1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Jesus is the only person who has an empty tomb. Everyone else who’s died has returned to the dust, but Christ is alive and seated at the Father’s right hand. Because He overcame death, His followers are also guaranteed empty tombs someday. When Jesus returns for His church, those who have died in Him will be resurrected into glorious bodies. And believers who are alive at that time will instantaneously be changed.

Knowing this, we naturally wonder, What kind of body will I have? The best way to answer that is to see what Scripture reveals about Christ’s body after He rose from the dead. He didn’t come invisibly in the form of a ghost but rather had a literal, physical body. He talked, walked, and ate with His disciples. Yet although He was recognizable, He was somehow different, and at times it took His words or actions to jog their recognition.

Here’s one thing I can tell you about the resurrection: you will look better than you do today! God is going to give you a strong, glorious, eternal body which is perfectly fitted for your life in heaven. Believe me, you will not be disappointed, because God has far more in store for us on the other side than we can ever imagine. You will be more alive there than you could ever be here.

A more important issue we must face is how to get ready for that day. This life is just a puff of wind compared to our eternity. It’s my personal opinion that the way we live here on earth will determine our capacity to enjoy heaven. The time to begin living for God is now

Morning    “The place which is called Calvary.”     Luke 23:33

The hill of comfort is the hill of Calvary; the house of consolation is built

with the wood of the cross; the temple of heavenly blessing is founded upon the

riven rock–riven by the spear which pierced his side. No scene in sacred

history ever gladdens the soul like Calvary’s tragedy.

“Is it not strange, the darkest hour

That ever dawned on sinful earth,

Should touch the heart with softer power,

For comfort, than an angel’s mirth?

That to the Cross the mourner’s eye should turn,

Sooner than where the stars of Bethlehem burn?”

Light springs from the midday-midnight of Golgotha, and every herb of the field

blooms sweetly beneath the shadow of the once accursed tree. In that place of

thirst, grace hath dug a fountain which ever gusheth with waters pure as

crystal, each drop capable of alleviating the woes of mankind. You who have had

your seasons of conflict, will confess that it was not at Olivet that you ever

found comfort, not on the hill of Sinai, nor on Tabor; but Gethsemane, Gabbatha,

and Golgotha have been a means of comfort to you. The bitter herbs of Gethsemane

have often taken away the bitters of your life; the scourge of Gabbatha has

often scourged away your cares, and the groans of Calvary have put all

other groans to flight. Thus Calvary yields us comfort rare and rich. We never

should have known Christ’s love in all its heights and depths if he had not

died; nor could we guess the Father’s deep affection if he had not given his Son

to die. The common mercies we enjoy all sing of love, just as the sea-shell,

when we put it to our ears, whispers of the deep sea whence it came; but if we

desire to hear the ocean itself, we must not look at every-day blessings, but at

the transactions of the crucifixion. He who would know love, let him retire to

Calvary and see the Man of sorrows die.

Evening   “For there stood by me this night the angel of God.”     Acts 27:23

Tempest and long darkness, coupled with imminent risk of shipwreck, had brought

the crew of the vessel into a sad case; one man alone among them remained

perfectly calm, and by his word the rest were reassured. Paul was the only man

who had heart enough to say, “Sirs, be of good cheer.” There were veteran Roman

legionaries on board, and brave old mariners, and yet their poor Jewish prisoner

had more spirit than they all. He had a secret Friend who kept his courage up.

The Lord Jesus despatched a heavenly messenger to whisper words of consolation

in the ear of his faithful servant; therefore he wore a shining countenance, and

spake like a man at ease.

If we fear the Lord, we may look for timely interpositions when our case is at

its worst. Angels are not kept from us by storms, or hindered by darkness.

Seraphs think it no humiliation to visit the poorest of the heavenly family. If

angel’s visits are few and far between at ordinary times, they shall be frequent

in our nights of tempest and tossing. Friends may drop from us when we are under

pressure, but our intercourse with the inhabitants of the angelic world shall be

more abundant; and in the strength of love-words, brought to us from the throne

by the way of Jacob’s ladder, we shall be strong to do exploits. Dear reader, is

this an hour of distress with you? then ask for peculiar

help. Jesus is the angel of the covenant, and if his presence be now earnestly

sought, it will not be denied. What that presence brings in heart-cheer those

remember who, like Paul, have had the angel of God standing by them in a night

of storm, when anchors would no longer hold, and rocks were nigh.

“O angel of my God, be near,

Amid the darkness hush my fear;

Loud roars the wild tempestuous sea,

Thy presence, Lord, shall comfort me.”

Your gentleness made me great.     Psalms 18:35

These words are capable of being translated, “Your goodness made me great.” David gratefully ascribed all his greatness not to his own goodness, but to the goodness of God.

“Your providence” is another reading; and providence is nothing more than goodness in action. Goodness is the bud of which providence is the flower, or goodness is the seed of which providence is the harvest. Some render it, “Your help,” which is just another word for providence, providence being the firm ally of the saints, aiding them in the service of their Lord.

Or again, “Your humility made me great.” “Your condescension” may perhaps serve as a comprehensive reading, combining all these ideas, including humility. God’s making Himself little is the cause of our being made great. We are so little that if God should display His greatness without condescension, we would be trampled under His feet; but God, who must stoop to view the skies and bow to see what angels do, turns His eye yet lower and looks to the lowly and contrite and makes them great.

There are still other translations. For example, the Septuagint reads, “Your discipline. “Your fatherly correction—”made me great,” while another paraphrase reads, “Your word increased me.”

