Crosstown OKC Sermons: Recent Episodes
Crosstown Church: Oklahoma City, OK
Yahweh gave Abram great promises that he now guarantees with a covenant. Abram, having played a kingly role in Genesis 14, now is seen playing prophetic and priestly roles in Genesis 15. Yet the only perfect king, prophet, and priest is Yahweh himself who commits to keeping both sides of the covenant. Such a commitment all but guarantees the mystery of his own death in order to keep the covenant with his people.
The life of faith cannot be separated from the realities of life. Here we find Abram, our exemplar of faith, engaging in international affairs and bringing justice and rescue to the needy and the oppressed. He receives a blessing from the mysterious king of Salem, but refuses to be compromised by the sinister king of Sodom. Abram demonstrates the impact that the family of faith can have on the real-life issues that threaten the world today.
Leaving Egypt, Abram returns not only to the land promised to him, but specifically to the place where he had previously worshiped God. He fares much better in the subsequent challenge, succeeding in diffusing a conflict within his own family and restoring peace to all of them. Here we see how, as our exemplar of faith, Abram leads us back to the worship of God and to the power that such worship provides us to offer peace to our world.
God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 marks the beginning of the grand story of salvation found in the Bible. The gospel claims that Jesus brings this story to its completion. To believe the gospel, we must exercise the same kind of faith as Abraham, daring to believe that God will do what he has promised.
Telling the Christian story requires us to be truthful to what the story is all about. The story clearly centers on Jesus, but many Christians seem to be confused about how Jesus is at the center of the biblical story. The prophet Isaiah promised that when the story of scripture reached its climax, there would be a beauty to it that would capture the hearts and imaginations of all those who heard it.
The Christian mission to the world is based upon the victory that God has already won for the world in Jesus. As we live on Christ's mission together, we experience the joys of his kingdom and are formed into true disciples of Jesus. What God does through Jesus's disciples is then a clear sign of the salvation that is found only in Jesus.
The community of faith is the church of God, devoted to doctrine and communion, committed to teaching and fellowship, and known by its love for one another. A credible gospel community cares for one another in ways radically different than the world’s, showing union in the Spirit, worshiping in unison, confessing sin, caring for one another, praising joyfully, revealing to outsiders the grace of God that leads them to salvation.
The gospel of Jesus is the most consequential news that has ever been heard. When one believes it, they get a new perspective that colors everything they see from that moment on. Convinced of God's steadfast love in the cross of Christ, embracing this good news makes one a member and messenger of the hope of a new creation.
owing the Flood story, the Bible describes the spread of the nation-state and the dangerous concentration of human power. God intervenes to disrupt this development and to expose the confusion that comes from human attempts to consolidate power apart from his presence among them. The tower of Babel sets the stage for God's calling of Abraham and for his promise to redeem all creation through his people with whom he is pleased to dwell.
Noah's flood is one of the most well-known stories in all the Bible. But being captivated by its imagery we can easily lose sight of its message. God's interactions with Noah and his family are meant to teach God's people about the reason why he has delivered them from destruction. Brought into a covenant relationship with him by grace, God intends to bring order to his creation through his people he has safely brought through the waters of the flood.
God's promise after the failure of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was that the seed of the woman would prevail over the seed of the serpent. Comparing the genealogy of Adam through Seth with that of Adam through Cain, we see the contrast between the two family trees. But God's promised victory seems to be on the verge of failure as the evil seed infiltrates the royal line and brings great trouble to the kingdom of God.
Genesis 4 contains the first murder in human history. It did not take long after the Fall and the Curse for the children of Adam to be enmeshed in sin, pride, disobedience, and false worship. Cain killed Abel, but the Lord still showed him mercy. Lamech, the first bigamist, boasted in killing a young man. The offspring of the woman appears all but lost. But the Lord revealed hope to humanity by giving another offspring, and through it, a better blood.
God put the man and the woman in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it. But they soon succumbed to the temptation of the serpent and disobeyed God's command. The devastating consequences of Adam and Eve's rebellion are not only the cause of all that troubles our world but also the pattern we are tempted to follow every single day.
Genesis 2 tells us about a garden that God planted in the land of Eden, and about the man and woman that he put there to manage it. This particular vocation given to Adam and Eve is a sacred duty, more like a priestly function than an agricultural one. So long as they, as God's chosen people, carry out their sacred responsibilities, they will enjoy the delights of God's kingdom and promote its joys to the rest of creation.
he creation account in Genesis 1 is often suspected of being in conflict with the findings of modern science. Many attempts have been made to make peace between the two. The best way to do that is to see the unique contribution of the creation account and what it urges us to believe about God and his purpose for the world.
God made the world and everything in it. The Trinity was at work in creation, making all visible things out of nothing. God made a beautiful world for us to dwell in, and he made it all for the praise of his glory. The narrative was not intended to give exquisite details on debatable topics, but was meant to tell future generations who made them, for what purpose, and how he still pursues people unto himself, for his glory.
