1 John 4 - 2011.08.27

AS HE IS

“…As He is, so are we in this world.” —I John 4:17b   

                                                   

There is, perhaps, no more daunting text in the New Testament that this one. It defines in stunning language and with astonishing simplicity what Christians are, in the Divine plan. We are to be a manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ, reflections of His glory. “Mirrors” of His majesty, holiness and love.

On the eve of finishing His earthly ministry, about to give His life a ransom for many, the Savior uttered a great prayer to His Father which the Holy Spirit saw fit to record for our learning (See John 17). In that prayer He outlined the Father’s plan, and said, “I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work that Thou gavest me to do.” At the cross He finished His work, but the work was not finished. That which He came to do must be declared and demonstrated throughout the earth so that those for whom He did the work might have opportunity to hear of it, see it in operation and benefit from it. “Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

Presently He said, “And now I am no more in the world, but these (“His own”) are in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee.” The clear implication is that the proclamation of that for which He had laid the foundation would be accomplished by “the men which Thou gavest me out of the world (Jn 17:6). 

Obviously the church is to be the extension of His life and to execute the remainder of the Father’s will and plan; “That the world may know… (v. 23). This is confirmed by the Savior’s remark, “As thou hast sent me into the world, 

even so have I also sent them into the world (v.18).” There is no other reason for our being here,except to manifest the Lord Jesus Christ and to make His salvation known. That is the reason for His declaration, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (v.15-16).

And again,confirming John’s emphasis in our text for today, “As Thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world (v. 18).” And what He here affirms to he Father in prayer He soon addressed to the disciples in person; “…as My Father hath sent Me. even so send I you [Jn. 20:21].”  Years ago I heard a great message on this text in which the teacher said we are sent on the same mission (to reach the lost), in the same manner (totally dependent on the power of God) and by the same method (crucifixion!) And it might be added, under the same motive, the love of God. Given the sorry state of the church in the world today, one wonders if the task will ever be accomplished.

There is ample indication in scripture that the Savior, while carrying out His part of the mission, anticipated returning to His Father. When the Father’s will had been accomplished He was confident, “…I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do (v.4) [and] … I come to Thee (v. 11).” We also live in anticipation of entering the glory that shall be hereafter, but let us remember that in another place He said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall  be preached in all the world for a witness, then shall the end come [Matt. 24:14].”

Despite the saturation of communication today, there still unnumbered multitudes who have no conception of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and who have never seen its transforming power demonstrated. We are not responsible to win them, but we are responsible to represent Christ to them. To the saints at Corinth (of all places!) the apostle Paul said, “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart [II Cor. 3:2-3].” What is the world “reading” of Christ through your life and mine?

We are not here to “eat, drink and be merry.” We are here to faithfully represent Him in a dying world, “doing always those things that please Him” in the workplace, the marketplace and any other place we may occupy.  “As He is, so are we in this world.” Oh Lord, make it so!

For His glory, 

"Pastor" Frasier

1 John 3 - 2011.08.20

WHAT WE SHALL BE

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” —I John 3:1-3

Two weeks ago the focus of our meditation was on justification. Last week, due in part to a memory miscue on my part, we were in this same chapter and focused on sanctification, which is John’s primary concern in this epistle. Our nugget for today is related to a third great doctrinal truth, the matter of our glorification. It seemed appropriate, though it breaks our usual pattern, to keep this article and send it out for that reason.

From our present perspective, if one’s faith is genuine, justification looks back to the past when our profession of faith in Christ, delivered us from sin’s penalty through the phenomenal efficacy of the blood of Christ. Sanctification, in the practical sense, is focused on present. Through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, received at the time of our conversion, we are now able to be delivered from sin’s power and to grow in grace and in likeness to Christ. We are learning to walk as Jesus walked. Positionally we are already sanctified in Christ Jesus, Who is “made unto us…sanctification. Practically, however, it is a work in progress, begun at conversion but which will not be finished until we reach the other shore.

Today’s text looks to the future when our redemption is consummated and “we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is,”  and be finally delivered from sin’s presence. We are first reminded of our dignity in Christ, “called the sons of God,” in the scriptures by virtue of our union with Christ. Reflect on some of the titles assigned to believers in the New Testament: We are “saints” (i.e, sanctified, set apart ones—God’s peculiar treasure.) We are “children of God” and “joint heirs with Christ, signifying that all that is His is ours. We are “members of His body,” “partakers of His glory,” citizen’s of His commonwealth, “kings and priests,” and there is more that could be discovered if time and  patience allowed. What a high calling!!