Still the idea is the same. David ascribes all his own greatness to the condescending goodness of his Father in heaven. May this attitude be echoed in our hearts this evening while we cast our crowns at Jesus’ feet and cry, “Your gentleness made me great.”

How marvelous is our experience of God’s gentleness! How gentle His corrections! How gentle His patience! How gentle His teachings! How gentle His invitations! Meditate upon this theme, believer. Let gratitude be awakened; let humility be deepened; let love be quickened before you fall asleep tonight.

The family reading plan for April 9, 2012

Proverbs 27 | 2 Thessalonians 1

Mark 15

With hundreds of Old Testament prophecies related to the expected Messiah, it shouldn’t surprise us that God used many people–believers, non-believers, and even some unquestionably wicked individuals–to ensure that the Savior’s earthly life would unfold according to plan. For example, Caesar Augustus ordered a census that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, Christ’s birth city (Micah 52; Luke 2:1-4).

What’s more, God used some of the most powerful men of the day to bring about His Son’s sacrificial death. The Pharisees’ and Sadducees’ trumped-up charges helped turn the crowd against Jesus (Mark 15:10-11). Pilate condemned Him, and the Romans carried out the actual crucifixion; they even bartered for His clothes and chose not to break His legs, as predicted (John 19:24, 36).

During the dark days between Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, the disciples must have believed the Messianic program had been derailed. But God’s goal wasn’t to bring political revolution as some believed. He sent His Son to redeem mankind: Jesus paid the death penalty for our sins.

Before the foundation of the world, God had planned for the salvation of every tribe and nation. Throughout history, He orchestrated events to fulfill His purpose, using even the ungodly to move His plan forward.

Many have had a hand in advancing the Savior’s story, but the ultimate responsibility is the Father’s. He gave His only Son over to death on behalf of the world He loved (John 3:16). Both the righteous and the wicked who took part in the Easter story were following God’s script

It is similar to the parent who defers the questioning child with the evocation to “go ask” the other parent. Professors who have dedicated their lives to the study of a particular subject are not fond of venturing into unrelated territories. So the student who asks a theological question in economics class is told to ask his theology professor, and the student who asks an economic question in theology class is told to ask his economics professor. The admonishment is laced with the not-so subtle, though common and accepted, language of specialization, privatization, and compartmentalization—namely, stick to the subject at hand and keep these things properly separated.

Professor of theology William Cavanaugh is aware of the academic phenomenon of deflecting such questions, the cultural milieu that encourages compartmentalization, and the natural tendency of students to rebel against it. He sees in students an authentic discomfort with the idea that we need to compartmentalize our lives, a bold awareness that our culturally growing drive to keep politics from theology or theology from finance and religion from law doesn’t actually work. “I think they have a very good and real sense,” notes Cavanaugh, “that in real life things are not separated: that the way you buy has a lot to do with the way you worship and who you worship and what you worship.”(1) Cavanaugh encourages this awareness by commending the kinds of questions that recognize compartmentalization as unlivable, and by doing the historical work that shows this notion of separable entities as a modern, credulous construction in the first place.

Compartmentalization may well be a way of coping with a world that wants to keep the confusion of many religions out of the public square, but it is evident that it is not a very good coping mechanism. Each isolated discipline wants to discuss on some authentic level the good or benefit of all as it pertains to their subjects. And yet they somehow want to bracket any and all questions that might lean too closely toward things of a spiritual nature—purpose, meaning, human nature, morality. While such restrictions might successfully allow us to avoid stepping too closely to religion, in the fancy footwork it takes to do so, we end up sidestepping the actual subject as well.

On the opposite side of these contemporary fences, spirituality is restricted to private realms, personal thoughts, or a single day in the week, and thus becomes far more like one of life’s many commodities than an all-encompassing rule of life. Separate from the world of bodies and societies, the world of hearts and souls is not seen as appropriate or even capable of informing our understanding of business or capitalism, the principles behind our daily choices, how we live, what we buy, or what we eat. The presuppositions here are equally destructive of the true identity of the thing we have compartmentalized. Held tightly in such compartments, the Christian way ceases to be a “way” at all.

So what if our categories are wrong? If our compartments merely confuse and obscure, failing to be the coping mechanisms we think they are, will we remove them? And what does life look like without such divisions? What if Christianity is not a category of thought at all, a set of beliefs, or a religion that can be privatized without becoming something else entirely? What if the life of faith is not about what we think or what we do, but who we are? Such a way would exist over and above every category of thought, every compartment and realm.

In fact, long before theology was ushered out of the public square, out of politics, economics, and the sciences, it was considered to be the highest science, the study of the rational Mind behind our own rational minds. It was the discipline that made sense of every other discipline, the subject that united every subject. Such a perspective is inherently foreign to the contemporary mindset. But it cannot be shooed away like a meddling religion or deferred like an unwanted question without dismissing some sense of cohesion—and without dismissing Christ himself. His very life is a refutation of compartmentalized thought, belief, and action. His cross was neither public nor private; it spanned both, and every century following its own.

In dire contrast to the harried and highfalutin rules of compartmentalization, Jesus’s rule of life was undivided and down-to-earth, pertaining indivisibly to hearts and souls, bodies and societies. He paid theologically-informed attention to every day and everyday lives, and the institutions, ideologies, and systems that shaped them. He went to his death showing the inseparable nature of the spiritual and the physical, who we are, how we live, and what we believe. Those who follow him to the cross, through Good Friday and each day beyond it, do so similarly.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.  

(1) William Cavanaugh with Ken Myers, Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 95, Jan/Feb 2009.
(2) Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (New York: HarperCollins, 1992), 27.

Morning    “O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame?”

Psalm 4:2

An instructive writer has made a mournful list of the honours which the blinded

people of Israel awarded to their long expected King.

