1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Paul was single-minded in the message he preached. The cross was not only his primary subject; it was also his motivation for living. When we begin to understand all that Jesus did for us at Calvary, we, too, can receive fresh motivation to live for Him. For instance, we can…

Walk humbly before God. Since the power to live the Christian life is supplied by Christ, there is no room for pride. When Jesus died, our “flesh” nature was crucified with Him so that we could live in newness of life. Any success we achieve in living righteously or walking in obedience is possible only because He is working through us.

Serve the Lord faithfully. At the cross, we were placed “in Christ,” and He is in us (Gal. 2:20). We are now His body on earth, created for good works which God has prepared for us to do (Eph. 2:10). Jesus wasn’t crucified so we could sit in pews each Sunday and listen to sermons. He has specific tasks for each of us to achieve during our lifetime.

Share our faith. Knowing all that Jesus accomplished at the cross should motivate us to share the gospel with others. This world is filled with hurting people who know nothing about salvation. Since their eternal destiny is at stake, how can we keep our mouths closed?

Too often we view the cross only as a past event that secured our eternal destiny, and we fail to see how it can motivate daily choices and activities. Stop to contemplate all that God is continually accomplishing in you though the cross. Let it be your motivation to live wholeheartedly for Christ

The first and most important step to understanding the nature of truth is exemplified in a conversation between Jesus and Pilate. The conversation began with Pilate asking Jesus if indeed he was a king. The very surprising answer of Jesus was, “Are you asking this of your own, or has someone else set you up for this?”

In effect, Jesus was asking Pilate if this was a genuine question or purely an academic one. He was not merely checking on Pilate’s sincerity. He was opening up Pilate’s heart to himself, to reveal to Pilate his unwillingness to deal with the implications of Jesus’s answer. In the pursuit of truth, intent is prior to content, or to the availability of it. The love of truth and the willingness to submit to its demands is the first step.

But second, Jesus said something even more extraordinary. After claiming his lordship was rooted in a kingdom that was not of this world, he said, “They that are on the side of truth, listen to me” (John 18:37). Jesus was not merely establishing the existence of truth, but his pristine embodiment of it. He was identical with the truth. This meant that everything he said and did, and the life he lived in the flesh, represented that which was in keeping with ultimate reality. And therefore, to reject him is to choose to govern one’s self with a lie.

God’s answers to life’s questions of origin, meaning, morality, and destiny are not just proven by the process of abstract reasoning, but are also sustained by the rigors of experience. And in the reality of history, God has demonstrated empirically the living out of truth in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of his Son, recently celebrated. In short, the intimations of truth come in multisensory fashion. The Guardian of Reason leads us to check the correspondence of his word with reality and to ascertain the coherence of the assertions. But our experience in life proves those truths in concrete reality. Our grand privilege is to know God, to bring our lives into conformity with truth, which leads us to that coherence within. Christ has said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” In a world increasingly enslaved by error and alienation and seduced by images to believe a lie, how wonderful to be freed by the truth to Christ’s peace. The Scriptures tell us that the enemy of our souls is the father of all lies. He will do anything to keep us from coming to the truth because it is the most valuable thing in the world, and leads us to the source of all truth, to God alone.

To all of this the skeptic might say that such conclusions may be drawn only if the God of the Bible exists. To that I heartily answer, Absolutely! And on numerous campuses around the world it has been my thrilling privilege to present a defense for the existence of God, the reality of the resurrection, and the authority of the Scriptures unique in their splendor and convincing in the truth they proclaim. But let us not miss what the skeptic unwittingly surrenders by saying that all this could be true only if God exists. For implicit in that concession is the Law of Non-contradiction and the Law of Rational Inference, which exist only if truth exists. Truth, in turn, can exist only if there is an objective standard by which to measure it. That objective, unchanging absolute is God.

I heard a cute little story, growing up in India. It is the story of a little boy who had lots of pretty marbles. But he was constantly eyeing his sister’s bagful of candy. One day he said to her, “If you give me all your candy, I’ll give you all of my marbles.” She gave it much thought, and agreed to the trade. He took all her candy and went back to his room to get his marbles. But the more he admired them the more reluctant he became to give them all up. So he hid the best of them under his pillow and took the rest to her. That night, she slept soundly, while he tossed and turned restlessly, unable to sleep and thinking, “I wonder if she gave me all the candy?”

I have often wondered, when I see our angry culture claiming that God has not given us enough evidence, if it is not the veiled restlessness of lives that live in doubt because of their own duplicity. The battle in our time is posed as one of the intellect, in the assertion that truth is unknowable. But that may be only a veneer for the real battle, that of the heart.

