Who Then Is This?

Who then is this?
Blazing fire
Fiery holiness, furious righteousness, fearsome wrathfulness
I fall to my knees, terrified

Who then is this?
Pink and plump cheeks
Adored innocence, admired humanness, alighted peacefulness
I fall to my knees, hopeful


Who then is this?
Straight and strong
Commanding wind and water, disease and demons
I fall to my knees, wondering

Who then is this?
Cross hammered
Bloodied and betrayed, accused and abandoned
I fall to my knees, ashamed

Who then is this?
Stone-rolling satisfaction
Arisen accomplishment, just justifier
I fall to my knees, accepted

Random Encounter - The Libyan Who Met Jesus

The day of Jesus’ death brought a seemingly random encounter with a man whose story is anything but random. Luke put it this way: And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus (Luke 23:26).

Why do Matthew, Mark, and Luke all reveal the name of a man who was only a face in the crowd? The movies always have uncredited characters – the guy holding the elevator, people seated at the next table in the restaurant. Why should this “bit player” in the drama of the cross be named? Simon. And not only named, but we’re told where he’s from: Simon of Cyrene. Why?

Justice, Mercy, and Twisted Steel

My wife and I are in the Dallas area for a week, visiting our dear friends, Bob and Nancy, thanks to a tenth anniversary gift from our church. It’s been wonderful to see our friends, whom we’ve known since seminary days.

Yesterday they took us to the newly opened George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on the campus of SMU. I was unprepared for the emotions that welled up within me as we wandered through the displays.

The whole library gives an intimate look at Bush’s presidency, and especially the decisions he had to make. You can even explore an exact replica of the Oval Office, and President Bush will give you a personal tour via your own iPod.

The most riveting, and emotional, display for me was a gigantic twisted piece of metal, parts of two girders, ripped from the Twin Towers during the 9-11 attacks. The room housing the display is devoted to the unfolding crisis in the aftermath of that terrible day. I stared at the steel beams, fused together by the inferno of exploding planes and people, and I felt like weeping.

I asked the docent if I could touch it. He said I could.

Tentatively I stretched out my hand and laid it on the bare metal. Tears filled my eyes, and I suppressed a sob. Was that ugly steel vibrating with the screams of people whose normal day at the office became their last day on earth? Did those beams still tremble with hatred and fear and death?  

I thought of the thousands who perished that day, passengers on the planes, office workers, cops and firefighters who ran into the flames to try to bring others to safety. I remembered the horrific photos of people who chose to jump from those collapsing buildings.  I thought of thousands of men and women who have died in the war on terror since 9-11. I gave thanks that my own son, called up a month after his wedding, came home to us after standing a post for over a year near the Pakistani border. As I slowly withdrew my hand, I realized that our nation and the individual families within it were forever changed.

Sobered and reflective the rest of the day, I tried to think why the display had such an impact on me. Three conclusions came to me, unmistakable messages from that crooked steel.

• The misshapen metal in that room is a terrible testament that all of humankind is marred by evil. From Cain’s crushing the life out of his brother Abel to six million Jews killed by the Nazis to the persecution of Christians in Syria to the legal holocaust of abortion – evil runs like a putrid stream through our race. And it’s not just about terrorists who fly planes into buildings, but it’s also the twisted potential for unspeakable sin that lives in the hearts of all of us.
• Terrible times cry out for leaders of character, courage, and godly optimism. Nations need men and women who will stand, steadied by eternal convictions, ready to lay down their own lives for others. We need such men and women for the nation, but also for school boards, neighborhoods, churches, and families. I want to be that kind of man.
• Justice and mercy for human tragedy will never be established apart from Christ. War may be necessary, but it will never bring peace. God calls us to stand against evil, to sacrifice for others, to strive for a better world. But the only lasting peace comes from another monstrous injustice, memorialized not in twisted steel but in rough wood, iron spikes, and the shed blood of God’s own Son.

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace...Ephesians 2:14-15

He's Taking It All Back

Why did Jesus die? Short answer: to give His life as a "ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). That has personal meaning to many of us who admire and love and follow Christ, of course.

But the impact of our Savior's death and resurrection means far more. Global, eternal, triumphant, emphatic, exalted, victory! I just read a great article from the wonderful blog  Rebecca Writes.

Here's a short quote, but honestly, you should read the whole thing. It is thrilling, and exalts our Savior so wonderfully. Click on the quote, and rejoice.

Christ is taking it all back. The fullness of time began with Christ’s death, and the fullness will be realized completely when those united with him come into their glory as children of God. Their glory becomes the glory of all of creation, and this exalts the one who died in order to unite all things.

What Did He Teach?

In my last post I wrote about Christ as Master Teacher. But what did He teach?

Over and over the Gospels answer that question with verses like this: And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. Mark 8:31. (See also Mark 9:31; Mt. 16:21; Lk. 9:22)

But why did this require "teaching?" Wasn’t it simply the declaration of an upcoming event? Granted, the most important, life-altering, history-making event ever. But why was the Savior “teaching” this? Doesn’t “teaching” imply a process of instruction, and not a simple announcement?

Why would the fact of His upcoming death and resurrection be the subject of ongoing instruction?

Answer: because Jesus’ substitutionary death and resurrection is the heart of our faith. Some Christians think of Jesus’ death on the cross as the A-B-C’s of our faith, the elementary, beginning part. But Jesus taught this because it is the beginning, middle, and end of everything.

We never outgrow the cross. The gospel relates to everything about our life and our destiny, our families and our careers, our relationships and our character. Far from an elementary lesson, the cross is the Master Class.