1. They gave him a procession of honour, in which Roman legionaries, Jewish

priests, men and women, took a part, he himself bearing his cross. This is the

triumph which the world awards to him who comes to overthrow man’s direst foes.

Derisive shouts are his only acclamations, and cruel taunts his only paeans of

praise.

2. They presented him with the wine of honour. Instead of a golden cup of

generous wine they offered him the criminal’s stupefying death-draught, which he

refused because he would preserve an uninjured taste wherewith to taste of

death; and afterwards when he cried, “I thirst,” they gave him vinegar mixed

with gall, thrust to his mouth upon a sponge. Oh! wretched, detestable

inhospitality to the King’s Son.

3. He was provided with a guard of honour, who showed their esteem of him by

gambling over his garments, which they had seized as their booty. Such was the

body-guard of the adored of heaven; a quaternion of brutal gamblers.

4. A throne of honour was found for him upon the bloody tree; no easier place of

rest would rebel men yield to their liege Lord. The cross was, in fact, the full

expression of the world’s feeling towards him; “There,” they seemed to say,

“thou Son of God, this is the manner in which God himself should be treated,

could we reach him.”

5. The title of honour was nominally “King of the Jews,” but that the blinded

nation distinctly repudiated, and really called him “King of thieves,” by

preferring Barabbas, and by placing Jesus in the place of highest shame between

two thieves. His glory was thus in all things turned into shame by the sons of

men, but it shall yet gladden the eyes of saints and angels, world without end.

Evening     “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation; and my tongue

shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.”

Psalm 51:14

In this solemn confession, it is pleasing to observe that David plainly names

his sin. He does not call it manslaughter, nor speak of it as an imprudence by

which an unfortunate accident occurred to a worthy man, but he calls it by its

true name, bloodguiltiness. He did not actually kill the husband of Bathsheba;

but still it was planned in David’s heart that Uriah should be slain, and he was

before the Lord his murderer. Learn in confession to be honest with God. Do not

give fair names to foul sins; call them what you will, they will smell no

sweeter. What God sees them to be, that do you labour to feel them to be; and

with all openness of heart acknowledge their real character. Observe,

that David was evidently oppressed with the heinousness of his sin. It is easy

to use words, but it is difficult to feel their meaning. The fifty-first Psalm

is the photograph of a contrite spirit. Let us seek after the like brokenness of

heart; for however excellent our words may be, if our heart is not conscious of

the hell-deservingness of sin, we cannot expect to find forgiveness.

Our text has in it an earnest prayer–it is addressed to the God of salvation.

It is his prerogative to forgive; it is his very name and office to save those

who seek his face. Better still, the text calls him the God of my salvation.

Yes, blessed be his name, while I am yet going to him through Jesus’ blood, I

can rejoice in the God of my salvation.

The psalmist ends with a commendable vow: if God will deliver him he will

sing–nay, more, he will “sing aloud.” Who can sing in any other style of such a

mercy as this! But note the subject of the song–“Thy righteousness.” We must

sing of the finished work of a precious Saviour; and he who knows most of

forgiving love will sing the loudest.

In the name of the Lord I cut them off!   Psalms 118:12

Our Lord Jesus, by His death, did not purchase a right to just a part of us, but to all of us. He pondered in His passion our complete sanctification—spirit, soul, and body, that in every area He Himself might reign supreme without a rival. It is the business of the newborn nature that God has given to the regenerate to assert the rights of the Lord Jesus Christ.

My soul, insofar as you are a child of God, you must conquer all the rest of yourself that remains unblessed; you must subdue all your powers and passions, and you must never be satisfied until He who is King by purchase also becomes King by gracious coronation and reigns in you supreme. Seeing, then, that sin has no right to any part of us, we are involved in good and lawful warfare when we seek, in the name of God, to drive it out. Since my body is a member of Christ, shall I tolerate subjection to the prince of darkness?

My soul, Christ has suffered for your sins and redeemed you with His most precious blood; do not allow your memory to store up evil thoughts or your passions to be the occasion of sin. Do not allow your judgment to be perverted by error or your will to be led in chains of iniquity. No, my soul, you are Christ’s, and sin has no right to you.

Be courageous concerning this, O Christian! Be not dispirited, as though your spiritual enemies could never be destroyed. You are able to overcome them—but not in your own strength—the weakest of them would be too much for you; but you can and shall overcome them through the blood of the Lamb. If you wonder how to dispossess them since they are greater and mightier than you, go to the strong for strength, wait humbly upon God, and the mighty God of Jacob will surely come to your rescue, and you will sing of victory through His grace.

The family reading plan for April 6, 2012

Proverbs 24 | 1 Thessalonians 3

Matthew 26:36-56

If you want to experience victory in the conflicts you face, consider how Jesus fought and won His battles. The pivotal battle of His life was fought even before He arrived at the cross. Praying at Gethsemane, He wrestled with the knowledge that He would bear the terrible weight of sin and endure spiritual separation from the Father.

In His special place of prayer, Jesus got alone on His face before the Father and cried out. And when He left that garden, He walked out a victor over Satan, whose sway over mankind was about to be broken on the cross. Jesus would still drink the cup of suffering and separation, but He knew that in the end, He would triumph (Heb. 12:2). That’s why He could face His opponents with courage and authority. When Jesus went to confront the arresting party, He was in full control of the situation, so much so that the Pharisees and soldiers “drew back and fell to the ground” (John 18:6). He allowed them to arrest Him, determined to do His Father’s perfect will.

If you’re in the habit of regularly spending time alone with God, you will come to know His heart and mind. Then, when you encounter major decisions with lifelong consequences, you’ll be able to discern the guidance He offers through His Spirit.

