Given for Us

Tags

Atonement, Christianity, Cross, Crucifixion, Devotional, God, Good Friday, holiness, Holy Week, Hope, Incarnation, Jesus Christ, Life, Love, Salvation, Theology

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV).

            At the cross we behold the unfathomable depths of the love of God.  God, the Holy One, loved so deeply the world of mankind—in all our wickedness, our sinful rebellion—that He gave His own Son for our redemption.  In this gave we see both the incarnation and the atonement: the Father gave His Son to become man, and gave Him upon the cross for our sins.  In the gift of God, the self-giving of the Son by the Spirit (Heb. 9:14), we see the marvelous extent of the holy-love of God Triune.

            Contemplate the love of God given in Jesus Christ our Savior.  May He bless you with His peace, strengthen your faith, and draw you near in the wonder of His abundant grace.  May the Lord renew your heart today.

To the End

Tags

Christianity, Devotional, Easter, God, Grace, Holy Week, Jesus Christ, Love, Redemption, Salvation

“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1, ESV).

            He loved them to the end.  These words precede the account of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, and remind us that gesture was not only an act of humble love, but demonstrative of His whole earthly mission.  Jesus loved to the end—for the whole of His sojourn among us, even knowing the wickedness and frailty of the human heart.  And He loved to the fullest—to the ultimate extent of dying as a sacrifice for our sin.  We can be sure that He will love us to the end, and will redeem all those who turn to Him in faith.

            May the love of Christ strengthen and sustain you today.  He loves His own to the end.  In your sins and failures, turn to Christ; in your fears and worries, turn to Christ; in your burdens and sorrows, turn to Christ.  Take refuge in the Holy One, whose holy-love on Calvary bought your redemption—who loved you to the end.

The Power of God

Tags

Authority, Christianity, Devotional, Easter, Faith, God, Holy Week, Jesus Christ, Power, Resurrection, Skepticism, Truth

“But Jesus answered them, ‘You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God’” (Matthew 22:29, ESV).

            The Sadducees had come to challenge Jesus, attempting to trip Him up with a cynical question about the resurrection and a complicated situation of multiple levirate marriages (vv.23-28).  But Jesus has a ready response, one that exposes all their supposed cleverness for ignorance (vv.29-32).  Both the specific question, and their skepticism about the resurrection, are errors arising because they don’t know God’s power or His promises.

            Root your faith in the power and promises of God.  Jesus Christ has overthrown death, and offers forgiveness and life to all who come to Him.  God is strong to deliver, faithful to forgive, merciful to those who call upon Him.

What Authority

Tags

Authority, Christianity, Devotional, God, Gospel, Holy Week, Hope, Jesus Christ

“One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority” (Luke 20:1-2, ESV).

            Jesus has restored the temple to its proper place, throwing out the greed and corruption and orienting it once more to be the meeting place of God and man.  His presence and teaching expresses this purpose even more fully, as He Himself supersedes the temple, as the true meeting of God and man.  God teaches His people; but the religious leaders will not listen, for their hearts are hard.

            Turn to the Lord, draw near to Him, and listen to His word.  God has reached down to us with the offer of life and restoration.  Believe, receive, and follow the One who came from heaven for your redemption.  May the grace of the Lord sustain you today.

Monday: The Savior’s Zeal

Tags

Devotional, Easter, God, holiness, Holy Week, Hope, Jesus Christ, Redemption, Salvation, Sanctification

“And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be a house of prayer,” but you have made it a den of robbers.’” (Luke 19:45-46, ESV).

            After the triumphal entry of Palm Sunday, Jesus put the temple, the house of His Father, in order.  Its pure worship had become corrupted by greed, and our Lord showed righteous indignation in this work of purification.  With prophetic zeal, Christ reveals how they have twisted God’s gift—and this less than a week before He proceeds to fulfill what the temple prefigured, and render that institution obsolete.

