paradox

I am obsessed with running my own life, but it's only in dying to myself and receiving the life made possible through Jesus' death that I can really start to live. I can try to ignore my sin, justify it or try hard to stop it but it's only in accepting that it deserves death that I can really recieve the grace that deals with sin. I can try to become rich, in material or spiritual terms, but it's only in recognising my absolute (spiritual) poverty before God that I can recieved the eternal riches that He has for me.

" Let me find your light in my darkness,
your life in my death
your joy in my sorrow,
your grace in my sin
your riches in my poverty
your glory in my valley"
The Valley of Vision (language updated)

like us

Hebrews 2:10-18

 ¹⁰In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. ¹¹Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. ¹²He says,

   "I will declare your name to my brothers;

      in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." ¹³And again,

   "I will put my trust in him." And again he says,

   "Here am I, and the children God has given me."

 ¹⁴Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— ¹⁵and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. ¹⁶For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. ¹⁷For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Jesus was God, but also man. If we fail to remember Jesus' humanity, we end up thinking of Him as a superman who died, but barely felt a thing because He was God. That is not what the Bible teaches. Jesus shared our humanity, he was made like His brothers (us) in every way, He suffered and He was tempted. Whatever situation we are in, the God of the universe knows exactly what it is like. Even though we rebel against God, Jesus didn't. While we enslave ourselves to sin and go chasing after idols, He didn't. While we give into temptation and choose something else over God, Jesus didn't. While we allow our suffering to lead us to become bitter towards God and others, Jesus didn't. So while we deserve death for all of those things and He didn't, He died to atone for all of that stuff, so that we can live. That's our merciful and faithful High Priest.

out of control

Hebrews 2:5-9

v8-9:
In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. ⁹But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Everything is under God's control but at the moment it doesn't look like it from our point of view. So how do we know everything is under His control? Because of Jesus - because He became a man and died on our behalf. That's done, so we know He's in control of everything else. See How can you believe God's in control, by Ben Parker for a more detailed look at this idea.

grace driven effort

“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, and obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”

DA Carson, For the Love of God

jesus is better

In Hebrews 1:4-14, Jesus is compared to angels. We are left in no doubt about who is superior in that comparison.

• Jesus is called God's Son, which has not been said about any angel (v5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father"? Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"?)
• The angels are there to worship Jesus (v6 "...when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him".)
• The angels are servants, while Jesus is the king sitting at God's right hand (v7-9, 13-14)
• Jesus is eternal and was involved in the work of creation, angels are created beings (v10-12)

It doesn't get any better than Jesus, the angels recognise that and worship Him. Whatever it is that we are pursuing: money, image, family, friends, sex, power, religion, status, comfort, control, angels... Jesus is better


It's all about Jesus from Jubilee Church on Vimeo.

impotent idols

Psalm 115

¹ Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
    for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

 ²Why should the nations say,
    "Where is their God?"
³ Our God is in the heavens;
    he does all that he pleases.

 ⁴ Their idols are silver and gold,
    the work of human hands.
⁵ They have mouths, but do not speak;
   eyes, but do not see.
⁶ They have ears, but do not hear;
   noses, but do not smell.
⁷ They have hands, but do not feel;
   feet, but do not walk;
   and they do not make a sound in their throat.
⁸ Those who make them become like them;
   so do all who trust in them.

 ⁹O Israel, trust in the LORD!
   He is their help and their shield.
¹⁰ O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!
   He is their help and their shield.
¹¹ You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!
   He is their help and their shield.

Idols are pathetic, powerless, impotent . There's no point in having ears if you can't hear, there's no point having hands if you can feel anything with them. These idols can not do anything, God can do whatever he pleases! (v3)

v8 says that those who make or trust in idols become like them. If we're chasing the idol of money/possessions, we end up just like those pointless idols - we've got the stuff but we can't enjoy it because it didn't solve the problem we thought it was going to solve, it didn't make us happy. If we're pursuing the idol of image/reputation, we end up like the impotent idols - we have friends but we can't fully enjoy their friendship because we're so concerned with keeping it. We have people who love us but we can't enjoy deep relationships with them because we're not letting them see the real, unedited version of us. If we're worshipping the idol of the perfect family, we end up just like those powerless idols - we get married but it didn't solve all our problems and the marriage struggles. We've got the kids we wanted but can't enjoy life as a family because we're too concerned with controlling what they do.

Instead of trusting in these idols, we should trust in the Lord. A phrase which is repeated 3 times in this psalm. Why can we trust Him?

God is your help - what will help you in that difficult situation that you're in is not more money, more stuff,  the approval of others or getting a boyfriend. It's Jesus who was willing to suffer in our place, for our sins. -

God is your shield, your protection - what you need to feel more secure is not a better salary,  that person to accept your friend request on facebook or a wife. It's Jesus who completed His work on the cross - dealing with all your past, present and future sins. 

God is faithful and shows steadfast love - we might be worrying about the value of our house going down, a colleague gossiping about us behind our back or our kids going off the rails but we can be certain of God's position towards us which never changes - even while we were sinners Christ died for us. We did nothing to commend ourselves to Him (we were actually doing the opposite) but He paid the penalty so that we could be in relationship with Him. 

"Not to us, O Lord, but to Your Name be the glory"

Jesus in the psalms

"When you come to a lament psalm, you nearly automatically think of it in reference to suffering or feelings you have had. But remember what Jesus suffered. When you come to a psalm of refuge, remember that we “hide” in him and he covers our sins, shielding us from punishment, which ultimately is the only real danger. When you come to a psalm of wisdom, remember that the gospel is the only way to make sense of the ambiguities of life. You are a righteous sinner, living in the overlap of the ages."

Tim Keller, Praying with the psalms

why do we need Jesus?

Hebrews 1:1-3

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 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

Jesus is not just a great historical character or a good teacher. At the start of the book of Hebrews we are told:

• If we want to know what God is like - we need Jesus: People look to all sorts of different places to find out what they think God is like - nature, astrology, religious teachers, drunk friends at the pub, parents, Oprah/Jeremy Kyle/Loose Women (depending on your preference!). The God of the universe is not some vague force that we can only guess about. He has spoken and revealed Himself through Jesus. Jesus radiates God's glory and he is the exact imprint of His nature. Jesus is not just a reflection of God's charcter, he is the exact imprint. To know what God is like, we need to look at Jesus.
 

• If we want to exist - we need Jesus: Although we like to think of ourselves as independant, we are not. Jesus holds the universe together and that includes us. Our bodies only made it through today without failing because he held them together. "I lie down and sleep, I wake again, because the Lord sustains me" Psalm 3:5
 

• If we want to be forgiven - we need Jesus: We devise many different methods of dealing with our sin - trying to work it off, making excuses, justifying it, convincing ourselves it doesn't matter becasue there's somebody doing something worse etc. But the only way we can be purified from sin is through Jesus' death and resurrection. Verse 3 says that after making purification for sin, he sat down at the right hand of the Father. the fact that He sat down shows that the work is completed. All your past, present and future sins have been atoned for.

drifting

We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance;
we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom;
we drift toward superstition and call it faith.
We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation;
we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism;
we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.
Taken from: D.A Carson, For the Love of God