Christians in a particular church should find that their life together is the most meaningful relationship they have. Because they find their truest identity together in Christ, they can live as whole, healthy people. Whatever their circumstances, they can approach the living God in prayer, for help or for praise. Standing at the intersection of heaven and earth, even ordinary Christians are called to the world-changing ministry of God's kingdom.
The brevity of life and the allure of prosperity can tempt the Christian to give up faith in the gospel. But we must remain patient, confident in the Lord's return. Those who do not give up will be the most blessed of all as they enter into the joy of the Lord's eternal kingdom.
Being rich is not wrong in itself. But pursuing riches at the expense of others, or at all cost, will come with a price. Giving oneself to the love of riches comes at the expense of an eternal treasure. Riches come with a warning to heed, but also a call to good stewardship and generosity toward God and his people.
The people of God ought to be known by the blessing they bring to the world. Something is seriously wrong, then, when Christians engage in heated quarrels among themselves. God's grace is able to put out these fires, and is available to all through genuine repentance. It is also what will produce the radical love for others that God demands of us.
When the women came to the tomb where Jesus had been buried, they were surprised to find that his body was not there. Even more surprising was their discovery that Jesus had risen from the dead. From now on, all those who believe in Jesus would begin to proclaim the astonishing news of Easter and its hope for life in the world today.
Just as God has made himself known in the world through Jesus, so the people of God are to be known in the world as those who live by God's wisdom. Rejecting the wisdom that is ubiquitous in a fallen world, Christians receive from God a supernatural wisdom. And when that wisdom is lived out in their lives, peace begins to emerge, even in the most disordered places.
Everyone knows how destructive our words can be and how difficult it is to control what comes out of our mouths. Christians know how serious this issue is because the power of our words is a feature of our humanness. Failure to control our tongues is a symptom of an insincere faith, but only by real faith in Jesus can our hearts become pure and our words lifegiving.
No one can be saved apart from faith. But neither can anyone be saved by faith apart from works. Saving faith and righteous works belong together because the Christian religion is about believing God's promise to bring about a new creation of love through Jesus Christ.
Partiality is incompatible with faith. Favoritism means we doubt the faithfulness of Jesus. It is absurd to practice partiality among believers. God who is rich in mercy became poor for us so that we may receive mercy and become rich in Christ. Mercy and love in Christ are the remedy for partiality. They lead us to obey the laws of the kingdom of heaven.
The Christian faith is meant to be enacted. Christians who profess faith in Jesus but do not live out that faith are deceived and do not know the gospel. Whatever value such a faith may give to them, it is ultimately worthless and offers no hope to the world.
Christians face trials all the time, and James sets out to help his audience endure these “tests of faith.” The kingdom of God offers us a single-minded perspective that can quiet our hearts and give stability to our lives. The pursuit of kingdom values proclaims the counter-cultural life that resists and overcomes the worldly powers of death.
The book of James is loved by many Christians because of its practical teaching and vivid illustrations. But as with all the works of Scripture, we should pay attention to who wrote this book and to whom he wrote it. The practical teaching of James needs to be situated in the practical setting of James and the world-changing news of the resurrection of Jesus.
When God created human beings in his image, he purposefully made them male and female. Although we were made to be partners together, ruling and reigning together over God’s creation, sin has caused frequent division between men and women. The salvation that Jesus secured for us provides the answer to this division, and makes it possible not only for there to be peace between men and women but for there to be a partnership between us that testifies to the reality of God’s own life-giving love.
Sin dehumanizes us. In taking away our sin, Jesus came to redeem us from the slavery of sin and restore our hope of glory once more. As we follow Jesus, putting away the old, sinful self, we begin to experience a new way of being human that transcends all the old distinctions by which we tend to identify ourselves.
The majesty of God is on display for all to see in his creation. But his creation is not a finished project. God intends for his majesty to continue to be revealed through his image bearers who are tasked with advancing God's creation project. Though human beings have radically failed in this task, in Jesus the creation project is put back on track.
The Christian faith tells a story about how the world is meant to be, and in the resurrection we find the power that will make it so. The Christian can now endure any challenge, knowing that the power we proclaim cannot be stopped by any opposition. Our hope in Jesus encourages us to live faithfully, but it is his faithfulness that guarantees the salvation of the world.
Jesus was a controversial figure in his own day. Today, there is probably more confusion about him than controversy. Just who was Jesus? You can know a lot about him when you consider where he was from.
In spite of his grace to them, God's people often rebel against him and turn to the vain promises of other gods. The results of such rebellion are the devastations that plague the world to this day. But those who will repent, trusting in God alone for salvation, will see light break through the darkness and God's marvelous works impacting the world once again.
As a true prophet of God, Micah was empowered to speak the hard truth to his people. The judgment of God could not be avoided; because of Israel's sins, Jerusalem would fall. But because of God's covenant with Israel, even this tragedy was meant for good. God was preparing the way for a new ruler who would bring to the world true and lasting peace.
Micah begins with a memorable description of Israel's God coming to judge his people for their sins. Those sins are summarized in the first two chapters as crimes against God as well as crimes against humanity, and, like an incurable wound, there seems to be no hope in the face of God's wrath. But a remnant of Israel survives and is led to safety by their king.
