Category Archives: The Character of God

It’s Not Fine Print

What’s Love (and Justice) Got to do with It?

Why did you get so mad? The judge said the kid was a victim of “affluenza” – too much money and not enough parental discipline. Sure, he killed four people and injured two others. Sure, he was driving drunk. Sure it wasn’t his first offence. But, hey, it’s not his fault because he was too wealthy to know better, right? No jail time; just a residential treatment facility for the very privileged few…

What makes this outrageous is that justice was not served. We are wired to seek justice. Justice is good; injustice makes us deeply cranky. Animals don’t seem to care about justice. But humans have been designed by God to reflect His being. You already know God is love. But God is also Just. Consider what He told Moses:

And he [God] passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;…” (Exodus 34:6-7a)

How can God be loving and forgiving, if He also must not leave the guilty unpunished? Like a good parent, that’s how. But these statements about God’s character become more puzzling when we consider that His justice is perfect. Perfect justice must equate punishment with the impact and consequence of the offence. Pure justice demands a death penalty for causing death. Since sin causes spiritual death (God told Adam that on the day he disobeyed he would die), the just penalty for sin must be death. Here’s the riddle: How can God forgive us and love us, if first He has to kill us, to fulfill justice?

The solution to this riddle remained a mystery until 700 B.C., when Isaiah revealed how God would accomplish it. He would send His “Son” to undergo the penalty required by perfect justice on our behalf.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

Jesus gave His life to pay our penalty. He became the Solution to the riddle of God’s love and justice. He went “all the way” to rescue us. John explained that Jesus “came by water” (He identified with us in baptism) and “by blood” (He paid in death so that we could be reconciled with God).

I realize that this explanation may not fully satisfy. We understand it somewhat, but wrestle with the idea of someone dying in our place. If that describes how you feel, look back at “All the Way – Part 2” for more on that…

All the Way – Part 2

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We’ve been chewing on something puzzling that the Apostle John said about Jesus:

“This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood.” (1 John 5:6 a)

NOTE – The previous post dealt what John meant about “water.” If you haven’t read it, click on this link – All the Way – Part 1. Hopefully, this second part about blood will make more sense.

When John said Jesus came “by water and blood,” he meant Jesus came all the way – all the way TO you and FOR you.

Every week in the summer, out here in the Rockies, people find themselves stuck after climbing half-way up cliffs. They cling desperately to the rock face, helplessly waiting for a rescue. If someone came all the way down the cliff to stand next to them, they would feel so much better. (This is the “water” part) But feeling better wouldn’t be enough. What they really need is for that person to do whatever is necessary to get them all the way out to safety.

That Jesus came by water means that He came all the way TO you. That He also came by blood means He came all the way FOR you, as well – He came to do everything necessary to rescue you all the way. Your rescue from sin, and from ultimate death, cannot be completed without blood. His blood.

Why blood? Why did God require a blood sacrifice before He could forgive you, wipe your slate clean forever and connect you to His Spirit? Perhaps you have heard several explanations about why the Cross was necessary. If you are like me, you “sort of get it,” but there are still lingering questions. I believe those lingering questions remain because human explanations cannot completely encompass the wisdom and understanding of God. If you ask a software engineer to describe what he or she does for a living, they will struggle to explain it to you in terms that make sense. If you ask an advanced physicist and mathematician to explain string theory, chances are you will only have a vague notion about what they say. Human understanding strains to comprehend such things. God knows software and string theory like you know how to tie your shoes.

God helped his people grasp the concept – that blood is required for forgiveness and reconciliation – by teaching them to act it out symbolically, by sacrificing an unblemished animal. When Jesus sacrificed His own, perfect and sinless life, they “sort of got it” – some of them – but not fully. Neither do I.

But I do get this: Almighty God, Who is characterized by love and grace, would never have required His own Son’s blood on my behalf if there was any other way. He told His people it was going to happen:

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)

And Jesus made very clear that it had to happen:

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)

He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-47)

Good enough for me. Bottom line, Jesus came all the way; He came all the way to me in the water and He came all the way for me by His blood. I wish I understood it completely. For now, I “sort of get it” and that will have to do.

