I Never Knew You

I Never Knew You

Matthew 7:23 CJB
Then I will tell them to their faces, `I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!'

   One of the core teachings of Christianity is that we need to have faith in order to be saved.  But what kind of faith saves us?  Faith in our traditions or our family’s standing?  Faith in our good behavior?  Faith in our works and good deeds?  Sorry, none of the above.  Yet many who call themselves “Christian” only have faith in one of those to get them into eternity.  Yet Jesus warns us that on that day He will have to tell many people that they have been following a false hope.

   False hope number one: Believing you’re saved because of traditions or your family’s standing.
   Remember Jesus being confronted by the Scribes and Pharisees in John 8?  The scribes and Pharisees were the religious leaders of their people.  They believed in their traditions and in their family bloodlines and in their standing in their society.  They believed they spoke for God.  But whom did Jesus say they spoke for?  He said they spoke for their father the devil.  Pretty harsh words, but they needed to see the danger their souls were in and I believe Jesus was being so brutally honest with them to get them to open their spiritually blind eyes.
   Many people believe like this today. They feel because they were raised in a Christian home, or because they attend a church they’re saved.  The reality is that traditions and family will not save you.
“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.’” John 8:42-44

   Notice that Jesus says, “you.”  It does not matter if your father and mother have a relationship with Jesus.  It doesn’t matter that you attend church or even if you were born in a church.  I don’t know who said it first, but if going to church makes you a Christian then going to a barn makes you a horse.
   Notice also that Jesus said, “me.”   It’s the belief and trust that Christ came from the Father to pay for your sins and entering into a relationship with Him that makes you a Christian.  Remember the words written in John 3:16.  Also, Acts 4 tells us:  “There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
   You must have a personal relationship with Jesus or you will never have a standing with God the Father.

   False hope number two: Believing you’re saved because of your behavior or doing good works.
   Jesus tells the story, written in Luke 18, of two men who went up to the Temple to pray.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’
   But the tax collector, standing back also by himself, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven.  He beat his breast and prayed, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
   Jesus said about the two men, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
   The Pharisee thinks he’s saved because of his good behavior.  This is probably the reason most people today believe they’re saved - most people feel that they’ve lived good lives.  They just can’t believe that God will turn them away if they give to charities or save endangered animals.  It’s nice that you care for the less privileged, but it really doesn’t help your salvation.
   The Pharisee compared his behavior to the tax collector, while the tax collector compared his behavior to God.  Romans 3:23 tells us that we fall short of the glory of God.  Verse 24 then tells us that we can be saved because we’re justified by God’s grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
   What people do not take into account is that the standard is not how much you give to charities or how many good deeds you can do each year.  The standard is God’s righteousness.  Being held to God’s standard is impossible to do on our own merits.  His standard is perfect, so unless our deeds are perfect, what we do falls short of His glory.  When we try to offer good works to atone for our sins, God rejects that because the sacrifice is stained with sin.
   Where our works are stained with sin, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is perfect and is accepted.  When we repent and come to Christ to be our Savior it means we’re relying on His sacrifice to make peace with God on our behalf.  When we do this God gives us salvation through His Son.  Our salvation isn’t based on who we are or on what we’ve done, but it’s based on what Christ has done.  We know we’re saved when we trust in Christ completely for our salvation.

Stephen Cram                                  June 24, 2012                               Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8

What Does Propitiation Mean To Me?

What Does Propitiation Mean To Me?

Romans 3:24 - 26 

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.

   So Jesus was became a propitiation for me.  Terrific.  What does that big word mean to me?  Short answer is that Jesus was made a substitute sacrifice in my place.  He was judged and found guilty of sin instead of me being judged and found guilty.  His blood was sacrificed instead of my blood.  He died in my place so that I could live. 

   God is a righteous God.  We were sinful and deserved to be condemned but we were rescued by Jesus and His death and resurrection.  This was all set up by God Himself, the Most Righteous Judge.  Looking at all this, I can see God being the Just Judge and condemning all sinners to hell.  As a Righteous and Just God, how could it be any other way?  But having experienced God’s love and His mercy, I can see Him being a Loving Justifier; simply telling every guilty sinner, "I declare a pardon. You are all declared 'not guilty.'"

