Jesus, Our Sabbath

In Hebrews 4:9, the writer states, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,” and he makes this claim amidst a book targeting those who would slip back into Judaism after being converting to Christianity. If, as the Hebrew writer writes, the entire system of sacrifices and feasts has been done away with, what kind of Sabbath rest would he be describing?

The Importance of the Sabbath

Of all the aspects of the old law, the Sabbath is the most messianic, and it is the only of the Ten Commandments left unrepeated in the New Testament. This command was more than a day of physical rest; it was a system of fellowship and complete faith in God. Exodus 20:8 establishes the principle of the Sabbath day and invokes the Creation in the description, a time when man had perfect union and fellowship with God before sin entered the world. Deuteronomy 5:14-15 expands on this command by additionally commemorating the Exodus from Egypt through keeping the Sabbath.

The Sabbath system was more than the seventh day, though. It included every seventh year as well as every forty-ninth and fiftieth year, where debts were forgiven, slaves were freed, property was restored to the original owners. Redemption, forgiveness, and restoration were all present – including an unfathomable amount of faith required to forsake tending fields, generating income, and preparing provisions for an entire year. Not only were the affluent among the people to sacrifice providing for themselves, but they were to let go much the of wealth they had accumulated between Years of Jubilee. This required absolute and complete trust in God.

Rejecting the Sabbath

In passages like Leviticus 26:34-35 and II Chronicles 36:17-21, Sabbath imagery is tied closely to the benefits of following God’s word as well as in the consequences of forsaking God. This was more than a simple day off. To reiterate, it is the most messianic of the Old Testament commandments. In Jeremiah 17:24 and Nehemiah 13:17-18, among other verses, Israel’s problems are boiled down to dishonoring the Sabbath.

Think of the number of times God’s people failed to show faith in His power to save, in His power to give them rest. Remember the lack of faith prior to the Exodus. Think of their despair before the Red Sea. Think of the many times the people would wish to return to Egypt. Remember their reluctance to enter the Promised Land, again looking back on their slavery in Egypt as preferable to trusting in God’s deliverance; even after Joshua leads them to victory in Canaan, the people fail to drive out the idolators inhabiting the land, failing to possess the land as God would have them. Finally, in Jeremiah 7:24-26, God sums their attitudes up by saying they insisted on going backward instead of forward.

The Old Testament is a story of unrealized rest. The Hebrew writer, in chapter 4 of his book, quotes Psalm 95 in saying that those generations failed to enter God’s rest. He cites that Joshua could not give them rest because of those failures, and he says to us that we must not miss the rest that our spiritual forefathers failed to grasp.

The Sabbath of Christ

In Jesus’ ministry, He demonstrates that He not only provides rest to us, but He is that rest for which we not grasp. In Luke 4:16-21, Jesus reads from Isaiah, and the passage from which He reads contains clear overtones of forgiveness of debt, redemption, and release from slavery and captivity – elements of the Jubilee Year. Jesus is saying that He provides that Jubilee.

In Matthew 6, Jesus speaks about not being enslaved to providing for ourselves. Again, this is Sabbath terminology. He calls on us to seek the spiritual first and to trust God when it comes to the physical. Instead of consuming time and energy worrying about our provisions, our faith and trust should be in God so we may dedicate our lives and our energy to Him.

Matthew 11:28-29 reads: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” It is an invitation to rest, even quoting Jeremiah in rest for our souls. Think of the miracles performed on the Sabbath – healing, restoring, cleansing. In Luke 13:10-17, Jesus heals on the Sabbath, and He asks if it is not right for the healed woman to be loosed from the bonds of her illness – released and set free on the day of spiritual release.

Jesus came to offer us redemption, forgiveness, and release. He frees us from the bonds of sin. He provides us perfect fellowship with God. We cannot reject this. Instead, we should be continually diligent to take hold of and maintain our relationship with Christ that gives us a rest beyond anything this world can provide. This is the Sabbath that remains, for, in Christ, every day is the Sabbath, and the New Testament is a perpetual age of Jubilee.

lesson by Tim Smelser

The Miracle at Cana

A study of Jesus’ miracles is challenging in itself, and we know that these miracles were designed to inspire faith and to teach about the very nature of Jesus. The wedding feast at Cana, however, can present a challenge. It occurs on the fourth day of Jesus’ ministry, and, in many ways, it seems very mundane and unnecessarily secretive or private. Yet this is the first way Jesus chose to reveal His miraculous powers. Nothing in Jesus’ ministry was accidental or haphazard, so there must be lessons about Him and ourselves in this seemingly simple act.