In heaven the cross continues to be the central topic of wonder and praise. The numberless chorus of angels worship Christ for this very reason: Worthy are you…for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Revelation 5:9

I admire Jesus as the Master Teacher, and as I read and study and try to obey, His teachings continue to point me back to the cross and the empty tomb.

Whitney Houston and Jesus

Whitney Houston’s death on February 11 at age 48 has dominated the headlines for the last week. Everybody from Fox News to MSNBC has weighed in on the meaning and importance and tragedy of her passing.

Of course any death is a loss, especially for the ones left behind. For example, the day before Ms. Houston died, Lance Corporal Montes De Oca of North Arlington, New Jersey, perished in the service of our country. He was conducting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was 20 years old.

Some deaths seem noble for their sacrifice. A father drowns rescuing his little child. A soldier falls on a grenade to save his squad. A pregnant mother refuses chemotherapy so her baby will have a chance at life.

Christ’s death did not seem noble at the time. It was a shameful death. Jesus knew, had always known, that His would be a cursed death. For the Jews, displaying a dead body on a “tree” was reserved for society’s scum.

Paul said it this way: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— (Galatians 3:13, ESV). 

The Lord so identified Himself with sinners that our curse became His. I can’t imagine how awful it must have been for Him. When He hung there in shame, naked, dripping sweat and blood and spit, it didn’t seem noble or praiseworthy or even sacrificial.

For the Father as Judge, it was not just that Christ was cursed. He became a curse. He embodied it, defined it, epitomized it. “Look at the Curse, the divine reject, God’s damnation.” How could Jesus ever have had a happy day when He knew His road let to Calvary’s curse? That’s how He redeemed me.

No one ever died a death like my Lord. But in honor of Lance Corporal Montes De Oca, and of Ms. Houston, here's the best rendition of the National Anthem I've ever heard.

The Cross-Centered Life

 

One of the things I love about C. J. Mahaney’s little book is the way he speaks of the gospel and the cross. Maybe you were taught that the gospel is just “the ABC’s of how you get saved,” or that the cross is just the starting point for our journey of faith. Mahaney gently reminds us that the gospel, centered in the cross, is the key to fruitful, godly living every day.

As Paul said, "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal. 6:14, ESV).

Maybe I can whet your appetite with some Mahaney quotes.

The Bible tells us that, while there are many different callings and many possible areas of service in the kingdom of God, one transcendent truth should define our lives. One simple truth should motivate our work and affect every part of who we are.

Christ died for our sins.

If there’s anything in life that we should be passionate about, it’s the gospel. And I don’t mean passionate only about sharing it with others. I mean passionate in thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the gospel ought to be. (pp. 20-21)

When we look inward, we live by the subjective, the temporal, the ever-changing, the unreliable, the likely-to-be false. When we look outward, to the gospel, we live by the objective, the never changing, that which is perfectly reliable and always completely true. (p. 51)

Reminding ourselves of the gospel is the most important daily habit we can establish. If the gospel is the most vital news in the world, and if salvation by grace is the defining truth of our existence, we should create ways to immerse ourselves in these truths every day. No days off allowed. (p. 54)

It’s a matter of sitting yourself down, grabbing your own attention, and saying, “Hey, self, listen up! This is what matters most: You’re forgiven! You have hope! Your hope is based on the sacrifice of Jesus. So let’s not view this day any other way. Let this day be governed by this one defining truth.” (p.55)

I hope you’ll order a copy for yourself.

What's So Wonderful About the Cross?

Would you wear a miniature hangman’s noose around your neck? But of course many followers of Christ wear crosses.

The cross is a common symbol for Christians. We wear crosses and display crosses on our buildings. In some traditions, Christians make the sign of the cross. At our church we often sing “The Wonderful Cross.” But what’s wonderful about a brutal instrument of capital punishment?

Of course it’s not the cross as a means of execution that we revere. It’s the cross of Jesus and all it means to us. We admire Christ so much, love Him and worship Him, because He went to the cross.

The other night I jotted down what the cross means to me.

• The cross is where my Savior died in my place.
• The cross is where my sins were placed upon Him.
• The cross is where my debts toward God were nailed (Colossians 2:14).
• The cross is where God’s wrath was poured out and where God’s justice was satisfied (Romans 3:21-26).
• The cross is the low door through which the one true King stooped in order to rise in conquering power in the resurrection.
• The cross is the great subject of our preaching (1 Corinthians 1:23).
• The cross is offensive to prideful people, but beloved to humble ones.
• The cross is foolish and weak to those who don’t believe in Jesus, but wise and powerful for those who do.
• The cross is the only reason I should boast (Galatians 6:14).
• The cross is the way we are reconciled to God and to others (Ephesians 2:16).
• The cross is how much God hates my pride, my selfishness, my rebellion.
• The cross is how much God loves His people, including me.
• The cross is weakness, failure, shame and rejection.
• The cross is power, success, honor, and acceptance.
• The cross is the end of everything.
• The cross is the beginning of everything.

The cross is far more important in the New Testament than it is to the average church or the average Christian. Paul said, But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world  (Galatians 6:14).

So I’ve been thinking, how can I live a more cross-centered life? Here are a few steps I’m trying to take. Maybe you’d be interested, too.

1. Memorize Galatians 6:14.
2. Pray that God would help me learn the meaning of the cross and the meaning of a cross-centered life.
3. Study “cross” and “crucified” in the New Testament. (Use your concordance.)
4. Read C. J. Mahaney’s wonderful little book, The Cross-Centered Life. It’s tiny, only 85 pages, but packs a huge blessing.

And in case you’d like to sing or listen to “The Wonderful Cross,” click here. (I'm having trouble embedding videos, so for now I'm stuck with giving you the link.)