Tag: Jesus

Was Jesus’ Resurrection an Illusion or a Reality? – Part 1

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

I’m sure some of you have heard of David Copperfield. According to Forbes magazine, he’s one of the most commercially successful magicians of our time. What makes him so successful is his ability to make his illusions appear real. I remember watching one of his shows where he made the Statue of Liberty disappear. I remember wondering how did he do that because it seemed so real. And so does everything else he does in his show, which is why he’s successful and famous.

While David Copperfield is really good at what he does, we know he’s just an illusionist. Just like we know that David Copperfield is an illusionist, many wonder if Jesus was one too. I say that because there are many who think Jesus’ resurrection wasn’t a reality but an illusion.

But is that true? Was Jesus’ resurrection just an illusion or was it a reality? 

I’m going to offer you several proofs over the next several posts that I believe tell us that Jesus’ resurrection was a reality and not just an illusion. We are going to start with the death and burial of Jesus. As we do, we see that

The Death and Burial of Jesus was a Reality (vs. Matt 27)

Swoon Theory

I start here because there are some who would go so far as to say that Jesus didn’t really die on the cross. Instead, they claim He just passed out. Since he wasn’t dead, He was able to walk out of the grave. After meeting with His disciples and recovering from His injuries, He lived out His life in relative obscurity in a play to fool everyone that He had resurrected from the grave and ascended into heaven. This is known as the Swoon Theory.

Now, to me, that theory sounds absurd. It’s fraught with all kinds of holes as we will see in a minute. But it comes back up in discussions surrounding Jesus’ resurrection from time to time, especially around Easter. For that reason, we need to start with the death and burial of Jesus so that we will know that Jesus really was dead when He was placed in the grave.

How do we know Jesus was really dead?

A. Pilate would have made sure Jesus was dead 

Matthew 27 recounts the arrest, trial, death, and burial of Jesus. If we skip to the end of the trial, we learn that Pilate thought Jesus was innocent. That the accusations against Him were nothing more than trumped up charges levied against an innocent man by a jealous and offended Jewish leadership.
Pilate saw this. Not wanting to condemn an innocent man to death, he gave the people a choice between letting Jesus or Barabbas go. He thought the people would certainly choose Jesus because Barabbas was a notorious criminal and it seemed obvious that Jesus was innocent. But the Jewish leaders stirred the people up so that they chose Barabbas over Jesus, And when Pilate asked what he should do with Jesus, they called for Him to be crucified. I think it’s safe to say that Pilate’s plan had backfired, but, as we learn in verse 24, he didn’t want to risk a riot so he gave in to their request.

I bring that backstory up because after Jesus’ death Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate in verse 58 and asked for Jesus’ body so that he might give Him a proper burial. Pilate conceded and handed Jesus’ body over.

Now, knowing the back story, there was no way that Pilate would have done that if Jesus were still alive.If he did, he would have had a mess on his hands.
Certainly, a riot would have occurred. And most likely he would have been removed from his position as governor. While Pilate knew Jesus was innocent, he wasn’t willing to risk his position and all the privileges that came with it just to save Him. You can be sure, then, that when Pilate handed Him over Jesus was dead.

But Pilate wasn’t the only one who had a vested interest in making sure that Jesus was dead, the Soldiers did as well.

B. Roman Soldiers handled Jesus

You see, in Rome, a soldier’s life was at stake every time he guarded a criminal. If they escaped, he most likely would be killed. This is why John tells us in his gospel that the soldiers ran a spear into Jesus’ heart before taking Him down off the cross. They wanted to make sure he was dead. Even after removing Him from the cross, they would have inspected his body.

All that to say, then, that when Joseph of Arimathea received Jesus, He was dead. Both Pilate and the Soldiers would have made sure of that.

But their examination isn’t all we have to go on, we also know that:

C. Joseph of Arimathea handled Jesus. 

He cleaned Him, prepared Him for burial, and placed Him in the tomb.

And then,

D. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were present at Jesus’ burial.

They witnessed Him being placed in the tomb and the stone being rolled in front.If Jesus were alive, this group would have realized that and kept Him from the grave. But Jesus’ wasn’t alive. He was dead. We know that because a number of people either made sure that He was dead or handled Him after His death.

