As In a Mirror

This week’s Word for Wednesday focuses on the Scriptural definition of “joy.”

Often we think to ourselves, “What is real joy, anyway?” Whatever it is, we sure wish we had it! According to Galatians 5:22, joy is a fruit of the Spirit, along with love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These fruits are essential to the believer; they are the evidence of Christ within him. So the question arises, just what is this joy, and how do we know that we are possessing it?

The literal Greek word for joy used often in the New Testament means a “calm delight; exceeding gladness.” It is interesting to note how Jesus, in the parable of the sower, refers to those who were compared to the stony ground: “… when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.” (Luke 8:13). So, we see that our faith must be founded on something stronger than the initial joy we receive. We must receive “the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15).

Therefore, though joy is not the root or basis of our faith, it is a fruit, an after-effect. Because whoever strives to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12), the Scriptures repeatedly exhort us to have joy in tribulation. Nehemiah 8:10 says, “the joy of the Lord is your strength,” that is, “the joy of the Lord is your defense.” We are constantly instructed to rejoice, to offer up thanksgiving to God. For us who know the greatness of God and the wonder of His love, this is the natural response. The joy that results no one can ever take away from us, no matter the circumstance (John 16:22, Romans 8:38-39). We cling to this joy in hope of the glory to come; we also receive instruction and correction with joy (Romans 5:2, Hebrews 12:3-10). Psalm 16:11 says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy,” and John 15:4 tells us to abide, that is to stay, in Christ. We can thus conclude that we are to always be in His presence, in His Spirit. We also see that our joy, the flower of our faith, is to be a constant thing, not transient like happiness or cheer.

Joy– it is what drives us, motivates us, satisfies us. Joy is the ambition that prevails over despair, the hope that endures hardship, and the result of fulfilled anticipation.

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But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?
For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.
Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.
But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. ( 2 Corinthians 4:7-18)

I have set the LORD always before my face;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. (Psalm 16:8)

They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. (Revelation 4:22)

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

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For this week’s Word for Wednesday, I decided to re-post an older one I posted back in September, only with a few updates.

Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3)

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:9-11)

Isaiah 53

Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.

I have been thinking lately on what a great love God has toward us, his children. We, who once were not the people of God, but are now His people! (1 Peter 2:10) “When I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in.” (from the hymn, How Great Thou Art) When I think that those nails that pierced His hands were meant for me; the heartbreak through which the angel of God kept Him alive, belonged to me; the mocking and beating, the lower parts of the earth– I was the one who deserved it. How could the Son of God die for me? Why? It doesn’t make sense. What could He have gained? Could it be love? If so, all I ever thought was love is shattered.

Jesus, the altogether Holy One, did and spoke only as His Father directed, and doing so gained Him nothing but a few faithful followers, who so often doubted. He had nowhere to lay His head, zeal for His Father’s house consumed Him, and although He brought the message of truth, peace, and life, the people just wanted the “stuff.” Others were afraid. HE still followed His Father. He had one great purpose: to do His Father’s will, to be a ransom for sin, to redeem God’s people to God. He knew perfectly well what sufferings He had to endure; that all would abandon Him, that He would die and enter Hell for the people– for me, for everyone I see, for the tribes hidden on the earth, for the royalties of Europe. “He opened not His mouth.” He did not stand up for Himself. He went as a lamb to the slaughter; but He chose, He knew. He endured the abandonment, the mockery, the humiliation, the pain, the scourging, the thorns, the hill, the cross, even Hell. He cried out, “My God, why have you forsaken Me?” Think of it: God’s only Son, in whom He was well-pleased! When I understand this, there is no way I can, with a clear conscience, speak as if heaven is owed me by God; it is clear that I deserve hell.

At the end, He cried out, “It is finished.” He had completed His purpose on earth. That was LOVE, though the people He was loving rejected it. Lord, teach me this love, me who so treasures honor, loyalty, devotion, purpose, strength. Teach me this love! This love, that appears morbid, but leads to resurrection, redemption, hope, life! And teach me to say, “I love You, Jesus!” Make me a lamb, oh, make me a servant, a flame! A soldier at Your right hand. Lord, I want to give 100% of me to You, for Your glory, that Your name may be highly exalted among the nations. Because of Your Son, I now can call on You as “Father!”

“And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:
‘ You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.’

And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus:
‘ I will give you the sure mercies of David.’

Therefore He also says in another Psalm:
‘ You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’

“For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised up saw no corruption. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:32-39)

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ ” (Romans 8:15)

We have been born of God, we abide in Him by keeping His commandments; we love Him because He first loved us! We are His, now. Let us follow in the steps of Jesus, returning in a small portion that Love which was so freely poured out for us!

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
“ Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:21-25)

This song, “Lead Me to the Cross” from Hillsong United, sums it all up.

