Tag: redemption

Lent 2023 | Day 21: The Gospel’s Locus

The Gospel’s “center of activity, attention, or concentration” is God’s gracious act of redemption in Jesus.

In Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, there are two principal definitions for the word locus.1 The second of which is:

b : a center of activity, attention, or concentration

I start with this simple definition in order to clarify today’s Gospel focus. The Gospel’s “center of activity, attention, or concentration” is God’s gracious act of redemption in Jesus. That is where we must constantly, consistently, and courageously put the emphasis. 

If we ever shift the focus of the Gospel to our ability or inability, we have lost the locus. 

If we ever try to live up to God’s expectations in such a way as to try and earn what God has freely given, we have lost the locus.

This issue of the Gospel’s locus is vital to our understanding of the Gospel and of our salvation. Let’s start with the Gospel.

The Gospel is the message from God to a lost world. It is a message that declares that God has provided a way of being reconciled to Him. The Gospel is a message that calls all lost sinners to repentance and faith in the finished work of the cross. The Gospel is a message that reminds us that we are unable to overcome the inertia of sin in our lives. And because of this inability, God must intervene and counteract the pull of sin in our lives.

Under no circumstances can we, as those in need of redemption, contribute anything to the salvation process. It is not only impossible, but it is also unnecessary. 

When we think about the Gospel’s locus in relation to the Gospel message this is what we must remember. But there is a second area where one must understand the center of activity or attention. And that area is that of salvation.

Because God is the enactor of redemption, at no point are we involved in the accomplishment of salvation. We are recipients of God’s grace. We are the beneficiaries of God’s manifold gifts of mercy and love. 

This does not mean we are passive. We hear the Gospel and we respond with faith, but this is not contributing to the saving. We are called, compelled even, to turn to God. To accept what He is offering us in Jesus. But, none of that adds anything to what God is doing. Because if it ever did, it would shift the locus to us and away from God.

The Gospel’s locus is an important consideration and aspect of the Gospel because it reminds us that God is the one doing the saving. We are not saving ourselves. We are not helping God.

What we do is turn to God and receive what God has said we can now have. 

Lent 2023 Series
  1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/locus [↩]

Lent 2023 | Day 15: The Gospel’s Cost

Jesus did not just die for those who had fallen short of God’s standard of perfect holiness. Jesus died for those who are working against the will and purposes of God.

God enters the Creation

Of the many aspects of the Gospel, the one that confounds the mind most of all is that God entered into the creation himself. We will not try and explain this profound mystery. It would be impossible to do. The best can do is take God’s description of the events at face value.

We see these allusions and descriptions of this entrance and presence in the world in a couple of places. The apostle John offers us these as an introduction to the second person of the Godhead.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:1-2 NKJV

And then a few verses later, he expounds on what that means. How did the Word do this?

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NKJV

John 1:14 NKJV

In his letter to the Church in Rome, the apostle Paul reminds us that God “demonstrates his own love” in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. But it’s not just that Jesus died that should inspire our gratitude. No, Paul says that when we consider for whom he died, we will be shocked.

The Gospel is for the Enemies of God

Jesus did not just die for those who had fallen short of God’s standard of perfect holiness. Jesus died for those who are working against the will and purposes of God. Paul says that God entered the world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth to die for God’s enemies.

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Romans 5:8-10 NKJV

In another letter, this time to Christians in Colossae, Paul leaves no room for question about the nature of who Jesus really is.

9 For in Him [ie., in Jesus] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily…

Colossians 2:9 NKJV

And previously, earlier in the same letter under the direction and inspiration of the Holy Spirit says that it pleased the Father to abide in Jesus as he walked on the earth.

19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

Colossians 1:19-20 NKJV

These are just a few of the more direct links to the entrance of God into the world.

But why should we think about these things? Why should it matter to our understanding of the Gospel that God entered into the created order as a human being and fulfilled the work of redemption?

It should matter because our understanding of this is what helps us appreciate the cost of the Gospel to God!

The Gospel cost God, in the second person of the Godhead (a reality that must be revealed in order for it to be known), a life of suffering and the experience of physical death.

It truly is beyond my ability to adequately describe what this means. In the life of Jesus God experienced what physical death would be like.

This is the cost of the Gospel. Not some fanciful notion of time wasted or resources lost.