Jesus ends his Sermon on the Mount with a straightforward epilogue. The logic is simple; the result is complex: hearers must obey and do; the foundation must be solid. This will mean the difference between standing or falling; salvation or destruction; wisdom or foolishness; life or death.
The Sermon on the Mount concludes by urging everyone to respond to its message. Jesus invites us to enter into the kingdom of God where we can experience the life that God made us to enjoy. As we faithfully do the will of God, we must watch out for those who would steer us off the path of life.
The greater righteousness that is required to enter the kingdom of God is summarized by the so-called "Golden Rule," to treat others the way you want to be treated. And how do we all want to be treated? The Golden Rule as it appears in the Sermon on the Mount suggests that we consider empathy and benevolence as practical ways to love others.
The placement of the Lord's Prayer in the center of the Sermon on the Mount highlights its significance for the Christian's life. The Lord's Prayer teaches us who God is as well as what he has purposed to do in saving the world. As Christians learn to pray like this, they are shaped into the kinds of people who embody the saving purposes of God.
Those who wish to be citizens of the kingdom of God must learn to live by kingdom values, and these include religious duties such as giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting. In such duties, the inherent danger is hypocrisy. Disciples of Jesus must guard against this danger, refusing to practice their faith for the praise of others instead of for the reward of their Father in heaven.
In order to enter the kingdom of God, one must possess a greater righteousness than the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus gives six examples of what this greater righteousness should look like, showing that what God requires of his people is not just conformity to an external morality, but a wholeness of life that reflects the wholeness of God himself.
In claiming to be the fulfillment of Israel’s great story, Jesus alters the way his people must now live. But this alteration does not abolish the way his people were always meant to live. Rather, it shines the light on what those expectations are truly all about, and how living in this way is in line with God’s kingdom.
Jesus came to redeem the world. That means he also came to change the world. Disciples of Jesus are to be his agents of this redemptive transformation. But the only way they can succeed in this calling is by maintaining their distinctive quality and by remembering their primary objective.
The nine Beatitudes that open the Sermon on the Mount are endearing but also perplexing. How can Jesus say that those who are poor or persecuted are blessed? How can such persons be assured of the promises that Jesus says are theirs? Understanding the meaning of the Beatitudes is central to understanding the entire Sermon on the Mount.
Some think of Christianity as nothing more than moral guidelines to follow while others think the faith has little to do with such matters. The Bible has plenty to say about how Christians are supposed to live, but the distinctiveness of Christian living is regularly ignored or misunderstood. The Christian is called to learn Christ and, by doing so, Christian conduct begins to take a shape that cannot otherwise be explained.
Mission does not happen in a vacuum. Gospel and community are prerequisites that lead the believer to live in the new freedom we have in Christ, in pursuit of holiness, rejoicing in hope, being firm in the faith, and seeking to disciple others by gospel proclamation.
Soon after Jesus ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit filled every one of his disciples, and the Christian church was born. By its very existence, the church testified that Jesus really was now reigning as Lord of all. In the church's ordinary practices, the gracious reality of Jesus's reign was also demonstrated. Even the troubles that tested the church gave witness to the fact that God had come to reign in and through his people and would never be defeated by satanic attack.
The gospel is the good news about Jesus. The first Christians were overwhelmed by his life, death, resurrection, and ascenscion, seeing that God had made Jesus the world's true Lord. Confident that, with Jesus as Lord, the world could no longer remain the same, they began to proclaim salvation in no one else, boldly inviting everyone to join them as citizens of God's kingdom.
The gospel of Jesus changes lives. No one who has received the love of God in Jesus can ever be the same. Of course, a Christian may still act contrary to the gospel he has believed; it can even be challenging to know how a Christian ought to act. But the foundation for Christian living is always the good news that Jesus loved us and gave himself for us.
As Jesus spoke of his coming death, his disciples became confused and afraid. Jesus assured them that everything was going according to God's plan, and that he would give them another helper to carry on his mission. The sending of God's Holy Spirit would equip disciples of Jesus with everything they would need to fulfill God's kingdom purposes through their lives.
Just as God revealed his glory to Moses at Sinai, the Christian claim is that God has revealed his glory again. In Jesus Christ, the glory of God was put on full display for everyone to see. All who will receive God's incarnate glory will begin to reflect that same glory into the world, an attractive combination of grace and truth.
Communion with God, Incarnation, Life, Atonement, Judgment, Fear SUMMARY: Who is God? And what is he like? The entire story of the Bible, culminating in the incarnation of the Son of God, tells us that God is love. When we come to see the love of the Father, we will be transformed into God-like lovers ourselves.
Christians have been given the enormous privilege of enjoying communion with the one true God. Since Jesus is Lord, communion with God consists in submitting entirely to his rule and reign. This willing submission is a great mercy as we come to find deep satisfaction in his gracious kingdom.
Ezekiel’s final vision concludes with a description of how the holy land is divided among the twelve tribes of Israel as their inheritance. The New Testament builds upon this image. With Jesus as our foundation, God’s people are to take seriously the life they have been given in Christ as stewards of a sacred inheritance.