We begin at a wedding feast. Think about times in our lives we hold dear and cherish in our memories; how many of these center around friends, family, and a shared meal? In Matthew 22:1 and Luke 14:15, Jesus compares God’s kingdom with great feasts, and, in Matthew 9:10-11, we see Jesus sharing meals with tax collectors and sinners. Time and again in Jesus’ ministry, meals play a part of the message of His ministry, so it should be no surprise that Jesus would begin His miracles at such an occasion.

The Importance of the Feast
This was more than any wedding feast, though. This first miracle occurred during a Jewish wedding feast, a celebration that could last up to seven days, the first time the new couple has an opportunity to extend hospitality to family and friends. This feast was a sacred duty, and failure of provisions would bring shame and disgrace. When they run out of wine at the feast in Cana, it is not a small problem.

This wine was seen as a symbol of blessings, peace, prosperity, and the Lord’s blessings. In Deuteronomy 7, God promises blessings upon the flocks and the vineyards of His people with their faithfulness, and this imagery is repeated in Deuteronomy 11:13-14, Deuteronomy 33:28, as well as numerous other passages. New wine was an indicator of God’s presence, and the absence thereof would indicate the removal of God’s blessings as illustrated in Deuteronomy 28:30 and Joel 1:10.

The Significance of the Miracle
In this context, we come back to John 2 and a wedding feast in which Jesus’ disciples were involved. The wine runs out; Jesus makes His first statement regarding “my hour;” Mary commands the servants to follow Jesus’ every command; the water is changed; and the miraculous wine is better than any served thus far in the feast. What was the point of all of this? Here, Jesus shows Himself to be the Messianic bridegroom. He steps in and intercedes to supply that symbol of God’s presence and blessings.

In Acts 3:19-20, Peter calls on his listeners to receive seasons of refreshing from the Lord, again making reference to the rest and refreshment offered in our meals. A physical element is used to teach a spiritual lesson. He supplies for every spiritual need, and Jesus’ first miracle illustrates that power of provision. He is the bridegroom whose refreshments never run low, and John 3:25-30, while John the Baptist is discussing purification (the same purification for which the water pots in John 2 had been purposed), John refers to Jesus as the Bridegroom.

Finally, consider Jesus’ reading of Isaiah 61 when He returns to teach in Nazareth. By verse 10, the Messiah of that chapter refers to Himself as the bridegroom who provides garments of salvation. What does the miracle at Cana tell us? It tells us that Christ came to bring God’s peace and protection. It tells us Jesus came to bring seasons of refreshing to His people.

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

And the angel said to me, Write this: “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

- Revelation 19:6-9

Necessary Changes

We know Psalm 51 as written by David after being confronted by Nathan over the sin with Bathsheba. He calls upon God, numerous times in the psalm, to cleanse him, to make him whiter than snow, to heal his broken spirit. He promises, in return, to teach others of God’s mercy and His forgiveness, and He praises God for that forgiveness working in his life. David is aware of a change that has to happen in himself to bring himself closer to his God.

Acts 3:20 talks about this change as repentance, and Romans 12 emphasizes this change as a transformation. Paul goes on to talk about how this change manifests itself in our lives, in our morality, in humility, and in our treatment of others. Time and again in Christ’s teachings and those of His apostles, we are instructed to change ourselves, and there are many areas in which we can strive to change and improve ourselves.

Improvement Through Change
We need to change our ignorance into knowledge. Hebrews 5:11 warns us against becoming “dull of hearing,” for such dullness leads to spiritual immaturity. I Timothy 1:7 warns that spiritual ignorance leads to false teachings, but Hebrews 5:14 reminds us that experience and exercising our knowledge is what develops spiritual maturity, helping us discern between good and evil.

