Reconciled to God

Monday, December 5 - Zechariah 6:12-13


Zechariah 6:12-13

New Living Translation (NLT)

12 Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Here is the man called the Branch. He will branch out from where he is and build the Temple of the Lord. 13 Yes, he will build the Temple of the Lord. Then he will receive royal honor and will rule as king from his throne. He will also serve as priest from his throne, and there will be perfect harmony between his two roles.’

This passage speaks of the Messiah rebuilding the Temple. Jesus has built and is building the living Temple, the church, the Body of Christ. This temple that was prophesied is a living temple rather than bricks and mortar. Not exactly what was expected. But what an infinite blessing it is to be a part of that Temple! We ARE the temple that was foretold in Zechariah!

Matthew 16:18 (NLT) - Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NLT) - Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?

1 Peter 2:5 (NLT) - And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.

This is also another prophecy of the reign of Christ, of his role as the one who reigns on the throne of David forever. It ties in very closely with our scripture from Sunday – the branch that comes from the root of Jesse that we saw in Isaiah 11.

This Branch would rule as king and also as priest. These were two very different roles in the period in which the Old Testament was written, filled by people from two different tribes (king - Judah, priest – Levi) but we see throughout scripture that Jesus embodies both roles and a third as well, that of prophet. So Jesus is king – our ruler and authority, reigning over all the earth and all creation, over the church and over our hearts. He is priest – the one who mediates between God and man. He is the one who enables us to worship AND the one we worship. He is supreme prophet – the one who not only speaks the words of God but IS the Word of God (John 1; remember last week we saw the prophecy of Jesus’ role as a prophet like Moses – Deut. 18).

Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people. (Galatians 3:18-20)

Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham. (Galatians 3:19-21)

For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5)

Jesus Christ, as prophet, priest, and king, has reconciled humanity to God. And he in turn has given us the ministry of reconciliation today.

¹⁶ So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! ¹⁷ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

 ¹⁸ And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. ¹⁹ For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. ²⁰ So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” ²¹ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

I hope that you are reconciled to God today through Jesus. I hope that you feel loved and cherished by God as a result.

What are your thoughts on these scriptures? I’d love to hear them.

Root of Jesse

Sunday, December 3 - Isaiah 11:1-11

(Second Sunday of Advent - Meditations on Advent Scripture Readings)

 1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

   from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—

   the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

   the Spirit of counsel and of might,

   the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—

3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

   He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

 
   or decide by what he hears with his ears;

4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,

 
   with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

 
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;


   with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 


5 Righteousness will be his belt

 
   and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

 6 The wolf will live with the lamb,


   the leopard will lie down with the goat,


the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

 
   and a little child will lead them.

 
7 The cow will feed with the bear,

 
   their young will lie down together,

 
   and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

 
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

 
   and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

 
9 They will neither harm nor destroy

 
   on all my holy mountain,

 
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD


   as the waters cover the sea.

 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

(NIV)

This scripture is the source of some of the lines in some favorite Christmas carols:

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Verse 4

O come thou Root of Jesse’s tree

An ensign of Thy people be

Before Thee rulers silent fall

All peoples on Thy mercy call

Verse 8

O come Thou Rod of Jesse free

Thine own from Satan’s tyranny

From depths of hell Thy people save

And give them victory o’er the grave

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Has come to thee, O Israel

Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming

Lo, how a Rose E’er blooming

From tender stem hath sprung

Of Jesse’s lineage coming

As men of old have sung

It came a flower bright

Amid the cold of winter

When half gone was the night

 1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

   from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

This is another prophecy of the Messiah. Jesse was the father of King David. The shoot from the stump of Jesse, the Branch bearing fruit, is Jesus. I love the description that is given of Jesus. It speaks of his

§  Wisdom

§  Understanding

§  Counsel

§  Might

§  Knowledge

§  Not judging by appearances

§  Righteousness and justice

§  Providing justice for the poor and needy

§  Faithfulness

As Job said,


 Even now my witness is in heaven;


   my advocate is on high. (Job 16:19, NIV)

Jesus came to the world and taught and healed and suffered and died and rose again so that we could have abundant life here and now and eternally. He offers what we lack. We can turn to him for wisdom, understanding, counsel, justice, and righteousness. He is always faithful. And he has the might – the power, authority – to accomplish what is needed on our behalf.

