Category: Holiness

Cultivating a Life of Faith:  A Man of Promise – Genesis 21.1-21 (Pt 11)

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We must read Abraham’s story with our own in mind.  What have we learned from his journey?  Those cultivating a life of faith must…

  1. …be set apart from the world, to God, and for His glory (Genesis 12.1-4).
  2. …begin with a proper perspective of God and upon godliness (Genesis 12.5-20).
  3. …deny self and choose the path of separation (Genesis 13.1-18).
  4. …be courageous enough to see beyond today and serve the King of Peace (Genesis 14.1-24).
  5. …persevere and imitate those who have already received the promises (Genesis 15.1-21).
  6. …refuse to compromise and live lives of conviction (Genesis 16.1-16).
  7. …be properly motivated for a daily commitment to God (Genesis 17.1-27).
  8. …develop intimacy with integrity in order to effectively intercede on the behalf of others (Genesis 18.1-33).
  9. …be intolerant of sin (Genesis 19.1-38).
  10. …acknowledge and confess carnality before our Heavenly Father (Genesis 20.1-18).

Genesis 21 brings us to the realization of a promise God had made to Abraham through the provision of a son, namely Isaac.  Yet Sarah’s solution through her handmaid Hagar and the subsequent birth of Ishmael continues to create problems.  Hagar and Ishmael are both driven away from the homestead and into the wilderness where God continues to provide for both.

Isaac:  The Promised Son (21.1-7)

God promised an heir all along.  He had asked, “Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son” (Genesis 18.14).  Now in clear, unmistakable terms God keeps His promise “as He had said”, “as He had spoken”, and at the set time “of which He had spoken.”

The Lord visited Sarah.  This marks a momentous event.  God will visit the children of Israel and look upon their affliction when they are in bondage in Egypt.  Luke 1.68 tells us that the Lord God of Israel “visited and redeemed His people.”  Later, after Jesus raises the widow’s son, great fear comes upon all, they glorify God and say, “…God has visited His people” (Luke 7.16).  The birth of Isaac points to an even greater birth:  “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given…” (Isaiah 9.6a).

This passage reveals that Sarah laughs a second time.  The first time she laughed, it was a nervous laughter years ago when God had revealed what He would do.  She laughs now out of sheer joy, and we laugh with her some four thousand years later.  When she asks the question, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?”  She acknowledges that only God could be at work in her life.  And, indeed, only God could be at work in delivering the promised son.

Sarah desired to see God work in her life, but she hardly believed it possible.  Sometimes it is easy for us to ignore the fact that God is at work in and through us.  Other times, we take credit for what He has done and strut in arrogant opposition to Him.  Be careful with this.  As James Dixon wrote, “We seldom consider that a request to see God work in our lives may be a request for testing and trial.”  This is exactly what happened to Sarah, and God made her laugh!

Ishmael:  The Parting Son (21.8-21)

Ishmael scoffed.  You won’t settle what is meant by this by merely studying the lexical meaning of the word.  Was Ishmael cruel toward Isaac?  Was he arrogantly asserting his own position as the oldest son and, therefore, the rightful heir?  Was he simply being immature, showing a lack of respect?  Whatever the answer, Ishmael simply did not understand his place in the house of Abraham.  It was also some form of persecution because Galatians 4.29 makes that clear.  Isaac was the heir and Ishmael was not.  So Sarah has Abraham send Ishmael and his mother away into the wilderness.  But God meets them both in their distress.  He will not only care for Hagar and her son; he will make good on His promise to make a great nation from Ishmael.

Sarah sinned when she gave Hagar to Abraham back in Genesis 16.  Abraham sinned by not leading Sarah and fostering security in the promises of God.  Ishmael sinned in scoffing at the plan of God.  Sin brings judgment.  When Hagar realized she carried Ishmael, she despised Sarah.  Things were never the same.  Abraham gave Sarah the power and discretion to handle the situation with Hagar.  So in a spirit of vindictiveness and retaliation, Sarah treated her without mercy for her insolence.

