In His Hands

“God holds in his hand your life and all your ways.”  Daniel 5:23

Today is a big day.  I stood in my driveway this morning and waved goodbye as my three girls headed off to school—together—alone.  Make sure you get what I said—my child is driving!!  How this madness happened so fast is beyond me, for it only seems like a few months ago we took the training wheels off her bike!  But days tumble into years, and she is now sixteen and behind the steering wheel.

It was a bit strange—seeing my three precious treasures disappearing down the road, venturing into the big, bad, beautiful world with smiles and excitement and a healthy dose of giddy awe. Thanks to the technological marvel of texting, I soon knew that my younger offspring had been deposited at their school and that the oldest had arrived safely at hers, so I was free from fret if I heard a siren screaming down the highway, but those moments in between brought the acute realization that this foray will require robust faith.

What keeps me calm in this craziness are the words Daniel spoke to Belshazzar after a heavenly hand wrote on a Babylonian wall.  Our God “holds in his hand your life and all your ways”(Daniel 5:23).  Though a harsh rebuke to an arrogant king, this truth brings great comfort and assurance to those who gladly trust that a Sovereign God maintains complete control.  Since by God’s grace my girls belong to Jesus, they will always be held closely and securely in His hand for He has promised that “no one can snatch them out”(Jn 10:28), and each day I can be certain that the God who places kings and presidents in power(Dan 4:17), controls the clouds(Ps 148:8), and knows every sparrow that flies and falls(Matt 10:29) is well aware that my daughters are on the road.  And I can trust them to His sovereign will.

When my girls were young, one of their favorite songs was “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands.”  If I had sung it this morning as they drove away, I would have changed only one word—“He’s Got My Whole World In His Hands.”

And on days like today, I’m especially so glad.

Easter People

“We were buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”  Romans 6:4

It’s the Wednesday past Easter.  Leftover ham has been sliced for sandwiches.  Eggs that weren’t consumed or crushed have been deviled or discarded.  Pastel tablecloths are packed away for next year, and we’re starting to focus on summer.  But I can’t get Sunday’s sermon off my mind.

In short, here’s what my pastor said:  Don’t just die as Easter people—live as Easter people.  “He is risen!” was God’s exclamation point of acceptance on Christ’s payment for our sin, and because He has been victorious, we are assured of a place with Him then but also purpose and power now. So live like it!  “We were buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life”(Rom 6:4).

This life is not focused on us but on Jesus.  This life is not lived for us but for Jesus.  His glory is our desire and our delight.  All of life—“whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do”—is transformed into an endless opportunity to show off the greatness and grace of God(1 Cor 10:31). Because Jesus is “Lord of all”(Acts 10:36), we have been “rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son”(Col 1:13).  No more just getting by.  No more just passing time.  The truth of our redemption and Christ’s resurrection burst into our world in real space, real time, real history, with real people, and it brings real life—victorious life.

The empty tomb matters for eternity, and the empty tomb matters for every day. 

Live as Easter people!

The View of Victory

“An angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled back the stone and sat on it.”  Matthew 28:2

If I could see Easter on a View-Master (remember those plastic binocular-like contraptions into which you inserted white paper disks rimmed with pictures that sequenced a story or showed scenes from lovely places like Yosemite or Yellowstone ?), I know which scene would be my favorite.  There would be fourteen photos in all (because View-Master disks have fourteen films), and they would go something like this.

A Palm Sunday scene would get it started, setting the stage for what was to come. A broken alabaster box would illustrate Mary’s crazy love and devoted sacrifice. The highlight of the Last Supper would be broken bread and a cup of wine, revealing God’s new covenant with His people.  Judas’ betraying kiss—a head shaking reminder of our deep depravity—would follow Christ’s earnest prayer in Gethsemane.  I would include a slide of Jesus, compassionate even in crisis, healing the sliced-off ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant.  A picture of Jesus talking with Pilate, a shot of him beaten and bruised wearing the crown of thorns, and then the scene of the angry mob screaming, “Crucify!” would roll through next.  We would see Him stumble under the weight of His own cross and then stare as He hangs suspended between heaven and earth—lifted up to be seen and to save.  The next film would be black—as the darkness of our sin extinguished the Light of the World, and the somber scene of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrapping Jesus’ body for burial would leave us silent with sorrow.  But God saved the best till last, and the final film would be my favorite.