This leads us to our second necessary change. I Corinthians 3:1-3 warns against maintaining spiritual immaturity, and they remained worldly-minded because of this immaturity. Hebrews 6:1 calls on us to push on to perfection, full growth in Christ, but this comes with more than time. Our conduct, our attitudes, our spiritual knowledge – these tell others how spiritually mature we are.

Romans 13:11 calls on us to wake out of sleep. He admonishes us to change our laziness into zeal. If we are simply drifting along, we have to awaken and take an active role in our spiritual growth. In verse 14, Paul calls on us to adorn ourselves in Christ and abandon the cares that cause us to languish in worldliness. Also, I Corinthians 15:34 encourages to awake to righteousness, to awake to knowledge, and to sin no more. Ephesians 5:14 merely calls upon us to awake.

Our lack of reverence must then be turned into true worship. In Mark 7:6, Jesus quotes from Isaiah: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…” In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus reinforces this point with a parable of a tax collector and a Pharisee going up to pray. The Pharisee honors God with his lips while praising himself where the tax collector, in his humble confession, truly approaches God in reverence, awe, and humility. Our worship must not only please ourselves, but it must also please our God.

We must furthermore turn our weariness into gladness. We must not let our fatigue do us in. Galatians 6:7-10 and Ephesians 2:10 remind us that we are here to do good works. Look to Jesus as an example. How tiring His ministry was! How discouraging to face opposition time and again! Yet, He never abandoned His mission. He never ceased in doing good for others. Likewise, we must always look for opportunities to serve others.

Giving All
We must stop making excuses. We must stop giving less than our best. We must change our minimums into maximums. In all of these things – our knowledge, our service, our worship, our reverence, our maturity – it comes down to just how much we’re willing to give to God in our lives. We have many necessary changes to make, and we can accomplish them all by giving our all to serving and honoring our God in every aspect of our lives.

lesson by Tim Smelser

My Redeemer Lives

We sometimes sing a song called I Know That My Redeemer Lives, and it may come as some surprise that the words from that song are inspired by an Old Testament passage. In Job 19:25, Job states:

For I know that my Redeemer lives,

and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

The term redeemer comes up some twenty-five times in the Bible, and, with just a couple notable exceptions, the term almost always refers to the Messiah. In this context, Job has lost everything, but he expresses confidence that His Lord will be a mediator, and advocate, a messenger, and a redeemer. Two thousand years before the birth of Christ, Job shows understanding that God will not leave His creation without access to Him.

Job’s Redeemer

In Job 9:33, Job longs for an arbiter, or a mediator, between him and God, so that one might argue his case. In I Timothy 2:5, Paul explains that we do have a Mediator between God and man who is both man and God – Jesus Christ. Then, in Job 16:18-19, Job expresses confidence in a witness in Heaven. He understands he has an Advocate before the father, one who will serve to represent those who cannot represent themselves. Job knows he has divine representation before the Father, and I John 2:1 reminds us that we also have an Advocate in Jesus Christ.

Returning to Job 19:23-25, Job expresses a desire to have his words recorded that others may know as he does that his Redeemer lives. Despite his deteriorating health and morale, he seems to be growing spiritually, expressing confidence in a Redeemer and a Savior who would appear before God with him. I Peter 1:18 reminds us we were delivered and redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice. Christ is our final Redeemer who delivers us from the chains of this life.

Finally, in Job 33:23-24, as Elihu is reminding Job not to be so self righteous, he speaks of a messenger without equal who lifts us from the pit. Isaiah speaks of such a one in Isaiah 61:1-3 who lifts His own out of darkness, cleansing them, and delivering them. Jesus, when speaking in His hometown, applies this passage to Himself. He is the messenger who soars above the thousands.

Conclusion

Throughout Job, a picture begins to form, and that picture finds clarity and resolution in the personage of Christ. Whether or not he understood the full import of his words, job looked beyond the things of this live, looking for reconciliation with His God. He had faith that such a Redeemer lives, and we can have that same hope. Jesus is our Advocate, our Mediator, and our Redeemer. He is what we need most, and He will cleanse us and lift us up when we turn to Him.

lesson by Tim Smelser

A Faithful Hope

The Bible is full of individuals who stand up and declare the word of the Lord in the face of public and political opposition. People like Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, and more – these face threats, persecutions, and ridicule for delivering a message that the people do not necessarily wish to hear. Among these great messengers is a man named Jeremiah, commonly known as the weeping prophet for the bitterness of his message to the prophet.