When you fully surrender, you place the consequences of your decision into the hands of an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God who holds the past, present, and future. Even when you face staggering trials, you can do so with courage and power that will glorify God and shame the Enemy

As a young man growing up in Scotland, like many others, I was exposed to Christianity and the symbol of the cross. It was a point of confusion, a mystery at best, and at worst, an object of scorn and disgust. I did not know what it meant or why religious people thought it important, but I knew I wanted nothing to do with it.

Alister McGrath, Professor of theology, ministry, and education at King’s College, London, writes: “Just as God has humbled himself in making himself known ‘in the humility and shame of the cross,’ we must humble ourselves if we are to encounter him. We must humble ourselves by being prepared to be told where to look to find God, rather than trusting in our own insights and speculative abilities. In effect, we are forced to turn our eyes from contemplation of where we would like to see God revealed, and to turn them instead upon a place which is not of our choosing, but which is given to us.”(1)

In other words, nothing in history, experience, or knowledge can prepare the world for God’s means of drawing near. At the cross, something we are not expecting is revealed, something scandalous unveiled, something we could never have articulated or asked for is given to us. Philip Yancey, the renowned author, offers more on this: “Here at the cross is the man who loves his enemies, the man whose righteousness is greater than that of the Pharisees, who being rich became poor, who gives his robe to those who take his cloak, who prays for those who deceitfully use him. The cross is not a detour or a hurdle on the way to Kingdom, nor is it even the way to the Kingdom; it is the Kingdom come.”(2)

I think many of us have significantly distorted ideas about the purpose and meaning of the cross. When many people think of “sin” or the human condition before God, what comes to mind is perhaps something like the image of a child caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Such an image might well be understood as disobedience or maybe even naughtiness, but is it really that important? It is certainly not bad enough to justify extreme reactions. As a result of such a metaphor, our moral reflections on sin tend to foster incredulity or disgust. The response seems totally out of proportion to the offense.

But let us shift the metaphor. Supposing one day you go for a routine medical examination, and they discover you have a deadly virus. You did not do anything. You were not necessarily responsible, but you were exposed, and infected. You feel the injustice of it all, you are afraid, you are angry, but most of all, you are seriously sick. You are dying and you need help.

Whatever the cross and the gospel are about, it is not a slap on the hands for kids refusing to heed the rules of the cookie jar. It is not mere advice to get you to clean up your life and morals. It is not mere ideas to inform you about what it takes to be nice. It is about treatment, a physician’s mediation; it is about providing a solution and discovering life.

The cross may seem an extreme and offensive measure to the problem of sin and death and sickness—but what if it is the very cure that is needed? McGrath describes our options at the cross of Christ. “Either God is not present at all in this situation, or else God is present in a remarkable and paradoxical way. To affirm that God is indeed present in this situation is to close the door to one way of thinking about God and to open the way to another—for the cross marks the end of a particularwayof thinking about God.”(3) Shockingly, thoroughly, scandalously, the cross depicts a God who throws himself upon sin and sickness to bring the hope of rescue miraculously near.

Some find it shocking, some overwhelming, some almost too good to be true. It is, however, for all.

Stuart McAllister is vice president of training and special projects at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) Alister McGrath, The Mystery of the Cross, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 104.
(2) Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, (Grand Rapids:  Zondervan, 1995), 196.
(3) Alister McGrath, The Mystery of the Cross, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 103.

Morning    “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp.”     Hebrews 13:13

Jesus, bearing his cross, went forth to suffer without the gate. The Christian’s

reason for leaving the camp of the world’s sin and religion is not because he

loves to be singular, but because Jesus did so; and the disciple must follow his

Master. Christ was “not of the world:” his life and his testimony were a

constant protest against conformity with the world. Never was such overflowing

affection for men as you find in him; but still he was separate from sinners. In

like manner Christ’s people must “go forth unto him.” They must take their

position “without the camp,” as witness-bearers for the truth. They must be

prepared to tread the straight and narrow path. They must have bold,

unflinching, lion-like hearts, loving Christ first, and his truth next, and

Christ and his truth beyond all the world. Jesus would have his people “go forth

without the camp” for their own sanctification. You cannot grow in grace to any

high degree while you are conformed to the world. The life of separation may be

a path of sorrow, but it is the highway of safety; and though the separated life

may cost you many pangs, and make every day a battle, yet it is a happy life

after all. No joy can excel that of the soldier of Christ: Jesus reveals himself

so graciously, and gives such sweet refreshment, that the warrior feels more

calm and peace in his daily strife than others in their hours of

rest. The highway of holiness is the highway of communion. It is thus we shall

hope to win the crown if we are enabled by divine grace faithfully to follow

Christ “without the camp.” The crown of glory will follow the cross of

separation. A moment’s shame will be well recompensed by eternal honour; a

little while of witness-bearing will seem nothing when we are “forever with the

Lord.”

Evening    “In the name of the Lord I will destroy them.”    Psalm 118:12

Our Lord Jesus, by his death, did not purchase a right to a part of us only, but

to the entire man. He contemplated in his passion the sanctification of us

wholly, spirit, soul, and body; that in this triple kingdom he himself might

reign supreme without a rival. It is the business of the newborn nature which

God has given to the regenerate to assert the rights of the Lord Jesus Christ.

