The Joy of Glory

Leviticus 26:40-45 (click here)
…if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me…

…then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham… (Leviticus 26:40 and 42)

Reflection
Do Christians need to practice confession? Is there a place for repentance in the Christian life?

When we read a passage like Leviticus 26:40-45, I think it is easy for us to dismiss it as something belonging to the Old Covenant that has no application for us today. I mean, God is warning his people about what will happen to them if they forsake him… the wrath they will endure unless they repent and return.

But as Christians… hasn’t Christ borne the wrath we deserved upon himself on the cross? Isn’t all of our sin covered? When we initially repented and trusted in Jesus… didn’t that take care of all our sin past, present and future?

The answer to all of those questions and a resounding YES!

So why would we ever need to confess or repent of sin again if “it is finished”?

Scripture’s response to this query is to declare that yes… we have a permanent union with the triune God through the cross of Christ… AND we also experience a daily, dynamic communion with the triune God that is not static!

In other words, when we sin as Christians our union with God is not affected. He is still our father and we are still his children, but we absolutely experience a break in communion! It is through repentance, turning again from our sin back to communion with Christ, that our communion is restored and we experience what Christ achieved on the cross in real time!

Jesus himself calls Christians to experience this restoration of communion through repentance in Revelation 3:19-20, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Jesus is speaking to Christians who have “shut him out” through their sin. They are not communing together… and he calls them to repent… to turn back to him!

Paul calls Christians to repent (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), James calls them to repent (James 5:16), John calls them to repent (1 John 1:9), and on and on…

Repentance and faith are the inhale and exhale of the Christian life! I live turning from sin and self to Christ!

So be encouraged today, Christian! Repentance is not a call to beat yourself and wallow in guilt and shame… no… it is a call of hope! It is a call to turn back to your first love and experience his embrace of grace again and again! It is a call to experience true life in Christ!

Paul’s call of repentance to the Corinthians Christians says it best. 2 Corinthians 7:9-10, “…I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Exodus 34:6-7 (click here)
The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7)

Reflection
“From dust you came and to dust you shall return… so repent and believe the Gospel!”

Every year, on Ash Wednesday, I look into the eyes of the people I pastor and say this over and over and over again. This moment is hard… and it is beautiful…

It is hard because we live in a culture that does everything it can to avoid the reality of death. But, on Ash Wednesday, again and again, I look into the eyes of people I love and speak the hard truth… “you will die.”

Over and over I tell people, one on one, person to person… the day will come when you will return to dust.

This moment is hard.

But this moment is also beautiful because we live in a culture that does everything it can to avoid the reality that it has no hope to offer in the face of death. But, on Ash Wednesday, again and again, I look into the eyes of people I love and speak the beautiful truth… “there is gospel good news!”

Over and over I tell people, one on one, person to person… turn from hopelessness and trust in the glorious hope of the Gospel!

This moment is beautiful.

On display each Ash Wednesday is the truth of Exodus 34:6-7. Here, the Lord reveals who he is to Moses by proclaiming “his name,” his character, and two primary things rise to the surface. The Lord abounds in steadfast love… and the Lord will not clear the guilty.

How can both of these things be true? How can God execute righteous judgment towards sinners and show steadfast love towards sinners? How can we deserve to return to dust and experience good news?

The cross.

On the cross, God speaks the difficult truth that sin deserves death… we deserve to return to dust. Yet,  from the cross God speaks the beautiful truth that Christ has defeated our death by becoming dust himself in our place!

How does God not clear the guilty, but execute his right wrath against sin? He does it by taking on flesh himself and becoming our substitute… he pours that wrath out upon himself! And this is also how he shows steadfast love to sinners who repent and believe this Gospel good news!

Yes, it is true that from dust I came and to dust I shall return… as Christians we do not avoid the reality of death BECAUSE we do not fear it! For it is also true that we have believed in the hope of the Gospel!

We do not fear the hard because we believe the beautiful!

We believe the Gospel!

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Each day of the Lenten season, I will be emailing out a devotional to many of the members of SVCC. I will also be sharing these devotionals via www.thejoyofglory.com

These are designed to accompany the SVCC Lenten reading guide which may be found here: 2019 Lenten Reading Guide

In these devotionals, I will give a link that will take you to the entire reading for the day if you would like to read it. I will actually include a few of the verses upon which I will focus my reflections. In the reflection section, I will make a few brief comments which I hope will spur your own thinking and prayers.

Lent is meant to be a season of repentance and fasting that prepares our hearts for the coming celebration of Easter (fuller explanation here). Repentance is a reminder that we need to be saved from our sin…we need a Savior. Fasting reminds us that we are not in need of the things this world offers, but in desperate need of Jesus. So, the point of Lent is that we need Jesus…we need Easter. It is my prayer that these daily devotionals will simply help remind us of our daily need for Christ.

Genesis 22:15-18 (click here)
And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:15-18)

Reflection
“By myself I have sworn…”

As a kid, I can remember “swearing” by different things. I would do this whenever I was trying to convince my friends that I was serious about something, and the more I wanted to convince them, the more exaggerated my “swear” became.

“I pinkie swear” was a typical starting point, but things could escalate all the way up to “swearing” on family members graves… some not yet dead… sorry mom.

Obviously, these were the words of children who didn’t understand what it meant to “swear by” something. But, we did understand that the greatness of the “swear” was elevated by the greatness of the thing “sworn by.”

What is interesting is that “to swear” literally means to take an oath… the greatest of promises. So, when we “swear by” something, we are trying to make the greatest of promises even greater. It is this reality that makes the words of God to Abraham in Genesis 22 absolutely mind-blowing!

God swears… he takes an oath… he makes the greatest of promises. But not only that, he swears by something… he makes the greatest of promises even greater. And what… or more accurately… who does he swear by?

HIMSELF!

“By myself I have sworn…” There is nothing higher by which to swear! There is nothing above God! There is nothing greater, grander, or more glorious than God himself! So, in Genesis 22 we have the greatest of promises made even greater by being raised to the greatest of all levels possible!

But still, it gets better… for this greatest of all possible promises is being made by the greatest one himself! This promise is not an exaggerated statement made by a kid (or adult) who cannot possibly keep it! No! It is actually made by the only one great enough to see it through!

And glory beyond glories… this promise is actually made to you!

The promise is to Abraham AND his offspring! And guess what Galatians 3:7 says… “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.”

All who trust in God alone (we know that this is through Christ alone) share the faith of Abraham and are a part of his faith family! Therefore, the greatest of all possible promises made by the greatest one of all is yours through Christ! And what is that promise?

It is the promise of salvation through Christ!

It is the promises that God will bless us by the true offspring of Abraham, Jesus, defeating our true enemy, Satan, in order to bless all the nations of the world (verses 17-18)!

That’s the Gospel… the greatest of all possible promises given to us with the greatest guarantee by the greatest God!

Glory in this good news… “By myself I have sworn…”

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.