Sarah sought for a solution to a problem.  But because she acted independently of God, an avalanche of consequences came crushing down on Abraham’s family.  Sarah sought for blessing and happiness but found only struggle and misery.  Hagar had to return to Sarah, which must have really been a humbling experience.  She must submit again to Sarah, but she must have struggled to maintain a good relationship with her.  Now in Genesis 21 Sarah casts out Hagar and Ishmael for good.

Abraham was very displeased.  This was his son that had been cast out.  God had told Abraham in Genesis 17.20:  “I have blessed [Ishmael], and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly.  He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.”  And God would do exactly what He had promised.  Only Abraham could not be a part of Ishmael’s life.  Ishmael would have to be entirely entrusted to God.  God will use this event in Galatians 4 as a portrait for the salvation He now offers:

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children—but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, You who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who has a husband.” Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free (Galatians 4.21-31).

We are children of the freewoman.  Christians are similar to Isaac in that we experience supernatural birth.  We are a part of the fulfillment of God’s promise to mankind.  Unto us a Son is given!  We should not live as those enslaved.  As Ishmael persecuted Isaac, those according to the flesh persecute those according to the Spirit.  Those according to the flesh are true legalists.  They believe that what they do merits favor with God and will gain them an inheritance.  We should cast out the legalist from our assembly even as Abraham cast out Ishmael.  The legalist will not share in the inheritance with the legitimate sons and daughters of God.  Those who believe they can won’t!  But is it possible for a genuine Christian to revert to legalism?  Yes!  And when he or she does, they ought to be confronted.  They ought to repent and trust fully in Christ for sanctification as they did for justification.  We are children of faith not children of the flesh.

 1. Those born according to the flesh will persecute those born according to the Spirit.

We could not apply this text in Genesis 21 in this specific way if Paul did not do so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 4.  Genesis 21 is instructive in showing us the heart of man.  Those born according to the flesh will persecute those born according to the Spirit.  It will always be this way.  As a matter of fact, a Christian walking in the flesh (condition) even though he is in the Spirit (position) will often persecute his own brother or sister in Christ.

Anyone born according to the flesh or walking in the flesh just cannot endure the fact that anyone could walk according to the Spirit and be blessed and favored by God.  Jesus says in John 15.19:  “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”  That we call ourselves saints or elect ones in Christ is enough to provoke the hatred of the world.  Ishmael mocked Isaac.  Israel mocked the Christ.  Those in the flesh mock the true sons and daughters of God.  “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (1 Timothy 3.12).

 2. Those born according to the Spirit are true children of the promise.

We are justified by faith; therefore, we are no longer bound under the tutor (Galatians 3.24-25).  We are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  If we are Christ’s, then we are truly heirs of the promise (Galatians 3.29).  As children of the promise, we must escape the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1.4).  We must cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7.1).  As Christians we are empowered by the Holy Spirit of God to demonstrate the righteousness of the Son of God for the glory of God.  Anything short of this goal is not normal Christianity.  We must truly be Spirit-fed and Spirit-led Christians.  True Christians evidence the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  If they don’t, they will have no personal assurance that they are children.  We won’t be assured of that fact either.  There are always weeds among the stalks of wheat.

 3. Those who are sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father shall share together in the inheritance as saints of light.

Paul wrote:

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light (Colossians 1.9-12).

Only the saints in the light are partakers of the Father’s inheritance.  He will cast out all others.  There is neither Jew nor Greek in God’s economy of grace.  All are one in Christ.  Anyone who refuses Christ will not participate in the inheritance which awaits us in Heaven above.  Those who stand on the promises will alone find a solid foundation for their hope, namely the confident expectation that Jesus is coming to take believers to be with Him forever!  What great assurance!  We will not be disinherited.  We cannot be.  We have so much in Christ!  There is so much yet in store for us.  It is simply unreasonable for us not to live for Him.

Parents must endeavor to keep their families together for the glory of God.

Every family is dysfunctional.  Dad acts like an imperial dictator.  Mom wallows in self-pity.  The children are lazy and rebellious.  Family members take one another for granted.  Children scoff and mock when it comes to their siblings.  Not much has changed in 4,000 years.  Our joy can turn to sorrow in a hurry.