Next Time

While it is true that Jesus was dead when He was placed in the grave, it was also true that the grave couldn’t hold Jesus. Next time we will look at the proofs that tell us Jesus resurrected from the grave.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you believe Jesus was really dead when He was placed in the grave?

Resources

Post adapted from my sermon: Was Jesus’ Resurrection an Illusion or a Reality?

In what ways does Jesus provide us with a whole new way of life?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals1 Comment

Christmas is a time to celebrate God’s gift to us. He gave us His Son who is the Lord and Savior of this world. As our Lord and Savior, He provides us with a whole new way of life.

In what way does Jesus provide us with a whole new way of life?

(1) Jesus provides hope.

In Luke 2, we learned that Jesus is the Savior, the Messiah, the King of this world. If we are honest, a Savior is what we are all looking for and want someone or something to save us because we know the world in which we live is broken. You only have to open the newspaper or turn on the nightly news to know that’s true.

At the core of that brokenness is our sin. Sin is more than just breaking the rules, sin is an all-out rebellion against God. Because we have sinned against God, we deserve for God to punish us for rebelling against Him. There is nothing we can do to escape God’s punishment, which means that apart from Jesus we don’t have any hope for the future.

Jesus, however, gives us hope because He takes our punishment for us. In doing so, He repairs our relationship with the Father so that we no longer live under the threat of God’s wrath being poured out on us.

Along with saving us from the Father’s wrath, Jesus also saves us from sin and promises us life eternal in a completely different world. A world that isn’t broken, but is perfect.

So, in Jesus, we experience hope. In Him, we have something to look forward to. And that hope is life changing.

(2) Jesus provides us with the ability to pursue forgiveness

Say I went over to your house with my kids. Right now, they are really into playing superheroes. When they play superhero’s, they run all over the house like crazy, chasing one another and sometimes knocking into furniture. Say one of them knocked your lamp over and it broke. Instead of making me pay for the lamp, you said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.” Not only would that be extremely nice of you, but you would be absorbing the cost of that lamp because you would be replacing that lam with your own money.

That’s exactly what Jesus did for us except on an infinitely greater scale. He absorbed the cost, not of a broken lamp, but of the eternal punishment we deserve.

The remarkable thing is that He purposely came to provide us with forgiveness. You see, Jesus didn’t just happen to forgive because it was convenient for Him, or He was in the right place at the right time. Instead, He actually pursued us in an effort to repair our relationship.

For those of us who have experienced Jesus’ forgiveness, we should be willing and motivated to forgive others. We should even pursue others as Jesus pursued us, desiring a restored relationship as He did.

While forgiveness is costly and requires some vulnerability on our part. It’s something we should be willing to extend to others because it has been extended to us. Being willing to forgive is necessary if we expect to have any sort of deep and lasting relationship with others because inevitable a situation is going to arise where someone is going to sin against us and we are going to have to extend forgiveness. And that’s inevitable because we are all sinners.

But as you probably know sinners, forgiveness doesn’t come easy, which is why we need Jesus. We need Him to change our lives so that we are not only forgiven but can pursue forgiveness.

(3) Jesus provides us with the ability to deal with suffering. 

Reading some of the recent headlines, I’m sure at some point you’ve wondered why God continues to allow suffering in this world. Especially seeing all the suffering that has come about as the result of hurricanes, forest fires, and earthquakes. Along with natural disasters, we’ve also seen others suffer at the hands of ungodly people who have used and abused them. Reading about and seeing all this suffering, it’s natural for us to ask why. Why does God allow it to continue? It’s a common question. I wish I could tell you exactly why God allows everything to happen that happens, but I can’t.

While I can’t give you a definitive answer to why God allows suffering, what I can tell you is that God is not ambivalent about human suffering. He has and is doing something about it. Christmas is proof. As one author says,

“The gift of Christmas gives you a resource — a comfort and consolation — for dealing with suffering, because in it we see God’s willingness to enter this world of suffering to suffer with us and for us.” [1]

Knowing that God Himself has suffered on our behalf should help us to face suffering.

