2 Corinthians 5:17 Memory/Meditation

 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come." 

This week's memory verse is relatively short compared with the past several entries, and is likely very familiar to most of us. 

But sometimes our familiarity with such a passage actually keeps us from growing in our understanding- we often end up making ourselves aloof to God's treasures for us by glossing over it. So let's slow down together and ask the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. 

What does it mean to be "in Christ"?  It means that we've been united with Christ for salvation through faith in his death and resurrection. By faith we have been baptized with Him through baptism into his death, and just as He has risen unto new life by the power of the Holy Spirit, so we have the same power and presence of the Spirit to walk in the newness of life (Romans 6). To slightly paraphrase what a famous preacher has said, "For those who have put their faith in Christ, what is true of Christ is now true of us." It means that we are holy and dearly loved as an adopted children in God's family, known in God's mind before the creation of the world. It means we have been redeemed from the penalty and power of sin (Ephesians 1), and that we have not only received forgiveness for those sins, but have received the righteousness that does not come from law-keeping but from Christ's perfect life credited to us through faith (Philippians 3). It means that our lives are secure and hidden with Christ in God, and that when He returns, we will share His glory (Colossians 3). Brothers and sisters, it's healthy for our hearts to "get carried away" with what Christ has achieved for us through the gospel. May we treasure the preciousness of our salvation and constantly set these truths before us each day! 

What does being a new creation mean? Back in Genesis, we see that humans were made in the image of God- we were meant to reflect His likeness in governing creation with care, in relating with other image-bearers in loving-kindness. But because of sin, the image of God in every human has been marred and deformed, resulting in disordered loves that ultimately manifest themselves in rebellion against the Creator and His purposes in myriad ways- human hearts unyielded to God become inventors of evil (Romans 1)!  But for those who are in Christ we have been created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we may walk in them (Ephesians 2). Those who are in Christ have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator (Colossians 3). God is at work to conform his children into the image of Christ, and will use every circumstance to accomplish His purpose (Romans 8). As those who have been brought from death to life, we learn make it our aim to please Him because His love is what controls us (2 Corinthians 5). We start putting to death all that is earthly in us- putting off the old self and its deceitful desires- and being renewed in the spirit of our minds, putting on the new self created in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4). 

"The old has passed away." But it doesn't always feel that way does it? We still struggle to put off the old self day in and day out.  Allowing our own desires, thoughts, and behaviors to fall back into sinful patterns is never out of the realm of possibility. It happens more often than we'd like to admit. But the truth remains- what does it mean? It means that those who are in Christ are free from having to choose sin. Sin no longer has dominion over those who are under grace (Romans 6). The power of sin has been broken. This not only means we can choose a godward life characterized by ongoing repentance and growth in holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit- it means that we will actually grow to prefer/love it. If you are experiencing any kind of struggle against sin- let's praise the Lord that we are still fighting! It means the Holy Spirit is at work in us to convict us to turn and to love the truth. Even when we fall into sin and experience sorrow- may His kindness continually lead us to repentance. 

"Behold, the new has come." The abundant life Christ came to give (John 10:10) is meant to be lived out in community through His church to His glory by the power of the Holy Spirit- be it in how we eat or drink, or whatever we do- but particularly in how we love one another (1 Corinthians 13, John 13). Even though we ourselves have not seen God visibly, we have been given new affections God and for His kingdom (1 Peter 1). It's why Jesus teaches His disciples to pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done"- the true subjects of the king will long for His return and His rule. The Spirit and the Bride (the Church) say "Maranatha!" Come Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22). 

Whenever I think of this passage in 2 Corinthians 5, I always remember this bronze sculpture. 

Born Again by Dean Kermit Allison

May we remember that God is the one who works in us to will and to work according to his good pleasure (Philippians 2)- all glory be to Him!

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 Memory/Meditation

“For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Hard times by definition are exactly that. Amidst difficult times our minds typically perceive a meandering elongated path to our desired state or destination. Sometimes we’re so disoriented by hardship that we begin questioning the reality of our perceptions- we’re not sure whether what we desire is truly good- we’re not sure we’re meant to make it to the light in the tunnel- or whether that light is actually an oncoming train to avoid at all costs. 

When Paul wrote this passage, he himself had been walking such a path. Earlier in the letter to the Corinthians he had written about being “so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death." (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)

How was he able to navigate such hardship to be able to see such afflictions ultimately as “slight” and “momentary”? 

Paul was able to do so because he understood 1) the Purpose of the affliction, 2) the Prize beyond the affliction, and 3) the Person of Christ.  

