United in their Redemption

I took a phone from a student this morning. Normally, this isn’t a big deal, but this phone wasn’t hers, so the girl who it belonged to became very, very upset. She went after the culprit and despite me emphatically telling them to stop, they would not.

So, I grabbed a couple of office referrals and began to write them up.In this moment, I was reminded of John 8:1-11 where a woman was caught in adultery and Jesus says to the men trying to condemn her that the one without sin may cast the first stone. One by one, they walk away, because as much as they hated Jesus, they were still convicted by the reality of their own wretchedness. And the One without sin – the One who alone has the right to condemn – displayed mercy, and said “Go and sin no more.”

I had the students stay at the end of class and watch as I wrote them up. Line by line. Word by word. I had them read what I wrote and take a couple minutes to take it all in. I told them their most likely consequence was suspension. At this point, tears streamed down their guilty faces.

I shared that the times in my life I’ve learned the greatest lessons haven’t solely been when I’ve had to pay for what I’ve done… but it’s been when someone who had the right to punish and hold something over on me relented and showed me extreme and transformative grace.

I spoke of the cross and Christ’s sacrifice. Of the wrath I deserved, yet He absorbed and the judgment that I have been forgiven of.

Then I told them in the same way that I was forgiven much, so I have forgiven them.

“Now go and don’t do this again” …and on the way out, I had them rip up their write-ups and toss them in the trash.

They walked out of the classroom together, side by side, one arm around the other… no longer divided by the issue that came between them. Instead, they were united in their redemption.

Jesus Loves You

“Jesus loves you” …is this just a trite little saying? As with anything, you need to know the context. Not only have we missed the mark of God’s high standard, not only are we so perversely warped by sin, but in addition to these things we chose to willfully rebel against our Holy Creator God. Consider this during our finals hours of the Advent season: Immanuel, God with us. Jesus did not exist until the Son of God (who is eternal and has always existed) chose to come in human form to reach us as the Word made flesh, known as Jesus (meaning Savior).
“Jesus loves you” is quite possibly one of the deepest and most intricate of theological statements (and I’d say that this simple phrase is the most convicting, comforting, and compelling things I have or will ever hear), because it implies four huge truths:
(1)man needed a Savior who could only be God in human form,
(2)that Savior not only loved us to the point of death but continually loves us (meaning He did not merely die but must have risen from the dead),
(3)this love is not vague or general but is in fact intensely personal,
(4)and He will never cease to love any He has chosen to set His love on since this love is based out of His character rather than being based on something we have done or haven’t done, because if this were the case, we could likewise lose that affection by something we do or neglect to do.

In case you haven’t heard this before, let me be quite clear:
Jesus. Loves. You.

Tower of Babel

In a lot of ways, the Old and New Testament mirror each other… there seems to be a parallel but inverse reintroduction to this idea of languages confused and people divided talked about within the story of the Tower of Babel. For those unfamiliar with the story, take a look at Genesis 11:1-9 before continuing on.

“Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.’ And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.”

Now jumping ahead many, many centuries: in Acts 2, there is the account of the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended so that when the gospel message was preached, each person present heard it in his or her own tongue (and even dialect!).

I find this incredibly fascinating, because the background to the tower of babel (even though it took place roughly 130 years prior to this story) was of judgment on the whole earth in the form of a flood that wiped out all living creatures, except those in the ark (and interestingly enough, the ark was open until God Himself closed the door). Then over a century later, the people were still in one place, trying to make a name for themselves by building a tower to reach the heavens.

I bring this up because prior to the day of Pentecost, Jesus bore the wrath of God, signifying that He took on Himself the promise of the judgment to come.

Not following? Check out Amos 8:8-9. Earthquakes, darkness at midday, etc… This text is prophetically speaking of the tribulation described in Revelation, but now look at the crucifixion scene in the gospels: rocks splitting, the sun going black for three hours in the middle of the day, etc… the idea here is that when Christ bore God’s wrath, He was taking our judgment that would come in the future (so we who place our trust in Him would have no judgment to bear), and it’s even illustrated in how the earth itself responded to the ensuing judgment.

Coming back to the day of Pentecost and the Spirit coming down (the Spirit, who is described in the epistles as the bond of peace and the one who unites us as one people), He descended on that day so that by the work of God all present were united as one people, understanding that gospel message of Christ’s suffering and resurrection on our behalf.

Consider the great hymn to Christ in Philippians 2… after the crucifixion (history’s most astonishingly humble and beautiful act worked on behalf of sinful man by the Holy and Glorious Son of God), the Father “has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Man is short-sighted, but God takes the long-view, and that’s why the point of God dispersing the people in Genesis was to reunite them, but this time under His name, not their own. He had something better for them than building a great name for themselves and then someday inevitably dying in their sinful state outside of Eden. His plan was (and is) to redeem and restore them, so that He would be known not only as Creator, but Savior as well.