   But here we see God taking on both roles.  He is the Righteous Judge AND He is the Loving Justifier.  He spoke the Law showing us our sin and then sent Jesus to intervene and become our propitiation so we can be free of our sins and their penalties. 

   The word “propitiation” itself comes from the Greek word hilasterion, used when a sacrifice was made to appease an angry god or goddess.  In other words, the sacrifice was offered to buy off the anger of the god.

   Other translations use other terms to better explain this idea, for example: the NIV translation uses “sacrifice of atonement” here.  In the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint Translation, hilasterion is used when talking about the part of the Ark of the Covenant called “the Mercy Seat.”  The Mercy Seat was the part of the lid where the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement.  We might say that this verse in Romans tells us that Jesus is our Mercy Seat.

   The idea of the Mercy Seat fits in this verse.  Inside the Ark of the Covenant was the evidence of man's sin. First there were the tablets of Law.  The Law described what God’s standard of righteousness was, which generation after generation proved to be humanly impossible to follow completely.  Second, there was the manna received in the wilderness, which was received ungratefully.  They demanded food from God then complained that it was boring and demanded something else.  Thirdly, there was the rod of Aaron which budded showing man's rejection of God's leadership.  They rebelled against Moses and Aaron, but God reaffirmed His choice to all the Israelite leaders.  Placed over these items was the lid, and framing the top of the lid were the two cherubim.  We see in both Isaiah and Revelation that these cherubim spend their existence calling to each other “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty.”  Between the cherubim is the area called the Mercy Seat where the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled. 

   This was important to Israel because God's wrath was turned away when a substitute was slain on behalf of sinners by the High Priest. This blood was all that kept God’s Holiness from consuming the Israelites in their sin.  To me this means that for those who looked forward to the coming of the Messiah the blood of an animal sacrifice "covered" their sins like a sort of a promissory note.  That promissory note was redeemed by Christ with His own blood at the cross and God accepted it as full payment for all our sins.  God passed over sins committed before the cross by a substitution, but those sins were paid for, and paid for with a very high price.

   God justified us by the sacrifice of His Son and so could be our Loving Justifier while still remaining Just and Righteous.  Jesus became our propitiation by becoming sin for us while never having sinned and remaining righteous.  This all is a miracle I never get tired of meditating on.

Stephen Cram                            June 17, 2012                      Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8 

Send My Roots Rain

Send My Roots Rain

Psalm 143:6 NKJV
I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Selah

Matthew 5:6 NKJV
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

   Enjoying a dinner of locally grown sweet corn is one of perks of living in NW Ohio.  A little butter and a little salt enhance the natural sweet flavor of the corn.  This year the balance of rain and heat must have been right because the corn we’ve had has been especially sweet.  
   I’m not a farmer, so during those times when there’s little or no rain doesn’t really worry me a lot.  But tending the gardens and lawns at the Library where I work I can see up close the results of a dry spell and I can see the difference when the rains fall in abundance.   There have been times when I’ve walked around the lawns and gardens and I’ve prayed, as earnestly as any farmer, “We need rain, Lord, when are You going to send us some?”
   And I feel the same way in my spiritual life at times.  The scorching rays of temptations and constant hot winds of this evil age wither my heart and dry out my soul.  During those times I turn my face towards heaven and pray, “I need your rain Lord, please water my roots.”
   Joel prophesied during a period of spiritual drought in Judah.  God allowed him to water the people with words of hope.  He spoke of the autumn and spring rains that God would send because He is righteous and faithful.  Joel 2:23
   Farmers may have to endure a spell of drought once in a while, but they can look ahead with hope knowing that the rains will come again.  God won’t withhold rain from His world forever.  And He won’t let His people suffer spiritual drought forever either because He has promised to deliver “everyone who calls on the name of the LORD.”  Joel 2:32
   Dry spells can sneak up on us at times.  We feel fine and things are going well and we don’t realize how dry our souls are getting.  We spend too little time in His Word and doze during the pastor’s sermon and go home and plop the Bible on a shelf where it sits for days and our roots begin to dry out and wither.  It’s all below the surface so no one notices at first.  But if the roots dry out, the plant will wither and die.  And if your roots dry out, your soul with wither, too.
   Farmers know that the occasional shower won’t help much when the crops are dry and beginning to wither.  A real soaking rain is needed and the water has to seep deep into the soil so the roots can rehydrate.  Your spiritual health isn’t helped much by an occasional Bible devotional reading and catching a sermon once a week.  You need more rain than that to keep your soul watered.  You need prayer time with your soul communing with God and you need time in the Word digging into the Scriptures and letting them teach you.
   Look around you and see what the topsoil looks like in your life.  Is your life getting dusty and dry?  If it is, you know that deep down your roots are dry, also.  Pray this prayer with me this week, “Lord God, look on my dry soul with mercy and send my roots rain.”