1) Paul saw that afflictions have purpose. Afflictions are God’s way of preparing His people for glory- elsewhere he reminds believers that “through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).  

A simple analogy to consider is that of how diamonds are formed. The starting material of a diamond is simple carbon- unless it undergoes extreme pressure and heat over long periods of time (estimated 1-3 billion years!), it remains as it is. One form is common and worth relatively little- while the other form weathered by pressure is transformed to be beautiful and precious. 

Paul writes elsewhere that Christians are called by God to be conformed to the image of Christ, and that He makes all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8). The promises are secure as Christ’s death and resurrection, so that we can say with confidence with Paul, “If God is for us, who (or what) can be against us?” 

2)  Paul understood the magnitude and beauty of the prize that such afflictions were preparing for God’s people. He speaks of the afflictions being slight and momentary, and that they don’t hold a candle to the eternal weight of glory that is being prepared for God’s people. But what does this glory entail? 

For one, it involves knowing God and his goodness like we’ve never known before. Paul knows God will spend all of eternity showing his people “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7). No matter how well we may know God’s word- no matter how closely we may walk by the Spirit, may we never let ourselves think that we’ve already plumbed the depths of the riches of God’s grace toward us. May it humble us so to consider that it will take the Father the coming ages of eternity to show us just how kind He is to us!

But there is another aspect to this weight of glory; one day we will know and have in full what God has created us for. We know that when Christ returns, we will be like him, for we will see him as He is (1 John 3:2). We will receive imperishable bodies (1 Corinthians 15), just like Christ’s resurrected body. Every tear will be wiped away, and pain will be no more (Revelation 21:4). There is certainly much more than I’ve briefly mentioned here- so I encourage you to explore the depth and breadth of this glory we will have! 

3) Ultimately in Paul’s mind any kind of suffering or affliction would not have the last word because Paul knew the person of Jesus Christ. When we read just a couple of verses earlier in 2 Corinthians 4, we see this: 

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” (2 Corinthians 4:6-10)

Let me take the diamond analogy just a bit further. Diamonds are only possible provided that the carbon atoms are arranged in a particular way. Specifically, only the tetrahedral arrangement of carbon enables it to endure the enormous forces required to become a diamond. Any other molecular arrangement of carbon could not withstand such pressure. 

In our world, hardship more often than not doesn’t result in glory. Pain and suffering decidedly aren’t automatically followed by better times. We know too many instances where pain begets pain, and how suffering can lead one down spirals of sorrow upon sorrow. The self-centered late-modern Western culture in which we live and breathe does not have a coherent ethic to understand or deal with suffering- it only seeks to avoid it at all cost. 

Only those who trust in Christ’s death and resurrection- those who behold the face of the glory of God in Christ- have the true and living hope through which our hearts and minds are renewed and reconfigured to perceive and endure afflictions. Christian hope isn’t just about having the ability to have a “grin and bear it” facade as we bear our hard times, but to be able to do so with unshakeable joy. 

Brothers and sisters- are we captivated by the love of Christ? Is He becoming increasingly precious to us? Are we actively learning to consider everything loss for the sake of knowing him in the fellowship of his suffering as well as in the power of his resurrection? (Philippians 3:9-10). 

Let me conclude with an encouragement from James: 

“As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”

Even we walk through this world-marred by our own besetting sins and the brokenness we experience in human relationships big and small- may the Lord grant us grace to increasingly see each hardship as a doorway that leads to incomparable glory- all because of what Christ has secured for us through the Gospel. In our lives, especially amidst our afflictions, may we trust our gracious God to transform our Valley of Achor into a door of hope (Hosea 2:15). 

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Psalm 103:19-22 Memory/Meditation

 "The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!" 

For those of you who have been following our mini-journey of memorizing and meditating on Psalm 103- congratulations- we've come to the final verses here! I pray that the Holy Spirit has been blessing your heart and mind as you've sought to make a dwelling for His word in you. 

Psalm 103 has thus far been an extended meditation on the steadfast love of the LORD- but in these final verses, David reminds his fellow singers (remember the Psalms were written to be sung!) of God's sovereign rule- "his kingdom rules over all". While it may seem a simple truth or thought at first glance- if we allow ourselves to think upon it further- God's sovereignty is such a foundational bedrock for our salvation and joy. It's at the heart of Roman 8:28- "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose". It's precisely because God is sovereign over all that we can rest secure in and through the storms and hardships of life- because nothing- not inside nor outside of us can thwart God's purposes for us. 

But there will be times when it won't feel so easy to swallow the truth of God's sovereignty. 

