The Mystery of Christ

Homer wrote an epic poem called The Odyssey, about a hero named Odysseus, king of Ithaca. However, an Odyssey is not just a story, it's also noted as a long voyage marked by many changes of fortune. The story of the Israelites is also a kind of an odyssey where a chosen people are sent on a journey towards a Promised Land. While on the journey, they encounter plenty of enemies, giants, plagues, gods, and demons. There were times when they were extremely prosperous, like the days of Solomon; there were also times when they were completely destitute like in the days of Hezekiah, or Jehoiachin. But amidst their ups and downs, blessings and curses, freedom and captivity, they had a glimmer of hope in one who would make it all worth it—the Messiah.

Jesus was the Messiah they were waiting for, but like Odysseus, His true identity was cloaked from His own people upon His return. Jesus, the Messiah, was the one that John proclaims, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). His ability to pay the penalty for our sins is what makes Him unlike anyone who ever has lived or will live.

He was their “change in fortune” that they had been longing for but really didn’t understand. Paul said in Romans 11:25-27, “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.” (Isaiah 59:20-21; 27:9)

Jesus’ methods though, were like a mystery. Many people lost hope at His death, but God chose to reveal His plan for salvation the way He did for a reason. 1 Peter 1:11-12, “[the prophets were] trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told to you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.”

Like many stories people tell, God’s story follows a literary pattern that allows those “with ears to hear” to have an “aha!” moment when they begin to see how God had been giving many hints along the way that He loved us enough to counter the evil lurking within our hearts with a perfect example of selfless love—Jesus Christ! A love that would compel us to follow Him and be “faithful until death.”

The Promised Land is yet to come. We must be the diligent hero that battles through the obstacles that try to keep us from the “things God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). We must continue on the journey with a willingness to give up everything that hinders our progress. Paul said in Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

The Road Ahead

How blessed are those who have a loving family to guide them during their younger years. To have someone to point out the right path, and give priceless advice. For many, their reality doesn’t include the counsel of wise people helping them reach a higher plane in life. Solomon gave some advice to his son (s) that were intended to “... give prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance…” (Proverbs 1:4-5). This was more than just good advice; it was, as he said in Proverbs 7:1, “My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live…” 

Regardless of where a person started out or how involved their parents were with giving them direction, at some point, our success depends a lot on the choices we make. Therefore, it’s imperative that we surround ourselves with good people, and avoid situations that only lead to sin and heartache. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:33-34, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’ Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God…”

Jesus came to serve as a pattern to follow so we could follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21). The challenge is knowing and understanding the path He’s pointing us towards. Oftentimes we have our preconceived ideas of what we’re going to say or what we’re going to do, when in reality, we might quickly realize that our original plan won’t work.

After Jesus’ resurrection, He appeared to some men walking towards Emmaus, a little village outside of Jerusalem. While He walked with them, He explained God’s will to them and helped them see how God’s hand had been in all the events of His death, burial, and resurrection (Luke 24:13-35). What they would soon understand about Jesus’ mission was that it was that we would become ambassadors for His cause—pointing people towards the only “way, truth, and life” (John 14:6).

Today, we still struggle with understanding God’s will, but that’s typically because we fail to acknowledge how Jesus’ mission encompasses every aspect of our life. That mission: love our neighbor! (Matthew 22:37-39; 1 John 3:19-24). How do I demonstrate love towards my neighbor in every aspect of daily life? Jesus said in Luke 9:23-25, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?”

Does your life reflect one that uses Jesus’ model of living in every part of your life? Listen to the advice of many godly people in our past, in the Bible, all around us...and make a change for the better today!

Hope During Uncertain Times

In the game called “Complete the Sentence,” one person starts by saying a word or two, then the next person has three seconds to add to the sentence. It ends up sounding kind of like a Madlibs®. The point is you don’t know the direction of the sentence by how it starts out.

In life, it is that same way. How you start out isn’t always how it ends. In fact, we can read in Ecclesiastes 9:11-12, “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: as fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.”

