Sacrifice

“So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." (Genesis 4:5b-7, ESV)
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10, ESV)
There is something about the Christian life that seems to have been forgotten as the gods of materialism and power raised their ugly heads over much of the world in recent years. What is it? As one man put it many years ago, in a room of Christians sometimes it’s hard to catch the smell of Jesus. What did he mean? And what connection do hardship and suffering have with living the Christian life? These are serious and a light perusal of little snippets of Christian ideas, sometimes not grounded in God’s Holy Word, that are seemingly forever forwarded through e-mails, will not be enough when we are called into account for our lives. In the two references above, we have two dissimilar situations. Firstly, we have the third human to be on this planet in a conversation with the Almighty God. Cain has a “situation” as modern dramas like to put it. He has willfully disobeyed God and now God is gently rebuking him for his sinful actions. Cain has a typical response when caught in disobedience; he becomes angry and he’s “down in the mouth”, to use an older expression. He’s a sourpuss; suddenly everything in his world has gone wrong. We can surmise that he was asked by God to sacrifice an animal as an offering of thanksgiving, but the scripture does not state that. We do know, however, that under the Jewish law, people purchased animals for sacrifices because the law specifically stated how each sacrifice was to be made. Other than grain offerings for specific reasons, produce was never indicated as a proper sacrifice to God. When we look at the world’s pagan religions, we find that the offering of foods to the gods is very typical and is usually associated with the idea of ancestors or statues needing to consume food. At any rate, God did not accept Cain’s sacrifice and so Cain found himself in the above situation.
Contrary to popular misunderstanding, the offering of sacrifices is key to our relation to the God of the Universe, not simply part of our religious culture. Sin entered the world and death came through the sin, as is even evident in the clothing God made for Adam and Eve after they sinned in the Garden of Eden. Leaves of fig trees were not risque, they simply were not of a sacrificial nature. Hence, God made clothes for Adam and Eve from the skins of animals. The animals had to die for God to make those clothes. God is the first person in history to perform an animal sacrifice to expiate the sins of man. I wonder how Adam and Eve felt after that. Surely they realized their act of disobedience brought death to these animals, perhaps animals they had been with, since Adam named all of the animals before Eve was created. The purpose of sacrifice was to keep man in communion with God, to expiate the sins of man, and to keep man in remembrance of what a great sacrifice has been made because of his acts of sinfulness.
Cain had a choice to make. Either he could do what God had asked, in which case he would feel good again, his anger would dissipate and he would not commit further sins, or he could follow his feelings. We know the rest of the story, which ended not only in tragedy, but the first murder in the world. Cain carried the mark of his sin the rest of his life, but he also carried the memory of killing his own brother. Sin does that.
Now it would seem that the second scripture, written by the apostle Paul, has no bearing on this topic, but it does. Paul is telling the Corinthian Christians about his own struggles in preaching the gospel; he is frustrated at their refusal to obey his instructions, instructions that were meant to strengthen the Corinthian Christians in their Christian living. That is what preachers do, that is what spiritual leaders do, they bring from God’s Holy Word the instructions we need to live according to God’s ways, not our own sinful ways. Just as Cain carried the mark of his sinfulness, Christians are meant to carry the marks of the cross, to show the world that our God is a living God who suffered for us. God does not want His children to suffer, but He will allow it to the extent that it brings the godless into closer contact with the Suffering Servant. The world is watching us as we react to circumstances around us, especially times when we have fallen. Truthfully speaking, as well as making honest mistakes, Christians make willful mistakes and sin. The world holds itself up as a model of everything that is right and proper, having no power to live that way, but is quick to criticize Christians who make even one mistake, who fall even one time. It is easy in those situations to get angry, to lash out at others, to sin. Surely the apostle Paul was tempted to vindicate himself on more than one occasion, as is even evident in his response to the High Priest’s order to have Paul slapped (God will slap you, you white wall. See Acts 23:3)
