The Radiance of the Glory of God

“The radiance of the glory of God” (Hebrews 1:3)

The begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, is the exact imprint of the Father’s nature. Jesus is the One through whom the world was created (3). He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus is worthy of all our praise, honor and glory because he is “the radiance of the glory of God.”

The incarnate Son was given to us as a sacrifice to pay the debt we owed to God the Father for sinning against his perfect law. Jesus came humbly through the virgin Mary, conceived of the Holy Spirit, to bring life to those who were dead in their sins. He graciously left us his Spirit so we may live in a manner that is worthy of our calling in Christ. Jesus sanctifies us in the truth of his word (John 17:17) through his blood he shed at Calvary (Hebrews 13:12). Jesus is the Christians everything. He is “the radiance of the glory of God.”

What does it mean that Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God.” In today’s world, God is some vague idea of a “man upstairs” or “a cosmic genie who will grant wishes in a time of need.” But the bible is clear that no one knows the Father without knowing the Son (John 14:7). If you haven’t seen “the radiance of the glory of God” then you haven’t seen the one true living God. God is God or as he says, “I Am who I Am.” There is no other God besides Yahweh. Psalm 97 is clear: “All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods” (7)! The psalmist is making it clear that all other self-proclaimed gods are to bow down and worship the true God.

“No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18). Jesus is how we know the Father. Through Jesus we have access to the Father. We cannot know God without knowing Christ through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. When people say they are spiritual or love god but reject Christ then they do not love or know the One true God in heaven. The Scriptures are crystal on this truth. We must put our trust in the saving work of Christ in order to know the Father because Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God.”

Jesus: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). He is worthy of all praise, honor and glory.

“You are worthy of affection,

Your the radiance of all of his glory" (Shane Barnard)

Grace upon grace,

JRL

Another Transition Word Passage? Yes!

So I wasn't planning on doing another one but these passages with these transition words are so encouraging and gospel saturated that I just want to share another one. We can never tire of hearing the gospel and preaching it to ourselves every hour better yet every minute.

"For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:3-7)

Grace upon grace,
JRL

Another Transition Word Text

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved a through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Praise God for this good news. He makes alive dead hearts. What grace!

Grace upon grace,
JRL

Transition Words

Do you love transition words in the bible? Maybe to clear things up a bit I can remind us of a couple we read in Scripture: "But now" & "But God". When we read these two phrases (these are not the only two) we ought to rejoice in the good news ahead. We were this "but God" did this. What a joy to see transition words leading to the cross. Here is one from Romans 3:

"What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are m under sin, as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood,to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:9-26)

Another coming tomorrow.

Grace upon grace,
JRL

How Willingly Do People Go to Hell?

Here is a very interesting post from John Piper on C.S. Lewis take on hell:

"C.S. Lewis is one of the top 5 dead people who have shaped the way I see and respond to the world. But he is not a reliable guide on a number of important theological matters. Hell is one of them. His stress is relentlessly that people are not 'sent' to hell but become their own hell. His emphasis is that we should think of 'a bad man’s perdition not as a sentence imposed on him but as the mere fact of being what he is.' (For all the relevant quotes, see Martindale and Root, The Quotable Lewis, 288-295.)

This inclines him to say, 'All that are in hell choose it.' And this leads some who follow Lewis in this emphasis to say things like, “All God does in the end with people is give them what they most want.”

I come from the words of Jesus to this way of talking and find myself in a different world of discourse and sentiment. I think it is misleading to say that hell is giving people what they most want. I’m not saying you can’t find a meaning for that statement that’s true, perhaps in Romans 1:24-28. I’m saying that it’s not a meaning that most people would give to it in light of what hell really is. I’m saying that the way Lewis deals with hell and the way Jesus deals with it are very different. And we would do well to follow Jesus..."

To read the rest of the article click here.

Grace upon grace,
JRL

I will be with you

“I will be with you” (Joshua 1:5)

What greater comfort can come to a person than God almighty saying, “I will be with you?” The Creator who is omniscience, omnipresent and omnipotent comforts us with the words, “I will be with you.” As he was with Joshua so he is with all his children. The Father says to his children, “I will be with you.”

The Lord’s great servant Moses has died and now Joshua, who was Moses’ assistant, is being commissioned by God to lead the people of Israel into the land God has given them (1:2). Can you imagine? The leader of the people as just passed away and now God is calling you to fill the role. You are now responsible for the Israelites. As Moses’ assistant Joshua is the most prepared for this commission but through human eyes this is a huge task and responsibility. But we can see where Joshua finds great comfort. The Lord speaks to Joshua; “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses” (3). The Lord reminds Joshua of the promises he declared to Moses. Joshua must grab a hold of these promises by faith trusting the Lord for each step as he leads. The Lord then affirms Joshua saying, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (5).