Ezekiel’s tour of the temple comes to an end as he is shown a trickle of water flowing out from the temple and growing into a large river. Here we find one of the Bible’s most frequent images for the world made right. It is an image meant to encourage God’s people to remain steadfast in faith and service, confident that God is at work in them and through them to cause life to emerge even in the most barren places.
During Ezekiel's tour of the temple, he not only sees how big the temple is and how it is designed, he also hears the laws that govern its use. These laws ensure that the temple remains a sacred place where God can dwell among his people. But they also address the moral wrongs that his people have committed against each other, so that they never again have to fear the judgment of exile and broken fellowship with God or with one another.
Ezekiel’s final prophecy begins with a tour of the new temple in the new Jerusalem. His guide carefully measures the temple’s dimensions as the prophet describes some of its distinctive features. When the tour is complete, Ezekiel sees an amazing sight: the return of the glory of the Lord to the temple with the promise to never leave it again.
God's promise to restore his people from their exile would not be complete without a fight. Ezekiel tells of a final battle, when an enemy horde advances against God's people while they live securely in their land. But God will defend his people, having mercy on them in order that he might vindicate his holiness through them.
Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones might have been one text that helped Jesus's disciples think through the implications of the surprise of Easter morning. What appeared to be the end of their hope had become the beginning of another story, one in which the curse of sin had been lifted and death was no longer a threat. The mystery of a new creation was now upon them, with the excitement of following their Savior and doing his bidding in his glorious kingdom.
The promised end to exile was better news than Israel could ever imagine. Taken out of the land under God's curse, Israel would be restored to the land under God's blessing. When the exile was finally over, the earth and all who dwell in it would stand as a testimony to God's transformative grace.
The news of Jerusalem's final fall to the Babylonians came as a devastating blow to Israel's exiles. They knew that God had brought judgment on them for their sins, but now it seemed as if all hope for forgiveness was gone. Yet, God opened Ezekiel's mouth to deliver a new prophecy--the promise of God to fulfill his covenant blessings to Israel by delivering them from their captivity by his own hand.
In these three chapters of the Song of Songs, the female voice describes how gratifying love is to her and the trouble she will endure to enjoy it. The male voice describes how terrifying love is to him though he cannot seem to take his eyes off of it. Together, the two lovers tell us how unifying love is for all with its promise to lead us closer to the world the way it was always meant to be.
Song of Songs focuses on love between the married. But love is ordained by God for people of all statuses. We tend to see singleness as a suboptimal condition, one to be freed from, rather than one to worship God in. The truth is that love is for singles too, who can experience various dimensions of God’s love for them and reflect it in their lives. And the body of Christ is well served in knowing how to benefit from singles and how to love them well.
The most explicit language in the Song of Songs is in chapter four. As the man describes his lover and the effect she has on him, we sense that he has been conquered by her love. Their sexual union is like a garden paradise, and entering into it is a cause for great celebration.
In this passage, the female voice tells three mini-stories about love. The first explores the importance of commitment. The second demonstrates the ongoing search for that commitment. The third, with the metaphor of a royal wedding, encourages us to see that the pursuit of committed love is worth all the effort.
The Song of Songs celebrates romantic love, describing it as one of the many beautiful realities in God's world. Many people struggle to see our bodies as beautiful as God sees them, and self-esteem is a terrifically challenging thing to deal with. But when we are really seen by another and cherished by another for our natural beauty, what we experience is a love that is set like a guard over our fragile view of ourselves.
The Song of Songs celebrates the pleasures of sexual intimacy. As part of Holy Scripture, it not only endorses such pleasure but also encourages us to consider how this is related to the hope of the Christian gospel. God has redeemed all aspects of our humanity so that we might experience the rhapsody of being fully known, loved, and enjoyed forever.
Every life is wonderfully precious. From conception to natural death, life is holy and the right to life is absolute.
A king's subjects pray that he be wise and just to all. They hope that he will solve all problems in a way that unites everyone. In our world, racial tension and ethnic division continue to cause problems that seem to have no solution. But Christians remain optimistic because of the unifying pow er of the kingdom of God that has come in Jesus.
What comes to mind when you think of missions? Far away places, exotic customs, gospel poverty, a short term trip to serve the needy? Maybe for you, mission feels a bit like a burden, something good, something that should be done, but overwhelming. Whatever comes to mind, what is essential is that we understand mission from God's Word. That will be what will keep us on track in our mission, and it will also be what provides the greatest motivation. When we look at God's Word we find that mission flows out of God's heart, and it's his love that will change mission from an uncomfortable responsibility into a joy.
The beginning of every year brings with it reflections and resolutions. The word of God reminds us that every day is from him and for him. And that he resolves to crown the life of his children with his goodness, even extending his blessing to others through them. It is imperative for us as children to render to him the thanksgiving due his name, and the praise that befits him.
On the night Jesus was born, the good news was first announced to a group of shepherds who were preoccupied with their mundane task of guarding the sheep overnight. They hurried off to Bethlehem to make known the message they had received. And undoubtedly they, and everyone else who heard the news, never saw their daily duties the same again.