In Lamentation 1, we see Jeremiah writing a song of mourning, told from the perspective of the city as it is being besieged. He calls the city a widow. He writes of Jerusalem’s enemies mocking the city and taking joy in her demise. Jerusalem mourns her lost children. Then, in chapter 3, the prophet begins to insert his own voice, bemoaning the tragedies he is forced to witness. It is a book of sorrow and pain over the destruction of God’s holy city.

A Glimmer of Hope
In the midst of this, in Jeremiah 3:21-25, the prophet remembers hope:

But this I call to mind,and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
The LORD is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.
The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

In the middle of sorrow and despair, Jeremiah remembers God’s mercy and the renewal available in Him. He remembers hope in God’s faithfulness. All of us face failure in our lives. We face difficulties, sorrow, and ridicule. Like Jeremiah, we can remember the portion we have in Jehovah.

Hope in God’s Faithfulness, Mercy, and Renewal
Jeremiah calls God’s mercies unending. Psalm 136 repeats again and again that God’s steadfast love endures forever. His mercies, His compassion, His love is faithful and enduring. In Luke 1:76-79, Zechariah praises God for the endurance of His tender mercies, and Romans 15:1-9 exults God for His mercy and calls the Lord a God of hope, of endurance, and of comfort. Ephesians 1:1-7 says God makes us alive in Christ because of His mercy and love. We know the God’s mercy does not fail, and we can trust in those mercies to deliver us.

Jeremiah also speaks of having hope in his God. In Psalm 130 calls on God’s people to hope in Him, in His love and His mercies. Psalm 31:24 and Psalm 38:15 both express hope in God’s deliverance and His mercy. I Thessalonians 5, Paul contrasts hope with hopelessness, and he writes that we should wear hope of salvation like a helmet in verse 8. Romans 8:24 simply states that our salvation is based upon hope, and Paul goes on to make the case that hope sustains us in the face of every trial this world can throw at us. Finally, Hebrews 6:17-20 speaks of our hope anchoring our souls. In the middle of this world’s tragedies and difficulties, this is the hope we can have.

We hope for renewal in God, and II Corinthians 5:17 calls those who live in Christ new creatures. Chapter 4:16-18 of the same book tells us we look away from our former physical concerns to spiritual hopes. We are renewed in the image of our Creator and Savior, and Romans 6 tells us we raise to walk in newness of life after our conversion to Christ. Ephesians 4:17-24 calls on us to clothe ourselves in newness and renewal, discarding our former selves and replacing that with a new creation. We all want a fresh start, and God promises we can be renewed in Christ when we sacrifice self and allow Him to transform our lives.

We can hope these things because God is faithful, and, if He is faithful to us, we should be as faithful to Him. I Corinthians 1:9 begins a very difficult letter with the assurance that God is indeed faithful. Hebrews 10:22-23 calls on us to hold onto our hope in a faithful God, and I John 1:9 assures us God’s forgiveness is faithful. If we place our hope in Him, if we trust His mercy, if we are faithful – then we can trust His faithfulness to us.

Conclusion
Jeremiah 3:21-25 stands as a testament of faith in a faithful God. God is good to the soul that seeks Him and waits on Him. Our renewal is found in Him alone, and our responsibility then is to seek Him and come to Him on His terms. He is available to us. The Jerusalem of Jeremiah’s time never turns to embrace God’s mercy and deliverance. They fall into captivity because of their slavery to sin. We, however, do not have to share that fate. We can take hold of the hope we have in God. We can trust His mercies and find renewal in Him. He can be our hope if we faithfully trust in Him.

lesson by Tim Smelser

The Price of Spiritual Freedom

Whenever there is a federal holiday set aside to commemorate those who have given themselves in service, whether, the Independence Day, Memorial Day, or Veterans Day, we should always remember that every Sunday should be a memorial for Christians. These are commemorative of those who have died, those who have served, and those who currently serve our country sacrificially, and over 1.3 million Americans have given themselves in that service. Despite speeches and ceremonies, many forget the significance among other things we associate with Memorial Day.