The Lord was giving Joshua his blessing as he did Moses. At this point Joshua’s faith in the Lord had to be strong for the task at hand. These words ought to bring comfort to the souls of every believer as they did Joshua. As God’s children these are promises to us as well. Just as the Lord was with his children in the past so he is with his children in the present and his promises are the same for the future generations. The Lord declares, “I will be with you.” Find your comfort in the Rock of refuge, Jesus Christ. Stop searching for the comforts of this world that are like shifting sand. Start trusting in the promises of the Solid Rock.

The Lord says, “I will not leave you or forsake you” (5). Once the Father has adopted us as his children we can rest in the reality that he will not leave us. When it seems life is throwing at us the toughest of circumstances we have a God who sovereignly rules over all yet is always with us. He will not forsake you. Never! “Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (9). Your circumstances cannot take you out of the sight of your heavenly Father. Joshua trusted in the promises of God and we must do the same. Cling to the words of your Father: “I will be with you.”

Grace upon grace,
JRL

Our Perfect High Priest (Part 4)

We now come to the final posts of our series entitled Our Perfect High Priest. For parts 1, 2 and 3 just click on the numbers. For the final post I just want to encourage you to go read the book of Hebrews. This is the book where we find Jesus being spoken of as our perfect High Priest. Here are a few verses from Hebrews to wet your appetite:

"Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." (Hebrews 2:17)

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:14-15)

"We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 6:19-20)

"For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. " (Hebrews 7:26-28)

Noel Due says, "Because of who he [Jesus Christ] is, as Son of God and also one with his brothers, he is able to fully and completely fulfil the role of mediating high priest, representing God to the people, and the people to God."

Praise God for his great kindness!

Grace upon grace,
JRL

Our Perfect High Priest (Part 3)

In part 1 we spoke of the significance of Christ's life for our salvation. In part 2 we saw that we have a great High Priest who has been tempted as we are yet without sin. Today I want to go back looking at why our righteous deeds are as "filthy rags" apart from Christ and see the significance of Christ as our High Priest making his righteousness our own.

In Isaiah 64:6 we read that apart from Christ our righteous deeds are as "filthy rags." Why? Because of the fall in Genesis 3 all of humanity is under the curse of the law. The law is not the law of the land but rather God's perfect, holy law given in Scripture. All people are born under this law. The problem is we are unable to perfectly obey the law because we are born into sin (Ps. 51:5). We are natural born sinners through Adam. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Here lies the greatest problem with our best deeds apart from Christ: they are for the glorification of self not God. This pride lies at the root of all sin. We want the glory for everything we do. Sure it can be easy to say we are sinners when we have been caught telling a lie or cheating in some way but we can miss the fact that giving to charity can be for the wrong reasons. Sin is more than visual action; it is an issue of the heart. We can look selfless giving to charity but in our hearts we are patting ourselves on the back saying, "Look at me, I've done a good thing." We sin by robbing God of his glory. Our righteous deeds cannot bring glory to God apart from Christ. This is why we need a great High Priest.

Jesus, as the great High Priest, not only removes our "filthy rags" but gives us his perfect robe of righteousness. In Christ we are able to do good deeds for the glory of God. This is the point of our good works so others may see them and give glory to our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). We will not do this perfectly in this life but because of Christ the Father looks down and sees the perfect life of Christ not our sinful souls. This is the very reason Paul says, "Let the one who boasts, boasts in the Lord" (1 Cor. 1:31).

We have no reason to boast but in the life and death of Jesus Christ. He took the form of humanity becoming our perfect High Priest. We now can have fellowship with the Father through the mediator Jesus Christ. It ought to humble us daily to know that our best is filthy to a holy God. But God graciously sent Jesus to rescue us by covering our sins with his blood. Jesus came and lived the life we could not live therefore we who trust in him are given his perfect righteousness. We could never attain this on our own.

Grace upon grace,
JRL

Our Perfect High Priest (Part 2)

Yesterday we saw the significance of Christ's perfect obedience to the Father throughout his entire life. Through faith in Christ we are counted as perfectly righteous before the Father. In the book of Hebrews we read plenty of references of Jesus as our great High Priest. This is comforting because unlike the Old Testament high priests Jesus was perfect and made a sacrifice once for the forgiveness of sins. But not only was Jesus able to make one sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, he was also able to cover sinful humans with his perfect righteousness. This was impossible for the high priests of the Old Testament.

Many have argued that Jesus had it easy to be obedient because he did not live in a time like ours that was full of sin. First, sin is not a new thing. Since the fall (Gen. 3) the hearts of men have always been prone to sin and sin often. Maybe we see sin more visually in our technological age because it is all over TV, computers, magazines and so on but that does not negate the fact that sin has always been prevalent in the hearts of humanity.

Second, the bible says Jesus was tempted in every respect as we are. Let me repeat: Jesus was tempted in every respect as we are. The bible is clear that there is nothing new under the sun (Eccl. 1:9) so therefore sin was as dominant back then as it is today and Jesus was tempted by it all. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).