God will bring to an end every global power that his people cannot trust so that he alone is the hope of their salvation.
Because God promised to restore order to his world through his people, he does not allow them to become like the nations who surround them. God intervenes throughout history to frustrate the progress of human civilization and the dark power that lurks behind it. Freeing his people from evil entanglements, God promises to manifest his holiness in them so that the whole world will flourish and God's glory will shine forever.
God will kill every remnant of sinful disease in his people so that they might bring the flourishing of his kingdom into the world again.
The righteous judgment of God assures his people that God will fulfills his promise to bring justice to the world.
The impending fall of Jerusalem was not to be interpreted as the end of God's kingdom on earth. Instead, God declared that he was replanting his kingdom in new soil so it would grow stronger than ever before. As God's people wait for the kingdom to grow, they must turn from their sins and submit to its righteous demands so they do not die with the powerless ways of the kingdoms of men.
The biblical concept of sin can only be explained in the context of a relationship of love between God and his people. Sin is not just doing something God doesn't like. It is engaging in shameful, dehumanizing acts that bring misery into God's world. God's response to sin is not simply to judge the sinner but rather to cleans his world of all sin's shameful consequences.
With the fall of Jerusalem looming, Ezekiel performs another sign-act in hopes of bringing Israel out of their rebellion against their God. The people have become apathetic toward God's word, deceived and misled by their own prophets. Until their hearts are cleansed of their idols, the people of God will remain estranged from him and his covenant promises toward them.
The announcement of God's judgment on Israel is devastating. God has made plain to Ezekiel that he will wipe out Israel's idolatrous ways. But the redemptive nature of God's judgment is also made plain in the repeated refrain, "And they shall know that I am the LORD."
Having been called to be a prophet, Ezekiel must be initiated into this vocation. He will need to be transformed by fully embracing the severe judgment of God against sin. When he does so, the hope of God's mercy will begin to emerge from the ashes of God's terrible wrath.
God sends his church like he sent Israel's prophets in order to accomplish his mission in the world.
The book of Ezekiel begins with the prophet's close encounter with the God of Israel. Though the experience was surreal, Ezekiel manages to communicate vividly the absolute power of God. His omnipotence is revealed by his commanding presence in all creation and by his determination to bring justice everywhere through his re-creating voice.
The prophecies of Ezekiel take place around the time that Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians. The prophet ministered to his fellow Jews in exile who were disillusioned with God and growing complacent in their faith. So God seized control of Ezekiel, turning him into a living sign that God remained firmly in control over his people and would bring their tragic story to a glorious end.
To be a Christian is to embody the mission of Christ’s gracious invitation into the transforming power of the kingdom of God.
The gospel is primarily about God who is central to it. Central to the story is Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Without resurrection, there is no hope. But Christ is risen, and his resurrection has irreversibly set in motion events that cannot be but brought to full fruition, namely the resurrection of believers and the defeat of death. Christ’s resurrection demands our resurrection; otherwise, death is never defeated, and God cannot be “all in all.” Therefore, our worship every week should joyfully proclaim: Christ is risen! And we will rise again with him.
Those who have experienced the love of God in Christ now possess the greatest transforming power the world has ever known.
Paul has been advocating for unity in the church since the beginning of ch.14. First, in non-essential matters, he called for welcoming the weak in faith by not despising, judging, hindering, grieving nor destroying the one for whom Christ died. Now he calls the strong to welcome the weak in humility and for edification, not seeking self-pleasure, sustained by the hope of God’s word, following the example of Christ who calls for hospitality in the community and unity in heart and in mind, in spirit and in voice, for the glory of God.
Christian liberty serves the greater purpose of a loving community in which God's work will thrive.
The Christian's attitude toward civil authority ought to reflect our understanding of how God is now reigning over his world.
Where the minds of people are renewed by the mercies of God, communities of faith emerge that exemplify the genuine love of God.
Christians should respond to the biblical story with a healthy fear of God's severity and also with an unashamed enjoyment of God's kindness.
Now that Israel's story has come to its intended end, membership in the new covenant is open to all who believe in Israel's Messiah.
The great promise of God in the gospel depends greatly on the success of Israel, the family of Abraham. Israel's rejection of Jesus as their Messiah appears to put the gospel promise in jeopardy, but, as Israel's own history reveals, it actually advances the promise. The sovereign purposes of God are never hindered by the faithlessness of men. Instead, the renewal of God's people through judgment testifies to the abundant mercy of God as the decisive factor in seeing his promises fulfilled.
Having explored the wonders of the salvation God has brought to all who are united to Christ, Paul turns now to a glaring problem. What about the fact that so many ethnic Jews are cut off from Christ? This is a cause of great concern because it seems to suggest that God has not kept his promise to his chosen people. And if that is the case, then there can be no assurance for the Christian today. The salvation of Israel is an absolute necessity.
If we as Christians can see the conclusive victory that Christ has achieved for us, we will be able to carry out our mission together as his church. We will be confident of success because we see that every possible opposition simply cannot last long. We never need to compromise with the defeated powers of darkness because we can never be separated from the matchless love of God for us.