Stay tuned – there’s a bit more to this…

Just Like Candles

How to See God

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Do you suppose this world would be any different if people could actually see God? A pileup happens on the interstate. Nobody hurt, but plenty of people are steamed. They start yelling at each other. And then God appears; they all see Him: What changes? Or, how about Congress? All those high flying representatives, all vying for the top dog position, trying to out maneuver one another and show how powerful they are… and then they see God. Can you imagine? We can dream…

God plainly stated that He cannot be seen directly (Exodus 34:20). He is invisible (Colossians 1:15-16). But He has provided for people to see Him indirectly. You can’t see TV broadcasts directly; they are invisible. But you can see them indirectly, by running them through a TV set. In a similar way, God arranged for people to see Him indirectly by “running Himself through” something. What does He “run Himself through?”

You. Check it out:

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:11-12 )

God loves us so that, as we extend His love to others, they will indirectly see Him. His love is completed in our expressions of love. When John says “His love is made complete in us” he means God’s love is brought to its full intended purpose and effect. You put batteries in your flashlight but their power is not “made complete” until you shine the light. God lavishes His love on us and that love is “made complete” when we extend that love to others.

Remember that the next time you are struggling to love someone. It matters when people see God.

Confidence with God

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Who is your worst critic? Who runs you down the most? It’s you isn’t it? Most people tell themselves things that, if spoken to others, would qualify as emotional abuse. That is why John talked about how to “set our hearts at rest… whenever our hearts condemn us.”

Because we start life disconnected from God’s Spirit, we adapt; we learn to trust our feelings instead, to assess our situation. But feelings are notoriously unreliable guides. You can be surrounded by people who love you and still feel insecure. You can have a problem at work and drag your feelings (anger, frutration, etc.) back home with you. But when we trust Jesus, He connects us to His Spirit. Now we can listen to His input and wean ourselves off trusting our feelings. We still have feelings, but we understand how subjective and unreliable they are. Jesus called His Spirit “the Spirit of Truth.” (John 14:17) As Jesus says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

Freedom from having to trust our feelings, having access to the Spirit of Truth, comes with significant advantages:

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him. (1 John 3:21-22)

Marlon Brando played The Godfather with such skill, we could easily understand why people feared “the Don.” People in his presence acted with great reserve and an exaggerated show of respect. But there was one scene that showed him out in his garden, with his little grandson fooling around, trying to tackle him at the knees, laughing and playing. Perhaps it is wrong to illustrate anything about God with a movie about the Mafia. But can you see the freedom that comes when we know we can be confident in God’s presence, freely asking Him for things that we know will please Him? Can you picture yourself in short pants, tackling God about the knees? Laughing with Him in His garden?

Here is how:

And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us. Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us. (1 John 3:23-24 )

Slathered with Love

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When I think about the word “lavish” the first thing that comes to

English: Cinnamon roll as produced by cinnabon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

mind is Cinnabon. I know, I know, you’ve never actually eaten one of these – just looked at them as you went by… Right. But if you work for Cinnabon, you need to know how to lavish. You need to lay on the cinnamon and butter and icing without any restraint! That’s my point.

Think about what “lavish” means as you read this next line from 1 John:

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1)

God lavished His love on us by bringing us into His family as His loved children. Perhaps your experience with your dad was not ideal. God’s version of fatherhood is perfect. So much so, He encourages us to come to Him whenever we are in need, without formality or hesitancy (Hebrews 4:16). He told us to call Him “Papa” (Abba, in Hebrew – Romans 8:15). Most people, if they accept the idea of being a child of God at all, think of the relationship portrayed in the von Trapp family in the beginning of “Sound of Music,” with the kids all in uniform, standing at attention and responding to signals from a captain’s whistle. God’s version is a lot more like the family interacts at the end of that musical.

John says “the world does not know us” and that is true. Believers and followers of Jesus are commonly misunderstood and criticized. They don’t get it because they are not (yet!) in the family. When the family gets together things go on that those in the world have never experienced. I remember my childhood family, the kids lying around on the floor in front of a crackling fire, with my dad sitting in his favorite chair, reading a story. Things happen in God’s family that are much, much better.

Such as Papa’s love, lavished on His children…

Don’t Settle for Stuff

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A very loving, generous and wealthy man invites you to come live with him as though you were a member of his family. If you take him up on his offer, you can occupy one of the homes on his country estate, eat his food, and use his stuff. You can ride his horses, race his ATV’s, swim in his pool, sail his boats; it’s all available to you. Why? Just because he loves you like a natural child. He wants to wrap you into his family.

