The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

Category: Devotional

February 20, 2015

Lent Devotional: Leviticus 16:6-22

Leviticus 16:6-22 (click here)
Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.

Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.

And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:6, 15, and 21-22)

Reflection
Grace does not mean that sin is simply swept under the rug. God is holy, righteous, good, and just…by his very nature he must deal with sin…and dealing with sin is always bloody because it deserves death.

So God, in his grace, provides a substitute to take our death for us. This is what the Old Testament Day of Atonement was all about. Aaron, the high priest, had a substitute bull for himself. The people had two substitute goats to stand in their place. One goat was sacrificed, pointing to the reality of what their sin deserved. The other goat was sent away into the desert, showing the reality that their sin had truly been taken away, removed.

God was not obligated to provide these substitutes…the people did not deserve them…they were freely given. This is grace…costly, bloody, beautiful grace.

Yet, can a bull or goat really be a substitute, a representative for a human being? Hebrews 10:4, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” This is why the high priest had to perform this ritual again and again. It was never FINISHED. It was a symbol of what God was promising to do…of what God did do…through Jesus.

Jesus was our perfect high priest who didn’t even need to make a sacrifice for himself… yet he became our sacrifice! As fully human, he could perfectly represent us and be our substitute. As fully God, he could actually save us. And, Christ died in our place, taking what our sin deserved and removing it forever! Of his work he was able to say what the Old Testament high priest never could…it is FINISHED!

Hebrews 10:11-12, “And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…”

This is grace…costly, bloody, beautiful grace.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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February 19, 2015

Lent Devotional: Exodus 33:18-34:8

Exodus 33:18-34:8 (click here)
Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”

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 33:18-19 and 34:5-7)

Reflection
We see the glory of God when we see who he is! In answer to Moses’ request, God reveals the very core of his nature. He is a God of grace, he abounds in love and in faithfulness. He is the covenant keeping God! Yet, he is also holy. He doesn’t just pass over sin and pretend that it doesn’t exist. He doesn’t sweep things under the rug. No. He righteously deals with unrighteousness!

How can these things fit together? How can God be both gracious and yet judge sin?

The people of Israel would learn over and over again that God would accomplish this miracle by providing graciously a substitute to take the penalty for their sin. He did so, ultimately, through the cross of Christ. In the cross we see God’s righteous judgment poured out upon sin…AND…we see God graciously forgiving sinners, we see his love abounding towards us!

This is freely given! God will be gracious to whom he will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom he will show mercy. This grace cannot be earned…God must give it! And, he loves to shock the world by choosing to be merciful and gracious to those we see as least deserving…because this highlights the truth grace is never deserved or earned!

Who do we see as least deserving of grace? A former friend? An enemy? A relative? A nation? ISIS? A people group? Who do we see as least deserving of grace? If our answer to that question is not “everyone…” then we are misunderstanding grace altogether. No one deserves grace.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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April 20, 2014

Easter Devotional: John 20:1-29

John 20:1-29 (click here)
Simon Peter… went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. (John 20:6-7)

Reflection
Peter and John have just been told that Jesus’ body is gone! They race to them tomb, John gets there first and peers in, but as soon as Peter has caught up he barges into the cave-like grave. Then we are given some interesting details… the grave cloths have been left behind and the face cloth has been folded like a freshly washed towel.

Why do we need to know these tiny details?

I believe there is a practical reason and a symbolic reason. First, on a practical level, this story is true… it is not and myth, and small details like this help affirm that “realness.” Why did John tell us about the grave clothes?…Because they were really there! He’s describing the situation as they found it.

Secondly, John has mentioned grave clothes one other time in his gospel. In John 11, he tells us the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus and in verse 44 the text says this, “The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.'” Lazarus came out of the tomb still bound up in his grave clothes. It is almost as if he brought them out because he would need them again one day.

But, when Jesus rose, he left behind the grave clothes. He wouldn’t need them anymore! He was alive forevermore! Death defeated! It’s almost like he folded up death and left it in the grave! Hallelujah, what a savior!

Jesus has permanently defeated sin and death! He has no need of grave clothes and neither do we…for through him we are promised life eternal! This Easter…remember that Jesus resurrection guarantees you resurrection. You have been freed from the grave so that you can live fearlessly for Christ!

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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