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Tag Archives: The Lord’s Supper

Why We Sin…and the Truth That Sets Us Free

26 Apr

We sin for the same reason that Eve sinned – we believe that God’s way is NOT the way of joy and happiness. In short, we are tempted by a lie, the same lie the enemy told Eve: “God does not have your best in mind.” This is what the Serpent insinuated to Eve in the Garden:

“God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5 (ESV)

Paraphrased, the enemy said: “Eve, the only reason God told you not to eat that fruit is because He is not on your side – He doesn’t want the best for you.”

In other words, He doesn’t love you.

In our day, the lie regarding God’s character forms the heart of Satan’s temptation in our lives. And we soon find ourselves leaning toward pride, impurity, deceit, anger, greed, and a mile long list of other sins.  All because at heart, perhaps subconsciously, we don’t believe God’s heart toward us is kind, and therefore, living according to God’s ways is not in our best interest.

The Truth That Sets Us Free

But what if there were something that could convince us down deep in our hearts of God’s love? What if there was a truth that, applied to our hearts, convinced us once and for all that God did have good plans for us, that His ways are best? Might that truth enable us to say no again and again to the powerful but “passing pleasures of sin”? Well, I have good news (so to speak!). Jesus said that we would know the greatest kind of love – when someone substitutes himself for another so that the other might live…

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 (ESV)

And ever after He said this, Jesus’ followers have been drawing our attention to the love of God found when Jesus offered Himself on our behalf…

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 (ESV)

God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person– though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:5-8 (ESV)

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 2 Corinthians 5:14 (ESV)

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20 ESV)

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Ephesians 5:25 (ESV)

The truth stated over and over again in the New Testament is that the cross is THE WAY that God has demonstrated His love for us. The cross is a demonstration of God’s love because it is where Jesus substituted Himself for us. In other words, understanding the substitutionary atonement of Christ leads to understanding His objective love. Therefore, if you want to convince someone that God has their best in mind, point to the cross. And if you want to be convinced yourself of God’s kind intentions toward you, look at the cross…and remember His love. As Pastor Matt Chandler illustrates….

“It was the cross that wooed me out of depression after the oncologist told me I would have two years. (I thought), ‘Is God against me?’…And yet it was the cross that sits on the right hand of our stage that in our sanctuary, wrestling with the Lord, that I was reminded, ‘How can you for a second believe I am not for you?'”

Therefore, Calvary is not only the glorious act of God that takes our sins away; but contemplating it is also one of the great ways we avoid doubt and sin going forward. Now this kind of contemplation is not a quick-fix on Tuesday to stop sinning on Wednesday but a lifetime project to help us in our struggle with the world, the flesh, and the devil. Since we so easily forget His love, we need to be reminded again and again throughout our lives. No wonder Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper – He wanted us to remember that we are forgiven…and he wanted us to remember that we are deeply loved.

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19 (ESV)

 
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Posted by on April 26, 2016 in Uncategorized

 

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The Least Famous Verse in the Bible

01 Dec

I don’t know if the above headline is absolutely true, but the following verse has got to be in contention for one of the least famous in the Scriptures…

Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. Jude 1:5 (ESV)

You and I may not remember seeing this verse before, but the fault is with us, because there is a lot here to see. For instance…

  1. Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it….Isn’t that a fascinating way to put it? But I think we understand because after all, we are a forgetful people. There are things in life that we now know, but we will need to be reminded of later. And there are things that we used to know, but we don’t know them anymore. God knows our forgetfulness, so He gives us ways to help us remember what He deems important. The most obvious of these is the Bible itself. What a blessing that God has chosen to write down His words. It’s not something we think about much, but how else could we read and meditate on these glorious truths over and over again? And more than this, to aid remembrance, He gave the people of Israel festivals and feasts, and today, He has given us celebrations like the Lord’s Supper. Communion is given so that we can remember the cross. God knew that we might forget even the most wonderful event in the history of the world. So the Lord said, “This do in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19)
  2. Jesus…saved a people out of the land of Egypt…We’re tempted to say, “Wait, what was Jesus doing there at the Exodus?” And then we remember, “Oh, that’s right – He is eternal.” And the cross was not His first saving act.
  3. Jesus…afterward destroyed those who did not believe…This wonderful, merciful Savior is also the Judge. And as He destroyed those who did not believe in that day, so there is coming a day when He will “judge the living and the dead.” (1 Peter 4:5).

For Wednesday, December 2: Revelation 1

 
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Posted by on December 1, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

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Why We Can’t Do Without the Local Church

28 Aug

Many years ago, a dear college friend of mine went off to be a missionary in Japan, a country where the majority of the people had hearts of stone. While Japan is not a closed country, the gospel has made very little progress over the centuries; my friend labored in this hard land for the better part of two decades.

He came to Waupun for a visit about 10 years ago, and over lunch and a long talk, I discovered he had made a significant theological change since our days at the University of Illinois: he had abandoned the local church. Not Jesus, mind you, just His bride.

This was quite a change for him. In college, he was a churchman of the highest order – faithful in his attendance, teaching Sunday school, encouraging others to come. Not so anymore. Now, he had come to think of the church as a hindrance. But you had to hand it to him, he was consistent. When I asked him about baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the ordinances of the church, he thought these were unimportant. And in a case of extremely poor exegesis, he had determined that baptism in Matthew 28:19 (“Go and make disciples, baptizing them…”) was “Spirit” baptism, not water baptism (though it was certainly very hard to understand how Jesus could command his disciples to “Spirit”-baptize people).

Though he would claim otherwise, my friend had come to his theology by experience, not Scripture. You see, group identity in Japan is an incredibly powerful force, something we can’t even understand here. For instance, because children in the country identify so strongly with their schoolmates, a child moved from the school where she started attending in say, kindergarten, will almost never be accepted in new schools. Therefore, a Japanese man transferred within his company to another city often doesn’t move his family. He just sets up an apartment by himself in the new city. (I’m in danger here of telling you more than I know about Japanese culture, but this is my understanding). This strong group identity cuts both ways, and as a result, when doing evangelism, missionaries and Japanese Christians face an uphill task when seeking to bring people together in new groups (in this case, the church).

My friend has a bit of a problem however – the Word of God, which everywhere assumes that if someone is a Christian, he will be a part of the local church. And not just that, the Bible says that the church is actually the protector of the glorious gospel message…

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 1 Timothy 3:14-15 (ESV)

Here Paul is clearly writing to his protégé Timothy about the local church, not the “universal church” as he speaks about how someone ought to “behave” in this “assembly” (what the word “church” actually means in Greek). But notice what else he says about the local church – it is the “pillar and buttress of the truth.” This is powerful, and indicates that while there are other important Christian organizations (i.e. parachurch ministries like Focus on the Family, Cru, Inter-Varsity, etc.) it is the local church which is the protector and vanguard of the Gospel. And the Gospel, of course, empowered by the Holy Spirit, is at the very heart of Scripture…and thus, our faith. There is therefore good reason that Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicagoland area, has famously said,

“The local church is the hope of the world.”

Amen, and amen.

I’ve lost touch with my friend over the years. He had some health issues, and I think might have been moving back to the states. But I hope he has reconsidered his thinking through the years. He always had a deep love for the Lord Jesus, and so I hope he has reconsidered his waning affection for the bride of Christ.

For Monday, August 31st: 1 Timothy 4

 

 
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Posted by on August 28, 2015 in Uncategorized

 

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