Freedom From Captivity

Freedom comes with a price, but we do not always appreciate that price from which so many of us are far removed. A parallel exists in John 8:31-33 where the Pharisees answer to Jesus that they have never been in bondage to anyone, despite a history of captivity to Egypt, Babylon, and Assyria. They feel removed enough from those terrible events it is as if they never happened. In these case, though, they not only forget the horror of bondage, they also forget the glory of God’s deliverance.

Exodus 6:6-8, Micah 2:12-13, Zephaniah 3:14-20 – these passages are just a few that illustrate the wonder and magnitude of God redeeming and delivering His people. These give a small peek at what God has done for them, and we can even find examples in their captivities where the children of Israel would begin to tolerate, even take comfort in, their state of servitude.

Our Spiritual Deliverance

We wonder how the Jews of Jesus’ day could be so forgetful of their past captivities. We wonder how they could have been so dismissive of God’s deliverance, but we do the same thing. Romans 7:14, Romans 6:16, all Romans 6:6 refer to sin as a form of slavery. Romans 8:2 and Romans 6:17-18 remind us that Jesus redeems us in His death. He delivers us, but, because His sacrifice is so far removed from us, we sometimes downplay or forget the magnitude of His sacrifice. Also, like the Jews in captivity, we sometimes grow to tolerate sin in our lives.

Hebrews 10:26 warns us that sin erases Christ’s sacrifice. Verse 29 calls our sin trampling over that sacrifice and profaning His grace. How do we view the memorial of the cross? How do we view the captivity of our sins? How do we view our deliverance by God’s hand? Has the memorial of Christ’s death lost meaning and magnitude to us? Every Sunday is a time to reflect on the price paid for our sins and the victory our God had over the chains of sin and death. The captivity of sin is worse than any physical captivity, and the freedom found in Christ is greater than any that can be granted by man.

lesson by Tim Smelser

The Churches of Galatia

The letter to the Galatian churches may have been one of Paul’s first letters, probably written shortly after the first missionary journey. This letter is possibly specifically sent to Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Attalia and Perga. In Acts 13-14, we see the founding of churches in these cities. Paul teaches of justification in Christ separate from the law of Moses. Paul and Barnabas are followed throughout these chapters by those who would seek to contradict them and do them harm. They are alternately treated as gods and stoned as blasphemers, but Paul and Barnabas persist in their work, traveling from city to city, preaching God’s word to any who would hear.

On their return trip beginning in Acts 14:22, Paul and Barnabas appoint elders, pray and fast with the new disciples, strengthen them, encourage them to continue in their young faith, and commend the new disciples to the Lord. Still, false teachers trail behind, seeking to undo what Paul and Barnabas have accomplished in these locations. This is where the letter to the churches of Galatia probably comes in.

Paul’s Defense

In chapters one and two, Paul defends his place as an apostle and God’s word. He has preached Christ’s gospel in all of these locations, and chapter 1:6 records Paul’s amazement how quickly they have drifted from that message to another. He makes a strong statement in verses 8-9 that anyone teaching another gospel, man or angel, is accursed. He then goes on to defend his knowledge of the gospel through inspiration through the rest of chapters one and two.

God’s Plan for Justification

Chapters three and four address a problem in how the Galatian churches view justification: does salvation come from faith or obedience? Paul goes on to explain the balance between law and faith, using Abraham as an example of faithful obedience. Obedience does not nullify faith, nor does faith remove the need for obedience. In Romans 3:27, Paul calls this balance a law of faith.

Five times in Galatians, Paul references obedient works as the result of faith. Galatians 3:27-29, Paul calls that former law a tutor we no longer need while introducing the idea that we are children of God. He goes on in chapter 4 to describe that relationship in more detail, not slaves any longer but free children, redeemed by the Son.

Doing Good Works

Chapters five and six focus on walking by the spirit because we live in the spirit. He writes of loving, serving, and preferring one another. Paul contrasts this with the ways of the world – feuding with one another, arguing, and living contentiously with each other. He describes what spiritual living should look like: peaceful, kind, and generous – those qualities we call the fruits of the spirit. These qualities should typify the life of any Christian.