(4) Jesus pushes us to care for others physical needs

When Jesus was born, the eternal spiritual God became a man. Not in an illusory way, but in a real physical way. He didn’t just appear as a man; He was actually a man. That’s unique because most other world religions either believe the physical is bad and something to cast off, that God would never stoop to the level of a man, or that He would never willingly experience physical need. But Jesus did. As such, He knows what it means to be poor, to be a refugee, to face persecution, to hunger and thirst, to be beaten, to be falsely accused and ultimately be condemned to an unjust death. He knows what it’s like to face all those things. Since Jesus faced those things we know that God not only cares about our spiritual need, but He also cares about our physical.

We not only see evidence of that in His but throughout His ministry.He healed the broken, fed the hungry, spoke up for the oppressed and misled. He did all those things and more. He did them because He cares about our physical needs.

As His people, we should care about these things as well. Christmas, then, should be a reminder that we are to work for social justice, to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves, to continue to minister to the broken, the poor, and the hungry.

(5) Jesus allows us to reconnect with those we despise

Let me just say that no one is off the hook on this one. Sure, you might not be prejudice toward another race, but that doesn’t mean you don’t despise someone. For all of us, at least to some degree, there is someone we look down on, are snobbish towards. Someone we look at and say, “They are the problem with this world.”

But Christmas is the end of us thinking that we are better than someone else. That’s because Christmas tells us that we aren’t good enough. Jesus came to us instead of vice versa. His coming tells us that there is nothing we can do to get ourselves into heaven. We might be able to get into the best school, secure the best job, live in the best neighborhood, and rub elbows with the most connected people in town, but we still aren’t good enough to get ourselves into heaven. Jesus’ coming proves that.

So rather than thinking that we are better than someone else, rather than despising others, we need to recognize that they are just like us — sinners who are desperately in need of a Savior.

Conclusion

Thankfully that Savior has come. In coming, He provides us with a whole new way of life. One that:(1) Provides hope, (2) That gives us the ability to pursue forgiveness and (3) face suffering. (4) One that pushes us to care for others physical needs and (5) to reconnect with those we despise.

In all those ways and more, Jesus provides us with a whole new way of life. A way of life that wouldn’t be possible without the gift of Jesus. And that’s because He changes us from the inside out. He changes us through and through. He is a revolutionary gift that makes a revolutionary impact on our lives.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you recognize the revolutionary impact Jesus can have on a life?

Resources

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[1]  Tim Keller, The Gifts of Christmas, in Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, pg 39.

3 Things Those Created in God’s Image Should be Doing Daily

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical3 Comments

In Genesis 1:26, we are let in on a conversation that took place between the members of the Trinity.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Gen. 1:26a)

If you think about it, this is an amazing text because it tells us that we were actually designed and created by God. He actually thought about us, planned out what we would be like, and then He created us. When He created us, He didn’t create us like the other animals. No, we are distinct from all other living things because we are created in God’s image, in His likeness.

As creatures created in His likeness, there are several things we should be doing.

3 Things Those Created in God’s Image Should be Doing

(1) We are to reflect His image and likeness to the world. 

In other words, we are to shine forth God’s characteristics to the world. Love, faithfulness, justice, wisdom, and more should characterize our lives, just as it characterizes God’s.

(2) We are to act as His representatives. 

If you have ever traveled to another country, you know that the American Embassy can come in handy, especially if you lose your passport or get into trouble in another country.

While embassies and the ambassadors posted there can come in handy for travelers, they aren’t just there to assist travelers to the region. They have a much more important job of representing the US and its interests, while at the same time working to gain and maintain diplomatic relationships with the foreign government.

Just as the US and other countries appoint ambassadors, God has appointed us as His ambassadors or representatives on this earth. To that end, Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:20 says,

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Co 5:20)

As His ambassadors, we are to carry His message of redemption and reconciliation to the world.

(3) We are to exercise dominion, working to bring order and beauty to God’s creation.

Along with carrying His message of redemption and reconciliation to the world, as His representatives, we are also to exercise dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28-30).  He gives us that right so that we might bring order and beauty out of chaos.

We can bring order and beauty out of chaos in many different ways.

  • By keeping our yards, tending the garden, or working the farm, we are bringing order and beauty out of chaos.
  • By creating technologies such as airplanes, cars, and computers, we are bringing order and beauty out of chaos.
  • By planning and developing neighborhoods and cities, we bring order and beauty out of chaos.
  • By loving our neighbor, caring for the sick and poor, and leading our families in a godly way, we are bringing order and beauty out of chaos.
  • By evangelizing, along with preaching and teaching God’s Word, we are bringing order and beauty out of chaos.
  • We also bring order and beauty out of chaos when we work for the shalom of the city (Jeremiah 29:7).

