Three Ways God is For Us, Part Three

“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me!” So said Robert Murray McCheyne, the Scottish preacher, pastor, and poet.

This is the third (and last) post on why "God is for us." I said last time, God is for us by satisfying justice and declaring us "innocent!" As Paul put it in Romans 8:33, Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

The next verse in Romans 8 takes the thought a step further: but would it be possible not only to bring a charge against you, but actually to condemn you? Should you worry about a future where, despite your faith in Christ now, your sins catch up to you and you end up in hell?

Scripture’s answer is to point to Jesus. Yes, God is the one who justifies (v. 33). Justification stresses how justice is satisfied by Christ’s perfect obedience and infinitely valuable death. But don’t think only of Good Friday. Remember Resurrection Sunday. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us (Romans 8:34).

Three Ways God is For Us, Part Two

If you were really confident that the God of heaven was on your side, is there any challenge you could not overcome? If you truly believed that the Lord of the universe was for you, any trouble or heartache or setback would be small in comparison.

So this is the second of three posts where I’m hoping to show how God is for us. I’m writing for people who are already Christians, but also with the hope that anyone who isn't yet a follower might be encouraged to become one.

Romans 8:32 was where I started last time, to say that God is for us because of the sacrifice of His Son. He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? The very next verse offers a second way in which God is for us: By Satisfying Justice and Declaring Us “Innocent!” Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies (Romans 8:33).

We admit there are charges that come against us. Satan himself is called the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10), and he is relentless to remind us of our sin.

Other charges come from people who blame us, fairly or unfairly, for ways we have failed them. And then we have charges that well up within us. Old tapes play in our minds, messages from our past that pronounce judgment upon our present and our future.

Three Ways God is For Us, Part One

I’ve been a Christian a really long time – since I was 15 – and yet there are days when I feel alone, as if God has forgotten about me. Maybe you feel that way sometimes, too.

For me, it’s not wise to trust my feelings when I feel this way. Actually trusting one’s feelings isn’t so smart at any time. Our feelings are a barometer for lots of things – what we ate for dinner, illness, the music we’ve been listening to, the mood of others, even our own sin. But our feelings are not a reliable indicator of what’s really true.

So as a Christian I’m better off to come to the Scriptures to determine what’s true. If I feel God has somehow forgotten about me, it’s just not true. He hasn’t. And His attention to my life is written all over the Bible, practically on every page.

For example, the eighth chapter of the book of Romans. I’ve looked into Romans 8 twice in two recent series of posts, and I’d like to do another short series, based on the question Paul asks in Romans 8:31: What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 

Now to be honest, it might feel like plenty of things are “against us.” Satan, evil people, a bad economy, even our own sin nature. But the point of the question is, if the God of heaven is on our side, committed to our good, then how can anything or anybody win? How can they be against us successfully? The answer is, they can’t!

The first way we know God is for us is An Unthinkable Sacrifice - He gave up His own Son. He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32 

The sacrifice of Jesus is described two ways – negatively, what the Father did not do: “He did not spare his own Son.” And positively, what He did do: “but gave him up for us all.”

Don't Pull the Wagon Over Yet

My mother was born on a cattle ranch in a bleak part of the Midwest. When I was a boy, we used to visit my grandmother, who still lived near the old homestead. I came to know that part of the country as hot, sandy, dry, and windy, with almost no trees or water. Mom told me the winters were so brutal that a man could get lost in a snowstorm just trying to go from the house to the barn.

So I began to wonder, why did people settle here? 150 years ago people traveled west, lured by the promise of land of their own. They scraped together enough to buy a team of oxen and a wagon, and headed into the sunset. But why did they settle in hot, dry, flat, inhospitable places with no trees and no water? Knowing that they could push on to California or Oregon, why pull the wagon over and build a sod house?

I thought of all that when I read about how excited the seventy-two were when they came back from their ministry tour. The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”(Luke 10:17)

Jesus confirmed that He had given them authority over demons, but warned them not to settle for joy in earthly victories. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20, my emphasis)

We're all tempted to settle, to look for joy here, in this life. But don't pull your wagon over too quickly. Don't settle in this dry and dusty land when just ahead is the place of real joy.

It's Jesus' joy that awaits us in the place He has prepared for us. And in the meantime it's the pursuit of His presence that makes the journey an adventure instead of a daily dust storm. 

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

Christians Being Persecuted in Egypt

Please pray for the Christians in Egypt. They are being targeted, harassed, and persecuted for their faith.

Here’s a story (August 20) from the Washington Times:

Since the military removed Mr. Morsi seven weeks ago, his supporters have burned at least 44 churches and ransacked more than 20 other Christian institutions throughout Egypt...At least six Christians and one Muslim working at a Christian-owned shop have been killed since Mr. Morsi was removed July 3, human rights activists said. Nearly 900 people in all have died in clashes between security forces and Morsi supporters.

Also from Fox News:

Across Egypt, at least 60 churches have been targeted,along with Christian schools, homes,businesses and even an orphanage,according to conservative estimates. In the areas of Minya, Beni Suef, Fayoumand Assiut, Christian homes and businesses have received leaflets warning them to leave or face reprisals by Islamists, Christians said.

USA Today has a helpful story from last week, including an interactive map that shows where Christian churches and institutions have been targeted. Click here.

Neither the mainstream media in the US nor our current administration in Washington will take much of an interest in the plight of Christians in Egypt.

Please take a moment to pray for our brothers and sisters.

Five Miracles God Works for All Christians, Part 5 of 5

One of the undeniable truths about getting older is that we’re not getting better, despite what birthday cards might say. We might be getting wiser, or mellower, or funnier. But physically as we age we’re getting fatter, saggier, balder, slower, blinder, and weaker.

That’s even what the Bible says. “…our outer self is wasting away…” (2 Corinthians 4:16). The truth hurts.

But thankfully there’s more to the Bible’s assessment than our wasting away. On the other side there’s a miracle for all Christians. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Corinthians 4:16-17). 

“An eternal weight of glory” – that’s what this post is about. We’ve talked about the wonderful Romans 8:29-30 miracles that God has already accomplished in the life of all believers in Christ, and we’ve mentioned four of them already: foreknown, predestined, called, and justified.

This post is about the last one: glorified. He brings us safely home. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

What does it mean to be glorified? Simply put, it means that God makes us like Him. “Glorified” means transformed on the inside and on the outside. It's what Romans 8:29-30 promises: ...he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son...

Five Miracles God Works for All Christians, Part 4 of 5

Real miracles seem in short supply, but my hope has been to show how God has already worked five great miracles of grace in the lives of all Christians.

The miracle text is Romans 8:29-30 (with my emphasis): For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 

So far I’ve spoken about the first three: the miracles of foreknowledge, predestination, and calling. (You could click here to review: #1, #2, #3). Which brings us to the fourth miracle: the miracle of justification - those whom he foreknew, predestined, called, he also justified. God Paid Our Debt and Declared Us Righteous.

Imagine that one day you stand before God. You’ve finished your earthly life, and what lies before you is either heaven or hell. You stand in a vast throng of people, and one after another comes before the Holy God of the universe.

Though there are many, many thousands in the multitude, the judgment line moves quickly. All too quickly. You are trembling and can barely stand. Your apprehension only worsens as you see what happens as each person comes to the front.

Instantly the life of the person who stands before God is revealed and reviewed. It’s as if an enormous high-definition screen is projected into the sky, and every detail of the person’s life is laid bare.