Month: November 2024

There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save
and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
James 4:12

At first glance, I’d put this name of Christ in my folder of “Who’da thunk it?” titles. After all, we’re now under grace and not under the law. This sounds more like the God of the Old Testament and not like Jesus Christ of the New.

At second glance, it’s my theology that needs reworking, and not the classification of this title. There are not two Gods, one for each Testament. We don’t even have three, which is how some people understand the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. There is one God who always existed and never changes. Anything different from that is just wrong.

Lawgiver is one name given to the LORD in the Old Testament: “For the LORD is our Judge, The LORD is our Lawgiver, The LORD is our King; He will save us” (Isaiah 33:22). The verse also mentions the LORD as Judge, King, and the one who saves. All these titles belong to Christ.

It’s true that grace is emphasized in the New Testament, but grace was shown all through the Old Testament (e.g., in Genesis 6:8 when it says “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD”).

Jesus clearly taught that He didn’t come to undo the law, but fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). The Savior never sinned; He kept the whole law and taught His disciples to keep the law and not to sin (John 8:11). If we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), we’ll naturally want to do what is right, because God’s laws are written on our hearts and minds (Hebrews 8:10).

It’s dangerous to think that God’s laws are ever optional. Christ Jesus died on the cross to deliver us from the curse of the law, but He wrote every law in the Book. In the New Testament, He gave us New Commandments (John 13:34), and we’re told to fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). We’re not saved from the law; we’re saved from sin by the Lawgiver Himself.

 January 25 

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
1 John 5:20*

Many years ago, when I was suffering from a case of buyer’s remorse, a wise man told me, “Salesmen are a part of everyone’s practical education.” They teach you not to believe everything people say and or trust that they have your best interest at heart.

Over the years, I’ve been scammed by telemarketers and have bought things on the internet that weren’t as described. However, the worst are the “free downloads” for checking for computer viruses. With one click, I once added dozens of pop-ups, malware, and advertisements, but was told that I could get rid of them all for $29.99. The result of this practical education is that I never do business over the phone, nor do I download anything from the internet. It seems that you can’t trust anyone anymore.

Salesmen, politicians, advertisers, and even preachers often lie or twist the truth to gain advantage over people. At that point, I can only trust Him Who is True. I can believe Christ’s promises and the Word of God. When I’m in doubt, I go over in my head what I know for sure.

       I know for sure, sin is destructive. No good ever comes from pornography.
       I know for sure, the love of money is the root of all evil. I don’t need get-rich schemes.
       I know for sure, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. I don’t need to glorify myself.
       I know for sure, I should owe no one anything but love. I don’t want the loan “I deserve.”
       I know for sure, trials and tribulations are part of the Christian life. I reject the health-and-wealth gospel.

Lord Jesus, you are the only One I can trust, because you are He Who is True.

*see also Revelation 3:7

 January 24 

“Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?”
Exodus 15:11

After the children of Israel witnessed the total destruction of the Egyptian army, Moses led them in a song of triumph: “I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!” Excitement and emotion filled the multitude of escaped slaves because they saw the power and glory of God.

The song continues for 18 verses in Exodus chapter 15. At verse 11, two questions are asked: “Who is like You among the gods?” and “Who is like You, glorious in holiness?”

To answer the first, Egypt had plenty of gods – even “puddy” cats were worshiped – but none of them could save the Egyptian army from the power of the living God. Nothing compares to the incomparable Creator of the universe.

The second question concerns God’s glorious holiness. Again, no comparison. Glory is a hard concept to define, but it is pretty easy to see the absence of it. Idols have no power, no splendor, no supernatural qualities, and no glory. God’s glory was not just demonstrated in His power to defeat the ancient world’s Number One superpower; He showed it in His holiness. He not only neutralized the bad guys – He obliterated them.

Christ is in all things the outshining of God’s glory. He was in the burning bush when Moses was commissioned, and He was there when the waters of the Red Sea parted. John saw the glorified Lord as he was exiled on the Isle of Patmos and was overpowered by the vision. Certainly the Son of God is glorious in compassion, grace, might, and authority. But above all these, we must remember that He is Glorious in Holiness.

 January 23 

Then Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
He answered and said to him, “It is as you say.”
Mark 15:2

The Old Testament prophesied repeatedly that the Messiah would come to sit on the throne of Israel as a descendant of King David. For this reason, early Jewish scholars used “Son of David” as a Messianic title. The New Testament declares and affirms 17 times that Jesus was, in fact, the King of the Jews.

