Tag: Jesus Christ

The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing

The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing

 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:3

… a synopsis of A.W. Tozer’s writing

Before God created man, He prepared a world filled with things for man’s use and enjoyment; however, within the depths of man’s heart was a shrine where only God was worthy to inhabit.

With the entrance of sin, a perversion occurred that made those very gifts of God a potential ruin to the soul.  Problems began when God was forced out of His central shrine in the heart and “things” were allowed to enter and control.

“There is within the human heart a tough fibrous root of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess. It covets “things” with a deep and fierce passion. The pronouns my and mine are verbal symptoms of our deep disease.  Things have become necessary to us, God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by this monstrous substitution.1“

 Jesus Christ shone the light on this “tyranny of things” when He called upon His disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him.  “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it.” (Matthew 16:25)

There is a “self-life” whose chief nature is its possessiveness, and to allow this adversary to live is to lose everything in the end.  To conquer and relinquish it for Christ’s sake is to lose nothing, but to preserve everything unto life eternal. And the only effective way to vanquish this foe is by the Cross.

Abraham’s heart was put to the test when God asked him to offer his son Isaac for a burnt sacrifice.  By his obedience in not withholding his son, Abraham removed Isaac from the temple of his heart, and allowed God to reign there unchallenged.  He became a man utterly surrendered and obedient to God.

Wealthy in worldly riches, Abraham had everything, yet he possessed nothing. After that bittersweet experience on Mount Moriah, the words “my” and “mine” never again had the same meaning for him; the sense of possession which these words connote was removed from his heart.  Abraham realized that his real treasures were unseen and eternal.

The blessed ones, the happy ones, are those who have renounced every external thing from their hearts, so God can reign there unrivalled. And though free from all sense of possessing, paradoxically, they gain all things because God is their treasure:  theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Reference:  A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God,  in the Public Domain in the United States, Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, Gutenberg.org electronic book, pp.30-45

 Footnote:  1 Ibid, p. 31

*** Photography by Sergey Ivanov

Finding Rest in a Restless World


Finding Rest in a Restless World

“ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your soul.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

One of the greatest needs of mankind is simply just to rest. In spite of the economic and technological marvels of the modern era, never has life been so hectic and restless as it is today.  At the same time, the pursuit of pleasure has intensified like never before, pleasure that gives a false sense of rest, a temporary relief at best.

Into a weary world that is stressed beyond exertion, comes an invitation from Jesus Christ to come to Him for rest.  It is a call to all who labor and are heavy laden with burdens too heavy to bear.  Christ confronts us with an offer:  He will give us the rest we seek. 

But we need to come to Him, and take His yoke upon us. Absolute allegiance is required.  If we are to be yoked to Christ, we are to put ourselves under His instruction and teaching. A yoke takes only two — the teacher and the follower, so to be yoked to Christ is to forsake other teachings, to cleave to Him, and learn from Him.

How does Jesus give us this rest?

First, there is the rest of forgiveness. When we trust Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are justified by faith and obtain peace with God.  When confronted with our past failures, shortcomings and sins that are beyond our own ability to rectify, we have the assurance that Christ has borne our guilt and sinfulness by His death on the cross, and paid the price for it all. He gives us rest from our conscience, rest from within. The rest of forgiveness.

Second, Christ gives us a new life as a result of being born again into the Kingdom of God.  The new birth is not simply a moral teaching or moral effort: it is a miracle wherein Christ gives us His own nature; we become like Him.  Christ gives us the rest that comes with a new nature, a new understanding and outlook in life, and a renewed mind.

Third, Christ promises to give us the Holy Spirit through Whom we receive the power and the strength to live this new life.  We become partakers of the divine nature: God dwells in and within us, transforming and enabling us to do even those things that may seem impossible to the outside world.

True rest comes when our souls are at rest.  Jesus Christ gives this true rest as our souls find our rest in God, a rest which Christ alone can offer as a free gift.

“The gospel of Jesus Christ only asks you one thing. Do you need rest? Have you failed to find it, are you desperately in need of it? Well if so, come!” 1

References:

 C. H. Spurgeon, “Rest, Rest”, A Sermon delivered on the Lord’s Day January 8, 1871 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, UK

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Heart of the Gospel, Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 1991, pp. 154-192

 Footnote: 

1 Ibid., p. 186

*** Photography: Heron by Preston Manning


Persecution, Followers, and Stalkers

“And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.” Mark 12:13

Since the inception of the Christian Church, mankind has witnessed the blood of martyrs  splattered across the pages of history.  And although manifested in different forms, Christian persecution persists to this very day: across continents, within countries, in communities, at places of work, within families.  How and when did the persecution begin?