As parents, we must endeavor to keep our families together in spite of all of this.  We must avoid rashness and unreasonable demands.  We must respond with the same compassion and mercy that governs our Heavenly Father when we sin against Him.  If we must correct our children, let us temper that correction with genuine prayer.  Let us not be extreme in our response.  We can be excessively permissive and excessively autocratic.  Both are hurtful.  Ask yourself, “What does the Scripture teach?”  Pray for discernment.

The most severe correction should be reserved for scoffing at the will of God in family life.  Meet children head-on when they don’t pay attention to and make fun of your Bible time together.  If they don’t take seriously the things of God, we cannot let it pass.  If they must pluck out an eye or cut off an arm to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, so be it.  What we must be careful of is to make sure we don’t correct our children for our pleasure and convenience.  We cannot discipline our children in anger for this very reason.  It is not for our profit, but for His (and theirs)!

All of us who are sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father are secure.

Jesus said of His true disciples, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10.28-29).

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8.35-39).

It’s not the privileges in store.  It’s not the possessions we hold.  It’s the promises we have.  Rely on the promises of God.  Read the Bible not just for a list of duties before God and man; read it to receive the promises of your Heavenly Father.  Let this sink in as you read it:  The Son of God loved you and gave Himself for you (Galatians 2.20).

“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God…” (Ephesians 2.19).

Cultivating Faith (Part 3)

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Cultivating Faith:  A Man of Self-Denial

The story of Abraham and Lot is a story of two roads which diverge.  It is a story filled with choices.  While the eternal destination of both men is the same, the ways in which they lived on this earth become a stark contrast.

As we enter Genesis 13, both men led their families side-by-side with unity of purpose.  As long as the interests of both men aligned, they maintained unity.  But a point came when their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together (Genesis 13.6).  The result was strife leading to separation.  The separation became necessary in order to promote stability and peace.  The diverging directions of both men teach us some very important principles.

It is possible to trace the choices of both Abraham and Lot under two main headings.  Both men represent diverging philosophies of could be termed as separation and infiltration.  Abraham separates from the world (Sodom and Gomorrah); Lot infiltrates the world – slouching toward Gomorrah to borrow Judge Robert H. Bork’s title from his 1996 book.  First, Abraham represents the choice of separation…

Choosing to separate leads to the path toward God (Genesis 13.1-9).

“Please separate from me …they separated from each other …the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him” (13.8, 11, 14).

The path to God leads away from strife and toward peace.

“If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will take the left” (13.9).

Abraham knew well the wisdom of his descendant Solomon who wrote, “The beginning of strife is like releasing water; therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts” (Proverbs 17.14).  Once water is released, the breach widens as the water erodes it away.  It moves so rapidly that there is nothing we can do to stop it.  Therefore, stop contention before it starts.  Once it begins, you’ll never know when or how it will stop.

Abraham desired peace with Lot.  That governed the choice he made.  So we have his words, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren” (Genesis 13.8).  Abraham was a peacemaker not a peacekeeper.  The path to God leads away from strife and toward peace.  Our endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace necessarily separates us from the world to God.  If our family and friends choose the path to Gomorrah, they will be walking a different path.  But make no mistake:  They have left the narrow way for the broad road.

The path to God leads away from self-assertion and toward self-denial.

It should be clear that Abraham is the elder and Lot the younger.  Abraham the uncle and Lot the nephew.  Abraham was called out of Ur, and Lot came along for the ride and the blessings.  Wouldn’t you think that as soon as Abraham gave Lot the choice of the left or right that Lot would have deferred to his uncle out of respect?  Shouldn’t he submit to Abraham and not the other way around?  Abraham could have asserted his rights, but he practiced self-denial.

People in the world lord their authority over others.  This is the way it is and the way it will be with unbelieving people.  But as Jesus said, “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20.26-28).

The path to God leads away from self-assertion toward self-denial.  How can there be strife if one party denies self and assumes the role of a perpetual servant?  How can the self-assertive and the self-denying walk the same path?