Ravi Zacharias is founder and chairman of the board of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

Morning     “Do as thou hast said.”     2 Samuel 7:25

God’s promises were never meant to be thrown aside as waste paper; he intended

that they should be used. God’s gold is not miser’s money, but is minted to be

traded with. Nothing pleases our Lord better than to see his promises put in

circulation; he loves to see his children bring them up to him, and say, “Lord,

do as thou hast said.” We glorify God when we plead his promises. Do you think

that God will be any the poorer for giving you the riches he has promised? Do

you dream that he will be any the less holy for giving holiness to you? Do you

imagine he will be any the less pure for washing you from your sins? He has said

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your

sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like

crimson, they shall be as wool.” Faith lays hold upon the promise of pardon, and

it does not delay, saying, “This is a precious promise, I wonder if it be true?”

but it goes straight to the throne with it, and pleads, “Lord, here is the

promise, Do as thou hast said.'” Our Lord replies, “Be it unto thee even as thou

wilt.” When a Christian grasps a promise, if he does not take it to God, he

dishonours him; but when he hastens to the throne of grace, and cries, “Lord, I

have nothing to recommend me but this, Thou hast said it;'” then his desire

shall be granted. Our heavenly Banker delights to cash his own notes.

Never let the promise rust. Draw the sword of promise out of its scabbard, and

use it with holy violence. Think not that God will be troubled by your

importunately reminding him of his promises. He loves to hear the loud outcries

of needy souls. It is his delight to bestow favours. He is more ready to hear

than you are to ask. The sun is not weary of shining, nor the fountain of

flowing. It is God’s nature to keep his promises; therefore go at once to the

throne with “Do as thou hast said.”

 

Evening    “But I give myself unto prayer.”     Psalm 109:4

Lying tongues were busy against the reputation of David, but he did not defend

himself; he moved the case into a higher court, and pleaded before the great

King himself. Prayer is the safest method of replying to words of hatred. The

Psalmist prayed in no cold-hearted manner, he gave himself to the

exercise–threw his whole soul and heart into it–straining every sinew and

muscle, as Jacob did when wrestling with the angel. Thus, and thus only, shall

any of us speed at the throne of grace. As a shadow has no power because there

is no substance in it, even so that supplication, in which a man’s proper self

is not thoroughly present in agonizing earnestness and vehement desire, is

utterly   ineffectual, for it lacks that which would give it force. “Fervent prayer,”

says an old divine, “like a cannon planted at the gates of heaven, makes them

fly open.” The common fault with the most of us is our readiness to yield to

distractions. Our thoughts go roving hither and thither, and we make little

progress towards our desired end. Like quicksilver our mind will not hold

together, but rolls off this way and that. How great an evil this is! It injures

us, and what is worse, it insults our God. What should we think of a petitioner,

if, while having an audience with a prince, he should be playing with a feather

or catching a fly?

Continuance and perseverance are intended in the expression of our text. David

did not cry once, and then relapse into silence; his holy clamour was continued

till it brought down the blessing. Prayer must not be our chance work, but our

daily business, our habit and vocation. As artists give themselves to their

models, and poets to their classical pursuits, so must we addict ourselves to

prayer. We must be immersed in prayer as in our element, and so pray without

ceasing. Lord, teach us so to pray that we may be more and more prevalent in

supplication.

 

Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.    Psalms 25:18

It is good for us when prayers about our sorrows are linked with pleas concerning our sins—when, being under God’s hand, we do not focus exclusively on our pain, but remember our sins against God. It is also good to take both sorrow and sin to the same place. It was to God that David carried his sorrow: It was to God that David confessed his sin.

Notice, then, we must take our sorrows to God. Even your little sorrows you may cast upon God, for He counts the hairs of your head; and your great sorrows you may commit to Him, for He holds the ocean in the hollow of His hand. Go to Him, whatever your present trouble may be, and you will find Him able and willing to relieve you. But we must take our sins to God too. We must carry them to the cross, that the blood may fall upon them, to purge away their guilt and to destroy their defiling power.

The special lesson of the text is this: we are to go to the Lord with sorrows and with sins in the right spirit. Note that all David asks concerning his sorrow is, “Consider my affliction and my trouble”; but the next petition is vastly more explicit, definite, decided, plain—”Forgive all my sins.”

Many sufferers would have reversed it: “Remove my affliction and my pain, and consider my sins.” But David does not; he cries, “Lord, when it comes to my affliction and my pain, I will not dictate to Your wisdom. Lord, look at them—I will leave them to You. I would like to have my pain removed, but do as You will. But as for my sins, Lord, I know what needs to happen—I must have them forgiven; I cannot endure to live under their curse for a moment.”