Conclusion

In all of these congregations in Galatia, Paul emphasizes the power of the gospel, and he reaffirms that power in his letter to them. He reminds them that they are now dead to self while alive to Christ, reminding his readers of the importance of CHrist in the gospel and the benefits of the new covenant over the old. Paul also spends time contrasting the works of the flesh with the fruits of the spirit, living in service, subjecting ourselves to one another in love and humility.

These themes are not unique to Galatians, though; they can be found throughout all of Paul’s letters. Time and again, his message is one of security in our faith and of Christ’s love reflected in our lives. It is a simple message that sets us free from sin and makes us children of God, recipients of His grace and mercy.

lesson by Tim Smelser

A Refreshing Resolution

Sometimes we make resolutions, but our hearts are just not in them. There is benefit in recognizing a time of renewal as we perhaps saw with the dawning of a new year. It is beneficial to sinner and saint alike. In Acts 3, Peter and John heal a crippled man, and they take the opportunity to preach Christ to the amazed crowds, and Peter speaks of seasons of refreshing from the Lord in verse 19. He encourages these people to make a conscious change in their lives, made possible through the forgiveness of sins – refreshing our souls.

In David’s life, he needed seasons of refreshing as he was fleeing from Saul who sought his life. In Psalms 32 and 51, however, we can see that his greatest relief comes from forgiveness from those sins he confesses to God. He pleads to be washed and purified of his iniquities, asking for a clean heart and a renewed spirit. Like all of us, David is keenly aware of the sin he carries with him in these verses, and he finds renewal in God taking that burden from him.

Finally, in I Peter 5:10, Peter makes reference to the God of grace who will restore, establish, and strengthen His faithful. Perhaps some of us are glad to have one year behind us with a new one before us, a new start, a fresh slate. We can accomplish a new start in our own lives by cleansing our hearts in the grace of God, allowing Him to restore us and renew us in His love.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Our Need for Atonement

What concept of sin, separation, and salvation do the patriarchs under the old covenant have? Psalm 32:1 begins with blessings for those whose sins are forgiven by God, and David acknowledges the sorrow associated with separation from God. Also, Psalm 38:1 opens with a plea for mercy from judgment, the consequences of the sins he confesses in verse 15. Psalm 51:1 begins again with a plea for mercy, asking the psalmists’ transgressions be blotted and cleansed. He asks for purification by God in verse 7. These psalms demonstrate an understanding of sin, separation, and forgiveness that we sometimes don’t attribute to those who lived under the Old Testament.

Today is the Day of Atonement on the Jewish calendar – Yom Kippur. In the Old Testament, the Day of Atonement is a monumental occasion, the day when the high priest enters the holiest place, when the scapegoat is released, a day of fasting. Would they forget what necessitated atonement? Do we likewise emphasize the death of Christ while forgetting what put Him on that cross?

If it is only the death of Christ on which we should focus, the New Testament writers might have demonstrated less reserve in describing that death. They are not concerned with portraying agony for agony’s sake. They do not concern themselves with theatrical or dramatic portrayals of the cross. The significance is not only in what happened but also why. The reason for Christ’s death is sin – yours and mine. How we view our sins affects how we view the cross just as those in the Old Testament had to appreciate their need for atonement to appreciate the meaning behind the Day of Atonement.

The Seriousness of Sin
We often define sin as, “missing the mark,” and that does not sound so severe. Missing a mark can be close, and we have little problem with being close. However, God sees sin as a condemnable act, and we should take it so seriously. Multiple times in Ezekiel 18, the prophet proclaims that the soul who sins stands condemned to death. Luke 13:1 accounts a discussions where the Pharisees are talking about the consequences of others’ sins, but Jesus rebukes them for not taking their own sins seriously. In John 8:24, Jesus warns that sin brings death without His intervention.

Sin is a terminal disease, but we have a tendency to trivialize it and tolerate it. We feel guilt, but we learn to shrug that guilt away. SIn corrupts character, creates barriers between men, causes crime and abuse. When we define sin as simply missing a mark, we miss a true appreciation of the seriousness of sin. It is rebellion against God, and, if we participate in it, Isaiah 59:1-2 warns it creates a separation between ourselves and our God.