The path to God leads away from greed and toward generosity.  

Abraham should possess at least as much as Lot if not more than Lot.  But Abraham was a sieve.  He simply allowed wealth to flow in and out.  Abraham gave; Lot took.  Abraham knew that the plain of the Jordan was fertile, lush land.  He simply deferred to Lot.

Faith reasons that God will take care of us and fight for us.  So if a man demands my cloak, I’ll give it to him along with my tunic also.  If he demands I walk with him one mile, I’ll walk the one and then another mile as well.  If it is within our power to meet a need, we should meet that need.

But greed leads to spiritual deadness.  The heart set on things below is more concerned with the comforts of this life.  Pure and undefiled religion is “to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1.27).  It is truly more blessed to give than to receive.

A choice to cultivate a life of faith means a choice to separate, which leads us along the path toward God.  Lot chose differently and serves as a warning to us…

Choosing to infiltrate leads to the path toward Gomorrah (Genesis 13.10-18).

The path to Gomorrah leads away from the eternal and toward the temporal.

“Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan …Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan …Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom …They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Sodom” (13.10-12; 14.12).

We can’t be sure when Lot placed his faith in the God of Abraham.  We know that when Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed, he is a righteous man.  Perhaps his conversion is a result of the problems caused by this divergent path that he took toward Gomorrah.  But believer or not, he took the path away from the eternal and toward the temporal.

We don’t know for certain, but it does seem that Lot has no problem with separating from Abraham.  Such separation would expose him to the temptations of Gomorrah.  He would be able to infiltrate that world, and gratify his desires.  Perhaps greed and ambition were two of the top desires for him.

Lot saw comfort in the well-watered plains of the Jordan.  The text tells us that the fertile land resembled the Garden of Eden itself.  Worldliness includes a fixation on the temporal and comfort that we desire right now in this temporal life.  Covetousness and a desire to fulfill temporal desires govern the heart of a person slouching toward Gomorrah.  We will learn that Lot gets a position as a judge and leader in Sodom.  His temporal desire far outpaced eternal interests.  The path to Gomorrah leads away from the eternal and toward the temporal.

The path to Gomorrah leads away from the spiritual and toward the physical.

  • The days of Lot are characterized as days when “they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built” (Luke 17.28).
  • “On the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all” (Luke 17.29).
  • “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17.32).
  • ‘The LORD turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, and made them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and “delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds” (2 Peter 2.6-8).

Lot certainly came to understand what the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were like.  Their sin was out in the open for all to see.  The Bible is right:  “Evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Corinthians 15.33).  Lot left Abraham and moved toward Gomorrah with little or no regret that we can determine from the text.

We lose so much when we sacrifice spiritual benefit for physical comfort.  We endanger our churches, families, and ourselves when we make this exchange.  We fail to feed on the Word of God and grab at the crust of bread we find in the world.  That crust of bread is a counterfeit form of life.  We need to be brought to repentance when living for this world.  God is merciful enough to do it.

Guard against a love for this world.  You must separate from it not infiltrate it if you are to cultivate a life of faith.

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2.15-15).

Lot’s love for the world led to choices that nullified his testimony within it.  Lot only had the world for a little while.  In the end it was all taken away from him.  If you live for the present arrangement of things, then your life will be empty.

Cultivate a life of faith through a compassionate, self-denying spirit.  Look to the Holy Spirit.  Be grateful to God because He has enabled you to sacrifice your own interests for the interests of others.

  • “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another” (Romans 12.10).
  • “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.  Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2.4-5).

Follow the faith of Abraham.  Walk the path to God instead of slouching toward the destruction of Gomorrah!

Casting the First Stone

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All of us have a common problem.  Our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked.  So much so, that it is not possible for us to know this fact apart from the grace of God.  But there are times during our lives when we clearly find out how sinful we actually are.  We do or say something that we never thought we would.

Some people are fairly open about their rebellion.  Others are hypocritical.  They are pretenders.  Everything looks and sounds right on the outside, but inside these people are very sinful.  Jesus was confronting religious pretenders in John 8.  They thought they were holy, righteous men and acted that part.  They memorized the Word of God.  They kept the Law of God.  They claimed to fear God.  They thought they were doing the will of God.  However, they were going to murder Jesus Christ.