A Christian counts sorrow lighter in the scale than sin; he can bear to have troubles continue, but he cannot bear the burden of his transgressions.

The family reading plan for April 11, 2012

Proverbs 29 | 2 Thessalonians 3

1 Corinthians 1:17-31

From a worldly perspective, Christ’s death signaled His defeat. After all, dying in agony on a cross hardly seems like the path to victory. But it was! And He did it all for us. Because Jesus triumphed over death, we can be victorious in life. Just consider what He won for us by sacrificing Himself on the cross.

Our Eternal Salvation: The cross was the means of our salvation. Without it, we’d have no hope of heaven. If Christ hadn’t died in our place, we’d have to stand before God and receive the just punishment for every sin we’ve ever committed.

Power over Sin: Jesus not only paid the penalty for our sin; He also brought us present victory over it. When He was crucified, our old sinful nature died with Him (Rom. 6:6). The power of the “flesh” was broken, and Jesus now lives His triumphant life through us. That means we are no longer enslaved to sin and can choose obedience to God.

Defeat of Satan: At the crucifixion, the list of decrees against us was nailed to the cross, and the Devil lost his power over our lives (Col. 2:13-15). None of his accusations can stick, because God holds nothing against us anymore. And now every time we yield to the Spirit within us, Satan is defeated once again.

Christ met all our needs on the cross. By making us a part of His family, He gave us a sense of belonging. When He died in our place, He affirmed our value. And by coming to live His life through each believer, He gives us the ability to live a victorious, obedient life

There is a great amount of anticipation leading up to Easter Sunday. Even for those who are “Christmas and Easter” church-goers or for those who simply sit at home and dream of Easter baskets, chocolate rabbits, and colored eggs, anticipating Easter, on the one hand, is like waiting for the door to finally be unlocked, unhinged, and opened onto a verdant spring meadow. On the other hand, Easter is stepping out onto that meadow and closing the door behind on the long, cold, dreary winter.

Yet, for many, the day comes and goes and then what? Easter is over again until next year. For many, winter still hovers above and the grey of death has not given way to the springtime. The candy is eaten, the brunches are over, and everything seems to return to normal. All that anticipation ends in just one day—with grand celebrations and powerful sermons, and perhaps with even a first playful roll in the springtime grass—and then it’s over. Or is it?

The celebration of Easter is insignificant if the celebrations do not point to the continuing reality of the risen one. Indeed, in many church traditions, the season of Eastertide, which lasts until Pentecost, asks this very question: How do we perceive the continuing presence of the risen Lord in our reality? Indeed, how do we? Is it simply the annual remembrance of a historic event from long ago?

If we’re honest, many of us do wonder what difference the resurrection has made in the practical realities of our lives. We still argue with our spouses and loved ones; we still have children who go their own way. We have difficulties at work or at school. We still see a world so broken by warfare, selfish greed, oppression and sin. Like the two men on the road to Emmaus recounting the events surrounding Jesus, perhaps we wonder aloud at what we hoped Christ would be.(1) Things seem pretty much as they were before Easter Sunday, and the reality of our same old lives still clamor for redemption.

This is often the way we feel if we have only understood resurrection as an event long past that only speaks to a future yet to come. We feel this way if we do not connect Jesus’s prayer for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven” with the reality of the cry, “He is risen, as he said.” The glimpse into the kingdom of God that we get in the life and ministry of Jesus is ratified through the resurrection. New creation, new life, resurrected living is now a possibility for those who follow Jesus.

The risen Jesus told his followers, “As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” Jesus’s resurrection is not a promise for escape from the world or a life free from trouble, but rather it commissions those who would remember his resurrection to be his “raising” agents in the world. He sends us out with the extraordinary news that the dead can be raised to new life for death and evil do not have the last word! And as we begin to live in light of the resurrection, we can gain insight into its significance for the practical realities of everyday lives. As N.T. Wright has concluded: “Jesus is raised, so he is the Messiah, and therefore he is the world’s true Lord; Jesus is raised, so God’s new creation has begun—and we, his followers, have a job to do! Jesus is raised, so we must act as his heralds, announcing his lordship to the entire world, making his kingdom come on earth as in heaven.”(2)

We are sent out beyond Easter Sunday into Eastertide because everything has changed.

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

(1) Luke 24:21a.
(2) N.T. Wright, Surprised By Hope (New York: Harper Collins, 2008), 56.

Morning    “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.”