God in the Flesh

God experienced the human reality of life in a fallen world.

God saw with his own human eyes the levels of depravity and malice to which people can descend.

God heard with his own human ears the cries of those longing for respite from the brokenness of their own lives.

God touched with his own human hands those who can become ostracized by the cultural norms and mores of the self-righteous religious rulers of the time.

God tasted with his own tongue the poverty of those who had no place to turn in their own communities, so they would follow a teacher into the wilderness in the hopes of finding some semblance of peace.

God smelled with his own nose the stench of sin and the rotted odor of death as life was siphoned away from those unable to escape the station in life to which they were born and subjugated to by their culture.

This, and so much more, is what it cost God.

The Effect of the Gospel on God

God voluntarily, intentionally, and purposefully entered into the world. And God did this knowing how much it would cost God.

Bishop Luis R. Scott, Sr. one time made reference to this cost by saying something to this effect (I have paraphrased my memory of his comments):

Jesus’s time on the earth were the most turbulent years in the history of God’s existence. Because for the first time in the history of God, the perfect fellowship the Godhead has enjoyed had been disrupted.

Bishop Luis R. Scott, Sr.

And that turbulence was chosen by God so that we might have life.

Lent 2023 Series

Lent 2023 | Day 6: The Gospel’s Power

The Purpose of Questions

As a Christian, I think it is important to ask questions about our faith. There are several kinds of questions. “Kinds” in the sense of intent.

There are questions that are searching for answers. There are questions designed to provide clarity. There are questions that undermine a person’s belief. There are questions that challenge us to think in new ways.

Questions in themselves are not bad. However, when questions are weaponized to destroy a person’s confidence in who they are or what they believe these can be considered harmful. We should not engage in these kinds of questions. The best questions are the ones that help us better understand the world around us. And even ourselves.

We can be concerned that someone’s beliefs may cause harm to them. But, it would be better to try and convince them of this and help them find another way. When questions are used as a cudgel against others it actually causes them to hold onto their position more strongly.

When people’s belief systems are challenged, the thought of having to admit their errors can be quite dissonant. So much so, most people would rather continue believing they are wrong.

Understanding the Gospel’s Power

I bring this short discussion about questions up because there is a question we have to face as people who believe the Gospel. Namely: what is the Gospel’s power to affect my life today?

For most people, whether said or not, this is one of the great obstacles to faith in Jesus.

How is it that an event that occurred two thousand years ago, by a God no one has ever seen, is supposed to affect my life now? This is both an honest and fair question. It is also a question we should not be afraid of as believers.

The question of the Gospel’s power contains several layers of assumptions that must be overcome and whose conclusions must then be believed.

The question of the Gospel’s power is grounded in one important reality: we cannot save ourselves. It does not matter how hard we try, we cannot escape the confines of this world. We cannot cast off the constraints of time. We cannot alter the reality of our mortality. These constants function like gravity. They keep us grounded. We cannot take off flying just because we don’t like having to walk.

So, from a theological perspective, what are we saying when we say that the Gospel has the power to save us today?

Let me start with what I am NOT saying. I am not saying that salvation is just intellectual assent. I am not saying that recitation of the Gospel is sufficient for redemption.

I am saying that whatever is behind the message is what has power. The message tells me where to look. It points me in the right direction. It helps me to identify that I am looking in the right direction.

God is the Guarantor of the Gospel

The power of the Gospel is that God himself, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, guarantees what the Gospel promises. Not in some arbitrary way. Not in a way that can be negotiated either.

It is a guarantee because when we have accepted the provisions of the salvation the Gospel points to, then we can know we are saved. Not because we want it to be true, but because God says it is.

In the Gospel, we are told that no mere man could do what God required for salvation. So, in order to accomplish his purposes, God entered into the human experience and stood as a representative for all who shared that same nature.

Only God could do what needed to be done. Anything or anyone else would have been a complete failure. As it already was. The book of Hebrews highlights how the sacrificial system of the nation of Israel failed. The deficiency was that the blood of bulls and goats could not satisfy what God required.

1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.

4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.

7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’”

8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law.9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:1-10 NKJV

The blood of bulls and goats was just a reminder of what was required. But only God could do it. And because only God could do it, he did it in Jesus’s life and ministry.