It began with Jesus Christ.  He died a violent death, put to death on the cross.  Why? Because he proclaimed that he was the Son of God, that he was the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, and that he was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. These were his very words, as witnessed by his apostles, his disciples, and as documented by four separate Gospel writers.

Some of those who heard him may have said: “how brazen, what gall.”  The scribes and Pharisees in particular were beside themselves.  They rent their clothes. They screamed. They plotted. They got their pound of flesh. They were not followers, but stalkers, trying to catch Jesus in His words, doubting Him from the very start, and at every turn.

But Jesus Christ had followers, and his followers believed in Him. They believed His words, His teachings, and the things He said about Himself. No one comes to the Father except through Him. They cling to this as truth.

How insensitive this view is towards other religions. How politically and sociologically incorrect! Who is this Christ, this carpenter that compels a person to leave everything and follow Him? What sheer madness.  Emperors got riled that their subjects adored this Christ, this carpenter, above them.  The world is irritated at their peculiar behavior, at the light in their hearts and in their eyes, their faces shining with joy. So the powers fed Christ’s followers to the lions, led them to their deaths at the hands of gladiators. They stoned them and spat upon them.  And some they crucified.

Christ polarizes people.  Either His claims about Himself were those of a lunatic, or His words are truth.  He requires total commitment.  Either you believe in Him, or doubt His words.  Either you are a follower, a stalker, or something else.

And if a follower, then at this very moment, you share in the fellowship of His sufferings. You become a target for persecution.

By D.G. Vachal © 2012

*** posted at Narita airport, en route to somewhere in Asia

Is Christ The One Or Shall We Look for Another?


“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  Matthew 11:3

 Of the most vital and central importance in our earthly existence is our concept of who Jesus Christ is. When John the Baptist sent his followers directly to Christ to confront him about who he was, they in fact asked a crucial and pivotal question: “Are you the Savior of the world, or shall we look for another?”

In spite of his physical and mental depression while he was in prison, John the Baptist did the right thing when he told his disciples to go at once to Jesus, to ask and see for themselves. In the same manner, we can go to the Gospels and consider Jesus Christ, his words, his miracles, his death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead, to see for ourselves whether we find our answer in Him, or keep on searching.  And as we read the Bible, let us analyze and discover whether we come to recognize, as Martin Luther did, that “Christ is the key to Scripture”, that “everything must be understood in relation to Christ” (1).

 The message of the gospel is the person of Jesus Christ Himself, and the astounding claim that He is the Son of God who came into this world and dwelt among us, and that there is “no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).

“He is central, he is first, and if we are wrong about him, it does not make any difference, even if we are right everywhere else.” (2)

Part of the difficulties we confront about the person of Jesus Christ are aspects which cannot be understood in terms of abstract or philosophical reasoning.  And if what the Bible tells us about him is true, then it transcends human intellect and comprehension.  It comes to us as a revelation, an announcement of good news in a world beset with problems, sin, misery and death.

Hence, instead of trying to grasp, reason out and span the “infinities and the immensities” about what and who Christ is, let us be guided by what John the Baptist advised his followers: just go to Him, confront Him and learn about the many aspects to His nature and character as portrayed in each of the Gospels. We look at Him in the Bible, speak to Him in prayer, and consider the testimonies of other Christians.  And when we do this, it may well be that we shall arrive at the same conclusion that many others in a similar quest have come before us:

They have considered Jesus and made the decision to look to no other: Jesus Christ is the incomparable One, the Son of God, the Savior and Light of the World, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Footnotes:
(1) Lectures on Romans in vol. 25 of Luther’s Works (1515; ET Concordia, 1972); Gloss on Rom. 1:5 (p.4)
(2) Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Heart of the Gospel, Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 1991, p. 13

References:
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Heart of the Gospel, Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois,1991, pp. 11-25
John Stott, The Incomparable Christ, Intervarsity Press, Downer’s Grove, Illinois, pp. 15-42

*** Image courtesy of firepress