I know, I know, it’s not likely, but just humor me for a few lines here.

You take him up on his offer and move in. For awhile it is wonderful, but eventually you become discontent. You would like different food, a faster ATV, more expensive horses. And you really would like to own a few of these things. Or a lot of them… So, you watch for opportunities to steal from this man. You are not caught – at least he doesn’t say anything about your theft – but now you don’t really like to see him anymore. It makes you feel bad to be with him. But you love your stuff. It makes you feel superior. You go to town and brag about how much you have. Now others are envious of you and that makes you proud.

Who would do such a thing? Anyone, John says, who becomes dissatisfied with what he has and obsessed with getting more and better stuff. Anyone, says John, who forgets the love and generosity of God who blessed him with everything he ever had – including life itself. Anyone, says John, who thinks better stuff makes him more important. Here’s how he said it:

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2:15-16)

When someone ignores the One Who invited him (or her) to live in His “estate” and focuses instead on getting better stuff, he loses his love for his Father. He trades in his relationship with his loving Father for a bunch of stuff. That may sound like no big deal, until you realize that he also has traded in life for death. John says:

The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:17)

There’s a story in Genesis about a guy named Esau, who gave up his birthright as the firstborn son so he could have something to eat (Genesis 25:34). He could have had it all forever, but he exchanged his place in his father’s family for a temporary helping of stuff. Dumb. Don’t settle for stuff instead of life. Jesus taught this principle with these words:

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” (John 6:27)

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:33)

Don’t settle for stuff.

No Doubt

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I was halfway out to my car at the end of a long day. I thought, “Did I lock the workshop? Better go back and check.” I knew it was locked, but I couldn’t get past the feeling of doubt that was seeping into my mind. I went back and shook the door; it was locked (of course…). Turned around and went back to the car. But something inside my head was going, “Are you sure? Maybe it just seemed locked…” Did you ever find yourself doubting something you knew was true? It’s okay; you don’t have to raise your hand. I think most of us have had moments of doubt like that.

John was a man who had walked with Jesus, saw Him die, and who spoke with Him after his resurrection. Now, perhaps as much as 40 years later, with the wisdom and perspective that only come to the elderly, he observes some troubling changes in the body of believers. He could have scolded them, tried to lay down the law. But John knew that if he could solidify some of the basic truths in their hearts, help them turn away from doubting things they knew to be true, that the Holy Spirit would keep them on track. So he writes a kind of song to the believers – to the ones newest in the faith, to those who are in their most robust years of living out their faith, and to those who have grown old in the faith.

To the newest believers, he writes:

I write to you, dear children,

because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. (1 John 2:12)

When someone says, “I forgive you,” even though it is a relief, we more or less assume that they haven’t done so completely, or that if we did the same bad thing again they would “unforgive” us. That’s why it is so hard for new believers to truly understand that God’s forgiveness doesn’t work that way. When God forgives our sins, they have been forgiven, all of them. It’s over! John knows that doubting that can undermine our understanding and experience of everything else about our life in Jesus. John knows Satan knows that, too, and loves to tempt us to doubt. So he nails it down for the children in the faith. You are forgiven.

A bit later, he addresses the newest Christians again:

I write to you, dear children,

because you have known the Father. (1 John 2:13c)

John knows how essential it is for us to understand that God – Almighty God, Creator of the Universe – is our Father. Jesus taught us by His example to approach God as our “Abba,” our Papa, particularly in times of great distress (Mark 14:36).

John “sings” to the new believer, reminding him (or her) that God, Who is their loving Father, has completely and irrevocably forgiven them all their sins. He has not done so capriciously, but rather has accepted full payment on their behalf in the blood of His Son, Jesus. “…your sins have been forgiven on account of His Name.”

Maybe you have had some doubts about those basic truths. Let John’s “song” sing to you.

FRESH BREAD OF LIFE

Chewing on the Bible in a fresh, nourishing way…

Category Archives: The Character of God

It’s Not Fine Print

What’s Love (and Justice) Got to do with It?

All the Way – Part 2

Just Like Candles

How to See God

Confidence with God

Slathered with Love

Don’t Settle for Stuff

No Doubt

Deep Lyrics

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