In all these ways and more we can push back the chaos and bring order and beauty to this world.

While there are other things that we are to as those created in God’s image, these are three that we can do each and every day.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you find yourself working to do these three things?

Resources

Post developed from my sermon: Creation and Kingdom

Why is it Not a Good Idea that We Reject Jesus as King?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

Last time I ended by pointing out that instead of submitting to Jesus as King, allowing Him to reign and rule over our life, we reject Jesus as King while trying to keep Him as Savior. We do that because we want to have our cake and eat it too. We want to be saved from eternal punishment, but still get to call the shots. While that might sound like a good idea, it’s not.

Why is it Not a Good Idea that We Reject Jesus as King?

When we are left to call the shots — to determine right and wrong, to set the direction for our lives and the society around us, we mess things up royally.

Think about Adam and Eve. God placed them in a perfect garden to live and work under His perfect reign and rule. He gave them dominion over all the animals and land. He provided the Tree of Life in order to sustain them. He even cultivated a relationship with them — walking with them in the cool of the day. Even though they had all of that, they still found a way to mess things up.

Wanting to be wise and determine right and wrong for themselves, they rebelled against God and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We all know how that turned out. The whole world was plunged into sin.

But Adam and Eve aren’t the only ones who make bad decisions when left to their own devices. I, personally, have made a number of bad decisions. In the past, my finances were one of those areas. I have since learned my lesson, and I’m financially capable now, but in the past, especially in college, if I wanted to go out with my friends, take a trip, or buy something, I just did it or bought it. If I didn’t have the money, I just put it on the credit card. Since I wasn’t paying my credit card off every month, I ended up running my credit card bill up pretty high. Thankfully, God was merciful and gracious, and He allowed me to learn my lesson before it was too late.

Now imagine how different things would have been if I had allowed Jesus to reign and rule over my finances from the beginning. For one I wouldn’t have had to worry about paying off a huge debt. I probably would have had some savings in the bank for a rainy day. And I would’ve been able to use the money I was paying in interest to help further Jesus’ kingdom instead of the credit card companies. Life would’ve been much better, if I would have just let Jesus reign and rule over my finances. But I didn’t. I didn’t because I wanted to be the king. I wanted to call the shots. Just like that didn’t turn out too well for Adam and Eve, it didn’t turn out too well for me, nor will it turn out too well for you.

Finances, however, isn’t the only area we need to allow Jesus to call the shots in. We’ve got to allow Him to call the shots in every area of our lives. If we don’t, we are just setting ourselves up for failure and heartache.

You see, when left to our own devices, we will make bad decisions, which is why we shouldn’t reject Jesus as King.

We Shouldn’t Reject Jesus as King

When we allow Jesus to be king over our lives:

(1) We will experience Jesus’ wise leadership

You see, when we actually live according to what the Bible says, we flourish. Our life is full. Peace, comfort, joy, safety, and security is abundant. Not in a health/wealth kinda way, but in a way that is real and tangible to the Christian. In a way that transcends the circumstances and situations, in which we find ourselves. You see, all those who submit to Jesus as their King can experience this type of life — a full life.

(2) We avoid His Judgment

While Jesus was born as a helpless babe in a manger, He’s now a resurrected King who sits on His throne in heaven. One day, He will return to set up His kingdom on earth. When He does, He will judge all those who haven’t yet submitted to His reign and rule.

So instead of rejecting Jesus as King, we should humbly submit ourselves to Him. Not only to avoid His judgment but also so we can experience His wise leadership and the full and joyful life that comes from following Him.

Conclusion

So to return to our original question: Who is Jesus and how should we respond to Him? Jesus is not only:

  • A Prophet who proclaims the good news of salvation.
  • A Priest who reconciles our relationship with the Father through His death on the cross,
  • He’s also a wise King whose leadership is worth submitting to and following.

