The Lamb of God

I believe that John (the Baptist) was probably the greatest asset to Jesus’ earthly ministry. He was completely faithful to his commission right up to the last moment of his life. And what an extraordinary life it was.

1. He was a miracle baby; his parents were beyond their years to conceive when they received a special birth announcement.

2. He was chosen to be a Nazarite from birth; the decision was made for him (like Samson and Samuel before him) and he was totally faithful to that vow.

3. He did not enjoy the niceties of life; instead he lived simply off the land and expended all of his energy to fulfill God’s mission for his life.

4. His message of future hope drew thousands from their preoccupied lives and inspired them to make the hard choices needed to get back in line with God.

5. He stood steadfastly for God’s Word and ways preaching a difficult and, to some, an unwelcome message of truth.

6. He was eventually executed for taking a hardline stance against the immoral practices of the governing leaders of his day.

But the greatest benefit John brought to Jesus’ ministry was his training and mentoring those who would take Jesus’ message of salvation to the whole known world of their time. You see, John’s disciples became Jesus’ disciples; his audiences became Jesus’ followers.  He did such a good job preparing disciples and people that Jesus had an army of evangelists prepped and ready for action in just a few years’ time. What a remarkable feat of leadership. Jesus was obviously grateful and impressed with his work; He gave John the greatest compliment a human could receive (see Matthew 11:11).

You can easily see John’s tremendous dedication to his commission in the first chapter of the Apostle John’s Gospel (verses 29-37). As soon as the Baptist recognized Jesus as God’s Messiah (the definitive sign was the descending dove at Jesus’ baptism), he began pointing Him out to people. When it was proven to him that Jesus was the One who would bring God’s promised salvation to the world, he pointed Jesus out as the Lamb of God and started sending his followers over to Him. He knew that Jesus was the fulfillment of what all the sacrifices foreshadowed (Abraham’s God-provided lamb, the Passover lamb, the sin offering lambs, Isaiah’s suffering servant lamb, etc.). He was everything the tabernacle and temple symbolized. John, the son of a priest, recognized this about Jesus. So what else could he do but to send people to Jesus? 

But isn’t this our mission as well? Aren’t we commissioned by Jesus Himself to go into the world and make disciples for Him (Matthew 28:19-20)?  Our job then is the same as John’s. And we will be just as successful in our mission when we mature our faith to know Jesus as the fulfillment of all of God’s promises (2 Corinthians 1:19-20). Then our lives will reflect His life and teachings to those who are searching for their savior. And then it will be an automatic reaction for us to begin bringing family, friends, co-workers, neighbors to the only One who can provide what their souls need most: Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Doug

Boundless Love

Just before going to the cross and becoming the atoning sacrifice for all sin, Jesus spent some quality time with His disciples giving them last minute instructions and offering some much-needed encouragement. That evening’s dialogue in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) spans only about 20 – 30 verses, whereas John’s account lasts for 5 chapters (13 – 17)! They all mention the Passover meal, and Jesus’ predictions regarding the disciples’ behaviors that night. But there are two glaring differences between the synoptics and John about this event: (1) John does not record Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper as the synoptics do, and (2) John has Jesus going into great detail concerning the disciples’ kingdom work in the near future – especially the important part the Holy Spirit will enable them to accomplish.

In all of the instructions John records on this fateful night, he only mentions one command that Jesus has for His disciples: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35). What did He mean by “new”? This command has been all throughout Scripture up to this point in time, so how could it be a new one? The newness, as I see it, lies in two things:

1. We are to love the way Jesus has displayed true love for us and for others: helping the downcast, spending time with the outcast, caring for those considered to be lowly and worthless. The Greek word Jesus uses is agape which is a love that has to be worked at, planned for, and employed regardless of how others react or even accept your kindnesses.

2. This is the kind of love that binds us to God so that we are enabled to mature in our faith and produce true, Spiritual fruit (John 15:12). This kind of love is to be the motivating factor for our outward actions (our obedience to His commands). So loving Jesus the way He demonstrated His love toward us makes our connection to Him more and more secure as we grow in our faith.

Now that’s a truly “new” kind of love – one that is of divine rather than human origin; one that builds and sustains people. This love that Jesus commands us to portray is so different that outsiders will have no trouble recognizing who we belong to. Jesus’ kind of love is the undeniable sign that we are His disciples.

But here’s the truly remarkable thing about Jesus’ love that we are commanded to demonstrate: it is not just a binding love (that secures us to each other and to the only source of life-sustaining energy), but it is a boundless love that will never diminish or be lost. In the Apostle Paul’s attempt to describe agape love (1 Corinthians 13) he maintains that it is the greatest gift of God. It is the greatest because it enables us to imitate God in all of His totality (since God is love (agape) – 1 John 4:8). It is the greatest because it brings salvation to sinners and reconciles humans with God and each other (1 Peter 4:8). It is the greatest because it will continue to be practiced, shared, and enjoyed in heaven all throughout eternity.

Come to know Jesus’ love – a love that surpasses all human understanding. Allow it to bind you to Him both now and throughout eternity. Once you’re able to comprehend His love for you (even just a little bit), it will naturally overflow in your thoughts, attitudes and actions toward others. What a wonderful world this would be if more and more of Jesus’ disciples dedicated themselves to fulfilling this one command to love one another the way He loves us.