My soul, so far as thou art a child of God, thou must conquer all the rest of

thyself which yet remains unblest; thou must subdue all thy powers and passions

to the silver sceptre of Jesus’ gracious reign, and thou must never be satisfied

till he who is King by purchase becomes also King by gracious

coronation, and reigns in thee supreme. Seeing, then, that sin has no right to

any part of us, we go about a good and lawful warfare when we seek, in the name

of God, to drive it out. O my body, thou art a member of Christ: shall I

tolerate thy subjection to the prince of darkness? O my soul, Christ has

suffered for thy sins, and redeemed thee with his most precious blood: shall I

suffer thy memory to become a storehouse of evil, or thy passions to be

firebrands of iniquity? Shall I surrender my judgment to be perverted by error,

or my will to be led in fetters of iniquity? No, my soul, thou art Christ’s, and

sin hath no right to thee.

Be courageous concerning this, O Christian! be not dispirited, as though your

spiritual enemies could never be destroyed. You are able to overcome them–not

in your own strength–the weakest of them would be too much for you in that; but

you can and shall overcome them through the blood of the Lamb. Do not ask, “How

shall I dispossess them, for they are greater and mightier than I?” but go to

the strong for strength, wait humbly upon God, and the mighty God of Jacob will

surely come to the rescue, and you shall sing of victory through his grace.

Humility comes before honor.     Proverbs 15:33

Humiliation of soul always brings a positive blessing with it. If we empty our hearts of self, God will fill them with His love. If we desire close communion with Christ, we should remember the word of the Lord: “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”1

Stoop if you want to climb to heaven. Is it not said of Jesus, “He who descended is the one who also ascended”?2 So must you. You must grow downwards, that you may grow upwards; for the sweetest fellowship with heaven will be enjoyed by humble souls and by them alone. God will deny no blessing to a thoroughly humbled spirit. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,”3 with all its riches and treasures. All of God’s resources will be made available to the soul that is humble enough to be able to receive them without growing proud because of it.

God blesses each of us up to the level and extent of what it is safe for Him to do. If you do not get a blessing, it is because it is not safe for you to have one. If our heavenly Father were to let your unhumbled spirit win a victory in His holy war, you would snatch the crown for yourself, and in the next battle you would fall a victim. He keeps you low for your own safety!

When a man is sincerely humble and never tries to take the credit or the praise, there is scarcely any limit to what God will do for him. Humility makes us ready to be blessed by the God of all grace and equips us to deal efficiently with our fellows. True humility is a flower that will adorn any garden. This is a sauce that will season every dish of life and improve it in every case. Whether in prayer or praise, whether in work or suffering, the genuine salt of humility cannot be used in excess.

1Isaiah 66:2 2Ephesians 4:10 3Matthew 5:3

The family reading plan for April 5, 2012

Proverbs 23 | 1 Thessalonians 2

Colossians 2:13-15

What does the cross mean to you? Many people in the world today view it as a symbol of Christianity, but stop and think about what it represented in Christ’s day. Nobody wore a miniature cross around the neck or displayed one in a place of worship. The cross was a torturous means of execution, and the mere thought of it was repulsive.

Yet believers throughout the ages have chosen this as the sign of their faith. In fact, to remove the cross from our teaching and theology would leave nothing but an empty, powerless religion. The subjects of death, blood, and sacrifice have become unpopular in many churches because they’re unpleasant and uncomfortable topics. We’d prefer to hear about the love of God, not the suffering of Jesus.

But let me ask you this: How could anyone be saved if Christ had not been crucified? Some people think all you have to do to receive God’s forgiveness is ask Him for it. But a sinner’s request can never be the basis for His forgiveness. He would cease to be holy and just if no penalty was imposed for sin. According to Scripture, there can be no forgiveness without the shedding of blood (Heb. 9:22). Christ had to bear the punishment for our sin in order for God to grant us forgiveness.

Every time you see a cross, remember what it really was–an instrument of execution. Then thank Jesus that He was willing to be crucified so the Father could forgive you of sin. Though the scene of your redemption was horrendous, Christ turned the cross into a place of great triumph

The world of belief-systems and worldviews is a complicated playground of stories, storytellers, and allegiances. What makes it most complicated is perhaps what is often our inability to perceive these interacting powers in the first place. That which permeates our surroundings, subconsciously molds our understanding, and continuously informs our vision of reality, is not always easy to articulate. The dominate culture shapes our world in ways we seldom even realize, and often cannot realize, until something outside of our culture comes along and introduces us, and the scales fall from our eyes.

Further complicating the great arena of narratives is the fact that we often do not even recognize certain systems for the metanarratives that they are, or else we grossly underestimate the story’s power. Whatever versions of the story we utilize to understand human history—atheism, capitalism, pluralism, consumerism—their roots run very deep in the human soul. This is why Bishop Kenneth Carder can refer to the global market economy as a “dominant god,” consumerism, economism, and nationalism as religions.(1) These deeply rooted ideologies are challenged only when a different ideology comes knocking, when a different faith-system comes along and upsets the system that powerfully orders our worlds.

This is perhaps one reason Christian scripture calls again and again to remember the story, to tell of the acts of God in history, and bear in mind the one who is near. For into this world of belief-systems and worldviews, God repeatedly tells the story of creation and the pursuit of its redemption; Christ comes and proclaims a kingdom entirely other. The narrative we discover introduces us not only to a new world but a world that jarringly shows us our own.

The signs and scenes of Holy Week alone challenge many of the cultural norms we have grown accustomed to unthinkingly, turning upside down ideas of authority, power, and glory, presenting us a kingdom that reverses everything known. What kind of a king crouches down to his subjects to wash their feet? What kind of a leader tells those under him that the way to the top requires a dedication to the bottom? What kind of meal promises to lift us to another kingdom where we are ushered into the presence of the host? What kind of host claims he is the meal? “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.'”(2)

Holy week asks the world to remember the last moments of a rabbi and his disciples—a meal shared, a lamb revealed, feet washed by one who is both king and servant. But so it also introduces us to another story, invites us into a kingdom entirely different than the one before us, and connects us with the God who reigns within a realm that is both here and now, and also approaching. In the Lord’s Supper, we are literally “taking in” this kingdom, which unites us with Christ in such a way that feeds us to live as he lived.

