Why I Hated Christ

I've written about why I love Christ (here, here, here, and here). But the truth is, I used to hate Him.

I would never have admitted that, of course. I thought I loved God, was open to the truth, and I probably would have claimed that I was even seeking “a closer walk with God.”

But I was not a good person, looking for the Savior. I was a bad person, running from the Savior. Now I know the truth: deep down, I hated Christ. What’s even more dismaying, all people do. The only reason anyone loves the Savior now is that God’s grace has overcome our hard, dead, selfish hearts and transformed us to see, believe, love and obey our now-beloved Lord Jesus.

Why do people hate Him?

He Can Save Anybody: What I Love About Jesus (Part Four of Four)

“I’m going to see if she’s conscious tomorrow. Then I’ll return to the ICU and tell her about Jesus.”

Yesterday my friend Mark told me about the young woman who had been rushed to the E.R., self-destructive and hopeless. And it reminded me of what I love about Jesus. It’s what He, and only He, can do, and what He does and has done over and over for thousands of years – save people from sin-dominated, hell-bound, despairing misery.

If you’re out of hope, sick of living, if you've tried everything and failed every time, Jesus can save you.

He is mighty to save. His blood is so precious and so valuable and His life is so infinitely worthy that He can save the worst sinner, the most hopeless mess of a human being. Jesus can and does, regularly. When He died on the cross, His perfect obedience and infinitely precious life paid the penalty for all God's chosen ones. And when He rose from the dead, He won the victory for all of us who believe in Him.

This truth comes back to me over and over whenever I hear someone’s story of grace and faith and forgiveness. This past week the elder board of our church met for a prayer and planning retreat. During our evening session the seven of us each shared his “testimony” – how we heard and believed the gospel, and how Jesus saved us.

Mysterious Stranger: Christ's True Identity (What I Love About Jesus - Part Three of Four)

In the first book of J. R. R. Tolkien’s trilogy The Lord of the Rings, you meet Strider, a dark, grim, hooded man who is identified as a “ranger.” You can’t tell whether he is good or bad, but he is definitely an intriguing and dangerous character. By the end of the last book, you know he is Aragorn II, heir to the throne, and you get to see him crowned the king.

First impressions don’t always pan out. What will the person you admire from a distance be like when you get closer? Two scenarios are possible.

The first is that “familiarity breeds contempt.” The closer you get, the more you discover things that shatter your initial attraction. The handsome and confident suitor turns out to be an unemployed narcissist with a history of denigrating women. Or you discover that the witty, engaging professor is actually very shallow, relies on old research, and hasn’t had an original thought in decades.

The second scenario is much happier, and very rare. You find the person you admire is far nobler and more praiseworthy the closer you get. The handsome and confident suitor turns out to be the crown prince of a small country who rules with wisdom and kindness. The professor is working on a new book and invites you to be her research assistant.

Okay, you get the point. With Jesus, it is the second scenario, but much more.

Hit By a Car

Early this week our dog was hit by a car in front of our home. Actually he was hit by a truck and then by a car. The truck barely clipped him, but the car struck his hindquarters with a terrible sound, and Jethro, our three-year-old golden retriever, was thrown into the air as he yelped in terror and pain.

I saw it all, and I hope God will spare me from ever seeing another living creature, man or beast, in such an awful collision of metal and flesh.

So we took the dog to the animal E.R. and they found he has four fractures in his pelvis. They recommended surgery to install a metal plate to repair the worst break, and estimated the cost to be between $3000 and $5000. Not a financial option for us.

They just sent him home with pain medication and told us to try to keep him quiet. For two days he would not eat, stand, urinate, and would barely drink. Movement that involved his right side made him cry out. I took the x-rays to our regular vet and told him how Jethro was behaving. The vet, Dr. Herron, is an older man with a wonderful combination of experience, technical skills, and compassion for animals and people. He said, for the sake of the dog, if things don’t improve, you’ll have to put him down.

So after a couple days of this we were ready to do what all pet owners dread. We had talked to the veterinary office several times in the interim, and so the next morning we were prepared.

The night before I had told our Bible study about our dog, and several had prayed for Jethro. One woman spoke encouragingly about the love of Christ even for our animals.

The Heart of the Master: What I Love About Jesus (Part Two of Four)

They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." John 12:21, NIV

If you accept, as I do, that the Bible presents a true record of Jesus, then you have not only a testament to His teaching but a portrait of His nature. I came to love Christ because of His words, but if you spend any time reading His words, you discover His character.

Many people have noble qualities when they’re operating at their best, under optimum conditions. But none of us could stand up to the scrutiny the Scriptures give Jesus. We are allowed to witness His temptations, when He was all alone except for Satan. We see how He responds under stress, when people interrupt Him or try to bully Him or twist His words or attempt to make Him back down.

We watch how He treats little children, an immoral woman, desperately ill outcasts, frantic parents, and a conflicted religious leader. We see His heart at His loneliest moments when His closest friends were either asleep or in the very act of betraying Him.

What you have is a consistent portrayal of the finest Man who will ever live. He is a Man of perfect integrity – integrated and whole. Even though He is both God and Man, He is undivided within Himself, balanced and harmonious.

