Category Archives: Gospel

He Is Risen … And That’s the Core of My Faith

Posted on by Tim Schaaf

I’ll admit it … I don’t think about Easter nearly enough.

I am a Good Friday kinda guy.  I have a big theology of the cross, holding firmly to the idea that Jesus suffered and died so that I can be forgiven.  By His stripes I am healed … so I study the lashings.  God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us … so I study His forsaken cries from the place of crucifixion.

All this is good … but it’s not enough.

Without an empty tomb, we’d never know that Good Friday was effective.  If Jesus didn’t kick back the stone, clear out the tomb and show himself to hundreds, no one could have the confidence that He will kick loose our stone hearts, lift us from our tombs and present us to His Father.

Easter is the single most defining miracle of Christianity, because it is God’s seal of approval on everything else Jesus said and did.

In an essay entitled, The Grand Miracle, C.S. Lewis gets to the heart of why the miracle of the incarnation and resurrection is essential to Christian faith. Lewis writes:

 One is very often asked at present whether we could not have a Christianity stripped, or, as people who asked it say, ‘freed’ from its miraculous elements, a Christianity with the miraculous elements suppressed. Now, it seems to me that precisely the one religion in the world, or, at least the only one I know, with which you could not do that is Christianity.

  • In a religion like Buddhism, if you took away the miracles attributed to Gautama Buddha in some very late sources, there would be no loss; in fact, the religion would get on very much better without them because in that case the miracles largely contradict the teaching.
  • Or even in the case of a religion like Islam, nothing essential would be altered if you took away the miracles. You could have a great prophet preaching his dogmas without bringing in any miracles; they are only in the nature of a digression, or illuminated capitals.

But you cannot possibly do that with Christianity, because the Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing nature up with Him.

  • It is precisely one great miracle.
  • If you take that away there is nothing specifically Christian left.

There may be many admirable human things which Christianity shares with all other systems in the world, but there would be nothing specifically Christian.

Conversely, once you have accepted that, then you will see that all other well-established Christian miracles-because, of course, there are ill-established Christian miracles; there are Christian legends just as much as there are heathen legends, or modern journalistic legends-you will see that all the well-established Christian miracles are part of it, that they all either prepare for, or exhibit, or result from the Incarnation.

Just as every natural event exhibits the total character of the natural universe at a particular point and space of time; so every miracle exhibits the character of the Incarnation.

With His Stripes We Are Healed

Posted on by Tim Schaaf

This post is taken from last Saturday’s Morning and Evening devotional by Charles Spurgeon. I thought it would be a helpful way to prepare for Easter…

“With his stripes we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:5

Pilate delivered our Lord to the lictors to be scourged. The Roman scourge was a most dreadful instrument of torture. It was made of the sinews of oxen, and sharp bones were inter-twisted every here and there among the sinews; so that every time the lash came down these pieces of bone inflicted fearful laceration, and tore off the flesh from the bone. The Saviour was, no doubt, bound to the column, and thus beaten. He had been beaten before; but this of the Roman lictors was probably the most severe of his flagellations. My soul, stand here and weep over his poor stricken body.

 

Believer in Jesus, can you gaze upon him without tears, as he stands before you the mirror of agonizing love? He is at once fair as the lily for innocence, and red as the rose with the crimson of his own blood. As we feel the sure and blessed healing which his stripes have wrought in us, does not our heart melt at once with love and grief? If ever we have loved our Lord Jesus, surely we must feel that affection glowing now within our bosoms.

 

“See how the patient Jesus stands,

Insulted in his lowest case!

Sinners have bound the Almighty’s hands,

And spit in their Creator’s face.

With thorns his temples gor’d and gash’d

Send streams of blood from every part;

His back’s with knotted scourges lash’d.

But sharper scourges tear his heart.”

 

We would fain go to our chambers and weep; but since our business calls us away, we will first pray our Beloved to print the image of his bleeding self upon the tablets of our hearts all the day, and at nightfall we will return to commune with him, and sorrow that our sin should have cost him so dear.