The wise men from the East sought the newborn King of the Jews and even had a supernatural appearance of a star to confirm their faith assumptions, but they never actually saw the fulfillment of the title (Matthew 2:2).

Roman soldiers mocked the Savior and bowed the knee feigning honor and respect to the King of the Jews. However, their insincerity and unbelief didn’t annul that the title was correctly given (Matthew 27:29).

At His first coming, the chief priests and Jewish leaders rejected Him as their leader and delivered Him up to Roman authorities to be crucified. They protested when Pilate wrote on the sign posted at the cross that He was King of the Jews (John 19:21). They resembled the crowd in Jesus’ parable of the minas who said, “We will not have this man to reign over us”(Luke 19:14).

They were wrong. He was their king and will one day reign on the throne of David in Jerusalem and fulfill all the promises of God made to the Jewish people.

Most Christians are also wrong. It’s not all about us. The promises of an earthly kingdom centered in Jerusalem is for the Jewish people. True, there will be other kingdoms during the millennium, all subject to the King of kings, but first and foremost, Jesus is the King of the Jews.

 January 22 

“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner‘s fire. And like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner
and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold
and silver, That they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness.”
Malachi 3:2-3

Before the industrial revolution and mass production, everything was done in small home workshops. Every town would have had a blacksmith; all would have seen the refiner at work and would have understood the process.

Small furnaces would be dug into the earth and lined with bricks. Coal or very hard wood would fill the chamber along with silver ore. Air would constantly be pumped in at the base to make the fire intense. In the fervent heat, impurities would be burnt off and the liquid metal would pool at the bottom of the furnace. A brick would be removed and the molten silver would pour out, usually into molds. Ash floated as a powder over the glowing metal, and tin or copper would separate from the precious elements.

Most people don’t realize how intensive the work of the refiner was. Besides working the bellows almost non-stop, fuel would have to be added frequently to maintain the extreme temperature. Although the workshop would be hot, the refiner had to wear the ancient equivalent of long sleeves. The refining process throws off UV-radiant energy many times that of the sun. The whole process had to be repeated several times in order to get pure silver or gold.

The refining process is an illustration of God’s discipline in the life of a believer. “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?”
(Hebrews 12:7).

Too often we focus on what we have to suffer in order to be purified for Christ. The emphasis should be the effort, energy, and endurance the Master puts into us to carry out His role of Refiner.

 January 21

“Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command to restore
and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.”
Daniel 9:25-26

Wonderful, powerful, significant verses! …Yet they are unknown and unimportant to most Christians today; what a pity!

The translators of the King James and New King James Versions saw the importance and translated the Hebrew word “Meshiach” as Messiah. They wanted everyone to know that this prophesy was about the Jewish Messiah; that is Christ. The 38 other times it appears in the Old Testament, it was translated literally as “anointed.”

This prophecy is a time-line that begins with the “command to restore and build Jerusalem.” Jewish people in the first century knew the day, month, and year it took place. Even our history books tell us that King Artaxerxes of Persia made that decree in 444 B.C.

Then come two time periods: “seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.” The term “weeks” literally means “sevens” and is actually referring to weeks of years. So then “seven weeks” is actually 49 years and “sixty-two weeks” is actually 434 years. Forty-nine years after the decree to rebuild, Nehemiah actually finished building the streets. 49+434=483 years. Exactly four-hundred eighty-three years after Artaxerxes’ command, the Messiah was to be “cut off” (March 30^thof 33 A.D).  First-century preachers did the math and believed that date to be the day of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The anointed of God went to His own and His own received Him not. Four days later (April 3^rd) Christ was crucified – “cut off.” When early Jewish believers heard this, they also did the math and were convinced that Jesus was their Messiah.

 January 20 

But when they saw it,they all complained, saying,
“He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
Luke 19:7

Titles given by enemies and critics always give an interesting perspective to the character of Christ. Jesus invited Himself to Zaccheaus’ house for dinner, and the tax collector was thrilled. All the respectable folks in Jericho were indignant. How could someone who’s spiritual be the guest of a sinner? The Lord came to earth to seek and save those who are lost (Luke 19:10). That’s still what He does.

Jesus accepted lots of invitations and ate with friends, Pharisees, and fishermen. Christ told Zaccheaus that He’d have lunch with him, because He knew the little man was afraid to ask. It would be an honor and privilege to show hospitality to the Savior, and the blessings would by far exceed the time, effort, and expense. The critics of Jesus missed out big-time.