            Find comfort and conviction in the Savior’s zeal for His people.  God has made a way for sinners to be sanctified, in Jesus—the meeting place of God and man.  Draw near to Christ, and let the Holy One purify your heart, so that you may worship with gratitude and awe.

Easter, Night

Tags

Comfort, Easter, Father, God, Holy Week, Praise, Prayer, Security, Strength

Be near to us, blessed Father, through the hours of night. We live in the glory of the resurrection life; but we walk in the night of the world, still awaiting the fulness of redemption. Be near, to guard and guide our steps, and bring us safely into the eternal light of your consummated kingdom. Your victory is certain and your throne unshakable. Be glorified in the people you have won for yourself, God Most High—Amen.

Easter, Evening

Tags

Christianity, Easter, Father, God, God the Son, Holy Spirit, Holy Week, Jesus Christ, Praise, Prayer, Resurrection, Salvation, Trinity

Ever-blessed, ever-holy, Lord of life and light and love, ever-righteous, ever-mighty, God be praised this Easter dusk. We bless your Name and praise your majesty, Father-Son-Spirit, One God in Persons Three. Thank you for the gift of Jesus our Savior, for His atoning death, for His victorious resurrection, and for the gift of new life in Him. Draw us near, blessed God, in your so wonderful redemption—Amen.

Easter, Afternoon

Tags

Christianity, Easter, Father, God, holiness, Holy Week, Love, Power, Praise, Prayer, Resurrection

Father Almighty, we worship you on this joyful resurrection day. Be glorified, Almighty God, our Maker and Master, our Savior and King. Glory to you in your unfathomable love, in the mercy that delivered your Son for us. Glory to you in your invincible strength, in the power that raised Jesus our Savior from the dead. Glory to you in your unapproachable holiness, in your incomparable majesty, glory and honor and praise—Amen!

Easter 2020

Tags

Christianity, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Easter, God, Holy Week, Hope, Jesus Christ, Life, Pandemic, Resurrection

This Easter finds us in strange circumstances, isolated during a time of fear and uncertainty. It may seem like there is a shadow over our celebration, when we are unable to gather together and sing the hymns of the resurrection, to exchange the joyful yearly greeting, “He is risen!” “He is risen indeed!”

But for these very reasons our Easter faith must be especially dear this year. It is in the depths of winter, when all is dead and bitterly cold, that we long most fervently for spring. The days we lay a-bed sick make us long for good health we otherwise take for granted, and the great sorrows of life strip away all of the distractions that numb us, and fill us instead with sweet and desperate hope for the life to come.

That hope is the joy of Easter, the wonderful promise of resurrection, of unfading newness beyond all the loss and weakness and grief of this world. For our longing for eternity is not a vain wish of the human heart; it is an echo of God’s original design in our souls, and it points us to the wonderful salvation that God offers in Jesus Christ. This high and holy day sweeps away all darkness and gloom with the triumphant proclamation of resurrection life.

Jesus is alive—now, today, and forevermore. Jesus has risen from the grave, conquered death, and He offers life and freedom to all who come to Him. This is the message of Easter, the perennial proclamation of gospel hope to a world of uncertainty and sorrow.

How wonderful the news on that first Easter Sunday, when the women came to the sepulcher expecting to find Jesus dead and buried, entombed in stone. Instead, two angels met them, and said, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!’” (Luke 24:5-6, NIV). And in this resurrection, we have a living Savior, and the promise of resurrection to eternal life for all who trust in Him.

Take heart, for it is Easter. He is risen! Risen, indeed.

Easter, Noon

Tags

Christianity, Easter, Holy Spirit, Holy Week, Hope, Joy, Life, Praise, Prayer, Resurrection

Spirit of Life, fill us ever fuller with this newness you have brought. Spirit of Hope, draw us daily to the cross, daily to the living Lord; confirm in us your hope undying. Spirit of Glory, be glorified in this day of joy. Be glorified in your power, in your holiness, in your love, in your wisdom and presence and work. Praise and worship and honor be yours, now and forevermore—Amen.