angels

Free To Obey.

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Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. – Galatians 3:19-22 ESV

There’s that word, “offspring” again. Paul continues to unpack the true meaning behind Genesis 22:18 where God made His promise to Abraham: “and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” According to Paul, the “offspring” to whom God referred in His promise was Jesus. It would be through Abraham’s descendant, Jesus Christ, that all the nations of the earth would be blessed. And the law was given by God after He had made the promise to Abraham. Why? In order to expose the extent of mankind’s sinfulness. God gave His chosen people the law “because of transgressions.” The law clearly articulated God’s holy and righteous expectations of men. There could be no debate. In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, “Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Romans 7:7 ESV). Prior to the giving of the law, man could have rationalized away his sin or simply claimed ignorance. But the law made it perfectly clear what God expected and demanded of mankind, especially His chosen people. In Romans, Paul indicates that the very presence of the law acted as an impetus to sin, not causing man to sin, but provoking man’s sin nature to rebel against it. When the law said, “Do not…”, man’s sin nature automatically and reflexively responded, “But I will…”. Paul went on to say, “sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness” (Romans 7:8 ESV). Indwelling sin, which opposes God, stands opposed to His holy law. It rejects the law and entices man’s fleshly, sinful nature to disobey it. Like a parent telling their child not to touch a hot stove, the prohibition creates in the child an even deeper desire and curiosity to do that which has been denied.

In verse 19, Paul says the law “was put in place through angels by an intermediary.” Moses provides us with some insight into the meaning behind Paul’s statement. Just prior to his death, Moses gave a blessing to the people of Israel, saying, “The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand” (Deuteronomy 33:2 ESV). Angels played a mediatory role, while Moses played an intermediatory role. The law was given and it placed responsibilities on God and upon man. God was obligated and committed to bless when men obeyed His law.

And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. – Deuteronomy 28:1-2 ESV

But He was also required to curse or punish when man disobeyed.

But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. – Deuteronomy 28:15 ESV

In contrast, when it came to the Abrahamic covenant, the promise God made to Him regarding his “offspring”, the sole responsibility of the covenant fell upon God. There was no intermediary. It was a unilateral covenant. The promise was made by God and would be fulfilled by Him. Moses could add nothing to the equation. He was simply required to believe God, and Paul writes in Romans, “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was ‘counted to him as righteousness’” (Romans 4:20-22 ESV).

The law did not stand opposed to or somehow replace the promise of God. It was not intended to be a substitute for the promise. And it was never designed to produce in man a righteousness that could restore him to a right relationship with God. What it did was show men just how sinful and helpless they really were. Whether motivated by genuine love for or fear of God, men were incapable of keeping His righteous decrees. The law simply confirmed that they were law breakers.

Paul tells us the law was designed to be temporary in nature. It was to be in effect until the promise was fulfilled and “the offspring” came. With the coming of Jesus and His death on the cross, the law’s binding hold on man was released. Jesus became the fulfillment of the law, having obediently kept every single requirement. He did what no other man had ever done. And His sinless perfection made Him the perfect, blameless sacrifice that God required to atone for the sins of mankind. Jesus paid it all. His sinless, unselfish sacrifice of His own life satisfied the just demands of a holy God.

In Romans, Paul writes of the unbelievable impact of Jesus’ death on our behalf:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die — but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. – Romans 5:6-9 ESV

Law-keeping is not the answer to man’s sin problem. The law was never intended to provide salvation. It was designed to show man His sin and place him under God’s holy, just condemnation. The law was not even capable of driving men to God. As Paul indicated, it actually inflamed man’s sin nature and drove him further from God. Law-breakers hate the law. They look for ways to disobey it and get around it. They see the law as oppressive and unnecessary. But Jesus came to free men from the law. He came to provide a means by which they could be made right with God apart from the law. And Paul makes it very clear that Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. We didn’t see our need for a Savior and run to Him. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were blinded by our own sin natures and by Satan himself. And yet God, in His grace, opened our eyes to see the glory of the offer of the gift of His Son’s death. The scales fell off our eyes and His Spirit gave us the supernatural ability to say yes to that which we, if left to ourselves, we would have always said no.

