"The Heart of God From Eternity

"....to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect." (1 Corinthians 1:17)

It's obvious, not just from today's text, but from the Bible in its entirety that the Cross of Jesus is the central theme, the focus of God's Word to humanity.  And if I preach or teach, if I write a devotional, or even if just in the course of daily life someone walks away from me and says, "My, how wise he is," or, "how clever he is," or, "how eloquent he is," I have failed as a witness to Jesus Christ. 

When we read the Gospels, there is no doubt that the whole narrative reveals Jesus' ultimate goal was Jerusalem and the cross.  Too much in Christendom today is a me-centered gospel, a gospel of you can do anything, just believe for it, you are wonderful, etc.  Of course, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners," but Jesus did not save us by making you and me the focus.  He called people to, "Follow Me," not, "I'll follow you."  And where does the, "Follow Me," lead us?--- to the cross.  It is well deserving of repetition, and if he was not the originator of it, nevertheless I first heard it from my Dad: "The Cross was in the Heart of God from eternity."  What an absolutely marvelous reality, even though I cannot fully grasp the dept of its meaning.  The Cross of Jesus was in the Heart of the Blessed Trinity from eternity.

The song writer said, "At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light...."  And we not only "first [see] the light" at the cross of Christ, there is a real sense in which we can say that we "first" see Jesus Himself.  If I see a "Jesus" other than Jesus of the Cross, I am not seeing Jesus.  Our salvation, which includes healing, deliverance, preservation, peace, joy and so much more is a salvation only from the Cross of Jesus.  All that we see Jesus doing in the Gospels is in the shadow of His Cross.  It is only in what some call "the Christ Event," in the Cross of Jesus that the Living Triune God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit came to you and me---- to all humanity, and can I say?- Still comes to us.  When our Lord said, "take up the cross," He was commanding us to die to everything in my life that was before Him, and everything in my life which still tries to rule in me "after" Him.  It is a glorious invitation to total identity with and in Him.

Father, in Jesus' Name, "bring it's scenes before me."  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"The Cross of Christ"

"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect."  (1 Corinthians 1:17)

Some use this as an excuse to marginalize baptism in water.  As far as I can see in the Scripture, baptism is not an option.  Refusal to be baptized in water in Jesus' Name is to refuse the New Birth.  No one has the rebellious choice to decide which commandments of Jesus to keep or break.  To those who say, "What about the thief on a cross," I say, You are not on a cross.

Our text is not a minimalizing of baptism.  Rather, it is a maximizing of the Cross of Jesus Christ.  Note the contrast between, "with wisdom of words," and, "the cross of Christ."  Clever, always- attempting-to-shock-with-"new-revelation"-preaching, or hackneyed words all make, "the cross of Christ...of no effect."  Of course no person, no demonic force can ever make, "the cross of Christ...of no effect," but they do so for themselves and their hearers if people do not walk away in awe of Father's mercy and grace revealed in, "the cross of Christ."  I can remember when this awe first came to me. 

My Dad was preaching in a Good Friday service back in the mid 1960s.  He was preaching on one of the seven last words of Christ from the Cross.  I don't remember which one, but I shall never forget the impartation of that message.  It was as though, in the words of the old song, "I Stood at Calvary."  This is not nostalgic remembrance of my Dad; this is for me a great "memorial."  I can only wish and pray I could carry, "a double portion of [his] spirit," on this.

Can you say today, "I Stood at Calvary"?  Some of us have literally, but more important, I desire whatever appreciation I can receive in this life of, "the cross of Christ."  I repeat the phrase of Billy Graham, "The cross is the pivotal point of history," and, we can say of our lives.  At the cross our Lord Jesus Christ dealt with our sin, rebellion, wickedness, iniquity.  It is at the cross I am reconciled with the Living Triune God, in the Blood, in the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray for more of what my Dad "saw" of Your cross.  Amen.
***********************
Read "The Goal of Obama's Foreign Policy," by Carolyn Glick at: jhs58.blogspot.com
 

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"Likewise Also"

"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:42)

I said to our local church decades ago that house groups keep a big church small.  We weren't a "big" church by any means, but a group larger than 10 to 15 is not very conducive to, "fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayers." 

Most congregations today are guilty of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer said in his work, Life Together:  "Simply to be together in Sunday where everything is determined from the front is a sad distortion of what it means to be the church.  Life together for Christians is meant to be much more than that."  Someone once described "church" for most Americans as coming to a church building and "fellowshiping  the back of someone's head."  Sarah and I have had some great moments at home having a meal, followed by the taking of bread and wine in remembrance and celebration, "the Lord's death until He comes."  This is just not exciting enough for far too many professing Christians.  For me, it is more and more the greatest worship I know. 

As I spent some hours at Golgotha a couple of weeks ago, I was renewed in my worship, thanksgiving, celebration of the Most Precious Blood, the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.  I can say with absolutely no overstatement that I am alive today, I am in Christ today, I am serving our Lord Jesus Christ today, I am sharing this devotional thought with you today, I am a forgiven sinner today with a home in Heaven all because of The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus.  It would be great if small groups of Followers of Jesus would take time for a meal together, to experience the communion fellowship of a house church setting.  This is not a criticism of present day church gatherings.  This is just an advocacy for more than Church "from the front." 

"Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you'....For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God....God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world."  Sharing a meal and the Table of our Lord with a small group of Fellow Followers of Jesus is an important key to living out our, "Abide in Me," life together.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I repeat Paul's prayer, "Forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...."  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"It Is I"-- All I Need To Know

"It is I; do not be afraid." (Jesus, John 6:20)

Can you not hear Jesus saying these words to you when you are fearful?  It is another version of Psalm 23, 27, et.al.  Jesus dwells in His Followers.  He is, "an ever present help...."  Some people call this "basic."  I call it ongoing salvation. 

The New Birth never ceases to amaze me.  Someone hears about Jesus, His Cross, death and resurrection, and they give their life to Him, "hearing Him" standing at the door and knocking, inviting Him in; voila, "....in Christ, he is a new creation."  The young black man who came to the front of the auditorium last Sunday had never been in the meetings.  He seemed to be someone like my Grandpa Barnette, a young man who just wondered into a Church meeting.  What followed for him and the German man was the Great Miracle of the Universe.

In John 6:33, Jesus says, "The bread of God is He...."  Notice that, "The bread of God," is not an it.  Look with me at some absolutely wonderful statements of Jesus in John 6:
    1. v. 27: "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to                 eternal life."
    2. v. 29: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."
    3. v. 35: "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who                  believes in Me shall never thirst."
    4. v. 37: "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will     by no means cast out."
    5. vv. 48-51: "I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are     dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not             die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats this bread, he         will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of     the world."

Now, if that doesn't keep you the rest of the day, nothing will.  I encourage you to bath in these, "God-Breathed" Words.

Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You for the privilege of witnessing two more names "written down in glory."  It was all because of Your Word.  Amen.

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2