolerate no rival—nor should He.

Make this year a year of living large, and you will not miss the one thing you were made for: Christ!

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

Is there anyone reading this right now who doesn’t understand that sin is bad? We all know by way of personal experience that sin is bad. And the cross-work of Jesus Christ reveals to us how appalling sin is in the sight of God. But is that all there is to say? Do we know just how bad sin really is?

If we simply think of sin as a violation of some set of rules and regulations, our view of sin is not high enough. Impure thoughts, improper actions, and inappropriate words all come under the heading of sinful behavior, but to see sin as simply missing the mark of our moral code does not go deep enough. To leave sin there is to leave it in the shallow end of the flowing river of life.
King David refused to do this. After his adulterous encounter with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of her husband, David confessed to the Lord,
Against you, you only, have I sinned. (Psalm 51:4)

David rightly saw his sin as something far greater than rebellion against a set of commands. He saw his transgressions as something far more grievous than a violation against a moral code. He saw his sin reaching all the way to God—where it always reaches, because sin at its deepest level is a violation against God.

To be sure, David knew he had sinned against Bathsheba and her husband and, as king, David had sinned against all the people of Israel. He rightly understood the nature of his sins as damaging countless horizontal relationships. But at the end of the day, the most important violation his sin had committed was the one against his vertical relationship with God. What makes sin so exceedingly sinful is that it is ultimately willful rebellion against a loving, merciful, and sinless God.

It is only when we keep this fact in view—that our sin is a personal affront to God—that we will seriously set our hearts against our sins. Knowing that our sin is ultimately directed against God is the fuel we need to fight against our tendency to keep sinning against others. Perhaps, in some twisted way, we may believe someone “deserves” the sinful treatment we are delivering to them. But we can never regard God in that way!

This is part of what I mean when I say we must preach the Gospel to ourselves every day. God’s glorious Good News tells us that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Do we really want to continue to sin and thus thumb our nose at the Savior who left heaven’s throne to take up our cross?

It is only the power of the Gospel that will help us fight against the darkness of our sinful nature that still lives within us. We can never justify any wrongdoing against the perfect love and the perfect righteousness of God.

Joseph understood the sinfulness of sin and provided us with one of the best examples in all of Scripture to fight against sin when he asked, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).

Joseph was sold into slavery and taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials and the captain of the guard, bought him as a slave. Joseph proved himself worthy and was elevated into a position of leadership and authority. When Potiphar’s wife repeatedly tried to seduce him, Joseph flatly refused.

Remember that it was Joseph’s own brothers who had coldly contemplated killing him before they sold him into slavery. He was far from his home and likely never to see his father or brothers ever again. At some level, he could have very well have been thinking that God had abandoned him. Whatever he might have wondered during those first awful days of realizing he was the property of another man, Joseph never forgot God’s love. He refused a moment of pleasure with Potiphar’s wife because he refused to sin against his God.

Trusting in God in spite of his circumstances kept Joseph doing the right thing when the wrong thing would have been so easy to do. And that is what we need to do too! Trust God and keep His amazing love and grace before our eyes always. Keeping the sinfulness of sin in view will go a long way toward helping us say what Joseph said . . . before we have to confess what David did.

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

If the goal of the Christian life is to be conformed to the likeness of Christ—that is, to develop “Christlikeness”—the question we have to ask is, “How does that happen?”

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I’m going to say that the answer is found in the Gospel. The more we preach the Gospel to ourselves every day, the more it will conform us to the image of Christ. But there is another factor: these Gospel truths are to be lived out in a certain way . . . and that way is in community.

At Cross Community Church we like to say that transformation is a community project. We were never intended to live in isolation. The first malediction in the Bible (the first time something was pronounced “bad”) was God’s pronouncement about Adam being alone: “It is not good,” the Lord said (Genesis 2:18). We have been created for relationship and community.

The Bible knows nothing of intentional isolation for the committed Christian. Think about it this way: the Trinity is relational by nature—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—three persons in one in continual community, from eternity past to eternity future. And we have been made in the image of God, which means we have been made for community. As God’s image-bearers, we are intentionally, inescapably relational. Our relationships reflect the community and relationship of our Triune God.

Jesus’ teaching sharpens our focus on this Gospel truth in the following passage.

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31)

Now, the problem we face is a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden. To be sure, we were made for relationship, but after the fall the image of God in us was marred and our relational abilities are hampered by sin. Adam and Eve began the blame game. The first born (Cain) killed the second born (Abel). And the rest of history is one long, dreary story about relationships that are fallen, broken, and dysfunctional.

But in the Gospel, God has graciously bestowed the capacity for community on us once again. The concept of “lay-your-life-down-for-others” was put on display by Jesus as the model for all of our relationships. The Gospel recaptures the relational aspect that was meant for all humanity and assigns it to the body of Christ.

Made by God and made for God, community is the context for growing in Christ-likeness. The outworking of the Gospel is seen in the redemption and restoration of relationships. Sure, we are still broken and we will still hurt each other and mess up our relationships. But the Gospel provides all the grace we need to grow through all of it.

•  Betrayed? So was Jesus, and Jesus is with you in your betrayal.
•  Denied? So was Jesus, and Jesus is with you in your isolation.
•  Falsely accused? So was Jesus, and Jesus is with you in the heartache.
•  Abandoned? So was Jesus, and Jesus is with you in your loneliness.

God is renewing His broken image in you right now. A significant part of His perfect plan for accomplishing that restoration is located in the realm of relationships and in the context of community. Make no mistake, the more you focus on your relationship with God (vertical) the more you will want to focus on your relationships with others (horizontal). If you want to be more like Christ, you will have to get more engaged in community! And that is the Gospel truth.

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

The dictionary defines the word paradox as “a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.” Today we’re going to look at paradoxical propositions in the Bible that are seemingly contradictory but are not; and instead of being “perhaps” true, they are absolutely true!

Here are just a few of the most common ones delivered by our Prince of Peace for our benefit:

To live you must die (Mark 8:35)

To gain you must give (Matthew 19:21)

To rule you must serve (Luke 22:26)

I think you’ll agree that those are some jaw-dropping paradoxical propositions! And yet they are all true. In order to live we absolutely must die. We must die to self. We must die to our way of thinking. We must die to our dreams and desires. We must die to everything we want in order to live for everything God wants for us. Dying to the self is the only way to live for our Savior.

In order to gain we absolutely must give. The more we give the more we gain, because the gain is first to be found in the giving. Now, I am not talking about the “prosperity gospel,” which teaches that if you give so much you can expect so much in return. We simply cannot bind the conscience of our God or broker His favor. We are blessed by the Best simply because we are in union with Christ. The more we give, the more we get . . . in ways we never imagined.

In order to rule we absolutely must serve. Jesus set the ultimate example of service and He is the ultimate Ruler—the King of kings and Lord of lords. This paradox was so alien to the minds of the disciples that they did not know how to handle His foot-washing seminar.

Clearly the way up is down. The way in is out. The way to life is death. The way to gain is to give. The way to rule is to serve. These paradoxical propositions are the keys to unlocking the door leading to a better life, one filled with the freedom, joy, and faithfulness that only comes through the Gospel.

And only the truths of the Gospel free us to live such apparently contradictory lives. The Lord says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways” (Isaiah 55:8). Instead of trying to figure it the best way to go, we do well to simply follow our Lord’s plan and prepare to pick the fruit He has prepared for us.

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