Two weeks ago I took a work-related trip to Berlin, Germany. Most of us are at least vaguely familiar with the Holocaust during World War II, in which over 6 million Jews were systematically exterminated under state-sponsored Nazi ideology. In some of my down time, I had the chance a particular memorial site dedicated to explaining in painstaking detail why and how things ended up the way they did. It was called The Topography of Terror (link includes some photos I took there). While I only spent about 2 hours at the memorial, I was struck not only by the intentionality and systematic entrenchment of such evil- but also the banality of it. This extraordinary evil was also ordinary- because it was so well ensconced that an entire nation became complicit. While Adolf Hitler certainly (and deservedly) earned his right to become the prototypical villainous tyrant- every officer that carried out orders from above to round up Jewish families en masse, to conduct mass killings, to perform dangerous experimental medical procedures on humans considered sub-human...was every bit as guilty as he. To some of those who live (and die) through such evils- God is utterly absent to them and all faith is lost. As I perused the exhibit, there was a real heaviness I felt- and part of me would ask, "God...even over this?" 

And yet for us in Christ- the answer to that question is "Yes, indeed God is still sovereign- even over this." This truth is not meant to be an easy band-aid solution to make everything fine and dandy. The sovereignty of God should awe us to worship and reverence. If God was sovereign over the world's greatest evil- the death of the only innocent man who had ever graced the face of this earth (our Lord Jesus Christ) (Acts 2:22-24)- then He indeed is sovereign over all. Even amidst my own heaviness that day, the LORD was gracious to send a visual reminder of His sovereignty to me through a rainbow.

So in view of the steadfast love and sovereignty of our God- the only right response is to call for praise! David calls the heavenly hosts and all of creation to bless the LORD! And in calling forth such praise, he reminds himself (and us) of our rightful response to join in that chorus. 

EACF, my prayer for us is that we would grow in becoming a people of praise- not just when visible and palpable blessings abound- but especially amidst difficulty and trial. May we become a people who will consider it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds, for we know that the testing of our faith produces steadfastness. Moreover may we remember that we are blessed when we remain steadfast under trial, for after we have endured, we will receive the crown of life which God has promised for those who love him. (James 1:2-3; 12)

Grace and Peace,

Mike

Psalm 103:15-18 Memory/Meditation

 "As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments." 

Our current passage provides a poignant reminder that our days are fleeting. 

"As for man, his days are like grass...."

I grew up in Northern California, and those who are familiar with the region know how perpetually dry it can be- with hills that are yellowish-brown for 95% of the year. On the off occasion that it rains, the hills turn green almost immediately- but even within a week or two without rain, they go back to their default hue. 

The Psalmist tells us that our lives are like that too. 

"...the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and its place remembers it no more."

Not only are our earthly lives transient, we are fragile- we are gone with the wind, so to speak. It doesn't take much to unmoor us from the illusions of success, safety, and comfort we often strive so hard to obtain. As much as we may try to plan for contingencies, we are always susceptible to loss- be it an unanticipated loss of a family member, losing a job, or losing a treasured friendship/relationship.  

If that wasn't bad enough- we're reminded that we are forgotten- "its place remembers it no more." 

As people grow older, it's natural to look back on one's life and consider whether their life counted for something. And in our society which often embodies hyper-capitalistic tendencies- we often mistaken activity and productivity for significance. An underlying fear of our own insufficiency and inadequacy will always have us asking ourselves whether we are "enough". 

"Did I provide my kids enough academic/social/spiritual enrichment through their summer activities?" 

"Have I done enough to make sure I have the life that I want for myself (or for my family)?" 

"Have I done enough to care for those around me that they would remember me fondly?" 

"What kind of legacy will I leave when I die?"

For such anxious souls as ours- David turns our eyes away from our fleeting frailty and towards the boundless compassion of God.   

"But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments."

What a contrast, and what a comfort! Though our lives are fleeting, fragile, and forgotten- the LORD's love for those who fear him never ends...and if God's love for his people never ends...that implies that his people will not come to an end either. 

Ultimately God demonstrated his steadfast love toward us in giving us Jesus Christ. Through His sinless life, his suffering sacrifice on the cross to pay the debt of our sin, and his death-defeating resurrection- He secured our rightful place as heirs of eternal life that begins even now, adopted into His family to live and reign with Him forever. Praise be to God for his indescribable gift! 

So EACF, may the steadfast love of the Lord be the anchor of your soul- may the good news of Jesus Christ never cease to amaze you, and may the Lord teach us to number our days, that we may gain hearts of wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

Grace,

Mike