Look To Jesus

Look to Jesus 

My eyes look to Heaven to Jesus my Lord, 

His sovereign, powerful omnipotent sword, 

 

My soul lifts to the sky where my pain is no more,

God’s purposes realized in Triune accord, 

 

My hands reach to heaven to God on His throne, 

He hears every word, just a cry, even moan, 

 

My voice reaches upward, to God’s mercy shown, 

To Christ my redeemer, dismal overtone, 

 

My soul clings so tightly to dirt on the earth, 

Relating to God’s Son, sent down to a birth, 

 

My hope reaches out to the future of bliss, 

Where pain will go under and I’ll never miss, 

 

My mind thinks of the cross, where Satan would hiss, 

His bite on my Savior, eternal abyss, 

 

My inward emotions dwell on resurrection, 

Jesus brings life from death to mention: 

 

My pain is no longer what is my attention, 

My true life is hidden in Christ’s great ascension.

 

Psalm 123:1-4 :

To you I lift up my eyes,
    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
² Behold, as the eyes of servants
    look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
    to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
    till he has mercy upon us.

³ Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
    for we have had more than enough of contempt.
⁴ Our soul has had more than enough
    of the scorn of those who are at ease,
    of the contempt of the proud.”

Revelation Pandemic

Dear Church,

You may not be a part of our local Church but you are a part of Christ’s universal Church. That is great! But to all of those who are a part of our local Church, you should remember our sermon series on Revelation that has currently been put on pause.

I think this is a good moment to make a reflection on the last plague found in the Bible which occurs in Revelation 18:8.

It says, “For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

This is the last mention of plagues in the Bible. So what can we learn from this? I’ll give a few bullet point answers:

• First, we can learn that this plague is prepared by the many terrible plagues that come before it in order to remind us that there is a worse plague coming. In Revelation 15, God inflicts 7 plagues upon the earth. Each one is severe and terrible. Just to name a few of them, you have harmful and painful sores that inflicts every person, all living things die in the sea, a sun roasting heat scorches people, & giant hailstones fall from the sky.

I mention this in order to show that the last plague in Scripture (18:8) is prepared with plagues that come before it. There is always a plague before another plague. As the world moves forward, just as 2 Timothy 3:13 says, “evil people will go on from bad to worse,” so will the response of God go from “bad to worse.” Therefore, plagues also go from bad to worse in a response to the people on the earth.

In Matthew 24:6-8, Jesus speaks about the end of the world in this way: “and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will arise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes, in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”

Notice that Jesus describes the catastrophic events of the last days like birth pains, but only the beginning of them. I’ve recently witnessed my wife go through birth pains that feel like the real deal, but a month too early. They lingered for about a month for my wife before she actually gave birth. When real labor hit, I could clearly see that it was much much more painful than the braxton hicks.

Let me suggest that our covid-19 is a braxton hicks of our day. There is more coming than this. God gives us His Word to tell us this. This is simply the beginning of birth pains. I’ll admit, this is painful, but it will get much worst because there is always a plague that precedes another plague. This covid plague is only a preceding plague to one that is yet to come. After this covid-19 pandemic ends, get ready for something else that hits the world.

• Second, we can learn that we deserve God’s plagues. Revelation 16:5-6 explains why the 7 plagues are deserved as well as the final one:

“Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of the saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!“

Plagues are always deserved on us because we sin and the wages of our sin is death (Romans 6:23). A plague is simply the due process of our death. We’ve worked our entire life for death, and every plague is like God paying us back penny by penny for what we’ve earned. Sometimes God pays us back with a penny of death or a quarter of death. But soon, it will amount to a full payment of death!

I like how Revelation 16:5-6 speaks with so much clarity… “it is what they deserve!” Yes they do and yes we do! Why? Because God is just (“just are You”), and we are not. Therefore, these plagues are judgments brought by God.

At another time, I mentioned how we can hold God RIGHTLY responsible for bringing on any plague, instead of saying He just “let it happen.” No, He doesn’t just let plagues happen because if He did, then He would not be sovereignly just. We would downplay His sovereignty and uplift our self to say that God just allowed a plague to come upon us as if “mother earth” is the one more responsible for it. No, plagues come because God is “Holy,” “O Holy one!” He is just!

Plus, make a note of this, the original curse over planet earth and global humanity was instituted by God after it was initiated by Adam. Adam sinned and God responded with a purposeful and completely deserved curse. I call this “the blessed curse” because God controls the curse, not Satan, which I praise God for!