All of us know that stress, pain, change, and fear bring our worst faults to the surface. All these assault Jesus, and worse, but nothing immature or ungodly emerges. He has no rough edges. He never needs to go back and ask for forgiveness because He acted rashly or unkindly or thoughtlessly under pressure.

Here are just a few of the perfections that are obvious as we follow Jesus in the Gospels: assertiveness, bravery, compassion, decisiveness, endurance, friendliness, generosity, honesty, innocence, joy, kindness, love, mercy, obedience, patience, responsibility, selflessness, trustworthiness, understanding, vigilance, wisdom, zeal. And a whole lot more.

This love of Christ is exceedingly sweet and satisfying; it is better than life because it is the love of a person of such dignity and excellency (Jonathan Edwards, Altogether Lovely, p. 100).

What I Love About Jesus: "You Have the Words of Eternal Life" (Part One of Four)

A while back I wrote Why I Love Being a Christian, and I ended with “the main reason I love being a Christian is Jesus.”

So this is my attempt at a follow-up on what I love about Jesus. To be honest, writing this feels a little presumptuous. Christ is infinitely deserving of love, worship, and obedience regardless of what I might say about Him. But since the purpose of my blog is to “admire Christ,” I record these thoughts while admitting that they aren't even close to doing Him justice.

I love Christ for many reasons, and among them are: His words; His character; His identity; and His impact. I’ll take one of these at a time for the next few posts.

I first came to love Christ because of His words.

When I became a Christian at age 15, all I knew about Christianity was that I was miserable, lonely, and lost, and that Jesus had come to die for my sins. I knew that by trusting Him, God would forgive me and give me a new life. That was my starting point as a Christian. The next steps in my journey came from reading Jesus’ words.

The Awareness of Being Loved

After my mother’s death we held a small memorial service at our church. My wife and my two sons each shared memories of her.

One of my sons spoke of always being aware that his grandmother delighted in him.

It’s a precious thing, to be aware that somebody loves you. Not everybody experiences that.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately. How does it happen that you become aware that you are loved?

It might be because someone tells you, straight up, and that’s good. We ought to hear it, and we ought to say it. But just saying it doesn’t make it so. There are people who start their criticism with “You know I love you…” and then they tear you to shreds.

Being aware that you’re loved might come from the way someone has sacrificed for you, and from being sure they would do so again. But it has to mean more than that. Some people sacrifice because they know it’s their duty, but they don’t really cherish the ones they sacrifice for.

Maybe cherish is a good word. My son’s perception that his grandmother delighted in him meant a lot. More than just doing right by someone, it's enjoying them, and wanting to be around them. I wonder if you really love someone if you don’t long to be with them.

And it probably includes not just being with them, but actually knowing them. Trying to understand someone - their unique slant on things, what they enjoy, prefer, or avoid - is truly an act of love. 

One of the greatest joys of being a Christian is the awareness that Christ loves you. When it dawns on you that Jesus loves you, that He chose you, that’s a wonderful moment.

That awareness comes from a lot of things. From His saying so, in His word. From His sacrifice. And also from the truth that He cherishes you, delights in you, wants to be with you and understands you completely,.

You can go through your whole life living in the glow of that wonderful awareness – that you are loved and chosen by the best Person who ever lived.

If you think of how wonderful it feels to be aware that someone loves you, how many people in your life have the blessing of that awareness from you?

And one other question: does Jesus live in the awareness that you love Him ?

The Good Kind of Jealousy

I am most gladly content that Christ breaketh all my idols in pieces: it hath put a new edge upon my blunted love to Christ. I see he is jealous of my love, and will have all to himself.

One of my heroes, Samuel Rutherford, wrote that over 350 years ago, but as I read it again recently, it seemed almost too good to be true. Christ is jealous of my love? He wants it "all to himself?" Really?

The truth that God is a jealous God is familiar to me. I the LORD your God am a jealous God (Exodus 20:5). I've always associated that holy jealousy as a passion for His own glory. 

But can it actually be true that the precious Lord Jesus not only is jealous for His glory, but also actually desires my fellowship? Sometimes I am so sick of my own company that I can’t imagine why the God of the universe would bother, even after He has redeemed me. But He does.

God’s word says the Lord Jesus is a like a bridegroom who not only has redeemed His bride, but has an ongoing, purifying ministry to her until they can be together forever (Ephesians 5:25-27). 

Here's what I know from Scripture:

• I don't have anything within me to attract the love of Jesus (Romans 7:18a; Romans 3:10ff).
• Yet He wanted me and chose me for Himself before I was ever born (Ephesians 1:4; Romans 8:28-30).
• In choosing me He determined to die in my place, reckoning all my sins as His and all His righteousness as mine (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13).
• He continues to love me and seek my fellowship, even though I am often a fickle friend and faithless follower (Ephesians 5:25-27).
• He has promised me that I will be with Him in heaven, which is the absolute best thing that could ever happen to me, and yet somehow my being there brings Him glory (John 14:1-3; cf. John 17:20-26).
• Maybe Rutherford is right: maybe He is jealous of my love, and wants it all to Himself.

I’ve been a Christian over 40 years, and I’m still getting used to the idea that Jesus loves me that much.