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The Lord Raised Up

Just as the moral decline of our culture nosedives, the church is struggling with what some have called “the graying of the flock.”  Today, less than half of our population attends some kind of religious service, down from three-quarters just a short time ago.  God’s people have always struggled not to compromise with the world, and when they did in the time of Judges, God would raise up a deliverer to save them–when they cried out to Him (Judges 3:7-11).

I.  Joshua 14:6-15.  When Joshua was dividing the land, Caleb reminds them that the two of them as good spies many years ago were all that was left of the generation that had come out of slavery in Egypt, and so Joshua gave Caleb Hebron.  Later Caleb gave Othniel his daughter in marriage … and springs.  It is this Othniel that God raises up when the people cry out to Him when they realize their worldliness.

II.  Isaiah 43:3-11.  God alone would be the Savior of His people.  Before (Matthew 1:21) and at (Luke 2:10-11) His birth, Jesus–God in the flesh–was hailed as our Deliverer.  The time and circumstances were right for our salvation (Galatians 4:4-5), and our redemption was accomplished on the cross (Ephesians 2:4-6).  But, in fulfillment of prophecy (Joel 2), we too needed to cry out for it (Acts 2:21).

III.  1 Corinthians 12:18.  So, where will our next deliverers come from who will lead us to Christ?  This is the wrong question as it’s not our job.  God reserves those who will serve Him (1 Kings 19:18) and knows who are His (2 Timothy 2:19).  From the very stones He could raise them up (Luke 3:8) if He wanted to.  He’s arranging the parts of the body where He needs them to be.  Is He raising you up?

It could be He’s arranging you in the place where you are to lead many to Christ.  People are crying out for deliverance all around us.  Will you step up to help them?

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Our God, He Is Alive

Because it acts like He is dead or never existed, the world tells us that everything we see exists by accident or macro-evolution.  But, no matter how smart or advanced man thinks he has become, he cannot explain how something came from nothing, complexity evolved from chaos, how life arose from non-life, or how morality developed from instinct.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools (Romans 1:19-22).

Rather, because “Our God, He Is Alive,” God is able to help us in many ways here and in eternity.

I.  John 1:1-3.  In the first and second stanzas of the song, God is able to help us as our Creator (Isaiah 40:28-31) and Communicator (2 Timothy 3:16-17):

There is, beyond the azure blue, A God, concealed from human sight, He tinted skies with heav’nly hue And framed the worlds with His great might.

There was, a long, long time ago, A God the prophets heard, He is the God that we should know, Who speaks from His inspired Word.

II. Colossians 1:15-20.  The third stanza shows God as Omnipotent (1 Corinthians 1:21-25) and Omniscient (Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 7:7-8):

Secure, is life from mortal mind, God holds the germ within His hand, Tho’ men may search, they cannot find, For God alone does understand.

III.  John 8:34-36.  The fourth stanza explains that because Jesus was our Sacrifice, He can also be our Savior (Romans 3:21-26):

Our God, whose Son upon a tree, A life was willing there to give, That He from sin might set man free, And evermore with Him could live.

Because we know that we serve a risen Savior, we see how He continues to help us in our daily walk with Him and prepares us for eternity, so we can declare to an unbelieving world that …

There is a God, He is alive, in Him we live, and we survive; From dust our God created man, He is our God, the great I AM.

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Made Like His Brothers

If Satan wanted to destroy the gospel, how might he do it?  Since he can’t eliminate it, he would allow the story of a baby born and laid in the manger–as long as we didn’t know that baby as our Savior.  As long as Christianity is just one plate on the buffet of world religions and as long as the Word becoming flesh and making His dwelling among us is cluttered with many layers of man-made traditions, then it can exist as a lost and irrelevant relic.  But, Jesus being both fully God to be our Savior and fully man to be sacrifice is essential for the gospel and our salvation (Hebrews 2:14-18).

I.  Luke 4:3-13.  Since God is untouchable, Satan goes after those made in God’s image as we are able to choose sin (Genesis 3:1-15).  So, when God became a man, the devil had to test just how man-like He was, but Jesus remained sinless to His death on a cross.  And because He defeated the one who held the power of death through His own death, we too who are flesh and blood can share in His immortality and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15).