From one perspective, the “unknowns” can actually add excitement to our life. Surprises lend to the anticipation of what might be coming, which is similar to hope and faith. Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” While those unexpected surprises are kind of nice, those same unknowns can be the source of all kinds of worry and anxiety.

In our current national climate, there are many people wondering, worrying about what will happen next. But as Christians, this is our opportunity to shine—or rather shine our light on God’s power. Matthew 5:16 reminds us to, “...let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Or as Peter says in 1 Peter 2:12, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.”

There are many Scriptures that point us to the way we are to live during difficulties. The early church often faced struggles and persecutions for a long time. Therefore, many of the epistles dedicated quite a bit of encouragement to stay faithful:
▶ Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
▶ Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
▶ Hebrews 3:13-14, “Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called 'Today,' so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.”

Jesus’ example and all Scriptures are useful to teach us, rebuke us, correct us, and train us so that we can act righteously in the face of any struggle and that we’ll be ready to do good for those around us.
It’s probably easy to reflect on the “good ol’ days” during times of uncertainty and worry, but consider the words in Ecclesiastes 7:10, “Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions.” Powerful words to prepare our minds for Godly action—not just reaction! Ecclesiastes 7:8, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.”

Are You Going Against the Grain?

In Daniel 3, we read the famous story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s encounter with a fiery furnace. Their names had been changed. Their Hebrew names were Hananiah which means “the Lord shows Grace,” Mishael means “Who is like God?” and Azariah means “The Lord helps!” It’s interesting that Nebuchadnezzar perverted the meaning of their names in ways that try to honor the gods of Babylon. But time would tell that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were truly dedicated to the one and only God, Yahweh! Their dedication became obvious to those watching because of how they functioned and why they did it. As their peers noticed that they didn’t bow down to the elevated things in the Babylonian kingdom, those three brave servants of the God of heaven had an opportunity to give everything up for the loyalty they had to God.

Their example serves as a motivation for many people today that ‘going against the grain’ isn’t easy, but it is very noticeable. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 5:16 to “let your light shine in such a way that people may see your good deeds as you do them, and glorify God in heaven.”

Going against the grain doesn’t come naturally, but Jesus came to show us what it looks like in everyday kinds of ways. He told His disciples at the Last Supper after He washed their feet, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you…” (John 13:14-15) He also said prior to that in Luke 9:23-25, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego understood that gaining acceptance or popularity, or simply avoiding problems by fitting in with the world instead of standing with God would profit them nothing. John wrote in 1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

It’s easy to go with the flow, but those who will receive the crown of life are those who are “faithful unto death,” (Revelations 2:10). Peter said in 1 Peter 2:20-21, “But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.” Jesus truly went against the grain to be consistent in blessing people; what an amazing example to follow in our lives starting today!

A New Life

In Charles Dickens' novel, Great Expectations, a young orphan named Pip is given an opportunity to change his poverty into prestige and fortune by the works of Miss Havisham. Throughout Pip’s journey to “high society,” he experiences a lot of twists and turns that leaves him basically where he started.

Life is full of “unexpected” twists that might leave us scratching our heads or wondering what went wrong. Consider the life of Job, the man from Uz. He had an amazingly blessed life and was a Godly man, but he found himself completely broken and confused. In fact, that type of story is very common throughout the stories in the Bible; it even happened to Jesus!

He told His followers in Matthew 17:22-23, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day He will be raised to life.” Multiple times Jesus foretold what awaited Him in Jerusalem, a fact that wouldn’t be appreciated by those who heard Him until after His resurrection. In time, His expectation of being the true King would be reality. Although we still await the final unveiling of His kingship in the fullest way, we still press on knowing that “He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time…” (1 Peter 1:3-9)

He was willing to lay everything down so that we could have “new life.” During this time of year, many reflect on their life and determine what needs to change inside of them, or around them, to help them embrace the reality of a changed life. For some these “new year's resolutions” might simply be a change to a physical element of their life. Many others choose to make no changes at all. But Jesus did what He did on the cross so that amazing, eternal, important changes could be made to our own lives so that the glory of God might be seen in us.

Paul reminds us in Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.”