Doug

Maintaining the Connection

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he ⁵bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is ⁶thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

(John 15:5 - NASV)

You’ve most likely heard the adage, “Don’t get the cart in front of the horse.” It most likely came about due to the common problem of many who try to skip important steps in an effort to complete a task more quickly. It’s like hurrying up the stairs only to miss one, trip, slam your shin against the step, and endure a painful bruise. Or it may be that you didn’t calculate your route carefully and your short-cut has put you in a construction zone, on a dead-end street (in a bad part of town), or stuck in a traffic jam. What you learn is the patience required to ensure that next time you have all the necessary resources in the proper order to see a project through to a successful end.

This happens to the majority when it comes to living their lives (both their physical and spiritual lives). So many of Jesus’ teachings reinforce the need to build a life on a firm foundation – Him. The Apostle writers constantly urge Christians to use care about how they think, talk and act on a daily basis. Much of Scripture is a history of the blessings that came to those who followed the right way – God’s way and the troubles caused by people putting the spiritual cart before the spiritual horse. Fortunately we serve a loving, merciful God who has always gone to great lengths to help us correct this all-too-common characteristic. The ultimate blessing we have through our faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus the Christ, is that God’s Spirit guides us to make sure that we keep first things first. We are constantly being taught to follow a logical pattern of thinking, speaking, and action in order to fulfill the purpose we were created for in the first place.

Jesus reminded His disciples just before He went to the cross how to ensure success in their walk of life. In the verses above Jesus pointed out to them the essential requirement of maintaining a connection to Himself. For those who desire a long, healthy life the way to put the spiritual horse before the spiritual cart is to remember that . . .

1. Jesus is and always will be the vine. That’s a job appropriate only for a sinless, divine being, not a faulty, sin-damaged human. Life-sustaining energy strong enough to enrich and enliven a healthy life can only flow through the One who (a) created life and who (b) was able to live it perfectly. Getting the cart before the horse here (our trying to be the vine) will cut off the supply of nourishment and kill the plant.

2. We will always be a branch. To survive we must rely on Him to supply all of our needs. Our job is to abide in Jesus so that we have the nourishment and support of the true vine that is crucial for healthy survival. Getting the cart before the horse here severs the connection to Jesus and leads to our shriveling up and dying.

3. Bearing fruit requires we maintain a complete, unadulterated connection to Jesus. The natural result of staying closely connected to Jesus is that we (the branches) bear healthy, nourishing fruit. A loose, faulty connection produces immature, unhealthy fruit that is good for nothing else but the trash heap.

4. The result of self-reliance is that we end up being good for nothing but kindling a bonfire – the biblical description of hell. Useless plants that refuse to fulfill their purpose for planting cannot be allowed to take up valuable soil.

So here’s what we can do to ensure that the spiritual horse is in front of the spiritual cart:

1. We all want to live. Get into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27) and maintain a complete connection with Him.

2. We all want to be useful in God’s kingdom. Live in step with His Spirit (Rom. 8:9-11).

3. We all want to bear healthy fruit for God (see Galatians 5:22-23 for a short list). Tap into and use the strength God provides (Philippians 4:13).

4. No one wants to die eternally. So strive to sustain a strong connection to Jesus. Apart from Him it is impossible for us to live, survive, or to bear fruit. However the true blessing is that with Him all things are possible (Matthew 19:25-26).

Doug

Cling to Jesus

One of the main reasons for all of the turmoil in our world today is that people have lost their connection to God.  This is so because they’ve chosen to go it alone or because others are making a relationship with God very difficult.  Much of the modern philosophy being published on TV, or the radio, or in magazines, or books is extremely anti-religion of any kind. 

This is nothing new.  In fact, it was this attitude and mindset that led to the first sin (and all others afterwards).  Selfish, greedy minds need to blame others for all of their problems and frustrations.  If you don’t believe me, just listen to someone talk about the “other” drivers they encounter on the roadways (or even the customers they have to put up with at work).  All of this is evidence that the connection to God has been frayed or severed.

Jesus warned His disciples of this danger on the night He was betrayed.  The allegory of the Vine and the Branches (John 15) expresses His concern for their spiritual safety.  In this story, He emphasizes the extreme importance of staying connected to God through Him.  Judas has just become disconnected from the vine (Jesus) and there is the risk that the others might fall to the same temptation (Peter will, 3 times before dawn).  Therefore, He warns that the only way to remain alive and viable is to strive to remain connected to Him – even in the midst of severe persecution and strong temptation.

Mark Moore mentions three ways in which we abide (or remain) in God’s love through Christ (from The Chronological Life of Christ, volume 2, p. 239-240):

            1.  We must hang on to the words of Jesus (John 15:7).  Bible study, memorization, preaching, teaching fills our minds with the Word of Christ.

       2.  We must remain constant in prayer (John 15:7).  Through faithful petitions to God we are granted the faith and endurance needed to cling to the Vine (God/Jesus).

            3.  We must be busy obeying God’s commands (John 15:10-12).  Doing this will enable us to free ourselves of the sin that is the real culprit for all of life’s problems.

Spend some quality time looking closely at Jesus’ words in this allegory.  Our desire is to do what we can to correct life’s problems and this can only be accomplished successfully by abiding in Him.  God is calling each of us to commit and dedicate our souls to this cause.  With each other’s help and encouragement, God can work tremendous things in and through us.

Doug