God is the judge and the judged

How did God accomplish this great work of salvation? God did it by becoming the judge and the judged.

21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:21-26 NKJV

The principal reason the Gospel has power is that God is at work both in suffering for sin and redeeming from it. Because his power is on display on both sides of the problem, we who hear and receive the message can have confidence. We have confidence, not in our ability to stay saved. We are confident in God’s ability to never fail to do what he has said he would and did do.

Lent 2023 Series

Lent 2022 | Day 25: New

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Revelation 21:5

Revelation 21:5

In the closing book of the Bible, we find many interesting and mysterious events recorded. And while we can speculate as to when they will take place and even what they mean there are few things we know for certain. One of them is that in the culmination of what we call history God will re-create that which had been polluted by the effects of sin. The language of Scripture is that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. And what that fully means is yet to be seen.

In the verse quoted above, we see a statement that is really a promise. We are told that the one who sits on the throne of heaven has an objective to complete. That objective is to make all things new. I do not want to speculate as to what that means. The truth of the matter is my attempt at a description would be far less than the reality still to come. What I know for sure is when it happens it will be one of the greatest miracles God has ever performed. And I look forward to seeing that someday.

But looking a little closer to home I find great comfort in knowing God is able to make all things new. In spite of the struggles of life and the challenges of living according to God’s word, God is faithful to fulfilling his promises toward us.

The apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians speaks of his confidence regarding what God has begun and how he will be completed. Philippians chapter 1:6 Paul says this:

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:6 (KJV)

The promise we see in Revelation and the promise Paul articulates in Philippians are connected. What Paul was saying to the Philippian church we see fulfilled by what God says in Revelation.

I wish I could tell you that I completely understand how this will work out. But I can’t. These are things reserved within God’s mind that he will reveal in his own time. What we must do is remain focused on the work placed in our hands. As we continue on this journey we will encounter moments and opportunities to see the progress God is making in us and toward the ultimate manifestation of his promises.

The season of Lent affords us the space we need to pause and look forward to the hope that is to come. We celebrate it, again and again, as a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness to his word and to his people.

Let us rejoice each day in the newness of the opportunities presented to us. I pray we would learn to take advantage of them. And that we would look forward to participating with God on this journey.

Lent 2022 | 4th Sunday in Lent: Celebrate!

Today we celebrate the magnitude of God’s grace.

On these Sundays in Lent, we have been exploring the grace of God. We have been trying to look at various aspects of God’s grace. In the process, my hope has been to give us a greater appreciation of what God has given to us as a gift.

One of the challenges that I have when trying to describe the grace of God has to do with its scope. What that means is understanding what exactly God’s grace covers. This is what I had in mind when I considered the focus for this aspect of God’s grace. The magnitude of God’s grace is greater and more far-reaching than we truly understand. Because of the scale of what we’re talking about it can be difficult to truly appreciate what God has done.

God’s grace is the outpouring of his love on those who have offended against God’s holiness. The seriousness of the situation can oftentimes be minimized in unhelpful ways. We do not have a means of measuring how truly offensive our sin is to God’s holy character. The only indication we have of how awful our sin is is to consider the lengths to which God went to remedy our sin.

The sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross is the price God said would satisfy the offense. From a theological standpoint, the fact God entered into the world and chose to die so sinners might have access to God’s grace cannot be understated. No other man or woman was worthy enough to stand as a representative for the rest of mankind. So God chose to become like those who had offended him and offered himself in the life and person of Jesus Christ for the sake of those who could not restore the relationship to where it needed to be. So, what we could not do and what needed to be done God did for us.

The miracle of salvation is grounded in the reality that God must be true to himself at all times. And by virtue of what we find in Scripture, we can see that God’s love for his people had to find expression in spite of our sin. But that God’s holiness had to be upheld because of it. So how would God find a solution to this problem? He did it in Jesus.

Even in those moments when I find myself wondering why would God do such a thing for me, I must fight back the temptation to make myself the exception from God’s grace. The magnitude of God’s grace helps us to see the fullness of God’s love for sinners. Even for those who ultimately reject the grace he has freely offered to them. God’s grace is better than any person could describe. Better than the wildest imagination could conceive. God’s grace is better than our deepest fears.