II.  John 8:34-38.  In doing so, Jesus delivered us who were in slavery to the fear of death because it is “Abraham’s offspring” that He helps.  Many thought they were Abraham’s offspring because of physical descent, but Jesus explains that it is those who are obedient by faith that He sets free from the slavery of sin.  It’s those who are sons of God through faith, having been clothed with Christ through baptism, who are Abraham’s offspring and heirs (Galatians 3:26-29).

III.  Romans 3:22-25.  Because He’s fully God, Jesus can be our Savior (Isaiah 43:3-11); because He’s fully man, though, He can be our sacrifice (2 Corinthians 5:21).  He had to be made like us in every way so that He can help us in eternity and here and now (Hebrews 4:14-18).  He is our righteousness and our propitiation for sin, sympathizing with our weaknesses and providing an ever-present help in our need.  And that is indeed good news!

As Satan does his best to dilute the gospel message or clutter it up with so much that is not about Jesus becoming a man to take care of our greatest need, let us uncover the light of the gospel message and let it shine forth.

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Save Those Who are Eagerly Waiting

Why was it so essential that Jesus be seated at the right hand of the Father and that we know that He is coming back?  What is the work of the King of Kings that He does on our behalf as He entered His kingdom?

I.  Colossians 1:9-20.  Jesus is on a rescue mission.  He had to enter His kingdom to deliver us from the dominion of darkness and transfer us to His kingdom.  He accomplishes this through the church (Matthew 16:18), which is His body, which He bought with His blood (Acts 20:28), over which He is head (Ephesians 1:7-23).  We are rescued when we obey the gospel (Acts 2:36-41).

II.  Hebrews 7:23-25.  We need Jesus to intercede for us.  Jesus’ constant work on behalf of those who have obeyed the gospel until the Day of Judgment is to sit at the right hand of the Father as our permanent High Priest and offer intercession for us (Hebrews 9:11-15).  And, it is good that He does as the accuser of our brethren is constantly about his deceitful work (Revelation 12:1-17).

III.  Hebrews 9:23-28.  Because we know that Jesus will return for us (Acts 1:9-11), we must be eagerly waiting for Him.  The time for His redemptive work is done, His sacrifice for sins on the cross and overcoming of death at the tomb accomplished.  He has gone away to prepare a place for us (John 14:1-4), so we must live faithfully, watching and preparing (Matthew 25:1-13).

Jesus has gone away to do His important work of saving us.  Are we about our important work of eagerly waiting for His return?

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He Presented Himself Alive

In the 50 days from Passover to Pentecost, Jesus was busy!  The first 40 was spent the work of the gospel (Titus 3:5) and in convincing proofs that He indeed had overcome death (Acts 1:3).  In the last 10, He came into His Kingdom while His followers waited for His promise of power and mission to be given (Acts 1:4-8), a promise and mission that would include all those whom He would call to Himself (Acts 36-39).

I.  Acts 1:3.  After His suffering, which would include the events of Passover, Jesus “presented himself alive … by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”  His purpose was two-fold and can be seen in these two examples: Luke 24:13-27 and John 20:19-28.  Jesus’ work during this period is included in the 1 Corinthians 15:1-7 description of the gospel.

II.  Acts 1:9-11.  Jesus ascending alive into heaven (Luke 24:50-51) answers two questions: where did He go and why did He go?  The first is important for believers to know and explain to others where the One who has conquered death is today and to know that He will return (Hebrews 9:28).  The second shows His work as Priest, Savior, and Intercessor (Hebrews 7:23-25) and His role as He comes into His Kingdom with authority over all, even the church (Ephesians 1:19-23).

III.  Acts 1:4-8.  While Jesus came into His Kingdom, His followers waited in Jerusalem for the fulfillment of His promise to them of power and mission (Luke 24:52-53).  It was fulfilled by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon them (Acts 2:1-4) and the first gospel message that instructed so many from all over the known world that Jesus was indeed alive and had conquered death for all those who obey the gospel (Acts 2:36-41), which includes us if we indeed die with Christ to live with Him (Romans 6:8-11).

Given the gift of the Holy Spirit when we believe, confess ‘Jesus as Lord’ (cut to the heart), repent, and are baptized into Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, we too accept the mission to spread the message that Jesus is alive to the ends of the earth.  How are you doing with it?