 It’s the picture of an angel sitting on a stone, but not just any stone—the stone!  The stone, described by Matthew as big, which Joseph “rolled in front of the entrance to the tomb”(Matt 27:60).  The stone which Pilate’s soldiers sealed and guarded as security against anyone getting in.  But no puny strength of earth could keep Jesus from coming out, so after He burst forth from the grave in might and majesty, “an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled back the stone and sat on it”(Matt 28:2). (Jesus didn’t need the stone removed so He could get out; the stone was rolled away so we could see in—and see that the tomb was empty!)  So the angel, after clearing the entrance and causing the guards to faint, simply sat down on the stone, crossed his legs, and smiled smugly.

 It’s my favorite, “Oh yeah, God’s got this!” moment. It’s a fist-pumping, “What you think is a big deal is no big deal to the Lord of all,” statement.  The angel sat on the stone to show that the finality of death had been defeated, and we have nothing left to fear. Only Someone left to love.

View-Master or not, the scenes of our redemption are real.  Because of Christ’s death and His life, we are held in love, we stand in grace, we walk in truth, and we can sit in triumph—and smile.

Not-So-Fast Friday

“God shows his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

It’s Friday…but Sunday’s coming!  But don’t rush to get there.  The delirious delight of the empty tomb can tempt us to skip past Calvary with only brief (though sincere) acknowledgement and heartfelt (but not heartbroken) gratitude.  So don’t let today go by so fast.  Granted, stopping at the cross is never comfortable.  The brutal reality that another is suffering because of us is hard to swallow. The truth that we are so bad that such a price must be paid is humbling.  But don’t hurry away.  Psalm 107:43 says, “Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord,” and at no time in history or eternity is God’s love so obvious as during those six hours that Friday.  “God shows his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”(Rom 5:8).

The first time I remember observing Good Friday I was in third grade.  I was excited because I volunteered to read Matthew’s account of the crucifixion to my class and was quite sure I could correctly pronounce Jesus’ cry of “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”  I am rather certain I did not, and I am not convinced I get it right now, but the translation of the question is clear—“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

The answer is clear as well—us.  We are the reason for the ripped flesh, dripping blood, anguished breath, searing pain, desolate darkness, and ultimate agony as the Father turned away from the Son. Our sin and separation from God was the cause of His severed soul.  And He hung there because He wanted to.

Last night during practice for our Good Friday service, the choir rehearsed the hymn “Blessed Redeemer,” and from my spot on the side of the stage I started to sing along—but the words I knew by heart could hardly make it out of my mouth, so I mumbled them in a reverent whisper.

Up Calvary’s mountain one dreadful morn
Walked Christ my Savior, weary and worn,
Facing for sinners death on the cross
That He might save them from endless loss.

Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer,
Seems now I see Him on Calvary’s tree,
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading,
Blind and unheeding, dying for me.

The scene of the cross is at the same time revolting and riveting, so take the time to stop and see.  And then in a reverent whisper, say thanks.

It Is Well

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  R0mans 5:1

Yesterday’s prayer requests were hard and heavy.  I sat in the worship service and thought, “Wow!” as numerous needs were listed and lifted up.  Unexpected illnesses, untimely deaths, struggles that had not ceased, and problems not yet resolved.  As ripples of concern spread through the congregation, those not affected then could only wonder, “When?”  But after the service, as I talked with some who bore those burdens and saw other afflicted friends grouped in confident prayer, the question shifted to, “How?” 

How can you close a casket and not crumble?  How can you hear a diagnosis and not fall apart?  How can you stand at a ship’s rail, stare into the deadly depths, and still sing, “It is well,”?  That’s what Horatio Spafford did.  You’ve probably heard the story, but it never ceases to inspire. Spafford was a wealthy Chicago lawyer with lots real estate, a lovely wife, and four beautiful daughters.  Then Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over the lantern, and Spafford lost many of his land holdings in the devastating fire.  Sensing that his wife’s health was failing as they aided others during the recovery, he arranged for a family vacation to Europe with plans to join evangelists Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey in a British crusade, but a last minute business deal caused his family to sail without him.  En route to Europe, their ship was struck by another vessel and quickly sank.  Mrs. Spafford survived, but all four daughters drowned. While traveling to be with his grieving wife, Spafford stared into the sea which had swallowed his daughters, then picked up a pen and proclaimed, “When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well; it is well with my soul.’”

How can one sing in such sorrow?  How can one stand in such loss?  Only by knowing that no matter what storms rage on the outside, you are at peace with God on the inside—and always will be.  “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”(R0mans 5:1).  When we are God’s, He is not against us but for us.  When we are His, we are assured that the One who wanted us to be at peace with Him and who loved us so much that gave His life to make our peace with Him will not allow anything to come our way that He hasn’t planned for His purpose.  Christ Himself is our peace (Eph 2:14), and through the tragedies and trials of life, He Himself will “give us peace at all times and in every way”(2 Thess 3:16).