 

Jesus Died Because of God’s Love

Posted on by Tim Schaaf

Jesus didn’t have to die despite God’s love; he had to die because of God’s love. And it had to be this way because all life-changing love is substitutionary sacrifice.

Think about it. If you love a person whose life is all put together and has no major needs, it costs you nothing. It’s delightful. There are probably four or five people like that where you live. You ought to find them and become their friend. But if you ever try to love somebody who has needs, someone who is in trouble or who is persecuted or emotionally wounded, it’s going to cost you. You can’t love them without taking a hit yourself. A transfer of some kind is required, so that somehow their troubles, their problems, transfer to you.”

— Timothy Keller
King’s Cross
(New York, NY: Dutton, 2011), 141-142

Jesus Died for Barabbas

Posted on by Tim Schaaf

Michael McKinley of IX Marks Ministries writes:

We don’t think about Barabbas a lot, though he comes up more often at this time of year as churches turn their attention to the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus.

Here’s are the two things we know about him:

·      His name: It means “son of the father”. Some textual variants of Matthew 27:15-18 give his name as “Jesus Barabbas”.

·      His crime: He had been found guilty of starting a riot and murder. It seems likely that he was the most notorious prisoner on hand, because Pilate was trying to give the crowd an unpalatable choice.

But in Barabbas we have an amazing picture of the gospel. Put yourself in his shoes on that fateful day (Luke 23:18-25).

·      You are sitting in a Roman jail awaiting your death.  You are surely going to be crucified for your crimes against Rome. Day after day you sit in this jail, anticipating the nails, the mockery, the excruciating pain, the blood filling your lungs, the breaking of your legs.  That’s the future you have in store for you.  You don’t know when it’s coming, but it’s coming.

  • But then perhaps on this fateful day you hear a mob outside. Obviously, something is going on.  Has word gotten out that today is your day, the day for your execution?  Surely the bloodthirsty crowd is there for you.
  • `And what is this that they are shouting?  “Crucify him!  Crucify him!” (Luke 23:23)  You see there in verse 23 that this went on for a while, as the crowd demanded a crucifixion with loud voices.

·      Then the Roman guard comes and gets you. He drags you up in front of the mob and… sets you free. You see Jesus stumbling off under the weight of the cross, perhaps the cross that had been constructed for your execution. This innocent man is being crucified on the trumped up charge of starting an insurrection (Luke 23:5). You, the guilty man, are being set free as if you were innocent.

What a picture of the gospel. Jesus bears our guilt and shame and curse and disgrace and death.  We receive the position that Jesus deserved; we are free and innocent of all our crimes. He gets what we deserve; we get what he deserved.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (II Corinthians 5:21)

Am I Too Old To Find Refuge?

Posted on by Tim Schaaf

As we’ve become Refuge Church, a few of my older friends have wondered if they have a place in our community of faith.  Isn’t “finding refuge in Jesus” something for young people?  Older people (many assume) either already have comfort in Jesus, or never will find it.

Young or old, Jesus is willing to accept you.  Your sins, be they five days old or five decades in the past, won’t disqualify you for grace.  Young or old, let Jonathan Edwards compel you. This is from a sermon titled “No Obstacle to the Pardon of the Returning Sinner,” based on Psalm 25:11, “For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.”

I am afraid God will not accept of me, when I offer him only mine old age.

To this I would answer

Hath God said anywhere, that he will not accept old sinners who come to him? God hath often made offers and promises in universal terms; and is there any such exception put in?

Doth Christ say, All that thirst, let them come to me and drink, except old sinners? Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, except old sinners, and I will give you rest? Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out, if he be not an old sinner?

Did you ever read any such exception anywhere in the Bible? And why should you give way to exceptions which you make out of your own heads, or rather which the devil puts into your heads, and which have no foundation in the word of God?

Indeed it is more rare that old sinners are willing to come, than others; but if they do come, they are as readily accepted as any whatever. . . .

You say your life is spent, and you are afraid that the  best time for serving God is past. . . as if it were for the sake of the service which persons are like to do him, after they are converted, that he accepts of them. But a self-righteous spirit is at the bottom of such objections. . . .

