The Glorious Power of Christ (Part 1)

This week I'm going to post part of the lyrics to the song "Joyful Noise" by Flame(feat. Lecrae and John Reilly) and Hebrews 1:2-4, 8-12. I know it's a lot of reading, but it's good stuff. Next week I will share another passage and talk about the connections.

Joyful Noise
Verse 1:
Your boy's been a Christian, quite a few years
Victory and faith, but I failed in my fears
I heard a lot of words that have tickled many ears
That's why I praise God for the Word that we adhere
The Word became flesh, lived for thirty years
Died at 33, but after days reappeared
Jesus Christ anointed one ascended in the air

Or you can say the air where the Father made Him heir
Of all things the throne know it's more than a chair
But after our redemption yes He did take a chair
Greater than the angels name superior to theirs
This is Hebrews Chapter 1 if you cared

I'm leaning to the right
The light is where I'm running
I thought I wanted life, drunk, sexed out and blunted
But all I really wanted was the One who really won it
Fought death, beat it gave His life to the public
I love it!

Chorus:
Angels surrounding His throne and
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
The whole earth is full of His glory
All nations bow to His name
His majesty fills the Heavens
Our hearts give thunderous praise
Declare the Lord is forever
Make a joyful noise in this place

Verse 2:
Man I'm trying to lift Him high
Higher than the stars
I am not of this world like I'm from the planet mars
I love to preach Jesus you can read it in my bars
I'm pretty straight forward when I'm speaking bout my Lord

He paid the sin price being beat by Roman guards
But when He resurrected gave us life free of charge
Now me and my boys need to be in the psych ward
Cause we went crazy for God our lives was scarred

Now in the Book of Life, our names have been written down
We're casting our crowns before His feet on the ground
It's such a holy melody and a heavenly sound
Hearing holy holy holy coming out of the mouth
Of the four living creatures by His throne all around
Can you picture the scene this this is how it's going down
You just need a little faith and a new set of eyes and a telescopic lens to look in and see God
I love it!

Hebrews 1:2-4, 8-12

"But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

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.'”

Back to Life...Back to Reality

So ive been reading through a John Piper book called Future Grace. And up till now i have really enjoyed this book, then i got to the chapter Loving Ministry More Than Life. Just reading the title made me cringe a little because when i read the title it makes me think that i am going to be reading about how i need to put my husband and someday children and sanity and all my energy into ministry until the point that im exhausted. Needless to say i was apprehensive, but ohh Mr. Piper you have done it again. God has used this man to once again break my selfish heart and help me realize that ministry truly is more important than life. It makes me think of that verse in psalms "because your life is better than life, my lips will glorify you."

God has equiped all who are his to do ministry, that may not mean everyone preaches, but we all have different ways that God uses us to minister to others. Piper quotes Henry Martyn who said, "if God has work for me to do I cannot die." I know that sounds extreme until you start to think about it. God does have an appointed purpose for us and until that is fulfilled were aliens in a foreign land. Now im sure that doesn't mean go and do all kinds of risky things that put your life in danger and it probably doesn' t mean that you will never suffer or do things you don't want to do, but if we try to save our lives so that we can do ministry we've got it wrong. We should lose our lives for Christ and all that He has done for us. So lets get back to life and back to reality.

Context

This weeks blog is inspired from my reading a good friend Jason Lapps post on seeking your own agenda in the scriptures. If you don't read his stuff then you should start today.

We serve a God who has revealed Himself through scripture to us. There is only mystery in the areas where God has chosen not to reveal. This is not to be mistaken for the times where disputes on interpretation come in to play. Most often when we see out right non biblical statements made it is most often from those seeking an agenda (whether they realize it or not). I used to find it very easy to word search the most relevant word in my topic of interest so that I would have a passage to back up my statements. Thats like searching for your spouse by holding up a picture of a magazine photo just hoping that you find the person that matches the image you want. It makes you completely miss whats actually out there for something that is not.

If you take scripture and use it to see who God has revealed Himself to be, in a continuous life long pursuit. Then out of context verses are as offensive to you as it would be to my wife if I told her she has beautiful brown eyes (my wife actually has gorgeous green eyes).
I'm not perfect by any means at this. Trust me. But our goal is to fix our eyes on the words of the bible and let it tell us who He is and not us trying to find what we want to see.

Psalm 119 97-112
Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules. I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word!
Accept my free will offerings of praise, O LORD, and teach me your rules. I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever,to the end.

We are Absolutely Safe with Jesus

I have been very blessed in reading J. R. Miller's thoughts on various passages recently through "Grace Gems". These particular thoughts are very encouraging to me. Christ knows all that is in a person, yet if that person is His, then His love still covers us.

"Having loved His own who were in the world--He loved them unto the end!" John 13:1

"A friend is one who loves--and does not cease to love. Christ having loved His people--loves them unto the end. One quality of true friendship, is trust.

What could be more sacred than this comfort of feeling safe with a person, absolutely safe? That is the kind of friend Jesus is. You may always feel safe with Him.

