Genesis 3:14-19 Understand the Curse to Understand the Cross

Genesis 3:14-19 ESV  The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.  (15)  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."  (16)  To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."  (17)  And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;  (18)  thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.  (19)  By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

It is all over the news.  In fact, you can hardly find an escape.  It is indeed everywhere and now they’re telling us it was here before we knew it was here.  They have us quarantined at home aside from essential trips to find groceries and such.  Why?  The coronavirus outbreak referred to as COVID-19.  This pandemic has certainly got our attention as it wreaks havoc across the globe with hundreds of thousands expected to lose their lives.  This, while the best scientists in the most advanced institutions in the world wrestle to gain the upper hand.

On this Good Friday when we remember the day of Christ’s crucifixion it brings us to the obvious question of why?  Why did Christ have to die on the cross and why is this coronavirus doing its best to kill us?

The answer is found in the passage referenced today referred to as, “The Curse”.  This act of God cursing his own creation was the result of the fall of Man.  Please review the passages preceding where the perfection of the garden was infected by the temptation of the serpent (Satan) resulting in the sin (something less than holy) of Adam and Eve.  That willful disobedience of the first man stained his kind.  That’s you and me.  We now have the nature of sin within us because of what Adam did.  And with that comes our inheritance of the curse.

In fact, the world from that point forward is living under the curse.  The curse of creation has actually been at work attacking through the ages and having a greater and greater effect.  A review of the patriarchs reveal a steady decline in the age to which they live.  Methuselah lived 969 years the oldest recorded living man.  But all of these early men lived for hundreds of years many more than 500.  As the curse persisted so did the decline in the age to which a normal man would live.

Only with the introduction of modern science, our deeper understanding of the pathogens of the curse have we been able to push back.  But are we pushing back successfully?  I mean real success.  Not just incremental improvement.  I would say, no.  Median lifespan is now in the high seventies approaching eighty.  That’s a far cry from 969.  And by the way, that life span of nearly 1000 years was not God’s design.  Man was created to be an eternal being.  Death was introduced with the curse.  None of us were ever supposed to die – full stop!

But with the curse came death and all the means toward death including yes, the coronavirus and this present COVID-19.  It is the result of the curse and it will be defeated by the scientists and our own immune system which God too created.

So what is the tie to this day; Good Friday?

Well, why would it be called “Good” when such a terrible thing happened?  How is the crucifixion of Christ “Good”?

Frankly, it was the only way.  In fact, it was the very purpose of Christ’s coming to this earth in the form of Man living in this cursed creation but doing so perfectly.  Living a sin free life.  That set him up to be the perfect sacrifice.  Not for himself, a sinless man requires no sacrifice.  Just go ahead, live a perfect life and find out.  Ooops, no you cant.  It’s not possible since you come from Adam and were born into the lineage of sin. 

So on this day some 2000 years ago the perfect was sacrificed for the imperfect.  His act of giving himself up on the cross as a holy sacrifice enables the restoration of mankind.  A reconciliation of the cursed back into the presence of a holy God.  His act breaks the curse.

But, whoa, hold on, you said that happened 2000 years ago.  Why do we have a pandemic today?

Well, that is simple to answer but hard to understand.  The simple answer is that God is merciful and full of grace.  You see the impact of the act of Christ on the cross is dependent on our faith.  We must believe what Christ did and believe He did it for us.  In order to do that, some of the generations prior to Christ looked forward to the cross anticipating the Messiah.  There are numerous examples of faithful people believing the promise of a deliverer and that faith being reckoned as righteousness.  Since the cross we look back with the same faith.  God’s grace has provided the time for this message to reach us.  In fact, He is providing time for all to hear and respond to this good news.

So what?  All this blather about reconciliation and sin and etc. etc.  Why does this all matter?  People are sick and dying.

Yep!  They are and they will continue to.  The coronavirus COVID-19 is a blessing in one simple way.  It has our attention.  It has brought the stark reality of life and death literally to our front door.  There is no escape from the cursed world in which we live.  That is, no escape other than through Christ.  Even then, we will all still die.  Well, except those who are still here when Christ comes to bring us home.  But that’s a story for another day.