He loved me; He did not love His throne in heaven too much to humble Himself to become a man, despised and rejected, just to make it possible for me to live forever! Can it be? The Holy Son of God–died, crucified–for me, a sinner? I think sometimes we define love by our own standards instead of those of God, whose very nature is love. Love is not exalting another above what he really is, but making a way for him to face the truth and make it right. And in our case, we could not make it right, so Jesus came, yet still we looked down on Him, disregarded Him. Nonetheless, His love ENDURES!!! Some of us have experienced His love, pouring so freely over our hearts, washing us and making us new, and what sorrow we felt when we realized how long we had ignored Him! But thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! What a wonder, how when no man would seek the face of the blessed Lord from whom all good things flow, He came softly, quietly to earth to find us! He came to make us clean, to sanctify us and rescue us from the grasp of the accuser. What a wonder His love; what freedom is bondage to His way!

There is an old hymn by Charles Wesley, called “And Can It Be?” Here are the first and the third verses:

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Actually, I’m thinking of a whole bunch of songs on this topic! “All For Love/Shout Unto God” by Hillsong United– really fits what I’ve been trying to say here.

And also, JUST ONE MORE! The Wonder of Your Love from Hillsong’s newest album, Faith+Hope+Love.

For more Word for Wednesdays, see Yeah, Right…

Related posts:

Word for Wednesday: What Love Is

Word for Wednesday: Love is a River

Word for Wednesday: White as Snow

Word for Wednesday: Set Apart to Him

Word for Wednesday: Called and Chosen

Word for Wednesday: Unconditional Surrender

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Today’s Word for Wednesday is short and sweet.
In the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, we find an exposition of the deep meaning of true love.

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)

In this passage, the Apostle Paul says that without love, prophesy, speaking in tongues, knowledge, faith, and understanding of mysteries amount to nothing for a believer. Love is long suffering, love is kind, enduring, trusting, hoping all things, believing all things, and bearing all things. Love rejoices in the truth. Love is not envious, is not boastful or puffed up; it does not behave rudely, does not seek its own or rejoice in iniquity, is not provoked, thinks no evil. Love, agape in the original Greek, is equivalent to benevolence or charity, a condition of the heart that requires kinetic energy.

Charity or benevolence, of which love consists, is an act of mercy initiated by compassion, or doing unto others as you desire them to do to you. Love is a kind of devotion, for love is enduring, and endurance is not defined by circumstances. If love is unconditional, then it is evident that love is not often deserved by the receiver. Thus, love is a compromise; not a compromise of standard, but rather a compromise of will, that is, a sacrifice of self.

Love is a manner of behavior, which by default demands a response. If love is accepted, it will abound and benefit both parties. If love is rejected, it will continue to manifest, for it is long-suffering. It was through love that God gave His Son Jesus Christ as a propitiation for our sins; it was through love that Jesus told the rich young ruler to fulfill the law by selling all he had and following Him. It is also through love that we keep the commandments of God.

1 John 4:8 tells us that, “…God is love.” Thus, as we adopt the attributes of love, we are conforming our character to the character of God, and are being transformed into His image. Indeed, we are believers in Christ as a response to the vast love of God; we have been changed by His love. We are compelled by His love to seek Him and walk in His ways, living no longer for ourselves, but for Christ who died for us and rose again. Love, therefore, is growing in our hearts and bearing fruit as we walk in the ways of God, who is love.

“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

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Word.

HAHAHA!!!! Only kidding! Actually, for this week’s WFW, I decided to post a very summarized version of my previous series, Saved From Sin. “Summarized?” you say? Um, okay, so it’s almost 2,000 words long. Let’s say it’s summarized compared to the New Testament.

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One of the many topics discussed by Christian teachers and lay men alike is the Christian life, how one under the New Covenant is to conduct himself in this world as he awaits the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the controversies over the centuries has been whether or not it is possible, or even necessary, for the Christian to live life void of sin. Some say that it is not possible, for no man could ever be perfect like God or His Son Jesus, while others argue that it is indeed possible, for God never lies, and He stated, “Be perfect, for I am perfect.” Thus, the question has arisen, “What does ‘perfect’ mean?” Is a man regarded perfect in God’s eyes because he asked Jesus into his heart and therefore God sees Jesus’ works, not the man’s? But surely the written Word of God’s truth is the authority. Therefore, one must not ask, “What do leading scholars say on this subject?” but rather, “What does the Word of God say?” Having searched the Scriptures, I have come to believe that it is indeed possible for the Christian to live a sinless life.