For now, however, while we remain “in the flesh,” and sanctification remains a process in progress, “it doth not yet appear what we shall be.” To paraphrase a line made popular a few years ago, “God is not finished with [us] yet.” Here and there are evidences of “what we shall be,” but for now the portrait is incomplete. For the earnest believer that is a matter of dismay. And, it is the reason why for now we need an Advocate with the Father. Nevertheless, there is a great day coming! “When He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” That is the day every sincere believer longs for, every struggling Christian anticipates.

It has long been my opinion that Adam was created to be a “mirror,” in which case, facing in the right direction he would have reflected the glory of God. He would have had no glory of his own, and to fulfill his potential he would have been utterly dependent upon God. And, as he fulfilled that created purpose observers would not have admired Adam, but His Creator. 

Satan tempted Adam with the notion that that was not enough. He could seek his own glory, shine in his own light and attract attention to himself rather than God. “Ye shall be as Gods.” When Adam fell for that the mirror was shattered in millions of pieces and man became a colossal ruin. In the fragments that remain there are occasional glimpses of glory, but generally speaking “the glory has departed,” and none of us have ever seen a man as God intended man to be, with Christ as the solitary exception. He, and He alone could say, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.”

The objective of redemption is the restoration of the mirror. “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass [mirror]  the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord [II Cor. 3:18].” The grand objective is for man to once again reflect the glory of God. Then we will be as radiant as Christ Himself—not for our glory, but for His. And that will be enough. After all, a mirror is as beautiful as that upon which it is focused. In that glorious day, “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is!”

“And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” Let’s practice reflecting His glory now!

A prayer—“Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me”

For His glory, 

"Pastor" Frasier

1 John 2 - 2011.08.13

“IF ANY MAN SIN”

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” —I John 2:1-2

In this short passage we have first John’s statement of purpose in writing: “These things I write unto you that ye sin not.” The aim is to direct believers to “walking in the Light,” rather than to be entrapped in the darkness of sin. That is the divine intention for the redeemed between here and eternity, and if it is not our desire, we hardly qualify as true believers.

God’s provision in Christ is not merely our justification, but also our sanctification. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, declares that Christ is “made unto us…sanctification.” The design of God in redemption is through our union with Christ to afford believers not only justification, or the removal of sin’s penalty, but sanctification, which is practical holiness of heart and life and includes deliverance from sin’s power. “Sin shall not have dominion over you… [Rom. 6:14].”

Justification is instantaneous; sanctification is a process. In principle we are sanctified from the moment we believe, but in practice, we are a work in progress. That this is true is evident in John’s emphasis in the previous chapter where he says categorically, “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves…” Every discerning Christian is aware of his own imperfection. Here, while exhorting that we “sin not,” he immediately follows with this consideration, “And if any man sin…,” allowing if not the probability, certainly the possibility of sin in any believer’s life. Our susceptibility to sin is also verified in the testimony of the apostle Paul:

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members [Rom. 7:18-23].”

It is in the face of this ongoing and ofttimes discouraging conflict in the sincere heart that the apostle John brings the encouragement of our nugget for today, enlarging our understanding of Christ’s relationship to us. Two things in particular should win our attention and fill our hearts with gratitude: “we have an Advocate” (v.1), and “He is the propitiation for our sins” (v.2). Together these provide an impregnable fortress for embattled saints.

As our Advocate the Lord Jesus Christ is, as it were, the believer’s legal representative before the Father in the judgment hall of divine justice. “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: [Heb. 9:24 my italics].” As a lawyer represents and pleads for a client, so the Son of God pleads the case for those who have put their trust in Him.

But, there is a great difference here. In an earthly setting a lawyer must either presume his client is not guilty of the charges against him, or hope to manipulate the evidence to make it impossible to prove him guilty. In the courtroom of heaven no such circumstances will prevail. The Judge, the Advocate and the client all know that the one charged is, indeed, guilty. Our Advocate does not plead our case on the basis of our innocence, but on the ground of His role as “the propitiation for our sins.” The propitiatory work of Christ (think “sin offering”) is the ground upon which, as our Advocate, He pleads our case. The case against us is not dropped, but the due penalty for our transgression has been paid for by Another. When the charge is laid against us by the all seeing, all knowing “Judge of all the earth,” our Advocate responds (so to speak) “I died for that!” We are spared the penalty (“the wages of sin is death”) because He paid it for us. Hallelujah!