The Greatness of Salvation
If we view sin as the serious offense it is, then we can truly appreciate the greatness of God’s salvation. Salvation is more than a good disposition or a general mindset. Romans 3:23 warns that all have sinned, and Peter writes that God wants all to repent from the sin that separates man. We have problems reconciling God’s love the idea of punishment, but in Matthew 25:30, in the context of a parable, Jesus speaks of an outer darkness. Verses 41 and 46 talk of eternal fire and punishment. Mark 9:43 records Jesus preaching of the desperate measures we should be willing to take in avoiding condemnation.

Salvation delivers us from terrible consequences, and it is not something to view casually. In Hebrews 5:9 calls Jesus high priest to all who obey Him. How then should we feel about our atonement? How should we feel about the cross?

• Romans 6:23 makes it clear that sin causes death, and our Savior died on that cross to pay that debt.
• II Peter 2:22 and II Corinthians 5:21 emphasize Jesus’ lack of sin. He died because of sin, but He did not die for His own.
• II Corinthians 5:21 makes it clear Jesus was made sin on our behalf.

In Isaiah 53, the prophet writes of how the suffering servant bears my sin, my sorrows, my transgressions, my iniquities. He takes on my punishment. His stripes heal me. The consequence of sin is death, but Jesus did not die for His own sins. Instead His sacrifice took my place.

Conclusion
Jesus’ death is more than an act of martyrdom. It is a sanctification that allows us to drive sin and its consequences from our lives. Romans 6:1-2 warns us against assuming God’s grace. Rather we should die to that sin for which Jesus died. Jesus took our grief and transgressions. In response, we must purge sin from our lives, looking at sin the way God does. We can remember our Lord, repent, and turn toward a Lord who has brought us a great salvation from the consequences of sin.

lesson by Tim Smelser

The Bondage of Sin

In John 8, Jesus proclaims His deity multiple times, and in the midst of His declaring that He is the I AM, he calls on his audience to accept the truth that will make them free. In response, those around respond that they have never been in bondage as sons of Abraham. This is a confounding answer, for their forefathers had indeed been in captivity under the Egyptians, under Assyrians, and under the Babylonians. In this lesson, we’re going to look at these times of bondage for Israel and what we can learn from these periods of history.

God’s People in Bondage
In Exodus 6, God tells Moses to go to Egypt and redeem the Israelites. God says they will become His people, and He will be their God. Deuteronomy 7:17, some forty years after the Exodus commences, Moses calls upon the people to remember their deliverance from Egypt by God’s outstretched arm. In Deuteronomy 2:29 and 11:2, Moses again calls upon them to remember God’s power in His deliverance.

Generations pass. The period of the judges comes and goes. The monarchy is established, and the kingdom divides between northern and southern kingdoms. Hosea 8:13 records God saying the people of the north would return to Egypt. He does not mean literal Egypt, but they would return to the dangers of captivity. In Hosea 11:5, the prophet reveals Assyria to be the new captors. Contemporary to Hosea, to Amos 4:1 begins describing the terrors of this captivity, God giving them over to a people cruel and merciless because they have forsaken Him.

Amos 2 foreshadows another captivity. Verse 4 speaks of the transgressions of the southern kingdom of Judah, and Amos anticipates the bondage under Babylon. During the life of Jeremiah, the temple would be destroyed, the city burned, and the majority of the population carried away. The kingdom of Judah would never completely recover from the damages caused by Babylon.

Captivity Under Sin
What can these stories of bondage and captivity mean for us as New Testament Christians? After converting the sorcerer Simon, Paul in Acts 8:22-23 accuses him of being in bondage to sin. Discussing his inner conflict in Romans 7:14, Paul describes himself sold as a slave to sin, and Romans 6:6 and 16-17 speaks of sin in terms of slavery as does Galatians 5:1. Sin is spiritual captivity. Living in such a state puts us in the same situation as those Israelites being carried off to Assyria by fishhooks.

Longing for Slavery
In Numbers 11:4, the people of Israel remember their days in Egypt fondly. They long for the relative luxuries they had when they were in bondage to Pharaoh. They view their captivity as a form of good old days. Also, in Numbers 14, as the spies return from Canaan, the congregation of Israel weep against Moses, wishing they had died in Egypt or in the wilderness. They even plan to return to Egypt. As terrible as their bondage was, when times were difficult, they sought to return.