Likewise, the plagues in Revelation as well as our plague today is instituted by our Holy God and initiated by us.

Therefore, yes I believe that we always deserve any kind of plague that God places on us because, in fact, we deserve worse! If we deserve Hell, then don’t we deserve something less?

For that reason, I love the perspective of David on plagues in 2 Samuel 24. David sins, and as a punishment God offers David 3 different kinds of punishments that he can choose. The first is three years of famine coming upon the land. The second is three months of David fleeing from his foes who pursue him. The third option is three days of pestilence in the land. Guess what David chooses? He chooses the last option. He chooses a plague in the land.

Now listen to his reason: In 2 Samuel 24:14, David says, “let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercy is great, but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

Wow! You see, David chooses a plague because He understands that God’s punishment for sin is always merciful. He doesn’t give us what we fully deserve. I would beg to even say that those who are punished in Hell are participants of Gods mercy because at least God gave them time on earth. They weren’t born into Hell!

David had a good understanding of his sin. You can read this in his psalms. Whenever David was sick or in distress, he seemed to always associate it with his sin because he had a high view of God’s holiness.

And notice how in David’s case in 2 Samuel 24:15, 70,000 men die in David’s land. You see a second Genesis 3 happens where Adam sins, death comes as a result, therefore both sin and death spread to all mankind (Romans 5:12). It seems like it’s not fair that the sin of one man would bring death to the rest of humanity just like it seems unfair that the sin of David and the consequence of it would fall upon all of the men around him. And yet, Romans 5:12 says it well, “sin came into the world through one man, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” 

You see, we are responsible, always responsible, for any type of death and disease, isolated or widespread, because we have sinned. We deserve Hell. Therefore, God is merciful through pandemics–the one in Genesis 3 and the rest that flows out of Genesis 3 like David’s pandemic, the Revelation plagues, and our current one. So glory to God for His great mercy!

• Third, we can learn that plagues are meant to drive us to repentance. Revelation 16:11 says, after the 5th plague, “people…cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.“

This reiterates my previous point that God sends plagues on people who deserve them and more. Our wicked deeds deserve a plague. In Revelation God sends these plagues in order to cue repentance from the world.

Notice that the people of Revelation 16:11 know that this plague is from the Lord. They don’t blame an ambiguous source or misfortune or even germs. They blame God. They are only half correct because the plagues do come from God, but they are initiated because of their deeds. I think that the same can be said for us too.

A time of pestilence is a time for repentance. Pause and think about what we are doing with our life. Are we living it for the Lord? Do we realize how much He is living for us? Remember that God is the God Who, before He ever sent any plague on any person, He sent every plague on His Son Jesus so that we don’t need to experience ultimate death. But we must believe & repent to Him. The recipients of the plagues in Revelation are those who have not repented.

• Fourth we can learn that plagues comes from God’s wrath. In chapter 15, God sends out 7 plagues which are super charged with this description: “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished“ (15:1).

This is like the frosting on the cake of plagues with bitter cocoa nibs added. It’s a sweet truth to discover God’s awesome holiness. It’s also bitter because we aren’t holy in and of our self.

It’s quite something to discover that the wrath of God is finalized with plagues. That sends a message. What kind of message? Plagues are a reminder that God is Holy and the world is not. God is Holy and we are not.

• Fifth, now we come to Revelation 18:8 which is the plague that we have been waiting for. It is the last mention of plague but it comes as an encore to these last 7 plagues. It is the final plague that all of the other plagues have been pointing towards. It is the plague that will some day hit this world. It’s a pandemic kind of plague and one that will shut down our world economy.

“For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

Notice that this final plague comes in a single day. It makes me grateful that our covid-19 pandemic has been going on for weeks!

In the context of chapter 18, this plague will come upon “Babylon the Great,” the “her” of Revelation 18:8.

Also notice what this neo city of Babylon is characterized by:

Revelation 18:3 says “all nations have drunk the wine of her passion of her sexual immorality, and the king of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

In Revelation 18:11-13, “the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since nobody buys cargo from her anymore…” and then a long list of impressive items is listed, but what I’m most intrigued about is the last item which is “slaves, that is, human souls.”

I mention a description of this renewed city of Babylon, the recipient of the plague,  because it fits our world context so well: sexual immorality, luxurious living, & human slavery.

Sexually immorality and human slavery are indeed linked together in our day because of the new & growing atrocity called “sex slavery” which is indeed sweeping across the globe. Let me suggest that it’s a plague of its own.