Stephen Cram                            June 10, 2012                     Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8

Jeremiahs Complaint

Jeremiahs Complaint

Jeremiah 12: 1-2 NKJV
1 Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You;
Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?
2 You have planted them, yes, they have taken root;
They grow, yes, they bear fruit.
You are near in their mouth
But far from their mind.

   Jeremiah gets to the point quickly here, and says he has a question about God’s justice.  He says he’s troubled about a question that had come up before.  Job was perplexed by it, the prophet Habakkuk struggled with it; and the Book of Psalms has two places where the subject is written about – in Psalms 37 and 73.
   This question has come up a lot through the years.  Why do the unrighteous seem to prosper so easily while God’s people suffer and struggle so much?  And I doubt my take on this question will satisfy some and I doubt my words will be recorded as the definitive answer to this question.  But I’m going to put my two cents in anyway.
   The unfairness of this is what most people see first.  “I serve God and I’m faithful and I struggle and that no-good neighbor of mine just breezes through life and he hasn’t been inside a church in 20 years!”  Yes, it looks like that, on the outside.  But if you dig a little, you can get a better view of it all.
   First off, if you are serving God faithfully, then you will probably face a rough road.  Remember when I talked about spiritual warfare?  You will face opposition in life for no other reason than that.  And if you’re an active witness for Christ, you’ll face even more opposition.  But don’t take my word for it, what did Jesus Himself say?  Matthew 10:22a NKJV says “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake.”  Seems unfair, but that’s how spiritual warfare works.  The enemy opposes those who oppose him.  If you’re a child of God, you become a threat to the devil and his kingdom.  If you’re an active witness, you become an even bigger threat to him.
   Second, if someone is not serving God, they are no threat to the enemy.  Why should the enemy bother to hinder anyone who is no threat to him?  In fact, the better an unsaved person does the more people will envy them and want to be like them.  Its good advertising!  Serve God and suffer – eat, drink and be merry and prosper!   And the Christian church does it best (or worst) to make this happen.  I’ve known many Christians who have been quick to tell everyone how miserable they are!  That’s NOT good advertising.
   Third, you need to keep life in perspective.  All this around us is temporary.  You’re suffering is temporary; you have a retirement plan that’s, quite literally, out of this world.  Romans 8:18 NKJV “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
   On the other hand, the unsaved have a very different destination prepared for them.  They may get a “free ride” now, but that will end quickly and they face a judgment I can hardly imagine.
Revelation 20: 11-15 NKJV
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 3 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 4 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
   So they prosper for now, and many will scoff at you when you attempt to witness to them.  (You ARE trying to witness to them, right?)  And you will feel humiliated at times and maybe, like Job and Habakkuk and Jeremiah and David feel frustrated at the unfairness of it all.  But you should also have pity on those who seem to live so well now.  Their lives are hollow shells with nothing inside.  They face no bright future; they face eternity without Christ.  Where they are going it will be a dark and miserable place where they will spend an eternity regretting their lives.
   Today, they prosper.  In eternity, you will live in comfort with God’s throne in our midst and Christ will be our light, while they will suffer alone with their regrets.

Stephen Cram                                 June 3, 2012                                Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8