4/11/12- Claiming our Winnings

WSC Q. 29- How can we share in this redemption that Christ purchased for us?
A. The Holy Spirit makes real to us the redemption purchased by Christ. 


 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:1-5)


The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. (John 6:63)

Thoughts: Christ purchased us on the cross.  His sacrifice covered our sins.  It is a great gift that enriches us for eternity, yet if we do not claim the gift- and in effect remain asleep (or dead) to it, then it does us no good.
   This week Maryland's Mega-million Lottery numbers were drawn.  For a long time, no one came forward to claim it.  What a shame- some thought to have a prize, but not claim it.  Truth is, we all- each one of us- has a prize worth far more than anything money can buy- eternal life.  Our way has been purchased for us by Christ, but many of us do not claim what He has offered to us.
     The passages above say we are dead to God, and the Spirit makes us alive to Him.  It is like the Spirit gives us the claim number- and encourages us to come forward. 


Prayer: Holy Spirit, open my heart and life to what Christ has done.  

4/10/12- Aspects of Salvation

WSC Q. 29- How can we share in this redemption that Christ purchased for us?
A. The Holy Spirit makes real to us the redemption purchased by Christ.


Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—(John 1:12)


 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:30)

Thoughts: Salvation is a process.  In the next few weeks we will look at different aspects of our salvation.  


REDEMPTION ACCOMPLISHED
1) Predestination- In some ways God saves us when he foreknew and planned our salvation before the history of the world (Eph. 1)
2) Incarnation- In some ways God saves us when Christ came down for us.  If He hadn't come the love of God would not be so clear. Jn. 3:16
3) Crucifixion- We are saved in a sense by what Christ has done on the cross. Jn. 3:16
***********************
REDEMPTION APPLIED
4) Effectual Calling/Regeneration- when we hear the gospel and the Spirit enables us to hear and respond. (John 1:12; Titus 3:5)
5) Conversion- Turning away from sin and turning toward Christ.(John 3:3) 
6) Justification- When we are accepted as righteous (Rom. 3:24)
7) Adoption- When we are accepted into God's family- at the same time as justification and conversion. (Rom. 8:15,23)
8) Sanctification- The Holy Spirit enables us to grow in our faith and fight sin in our lives. (1 Thess. 5:23)
9) Unification- Union with Christ. We are in Christ- part of His body, and become more and more like Him and more and more united to Him (similar to sanctification). Union with Christ is made complete in heaven. (1 Cor. 1:9; Col. 1:26)
10) Glorification- When we are made perfect in heaven- body and soul at the end of our history or the end of earth's history. (1 Cor. 15:51,52)


The Westminster Shorter Catechism emphasizes our Justification, Adoption, and Sanctification.  When someone asks, "When were you saved?" We could have multiple answers (as above), though they are probably referring to our conversion in which our regeneration, justification, adoption and the beginning of our sanctification and unification.  Salvation is simple- simply say you are sorry for your sins (and mean it), and accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. But we are also, in a sense being saved.
It's kind of like going down a path away from destruction- to start down the path is the first step (perhaps the most important)- but each step is a part of the way of salvation (like the Pilgrim's Progress). 


Prayer: Help me, O Lord, to accept your love, your salvation, and grow in your love and my faith. 

4/9/12- The Spirit Makes it Real

WSC Q. 29- How can we share in this redemption that Christ purchased for us?
A. The Holy Spirit makes real to us the redemption purchased by Christ.

^"he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). 

Thoughts: The Spirit of God inspired the Word of God, But the Spirit also makes real to us this Word by illuminating the Word of God to us- inspiring us, and convicting us.  The Spirit also takes an act done 2,000 years ago and makes it real to us today.  The cross becomes real to us by the Spirit's opening our eyes and hearts to it.  The Spirit is like putting on a pair of glasses so that we can see things that were before us- but what we couldn't see previously. It is a bit like medicine in a bottle- not doing any good until it is placed on us.  The Spirit actively makes the medicine of the cross real to us today.

Prayer: Help me, Holy Spirit, by making the death and resurrection of Christ real to me today.



1647 WSC Q. 29. How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ? 
A. We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of 
it to us by his Holy Spirit. 


1984 Q. 29. How are we made to share in the redemption purchased by Christ?

A. We are made to share in the redemption purchased by Christ by the effective application of it to us by his Holy Spirit.

4/8/12- Easter!

47- 4/8- Easter- He is risen!

WSC 28-

Q. 28- How is Christ exalted?

A. Christ is exalted by rising on the third day; in ascending into heaven; sitting on the right hand of God the Father, and coming to judge the world in glory at the last day. 

Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,  “‘The Lord said to my Lord:  “Sit at my right hand, (Acts 2:33-34)

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3)

Thoughts: One of the frequent sayings of the early church that is recorded both in James and 1 Peter is, “humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.”  Christ Himself is the greatest example of someone who humbled Himself, and yet was exalted for His humility.  His rising from the dead shows us the power of God to lift up the humble, and to give life and hope when there is none.  His ascension sealed His resurrection as much as His burial sealed His death.  The ascension of Christ means that He is at work for all of us- at the throne.  The One who came, lived, and died for us is the One who is at a position of power and even talking to the Father, interceding on our behalf.  His ultimate glory will be revealed at the end of history when “every eye will see Him.”  Perhaps we could also add the phrase, “every knee will bow” before Him at the judgment too. Christ’s exaltation affirms His teaching of love and humility and shows all of us that faith and trust in God is not overlooked by Him.  He is to be praised for He is worthy- solo dei Gloria!

Prayer: Alleluia!  You are worthy, O Lord. You are exalted to your rightful place.  Help me to fix my eyes on you the author and perfector of my faith.  Give me grace to long for your appearing.  Come Lord Jesus!

4/6/12- The Humiliation of Christ- in his burial

46- 4/7- WLC- 50

Q. 50. Wherein consisted Christ's humiliation after his death?
A. Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his being buried, and continuing in the state of the dead, and under the power of death till the third day; which hath been otherwise expressed in these words, He descended into hell.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, (1 Cor. 15:3,4)

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:4)

Thoughts: The Apostles’ Creed that we frequently affirm says, “He was crucified, dead and buried.”  The burial of Christ was a part of His humiliation.  In Roman Catholic circles pictures (and even in early Reformation circles- as Rembrandt) of the pieta of Christ were an important part of Lent.  The burial of Christ assures us that he was really dead and was decaying.  For those persecuting Him, it was a delightful event that helped them to sleep.  He was sealed and guarded- as if death itself were not seal enough.  The shorter catechism sees burial as a part of the hell Christ went through for us.  Burial is one of the saddest moments in all cultures.  It was evident in Christ’s burial in the women weeping at the tomb. He did not just die for our sakes, He was buried for us- which was a certification of his death, a double sealing of his humility.

Prayer: May we not overlook your suffering for us this Lent, O lord.  Thank you for facing the cross and enduring its shame, and the public humility of your burial.

(Michelangelo’s Pieta- in St. Peter’s Church in the Vatican)

First century tombs in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem- where Jesus was buried. 

Traditionally, the tombs owned by Joseph of Arimathea. 

4/6/12 The Humility of Christ's Death

45- 4/6- WLC- 49

Q. 49. How did Christ humble himself in his death?
A. Christ humbled himself in his death, in that having been betrayed by Judas, forsaken by his disciples, scorned and rejected by the world, condemned by Pilate, and tormented by his persecutors; having also conflicted with the terrors of death, and the powers of darkness, felt and bore the weight of God's wrath, he laid down his life an offering for sin, enduring the painful, shameful, and cursed death of the cross.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:8)

and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Col. 1:20)

Thoughts: Christ wept in Gethsemane as he foresaw His humiliation and pain.  The catechism, while mentioning it, does not emphasize the physical pain of Christ as much as the spiritual pain of being left alone, mocked and persecuted, terrorized by his enemies and the “powers of darkness”, and feeling separated from God and forsaken by Him.  Yet the catechism reminds us that Christ gave His life freely enduring the physical pain as well as the shame and curse.

Prayer: I will cling to your cross, Lord.  Your humility is my hope.  Help me to crucify my selfishness and give myself fully to you. 

Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creature’s sin.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give my self away
’Tis all that I can do.
(Isaac Watts)

(Tintoretto 1565- emphasizes the chaos, mocking, persecution of the cross)

4/5/12- Humility of the Cross

44- 4/5- Maundy Thursday- WSC- 27

Q. 27- How did Christ humble himself?
A. Christ humbled himself by being born as a person and born to a poor family; by being made subject to the law;  by suffering through the miseries of this life; the wrath of God; and the curse of death on the cross; and by being buried and by allowing himself to die.

Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (Lk. 9:58)

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. (Isa. 53:3)

Thoughts: Christ humbled himself.  In becoming a human; in being born into a carpenter's home instead of a palace; in not having his own place to live; in obeying the laws that He had made and given; by suffering the problems of life (heartache, rejection, tiredness, hunger, thirst, etc.); dying a humiliating and unjust, torturing death, and burial as a humiliating seal to his death.  One of Christ's last free acts was to wash the feet of the disciples. The point he gave was "now that I your teacher and Lord have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet" (Jn. 13:14).  His point was not to wash feet, but to serve one another- being willing to humble ourselves before others in service. Jesus said if anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily (Lk. 9:23).  We live in a world that encourages us to see ourselves as the consumer and God as our servant.  It is a perspective change to see ourselves not only as God's servant, but also (for God's glory) the servant of others. G.K. Chesterton said, "The cross cannot be defeated for it is defeat."  But it was in humiliating defeat that victory was won for Christ.  When we humble ourselves before God and others we win as well. 

Prayer: Give me grace, O Lord, to humble myself before you, O Lord.