For by grace you have been saved 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 2:8-10 ESV

Even our faith is a gift from God, otherwise it would be a work. It is not our doing, but a gift from God.  Our salvation is the sovereign work of God, from beginning to end. As when Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb, shouting, “Lazarus, come forth!”, God calls us out of the death and darkness of sin, providing us with not only life but the capacity to obey. That is truly amazing grace.

Subjected For Our Sake.

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For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. – Hebrews 2:5-9 ESV

The longer Jesus, the resurrected Messiah, was gone from the face of the earth, the easier it became for the believers living when this letter was written to forget about Him. It was a case of the old adage: out of sight, out of mind. Most, if not all, of the recipients of this letter would never have seen Jesus face to face. They would have come to faith in Him some time after His death and resurrection. And it would appear, based on the author’s emphasis on drifting away, that there were those who were having second thoughts regarding either the deity or exclusivity of Jesus. They were running the risk of taking lightly what Jesus had done for them, which is why the author warned them not to “neglect such a great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3 ESV).

They say, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” but that is not always the case. And it most certainly did not seem to be the case in this instance. This entire letter is a defense of Jesus – His divinity, incarnation, mission, message, sacrifice, ascension, exaltation, and coming return. Using the Old Testament Scriptures to point the way, the writer presents Jesus as the divine agent of redemption for mankind. Quoting from Psalm 8:4-6, he writes, “You made him for a little while lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:7 ESV). Jesus, the Son of God, the creator of the universe, left His place at the right hand of God the Father and took on human flesh. He humbled Himself by becoming a man in order that He might accomplish what no man had ever been able to do: Live in sinless, selfless obedience to the commands of God.

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.  Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. – Hebrews 2:14-15 NLT

But the author of Hebrews wants his readers to know that Jesus, while He was a man, was also fully divine. He was God in human flesh. He was the God-man. And after He had accomplished His Father’s will and given His life as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind, He was raised from the dead by the power of the Spirit of God and returned to His rightful place at His Father’s side. His time on this earth, when He was made “a little lower than the angels,” was short. As a result of His accomplishment of His Father’s will, God “crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet” (Hebrews 2:7-8 ESV). Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians:

Though he was God,he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:6-11 ESV

Jesus may be out of sight, but He is far from out of control. And He should never be out of mind. We read that, “in putting everything in subjection to him, he [God] left nothing outside of his control” (Hebrews 2:8 ESV). Yes, it’s true that, from our perspective, it would appear that some things are outside of His control. The world does not appear to be living in submission and obedience to Christ. But we must always remember that God’s plan in not yet complete. Christ’s job is not yet finished. When He said on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:20 ESV), He was speaking of His God-given mission to become the atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind. He had accomplished that part of His assignment. But He is not done. He is still at work. And one day He is coming back to fully complete the assignment given to Him by His Father from before the foundation of the world.

One day, everything and everyone will be under His subjection. He will rule and reign over all. He will be King of kings and Lord of lords. But we must never grow cavalier or complacent regarding His subjection on our behalf. It was His suffering that led to His glorification. “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death” (Hebrews 2:9 ESV). He suffered for our sake. Paul puts it this way, “He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God” (Romans 4:25 NLT). His resurrection and exaltation made possible our justification. We are right with God because Jesus satisfied the just demands of His heavenly Father. He fully paid the debt we owed with His own life. And God raised Him from the dead as proof of His acceptance of that payment. By the grace of God, Jesus tasted death for everyone, so that we might have life – eternal life.

Our Incomparable Christ.

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But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”

And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? – Hebrews 1:8-14 ESV

Angels are ministers. They are servants of God. Like the wind, they blow according to His will. They are worshipers and are never to be worshiped by men. But the Son of God is different. As the author expressed earlier, “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God” and “he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command” (Romans 1:3 NLTa). He holds a “place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven” (Romans 1:3b NLT). And as a result, “the Son is far greater than the angels” (Romans 1:4 NLT).

Using the Old Testament Scriptures as a proof-text for his thoughts, the author of Hebrews presents the Son of God as having royal pedigree, ruling over an everlasting kingdom that is marked by righteousness. He is eternal, having always existed as God and having no beginning or end. Rather than having been created, He was the creator of all that exists. And, as God, His nature is unchanging. The fact that He came to earth and took on human flesh in no way diminished or altered His divinity in any way. He sits at the right hand of God the Father, ruling in righteousness over all that exists. For the writer of Hebrews, the deity of Jesus is essential and non-negotiable. He is the Son of God and, as such, He shares the nature and character of God. He is royal, immutable, all-powerful, sovereign, righteous and, ultimately, the victor in the battle over sin, death and Satan.