Unfortunately, human trafficking is also linked to billions of dollars in revenue and luxurious living.

Also, notice that this one city is responsible for negatively affecting the rest of the globe (“the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her.”).

No doubt, this renewed Babylon is a mysterious future kind of city, but I sometimes wonder if it is somehow associated to the internet in some way or a very large company, which would really put every person in the world aware of this “Babylon” and affected by it.

That’s not truly important though. What is really important is how God sends a life devastating plague in one day that affects the entire world and it’s economy–a stock market crash perhaps? You better believe it!

As the result of this plague, 18:22-23 further explains how there will not be found the sound of musicians, nor a craftsman of any trade, and neither the sound of marriage celebrations.

It relates so well to what we are experiencing through this covid-19 plague! Every musical tour has been postponed. You won’t find any concerts. Many people are out of work. Craftsman and trade jobs are suffering. And even those who want to get married can’t!

Unlike our covid-19 pandemic which will end soon and our world open back up, the plague of Revelation 18 will very soon end–end the world. It is the plague that shuts down the world for good, but because of their bad!

The final fascinating detail of this last plague is what 18:20 & 24 says about this city of Babylon:

“20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgement for you against her!…24 and in her was found the blood of the prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.”

You see, God sends this final plague “for you,” that is, for His Church! You can see in grand finale form God fulfilling His love for His family of “the saints, apostles and prophets.” God is a God who loves His family!

It’s absolutely no coincidence that the recipient of God’s final plague is the one with “the blood of the saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.”

Did you know that in this past year, 2,983 Christians were killed for their faith? There is more Christian persecution and martyrdom today than ever before this time.

And God will avenge the death of His saints. Psalm 116:15 says “precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints,” so precious that He won’t let it slide. He will defend His family.

To sum it all up:

God’s plagues are purposeful–repent. God’s plagues are deserved–we sin. God’s plagues are merciful–we deserve worse.  And God’s plagues are loving–yes He is doing all to protect His Church Bride & children (family).

Finally, God’s plagues are unfathomably preposterous–He sent the plagues–every single one from the beginning of time to the end–on His Son Jesus for us!

1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

The “Revelation Pandemic” is really the pandemic of Jesus Christ. All of those who receive the final pandemic are those who did not receive Jesus Christ as their final pandemic for them.

P.S. Revelation 22:18 says “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book…” 

I find that interesting  because it makes the Revelation plagues very eminently relevant to us today. Don’t tamper with God’s Word! It doesn’t do good things!

In the love of Christ,

Aaron

 

Tough Stuff

Life is tough. My mother in law recently made a comment about Heather and my first 3 years of marriage that I think is very true. She said that we’ve had a hard first 3 years of marriage. 

She was referring to the medical difficulties. Our actual marriage is sweet. I love living in union with my wife. I love the oneness of body, soul and spirit. Truly, we grow together with our emotions and minds intertwining. The mystery is great, how I’m becoming more like my wife in the way that she thinks and feels. Likewise, she has become much more like me in mind and emotions too. 

But medically, we’ve had problems. From day one of marriage I almost had a panic attack which only grew to a hospital visit during our honeymoon. That might have been prophetic to what would come ahead of us. 

Our roles switched as I recovered from my undercurrent stress and regained my footing in life but my wife developed wacky symptoms through 2 pregnancies that were tougher than nails. She gave birth to more than 2 sons during these short 3 years of marriage. As Heather conceived our second son Micah, she suddenly gave birth to her hidden disease of limes disease. 

It has been one thing after another that Heather has endured. At this point, she seriously has pain pulsing from every corner of her body from top to bottom and east to west, from the inside out and from crevice to chest. 

How much is enough!? How much can she take? How much pain can a human body endure? 

I don’t know and yet I do know. 

What I do know is that Jesus Christ suffered the most excruciating asphyxiating crucifying pain that a human can face and the Bible tells us — God’s Word assures us– that we too can expect some of His suffering. 

We are. 

Whether it be through persecution of people or persecution of body, we will all undergo pain. Right now I suffer the pain of watching my wife go through this pain. Nobody will ever feel exactly what we feel, I’ve realized, except Christ. 

Not only has He experienced our pain, but He is experiencing our pain as He lives inside of us through His Spirit. 

I must say though, that both Heather and I don’t feel like our 3 years of marriage have been as bad as they could be described if you just look at our medical records. Sure, it seems like we’ve gone through the ringer, but it’s really getting tossed around in the washer. God is cleaning us up and when He open up the door, He will bring us out of this violent and spinning washing machine in life and bring us into His awesome Home. And we will be cleaner than when He first gently tossed us into His machine. 