So as we celebrate today the magnitude of God’s grace let us look forward with anticipation to Easter morning. That will be another opportunity for us to look back over our lives and see how much more God’s grace has been present than we had perceived in those moments we felt most distant.

“Redeemed” – Jeharna South and One Sound Music

Redeemed (Hymn) | Jeharna South | One Sound Music

Such a beautiful rendition of this hymn.

Verse 1
Redeemed—how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child, and forever, I am.

Chorus
Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child, and forever, I am.

Verse 2
Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of His presence
With me doth continually dwell.

Verse 3
I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.

Verse 4
I know I shall see in His beauty
The King in whose way I delight;
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps,
And giveth me songs in the night.

Lent 2019 | Day 1: The Wonder of Grace

The concept of grace is the central reality we should all seek to understand if we want to make any sense of humanity’s relationship with God.

In the Christian theological system, the concept of grace is the central reality we should all seek to understand if we want to make any sense of humanity’s relationship with God. The Scriptures reveal that all of mankind has fallen so terribly short of the glory of God. And, because of this fallen condition, we can see how distant we can be from God and from each other.

The world seems to be growing more chaotic, sliding farther into disarray. You just have to spend a few minutes on social media or on a news site to see what I mean. We can deny it if we want to, but we cannot escape the effects of a world filled with sinners.

In spite of this reality and into the midst of this quagmire of foolishness God sent his Son. In the person of Jesus of Nazareth, God was accomplishing his work of redemption. He was provided as the final answer to the problem that plagues the world. On the cross of Calvary and in the death God’s anointed Messiah, the ultimate reprieve was achieved.

The work of making a way to life eternal had been completed. Do we still have to wait for its consummation in our experience? Yes. But the promise of eternal fellowship with God has been guaranteed for all who will repent of their sin and entrust their lives completely to Jesus. This is the wonder of Grace. That God has not only provided a way of escape, but he is also continually offering this way the lost.

During this season of Lent, I encourage you to take some time and wonder at God’s grace again. Don’t let a day go by thinking that you understand it. It is too big, too good to say that we do.

By a former Youth Student | “Redemption in Community”

This young lady is one of my (former) youth. She was the speaker for the youth Sunday on August 7, 2016 at Cordele First UMC. Continue reading “By a former Youth Student | “Redemption in Community””

Lent Day #37 | Redemption

As we draw closer to Easter morning we will take some time to explore what it means that God has redeemed us

We have interacted with the idea of redemption at various times during this series of reflections (here, here, here, and here). Today, as we draw closer to Easter morning we will take some time to explore what it means that God has redeemed us.

Redemption is a financial term. Many of us have used coupons before. We go to a store with the coupon and when we redeem it we get what it offers at the time of check-out. The reality of this transaction is included in our salvation. When Jesus came to earth, his mission was to redeem that which was lost. In what way was it lost? It was lost to sin and sinfulness. No man or woman who has ever lived can rise up to God. Our blood has been tainted by the sin of Adam and Eve. When they disobeyed God and decided to do their own thing, they damned their ancestors to a life of struggle, strife, and strain.

I want to correct a common misconception here. There are some who believe (and teach) that Jesus redeemed us from the devil. The idea being the enemy of God was holding us captive. This does not make any sense because he too is captive. The devil must still submit to the will of God, even though God is waiting to pronounce his final judgment! So, if we were not redeemed from the devil, who are we in debt too? We are in debt to ourselves. The reason we are stuck in our predicament is because we keep making withdrawals from the account and have been overdrawn for millennia. The debt of sin is the belief we can live independent of God. This however is not the case. If it were not for God we would have nothing. Paul, said it this way,

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for, ‘In him we live and move and have our being’.” (Acts 17:24-28a, ESV)

If it is true that “in Him we live,” then we need someone to redeem our debt and make a deposit into our account of unrighteousness. The only one who could do that was Jesus. When we came into this world, he lived the life we could not live; he died the death we deserved; was raised to life from the grave so we could stand before God forgiven–not perfect. We will never be perfect, but we are being perfected.

Redemption is what Jesus has done to remove the burden of our sin debt. He was submitted the coupon of his blood for the balance of sin in the world. The hymn writer was correct when they said

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain

Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain

This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
(Source)

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