Part of what the writer of Hebrews is going to try and do is promote the superiority of the new covenant over the old one. And since the average Jew believed the old covenant was brought to them from God by angels, they placed a very high value on angels. But the point of this letter is to establish the superiority of Christ in all things. He is greater than angels. The new covenant in His blood is superior to the old covenant which was based on works. His service to men through the offering of His life as a payment for sin is far superior to any service the angels may offer up.

The angels, while important, pale in significance when compared with Christ. In fact, they exist “to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14 ESV). They serve God’s people. And we serve Christ. He is the head of the body of Christ. He alone deserves our worship and full attention. Angels could bring “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10 ESV). But they could not save anyone. The could announce the arrival of Jesus on the scene, but He would still have to sacrifice His own life to make salvation possible to men. And while angels were the ones who told the women at Jesus’ empty tomb, “He is not here, for he has risen, as he said” (Matthew 28:6 ESV), they were simply messengers of some very good news. Without Jesus, there would have been no news at all. Apart from Jesus, salvation would be impossible for all men. Had Jesus not died and rose again, there would be no victory for anyone. But Jesus DID come. He DID die. He WAS resurrected from death to life. He HAS ascended back to heaven. And He WILL one day return.

Day 127 – Matthew 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53

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No Other Way.

Matthew 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53

“But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.” – Matthew 26:56 NLT

It had to happen this way. The moment had finally arrived for Jesus to be arrested and turned over the authorities. This would set in motion a chain of events that would usher in His death. To the disciples it was a nightmare come true. It was their worst fears realized. Their Messiah was being arrested and, to make matters worse, it was at the hands of the religious leaders. The men who had come to arrest Jesus were not Roman soldiers, but members of the Temple Guard who answered to Caiaphas, the high priest. They were shocked at what they witnessed happening. They offered to put up a fight. One of them even took a sword and attacked a slave of the high priest, slashing off his ear. We know from John’s account, that this was Peter, always the impulsive one. It’s interesting that he attacked the one person there who was probably unarmed. Peter didn’t go after one of the members of the Temple Guard. But his action reveals how he felt about what was going on. This was not what he or the other disciples were expecting. It was not how they had dreamed this grand adventure with Jesus was going to turn out.

But Jesus viewed the night’s events from a different perspective. He told Peter to put away his sword and assured him that He didn’t need His help. “Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?” (Matthew 26:53 NLT). To Peter’s shock and dismay, Jesus was revealing that this was NOT a case of helplessness or powerlessness. Jesus was not being caught off guard or left with no other options. No, this entire evening was exactly as it was meant to be. Jesus could have called down the angelic forces to defend Him, but that was NOT part of God’s plan. Remember, just a few minutes before in the garden, Jesus had prayed three different times, “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Matthew 26:39 NLT). Every single aspect of this night’s events were part of a well-orchestrated plan by God. They had been prophesied by God centuries earlier. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before his shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away” (Isaiah 53:7-8 NLT). Jesus made it clear that if He chose to call down angels and wipe out those who had come to arrest Him, it would prevent the fulfilling of the plan. “But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?” (Matthew 26:54 NLT). Even the timing of His arrest was part of God’s plan. They had had every opportunity to arrest Jesus before, but it was meant to happen on this night and in this manner. “But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures” (Matthew 26:56 NLT).

