Author: Craig

Two Questions to Ask Yourself

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Dynamics of a life with God

8And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”  Genesis 3:8-9

After the Great Catastrophe Adam and Eve had to learn repentance and belief. It began with God asking a question, “Where are you?”

Two questions we ask when we sense God breaking into to our lives, when He is calling us to pay attention to something in us or in our world:

“What is God saying to me?

“What am I saying to God?”

Repentance and belief. The Apostle Paul expressed the dynamics of Gospel life as repentance and belief.

18And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20:18-21

In repentance I have a confrontation with truth and grace, the realities of God. I have a choice to change my mind, attitudes, and actions.

In belief or faith I make adjustments to keep in step with Jesus.

What is God saying to you?

What are you saying to God?

How Hope Works

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22“Turn to me and be saved,

all the ends of the earth!

For I am God, and there is no other.

23 By myself I have sworn;

from my mouth has gone out in righteousness

a word that shall not return:

‘To me every knee shall bow,

every tongue shall swear allegiance.’

24 “Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,

are righteousness and strength;

to him shall come and be ashamed

all who were incensed against him.

25In the Lord all the offspring of Israel

shall be justified and shall glory.”

Isaiah 45:22-25

God’s said it.

“To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.”  Isaiah 45:23

God’s intention becoming reality through the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus Christ.

“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God 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.” Philippians 2:9-11

Now but not yet. Our daily confession, “Jesus is Lord,” pulls us forward into life with Jesus so we look forward to His full glory some day.

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”  Revelation 5:9-10

Jesus reads the Scripture. What he says next shocks them all.

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16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”  Luke 4:16-22


First Audience

When we read the Scripture as followers of Jesus we may miss the moments that profoundly impacted the first audience to Jesus. The first audience on this day in Nazareth was astonished. Jesus had come home. The carpenter’s son was back. Taking his turn to read the Scripture in the synagogue he read a familiar text from Isaiah and he sat down.

What Jesus said next shocked them. “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Identity Claims

Jesus is saying, this is my mission. This is who I am. This is true of me. I am the Lord’s Servant. I am The One. Right now, right here. I have fulfilled this text.

“The Spirt of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good new to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Those who believed Jesus would never read the Scripture the same way. Now they saw Jesus as the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Scripture. He is the author and finisher of their faith. The Scripture, His Scripture a gift from Him them points to Him. Jesus is the Suffering Servant completing God’s work for humanity. All history moves to its completion in Him.

Can’t Ever Read The Scripture the Same Way

They could never read the Scripture (the Old Testament) without the person of Jesus before, behind, and present in the text.

Peter, a follower of Jesus would write to the 2nd generation audience to Jesus’ words and identity of how they should read the text:

8Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.  1 Peter 1:8-12

Love for Jesus might not come first when one hears His word and hears His claim for identity as God. Its possible that we might shocked, argumentative and resistant. But when we believe, we read the text with Jesus as a word that finds its fulfillment in Him.

What the heart desperately needs

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“Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Mark 2:5

Outrageous! Four friends break through the roof and let their paralyzed friend down through the roof to Jesus’ fee. Jesus had just announced forgiveness for a man let down through the roof by four friends. They wanted healing for their friend.

The first healing Jesus offered was forgiveness for sins. That’s the first miracle.

“And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:5

The religious in the crowd were outraged. The social posture toward suffering would have lead them to wonder what the young man must of done to merit such punishment. But Jesus interrupts this thought. “Son your sins are forgiven.”

Forgiveness is outrageous. It always costs.  The cost must be borne by the one giving the forgiveness. The damage must be metabolized by the one who says, “you owe me nothing.” Jesus did not simply speak for God. He was speaking authoritatively as God. Jesus perceives their indignation and says,

Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins—he said to the paralytic—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” (Mark 2:8-11)

The second miracle is what the friends came for. But the first is the deep need of human hearts. Jesus has the authority to meet our heart’s deep need for restoration with God through forgiveness of sins.

Community that heals

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11Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.   1 Thessalonians 3:11-13

I’m impressed at how Paul and his friends longed to be with the churches of Jesus. Paul’s prayer here shows Christian community is not a natural affection or brotherhood. Rather it is a gift of the Gospel through Jesus. As our hearts are turned towards Him, as our hearts are healed and brought into real holiness before God, we are drawn forward into His character together.

Many of us long for community but are unwilling to do what it actually takes. Adjusting is painful and requires honesty, forgiveness, rootedness, servanthood,

and time.

Bastille, sings, of the longing for healing in community:

When all of your flaws and all of my flaws

Are laid out one by one

A wonderful part of the mess that we made

We pick ourselves undone

All of your flaws and all of my flaws

They lie there hand in hand

Ones we’ve inherited, ones that we learned

They pass from man to man

There’s a hole in my soul

I can’t fill it I can’t fill it

There’s a hole in my soul

Can you fill it? Can you fill it?

Jesus is filling our souls and healing us. The mystery is that He has also chosen to bring much of that healing in community and not just in a solitary walk.

Listen to Bastille.