Jesus endured temptation to the greatest degree possible. When we are tempted to sin we normally cave within minutes. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit are we able to withstand temptation to the greatest degree. But Jesus resisted sin perfectly. He never caved once to the fleeting pleasures of sin. Praise God! Jesus is able to sympathize with us in our weakness and through faith in Christ his perfection is counted to us so that we may be presented holy and blameless before the Father (Col. 1:22).

Grace upon grace,
JRL

Our Perfect High Priest (Part 1)

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31)

Wayne Grudem defines the atonement as "the work Christ did in his life and death to earn salvation." Jesus life was significant to his death. Too often we focus on the cross forgetting that without Christ's perfect obedience to the Father we do not have a righteousness but our own. The bible clearly addresses our righteous deeds apart from Christ calling them "filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). Our best deeds are disgusting in the eyes of a holy God. This is why we must not skip over the life of Jesus and go straight to his death.

In the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) we see the life of Jesus and that his purpose in coming to earth was to obey the Father's will. As our example, we want to look at his life so we can, by the Holy Spirit, learn how to live like Christ. But the most significant aspect is seeing Christ's perfect obedience through his life. Grudem says, "Christ had to live a life of perfect obedience to God in order to earn righteousness for us. He had to obey the law for his whole life on our behalf so that the positive merits of his perfect obedience would be counted for us."

This is the exciting news: Not only are our sins taken away through his death but because of his perfect obedience in his life, his perfect righteousness is counted to sinners who repent and trust in Jesus. His perfect righteousness is counted to us as our own because we inherit the life of Christ when we put our faith in Christ. To deny the perfect righteousness of Christ is to live in the filthy righteousness of self.

Grace upon grace,
JRL

Trapped in their Pride

“Trapped in their pride” (Psalm 59:12)

Pride is the greatest enemy of the Christian but the natural man loves his pride above all else. The natural man seeks to make himself happy through any means necessary. His pride drives him to do whatever he wants to do. The wicked are blinded by their own deceitfulness because they are “trapped in their pride.”

The Christian desires to kill all pride in his life. They pray that God may empty them of self, filling them more and more with the mind of Christ. They seek the humility of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. They are commanded in God’s word to “do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3). Through the power of the Holy Spirit the Christian has the ability to fight against his pride. C.S. Lewis noted this fight against pride is where “Christian morals” differ for all other morals. In his book Mere Christianity he says:

“There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.”

Lewis is saying worldly men are “trapped in their pride.” Sadly they do not see pride in their own lives but hate when they see it in others. They love their state so much they do not know of a better replacement. Looking back on my own life I see how much I loved myself and how much I hated others for loving themselves. But God graciously peeled back the scales from my eyes revealing the dark rooted pride in my heart. He showed me the glory and beauty of humbly submitting to the authority of Christ and his word. His Spirit is daily convicting me of the remaining pride in my life. God word says, “Pride goes before destruction” (Prov. 16:18) but God humbled me before the ultimate destruction took place.

Heed the truth of God’s word knowing that pride does go before destruction but God’s patience of giving you each new day is his kindness that is meant to lead you to repentance (Romans 2:4). Life will end when God says it’s over. Don’t delay another day without trusting in the work of Christ on the cross. Wicked men boast in their own wisdom and remain “trapped in their pride.”

Grace upon grace,
JRL

Christian Ethics

Pastor Lance Quinn wrote a great blog post at Shepherd's Fellowship entitled The True Basis for Christian Ethics. Here is what he wrote:

"Any attempt at defining or even understanding the basis for Christian ethics will by necessity be rooted and grounded in the Word of God, as contained in the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments.

Far too often, those who purport to engage in Christian ethics, do so without a clear and proper understanding of the exegesis of the biblical languages themselves, a sturdy grasp of the Bible’s own history and timeline, and a keen observation of the various cultural motifs as shown in the Bible itself. It then becomes impossible to see how all of these crucially important tasks should apply to today’s ethical challenges.

Since these present day challenges are legion, it is incumbent upon everyone who claims to be about the business of doing Christian ethics that they should seriously and diligently understand how Christian ethics must be properly constructed and then applied. Christian ethics then, by the very term must derive its unique and ultimate authority from the only truth-source available to the Christian—Holy Scripture.

Christian ethical ideas, decisions, norms, and mores therefore simply cannot be validly understood or practiced without being constructed from the Word of the living God. Thus, Christian ethics itself must always and forever be informed, defined, understood, and practiced only by a correct knowledge and use of God’s Word. There simply is no true 'Christian ethic' without the Christian’s own reliance upon the truths contained in the Sacred Writings which stretch from Genesis to Revelation."

How do we get 'Christian ethic' without the word of God? We simply cannot do it.

Grace upon grace,
JRL