Psalm 22:14

Did earth or heaven ever behold a sadder spectacle of woe! In soul and body, our

Lord felt himself to be weak as water poured upon the ground. The placing of the

cross in its socket had shaken him with great violence, had strained all the

ligaments, pained every nerve, and more or less dislocated all his bones.

Burdened with his own weight, the august sufferer felt the strain increasing

every moment of those six long hours. His sense of faintness and general

weakness were overpowering; while to his own consciousness he became nothing but

a mass of misery and swooning sickness. When Daniel saw the great vision, he

thus describes his sensations, “There remained no strength in me, for my

vigour was turned into corruption, and I retained no strength:” how much more

faint must have been our greater Prophet when he saw the dread vision of the

wrath of God, and felt it in his own soul! To us, sensations such as our Lord

endured would have been insupportable, and kind unconsciousness would have come

to our rescue; but in his case, he was wounded, and felt the sword; he drained

the cup and tasted every drop.

“O King of Grief! (a title strange, yet true

To thee of all kings only due)

O King of Wounds! how shall I grieve for thee,

Who in all grief preventest me!”

As we kneel before our now ascended Saviour’s throne, let us remember well the

way by which he prepared it as a throne of grace for us; let us in spirit drink

of his cup, that we may be strengthened for our hour of heaviness whenever it

may come. In his natural body every member suffered, and so must it be in the

spiritual; but as out of all his griefs and woes his body came forth uninjured

to glory and power, even so shall his mystical body come through the furnace

with not so much as the smell of fire upon it.

 

Evening   “Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.”

Psalm 25:18

It is well for us when prayers about our sorrows are linked with pleas

concerning our sins–when, being under God’s hand, we are not wholly taken up

with our pain, but remember our offences against God. It is well, also, to take

both sorrow and sin to the same place. It was to God that David carried his

sorrow: it was to God that David confessed his sin. Observe, then, we must take

our sorrows to God. Even your little sorrows you may roll upon God, for he

counteth the hairs of your head; and your great sorrows you may commit to him,

for he holdeth the ocean in the hollow of his hand. Go to him, whatever your

present trouble may be, and you shall find him able and willing to relieve you.

But

we must take our sins to God too. We must carry them to the cross, that the

blood may fall upon them, to purge away their guilt, and to destroy their

defiling power.

The special lesson of the text is this:–that we are to go to the Lord with

sorrows and with sins in the right spirit. Note that all David asks concerning

his sorrow is, “Look upon mine affliction and my pain;” but the next petition is

vastly more express, definite, decided, plain–“Forgive all my sins.” Many

sufferers would have put it, “Remove my affliction and my pain, and look at my

sins.” But David does not say so; he cries, “Lord, as for my affliction and my

pain, I will not dictate to thy wisdom. Lord, look at them, I will leave them to

thee, I should be glad to have my pain removed, but do as thou wilt; but as for

my sins, Lord, I know what I want with them; I must have them

forgiven; I cannot endure to lie under their curse for a moment.” A Christian

counts sorrow lighter in the scale than sin; he can bear that his troubles

should continue, but he cannot support the burden of his transgressions.

 

For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong.

Acts 27:23

Image BlockedStorms and darkness, combined with imminent risk of shipwreck, had brought the crew of the vessel into a sorry predicament; only one man among them remained perfectly calm, and by his word the rest were reassured. Paul was the only man who had enough heart to say, “I urge you to take heart.” There were veteran Roman soldiers on board, and brave sailors, but their poor Jewish prisoner had more spirit than all of them. He had a secret Friend who kept his courage up. The Lord Jesus sent a heavenly messenger to whisper words of comfort in Paul’s ear, and as a result his face shone, and he spoke like a man at ease.

If we fear the Lord, we may look for His timely intervention when our case is at its worst. Angels are not kept from us by storms or hindered by darkness. Seraphs do not think it is beneath them to visit the poorest of the heavenly family. If angels’ visits are few and far between at ordinary times, they will be frequent in our nights of tempest and storm. Friends may leave us when we are under pressure, but our awareness of the members of the angelic world will be far more apparent. Strengthened by loving words brought to us from the throne via Jacob’s ladder, we will be able to do daring feats.

Dear reader, are you facing an hour of distress? Then ask for particular help. Jesus is the angel of the covenant, and if you earnestly seek His presence, it will not be denied. The encouragement which that presence brings will be remembered by those who, like Paul, have had the angel of God standing by them in a night of storm, when anchors slipped and shipwreck threatened.

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.

The family reading plan for April 10, 2012

Proverbs 28 | 2 Thessalonians 2

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