Listening

Jesus answers His accusers with Scripture. They asked who he was and He told them then the same as He'd been telling them His entire ministry. Through words, deeds, miracles, healings, and power Jesus makes it plain what He thinks about Himself. On every page of the New Testament, we see this proclamation, over and over and over again. 

In the scriptures below, we see a prophecy, a claim, and a fulfilment. Take a moment and just listen to the word of God. Jesus, the one like a Son of Man, loves you and offers you redemption and eternal life. 

He tells us who He is, plainly, clearly, and without qualification.

Daniel 7:13-14

"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Mark 14:61-64

But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?" "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. "You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They all condemned him as worthy of death.

1 Peter 3:18-22

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits — to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also —not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand —with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Seeking

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” Or again in 1 Corinthians 11:28, “Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.” In both cases, Paul is making the case that we ought to be able to know for ourselves our standing with our God. We are encouraged to look critically at the life we live and choices we make to see if that aligns with the teachings of the New Testament. He tells us to compare our lives to the life of Christ to know if we are living by faith or living in sin.

But, this is not the only way we examined. Yes, how we live and what we do is very important. But, that life and those choices should be the result of a changed heart. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17 ("Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"), this transformed life should be the result of a resurrected inner self.

When we think about our spiritual health, it might be easy to focus on what we do: I pray throughout the day, multiple times even. I read the scriptures and study them diligently. I attend the worship services whenever they are available. I give honor to mother and father. I uphold the commandments.

Or maybe it’s what we don’t do: I don’t speed. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t gamble. I don’t use bad words. I don’t _______.

However, our examination cannot begin and end with our behavior. We must get to the “why” of who we are. We must look at why we have become who we have become. We must think carefully and thoroughly about our motivations because, to use a modern turn of phrase: “it’s the thought that counts.”

Throughout the New Testament we see that many people wanted to work their way into salvation. They believed they could earn it by themselves rather than accepting the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Paul works to correct this way of thinking in Romans 3:20 when he says “By works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight...” or again Galatians 2:16 when he says, “...a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ...”.

The churches in Galatia in particular struggled with this issue. To some, it became another Gospel. That is, it became another means of salvation. This other Gospel was one that said you were not saved by Jesus, but saved by the works you did. Some Christians even believed in this lie.

So Paul warned them and called them back to the truth that salvation only comes by the grace found in Christ Jesus when he says, “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” (Gal. 5:4).

Notice this key phrase, “trying to be justified” – it wasn’t that they wanted to be justified, but it was the means by which they thought they would be justified.

When we are trying to save ourselves of ourselves by ourselves we find ourselves lost.

But, when we find Jesus and we know Him and we seek Him and we have a love for Him that changes us from the inside out, our lives will look like His and His blood will cleanse us from all our sin. (Acts 22:16).

Looking Ahead

“Lord willin’”! Maybe this is a phrase you’ve heard. Maybe it’s one you’ve used. Whatever the case, there’s a good thought behind it and it’s not something we should take lightly.

The phrase comes from James 4:13-15 where James tells the church the following: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

James gives us a caution not only against how we speak, but the meaning and thoughts behind the words we use.

Firstly, we do need to be cautious when speaking of or for the Lord. The name of God is not a word to give emphasis, to stress a point, or to express excitement, frustration, or confusion. Yet so many today use the name of Jesus in a way that is profane. The name of Jesus, the name of God, and the Holy Spirit should be held in honor and treated with respect. Exodus 20:7 tells us in the 10 Commandments, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”

But James is not talking about those to use the name of God improperly. He’s talking about people that should be including God and they aren’t. So we don’t take the phrase lightly for two reasons. One, it has the name of God. But two, for the reason James provides: “you do not know what tomorrow will bring”.

Some people might take this to such an extreme to mean that the Bible teaches we can’t look ahead, think about next week or next year but that isn’t the point James is making. The point of this passage is that God needs to be a part of our plans. We do need to be diligent, and faithful, and good stewards, and deal responsibly, and focus on the mission, and do the will of God wherever He leads us. We don’t need to think that we’re the ones in charge, that we make the calls, that we’re in total control.

So then how do we plan ahead? How do we think about the future? How do we consider what God could have for us next? We have to pray. We have to look to God. We have to allow God to lead us. We have to look at our plans and ask ourselves if this will help in the mission to bring Jesus to the lost and the lost to Jesus.

James says it a few verses prior: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

So then, as we look ahead for what’s next, let us pray. Let us get into the text. Let us find ways that God is giving us opportunities and resources to help overcome whatever it is that stands in the way of getting the message out of the book and into the hearts and minds of the people around us.

We don’t know what tomorrow holds. But we know what’s been asked of us today, and today we can obey.