These men didn’t love God or His Word …not really.  They didn’t fear God or honor Him with their lives.  They didn’t even have righteous indignation against the sin of adultery.  They were not living by the grace of God.  They were fueled by their mutual disgust and hatred for Jesus Christ.  So they set a trap for Savior.

Setting the Trap

“…The scribes and Pharisees brought to [Jesus] a woman caught in adultery” (8.3).  Adultery is a very terrible sin.  The most terrible part of adultery is that the person who commits this sin is unfaithful to the one person in all the world they promised faithfulness.  So this woman was a very wicked woman.  There was no doubt that she had not been caring, loving, or faithful when it came to her husband.  She was guilty and according to God’s Law, she should be stoned to death for her sin.

What could Jesus do in this situation?  If He condemned this woman, what of His message of grace, forgiveness, and compassion?  If He told them to let the woman go, what of the Law, justice, and righteousness of God?  The scribes and Pharisees thought they had Jesus trapped.  They were trying to make Him look bad.  How will Jesus respond?

First, Jesus did say anything.  He crouched down and began to write on the ground.  We don’t know what Jesus wrote or even why He was writing.  The Bible says that the religious leaders continued pressing Jesus for an answer.  They just kept on asking Him what should be done about the woman as He wrote on the ground.

Second, Jesus “raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” (8.7).  Then, He stooped again and wrote on the ground.  This time the men “who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one” (8.9).  The people who witnessed this woman’s sin had to throw the first stones at her execution according to the Law.  So, Jesus asked the men to throw stones.  But only if they are without sin.  Jesus was not saying that people need to be perfect in order to carry out the written laws of man or even God.  However, that’s not the point.

Third, what Jesus was saying is that these religious leaders were pretenders …hypocrites.  They pretended to hate this woman’s sin while committing great and evil sin themselves.  Jesus stooped the second time to write only after He pointed out the hypocrisy of these men.  He wanted His Words to settle into their hearts …to convince them of their sin …to show them they were wrecked and ruined on the inside.

I believe these men were given a glimpse of how sinful they actually were.  In this moment of time God showed them that they themselves stood condemned.  The men were consumed with the fear of God’s judgment and the exposure of their own secret sin before all the world.  Perhaps they glimpsed their murderous hearts and so they withdrew from the situation horrified by what they saw on the inside of themselves.  “One by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last” (8.9) they went away.

It’s not that these men were themselves guilty of adultery.  That’s not the point of the passage.  They were guilty of murderous intent and religious hypocrisy.  They felt the shame of it.  They had their own burden of sin.  They couldn’t carry through with this woman’s deserved sentence because they deserved the same and in that moment they saw it.  These men fell into the pit that they had dug for the Lord Jesus.

Forgiving the Sinner

It’s interesting to think about what Jesus doesn’t say or do when these men all leave.  He doesn’t give any inclination of self-exultation.  He doesn’t focus on His victory over these supplanters.  Instead, He asks the women where they were now.  They all went away.  They all found the idea of accusing this woman untenable.  So, Jesus told the woman to go as well.

First, He asked the woman, “Has no one condemned you” (8.10)?  When she says that no one has, Jesus responds, “Neither do I condemn you; go…” (8.11).  Jesus said to Nicodemus that His Father “did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3.17).  He was telling the woman to go and use the rest of her life in the pursuit of righteousness in the presence of God.  The mercy shown her must be an opportunity for repentance and forgiveness.  Jesus came into the world to seek and save those who are lost.

But Jesus also commanded the woman, “Sin no more” (8.11).  Grace always teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust.  No true believer takes sin lightly.  When God treats us with the grace and mercy that we don’t deserve, our gratitude drives our pursuit of holiness.  We become aware of our suicidal path toward self-destruction.  The hope of grace encourages the soul.  God alone keeps us from falling in order to one day present us faultless before the His presence in glory with exceeding joy.

