Crucifixion - Jeremiah's Vow

Lent 2020 | Day 39: “Fear”

NOTE: I was so busy getting ready for Good Friday, I forgot to post this! I apologize for that.

The word focus for today is “fear.”

Fear is the most natural instinct in the human experience. It is a gift from God. It helps to keep us safe in times of danger.

Even when we do not know “why” we are afraid, we know that something is “off” around us. It is not something we need to be taught. We have it from birth. This is what I call natural fear.

There is a second kind of fear: spiritual fear.

Spiritual fear is the fear that comes upon us when we consider ourselves in the grander reality of life. When we stop to take inventory of the world in which we live and ask the question: Why do I exist?

How we answer the question of existence will impact how we live our lives. What kind of people we want to be.

Spiritual fear speaks to the character we form and shape as we experience the highs and lows of life.

I don’t want to start splitting too many hairs here, but I think there is a third kind of fear. This one I want to call supernatural fear or “divine fear.”

Divine fear is the fear we experience when we come in contact with God. When we have a true and intimate apprehension of who God is and what he expects from us.

The longer live the greater our ability to tell the difference between all of these kinds of fear. And, as we grow the more we become less susceptible to the first two and become focused on the third.

The “fear of the Lord,” as the Scriptures describe it is the only safeguard we have against being ruled and ruined by our emotions. We have to look to God and trust in his provision.

On this Good Friday, this is one of the most important lessons of Jesus’ crucifixion. We can face anything that comes at us if we are moving and living in the will of God.

What is the Gospel? (Pt. 14) – “The Death of Death”

This is part of the series “What is the Gospel?”

One of the most glorious realities of the Christian faith is that death has been defeated. In the crucifixion and death of Jesus I have the wonderful truth that God has died for my sin. When we couple this remarkable truth to the equally wonderful truth that Jesus was raised from the dead we are confronted with a new reality – Death’s power has been defeated. Paul tells us that it was through sin that death was introduced into the world [Romans 5:12]. It is because of this sin that death brings fear to our hearts and minds and we find our joy melting away. Paul again tells us in Romans 6:23a that “the wages of sin is death.” We have earned the death that we will suffer because of our tendency to do our own will rather than God’s. We have earned the penalty of sin, but God has done something so incomprehensible that most who hear this message don’t believe it.

Even though we have earned death, “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” [Romans 6:23b]. Because Jesus took upon himself the punishment for sin He had not committed He was able to divert the justified wrath of God away from us. We still have to pass through the dark door of physical death. But through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross death is defeated and we no longer have to fear the destination that lies on the other side. If we follow Jesus He will lead us through death into new life.

What is the Gospel? (Pt. 6) – “The Remedy Delivered (Pt. 2)”

This is part of the series What is the Gospel?

As we approach Easter I am confronted with the same question I find myself asking during this time of year, “Was there another way?” The answer to this question is a resounding “No.” The way of the cross is the way that God has chosen to supply redemption to sinners. As one reads the gospels it is obvious that Jesus understood that the culmination of His ministry would be death. But there is something else that is wound into the fabric of the biblical narrative. The crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth was not an afterthought as a response for Adam and Eve’s sin.

The cross was the intention of God from before creation.

As Christian people we value Free Will and it can be difficult to resolve this tension, but the Bible reminds us that we are responsible for our own response to the Gospel. We should allow God the freedom to reign over creation in whatever way God deems appropriate, even if we don’t understand. The Remedy was delivered just as God had planned and determined. Glory to God!

²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know– ²³ this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” [Acts 2:22-23 ESV]
¹⁸ knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, …. ²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. [1 Peter 1:17-21 ESV]
⁴ But when the fullness of time had come [the predetermined time had arrived], God sent forth his Son, … ⁵so that we might receive adoption as sons. [Galatians 4:4-5 ESV]