Knowing Jesus

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.

Mark 9:2

During Jesus' earthly ministry there were only a few people who saw Him for what He really was. Jesus fully revealed Himself to Peter, James, and John alone. They alone saw Him transfigured, His clothes shining white, standing on the mountaintop talking to Moses and Elijah. They alone heard the voice of God saying, "This is my Son, whom I love, Listen to Him!"

This special revelation wasn't for all of Jesus' followers. It wasn't for Jesus' family (though they certainly received their own special revelation). It wasn't even for the twelve disciples. It was reserved for these three alone. 

Everyone else who knew Jesus, knew Him imperfectly. In fact, any fair reading of the gospels would have to admit that even these three- who received perhaps the greatest revelation of Jesus' nature- still didn't know Jesus perfectly. They received the revelation, but they didn't fully understand it. Verses nine and ten records that as they were coming down the mountain Jesus warned them not to tell anyone what they had seen until He was raised from the dead. But they questioned among themselves what Jesus could possibly mean by "rising from the dead." Their understanding of Jesus and His mission was still imperfect even after the transfiguration.

Yet, it seems to me, that most Christians today assume they have fully comprehended who Jesus is, what He accomplished, and what His will for their life is. Christians today don't see Jesus' nature, His divinity, His life, His death, or His teaching as a great mystery to be unlocked. No! We arrogantly assume that we already know all there is to know about Jesus. We think we learned it all in Sunday School songs as children. 

I am convinced that many Christians will be ashamed to realize how little they understood their Savior when they get to Heaven. Peter, James, and John walked with Jesus in the flesh for three years. He was transfigured in their presence. His identity was proclaimed to them by the very voice of God coming from a cloud, and still they did not fully grasp the greatness of who Jesus was. So, don't you think it's possible that you still have more to learn about Christ as well? 

We will never exhaust the glorious mysteries found in knowing Jesus throughout all of eternity. So, I feel confident in saying that neither you nor I have exhausted them here on earth. You still have more to learn about Jesus! Don't fall for the lie that you already know Him perfectly. Press in and press on to get to know Him better for there is greater joy and a deeper sense of awe with each fresh revelation of His character.

God of Hope (W.o.W. Rewind)

 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

Baal was worshiped as a god of fertility. Asherah was worshiped as a goddess of love and war. Judaism and Christianity have always held that God is the God not only of a few things but of all things. Yet, occasionally in Scripture, He is designated as the God of something in particular. Romans 15:13, for example, designates Him as the God of hope. This should not be understood in exclusion to other things as though God being the God of hope means that He is not the God of the Highest Heaven, but rather should be understood as a literary device used to give special emphasis to this certain thing that is unique to God.

But why hope? Many elements of the Christian faith trace their origin back 2,000 years to the time of Christ. This is impressive in itself, but the Christian heritage of hope extends much farther back in history. Hope has been a cornerstone of our faith since God first promised that "the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent" (Gen 3:15) as He cast Adam and Eve out of the garden.  This hope of a future Messiah always pointed forward to the great Cornerstone of our faith who would fulfill it: Christ. Now that He has come, now that our debt has been paid and our salvation is sure, how could any believer lose hope? In any situation, no matter how grim, Christians ought never lose hope! 

Provided that our hope has been placed in the right person, we have a supernatural supply of hope. One that is never ending and fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit. We bring it to remembrance by reading God's Word (Romans 15:4). So, no matter what your circumstances are today, make sure you are placing your hope in Jesus and never in the things of this world. Remind yourself of the precious promises of God found in His Word and of the examples who have gone before us. And place your hope in Christ once more. We ought to be the most hopeful of all people for we alone have a sure hope that can never prove untrue.

Break Up the Ground

"This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: 'Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.'"

Jeremiah 4:3

God compares Judah’s hardened, sinful hearts to a field that has long been left untended and has become overgrown with thorns. You can’t sow seed on a field in that condition. You have to prepare the soil first. You have to remove the thorns and plow the field before you plant something new. God is telling His people, “You wouldn’t sow a field without clearing and plowing it first. Do the same with your heart.”

If you want to turn your heart back to the Lord this morning, then you need to clear it of thorns. A lot of people try to change their life by adding a few good things without removing any bad things. They start going to church or reading their Bible or praying, and they don’t understand why their life doesn’t change. They don’t realize that they are casting good seed on soil that can’t receive it. Just as soil can’t receive seed when it is consumed by thorns, so too, your heart can’t receive Jesus when it’s consumed by sin. You can’t just add Jesus to your heart and leave the rest of your life unchanged! If you really want to return to the Lord, cut the thorns of sin out of your life.

But even after you clear your life of thorns, there is still something you must do before you plant new seed. You must plow the hardened soil. This is a metaphor for repentance. Returning to God requires not only getting rid of your sin but also repenting of it. You must be broken over your sin. You have to break up the hard places in your heart and soften them again so you can receive the good seed God wants to plant in you now.

What does this repentance look like? How do we break up the hardened soil of our hearts? In short, we allow ourselves to become heartbroken over the ways we have sinned against God. We grieve over our sin. We humble ourselves before Him. We submit to Him. This is how you take a hard heart and make it soft again.

Has your heart grown hard and untended? Has it grown cold and unyielding to the Spirit’s promptings? If so, remove your sin and break up the soil of your heart this morning with the plow of repentance. Weep over your sin. Humble yourself before God. Make your heart soft and surrender it to Him. Then you'll be ready to receive the new things God has for you.

For further reading…

• James 4:7-10 offers a compelling picture of what repentance looks like.

Heart Matters

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." 

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Matthew 23:25-28

Far too often we have been guilty of the same sin as the Pharisees. We have focused on cleaning the outside of the cup and have left the inside untended. We are like white-washed tombs. Crisp and clean on the outside but the inside is rotten and decaying. Far too many of us harbor secret sin in their hearts. We have perfected the outward show while remaining full of sin inwardly. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be!

The condition of your heart matters to God. At least 25 times in Scripture we are told that God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). He probes the heart (Psalm 7:9). He weighs the heart (Proverbs 21:2). He tests the heart (Proverbs 17:3). And why does He do this? Why does God care so much about your heart? Let me give you three reasons God cares about the condition of your heart and why you should too.

1) God cares about your heart because it’s what directs your life

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Biblically speaking, your heart is the wellspring of your whole life. Everything you do begins and ends there. Your life is directed by what you love and what you hate, what you set your heart on and you take to heart. All these things have a profound impact on you.

Proverbs 27:19 puts it this way, “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” Your entire life...everything you do... is just a reflection of what's in your heart. Whatever is in your heart will eventually come out of your mouth or come out in your actions. So, when you guard your heart, you guard your life.

2) God cares about your heart because it’s where sin begins

Mark 7:21–23 says, “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” All these things begin in the heart! If you want to stop adultery or murder or sexual sin, or any sin you must fight and win the battle there!

What sin has taken up residence in your heart? Don’t you think it’s time you kicked it out?

3) God cares about your heart because it’s also where obedience begins

The first and second greatest commandments start with the heart. Matthew 22:37–40 says, “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The two greatest commandments in all of Scripture are about feelings. If you love rightly, if you get the heart at right, everything else will fall into place easily. In fact, Scripture teaches that God doesn’t want obedience that doesn’t come from the heart. In the OT and the NT God indicted His people saying, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (Isaiah 29:13). God wants obedience from the heart. 

It's time to take a long, hard look at your heart. In what ways is it directing your life? Are you hiding sin there? Or have you given your heart to God? Do you love Him above all else? Are you obeying from the heart or are you just going through the motions?