Christians who are stricken, but not crushed, who are perplexed, but not driven to despair, rely on the power of God that is in them to keep from sinning and to present the Wounded, Suffering Savior to the lost. It will always be so. A better measuring stick for the health of a church is not the number of people sitting in the pews on Sunday, but the number of Christians who take it to heart that suffering is part of the cup that is filled to overflowing by the Lord. We enjoy “creature comforts”, usually taking the easy way, in everything we do. We love labor-saving devices so that we have more time to relax. Relaxation time simply means time to sit and do little or nothing. We will go out of our way to avoid anything that is physically strenuous, but pay for membership in a gym, so that we can work off unwanted pounds, to look better, or even just to feel better. Our Christian lives are similar. We tend to think that showing up on Sunday morning for one hour is all that should be expected of us and even then, we complain about the singing, the lengthy prayers or the long-winded preacher. For years the worship has been called the “worship service” and many Christians have taken the word service out of context. Worship is worship, not really even a service to others of any kind. Our contributions of money are simply giving back a little of what God has so generously given to us, no more, no less. Even our giving is not sacrificial in nature, but simply a little we might have left over and can spare. We can become indignant if we are asked to serve in other ways, to work in ways to help the poor and downtrodden, especially to give of our precious time. We like to take the easier way, so we hire those to do the things in church that we really don’t want to do. Years ago a Christian attended worship services away from home and was surprised to find that the song leader was not a Christian, but had been hired to lead the singing. Churches often hire secretaries who may not even be Christians, or at least not a member of that congregation. We think nothing of it, because our minds are wrapped around a business world view that is in stark contrast to the Christian world view we should have. If the secretary is efficient, though not a Christian, we praise her for her service and pay her a salary. If the song leader can make the singing more beautiful, even though not a Christian, we believe that is more acceptable to God, that it somehow honors Him more. It is easy to forget that there are three different places in the Psalms that command the worshipers to make a joyful noise to the Lord. Maybe the noises people make when singing off-key are more delightful to God than our painstakingly crafted contemporary songs are.
Cain took the easier, less costly way when offering his sacrifice. It cost him everything. Paul endured hardship for the sake of others, that they might know the Risen Savior. There have been good men and women since the beginning of the Church who have sacrificed that others might know Jesus.
Sacrifice is what our relationship with God is all about, the sum of everything. The supreme sacrifice was made by God Himself, Jesus Christ, who bore the marks of sin in His body that we might bear the marks of His Righteousness in ours.
The smell of Jesus is the smell of love, mercy, forgiveness and humility. Were we to stand next to the Cross on that Great Day, we would have smelled the blood of Our Wonderful Savior. His very life blood smells of love. There is no bloodless sacrifice, no painless way to salvation. He asks for our love and He tells us how we can show that love to Him. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John14:15, ESV) Cain showed neither love to God or to his brother. What will we do?

The Coming of the Lawless One

“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist ” (2 John 1:7, ESV)
“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.” (1 John 2:22, ESV)
“Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” ( 2Thessalonians 2:3-12, ESV)
Some of the questions that have perplexed Christians since the time of the apostles are these: just who is the lawless one? Who is the antichrist? Are we in the last days? Is the breakdown in society around the world a sign of the coming of the lawless one? And so forth.
I don’t pretend to know the answers to all of these questions but I would like to offer some thinking that may help the Christian to remain strong in these troubling times.
First of all, there is confusion between who the antichrist is and who the man of lawlessness is. Are they one in the same person? Is that talking about the end times? While it is true that the man of lawlessness or the lawless one is definitely antichrist, it does not follow that all who are antichrist are the man of lawlessness. Why? Because the apostle John makes it quite clear that many antichrists had already gone out into the world when he wrote his letters. He speaks of antichrist in the plural, not just simply one person. He further explains that anyone who denies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is antichrist. There is a deep mystery about the incarnation, or God becoming flesh, but it is so paramount to our faith that to deny this one point puts a person at odds with God. To deny that deity came and dwelt with men as a man is a false teaching and earns a person who believes in this way the title of “antichrist.”
The lawless one or man of lawlessness, which ever term you prefer, is more than just antichrist. This is the manifestation of the evil one in a last ditch attempt to deceive men and women. It would appear from the Thessalonian letter that prior to the return of Christ, there will be a visible manifestation of Satan, probably as a human, in his attempt to take control of every last individual who can either be shaken in his faith or thwarted from belief in Jesus. I personally do not relish the prospect of being on this earth when these final events take place. Those who are His will not be taken from God’s Hands. This is the promise that was made while Jesus was still on this earth and He never breaks His promises. But to watch the delusions and lies and deception that will be a part of the coming of this lawless one will be to witness the destruction of souls, those who refused the opportunity to turn and be saved by our Savior.
