The Joy of Glory

*For those who were unable to participate in yesterday’s livestream, here is the promised youtube link: click here

*All previous livestreams are also available on youtube: click here

Today’s devotional is authored by Allison Davis 

1 Timothy 3:16
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

Reflection
Is anyone else aching for Easter?

I recently saw a Facebook post that said: “This is the Lentiest Lent I have ever Lented.”

I think we can agree.

While we can and should celebrate Christ’s Resurrection all the time, there is something special about Easter morning. The faithful gather and celebrate the most joyous event in all of human history: Jesus Christ is Risen and has defeated death and hell.

If you’re like me and you grew up in the church, it is easy to fall into “going through the motions” of Easter. We do the same thing every year. We hear the same story, read the same Scriptures… and while this defining event of our faith is indeed glorious, we’ve almost become used to it. It’s just another Easter.

1 Timothy 3:16 reminds us of the mystery, the almost absurdity, of Christ’s Godliness.

GOD WAS MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH. Let me say that again. God became human, died, rose FROM THE DEAD by the Spirit, and has since been preached and believed throughout the world.

Wow. And this was God’s plan from the beginning.

Do you ever meditate on the beauty of Christ’s work on the cross? Do you contemplate what it would mean if Christ hadn’t rose from the dead? Or does Easter no longer excite you?

Join me today in considering the mystery of godliness. Jesus could’ve come as a king, but he came as a kid. He could’ve conquered through military power, but he conquered through dying. He could’ve left you and I to the fate we sinners deserve, but he stood in our place and took our punishment. May we never let the old, old story grow stale in our hearts. This is the reason we have hope, friends. This is how we are victorious. Let us read my late grandfather’s favorite hymn:

“I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.”

O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood.”

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

Joy in All
Philippians 4:10-20 (click here to read the entire passage)
On Sundays during Lent, there will not be an email devotional because a sermon will actually be preached on the passage for that day. Today’s sermon has been posted and may be found by searching for “Shades Valley Community Church” in your podcast app or by simply clicking here.

If you were unable to participate in the livestream a replay will be available tomorrow. A link will be sent out with tomorrow’s devotional.

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

Today’s devotional is authored by Brad Brown 

Ephesians 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

Reflection
Ephesians 1:3-14 is a feast for the believer’s hungry soul. It speaks to the only thing that ultimately matters for the church in life and in death. That is…You and I belong to Jesus Christ.

Marcus Peter Johnson beautifully articulates the blessing or the gifts given to those who are now and forever “in Christ”. I think its worth reading his words at length:

“…Jesus Christ does not bestow his benefits in the abstract; he bestows himself to us, that we might enjoy who he is for us in all his saving graces….

Jesus Christ is an inexhaustible fountain of blessing to us. When he gives himself to us that we might enjoy him, he is not only our justification— the One through whom we experience the forgiveness of sins and the fellowship of his righteousness— he is also our sanctification— the One through whom we are made holy and are transformed into his image. 

Yet he is the source of yet another blessing, one so amazing that it would be blasphemous to suggest if it were not true. In our union with Christ, the only begotten Son of God, we participate in what is most precious to him: his relationship with his Father. We are, in union with Christ, adopted into the family of God; we become the children, the sons and daughters, of the Most High God.

To say that our union with Christ is Trinitarian means that by virtue of being incorporated into the life of Jesus Christ, we participate in the life, love, and fellowship of the Trinity. Because the Son is one with the Father, our being joined to the Son means we are joined to the Father. And because the Spirit exists as the bond of communion between the “Father and Son, he brings us into that communion by uniting us to Christ.

There can be no union of greater personal intimacy than that which exists between God the Father and God the Son. But…Jesus (in John 17) tells us that we are incorporated into that relationship as he dwells in us, and the Father in him. Our union with Jesus Christ is a participation in the most personal and intimate union that has ever, and will ever, exist…”

You may want to go back and read through that a few more times very slowly  ( I certainly had to…). I think it’s well worth our time to think deeply about the lavish gifts given by our heavenly Father. I think it’s worth our time to ponder the rich communion we have with the God that spoke creation into existence and hung on the cross for our sin. I think its worth the effort to ponder the riches of our salvation. To belong to Jesus is to receive so much more than a ticket out of hell. 

The salvation of Christ is the greatest gift of all, not just because of what it saves us from but because of what it offers: God. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It offers the One our hearts were made for…Hallelujah. All I have is Christ!

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