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"I am so Worth Dying For!"

Sun, 25 May 2014 21:12:06 +0100

Those words posted on Facebook were the response of someone who had seen the passion play during this last Easter season. Now in fairness it should be noted that the response came from a person who to my knowledge does not claim to be a Christian and I doubt she had a church upbringing. But I wonder if her exclamation after seeing the play would not also be echoed by many within the Evangelical church. I doubt it would be put that boldly but perhaps you have heard something along the following: “You were so valuable to God that if you had been the only person on earth, God would have sent Jesus to die for you.”

Now that type of statement is made with the hope of convincing the listeners that they are significant, important, and loved by God, indeed so valuable to God that he was compelled to send his Son into the world to seek and save us. Of course that may give the listener a warm feeling and it is sure to boost their self-esteem which it seems everyone is seeking to do these days, but is that what the cross is all about - affirming my self-worth?

Now I certainly do not want to denigrate God’s love, most certainly not the love that he expresses for his children. Paul in writing to the Ephesians puts great emphasis on God’s love as the motivating factor for choosing us for salvation.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love ⁵He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, ⁶to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:3-6

Reformed Bible scholars have always (rightly) pointed out that in these verses where Paul speaks of God choosing us before the foundation of the world this election by God is unconditional, meaning it is not based on some foreseen quality in the person chosen. God did not look down the corridors of time and see that this person or that had the right stuff to make up a nice Christian. Nor did he choose based on some foreseen faith that person might have. Indeed the faith that we exercised in coming to Christ is itself a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

I recall a Dennis the Menace cartoon where he and his friend Joey are eating cookies. Joey says to Dennis: “We must have been really good for Mrs. Wilson to give us all these cookies.” To which Dennis responds, “Joey, Mrs. Wilson didn’t give us cookies to show us how good we are. Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies to us how good she is.”

It is the same with God: all the gifts and blessings God bestows on his children through Christ are not designed to show us how valuable we are rather they reveal how good and gracious He is.

As to the cross itself and what it reveals, it certainly is not an affirmation of our worth, rather it is an indictment of our sin. Our sin and rebellion against God where we so woefully undervalue Him - They did not honor God as God neither did they give him thanks - is what makes fallen human beings so reprehensible to Him, in fact it makes us his enemies. So infinitely valuable is God that any sin against him is infinitely offensive. This is why those who do not repent will spend eternity in hell for their sins; no matter how long they are punished they can never fully pay for their crimes against God. Only at the cross is the justice of God fully satisfied because there the infinite offense was propitiated by a sacrifice of infinite value - God’s own Son.

Paul speaks of this amazing grace of God in Romans 5:6-11 when he writes:

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. ⁸But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Much more then, having now been justified ^[e]by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. ¹⁰For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. ¹¹And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

We marvel at a soldier who sacrifices his life for his buddies. We laud a mother who despite health risks carries her baby to term rather than abort. But what grace is this? God sacrifices his Son to purchase our souls when we were yet his enemies. This is the wonder of the cross; this is the love of God; this is why we sing about amazing grace. And this is the confidence of the believer, that if God reconciled us to himself through his Son while we were still his enemies, how much more now that we are his children is He committed to our well-being? As Paul says later in Romans 8:32, He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

When we watch a passion play and truly understand the meaning of Christ’s death we do not respond by saying, “I am so worthy dying for!” Rather we respond by saying,

When I survey the wondrous cross

on which the prince of glory died;

My greatest gain I count but loss

and pour contempt on all my pride.

Pastor Doug

A Transformed Life Through a Transformed Mind

Sun, 25 May 2014 21:11:15 +0100

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ²And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2

I have heard it said that Christianity is the only religion that claims to be able to transform a person. I am not certain if that is true, but I do know that the Bible does indeed claim that something fundamental and radical has taken place when a person places their faith in Christ. There is a move from death to life, (Ephesians 2:4-5) darkness to light, (I John 1:5-7) lies to truth, (I John 1:8-10) from slavery to freedom, (Galatians 5:1) for we are no longer under God’s wrath but now in the realm of his grace (Romans 5:1-2). But what has been declared in principle has to become real in practice. God has declared us to be his holy people (I Peter 2:9-10) now we have to become what he has said we are.

According to Paul that breaking free from conformity to the world comes by the renewing of our mind. That renewing is needed because a person actions are determined by their fundamental beliefs; you cannot change their actions without changing the beliefs that shape and determine those actions.

Take the issue of a man who is a workaholic. Endless hours at the job are ruining his family life, taking a toll on his health, and having a deadening effect on his spiritual well-being. His wife is constantly on him to cut back, his pastor has warned him about the dangers, and he himself knows they are right, and yet, I got to get back to the office.

What is the problem? A love of money? No, he doesn’t have time to spend any of it. Concern that he might lose his job? His boss is actually encouraging him to take time off. The real problem, the root cause, is his belief that his value as a man is determined by how hard he works. His identity isn’t determined by his relationship to Christ, but by his relationship to work. As long as he holds this false belief, though it may be killing him, it remains Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go.

Now the reason we need a renewed mind is because all of us have been shaped by the world’s thinking. Through the educational system, the media, and popular culture, like Jello poured into a mold, we have been shaped by the world around. Having grown up in this culture we have to a large extent accepted its norms, values, and expectations. To use a computer analogy we have been programmed to act in certain ways. What is needed is to be re-programmed (renewing of the mind) through the word of God. Only as these fundamental false beliefs are replaced by the truths of Scripture do we break free from conformity to the world.

So it matters greatly whether correct doctrine (biblical truth) is taught in church. A pastor’s greatest responsibility is to accurately teach the word of God. Nothing is more important than that he preach the word…. (II Timothy 4:1-5) But that is only half of the equation: people also have to hear the word. The transformation that take place in the Christian’s life is largely dependent on the amount of truth that comes into his/her life; the more interaction with God’s word, the more growth that comes. God’s word is to the believer what sunlight is to a plant; health and growth are determined by how much of his light comes into our life. If you want to grow and be transformed you have to have regular interaction with God’s word.

By God’s grace you are in a church where there is an abundance of truth. Your pastors are committed to teaching you what the Bible actually says rather than what people wish it would say. Through verse by verse Sunday morning preaching through whole books of the Bible, along with Sunday school and home Bible studies the Word taught is readily available.

Pastors are charged to feed the flock but the sheep have to be willing to taste and see that the Lord is good. If you really want to see greater transformation in your life in 2014 increase your time reading and listening to God’s word. Here are some suggestions:

1) Set aside a regular time for reading your Bible: 15 minutes before you go to work, 30 before you go to bed. You will be amazed at the difference this makes.

2) Be diligent to get to church stay for Sunday school and come to Bible study. not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as we see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:25)

3) Listen to audio Bibles. Take advantage of the time you spend in your car, or working around home. Listening takes less energy than reading, and yet sometimes you will hear things in the spoken word that you miss reading. Though I normally read the NASB and have that version on my MP3 player, I also like listening to the NIV dramatized Bible- it puts you right into the story.

3) Listen to sermons over the internet. Eventually, we will have all of our sermons uploaded so that you can listen to them at any time. You will find that even sermons you have heard before will be a blessing because they will speak to some new circumstances in your life. Listed below are some of the preachers who I have been blessed by:

James Boice - The Bible Study Hour

John MacAurther - Grace to You

Liam Galligher - Tenth Presbyterian Church

Philip Ryken - Every Last Word

God bless you,

Pastor Doug McConnell