For today, take a moment to reflect on the cross.  The sacrifice made for you.  Make the decision that this gift of grace is indeed for you and accept it.  You can do that right there where you are.  Just talk to God – in your head or out loud.  He’ll hear you.

And with me and the other Christians around the world anticipate with great joy the celebration of Easter on Sunday when we celebrate the victory of Christ as he conquered death and rose from the tomb.  Like Christ, we who believe will rise and join Him to live forever as originally intended.

The Curse is Broken!  AMEN

Philippians 4:6-7: Be Anxious for Nothing

Philippians 4:6-7 NASB “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

So the coolest thing about cancer that I can think of is getting to wear that purple shirt at the annual Relay for Life event.  Well, that sounds pretty shallow.  I guess it is really.  And that’s kind of how I’ve felt about this diagnosis that has come my way over the past weeks and months.  Kind of shallow, like it is about as important as that purple shirt.

Why?

Well, for one thing I’ve just witnessed two other fellows die.  One was a believer, his place was secure in heaven and the other had his heels dug in deep.  He had folks knocking down his door aching to present the Gospel to him hoping along with his wife that he would respond to the good news and he did not.  I call him the nicest guy in hell.  He was, the nicest guy you would want to know but he died without the saving blood of Jesus.

So, you see my own situation is – well, shallow.

I had the early indicators and my doctor has followed up with me and we finally got the call that indeed I have cancer.  My cancer unlike the nice guy is very early and very treatable, it isn’t the type that is a death sentence the moment you hear the word.  Very early, not just treatable but curable.

So is that the reason for my peace?

I’m not so sure.  You see the treatment I’m faced with is eight weeks of radiation five days each week.  It will take its toll on my energy and there could be some other secondary treatment fallout.  But I have zero anxiety, I’m completely at peace.  Everyone keeps asking me about it like I should be upset and worried.  Maybe I’m missing something but I’m not bothered.

All I can point to my friends is the scripture that tells me what is really happening, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Have I given “Thanks” to God for my cancer?  Not so much.  That would still be on my to do list but I have been thinking a lot about things.

As my saved friend went to be with Jesus this week and my nice friend went to hell a few weeks back it does get you thinking about eternal things.  It gets you thinking about the things that matter.  In my case it helped me to stay focused on something besides my cancer – that really is a shallow issue and so I’ll get through this.

I certainly appreciate your prayers.  I suspect that eight weeks of this will bring some unknowns and perhaps some unpleasantness.  None the less, I have peace – unexplainable peace.  AMEN!

John 11:35 Jesus Wept

John 11:35  “Jesus wept”. (NASB)

Quoted here is the shortest verse in the Bible.  “Jesus Wept” often the delight of children challenged with Bible verse memorization, this one isn’t so tough.  It’s also the answer to the odd Bible trivia and etc. but there’s more here than just a novelty.

Let’s begin by putting the verse in context.

The verse is a part of chapter 11 of John’s gospel.  This verse deals with the death of Lazarus.  Lazarus and his two sisters Martha and Mary were close friends of Jesus.  There are several recorded interactions between them.  Jesus was a guest in their home at times during his ministry.  “It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick”. John 11:2   Yes, Lazarus was sick and the sisters believed Jesus could heal him.  They had seen and heard of Jesus healing others so they thought now is the time to call on Jesus on behalf of our brother.  “So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, ‘Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.’" John 11:3  Recording that Jesus loved Lazarus further reveals the close relationship he had with this family.

Well, Jesus doesn’t just drop everything and run right over to their house.  He actually delayed his visit saying, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." John 11:4  So here he begins to reveal His motivation in this event.  We have to consider why it was that Jesus conducted a healing ministry in the first place.  If we give it some thought we realize that all sickness and death is the result of God’s judgment coming from the original sin in the garden.  Is it logical then that Jesus would come with a healing ministry that essentially reverses the curse one individual and one malady at a time?  No, that’s not what’s going on here.  Jesus’ ministry of healing was all about bringing glory to God, “So that the Son of God may be glorified by it”.  So this healing was all about the healer not the healed.  It was so that Jesus might be seen for who He really was, the Son of God.

