Friday, November 28, 2008

So Much to be Thankful For

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.   It is so uncomplicated.  Sure we have our family together and a morning of food preparation but we don't create a lot of commitment.  Last year I think there was just 4 of us and this year there was 12.  My friend Bryan and his girlfriend Loise came up for a visit from Massachusetts, knowing that the kids would be around so that he could see them.  He didn't even hang around for dinner. When I say kids, that's 19 - 39 the age of my oldest son-in-law.

I used to call Bryan my best friend, but that is an odd term, like my friends are in a competition and one of them wins to become my best friend.  Especially since my real best friend is my wife of 32 years.  I think it is more accurate to say Bryan is one of my most significant friends.  We have known each other since we were about 7 or 8 years old. We were nearly inseparable during our high school years.  At that time I wouldn't say we hung out with the wrong crowd, I think by ourselves just the two of us, we were the wrong crowd.  However surprisingly we both accepted Jesus as our savior within a couple of months of each other through entirely separate circumstances.  We have both grown in our faith and life experiences in different ways, but I praise God that Bryan has persevered in his love for God.  As we talk on the phone he reminds me often to be thankful for what we have.  This is not an idle reminder since like myself Bryan lost his parents early in life and though challenged with disabilities makes the most of each day and sacrificing much for those whose lives he touches.

Yesterday we had so much variety of food on the table.  As a matter of fact, even though I took just a little bit of everything I still didn't have everything.  I was making turkey sandwiches today, when I realized that I didn't have any stuffing.  I thought maybe we didn't serve any, until my son went into the fridge and pulled some out.

Can we even imagine being in the desert and fasting for 40 days. Sometimes its a challenge to fast 4 hours. Lets look specifically at the next 2 verses in Luke.

Luke 4:3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."


Is this really a question?  Did Satan doubt that Jesus was the Son of God?  Did he think Jesus doubted it, after God the Father had declared after the baptism that "...this is my Son, in whom I am well pleased". The question that Satan is really asking is since you are the Son of God, act like it, use your powers, don't suffer in hunger like a human.  Claim the privilege due to you.  Don't let God the Father push you around.  Go ahead and turn these stones into bread. 

This is why Jesus turns it around and responds with a proclamation that says in essence, I am here as a man.   I am not here to live a life of privilege, but to do the will of God.  To obey God's Word.  To live by God's Word.  If Jesus was to function and invoke His divine nature then he would not be like us.  He would not have suffered temptation.  He would not be worthy as a sacrifice for our sins.  He would not be the last Adam. So it is important that he faced each challenge as a man, trusting in God the way we need to trust in God.

If you are a Christian, isn't this exactly the type of temptation that Satan lays before us.  If you are saved...?  If you are a Son of God...?  You deserve better... You do not have to sacrifice your time for others...  You can live your life anyway you want...  You are better than others...   This is the same tune Satan has been playing from the very beginning.  So we can look at the temptation of Jesus and see how Satan does the same to us. And like Jesus' response we need to read and live by the Word of God so that we can resist the devil and he will flee.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Not a Very Nice Place

In this post we will be looking at Luke 4:1,2 where Jesus goes into the desert and is tempted by the Devil. Many of us read this story and walk away with a "great Jesus showed him" and don't really understand why this story is in the Bible. We will take this passage a piece at a time, since it is rather long.

First of all remember a couple of weeks ago we looked at the circumstances of Adam and Eve when they were tempted by the serpent. Here is a reminder of that:
  • All of their needs were met
  • They had food
  • They had shelter
  • They had each other
  • Animals were friendly
  • They were in the Garden of Eden
  • All the comforts
  • A relationship with God
Now lets look at the beginning of Luke 4.

Luke 4:1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

This takes place just after Jesus has been baptized, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and God the father has declared Him to be "my Son with whom I am well pleased". The setup here is just the opposite from Adam and Eve. Jesus is now in the wilderness. For the Jews this is not a very nice place. It is considered a hostile place. For us in America when we think of a large abandoned mansion on a hill at the end of a lane, we would project the idea that it is haunted and scary to visit late at night. The Jews viewed the wilderness the same way. It was considered scary and haunted by demons.