From this moment on, every single aspect of Jesus’ arrest, His trials, beatings, crucifixion and death, were all in fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan. This was not a last-minute, knee-jerk reaction on God’s part. He was not responding out of desperation or attempting to counter the actions of the religious leaders. He was not caught off guard. He was behind every move being made, including the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. What was about to happen in the coming hours was fully under the control of our all-powerful, all-knowing God. He had planned the following sequence of events from before the time when the world was made. Because He knew this would be the only way to redeem mankind to Himself. Once mankind had sinned against Him, there would be no other way to restore them to a right relationship with Himself, unless a high price was paid. His perfectly holy, righteous and sinless Son would have to take on human flesh, live among those He had created and yet who had turned against Him, and then die in their place on a cross. He would take on their sins and the punishment they deserved at the hands of a fully just and righteous Judge, providing them with a way to be reconciled with God. It had to happen this way. As repulsive and repugnant as it all seems to be, it was the one and only solution to man’s dilemma. And Peter had tried to stop it. This was not the first time he had tried to stand in the way of God’s plan. From the first moment Jesus had begun to tell the disciples that He was going to have to die, Peter had taken Him aside and reprimanded Him. He had told Jesus, “Heaven forbid, Lord. This will never happen to you!” (Matthew 16:22 NLT). And Jesus responded angrily, “Get away from me Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s” (Matthew 16:23 NLT). By attempting to prevent what was clearly part of God’s plan, Peter was playing into the hands of the enemy. Satan would love nothing better than to prevent Jesus from fulfilling His God-given ministry. But Satan, because he is not all-knowing, had no idea that killing Jesus was part of God’s plan. He thought the demise of Jesus would be the end of the story. But even he had become a pawn in the divine plan of God. It had to be this way. It had to happen just as God had ordained it to happen. There was no plan B. And Jesus knew that His arrest was simply the first stage of the plan. There would be more to come. It would get worse before it got better. But it WOULD get better. Because God had a plan.

Father, it is so easy to forget that You ALWAYS have a plan. You are never caught off guard or surprised by anything that happens on this planet. You are in full control and are never in heaven wringing Your hands in worry. Never let me forget that. Give me the ability to see world events through Your eyes and not my own. Don’t let me be like Peter and see things from merely a human point of view. Help me see Your perspective.  Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Day 5 – Luke 2:1-38

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The Silence Is Broken.

Luke 2:1-38

“The Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!” – Luke 1:11 NLT

For four hundreds years, the people of Israel had endured a communications blackout from heaven. God had gone silent. There were no prophets speaking, no miraculous manifestations of God taking place around them. It was a dark time. And yet, God while silent, was not absent. He had been working behind the scenes for generations, preparing the way for His solution to mankind’s problem. He was orchestrating events in such a way that every detail of His plan came together perfectly – at just the right time and in just the right way. The Jews were living under the heavy-handed rule of Rome. And yet, God was going to use the very Emperor of Rome, Augustus, to decree that a census be taken throughout the Roman Empire. Coincidence? Not hardly. This royal census was going to require every person living in the empire to return to their ancestral home towns in order to register. That included Joseph, who just happened to be a descendant of King David. So he was required to take his wife-to-be, Mary, now well into her pregnancy, carrying the life of the future Messiah in her womb. to Bethlehem.

While there, Mary’s due date arrived and she gave birth to Jesus. This earth-shattering event took place in relative obscurity and would have been completely overlooked had it not been for the announcement of His birth by angels. But who did God choose to make this announcement to? Shepherds. Lowly, ordinary, blue collar shepherds. These men were the low of the low in Hebrew culture. They were looked down upon and despised by the average citizen. No one wanted their son to grow up to be a shepherd. And yet, God chose a group of these men to break His 400-year self-imposed silence and reveal the birth of His own Son. The Messiah had arrived. He was here. The one for whom the Jews had long been awaiting had finally come.

Eight days later, at the circumcision of Jesus, two other obscure individuals are used by God to confirm the arrival of the Messiah. Simeon and Anna, both godly, devout Jews, had been waiting anxiously for years for the Messiah to come. They both happened to be at the Temple on the day that Mary and Joseph brought him to be circumcised. And both praised God this remarkable answer to their prayers. “I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!” (Luke 1:30-32 NLT). They recognized that they were looking at the Savior of the world, in the form of a sleeping infant, held tightly in His mother’s arms. What a fascinating manner in which to introduce the Messiah. Obscurity, anonymity, infancy, and relative poverty. Apart from the angels, there were no bells or whistles, no pomp and circumstance, no red carpets or media circus that accompanied the arrival of the most significant person to ever be born. And yet, Simeon reminds us, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him” (Luke 1:34-35 NLT).

The Messiah had come. The silence was broken. Salvation was near.

Father, this story never gets old. What a remarkable chain of events. What an amazing reminder of Your sovereign will and Your ability to orchestrate even the plans of the godless to accomplish Your divine plan. This passage reminds us that salvation had an arrival date. The silence and darkness was shattered on a specific day by the singing of angels and the birth of the Light of the World. Thank You for salvation. Thank You for Jesus. Amen.

Ken Miller

Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org