Christians live in the age of the Holy Spirit, who not only is the assuring presence of God with us but also the assisting power of God within us. The Holy Spirit helps the church fulfill her sacred call to make known to everyone the glory of her God. Through prayer and confidence in God's sanctifying providence, every Christian grows into the mature member of God's beloved family that he has determined to make for himself.
The problem of suffering has been inherent to life since the fall. Our sin marred all creation, and all suffering is an indicator of our sin. As we suffer presently, we patiently expect the consummation of the freedom of the glory of the children of God. This is received in Christ and sustained by the Spirit assuring us of the promised future: the revelation of the glory of God; the resurrection of believers; the renewal of all creation.
Because of the realities of the new life in the Spirit that have been declared in the preceding verses, Paul brings us to a passage that acts as application for living by the Spirit, underwritten by the work of the Holy Spirit for life, sanctification, adoption, and assurance.
The achievement of Christ's death and resurrection means that Christians live in the era the Old Testament had promised would come with the Messiah. God once again dwells powerfully among his people who all possess God's own Holy Spirit. God's presence with his people gives them the assurance they need though they suffer in their mortal lives, guaranteed that their bodies will be raised from the dead just as Christ himself was.
The death of Christ on the cross achieved several things. Having sentenced sin itself to death, the result of Christ's victory can only be described as life. Although the full realization of this life remains in the future, the certainty of the future brings new realities into the present, and we begin to see now what the future will be like.
The gospel is news of joy to the world because Jesus came to condemn the power that held the world in the condemnation of death. In the carnation, God himself took on our human nature so he could take on sin fully in our place. Jesus came to be our sin-offering, setting us free from condemnation so we might enjoy life in harmony with the Holy Spirit.
Although God's Law provided the opportunity for sin to increase, this was all done in accordance with God's plan. After God chose Israel to be his people and to bring hope to the world, sin exhausted all its power to bring Israel down and to topple God's plan. But the trick was on sin itself, and the stage was now set for the true light of the world to be seen at last.
The Christian life requires the believer to comprehend the scope of what has happened by being united to Christ. Having died with Christ, we've been released from the bondage of our old relationship. But we've also entered into a new relationship of endless joy and delight since the Holy Spirit empowers the way we now live.
To be a Christian is to be united to Christ, and to be united to Christ is to be victorious over the devastating power of sin. Consequently, the Christian is encouraged to fight sin with the superior power of God's grace. As we see the benefits we have from the freedom Christ has given us, the allure of sin will diminish, and we will grow in the holiness that ends in eternal life.
The prevailing power of grace over sin is good news not only for justification but also for sanctification. As benefits found in union with Christ, these two things belong together. Christian baptism reminds us that we are united to Christ in both his death and resurrection, so that the reign of sin has ended and the Christian can enjoy the freedom of life in the kingdom of God.
There is no foe more powerful than sin and death. Where sin prevails, death triumphs, and there is no opportunity even for a re-match. But the grace of God found in Jesus Christ is a much greater power than sin and death. Those who receive the abundance of grace will reign in life through the victory Christ has won for us.
If we are justified by faith in Christ, then there are many other benefits that are ours to enjoy. These benefits are also guaranteed; nothing can take them away from us. These benefits are gifts of God's astounding love, demonstrated at the cross of Christ and realized in the resurrected life of Christ in which we now share.
The promise of God to save all of creation is under jeopardy because of the repeated failure of Israel to uphold his righteous law. But in the faithfulness of Israel's Messiah, the righteousness of God to both punish sin and to deliver his people from it has been upheld. Now all of God's people can promote the peace of God's kingdom that has already been established on earth.
God is a righteous judge who shows no partiality to anyone. But what does this mean for Israel, God's chosen people? Has their faithlessness nullified God promise to them? Because God's faithfulness is not dependent on any one else's, his saving purposes can never depend on the frail hope of human ability. Salvation must come from somewhere else, for Jew and Gentile alike.
God shows no favoritism. Because he has promised to redeem his creation, God will not tolerate sin in anyone. Those whom God redeems must not depend on any visible symbol for their identity. The only genuine marker for the people of God is found within.
The same gospel that proves that God is righteous to save sinners also proves that God is righteous to judge sinners. All sinners are without excuse in spite of the sinful condition into which they are born. The abomination we can see in others gives us a glimpse of the uncleanness of our own hearts, and is meant to prevent us from looking to ourselves for any hope of escaping God's righteous wrath.
Having heard about the faith of the Christians in Rome, Paul was eager to meet them. He wanted to strengthen them in the gospel he preached and to encourage more obedient belief in Jesus. His confidence in the gospel as the power of God for salvation stemmed from the demonstration of God's own righteousness in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Summaries of the gospel may be helpful, but they can also keep us from grasping just how good the gospel is and thereby dampening our witness to the world.
God has given to every Christian everything necessary to live a life of godliness. Because we can truly know God through Jesus Christ, we must be encouraged to look for the fruit of knowing Christ in our lives now. Seeing that fruit will keep us following after him and guarantee us a lavish entrance into the fullness of his coming kingdom.