Songs Which Angels Cannot Sing

I came across this anonymous text a little over a year ago and was struck by the line (which is now the title) “songs which angels cannot sing.” Unlike the fallen angels, sinful man has been given an unbelievable gospel: God humbled Himself, moved into our neighborhood, and provided the way of salvation for the restoration of our souls through His life, death, and resurrection. That’s our anthem. That’s why we sing.

P.S. be sure to click “listen” to hear the song and “learn” to check out the chord chart. If you want to download either, just right-click and hit “save link as…”
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Songs Which Angels Cannot Sing listen | learn

Hark, what music fills the sky!
“Glory be to God on high,”
Angels sing, and hosts reply.
Hallelujah, Amen.

To the sons of men is given
God’s dear Son, best gift of heaven,
Pledge of grace and sin forgiven.
Hallelujah, Amen.

So we praise the One who gave
To the manger and the grave,
All to ransom, all to save.
Hallelujah, Amen.

Christ we own as Lord and King,
And as tribute meet we bring
Songs which angels cannot sing.
Hallelujah, Amen.

Psalm CXVI

A dear brother of mine, Tim (you can find his blog here), and I wrote this song based off of Psalm CXVI (116). This particular Psalm has been one of my favorites for many years. The Psalmist begins by exclaiming “I love the Lord, for He has heard my voice… I was entangled in death… but He delivered me.” But I think the most incredible moment in this Psalm takes place in verses 12 & 13. He asks “What can I give to the Lord for all of His goodness toward me?” And his response is something beautifully profound: “I will accept His offer of salvation and give thanks.”

There is nothing we can do, nothing we can give, nothing we can offer up to God (for He is both the Author and the Finisher of our faith), so our only response is simply this: thank You.

In Him our souls find rest.

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Psalm CXVI listen | learn or learn (guitar friendly)

verse 1
I love the Lord for He has heard my voice and cries for mercy
As long as I live I will call on His name
While in distress, entangled in death, the bonds of hell laid hold of me
But He heard my call and rescued my soul from the grave

verse 2
Jesus came down, laying His crown aside to take my place,
And carried my sin in His body on the tree
Jesus is love, and yet He is just, His hands and feet pour out His grace
For there on the cross, He swallowed Godʼs wrath for me

chorus
Be at rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has been good to you
Be at rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has been good

bridge
Christ has delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears and my feet from the fall
My hope is found in Jesus alone
The Conquerer of sin and the Savior of all

verse 3
How can I live, and what can I give to God for all Heʼs done?
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

chorus
Be at rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has been good to you
Be at rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has been good

God’s Glory Seen in Christ

“Moses said, ‘Show me Your glory.’ And the LORD said, ‘I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,’ He said, ‘you cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live.’ Then the LORD said, ‘There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock. When My glory passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove My hand and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.’” Exodus 33:18-23

Moses was placed in the rock before He could see God’s glory. In the next few verses, God writes down the ten commandments once more, since Moses broke the law the first time (pun very much intended). Yet Moses is given this opportunity to see the glory of God. And how is it? By being placed in the rock.

The rock throughout the old testament is used to describe Christ. In the wilderness, He was pictured in the first rock struck once to give living water to all. Notice Trinitarian salvation here… God says the command (Father’s plan before time began), the Rock is struck (Christ died once for all), and out flows water (Holy Spirit). Also, Christ is pictured as the Rock that was to be asked for water. Moses ruined this picture by striking the rock the second time. Christ was struck once, but now freely gives to all who call upon Him.

Man has no right to see the glory of God. In fact, even having had broken the law (Moses quite literally broke all the laws in his anger toward the Israelites the first time), Moses had no merit to see God’s glory, because of his sin (just like we have no right to see God because of the sin that keeps us from Him).

However, God placed Moses in the rock, which is a picture of the Christ that would come (and for us, has come!), bringing us near to God, not only bridging the gap, but eradicating it entirely, having borne the full weight of punishment on our behalf. He took what we deserved (justice), pardoned us what we deserved (mercy), and has given us what we don’t deserve (grace).

So now, we are able to see God. Maybe not with our physical eyes like Moses, but in Christ, we have been brought to new life, called His children, and one day will pass through this earthly veil to that heavenly realm where we will be with Him for all of eternity, basking in the sunshine of His love and overwhelmed with how glorious He is.

Praise God for Jesus – the rock that was struck once but now freely gives.

“…but some doubted”

“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain of which Jesus had directed them.
And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” Matthew 28:16-20

Sometimes I doubt. Often times I doubt, really. Yet Christ’s command to make disciples is to all, even those who doubt. The promise in Christ is that He’s with us always…

I may not be like the apostle Peter, who on the day of Pentecost alone was used by God to bring 3000 to Christ, but let’s not forget the apostle Andrew who brought one… and that one was Peter.

O soul, so filled with shame and doubt: believe and go.