Do not congratulate yourself.  Do not become satisfied with your own righteousness.  Do not applaud your morality.  Godly men and women abhor themselves.  They repent with godly sorrow.  They learn to loathe the self-righteousness within them.

But self-condemnation is brutal too.  Jesus Christ has forgiven sinners because of His great grace and marvelous mercy.  If He will not condemn you, why do you condemn yourself?  “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.  However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life” (1 Timothy 1.15-16).

If you have experienced grace and mercy, go and sin no more.  You have not done what God requires of you just because you no longer commit the heinous sins you used to commit.  Pride, self-righteousness, and complacency are evils as well.  Depend upon the grace of God to carry you further than you’ve ever been today!  May God take away our penchant for worldliness and transform our lives into the likeness of His holy Son.  When this happens, all glory belongs to Him!

The Beauty of the Lord our God

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“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands.” (Psalm 90:17)

“Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us!”  Truly a wonderful and blessed thought for the present moment – a psalm of eternity containing blessings for the temporal life which I live, move in, and have my very existence.  I yearn to be satisfied early with God’s mercy so that I may rejoice and be glad all my days (90.14).  Visible demonstrations of God’s mercy and lovingkindness toward me convey His gracious presence even though He seems so far away at times.  When the beauty of the Lord our God is upon me, I look toward that eternal Day when I shall truly see Him unfettered by my sin which demands His mercy each and every day within the temporal realm.

Whole volumes are given over to the study of God’s character in the pages of Scripture.  It is a pursuit that accomplishes what seem to be two opposing goals:  drawing me closer to the Lord while at the same time letting me know that I’ve only scratched the surface of my understanding of Him.  The fool denies eternity placed in his heart.  He will worship none other than himself.  Therefore, God gives him over to his obstinate folly, and he remains without excuse.

Design within the creation, variety, pleasure, and beauty all point to the glory of God (Psalm 19).  The creation demonstrates that God is all-wise and all-powerful.  Those looking for answers to ultimate questions will not find them by ruminating over dead poets and philosophers.  These answers come from the illuminating work of God through His Spirit.  Those of us viewed as fools by the world have a wondrous revelation of God in His Word.  Those deemed as wise by the world have these things hidden from them.  It’s quite sad.  They grope aimlessly for some new twist or turn in the meanderings of men.

But God is not manifested within the creative order alone.  I see Him in the pages of mankind’s history.  He is sovereign.  Everything is rushing toward the Day when He shall be all in all (1 Corinthians 15.28).  I see Him beautifully weaving and stitching together not only history in general but also my very life.  My times are in His hands.  This is the beauty of the Lord our God!  He has redeemed me for His glory and so I worship Him in the beauty of His holiness and for His glory.  The greatest goal of all creation is to bring glory to the Creator.  And the Lord Jesus Christ has made this possible.  Jesus is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light (that of the Father), whom no man has seen or can see (again, a reference to the Father), to whom be honor and everlasting power” (1 Timothy 6.14-15).

We see the Father in the Son who is “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1.3).  The beauty of the Lord our God is found in the Person but also the work of Jesus Christ.  His painstaking work of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, His redemptive work upon the Cross of Calvary, and even His work of judgment from His glorious throne in the yet future Millennial Kingdom represent the beauty of the Lord our God in perfection.  Men journey with me and hear whispers of God, but I see what they cannot see.  You as a child of God see what they cannot see.  That is why it seems that the myriads of people who hear the same words from the Scripture we do remain deaf and dumb toward them while we are humbled and our faith deepened by the very same words.

The Lord’s beauty is conveyed through light shining out of darkness into our very hearts in order to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).  Jesus mediates the beauty of the Lord God.  He has shown us light that the world cannot see.  Not only this, but He has given to us the opportunity to reflect that light and thereby glorify God.

The primary reason for gathering for worship on Sunday is so that we may behold the beauty of the Lord.  “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4)  Our yearning, broken, contrite, and dependent hearts expect satisfaction in the beauty of the Lord.  So, the venue of our idea of a sanctuary has changed.  But we still desire to see God’s power and glory (Psalm 63.2).