You may confess all your sins to Him. You may tell Him all your faults and your failures--how you denied Him the other night, how you failed to be true to Him, and all the evil thoughts of your heart; and He will be just as tender and gracious--as if you never had sinned!

He loves unto the end!

None of us would want to have our hearts photographed, and the picture held up before the eyes of our neighbors! We would not want even our best friends to see a full transcript of our secret life--what goes on within us: the jealousies, the envyings, the bitter feelings, the impure thoughts, the meannesses, the selfishnesses, the suspicions, the doubts and fears!

Yet Christ sees all this unworthy inner life--He knows the worst that is in us--and loves us still!

We do not need to hide our weaknesses from Him. He never withdraws His love. We may trust Him absolutely and forever!"


"Having loved His own who were in the world--He loved them unto the end!" John 13:1

Arise, My Soul, Arise

Today my pastor recited for us the lyrics to this great hymn. I had listened to it many times before but- as is typical with hymns- reading the lyrics gave me the opportunity to see the beauty expressed in poetic form in this song. Enjoy.

Arise, my soul, arise; shake off thy guilty fears;
The bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears:
Before the throne my surety stands,
Before the throne my surety stands,
My name is written on His hands.

He ever lives above, for me to intercede;
His all redeeming love, His precious blood, to plead:
His blood atoned for all our sins*,
His blood atoned for all our sins*,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace.

Five bleeding wounds He bears; received on Calvary;
They pour effectual prayers; they strongly plead for me:
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,
“Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”

The Father hears Him pray, His dear anointed One;
He cannot turn away, the presence of His Son;
His Spirit answers to the blood,
His Spirit answers to the blood,
And tells me I am born of God.

My God is reconciled; His pardoning voice I hear;
He owns me for His child; I can no longer fear:
With confidence I now draw nigh,
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And “Father, Abba, Father,” cry.

-Charles Wesley

*Note- Author's original word is "race" but for theological reasons I made the wording more agreeable across theological lines.

The Lion's Call

In my last post I mentioned C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair. After hearing the sermon that I referenced in that post, I decided to listen to the audio version of this book. I love how Lewis incorporates great truths of scripture into his stories, and I heard one that I wanted to mention, because we have been studying it in youth group as well.

The doctrine of election can be a rather overwhelming topic and a hard one to get your mind around (that's why I will relate what Tim Senn has taught us instead of making it up on my own).

1 Peter 1:1-2 - "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you."

Election is basically being chosen by God. God chooses those who will and do believe in Him. Tim gave three realities of divine election (4 Parts of Tim's teaching on the "Chosen by God" series can be found on the BCLR ROC blog). They were: The Source of Election, The Goal of Election, and the Results of Election. I just want to share a few points from the first reality.

In 1 Peter 1:2, we can see that the source of election is the Trinity. Each member of the trinity has a part. There is the foreknowledge of God(the Father), the sanctifying work of the Spirit and the sprinkled blood of Christ.

All of the parts fit together like a puzzle and it is really cool. God the Father "foreknew"(which Tim pointed out means He knew us personally, instead of factually) those who He was going to save. God the Spirit caused us to be born again at the space and time that we did. God the Son provided the means by which we could be saved by dying on the cross.

The scene in The Silver Chair that I was talking about is towards the beginning of the book. Eustace and Jill have both gotten into Narnia after asking Aslan, but Eustace has fallen off a cliff and been blown to Narnia by the Lion. Aslan is talking with Jill about everything that happened, and mentions a task that he called her and Eustace out of their own world to do.

Jill says that their must be a mistake, because no one called them. They asked someone to let them come to Narnia and they just got in. Aslan responds,

"You would not have called to me, unless I had been calling to you."

This is a wonderful truth, because we don't have to do the work. If we didn't believe this, we would be relying on our sinful human will, instead of our choice through God's call. Another reason it is wonderful is because all the glory is given to God. We can not try to take the glory, because God is the one who chose that we would be saved. Praise God for this perfect plan that He has orchestrated and thank Christ for His sacrifice to make this plan possible!

Morality?

I was reading in john pipers "future grace" today and came across something really good that i haven't thought about in a while. It was talking about true faith and then a works based faith or religious or morality based faith. This is such a huge problem in the world today especially in our churches. It is interesting that some people really do try to be "religious" and they think that is what true faith in Jesus is, while others have the "I don't believe I organized religion" or their just downright opposed to the gospel kind of attitude, yet they still try to be moral and live by some kind of self made standard. In both cases you have a person that is trying to earn their salvation apart from he gospel, which we all know or should know is not in any way possible.

the piper quote goes like this, "In its religious form, works accepts the challenge of morality, conquers its obstacles through great exertion, and offers the victory to God as a payment for his approval and recompense. Faith, too, accepts the challenge of morality, but only as an occasion to become the instrument of God's power. And when the victory comes, faith rejoices that all the glory and thanks belong to God." (future grace, 279)

the bible says it like this in Titus 3:4-7, "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his won mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

Their is no way we can earn our salvation apart from Christ, our works are filthy to him and any kind of morality that we have will always be way off compared to Gods standard. We need Christ so desperately because He did what we could never do. So we need to stop trying to be moral and be Christs!

grace and peace
sarah B.