Likewise, at the end of the Babylonian captivity, some were content to stay in the land of their conquerors. We shake our heads in disbelief at their resistance to God’s redemption while we do the very same thing. The bondage of sin can look very attractive at times, and we can turn back to sin as the Israelites wished to return to Egypt. We must understand the wretchedness of bondage to sin. I John 1:8 warns us against taking sin lightly, and Romans 6:23 spells out the consequences of sin. Like Israel should have come out of captivity, never looking back, we should come out of sin to never return.

God stretches out His arm to redeem us and pull us from slavery. We can accept that saving grace to live free from the chains of sin.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Naboth's Spiritual Heritage

We’ve spent a couple of weeks considering the question of suffering, and Satan’s efforts to draw Job from God. Satan believes we all have a price, and, at some point, we will sell God out. In this lesson, we’re going to look at another way Satan tries to find our breaking point, and it begins in In I Kings 21 when Ahab tries to procure the vineyard owned by Naboth. When Ahab tells his wife for Naboth’s rejection, Jezebel appeals to his pride and conspires to kill Naboth. Once he is dead, Ahab takes possession of the vineyard.

Ahab does not have Naboth’s interests in mind at any point in these events. Ahab considers only himself. His first offer is reasonable, even generous, but the problem lies in the uncountable value of the vineyard to Naboth. He seeks to find Naboth’s price, but Ahab finds the Jezreelite has none. Back in Leviticus 25:23-28, God sets a provision that God’s land may not be sold permanently at any time. Any land sold can be redeemed at any time, or it is returned in a Year of Jubilee. The land handed down generation to generation is to stay in the family. Naboth honors God’s law regarding land. He does not sell his heritage.

A Spiritual Heritage
Notice Naboth’s concept of heritage and inheritance. It is more than what comes down from his ancestors. It is more than something he will pass on to his descendants. He recognizes that his heritage is from God. We sometimes sing the song “Faith of Our Fathers,” reminding us that we have a spiritual heritage, that we are spiritual children with a spiritual inheritance. We create a continuous chain from generation to generation that we cannot sell or buy as Naboth could not sell the vineyard passed down in his family.

We receive our faith through those who have come before us, and we pass that heritage unto others as Paul sees Timothy as his son in the faith. The challenge is whether we will stand like Naboth, refusing to be bought out, or will Satan find our price? Back in I Kings 21, there is an interesting contrast between Naboth and Ahab. Nothing Ahab can offer will move Naboth, but after Naboth’s death, Elijah tells Ahab that the king has sold himself to evil in verse 20.

What would we have done in Naboth’s position? Would we have acquiesced to the king, to the path of least resistance? Would we have seen the potential to expand our business or pay off other debts? Could Ahab had found our price, or would we have justified giving in due to the evil of Jezebel and Ahab? Without our convictions, we have nothing. We cannot sacrifice our spiritual heritage.

Never Deserting Our Post
Elijah Lovejoy was a journalist who opposed slavery in Illinois back in the 1800s. One night, because of the large volume of anti-slavery editorials he had published, and angry mob tracked him down and shot him. On the memorial, his words are recorded, “I am impelled in the course I have taken because I fear God…I can die at my post but I cannot desert.” He was killed over his printing press.

We let the things of this world keep us from our spiritual familiy. We teach our children that recreation is more important than the Lord’s work. We let our possessions cloud our morals. In our jobs, we go along with things we know that are wrong to avoid making waves. In doing these things, we devalue our spiritual heritage. We show it can be bought with a price. Hebrews 11:32-40 calls on us to reflect the faith demonstrated in our spiritual forefathers, to continue and perfect the work they started. We owe it to those who came before us, to those who come after us, to our Savior, and to ourselves, to never sell out.

I Corinthians 6:20 tells us we have been bout with a price – the blood of Christ. We have been purchased by God to be his own. Our redemption is beyond value. We should strive to be like Naboth in our struggle against temptation, never deserting our post and never selling out to the devil.

lesson by Tim Smelser