My hope that through these articles you have come to see Jesus in all those ways. That you see Him as Prophet, Priest, and King. Seeing Him in those ways, that you listen to His message, hope in His salvation, and submit to His leadership. If you do that, you will receive the greatest gift you could ever receive — the gift of salvation.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you recognize these truths about Jesus?

Resources

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Post adapted from my sermon Jesus as King

Who is Jesus and How Should We Respond to Him?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

On your birthday I’m sure you open a few presents. I know I do! If you think about it, the gifts you open on your birthday say a lot about who you are. So much so that if we were to take a field trip to your house and look at the gifts you received, we’d be able to tell what you are interested in, what your hobbies are, and even what type of work you do.

So for instance, my Dad usually receives either some jeans, a tool of some sort, a gift card for Home Depot, a new baseball hat, bat, cleats, or a glove on his birthday. He receives one of those things because my Dad likes to play softball and he remodels houses. So you can see that the gifts we receive say a lot about who we are.

That’s not just true today. It was also true in Jesus’ day. Which means that the gifts He received after His birth tell us a lot about who He is. But they don’t just tell us who Jesus is, they also tell us how we should respond to Jesus. So who is Jesus and how should we respond to Him?

Who is Jesus and How Should We Respond to Him?

So far, in our series, we’ve learned that Jesus is a Prophet and a Priest, but there is one more role we need to explore. The Magi’s gifts reveal that role to us.

Who Do the Magi Reveal Jesus to Be?

We pick up the Magi or Wisemen, whatever you want to call them, in Matthew chapter 2. Matthew begins in verse 1 by telling us that,

“…After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”” (Mt 2:1–2)

The Magi were most likely Gentiles of high position. As their name indicates, they were specialists in astronomy — stargazers.

As they gazed into the dark night sky, they saw a star they had never seen before. Somehow they knew that this star was the one that would lead them to the king of the Jews. God may have revealed that to them through special revelation. Or somehow they had contact with the Scriptures and were able to discern this fact. Some commentators think Balaam’s prophecy in Numbers 24:17 could be that Scripture. That is a possibility especially when you consider what it says.

“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.” (Nu 24:17)

But all of that is just conjecture. Ultimately we don’t know how they knew, but they did.

Seeing that star in the night sky, they saddled up and began to follow it. It led them to Jerusalem, where they started asking around about the King of the Jews. Their questions unsettled those living in Jerusalem at this time.

Herod was the king, and let’s just say he was more than a little crazy and paranoid. History tells us that he had one of his wives and two of his sons killed because he thought they were plotting to steal his throne from him. So when these foreigners rolled into town and starting asking where the King of the Jews was, everyone was troubled, including Herod.

Wondering who this king is, Herod called the Chief priests and Scribes together. Essentially he assembled a scriptural dream team to figure out where the Christ would be born. This dream team ends up pointing him to Micah 5:2, which Matthew quotes for us in verse 6. The text says,

““ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”” (Mt 2:6)

Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem, which is not too far from Jerusalem. Herod now knows where Jesus should be, but he doesn’t know how old He should be. So he calls the Wise Men or Magi to the kingdom, and he asks them what time the star had appeared. The Magi didn’t know that Herod was up to no good, so they told him. With that last piece of information, Herod now knows how old Jesus is and where He should be.

Now, if you are familiar with the story, you know that’s not true. Herod didn’t want to worship Jesus. He wanted to kill him in order to protect his throne, but the wise men didn’t know so they agreed to bring Jesus back. We aren’t going to get into it in this post, but know that God does reveal Herod’s plan to the Wisemen, so they don’t try to bring Jesus back. I encourage you to read the rest of the story to see how that plays out. But for now, let’s pick back up in verse 9,

“After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. (Mt 2:9–11a)

Finally, after such a long journey the Magi had found Jesus. And finding him, they did what we should all do — they fell down and worshipped Him.

After falling down on their knees to worship Jesus, we are told in the second half of verse 11 that:

“…opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.” (Mt 2:11b)

The Durham’s, who are Jen and I’s friends from seminary, bought a new house this last year and they had us over a few months back to show us their new home.

Since it was our first time there, we brought them a house warming gift. I wish I could tell you we brought them gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but I can’t. It’s not that I wouldn’t if I could, it’s just that those are expensive gifts. Gifts that are reserved for a King. While I think highly of the Durham’s, they aren’t royalty.