When the apostle Paul called early followers not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect, he was reminding them that there are overlapping and contradicting stories all around them, but that the story of God must be their orienting narrative. In other words, we are not left the option of living unaware of all the subconscious ways in which we are formed by the world. Living into the kingdom of God means recognizing the power of God’s story beside every competing narrative. We destabilize these foundational stories by living into God’s reality in Christ by the power of the Spirit. Likewise, as we live further into the story of God’s reign, with our very lives the world sees the subversive power of a narrative that moves far beyond the systems of “consumerism,” or “nationalism” or “pluralism.”

We cannot escape the world’s formative stories nor should we want to escape the particular place where we have been given the gift of time.(3) But the story of Christ’s last days on earth presents a narrative that upsets any convenient embracing of lesser kingdoms. The more we find ourselves drawn into this different kingdom, a world breathed by the Father, proclaimed by Christ, and revealed by the Spirit, the unchallenged, unseen storylines of the world come sharply into focus. The more we taste and see of the kingdom of God, the more we taste and see of the kingdom of earth as well. Like Paul, at times something like scales fall from our eyes and the Spirit compels us to stand up and see anew, going further into the unlikely reign of a suffering servant, where we are mysteriously given strength in his wounds.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) Kenneth Carder, “Market and Mission: Competing Visions for Transforming Ministry,” Lecture, Duke Divinity School, Oct. 16, 2001, 1.
(2) Cf. Luke 22:19.
(3) Jesus himself prayed, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but I ask that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15).

Morning   “On him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.”    Luke 23:26

We see in Simon’s carrying the cross a picture of the work of the Church

throughout all generations; she is the cross-bearer after Jesus. Mark then,

Christian, Jesus does not suffer so as to exclude your suffering. He bears a

cross, not that you may escape it, but that you may endure it. Christ exempts

you from sin, but not from sorrow. Remember that, and expect to suffer.

But let us comfort ourselves with this thought, that in our case, as in Simon’s,

it is not our cross, but Christ’s cross which we carry. When you are molested

for your piety; when your religion brings the trial of cruel mockings upon you,

then remember it is not your cross, it is Christ’s cross; and how delightful is

it to carry the cross of our Lord Jesus!

You carry the cross after him. You have blessed company; your path is marked

with the footprints of your Lord. The mark of his blood-red shoulder is upon

that heavy burden. ‘Tis his cross, and he goes before you as a shepherd goes

before his sheep. Take up your cross daily, and follow him.

Do not forget, also, that you bear this cross in partnership. It is the opinion

of some that Simon only carried one end of the cross, and not the whole of it.

That is very possible; Christ may have carried the heavier part, against the

transverse beam, and Simon may have borne the lighter end. Certainly it is so

with you; you do but carry the light end of the cross, Christ bore the heavier

end.

And remember, though Simon had to bear the cross for a very little while, it

gave him lasting honour. Even so the cross we carry is only for a little while

at most, and then we shall receive the crown, the glory. Surely we should love

the cross, and, instead of shrinking from it, count it very dear, when it works

out for us “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

Evening    “Before honour is humility.”    Proverbs 15:33

Humiliation of soul always brings a positive blessing with it. If we empty our

hearts of self, God will fill them with his love. He who desires close communion

with Christ should remember the word of the Lord, “To this man will I look, even

to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” Stoop

if you would climb to heaven. Do we not say of Jesus, “He descended that he

might ascend?” So must you. You must grow downwards, that you may grow upwards;

for the sweetest fellowship with heaven is to be had by humble souls, and by

them alone. God will deny no blessing to a thoroughly humbled spirit. “Blessed

are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” with

all its riches and treasures. The whole exchequer of God shall be made over by

deed of gift to the soul which is humble enough to be able to receive it without

growing proud because of it. God blesses us all up to the full measure and

extremity of what it is safe for him to do. If you do not get a blessing, it is

because it is not safe for you to have one. If our heavenly Father were to let

your unhumbled spirit win a victory in his holy war, you would pilfer the crown

for yourself, and meeting with a fresh enemy you would fall a victim; so that

you are kept low for your own safety. When a man is sincerely humble, and never

ventures to touch so much as a grain of the praise, there is

scarcely any limit to what God will do for him. Humility makes us ready to be

blessed by the God of all grace, and fits us to deal efficiently with our fellow

men. True humility is a flower which will adorn any garden. This is a sauce with

which you may season every dish of life, and you will find an improvement in

every case. Whether it be prayer or praise, whether it be work or suffering, the

genuine salt of humility cannot be used in excess.

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.   Isaiah 2:3

It is exceedingly beneficial to our souls to rise above this present evil world to something nobler and better. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are apt to choke everything good within us, and we grow fretful, desponding, perhaps proud and carnal. It is good for us to cut down these thorns and briers, because heavenly seed sown among them is not likely to yield a harvest.

Where will we find a better scythe with which to cut them down than communion with God and the things of the kingdom? There are places in the world where the lowlands are a breeding ground for sickness. Doctors will often suggest that their patients head for the mountains where they can breathe the clear, fresh air. Heeding such advice, the valley dwellers leave their homes among the marshes and the fever mists to inhale the bracing elements upon the hills.