This passage also looks forward to eternity, when peace will reign in all of creation. Conflict and violence will be gone.


for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

That phrase fills my heart with longing and comfort (and gives me goose bumps) every time I read or hear it.

The concluding verse is rendered beautifully in the New Living Translation:

10 In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world. The nations will rally to him,
and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.

“The land where he lives will be a glorious place.” As I prepare for Grandma Layton’s funeral (Don’s grandmother), this is a beautiful and comforting thought indeed.

Do you need wisdom, understanding, counsel, an intervention of might, justice, or righteousness? These are the things Jesus, the root of Jesse, the heir to David’s throne, has brought to us. May his attributes be evident in your life today.

Unfailing Love Forever

Saturday - December 2 - Psalm 89:1-4

New Living Translation (NLT)

 1 I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever! 

Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. 

2 Your unfailing love will last forever.

      Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.

 3 The Lord said, “I have made a covenant with David, my chosen servant.
 I have sworn this oath to him:
 

4 ‘I will establish your descendants as kings forever; they will sit on your throne from now until eternity.’”
    

      

“I will sing” – Singing of the Lord’s unfailing love is a decision we make. “I will sing.” We choose to focus on the unfailing love he has shown us. We choose to praise him for that and to share it with others. We sing. It’s not just for the professionals. Everyone can choose to sing of the Lord’s love, and it is in fact a supremely natural reaction to experiencing God’s love.  

“The Lord’s unfailing love forever” – This unfailing love is one of the primary themes of the Psalms. The Hebrew word translated “unfailing love” here is transliterated as  'emuwnah.  In addition to "unfailing love,"  it can also be translated faithfulness, firmness, fidelity, steadfastness, steadiness. The love of God never changes or wavers in any way. His love is the most reliable, trustworthy reality we can imagine. Whether we believe it or not, whether we recognize it or not, whether we feel it at any particular moment or not, his love is firmly in place - he is not going anywhere.

This passage is part of our Advent readings because of verses 3 and 4 – we see one of many, many restatements and reminders of the covenant God made with David, that a descendant of David would sit on the throne forever. This covenant is an extension of the covenant with Abraham we talked about in Genesis 15 - that all people on earth would be blessed. We know through hundreds of scriptures throughout the Bible that the way – the only way – this promise can be fulfilled is through Jesus. As the eternally existing God the Son, he fills the throne of David forever. He is the perfect ruler of people – perfect because he is love and he always loves us selflessly with our perfect good in mind. His love is unfailing, faithful, firm, steadfast, unyielding.

Please take a moment to rejoice in the perfect, pure, never failing love of God expressed in the perfect descendant of his chosen servant, David – in Jesus, the one who came to “serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Please realize that his love for you is not conditional, it is not capricious, it is always present for you no matter what you have done, what mess your life is in, how you feel about yourself, how other people are treating you. There is One who loves you and treasures you always.

A Prophet Like Moses

Friday, December 2, 2011

Deuteronomy 18:15-19

New Living Translation (NLT)

 15 Moses continued, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you yourselves requested of the Lord your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai. You said, ‘Don’t let us hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore or see this blazing fire, for we will die.’

 17 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘What they have said is right. 18 I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him. 19 I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf.

This scripture reminds me of the transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9), when Moses and Elijah appeared on the mountain with Jesus in the presence of Peter, James, and John. The appearance of Moses with Jesus made it clear that Jesus is the prophet like Moses, from among the Israelites (v 15 above). God became man so that we could hear his voice and live. Jesus came so that we could know God – so that we wouldn’t be so overwhelmed and incapacitated by the full-on presence of the glory of God the Father that we would be unable to hear and process what he wants to say to us.

Peter referred to this prophecy in Acts 3:22, when he was explaining Jesus’ life and the power by which he (Peter) and John had just healed a lame man (the one who “went walking and leaping and praising God.”)

Stephen also referred to this prophecy in his great sermon in Acts 7, specifically in verse 37, before he became the first person martyred for faith in Christ.

I have to assume Jesus himself explained all this on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection. (Luke 24:27 -"Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.")

I love the consistency of scripture, the steady unfolding of the incredible plan that God had and has for our salvation. I am thankful that God has always reached out to his children and made every effort to communicate and be with us in a way we can understand.