Also we have recorded in the Gospel of Mark 1:12 "... and was with the wild beasts". This is not an idle phrase entered by Mark. The idea is that the beasts in the wilderness were not friendly but were to be feared. So what the writers of the gospel are trying to portray is a hostile environment. In addition there isn't any food. Jesus is weak and hungry. He doesn't have shelter, and He is all alone.

I don't think it is coincidental that the story of Adam and Eve's temptation by the serpent takes place with circumstances that are just the opposite of the circumstances we find when Jesus is tempted by Satan. This demonstrates that we do not have the means to resist the Devil even in the most ideal circumstances. Yet Jesus as God's Son who does not take advantage of His devine nature, but instead relies on the strength of prayer and understanding of God's Word to put off the tempation of Satan for 40 days under the most hostile of circumstances.

The tempation and resistance to Satan is what makes Jesus worthy to be our substitutionary sacrifice on the cross. He is the unblemished lamb. He is worthy to bear our transgressions. He has felt our infliction and been faced with our temptations. He has known the weakness of the flesh and the trials that we face. He is worthy to be the Savior we are searching for.

The next time we will look closer at the three temptations recorded in Luke. In the mean time my hope and prayer for those reading this post that you have a very special and Happy Thanksgiving. May you be well aware of the blessings that God has bestowed on you.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Introducing Jesus

Hope all that are reading this are having a great fall. Around here all the leaves have pretty much fallen from the trees. Surprisingly this time of year when the leaves are all gone and before winter starts (some from away might say winter has already started) there is an special beauty to being outside. A lot of views open up as you ride around because the tree are bare. There is a exhilarating smell to the air of dampness, rotting leaves and a freshness from the cool breezes. I know many of many friends like hunting, just for the experience of being in the woods in November.

In my last posting we looked at the situation of Adam and Eve being in a wonderful place called the Garden of Eden. Next time we will be looking at a place that Jesus found himself after his temptation. What I want us to think about in both situations is how our surrounding can have an effect on us.

But before we look at the baptism of Jesus and His temptation in the wilderness, I would like to look back at what we know about Him so far. The real dividing line between Christianity and man made religions is the identity of Jesus.

It would be very tempting to spend time here exploring all the central characters of man made religions to point out that the central characters are mythical, part of pantheom of gods, died without resurrection, not the fulfillment of prophecy, possibly philosophers, possibly teachers etc...

Instead I would like to focus at this time on what we know about Jesus. This is only an introduction based on the verses we have read so far in the first three chapters of Luke. This is a simple list that would take years to explore each item in any meaningful depth, but lets just look at it as a whole to gain an understanding of the uniqueness of Jesus.
  • God granted Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth a son who would "prepare the way for the Lord" v1:17 (Jesus was someone so important a major character John the Baptist was born just to prepare the way for Him).
  • This is what the angel declared to Mary v1:32,33
    • He will be great
    • Son of the Highest
    • God will give Him the throne of David
    • He will reign over the house of Jacob
    • There will be no end to His kingdom
  • Conceived of the Holy Spirit v1:35 (born not of man, but of God)
  • Called the Son of God v1:35
  • His birth announced by angels v2:10, 11
  • A Savior who is Christ the Lord v2:11
  • The Lord's Christ v2:26
  • God's Salvation v2:30
  • A light for the Gentiles v2:32
  • The Glory of Israel v2:32
  • The redeemer (savior) v2:38
  • Referred to God as His Father v2:49
  • He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire v3:16
  • God's beloved Son v3:22
  • Descended from Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David ... etc v3:23-38
For those who are not familiar with the term Christ as a title. It literally means God's anointed. In the Old Testament a king chosen by God was anointed with oil as a symbol of God choosing and blessing.

I think this list is important to help us realize that from verses it would be hard to dismiss Jesus as a good teacher, a man who taught peace, just someone special and Holy. Even before Jesus starts His ministry, many extraordinary things are said about Him. This knowledge of who Jesus is, is revealed by an angels and by the Holy Spirit (God Himself) revealing this to ordinary people. I think this is very important distinction about Jesus. The focus of a relationship to God is not based on rules, our actions, someones teaching, ceremony or tradition. It is based on the person of Jesus Christ.

If you are searching for the Savior, Jesus is it. In the coming months we will continue to explore what does this mean. How is he the Savior? What does it mean to have a Savior? Please give prayerful consideration to Jesus and what He can mean to you.