Granted, this is a rather simplistic approach to a most profound issue, but it at least outlines a great truth. And, it should initiate a double motive for our forsaking the darkness and walking in the light. First, the redeemed must love God, and for love’s sake do not want to grieve Him. Second, our sins exact sorrow and suffering from our Advocate, and we should not want to add anything, as it were, to His incredible burden borne on our behalf.

For the praise of our Advocate,

"Pastor" Frasier

1 John 2 - 2011.08.06

ETERNAL LIFE

“And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.” — I John 2:25

There is a subtlety in John’s writing that may be too easily overlooked. It is reflected here in his use of the term “eternal life.” We are prone to think of eternal life “quantitatively;” that is, in terms of duration. Part of the reason is that we so readily connect it with the familiar KJV rendering of John 3:16 where we read “everlasting life.” While it is true for the believer that the life received is “everlasting,” it is in fact, if our faith is genuine, “eternal life,” and essentially it is not quantitative, but qualitative.

Clearly here, in context, the emphasis is not on how long this life lasts, but upon what it is. And in this epistle “eternal life,” as the distinguishing characteristic of true Christian experience, becomes the test as to whether we have, in fact, obtained everlasting life.

Observe that in the first chapter John refers to the Savior first as “the Word of Life” (v.1). That is not a reference to what Christ says, but to what He is. We read in Hebrews 1:2 that God “hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son…” The Greek rendering is, more precisely, “in Son. The Savior did not simply bring the message from the Father, He is the message. We speak of the bible as ‘the word of God.’ That is not quite correct. The bible, the written word is as, it were, a transcript of the message, but the message itself is Christ, the Living Word of God.

For all of my life as a Christian I have heard a steady emphasis on the value of the bible in the life of the believer. We are exhorted to read it, to memorize it and to obey it. That is not wrong, of course, but it is not enough. There is no transforming power in the printed page. One may read the bible until he goes blind and still be ungodly. It is only as the written word links us to the Living Word that it reaches its full potential. The Word we are to worship does not lie between the covers of a book. Our trust and obedience must be placed in the Person of whom the book speaks, and in whom it centers. John does not say, I read the word of life; he says we heard, saw with our eyes, reflected upon and handled with our hands—that Eternal Life “which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.” (Jn. 1:1-2)

Bear in mind as you reflect on this that the earliest believers did not have the book. Individual Christians could not open a manual and “have devotions” every morning. The Word they knew and revered came down from heaven, walked on two feet, spelled out the Truth as history and it was by His Spirit that they “read” and followed Him.

Similarly the same context tells us of “that eternal life” which was “manifested,” or made visible, and with whom those early believers had fellowship, or communion. Eternal Life is not “it,” but Him; a person. It is not the bible, but “Christ in you [which is] the hope of glory [Col. 1:27].” “He that hath the Son hath life…,” and that life is not a commodity exported from a heavenly warehouse; it is Christ himself! To understand this is to be better able to understand more vividly the thrust of John’s almost harsh judgment in John 1:5-6, where he declares that “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all,” then asserts without any wiggle room, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.” As darkness is incompatible with light, so sin is incompatible with the Life of God, which is the life of Christ, that eternal Life who inhabits every true believer.

Understanding this truth also gives justification to the counterpoint in this second chapter, “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked” (v. 6). Biblical faith, too often in contrast to contemporary “christianity,” represents salvation not as life from Christ, but life in Christ. Hudson Taylor, renowned missionary to China, called it the “exchanged life,” in which the believers’ life goes to the cross with Christ and His life takes over.

The apostle Paul said it first, of course: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me [Gal. 2:20].” You and I cannot live the Christian life, because it is not a commodity; it is Christ Himself, and only He can live it. If you really “know Him,” He wills to live His eternal life through you, now and forever. Let Him—not in some vague ‘tomorrow’ called eternity, but today!!

For life worth living,

"Pastor" Frasier