Wow! Wouldn’t it have been great if I could have taken in Jesus to spend the night, taken Him out to a nice restaurant, or even made Him a sandwich. Wait a minute! Wait a minute! I can still do that.

In His teaching about the end times, the Lord declared, “…for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in” (Matthew 25:35). He further explains this to mean: “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40).

The rule of Saint Benedict states, “Let all guests be received as Christ.” That’s profound and involves a lot more than just offering a bed and breakfast to some homeless guy. It means showing hospitality in the form of a living sacrifice. It’s giving food, lodging, time, housework, honor, and respect to someone who wouldn’t be able to reciprocate. It’s showing love, concern, and praying for someone/anyone God sends my way. It’s seeing Christ Jesus in that guest.

 January 19 

For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.
Isaiah 54:5

Before there was ever sin in our world, God designed and instituted marriage. Two people, although the same species, are male and female, man and woman, and God made them Husband and Wife. This wasn’t a marriage of convenience, but a carefully arranged union orchestrated by God. Since the whole human race would be produced from Adam and Eve’s DNA, God planned the wedding.

The Jewish Talmud (the oral tradition and teaching of ancient rabbis) portrays a curious detail about the first marriage ceremony. According to the legend, God Himself braided Eve’s hair and personally presented her to Adam. That would have been a nice touch that would have added to the specialness of the relationship.

Contrary to the politically correct notions of today, men and women are very different. They look, think, and act differently, and part of the design for the continuance of the human race was different roles for husband and wife.

When Paul wrote to the Ephesian church, he gave God’s orders for the Christian family. Addressing the men, he said, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” The Master shows Christian men a model of what a loving, caring husband should look like. He is always there to listen to us, provide our needs before we ask, and comfort us when we feel alone and weak.

Yahweh of the Old Testament took on Himself the role of the spouse of the children of Israel. In the New Testament, concerning the church, Christ clearly presents Himself as her Husband.

 January 18 

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected
indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious.
1 Peter 2:4

The CEO of a multinational company has many complex and specialized jobs to do. He needs to have vision for building his corporation and the leadership skills to get it there. He must negotiate with clients, motivate employees, jump legal and political hurdles, and take educated risks. The success or failure of a big business depends on having the “right man” at the helm. For this reason, selection committees will often spend millions of dollars to screen all the candidates before that “right person” is finally chosen.

The hundreds of titles of Christ show just how complicated the job of God’s Anointed really was. He had to be Savior, Redeemer, Advocate, and Friend. He came to destroy the works of the devil, console Israel, and willingly offer Himself as a substitute for sinful mankind. No one less than God Himself could be qualified for this position.

The Jewish religious leaders understood that their Messiah was singled out for His mission of redemption. Standing at the foot of the cross of Christ, the rulers of the Jews sneered at Jesus and said “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God” (Luke 23:35).

Only a very few of the titles of the Lord also apply to believers. This is one of them: “…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,”(Ephesians 1:4). How wonderful is that! Before the creation of all things, the Chosen one chose us to be His special people.

 January 17 

These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will
overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings;
and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.
Revelation 17:14

Lord of lords. The idea is that Christ is the leader of all the world leaders, the boss of all the big bosses.

Actually, this title is true in two very different ways. The verse above demonstrates that Jesus is going to bring down all the proud and mighty demigods on earth. They will be brought low, broken, and forced to bow the knee before the Lord of lords.

The second application is better seen in Revelation 19:16: “And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” The scene is after the battle of Armageddon. The Lord is ready to reign on earth with a newly appointed group of kings and lords, and they’re all good; they’re the saints of God who suffered and even died for the name of Christ.

The millennial reign of the Lamb of God will be 1,000 years without war, injustice, and oppression. We would come to expect that, if Christ is in charge, but all the national and local administrators will also be holy and just. Coming from a day and age when the term “honest politician” is used as an oxymoron, it is hard to believe that they’ll be public servants who actually serve the public.

Not everyone who is saved will reign with Christ. He gives that responsibility to those who showed themselves faithful in little. In the Parable of the Minas (Luke 19), the Lord said to the servant whose mina earned nine more, “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.”

I take seriously the promises of Christ, so I want to be faithful to His will for me now, so that I can reign with Him in His kingdom. If He someday makes me a lord, let it be known that Christ is already my Lord of lords.

January 16