Holiness is the definitive attribute of God. It calls us to have a high view of him and exalt him. When we encounter his holiness, our unholiness is revealed and we are undone. We are in desperate need of atonement which the holy God initiates and grants us by his own doing. After our transformation, our right response is eagerness for obedience and for holiness.
Israel's second return from exile in Babylon now complete, a new threat emerges when it is discovered that many of the returnees have entered into marriage with the pagan peoples of the land. The seriousness of sin within the covenant community is evident in the prayer Ezra prays when he heard the news. As appalling as sin within the community may be, there is still hope for God's people so long as they persist in seeking God for mercy and wisdom.
God has again stirred a Persian king to permit a remnant of exiles to return to the land of Israel. Ezra takes courage from this evidence of God's grace and gathers the people for the journey. The story of this second return from exile demonstrates that it is only by grace that God's people are able to persevere in faithful obedience to God and his will.
God has been providentially working to return his people from exile, working in the heart of pagan kings and the heart of his covenant people. His faithfulness to his covenant includes a return to the true covenant worship of the covenant God, raising a man to lead his covenant people to return to the Law in the covenant city. Indeed, without studying, doing and teaching the Law, and for us today the gospel, true worship will often falter and give way to fallacies and idolatry.
The rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem finally complete, the sixth chapter of Ezra reflects on how it all came about. In spite of the many attempts to halt the work, the providential power of God is made plain in the events of history. By tracing the evidence of God’s providence, we see that God’s kingdom advances on earth in a way that is meant to maximize the joy of God’s people forever.
The people of God can quickly lose their hope when faced with opposition to their faith. God sends his prophets to rekindle hope and to call his people to action. When we respond to God's prophets with obedient faith, we can be certain of God's protective presence as we carry out our calling and advance his kingdom on earth.
Once the Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon began to rebuild their temple, they faced opposition from the people who were already living there before they returned. These adversaries succeeded in halting the construction of the temple for the next 15 years. The same kind of opposition against God's people has continued throughout history, a satanic hostility that wars against Israel's temple, God, and kingdom.
Having returned to their homeland, the people of Israel made it a priority to reestablish the routines of worship. They had learned how important worship was to maintain their distinctive identity as the people of God. Although their worship would not look exactly the same as it had before the exile, the praise of God's goodness and love for them would sustain them in the challenges that lay ahead.
The book of Ezra tells the story of Israel's return to Jerusalem at the end of their captivity in Babylon. Allowed to return home by the decree of the Persian king, Cyrus, the exiles set out to restore their religious identity by rebuilding the temple. But the opposition they encountered, from without and within, was a demonstration of the fact that the journey home would be longer than they had anticipated.
We worship God because of the majesty he possesses as king of the world. No one compares to him either in his exaltation or in his beneficent rule. For the same God who created the world oversees its bounty to ensure that his creatures are filled with praise at all that God has done.
The power of God's kingdom comes only after the Christ suffers and dies. And everyone who wants to follow him to victory must walk a similar road and experience a similar loss. Those who lose their lives for Christ and for his gospel will find him to be better than any other life they could achieve without him.
As the long-awaited Messiah, Jesus not only fulfilled prophecy but also made promises of his own. One of those promises was that he would establish a new community around himself. Built upon a solid foundation, this new community is sure to stand against all demonic attacks. And in this new community, the authority of heaven itself has broken in upon the earth.
What is a Christian? How does one become a Christian? In the story of Paul's "Damascus Road" experience, we find an answer to questions like these. Being a Christian involves encountering the resurrected Christ, treasuring him as our greatest hope, and being set free from the power of Satan as we are conformed to his resurrected power.
The resurrection of Jesus is not only essential to the Christian faith, it is also the essence of the Christian life. That's because what happened to Jesus on Easter Sunday is what Christians hope will happen to them. The power that brought Jesus back from the dead is the same power that is at work in us to sustain our faith in Jesus and what he has won for us by his resurrection.
Christians live under the pressure to conform to the standards of the world. So they cannot fellowship with church members who also refuse to live by the standards of God's kingdom. Though Christians may often find themselves in conflict with others, they can experience the peace of knowing that God is with them in all their good endeavors.
Christian conduct is just as important as Christian belief. The way we live as Christians ought to demonstrate that our lives are to lived for the glory of God alone. Consequently, we must pay attention not only to the apostolic teaching on faith but also to the apostolic example in how we behave.
Prayer is one of the primary tools of the Christian life. It depends upon the faithfulness of God both to his mission as well as to his people. Through prayer the Christian is empowered as he draws strength from the steadfast love of God and the unyielding endurance of Christ.
The promised return of Jesus and the arrival of the Day of the Lord will reveal the righteous judgment of God against those who have rebelled against him. But even now God's great love for his own is made manifest through the gospel that they believe. And it is this love that comforts and encourages the believers in their daily vocations.
