Good News on Good Friday

Yesterday I read Deuteronomy 28, part of which is a long list of curses that will come on Israel if they do not follow God’s law. A selection:

But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out…

The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them…

Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you…

If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, then the Lord will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting.

That’s what makes Paul’s announcement in Galatians 3 such good news:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

What a Savior. What a good Friday.

Far as the Curse is Found

“Joy to the World” is a great example of a song we shouldn’t just sing at Christmas. My favorite part is the third verse:

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

The curse, you’ll recall, is found very, very far: from barren fields to barren wombs, from broken relationships to broken bones. Divorce, natural disaster, cancer, genocide– all part of the curse. All of creation is groaning.

But it will not always be this way. Aslan is on the move. The King is coming; he will wipe every tear from our eyes; he will make all things new. His blessings will flow just as far as the curse. His glory will cover the earth like the water over the sea.

Joy to the world! Come, Lord Jesus.

Good News

Romans 8:29, 31:

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

If God is “for me” in the process of my becoming holy like Jesus, then despite all evidence to the contrary, despite all contrary influences from within and without, despite my own reluctance and sluggishness and halfheartedness, he will bring it about.

You don’t know what it’s like out here.

People. You have no idea. Charlotte is on the verge of freakin’ collapse. Wachovia got bought out. Wachovia. And I really like Wachovia. Citi I don’t know so much. There’s no gas. I went driving around looking for gas tonight. I found a station with a tanker truck (down by our old house), waited while he unloaded, waited 15 more minutes, then drove back home to get the other car, bring it back and fill it up. That’s pretty much how my evening was spent. Buying gas.

I went to get a beer with Tyler later on tonight, and the first place we tried to go was closed. Our house flooded two weeks ago. Today they were replacing the floors, and they didn’t finish. Half of our living room is a concrete slab, and I’m getting high smelling the glue or whatever.

Congress can’t get their *&^# together. (Actually, as you’ll note in a post from last week, I’m kind of happy about that.) Apparently the whole economy is gonna collapse unless we give Hank Paulson a trillion dollars and a bowl of green M&M’s. Either that or there will be a serious crunch for a while and things will eventually work themselves out. Who knows. Meantime, some of us are trying to raise support to go to the mission field, and it’s like stinkin’ I Am Legend up in here.

You know what’s good news, in all seriousness? Psalm 11:3 asks a question: “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” And verse 4 answers it: “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see.” Our economy may indeed collapse. People will almost certainly lose jobs– maybe even some of our friends. We might lose supporters, or take longer to get them. But not one dollar or job or supporter will be lost or gained apart from the will of my Father in heaven.

The Certainty of God’s Plan

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

–Revelation 7:1-3

My campus minister used to say, “You are invincible until God is through with you.” In other words, no force of nature, no scheme of the devil, no other person can thwart the purposes God has for your life. You will not die until he has accomplished everything he intends to accomplish in you, through you.

I was struck by a similar thought as I read this passage this morning. Even nature, even the judgment that God has decreed on the created order, is subservient to his plan to save his people. Nothing will interfere with God’s design to save his elect. The end of all things will not come until every one of his sheep is brought safely into the fold. This is very good news.

More Good News

It’s not my custom to listen to much Christian music. But this morning on a run, for whatever reason, I decided to give a listen to Beams of Heaven: Indelible Grace IV. I like the IG guys– their music isn’t always my favorite, but they find great hymns, aren’t overly produced, and generally avoid the cheese.

So all that to say, my morning started with some great news.

I do not ask to see the way
My feet will have to tread;
But only that my soul may feed
Upon the living Bread.
‘Tis better far that I should walk
By faith close to His side;
I may not know the way I go, But oh, I know my Guide.

(“His Love Can Never Fail“)

Since all that I meet will work for my good,
The bitter is sweet, The medicine food;
Though painful at present, will cease before long,
And then, O! how glorious, The conqueror’s song!

Begone unbelief, The Savior is here
Though cisterns be broken And creatures all fail
The word he has spoken will surely prevail.

(“Begone Unbelief“)

Whate’er I need in Jesus dwells,
And there it dwells for me;
‘Tis Christ my earthen vessel fills
With treasures rich and free

Mercy and truth and righteousness,
And peace, most richly meet
In Jesus Christ, the King of grace,
In Whom I stand complete.

(“Jesus, the Lord, My Savior Is“)

Good News for Me

I’m on a new schedule where I get up stupidly early to run, then come in reasonably early to work and spend some time in the Word before everything comes to life. This morning I had a really good run (approaching 3 miles, if you’re interested), but that meant that by the time I hit the Bible I was in that euphoric-but-very-tired place that comes about an hour later. Due to my probably-sinful dependance on coffee in the mornings, my brain also wasn’t quite working yet. All that resulted in a shiftless, half-asleep, mind-wandering time of attempted Bible reading and prayer.

Imagine my delight, then, to read the following:

But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,  waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.  For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:12-14)

Thank God my standing with him depends on the finished work of Jesus. If it depended on mine I’d be in a bad way.

Good News

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. –1 Corinthians 15:49

Just as surely as I once had an Adam-like heart, I will have a Christlike heart. Just as surely as I was steeped in sin at birth, I will be steeped in the righteousness of Christ. I’m still struggling and stumbling and falling, but it won’t always be like this. Death will be swallowed up in victory– Christ’s death and resurrection guarantees it. I’m so glad my Savior purchased that for me.

I’ve got bad news & good news.

Bad news:

But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. (Deuteronomy 28:15)

If you read the rest of the chapter, you know this news is really bad. Disobeying God means famine, drought, disease, defeat in war, being scattered all over the world. In fact, it means the loss of all the promises God gives for obedience to the law.

The reason all of this is bad news is that we all fall right into this category: we’ve disobeyed the voice of God; we haven’t been careful to do all his commandments and his statutes. A cursory glance at the 10 Commandments shows this is true. In other words, we’re all under God’s curse for having disobeyed him. Very bad news.

Good news:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us- for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”- so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13-14)

God’s curse can’t just be taken away or forgotten about, like when your mom forgets you’re supposed to be grounded– his justice is too pure for that. It has to be carried out. The good news is that this curse has been carried out– on Christ. All God’s wrath for our sin wasn’t just canceled, it was inflicted on his Son, who he loves. On the cross Jesus endured all the suffering we should have endured; he tasted death & separation from God so that we would not have to. So the curse doesn’t hang on us anymore. The same justice that demands God’s wrath be carried out on sin also means he cannot punish the same sin twice. When Christ bore his Father’s wrath, he removed it from us who believe forever.

This is very, very good news. And the better we understand the bad news, the more we’ll love the good news. May we rejoice today in our curse-bearing Savior, and in a holy God who delivers us from his own wrath by punishing his own Son in our place. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Peace!

But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made [Jews and Gentiles] into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall… And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. (Eph 2:13-14, 17-18)

This is why the Gospel is such good news: it is, at the root, an offer of peace. Not an offer of peace that comes from a friend you just had an argument with, but an offer of peace from a King you have taken up arms against. Instead of simply crushing the rebellion, the King sends an Ambassador with an offer of peace: Lay down your weapons and come home. The King will grant you amnesty. In fact, he will bring you into His family. To hardened rebels who are far off and who are near, the word goes out: You cannot win this war. But the King offers you peace.