2013-06-07
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, the Holy Spirit led me to continue writing on belonging to Christ in the context of our congregational or group covenant relationships with others. We looked at EPH 1: 13-14, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, Who is a Deposit guaranteeing you our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession to the praise of His glory.” In other words, when we believe in the Lord Jesus, we receive the seal of the Holy Spirit, God’s claim of “ownership” on us. This notion is a very important part of the identity, and living in Christ is proof of it. MT 18: 15-17 gives us a series of steps to follow in dealing with those who are sinning within our congregation or group of believers. Today, we will look at the dichotomy between the Holy Spirit’s and the world’s ethics.
A great example of today’s topic is found in the “Upper Room Discourse” that happens at the last supper, in LK 22: 20-38. Nothing is more beautiful to me than the personal experience I have at taking Communion. The taking of the bread (host) reminds us of Christ’s body broken for us, and the drinking of the wine (grape juice) is the reminder of the initiation of the new covenant in our lives and Christ’s blood shed for us (20) [see also 1 COR 11: 23-25]. Christ then refers to the man [Judas Iscariot] who is sitting at His table and will betray Him. At the same time, a tacit warning message is given about anyone who knowingly and serially betrays Christ through the breaking of the Covenant of Grace. In (23), a colloquy begins over which of the disciples is the greatest and who might be the betrayer. The discussion moves toward comparing human kings who see themselves as benefactors and what God’s will is. Christ’s words in LK 22: 26 really highlights the dichotomy: “Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.” This same notion is reflected in MT 20: 26-28, “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” The very words, ministry, means “service” and minister means “servant.” When one is a minister, he serves both Jesus Christ and his covenant brothers and sisters.
God’s supremacy is seen clearly in LK 22: 28-30, which really uncovers what it means to be “joint heirs” with Christ to the Kingdom. “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials. And I confer upon you a Kingdom, just as My Father conferred one on Me, so that you may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Think about it; Christ serves the Father in many ways-- particularly in giving His life on the cross, so that we might be redeemed [1 PET 1: 20-21] and as a God-authorized Judge [DN 7: 13-14]. We are called to serve Christ in living our lives according to the dictates of the Holy Spirit [RO 8: 14-16, 26-27]. This section of the Upper Room Discourse is a prediction of the future, but it’s very likely the disciples didn’t really fully understand that at the time.
The next part of this discourse, (31-34), contains Christ’s comments directed at Peter, whom He is designating in the future position of leading the early church, but not before Peter is to deny even knowing Him three times before the cock crows! Impulsive Peter finds this unbelievable, revealing his immaturity in the faith at that time. MT 16: 18-19 gives us a more detailed picture of (31-32). “And I tell you that you are Peter, and of this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” In Greek, the word petros means rock; in English it’s Peter. That explains why Christ, Who knew what would happen ahead due to His omniscience, changed Simon’s name to Peter. And yet, Christ’s accurate prediction of Peter’s denial of Him followed by Peter’s contrition, then leadership of the church (as maturity came to Him in Christ) helps to reveal exactly Who Christ really is.
LK 22: 35-38 are warnings and predictions of what would come. Christ’s words in (35-36) warn the disciples that they will now be interfacing with those of the world. They needed a purse to pay their way and a sword to defend themselves against opposition from those with worldly values, even if it’s necessary to sell their cloak to get one. As the discourse ends, in (37-38), Christ tells the disciples He will soon be arrested, “numbered among transgressors.” This must happen for Him to fulfill the prophecy that He is the “Fulfillment” [RO 10: 4]. IS 53: 4-6, “Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted . But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, having gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Christ, our Redeemer, was about to carry out the greatest act of His ministry—His Atonement! [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25].
PRAYER: O Lord, in the Upper Room Discourse, we have seen the message that God keeps His promise to fulfill prophecies of great importance. In this we have also seen the divide (dichotomy) between the world’s values, and those of the Holy Spirit. To the world, political power, material wealth, man-made titles and degrees, etc. all are values held dear. In heaven, none of these things matter. Instead, what really matters are the things that will lead us through “the narrow gate that leads to the hard path” [MT 7: 13-14] to eternal life. We are created by God, made sinful by Satan, and redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ’s Atonement and our faith in Him. While things like being baptized are important, they do not provide salvation. Only the things in the previous sentence do. Nothing of the world will be brought into heaven. MT 6: 24, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both, God and money.” Faith is complete devotion to You, Dearest Abba, as Christ is one of Your three personalities--the others being Yourself and the Holy Spirit—Three in One. We proclaim Your superiority over even the most successful or powerful of mankind. We ask that You accept us as Your servants, who make our lives “living sacrifices of service” in this form of worship,” pleasing and acceptable to You [RO 12: 1]. As Your servants, You have every right to judge us and bring us back to Your side in heaven, if we have been obediently faithful to You, or reject us for rejecting You. While the disciples at the Last Supper didn’t understand the full impact of Your words to them, we do, purely due to hindsight of history and our faith in You. You are a loving, responsible, and wise God, Who has commanded us to know Your word, live by it, and accept Your guidance given in prayer and study of it. We thank and praise You forever, for giving us the reconnaissance we need to deal with the dichotomy between the Holy Spirit and the world. We choose to follow the Holy Spirit. In Christ’s holy/mighty name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: In the continuation of this “Higher Purpose for Us” segment of the “Our Covenant” messages, there is more the Holy Spirit directs me to write about the dichotomy between the world and Him. So, that will be the subject of next week’s message. We’ll look at the cost of being a disciple of Christ, and the layout of what must have gone through Christ’s mind during the events that followed the Upper Room Discourse. As I mentioned above, we have the advantage of hindsight in understanding the significance of the discussion that went on at the Last Supper. We must look at our own lives and assess just how well we are doing with conforming our values, customs, and practices to the ethics of the Holy Spirit. Yes, this can be a tough evaluation-at least it surely is in this author’s life--but it’s part of traveling that hard road to eternal life. We always have the Holy Spirit to help us and should call upon Him frequently. This assessment is not to evoke guilt. If it is carried on in such a way that it does, than the assessor doesn’t understand the point of this effort. It is to uncover even the most subtle of sins we are committing, so that we can put an end to them. And the reward? 1 COR 15: 52-54, “In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written [IS 25: 8] will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’” Praise and thanks be to God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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