But Jesus is — He is a King; the King. We not only know that from the narrative, but we also know that from the gifts the Magi brought.

All this tells us, then, that Jesus not only serves as a Prophet and Priest but He also serves as a King.

A Foreign Rule

Now, probably for most of us, the idea of living under the rule of a king is foreign. We live in the United States. We don’t have a king. We have a President that is voted into office every 4 years. So I think it is safe to say that if we want to know what it’s like to live under a king, we would have to take a trip. If we were to do that, if we were to travel to a place ruled by a king, we’d find that a king is someone who has absolute rule. What they say goes. There are no if’s, and’s, or but’s. There are no votes. The king makes all the decisions. He sets all the rules. Those in the kingdom are expected to follow them.

The same is true of Jesus. As a King, He has the right to reign and rule over His kingdom just like any other king. I think this is where we get hung up. You see, most of us are happy for Jesus to serve as a Prophet who pronounces the good news of salvation, and even as a Priest who mediates on our behalf, but we aren’t willing to call Jesus King. We aren’t willing to do that because we want to be in control. We want to call the shots. We want to be the king.

So instead of submitting to Jesus as King, allowing Him to reign and rule over our life, we reject Jesus as King while trying to keep Him as Savior. We do that because we want to have our cake and eat it too. We want to be saved from eternal punishment, but still get to call the shots. While that might sound like a good idea, it’s not. We will explore why that is in my next post.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you recognize Jesus as King?

Resources

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Post adapted from my sermon Jesus as King

Why Do We Need a True and Better Priest?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

In my last post, I discussed why Jesus is the true and better Priest. While I believe it’s fairly obvious that He is better than all the priests who came before, someone may wonder why that should matter to them? In other words, why do we need a true and better priest?

We need a true and better Priest because we are sinners who can’t offer a perfect sacrifice.

We aren’t perfect and we can never be perfect. Picture me holding a collectors edition glass baseball bat. The person who made it did an excellent job. It is perfect. There are no chips, no flaws. It’s an absolutely perfect bat. Now, imagine a friend comes over to my house and we decide to go hit baseballs in the field by my house. Of course, this would never happen, but instead of bringing out a regular baseball bat, I bring the glass bat instead. I line up, they pitch me a ball, I connect, and the bat just shatters.

I’m sure I would be all cut up, but after I got back from the hospital, do you think I could ever put that bat back together again so that it was perfect and flawless like it was before I used it for batting practice? No, there is no way. Even if by some miracle I could find all the pieces, there is no way I could ever put it back together again so that it was perfect and flawless.

In the same way, we can never put ourselves back together again so that we are perfect. There is nothing we can do to erase the flaws and sin in our lives. The impossibility of making ourselves perfect is even more apparent when you realize that we weren’t born perfect. From our birth, we are deeply flawed individuals; sinners whose lives begin like that shattered bat. So we need a true and better Priest who offers the perfect sacrifice for us because we aren’t perfect. Instead, we are sinners who sit under God’s wrath; wrath that will be poured out on us when we die.

There is hope

If we admit that we are deeply flawed individuals who have sinned against God. If we admit that we deserve God’s wrath. If we turn from our self-centered, self-righteous, I can do whatever I want and live however I want, thinking and living, and turn to God to live according to how He would have us to live. And if we believe that Jesus is the true and better High Priest, who has given Himself as a sacrifice on our behalf, we can be saved from God’s wrath and experience eternal blessing, joy, and life with God in His kingdom forever and ever.

There is hope in Jesus. He is our Savior, our Mediator, our High Priest who offered Himself in our place, completely satisfying the wrath of God against us. And He alone can eternally repair our relationship with the Father.

If you turn to Jesus, admitting and professing those things, you can truly experience the greatest gift all — salvation.

So, if you haven’t already, I encourage you to admit that Jesus is the true and better Priest who offered a once and for all sacrifice for your sins so that you might experience His salvation.

If you have turned to Jesus, see Him for what He is — the greatest gift that we could ever unwrap. Instead of attempting to find your joy in the things this world has to offer, realize that true joy and true satisfaction can only be found in the True and Better Priest — Jesus Christ.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you see your need for Jesus?

Resources

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Post adapted from my sermon Jesus as Priest