Second, mankind is created in the image of God (Genesis 1.26-27).  But that image is much maligned.  We must experience a new birth so that we might “put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4.24).  It is the beauty of the Lord that we behold with unveiled face.  It is the beauty and glory of the Lord that shines forth and reflects or radiates from our lives as a mirror reflects the image of a man.  What happens inside of us is the transformation from glory to even greater glory and so forth.  It is the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God (2 Corinthians 3.18).  This verse communicates a continual process until we are made perfect as our Father is perfect in Heaven above.

We look toward the Day as we press toward the mark until “we come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4.13).  May the Lord grant that His beauty be upon us today and to a greater degree tomorrow.  Let us grow in grace and flourish in holiness!  Pray that we “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:18–19)

The goal is that nothing in our temporal life affects our pursuit of this fullness.  Even tribulation works patience, experience, and eventually a deep and abiding hope – a confident expectation that God will make good on His promises.  Trials reveal deeper problems within us.  They refine us.  So, we bear up underneath them in the school of affliction knowing that God will use them to show us His glory in greater detail and to conform us to the image of His Son.

Our pursuit of holiness is our pursuit of God.  Our pursuit of mercy is our pursuit of God.  Our pursuit of any perfection of God is our pursuit of Him.  Therefore, time spent in Scripture and in prayer within the sanctuary (wherever that may be) keeps me balanced and growing.  May the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us!

Rest Assured! God is Light!

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“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)

Light represents the power and presence of God in creation.  God said, “Let there be light!”  There was light, God saw it, and proclaimed it good (see Genesis 1-2).  Light also communicates the idea of delight and endearment.  The husband loving says to his wife, “You are the light of my life!”

All living organisms depend upon light for life.  Our perception of color and context exists because of light.  Light is the epitome of discovery and development.  Intellectually, light represents knowledge, truth, and revelation.  It connotes wisdom and comprehension:  “The lightbulb finally went on!”  We speak of the light at the end of the tunnel as a euphemism for hope and help.

While all these things are true, John emphasizes something altogether different in this verse. John writes, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”  That is, God is morally pure and holy; He is Light.  He is right, good, and truthful.  There are three claims made in the context of 1 John 1 which are important and focus our understanding of light to mean God’s moral purity.

  1. If we say that we have fellowship with God, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth (1.6).
  2. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1.8).
  3. If we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and His word is not in us (1.10).

Some may say a fourth claim exists in v. 9:  If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  But this claim is a claim to a promise not a claim to self-delusion.  It is the remedy not the problem.

Notice John uses the pronoun we throughout the passage.  It is possible for the Apostle John, the other apostles, and all first century Christians to make the claims above.  John is capable of wrong thinking as well as right thinking.  He is able to make self-delusive claims as well as claim the promise of cleansing.  All Christians are potentially able to do the same.

I believe this verse is John’s declaration concerning the moral character of God.  If we are to rightly relate with God, we must know that He is light.  There is absolutely no darkness in Him.  But we cannot make such a claim about ourselves.  There is darkness in all of us.  So we certainly have a common problem.

This is the Message

John saw with his eyes and handled with his hands the Word of Life (1.1-4).  He testified and declared to the church that eternal life was with the Father and manifested to him and the other apostles.  In turn he declares to the Asia Minor churches (perhaps beginning at Ephesus) and broadens the sphere of fellowship.

What is the message that Jesus revealed to John?  It is that which he heard from Jesus and declares to us.  This is foundational apostolic doctrine from Jesus Himself.  John and the other apostles are our link to Jesus and the truth He left for us.

When John writes, “We have heard from Jesus and declare to you” (v. 5), he use a perfect tense verb.  He is showing us that what was heard was heard at a point in time in the past while he was with Jesus, but it is not heard in the same way today.  But the truth once presented still stands to this day.  As a matter of fact, this good news is declared to you this day as you read!

