gospel

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

Remember the poor.

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9and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. Galatians 2:9-10

 

Remember the poor.

 

It seems the early church had an awareness of how easily the poor can be forgotten. So right there in the middle of their Gospel-planting-strategy-conversation regarding the assignments of the Apostles Peter and Paul, they insist:

 

Remember the poor.

 

The Gospel of Jesus requires us to engage with the poor. Not as an afterthought, but as one of the rhythms of life we are eager to pursue.

 

Remember the poor.

 

Its a leadership issue.

Its a Gospel issue.

Its a Church DNA issue.

Its a heart of Jesus issue.

 

9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.  2 Corinthians 8:9

 

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.” Luke 4:18 – 19

 

Remember the poor.

 

1My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6But you have dishonored the poor man.  James 2:1-6

 

Remember the poor.

 

17As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.   James 6:17-19

 

Remember the poor. The early churches did this very thing. In every community in which the Gospel took root in the hearts of people, their view of people under the grace of God in Christ changed their actions toward them. The Gospel radicalizes the concept of the “image of God” in humanity and compels us to see that Jesus who came from the communion of God entered into poverty and died of all people. The piety rooted in the Jewish heritage of the Apostles was amplified among the nations through the Gospel.

 

The impact was dramatic. Many historians find the social impact of the Church unavoidable in their examination of the first three centuries after the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

 

For example consider what Elaine Pagels writes about the success of Christianity in affecting change:

When I was working on the book, “Adam, Eve and the Serpent,” I was thinking a great deal about why this movement succeeded, and I thought it may have had a lot to do, as well, with the story they told about the creation. Because they told the story about how human beings were made in the image of God…. Now if you think about the gods of the ancient world and you think about what they looked like they looked like the emperor and his court. So those gods looked very different. But this religion is saying that every person, man, woman, child, slave, barbarian, no matter who, is made in the image of God and is therefore of enormous value in the eyes of God…. That’s an extraordinary message. And it would have been enormous news to many people who never saw their lives having value. I think that is a powerful appeal of this religion…. The Christian movement seemed to convey a sense of human worth in two ways. Both by the story of Jesus and his simplicity and his humility in terms of social status, in terms of achievement, in terms of recognition during his lifetime. And also in the story of creation; it conveys royal status on every person….

When we think about the appeal of this movement to many people it’s certainly clear that some were drawn by the way that this community would take care of people. For example, like other elements of the Jewish community, the followers of Jesus tended to feed the destitute, take care of people who were widowed so that they wouldn’t become prostitutes and orphans and so forth. That was a primary obligation of Jewish piety. And Jesus’ followers certainly understood that. We know that when people joined the Christian communities in Rome, for example, they would be buried. This is not something anyone could take for granted in the ancient world. And this society was one in which people took care of one another. So that is an enormous element of the appeal of this movement.

{To read other historians’ comments on the success of Christianity: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/why/appeal.html}

 

Remember the poor. Essential for discipleship. If we’ve forgotten the poor, are we really following Jesus?

 

 

12 Days in John

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And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14

50 Day Challenge, Art 1

Today begins the final stretch in our, Origin Church, 50 Day Gospel Challenge. We’ve been reading the Gospels between March 2 and April 20th in order to get to know Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

As we read John let’s ask God to help us see the glory, grace, and truth of Jesus. If you have not been on this 50 Day journey, today is a great day to start. Begin with John 1.

If you would like reminders via email and your calendars, create a bible reading plan at mybibleplans.com : sign up, set the reading period, April 9 – April 20, check The Gospel of John, and then indicate how you would like to be reminded.

I hope you will join with us in the last leg of our Challenge.

 

Gospel Training

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6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. 2 Timothy 4:6-10

I have some friends who train. And they work hard to train their bodies. They are dedicated. They create a plan. They create a schedule. They create goals. They have a vision for which they strive. Lifting. Running. Insanity. Cross-fit.

I admire them!

Some of these friends also strive with Jesus for godliness.

What would it be like to bring the same energy, vision, dedication, planning, optimism, attitude, drive to the pursuit of godliness? Godliness is a response to the Gospel of Jesus. We are not striving in order to get God to like us. He loves us and has brought us into the family of Jesus. Godliness has a quality of doing something that trains our soul to respond to Jesus. Its a reality generated by the Spirit of God as we bring our all for loving God and loving people.

Bring it!  Whoooo, we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savour of all!

In Relief

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12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 14Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Philippians 2:12-16

Shine like stars.

Darkness is not necessary for us to enjoy light. That’s how it is with Jesus. There is no darkness in Him. However, we are different story. The light of the stars is most obvious in the backdrop of darkness. In relief we see what the darkness cannot hide. So it will be with those of us who are being transformed by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. “In the midst of a crooked and twisted generation” we are to shine “as lights in the world” as we hold the “word of life.”

Messing with Artistic Detail and Reliefs 

I have reflected for days now on this art on the Chem building at UBC. Reliefs are easily muddied. And that’s what concerned the Apostle Paul. Going about our lives grumbling and disputing rather than leading into the challenges of this world with Jesus and from God’s perspective will easily cover up God’s glory in us. Grumbling has its sources: legalism, ignoring problems, unforgiveness, unbelief, bitterness, and rage. All loosen our grip on the Gospel and all cloud the glory of Jesus in and through our lives.

Hold fast to Jesus and work it out with Him!