Right now we see a spirit of lawlessness in country after country, city after city. One is reminded of the verses in Genesis chapter 6 where the Spirit of God says, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” The only thought that people had, man or woman, was evil and that was non-stop or 24/7 as we like to say. The Christian cannot imagine people so filled with evil that their minds are constantly fixed on how to commit sin, to do evil acts. The Spirit of God lives in us and so our hearts are fixed on the heavenly home that God has prepared for us. We are separated from the world so our hearts are not on worldly things.
Are we in the last days? A definite, “yes” and an indefinite, “perhaps.” What do I mean? We are in the final age of the world. God revealed Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ and Christ is the last spokesman for God (Hebrews 1:1-2). There will be no further word from God beyond the Word that He has already given, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Word of God, the Bible. That’s it. There are no fresh revelations, no new prophecies, nothing. Period. If a person cannot or will not believe the eyewitness testimony of those who walked and talked with Jesus while He was on the earth, no further word from God would change his mind. Yes, we are in the last days as far as the ages of the world are concerned. Global warming? You bet. God plans to roast the entire planet. He made it, He will destroy it. He compares Himself to a potter who has the rights over the clay. God made the world for a specific purpose and when He decides that the purpose has been completed, He will destroy what He made.
But are we in the last days of the last days, so to speak? Perhaps, perhaps not. I, for one, really don’t know. God isn’t willing that any should perish and He is still populating heaven with those who love Him. God is infinitely patient and will be patient until He decides the curtain should come down.
So how should we live our lives in times like these? As Christians have lived down through the ages. We should be firm in our resolve to follow Him. We need to spend time in prayer, lots of time. Jesus asked the apostles to pray for Him when He most keenly felt the attacks of Satan, in the Garden of Gethsemane. So with the world in the mess it is in right now, prayer is our greatest weapon. Let’s be people of prayer. And we should be regular readers of Holy Scripture. To be filled with the words of God is to grow stronger in faith and be ready for the attacks of the unholy one. Finally, we need to serve others, to stop being selfish and try being selfless, just as the Christ was. Selfishness accounts for most of the problems we see in the world today. If Christians will show an attitude of selflessness, they will truly live their lives incarnadine, the color of the blood of Jesus. Through our lives we pray that others will see Jesus. By doing these things, we will be best prepared for the attacks of the evil one.

Jesus Christ Cannot Save the World, Part 2

"But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." (2 Peter 3:7-13, ESV)
Global warming? People continue to debate the idea of whether or not there is any global warming at the present time, whether it is a cyclical phenomena, if there is global warming, and
whether or not mankind has anything to do with its cause. Saving the world from extinction has become the latest fad among many that we people on this earth go through from time to time. For those who are unaware of the fact, global warming was debated in the 1930s and was a political football at that time.
For Christians, the idea that this present world will last forever is absurd. Most Christians believe in the second coming of Christ as much as they believe that He actually came the first time. Most believers hold in their hearts a deep-seated desire for the Master’s Return. One of the slogans for 1st Century Christians was the term, “maranatha,” or Lord, come quickly. Perhaps they were comfortable with the hope that the miseries of this life would soon be gone when Messiah returns. Certainly many early Christians, as well as Christians down through the ages, shed their blood for the faith they had in their Savior. The term “martyr,” literally means “a witness.” To witness to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, to tell others about the good news of the Kingdom of God was to put ones life on the line. In the book of Acts, Peter and the other apostles stood before the Jewish high court, so to speak, and when told not to speak anymore in the name of Jesus, replied like this: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:19-20, ESV) The Jewish high court wanted to punish the apostles for spreading the word about Jesus. Why? Because most of them were involved in putting Jesus to death and feared that their sin would cost them their power in Jewish politics.
Men and women were put to death by the Apostle Paul, before he turned to Jesus Christ. He dragged them off to Jerusalem for judgment. He stood witness at the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Stephen. He later lost his own life, after suffering at the hands of both Jews and Romans for his belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.
These people looked for a home in heaven where our Heavenly Father is. This world is not our home, at least not our eternal home. Peter said that we should live in this world as if we were sojourners, travelers who were on their way somewhere else. We cannot save the state of the present world; it will stand or fall by the Hand of Almighty God. He has already slated the entire universe for destruction. He created it beautiful, good, without sin and without death. But once sin entered the world, death came with it. That meant death for the entire universe, not just humans, plants and animals. Not even just the earth! God is going to remake everything, and it will be made perfect without any possibility of the corruption we now see around us.