God is Light

God is light in the sense that He is absolutely pure and holy.  There is absolutely no hint of darkness in God.  He is absolutely pure.  John writes later…

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:2–3:3)

When John speaks of walking in the light or walking in darkness, he means that we either walk in purity or walk in immorality.  This is why John communicates the need for believers to confess and seek cleansing at the hands of a faithful, just, and righteous God.  As believers, walking in darkness does not negate spiritual life, but God’s moral nature is not being expressed through our lives when we walk in that darkness.

1 John 1.5 is about purity and sin.  God is light; therefore, we must be characterized by light.  That means we should be sincere, truthful, righteous, and loving.  We fail to reflect the glory of God’s light when we express ourselves with deception, rebellion, and hatred of one another.  It is imperative that we understand the potential for this hatred in each of us.

Do you understand that our lack of holiness makes it impossible for us to grasp the moral purity of God?  This drives us to Christ seeking mercy.  We are dependent upon God to make us pure enough to relate to Him and He with us.

We pray many things, but God hears nothing when we regard iniquity in our hearts.  God demands holiness from each of us because He is holy.

God Sees Me 

“And there is no creature hidden from [God’s] sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13)  God knows me and by Him my actions are weighed and found wanting (1 Samuel 2.3).  He sees the adulterer covertly managing his life to hide sin from his spouse and children.  God sees the thief rifling through his father’s wallet left on the dresser.  God is aware of the cheat who charges people for services not rendered.  But more than that, God sees the heart.  “Hell and Destruction are before the Lord; so how much more the hearts of the sons of men.” (Proverbs 15:11)

The Scriptures point out that God hates all workers of iniquity (Psalm 5.5).  He is “of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness” (Habakkuk 1.13a).  God abhors the darkness.  There is absolutely no darkness in Him.  We must walk in the light as He is in the light.  That light comes through truth and manifests itself in our hearts purifying us.

Fellowship and Acceptance

God provides fellowship and acceptance as we conform to His holiness.  Many look at the glory and pursuit of holiness as something to be avoided …something that removes joy from life.  Yet holiness is the gateway to fellowship with our Maker.  Our dependence, diligence, and obedience please God because we are in Christ and behaving like Christ.  God makes Himself known to us in a way that He does not make Himself known to the world.  His love is shed abroad in our hearts.  We are privileged to call God our Dearest Father.

Holiness also provides acceptance before God.  We are no longer like the unsaved sinner.  Our sins are gone!  The blood of Christ continuously cleanses us from all sin (1.7).  His blood cleanses us 24-7 so that we may serve God acceptably.  That blood is able to keep you from falling away from God.  It will present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy (Jude 24).  When we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship and acceptance.

Faith and Works

Some strive for holiness through their works and disregard the finished work of Jesus Christ.  Others believe that faith will save them but then that faith never produces holiness.  Both of these are deceptive tools of the devil.  We cannot be holy unless we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that God has raised Jesus from the dead.  But faith without the work of holiness is dead.  The devils believe and shriek back in unholy fear at the name of Christ.  Faith will always produce holiness in the believer.  Holiness is evidence that our faith is genuine. Thereby, we walk in the light as He is in the light.

Duty and Delight

We carry out our duties as believers not with drudgery but delight.  We shouldn’t expect the world to think that the pursuit of the glory and holiness of God would bring delight.  They find delight in the darkness of sin.  Delight in life is found for us in our fellowship with God.  And yet fellowship cannot be without conformity to His holiness.  That’s why delight does not rest in a full bank account or a clean bill of health for us.  We delight even in the face of death.  We do so knowing that our pursuit of holiness will finally be perfected when we draw celestial air into our glorified lungs!

God has qualified us as believers to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light (Colossians 1.12).  We long for the glory of our inheritance in Heaven, but that’s not true for unbelievers.  Unregenerate people would not be happy in Heaven.  They love the darkness and there is only light in Heaven.  They hate God and God’s people; we love God and God’s people.  They would clamor to tear God away from His glorious throne if at all possible.  But we stand amazed in worship before that throne and will forever.

Unbelievers don’t want God to exist and feel great relief when they mistakenly prove to themselves that He doesn’t.  But we revel in the God who is.  This is the message!  There is no other.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”           (1 Peter 2:9–10)

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8)

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:11–14)