A very simple way to understand what a Christian’s conduct should be is to first understand what a Christian is; the literal meaning is “a Christ-follower.” A Christian is one who has been saved by Christ. But what is it that he has been saved from? Romans 6:18 clearly states, “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” We believe that Jesus was the Son of God and the Son of Man, and that He lived a sinless life. We also believe that He died for our sins. What does that mean? He took the punishment for our sins, yes. But it was an act of reconciliation between God and man. Why was that reconciliation necessary? What had separated man and God in the first place? The answer to these questions is the gospel itself. God, the Creator, is all-mighty, all-knowing, and all-holy; He cannot look upon sin, that is, the breaking of His commands: anything contrary to His nature is evil. However, the first man Adam, and every man succeeding him, sinned, falling short of the glory of God, that is, the splendor of His presence and His goodness (Romans 3:23). In our filthy state called human nature, we cannot enter into that glory. Many tend to think that we deserve Hell and need a Savior because we did not do enough good works. However, the true reason we deserve Hell is because we sinned. We may try to make amends and keep God’s law, but we always fall into sin again, especially in our minds. Under the Old Covenant, the Hebrews offered up annual sacrifices, not to appease God, but to pay for their sins. Yet Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh and lived completely sinless, became our sacrifice once for all; He paid our legal debt. Then He rose from the grave, conquering death and therefore conquering sin. He “was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). Jesus, the Lamb of God, saved us from our sins, from our human nature, restoring our communication with God. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2). The very purpose of Christ’s coming was not to hand out free tickets to heaven, but to wash us and save us from sin, that we might behold the glory of God; this understanding is absolutely essential to anyone who truly seeks to understand the Christian life.

One very prominent truth is that without holiness, no one shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). We already understand that in our previous state, we could not attain to holiness; but now, in our saved state, how exactly do we have holiness? Is is that Jesus’ holiness covers for us no matter what we do wrong? Or do we need to bear holy works? Isn’t the latter justification by works? But what does the Scripture say? “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life” (Romans 6:20). “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’ ” (1 Peter 1:13-16). The Scriptures tell us that faith must be manifested by works; faith without works is dead. When Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his only son, he believed that God was able to raise his son from the dead. But he was not justified by this belief alone; he obeyed God, and was ready to slay his son; but God intervened and saved him. Because of this obedience, Abraham was called the friend of God. Faith and works go together as a body and spirit (James 2:14-26). Christians, unlike those of all other religions, are not subject to keeping regulations or traditions, but their lives do bear the fruits of their faith. In the language of John the Baptist, we must “bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8). The Lord God desires not sacrifice, but obedience: a heart that seeks to do His will. “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all…[but] if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:10, 26-27). This fruit of holiness in our lives leaves absolutely no room for sin, for the rejection of God’s commands. By doing so we would be returning to our previous state, trampling the precious blood by which we were saved. (Hebrews 10:28)

Finally, a Christian has no excuse for sin because he who is in Christ Jesus walks no longer according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1). “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:5-6). The Spirit of God gives us the power to overcome sin, and thus to be free from eternal death, for “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:2, 6:23). Romans 8 continues to tell us that Jesus “condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (verses 3-4). The Spirit of God and the flesh cannot coexist, for they are at enmity with one another; those who walk according to the Spirit must crucify the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5). After all, why would the apostle John write, “I write these things to you, so that you may not sin” (1 John 2:1)? Many Christians know Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” but do they stop and consider that this means that through Christ we can overcome sin? What freedom it is indeed, to be able to live above the power of temptation, and that not of one’s own strength, but by the grace of God!

The Scriptures make it perfectly clear that Christians are called to live life free from sin, because we who have been made right with God by the blood of Jesus cannot return to the corruptness from which we were saved. We do not start our walk with the Lord perfectly, but our goal is to attain to what the Word of God calls the “perfect man… the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Some say that to sin is just human; in this regard they are right, but God calls us to deny our human nature, to crucify our flesh and follow Him (Luke 9:23). God showed us the way when He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to earth; Jesus “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). We have the Lord’s promise that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to resist (1 Corinthians 10:14). As many of us know, Christians do make mistakes, and sometimes we sin. But what matters is that when we sin, we must repent quickly, and God will forgive us and give us a fresh start (1 John 1:9). By faith in Jesus Christ, we are saved from sin and thus from eternal punishment; and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are being sanctified and transformed into the image of that perfect man, though we might see that image dimly at first (2 Corinthians 3:18). Until the Lord calls us to our eternal home, we are to live in holy conduct on this earth. To put it succinctly, salvation is a one-time occurrence, but sanctification is a life-long process. When we entrust our souls wholly to Jesus, and rely on His righteousness, not on our own works, for salvation, He will empower us to live in His righteousness forever. Truly, when one understands this wonderful gospel, this marvelous freedom of a sinless life, there is no desire to make excuses for sin any longer. Whom the Son has set free is free indeed (John 8:36)!

I think this is the most professional Word for Wednesday I have written thus far (wow). And a great song to sum it all up is the timeless classic, “Amazing Grace.”

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