Should we then just abuse the earth and throw it away, much as we do all of the consumer goods that surround us today? Not at all. A careful reading of the entire Bible will help us to understand that God wants us to take care of the charge He has given us, to use the earth wisely and not destroy it. For true Christians, there is no paradox between the two. A true Christian will use the earth wisely, love all of God’s creation, love people and serve them, and work to remain faithful to Jesus Christ while they wait for His return. True Christianity has within it the life-giving blood of Jesus Christ and Christians will use what Jesus has given them to share that life with others. That’s living your life incarnadine, the color of blood, the blood of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ Cannot Save The World, Part 1

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:1-5)
In the past few years, the world has seen disasters on a scale that seems unprecedented. Who can forget the anguish and suffering of those who were victims of the tsunami in
Indonesia and India, hurricane Katrina in New Orleans or presently, the victims of the earthquake in Haiti? In Haiti alone the number of casualties may well number in the hundreds of thousands as disease and famine press upon the poor people who have already lost loved ones and homes. Even as the world desires to rush aid to Haiti and has already begun to do so, the help is bottlenecked at the airport. Help is so close and yet so far away. On top of this, Haiti is the poorest nation in the North America, perhaps the poorest in the world or close to it.
People have attributed such disasters to God, claiming either that He has utterly forsaken certain people or that He has brought disaster as a punishment for the sins of the people. But is this true? When someone is stricken with cancer or any other life-threatening disease, people are quick to jump to conclusions; this is punishment for someone’s sins, either the person stricken or someone close to the victim.
Jesus made it clear in the case of the Galileans and the victims of the accident involving the tower of Siloam, that these disasters were not a punishment for sin but one more sign of the temporariness of this world and those who live in it. Satan made it clear that he had been given the world as his place for mischief making and that he could have even offered it to Jesus if Jesus would just bow down before Satan. Whether that was one more of Satan’s lies or not, it’s hard to tell, but it seems that he always mixes truth with lies to get others to believe what he is saying. So there may be some truth to that.
Jesus Christ cannot save the world. That was not the purpose for his coming to the world the first time. While hanging on the cross, He was chided about His inability to save himself, even though He had saved others. The truth of the matter is this: when Jesus took on mortal flesh to come to this world, He had to leave that behind in order to return home to the Father. The old song, “The Way of the Cross Leads Home” was just as true for Jesus as it is for us. The only flesh that can enter heaven is flesh that is changed, according to the apostle Paul in I Corinthians 15.
We often hear people talk about receiving a death sentence when told about a terminal illness. The truth of the matter is we have all received a death sentence, all of us are terminal. Jesus can only save men and women who turn to Him in faith and cry out for mercy, repenting of the evil they also have been involved in committing. Is that fair?
God sent His Son into the world that His Son might die for the sins of the world, but only those who believe on the Son will receive the gift of eternal life. The pages of the New Testament are filled with the words of the Savior indicating that this world is not permanent, that it will finish the task for which it was created and then it will be destroyed.
Back to the beginning. Are the many disasters we are witnessing punishments sent by God? I don’t believe so. If anything, they are a reminder to us that disaster can overtake anyone, a believer or a non-believer. What should our reaction be? Mercy. Sympathy. Help. Ceaseless prayer for the poor people. Perhaps through the disaster, some will find Jesus Christ, will turn to Him and be healed. Even if they do, their physical bodies will one day perish. So will yours, so will mine.
Footnote: Lazarus had to face death again, even though Jesus raised him from the dead. The widow’s son at Nain had to die again, even though Jesus raised him from the dead and gave him back to his mother. Jairus’ daughter had to go through death again, even though her physical body was brought back to life by our Lord. Every person that Jesus healed while He ministered on this earth had to face his or her own mortality. Jesus cannot save this world; only those who turn to Him and are spiritually saved will receive a pass to get out of this world, be changed and taken to live with Him eternally, when He then creates a new heaven and a new earth. Only those who live their lives incarnadine, blood-colored, covered in the mercy-filled blood of Jesus Christ, will be raised to be clothed with immortality.