Christians are told to anticipate the return of Jesus. In this way, they are empowered to live faithfully in the difficult days ahead of them. They can expect, however, that they will be tempted by speculation about the end times that deceives and distracts them from doing God's will and falling instead for the seduction of Satan.
The Apostle Paul begins his second letter to the Thessalonians by again rejoicing in the evidence of God's grace in them. He encourages them to find in the trials they face an evidence of God's righteous judgment on their behalf. And he prays that they will continue to see evidences of God's power in the fulfillment of the good works of faith they endeavor to do for God's glory.
If the Second Coming of Christ is the greatest day that awaits us in the future, it is natural to wonder when the day will come. But the Bible summons us instead to occupy our days by preparing for Christ's return. Those who do not prepare at all will find the day of Christ's return to be a terror. But Christians are called to live by the virtues of the salvation which is their ultimate destiny.
Christians have hope when they grieve the death of another believer in Christ. This hope is not found in the afterlife but in the resurrection that will occur at the second coming of the Lord Jesus. On that day the entire family of God will be united with each other and with the Lord and will never be separated again.
When a group of little children were brought to Jesus, his disciples objected. Jesus rebuked the disciples, stating that the kingdom of God belonged to those who were like these little kids. Jesus unmasks the deadly lie that lurks within the human heart by confronting human pride with the sanctity of vulnerable children.
Jesus calls his disciples to prioritize the kingdom of God, to seek it first above everything else. Having been made citizens of this kingdom, Christians are to live for kingdom values and maintain kingdom priorities. They also must confront the temptations of hypocrisy, prosperity, and anxiety with the assurance of their Lord's providence and provision for their lives.
Much of Jesus's teaching came in the form of parables which seem to bring both clarity and confusion to those who heard them. That's because the subject of so many of his parables—the kingdom of God—cannot be comprehended with the mind alone. Until we see the kingdom of God to be the greatest treasure imaginable, we will never turn away from the endless distractions that prevent us from seeing its true worth.
Jesus made it clear that he was the promised Messiah, the king of God's eternal kingdom. But he also made it clear that he would advance his kingdom with the power of persuasion rather than with the power of force. If we misunderstand how his kingdom is now unfolding, we can become disillusioned with Jesus and reject his rule over our lives.
The ministry of Jesus consisted primarily of proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing people's diseases and disabilities. He understood the true human condition and proved that the kingdom of God is the cure for it. He also delegated the same kingdom authority he possessed himself to all his disciples so that the work of the kingdom would advance throughout the world.
The temptation of Jesus by the devil is the culmination of an age-long conflict between light and darkness. While Adam and Eve fell for Satan's lies, Jesus is the promised king who came to crush the Serpent's head. Jesus gives the world the indisputable evidence that God is sovereign over all and that he is fundamentally good.
The visit of the wise men is one of the familiar stories of the Advent season. They came to Jerusalem seeking the king of the Jews because they saw his star rise in the sky. Though we may not know exactly what phenomenon they witnessed, their story testifies to the wisdom of God who by grace brings the greatest of sinners into his everlasting kingdom.
The Holy Spirit gifts Christians with "brotherly love" for other Christians. But this familial love grows within believers as they progress in their sanctification and becomes evident even in their ordinary vocations. Rather than withdrawing from society, Christians are to remain engaged in relationships with others so that the quiet life of Christ profits everyone around them.
Christ's redemption of his people includes the sanctification of their sexuality. Those who know God through Jesus have been graciously given the power to control themselves sexually. Because of the endless grace we find in Christ, we are empowered to never give up in our pursuit and practice of a sexuality that is truly healthy and truly beautiful.
The conduct of Christians is important to the missional mandate of the church. The implications of God's grace ought to move believers toward a loving obedience to the Savior. Indeed it is grace that empowers obedience, not to a cold set of prohibitions to avoid but to a creative life of joyfully pleasing the Lord.
There is a battle being waged by Satan against the souls of Christian disciples. We need the strengthening effects of gospel ministry in order to withstand the attacks. Caring for souls is risky business, but God calls every Christian into this critical work.
Jesus judged Israel and the nations in his first coming and he is coming again soon to judge finally and completely the living and the dead.
The incarnation of the Son of God is a model that transforms not only our relationship with God but also our relationship with one another.
The majesty of the incarnation is revealed by how God exalted the Son of God after his death on the cross.
The way that God completed his mission through Jesus's life is how he will complete his mission in our lives.
As the perfect human being, Jesus modeled for us the power of living in humble dependence on God's Holy Spirit.
The miracle of the incarnation is a Savior who always has enough to give everything away.
When everyone in the church exercises their spiritual responsibilities, the church becomes a credible gospel community.
Unless we respect the awesome reality of God we have no hope of surviving our inevitable collision with his presence.
The church provides the encouragement we need to seek God's blessing in the covenant of grace.
We live by faith as we live our lives for the one who has already set in motion the glory of the new creation.
By faith we not only understand the will of God but are also empowered to make the right choice in every situation.
Biblical faith draws us in to God's presence where we are rewarded with eternal delight.
God's family is meant to buttress the truth of the gospel so that its message is proclaimed all over the world.