So, as Lazarus lies sick at home, Jesus intentionally delays his visit and actually says, “This sickness is not to end in death”.  Jesus knew what he was trying to accomplish and He know what the outcome would be.  There were and are no surprises for Jesus.

As the story proceeds Lazarus actually does die.  Jesus even tells his disciples that Lazarus has “Fallen asleep” but they didn’t understand Him.  “So Jesus then said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead’”, John 11:14  It is only then that Jesus sets out to go to Lazarus, Martha and Mary.  Some time elapses along the way because it is recorded that “So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days”. John 11:17

Scripture tells the story, “Martha then said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.’  Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."  Martha said to Him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’" John 11:21-26

Next, Mary encounters Jesus and she plainly says that if you had been here Lazarus would not have died.  What Mary says is true but it wasn’t what Jesus had in mind.  He allowed Lazarus to die and lie dead for four days.  Mary was upset as she speaks to Him.  “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled”, John 11:33  After asking where Lazarus has been lain, we come to our verse for today, “Jesus wept”.  Was Jesus surprised by any of this?  No, He knew what was happening all along the way.  He knew Lazarus was sick, He knew Lazarus would die, He knew He would not arrive until Lazarus was dead four days and He knew he was about to be raised from the dead.  He knew.  And yet, “Jesus Wept”.

Was He putting on a show?  Was He teaching them somehow?  I don’t believe so; I believe “Jesus wept” when He observed the hurt in this family as they suffered this loss.  I believe Jesus hurt because they were hurting and he wept.  Jesus does go on to raise Lazarus from the dead and in that He fulfills the purpose of the whole episode.  He brings glory to God as He brings glory to the Son of God.

But today’s thought is about that short little verse, “Jesus wept”.  Jesus felt the hurt when loss is suffered and He hasn’t forgotten what that hurt is like.  Jesus our Savior knows the pain we suffer when loved ones die because He lived it too.  It’s not a theory to Him, it’s just as real as it is for us.  When we are hurting, when we have suffered loss of any kind we can turn in prayer to Jesus who is compassionate having hurt as we hurt and so much more.  AMEN!

1 Corinthians 15:53-57 O Death, Where is Your Sting?

1Corinthians 15:53-57  “For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.  But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.  O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY?  O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?’  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”. (NASB)

Many of you know that the friend I’ve been asking you to pray for over the past week died yesterday afternoon.  Multiple organ failures left the doctors with no more hope to offer the family and they made the decision to end life support.  She died at 2:36PM.

While Cathy was sick and death was a real possibility for her my mind went straight to things that matter for eternity.  Would my friend be found in heaven?  I searched my memory of Cathy’s life from a spiritual perspective and I didn’t have much to go on but I did recall as a teenager a “Revival” at the First Baptist church in Wasco.  I didn’t attend that church but a friend of mine did and he invited me.  I don’t remember much about that service but there was an alter call and I clearly remember Cathy Bozarth going forward.  Other than that, her parting catch phrase of “Go with God” is about all I could point to for assurance.

During my visits to the hospital I prayed I would have a chance to talk with her about eternity, about things that matter, about Jesus but each time I visited she was unconscious.  I prayed over her with friends and family.  Some were convinced she could hear us and I hope that's true but I don’t know.  I was there yesterday when she took her last breath, when her spirit left her body, when she died.  And in those moments that followed amidst the tears and the hugs a remarkable thing happened.  I learned that Cathy had been baptized there at the First Baptist church so many years earlier. 

Now I can tell you one thing about Baptists.  They take baptism seriously.  Baptism is a testimony of faith, so if Cathy was baptized there it was not simply an opportunity to take a dip and it was not simply a church ritual.  She was baptized as a symbol of her acceptance of Jesus Christ as her Savior.