But if they are willing to accept of Christ when old, he is as ready to receive them as any others; for in that matter God hath respect only to Christ and his worthiness.

(Via Desiring God)

More on Religion vs the Gospel

Posted on by Tim Schaaf

These lines are from the end of Tullian Tchividjian’s post I referenced yesterday.

Though we need to be careful in our language as we critique religion, it can be helpful to clarify the differences between man-made religion and the Gospel of Jesus.

Tullian writes:

Tim Keller has pointed out that the Greek word for “religion” used in James 1 is used negatively in Colossians 2:18 where it describes false asceticism, fleshly works-righteousness, and also in Acts 26:5 where Paul speaks of his pre-Christian life in strict “religion.” It is also used negatively in the Apocrypha to describe idol worship in Wis 14:18 and 27. So, according to Keller, the word certainly has enough negative connotations to use as a fair title for the category of works-righteousness. In the Old Testament the prophets are devastating in their criticism of empty ritual and religious observances designed to bribe and appease God rather then serving, trusting, and loving him. The word “religion” isn’t used for this approach, but it’s a good way to describe what the prophets are condemning.

Keller goes on to tease out this distinction with this helpful comparison list:

RELIGION: I obey-therefore I’m accepted

THE GOSPEL: I’m accepted-therefore I obey.

RELIGION: Motivation is based on fear and insecurity

THE GOSPEL: Motivation is based on grateful joy.

RELIGION: I obey God in order to get things from God

THE GOSPEL: I obey God to get to God-to delight and resemble Him.

RELIGION: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or my self, since I believe, like Job’s friends that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life

THE GOSPEL: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while he may allow this for my training, he will exercise his Fatherly love within my trial.

RELIGION: When I am criticized I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a ‘good person’. Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs

THE GOSPEL: When I am criticized I struggle, but it is not critical for me to think of myself as a ‘good person.’ My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ. I can take criticism.

RELIGION: My prayer life consists largely of petition and it only heats up when I am in a time of need. My main purpose in prayer is control of the environment

THE GOSPEL: My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration. My main purpose is fellowship with Him.

RELIGION: My self-view swings between two poles. If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel insecure and inadequate. I’m not confident. I feel like a failure

THE GOSPEL: My self-view is not based on a view of my self as a moral achiever. In Christ I am “simul iustus et peccator”—simultaneously sinful and yet accepted in Christ. I am so bad he had to die for me and I am so loved he was glad to die for me. This leads me to deeper and deeper humility and confidence at the same time. Neither swaggering nor sniveling.

RELIGION: My identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard I work. Or how moral I am, and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral. I disdain and feel superior to ‘the other

THE GOSPEL: My identity and self-worth are centered on the one who died for His enemies, who was excluded from the city for me. I am saved by sheer grace. So I can’t look down on those who believe or practice something different from me. Only by grace I am what I am. I’ve no inner need to win arguments.

RELIGION: Since I look to my own pedigree or performance for my spiritual acceptability, my heart manufactures idols. It may be my talents, my moral record, my personal discipline, my social status, etc. I absolutely have to have them so they serve as my main hope, meaning, happiness, security, and significance, whatever I may say I believe about God

THE GOSPEL: I have many good things in my life—family, work, spiritual disciplines, etc. But none of these good things are ultimate things to me. None of them are things I absolutely have to have, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness, and despondency they can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost.

…there is an antithetical relationship between religion (the burden of achieving rescue and right standing with God) and the gospel (the blessing of receiving rescue and a right standing with God in Christ alone).

One final thought: … for a thousand different reasons people hear different things and draw different conclusions when they hear the same words (Cornelius Van Til). So, let’s not forget as missionaries that if the gospel is ever going to reach people in our day it’s going to have to be distinguished from religion (as described above) because “religion” is what most people outside the church think Christianity is all about—rules and standards and behavior and cleaning yourself up and politics and social causes and ascetic appeasement and self-salvation and climbing the “ladder”, and a whole host of other things that Jefferson rightly points out.