It is to such an exploit of climbing that I invite you this evening. May the Spirit of God assist us to leave the mists of fear and the fevers of anxiety and all the ills that gather in this valley of earth, and to ascend the mountains of anticipated joy and blessedness. May God the Holy Spirit cut the cords that keep us here below and enable us to climb! We are too often like chained eagles fastened to the perch, and even worse, unlike the eagle, we begin to love our chain and might even, if it came to the test, be loath to have it snapped.

May God now grant us grace, if we cannot escape from the chain as to our flesh, yet to do so as to our spirits; and leaving the body, like a servant, at the foot of the hill, may our soul, like Abraham, reach the top of the mountain, so that we can enjoy communion with the Most High.

The family reading plan for April 4, 2012

Proverbs 22 | 1 Thessalonians 1

Romans 3:23-26

In our culture, sin is no longer considered an issue. Although some people might admit to making mistakes or being wrong, few will actually say, “I have sinned.” The Lord, however, takes sin very seriously. Until we learn to see transgression as He does, we will never understand what happened at Christ’s crucifixion.

The cross was God’s perfect answer to a terrible dilemma. Because the Lord is holy and just, He hates sin and must respond to it with punishment and wrath. Yet He also loves sinners and wants to be reconciled with them. The cross of Christ was the place where God’s wrath and love collided.

The only way to rescue fallen mankind from eternal punishment was to devise a plan whereby the Lord could forgive sins without compromising His holiness. There was no way to overlook transgressions; His wrath had to be poured out–either on us or a substitute. But there was only one possible substitute: the perfect Son of God.

So Jesus came to earth as a man and suffered the Lord’s wrath for us as He hung on the cross. Sin was punished, divine justice was satisfied, and now God could forgive mankind without compromising His character. His wrath was poured out on His Son so that His love and forgiveness could be lavished upon us.

Because of human limitations, we’ll never grasp all that happened while Jesus hung on the cross. We can begin to comprehend only the physical suffering He endured, but in the spiritual realm, Christ bore so much more–the very wrath of God. This costly redemption plan proves God’s great love

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself, alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”(1)

His hour had come. He had walked among them, taught them, performed miraculous signs, and he had loved and cared for them. But now, his hour had come and the cross lay ahead of him. The “hour” he faced would be filled with trial and suffering: “Now, my soul has become troubled and what shall I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour?'”

Jesus would walk the long, lonely road to the cross. Rather than taking the way of self-preservation, he would offer his life, like a grain of wheat. He would die; he would be buried in the darkness of the earth, but as a result he would bear much fruit. Despite what lay ahead of him, and despite the trouble in his soul, he affirms, “For this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”

Of what was transacted there on that cross, there are many theories.(2) In formal theology, these “theories” attempt to get at the very nature and the very essence of what Jesus accomplished through his death. For theologians, atonement studies are a fertile field of inquiry because the meaning and impact of the atonement are rich, complex, and paradoxical. One theory, for example, suggests that the atonement stands as the preeminent example of a sacrificial life. Other theories argue that the cross is the ultimate symbol of divine love, or that the cross demonstrates God’s divine justice against sin as the violation of his perfect law. Still other theories suggest the cross overcame the forces of sin and evil, restored God’s honor in relation to God’s holiness and righteousness, or served as a substitution for the death we all deserved because of sin.

While the nature of the atonement may include a portion of all of these theories, Jesus’s statements as recorded in John’s gospel indicate that his death would be a path to abundant life resulting in the production of much fruit. And in this case, Jesus doesn’t construct a theory of the atonement, but instead chooses an agrarian image to indicate what would be accomplished in the cross. “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified… unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:23-24). Charles Spurgeon, the nineteenth century theologian and preacher, wrote that this passage of Scripture is rich with paradoxical statements describing the nature of atonement:

“[P]aradox is this—that his glory was to come to him through shame…[that] the greatest fulness of our Lord’s glory arises out of his emptying himself, and becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross. It is his highest reputation that he made himself of no reputation. His crown derives new luster from his cross….We must never forget this, and if ever we are tempted to merge the crucified Saviour in the coming King we should feel rebuked by the fact that thus we should rob our Lord of his highest honour.”(3)

Spurgeon expands on the paradoxical nature of death bringing forth life. It is only through the cross, just as a kernel of wheat must die in order to produce a harvest, that new life in Christ and reconciliation with God are accomplished. Most powerfully, Spurgeon notes that “this teaches us where the vital point of Christianity lies, Christ’s death is the life of his teaching. See here: if Christ’s preaching had been the essential point, or if his example had been the vital point, he could have brought forth fruit and multiplied Christians by his preaching, and by his example. But he declares that, except he shall die, he shall not bring forth fruit.”(4)

We see this paradox borne out every spring. Dead bulbs ugly, brown, and buried in dark soil all winter burst from their earthen tomb green with life and bright with color. Their glory disguised in ugly packaging, and one bulb producing green leaves and flowers in abundance. So it is with Jesus’s passion and death: glory and abundance come out of sorrow, shame, death and suffering. Encased in the cross of Golgotha is a beautiful, life giving seed.

Long before the beauty of Easter morning, a tiny kernel of wheat dies; it lays buried seemingly dead underground. This is a great paradox, but one in which we can come to glory, one in which we can find our lives.

See from his head, his hands, his feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did ere such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?(5)

Margaret Manning is a member of the writing and speaking team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington.

(1) John 12:24.
(2) The following theories of the atonement are based upon Millard Erickson’s Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1983), 781-823.
(3) “The Corn of Wheat Dying to Bring Forth Fruit: John 12:23-25,” Charles H. Spurgeon, Farm Sermons (c 1875), from http://textweek.com, accessed April 2, 2009.
(4) Ibid.
(5) “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” written by Isaac Watts, 1707.

