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Lent-and-Easter-Wisdom

Easter: all things new

4/16/2006 · Comments

in meditations

On this holy day…a new people is born with whom God has sealed an eternal covenant in the blood of the Word made flesh, crucified and risen. (Pope John Paul II)

Through the cross, we have “newness of life” (Romans 6:4), an awesome fact that I often forget. Consider:

  • Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
  • Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
  • Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. (Galatians 6:15)
  • In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)
  • And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)

If you are like me, it’s likely that you read through this list of Scriptures and said, “Yes, but”–

  • “Yes, I know it’s true in theory, but…”
  • “Yes, but you don’t know my circumstances…”
  • “Yes, but I don’t feel like I’m new…”
  • “Yes, but I keep trying and I have the same old problems…”

Blah, blah, blah.

Here’s the real problem: I would rather believe my emotions and the lies of the enemy than accept the Word of the Living God. Why? Because believing God requires faith to accept as true what my senses don’t see and my emotions don’t feel.

I said earlier that newness is a fact; it is truth. And as with so many of the truths that God offers us, we experience it only after we have believed it. Our faith makes it real in our lives. So,

  • I’m new in theory and in fact.
  • My circumstances do not determine God’s ability to make me new.
  • My emotions will follow my faith.
  • I need to stop trying and simply believe.

I love John 6:28–29; when the disciples ask Jesus how they can try to make God happy, what work they should do, Jesus says simply, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent.” This is the key: faith in Jesus. Note that He is making all things new. Look again at what Paul says in 2 Corinthians: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Paul doesn’t say, “become a new creation” or even “be a new creation.” Rather, Paul says, that if I am in Christ, I am a new creation. Peter tells us that we are new through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In other words, it has nothing to do with me and my ability or action and everything to do with Jesus.

Though I’ve probably gone on about this long enough, I have to make one more point. If I make the decision to take the Holy Spirit at His word and believe, I need to be sure I really get what “new” means. This is not new as in “new and improved”–which usually means same old stuff in a new package that costs more. And it’s not new as in “new to me”–“yes, it’s a pre-owned car, but it’s new to me.” We sometimes act like and feel like (there’s that emotion thing again) God picked us up at a used car place. I’m not a used car that’s been spiffed up and made to smell better with a few squirts of new car spray.

Let me give you a revelation: when Jesus says He is making all things new and when the Holy Spirit says that you are a “new creation,” they really mean new–N-E-W; or perhaps you would like the Greek: this word is kainos, which means “new, fresh, unused, of a new kind.” I like the way the Amplified phrases it–“a new creature altogether.” Though I may not be able to see it, though I looked the same after I got saved as I did before, in the eyes of God, I became fundamentally different, other, new. The old has gone; all things are new.

Tagged as: change, Easter, faith, Jesus, Lent-and-Easter-Wisdom, new, Pope-John-Paul-II, resurrection

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the meaning of the cross

4/14/2006 · Comments

in meditations

There is a widespread culture of the ephemeral that only attaches value to whatever is pleasing or beautiful, and it would like us to believe that it is necessary to remove the cross in order to be happy. The ideal presented is one of instant success, a fast career, sexuality separated from any sense of responsibility, and ultimately, an existence centered on self-affirmation, often bereft of respect for others.… this is not the road that leads to true life, but it is the path that sinks into death. (Pope John Paul II)

As we approach Easter, I’ve been thinking about what the cross represents. Several weeks ago, I ran across a t-shirt that said, “If your son was killed with a gun, would you wear one around your neck?” It’s a fair question: why do Christians wear crosses, hang crosses and crucifixes in their houses of worship, decorate their houses with them?

I’m not sure I have the whole answer, but I do know this: Paul makes clear that the gospel is nothing without the cross. Consider these words from his first letter to Corinth:

  • For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel–not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. (1:17)
  • For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1:18)
  • Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. (1:22–23)
  • For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (2:2)

These few passages show two things: first, that the cross is central to our message, and two, that we can’t expect it be understood by those who don’t believe. This second point is clear enough; Paul explains that God purposely chose what seems foolish and weak to the world to proclaim His message so that none can boast of their wisdom (see 1 Corinthians 1:24ff).

The centrality of the cross: I know this is true, but I wonder sometimes if I really know it. It’s in my head, but has it made that all-important move to my heart? Paul seems to say that the gospel, the good news, is the cross. Jesus tells us that if want to follow Him, we must take up our cross.

This brings me back to the beginning and the words of John Paul: this culture “would like us to believe it is necessary to remove the cross to be happy.” The cross represents sacrifice and hardship–why would I want to take it up daily? More importantly, I think, is that the cross and the gospel tell me there’s something wrong with me apart from God. Too often, the “good news” is presented as healing, deliverance, an abundant life (all of which are promises of God to those who believe), but that’s not what I see preached in Acts. On Pentecost, thousands responded because they were convicted of sin, not because they were excited about what they would get.

Don’t get me wrong: I believe deeply in teaching people that Christianity is more than “fire insurance” to save them from hell, that the abundant life that Jesus talks about is as much for here and now as it is for when we die and go to heaven. I believe in the power of God to heal and to deliver; I’ve seen that power at work in my own life, and I’m thankful for it. Bottom line, though, my sickness is not my problem, my problems are not my problem, my sin is. I like to think of myself as an “all-around nice guy.” But–this nice guy would be lost because of his sins if Jesus hadn’t paid the price on the cross. And though that makes me uncomfortable–I’m confronted with my faults, with my sin–it is the truth.

And that’s at least one meaning of the cross: Dan can’t take care of his biggest problem by himself. Dan needs Jesus. And that means that I must admit to being less than able on my own.

Tagged as: cross, crucifixion, Easter, Jesus, Lent-and-Easter-Wisdom, Pope-John-Paul-II, sin

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just a spectator?

April 9, 2006

Speaking of the Passion, Pope John Paul says, “Today we are contemporaries of the Lord, and, like the multitude in Jerusalem, like the disciples and the women, we are called to decide if we are to be with him, or flee, or just be spectators at his death.”

It’s easy to think of these choices in terms of salvation…

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do I want to be free?

April 4, 2006

In typical fashion, the Holy Spirit pointed me toward another thought on freedom, following right on the heels of what I read yesterday in L’Engle’s Bright Evening Star. The meditation for today in Lent and Easter Wisdom is titled “Freed by the Truth of Christ.” John Paul takes John 8:32 as his starting point: “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” The Pope says,…

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Ash Wednesday

March 1, 2006

Growing up in the Church of Christ, Easter was nothing more than an opportunity for candy and perhaps some new clothes. We took communion every Sunday and talked about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ regularly, so Easter was not treated as different from any other Sunday of the year…

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