So her perishable body has put on the imperishable and her mortality has put on the immortal.  “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 

"DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.  O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O  DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?"  AMEN!

John 5:24 Life and Death

John 5:24  "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life”.  (NASB)

Never does life and death become more poignant than when it is faced personally or by someone close.  Some of us think about these things a lot while others gladly allow the distractions of daily life to change the subject.  If you’ve followed my BLOG or Facebook entries you know that I have a dear friend facing the distinction between life and death personally.

John in his gospel account shares about life and death quoting Jesus.  At first glance you might question the phrasing as out of order but, dare I say it, Jesus knew what He was talking about.  But before we get that far let’s start at the beginning.

The passage begins, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life.”  Now that is pretty key because it is the answer to salvation wrapped up in a tidy little package.  You see those who have heard the gospel message, “My word”.  And then follow up that hearing with faith; “Believes Him who sent Me” has what?  He, “Has eternal life”.  That’s the gospel, the essence of the Christian faith; that Jesus came to this earth, lived a perfect life but was crucified for sins He didn’t commit in our place.  He died in my place and He died in your place if you believe it by faith.

So what is this life and death comment with which He closes the verse?  He says of the Christian that not only do we have eternal life but we do not, “come into judgment”.  That is we are viewed with the holiness of Christ who died in our place rather than sins we have committed.  And finally instead we have, “Passed out of death into life”.

Now it is the last that bears explanation.  You see, because of Adams sin we are all guilty and in that condition we are “Dead” in our sins.  That’s our condition, D E A D, dead.  We are dead spiritually because of that sin and it is only faith in Christ than can do a thing about it.  With faith in Christ we are made alive spiritually so, we have “Passed out of death” and “Into life”.  And that, my friends, is the life and death that matters because it is for eternity.  

So as my friend Cathy faces death in this life she is not alone.  We all face death.  For her the potential is much closer or ominous than it is for the rest of us today but we all face the same death.  We face death from this life and death will certainly come.  But being spiritually dead, being eternally dead is not a condition without a cure.  Jesus is the cure.  Do you know Him?  AMEN!

If you would like to know more about faith in Christ who is the “Resurrection and the Life” please contact me.

Romans 6:3-4 Identified with Christ

Romans 6:3-4  “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” (NASB)

This section of scripture follows Paul’s narrative where he debates whether to continue in sin because more sin liberates more grace.  Paul argues that we should not behave in that way.  Next he writes this section in support of good behavior by reminding us of the transforming work already done in us as believers.

First he refers to baptism into Christ Jesus.  By the phrase, “All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus” he means those who have believed by faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ in their lives.  This is not a reference to the water baptism of John or the believer’s baptism we are called to by obedience.  This baptism is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit upon conversion.  John the Baptist is quoted in the gospel accounts, "I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." Mark 1:8 

Paul writes this to identify the believer with Christ.  Why is that significant?  Being identified with the death of Christ is what saves us from our sin.  Christ died in our place.  But Paul goes on to say not only are we identified with His death we are also identified with His burial.  So we believers are linked to His death and His burial.  Having been linked to them we are in a position to be tied to the third aspect of Him which is His resurrection.  Believers are linked to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

The passage says, “So that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life”.  We who believed are linked to Christ raised from the dead.  That means our old life is passed away and our new life in Christ is now ours.  In other words, those who believe in Christ aren’t waiting for eternal life; we have it! 

So as those identified with Christ through all He has done for us and possessors of eternal life now, we should live in accordance with this new identification. 

We’ve seen folks with the WWJD bracelet that refers to What Would Jesus Do.  That’s actually the thought we should have throughout each and every day as we, “Walk in newness of life”.  We shouldn’t be asking whether sinful behavior is okay since our fire insurance policy is paid up.  Paul writes in Ephesians, “And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”  Ephesians 4:24  We are believers in Christ identified for eternity with Him so let us do as He would do.  AMEN!