Morning   “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made

the righteousness of God in him.”

2 Corinthians 5:21

Mourning Christian! why weepest thou? Art thou mourning over thine own

corruptions? Look to thy perfect Lord, and remember, thou art complete in him;

thou art in God’s sight as perfect as if thou hadst never sinned; nay, more than

that, the Lord our Righteousness hath put a divine garment upon thee, so that

thou hast more than the righteousness of man–thou hast the righteousness of

God. O thou who art mourning by reason of inbred sin and depravity, remember,

none of thy sins can condemn thee. Thou hast learned to hate sin; but thou hast

learned also to know that sin is not thine–it was laid upon Christ’s head. Thy

standing is not in thyself–it is in Christ; thine acceptance is not in

thyself, but in thy Lord; thou art as much accepted of God today, with all thy

sinfulness, as thou wilt be when thou standest before his throne, free from all

corruption. O, I beseech thee, lay hold on this precious thought, perfection in

Christ! For thou art “complete in him.” With thy Saviour’s garment on, thou art

holy as the Holy one. “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea

rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also

maketh intercession for us.” Christian, let thy heart rejoice, for thou art

“accepted in the beloved”–what hast thou to fear? Let thy face ever wear a

smile; live near thy Master; live in the suburbs of the Celestial City;

for soon, when thy time has come, thou shalt rise up where thy Jesus sits, and

reign at his right hand; and all this because the divine Lord “was made to be

sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in

him.”

Evening   “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.”

Isaiah 2:3

It is exceedingly beneficial to our souls to mount above this present evil world

to something nobler and better. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of

riches are apt to choke everything good within us, and we grow fretful,

desponding, perhaps proud and carnal. It is well for us to cut down these thorns

and briers, for heavenly seed sown among them is not likely to yield a harvest;

and where shall we find a better sickle with which to cut them down than

communion with God and the things of the kingdom? In the valleys of Switzerland,

many of the inhabitants are deformed, and all wear a sickly appearance, for the

atmosphere is charged with miasma, and is close and stagnant; but up

yonder, on the mountain, you find a hardy race, who breathe the clear fresh air

as it blows from the virgin snows of the Alpine summits. It would be well if the

dwellers in the valley could frequently leave their abodes among the marshes and

the fever mists, and inhale the bracing element upon the hills. It is to such an

exploit of climbing that I invite you this evening. May the Spirit of God assist

us to leave the mists of fear and the fevers of anxiety, and all the ills which

gather in this valley of earth, and to ascend the mountains of anticipated joy

and blessedness. May God the Holy Spirit cut the cords that keep us here below,

and assist us to mount! We sit too often like chained

eagles fastened to the rock, only that, unlike the eagle, we begin to love our

chain, and would, perhaps, if it came really to the test, be loath to have it

snapped. May God now grant us grace, if we cannot escape from the chain as to

our flesh, yet to do so as to our spirits; and leaving the body, like a servant,

at the foot of the hill, may our soul, like Abraham, attain the top of the

mountain, there to indulge in communion with the Most High.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.    Isaiah 53:6

Here a confession of sin is shared by all the elect people of God. They have all fallen, and therefore, in one voice, from the first who entered heaven to the last who shall arrive they all say, “All we like sheep have gone astray.”

This confession is not only unanimous, it is also special and particular: “We have turned every one to his own way.” All are sinful, but each individual faces his or her own peculiar sinfulness, which is not found in someone else. It is the mark of genuine repentance that while it naturally associates itself with other penitents, it also takes up a position of loneliness. “We have turned every one to his own way” is a confession that each individual had sinned against light peculiar to himself or sinned with an aggravation that he could not perceive in others.

This confession is unreserved; there is not a word to detract from its force, nor a syllable by way of excuse. This confession bids farewell to every plea of self-justification. It is the declaration of those who are consciously guilty—guilty with aggravations, guilty without excuse: they stand with their weapons of rebellion broken in pieces and cry, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.”

Yet we hear no mournful wailings attending this confession of sin; for the next sentence makes it almost a song. “The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” It is the most grievous sentence of the three, but it overflows with comfort. How strange that where misery was concentrated, mercy reigned; where sorrow reached her climax, weary souls find rest. The Savior bruised is the healing of bruised hearts.

Consider how the humble confession gives way to assured confidence by simply gazing at Christ on the cross!

The family reading plan for April 3, 2012

Proverbs 21 | Colossians 4

Romans 6:1-14

Think back to when you received Christ as your Savior. You knew your life had changed but probably had no idea about everything that the salvation experience involved. You were declared righteous and sealed with the Holy Spirit, and God wrote your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. But that wasn’t all. You were also crucified, buried, and raised with Christ.

This describes your position in God’s eyes, but what does it all mean? Paul tells us that “our old self was crucified with [Christ]” (v. 6). The person you are today is not who you were before salvation. Your old sin nature has died with Christ, which means that its power over you has been broken. Paul isn’t saying we’ll never transgress again, but now we don’t have to be enslaved to sin. Since we’ve been raised with Christ, He’s living within us, giving us the power to live obediently.

Our Father’s goal for us is that we become in practice what we are positionally. Many believers attempt to live the Christian life in their own strength by trying harder to overcome sin and live righteously. However, the crucified life is about a life replacement, not self-effort. Christ wants His life to flow through us so that we become living extensions of almighty God.

Every believer has been positionally identified with Christ’s death and resurrection, but the only ones who will experience this in a daily manner are those who are willing to die to themselves and let Christ live through them. Jesus wants to be more than your Lord; He wants to be your very life