There will come a day when the prayer requests will all be praise reports, but until then we can face the sorrows and struggles of life with peace knowing that no matter what, “Our sin, O the bliss of this glorious though, our sin, not in part but the whole, has been nailed to the cross and we bear it no more!  Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord, O my soul!”

It is well.

Fully Persuaded Faith

“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  Romans 4:3

Abraham believed God.  To do so seemed irrational, illogical, and, from the look of things, rather irresponsible, but the faith of one man changed not only his own future but that of the entire world.

“Go,” God said.  “Move away from the relatives and relocate to an I’ll-let-you-know-later destination.  From your descendants I will build a great nation, and through your life I will bless the whole earth.”  This divine command and the promise it carried would have sounded exciting had Abraham been forty years old with four sons, but, by this time, he was seventy-five, his wife was eligible for full Social Security benefits, and the never-used nursery had been converted to an office decades earlier.  But because Abraham believed God, he packed his stuff, took Sarah’s hand, and headed south.

“That’s crazy!” some will say, but Abraham’s crazy faith was “credited to him as righteousness”(Rom 4:3).  Since he was certain that God would do what seemed impossible, his sin was no longer counted against him and the holy goodness of God—procured for him and for us by Jesus on the cross—was added to the ledger of his life.

“Face the facts!” some will say, but faith looks beyond earth’s dead ends to the One who made the way in heaven.  “Without weakening in his faith, Abraham faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead…yet he did not waver through unbelief…being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what he had promised”(Rom 4:19-21).  Our faith for salvation and for all of God’s promises is not in the outcome but in the all-powerful God who determines the outcome.  Abraham did not merely believe that he would become a dad when he was old; “Abraham believed God”—the God who had the power to make the promise a reality.   And because Abraham believed God, he was blessed and we are blessed.

Our faith ought to be a bit easier than Abraham’s.  God asked him to believe something which was yet to happen.  He asks us to believe something that has already occurred—that “Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification”(Rom 4:25).  And, this God “who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were”(Rom 4:17 ) can surely be trusted not just for life eternal but for all we need during life on earth.

Have a fully persuaded faith.  God’s power to keep His promise can never be diminished, defeated, or destroyed.

Above all else, beyond all else, in spite of all else, believe God.

Bad News, Good News, Great News

“This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”  Romans 3:22

For the past several days I’ve struggled for words to expound upon the profound truths of Romans 3, and I’ve decided that since I can’t say them better, I’ll say them shorter.  So, in summary, here’s what we need to know.

The Bad News—No one is good but God. “Jews and non-Jews alike are all under sin…As it is written ‘There is none righteous, not even one’”(Rom 3:9-10.) Jesus had plainly stated this fact a few years earlier when dialoguing with a sincere but not-quite-surrendered rich, young ruler.  “No one is good—except God alone,” Jesus said, swiftly and surely eliminating the possibility that any of us could “be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the Law”(Rom 3:20).  So much for the erroneous idea that if we have more positives than negatives at the end, all will be well in the end.  Not so, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”(Rom 3:23). Plainly put, we’re all bad—hopelessly bad, and we can never make ourselves good.

The Good News—Being right with God is not a result of what we do but what God does.  Lots of people try to earn their way to eternal life, but since such endeavors can’t come close to divine perfection, they are doomed.  But do not dismay! “A righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe”(Rom 3:21-22). Note that twice in these short phrases we’re told where righteousness comes from—God Himself. We “are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus(Rom 3:25).

God’s list of rules and regulations (called the law) weren’t intended to save us but to show us who He is and who we are.  Knowing that we could never make ourselves right by trying to do right, God Himself made us right by being right, paying the penalty for our wrongness, and freely giving us His rightness in Jesus.  “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood”(Rom 3:25).  Such grace leaves no room for pride—only praise.

If I had to guess, I would say that nothing you’ve just read—the bad news or the good news—is new news.  It was most likely, at best, a review of stuff you’ve heard and had in your heart for years.  If this is so, pause and praise God that you are not one of the several billion people who have never heard these simple truths of salvation.  Thank Him that you are not a member of the multitudes who wake each day with only an unfounded wishful hope and never a certainty of heaven. Always remember that the gospel you sometimes take for granted has been shared with you and believed and received by you only because of the astounding grace of a sovereign God. 

Regardless of how often we read, review, or are reminded of the truths of Romans 3—that no one is good but God and that being right with God is not a result of what we do but what He does—we should never deem these statements as dull dogma but as delightful doctrine which we cherish and carry throughout each day as the very essence of our certain hope and secure standing in Christ.  

And no matter how many times they’re repeated, the truth of God’s grace is always great news!