Yes, we are being “washed” in our union together as Ephesians 5:26-27 describes the purpose of the marriage union as “that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy without blemish.” 

This is God’s grand design in marriage and as a mirror of His purpose for His Church bride too. 

God is sanctifying us through pain. He has tossed us into His sanctifying “washing machine,” and boy do we get our body’s knocked around in the process. But there is a purpose! God is washing us with His Word as we cling to Him, the “His” of “Word.” 

God will present us in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that we might become more holy and without blemish. 

So not only do we feel like we are in God’s washing machine but we are feeling the intense heat of the steam that comes from the ironing board as God irons all of the wrinkles out of us. 

It’s a funny paradox to actually think about: as Heather and I grow older together, the stress of life will age us and wrinkles will show the proof. But as we age with wrinkles and the stresses that form them, that same stress that forms physical wrinkles God uses to iron out our spiritual wrinkles. As we grow less defined in life, God makes us grow more defined in Spirit. As our body wastes away as 2 Corinthians 4:16 says, “our inner self is being renewed day by day.” 

Because of these true realities that pertain to us as Christians, in an odd and miraculous way, Heather and I feel strong. We feel hopeful. We are still filled with joy, but it is hard. 

I would add, thank God that it is only hard at times. As Ecclesiastes 3 says so well, “there is a season and time for everything under the sun.” 

That means that there are excruciating seasons that are very much harder than hard to endure, but then God enters us into a season of rest and refreshment. He enters us into a rejuvenating season in order to save energy for the impending winter (which is really long in the Adirondacks)! 

As time makes everything feel, sometimes these seasons feel long even though they are short or they feel short even though they are long. This too is God’s gift to us in the midst of seasons with trials and pains or seasons of joys and rejoicing. 

As Ecclesiastes 3:15 continues to say, “That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.”

In other words, time looks very differently from God’s perspective than ours. God’s perspective over the sun is different than ours under the sun. 

Often, I find confidence and encouragement and strength from looking above the sun when my seasons below the sun are excruciating, hard and long! 

I must look to the timelessness of God that lives over the sun!

Hence, the saying comes to pass, “for this light 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.” 

So look above the sun where the eternal lives, not below the sun where time drags on like a slug and other times races like a cheetah. 

I’ve found that as I focus on God’s perspective through pain, it helps. Not only that, but as I look to God’s perspective on pain and suffering, He saves. He does more than help. He saves because God’s perspective on pain is out of this world higher than my own because He knows what it is like to lose His eternal Son Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ knows what it is like to be God and yet human and experience the compounded pain of the whole world, not only physically but spiritually too. 

And He knows what it’s like to conquer that pain, which saves us. 

And so we look up to our God instead of down on our circumstances. And He saves! 

The Green Grass Grows

Psalm 104:14 says, “you cause the grass to grow for the livestock.” 

God gives even plants a selfless purpose. Grass grows for the livestock! How much more has God made me for a selfless purpose. He has caused me to grow for the others around me so that I can serve and nourish them. 

In shepherding language, I’m called to grow as a pastor, like the grass that God causes to grow, for God’s people. That is, God makes me grow for His sheep. I am like God’s grass that ought to grow for God’s “livestock,” the sheep of His pasture. 

I wonder if God has even made me to grow for the sake of Himself and His sheer enjoyment? I think this is a great possibility too because of how God delights in me. As Psalm 3:27 says, “Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant!”

Certainly, it makes sense that God delights to see me grow like the grass. I think this is true because of how much joy God has given me in watching my two sons grow and develop. No doubt, God makes my sons grow for my joy! 

Considering how I’m made in God’s image, I’m sure that my joy that grows in connection with my son’s body’s that grow only reflects the nature of God my Father Who loves to watch me grow too. 

Most of all, I think of the way that God the Father caused His Son Jesus Christ to grow as a God Man. God caused His Son to grow for us, like a weak and frail strand of grass growing out of a tough environment to feed God’s livestock. Christ is the pastureland of grass that we as His sheep need:

As Isaiah 53:2 says, “for He grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him…” 

Jesus is like that strand of grass that God “causes to grow for the livestock.” 

In human language, Christ’s biological growth from infancy through adolescence into adulthood was designed for the purpose of crucifixion on our behalf. He grew tall only to be mowed down; that is, to be “cut off from the land of the living (Is. 53:8).”

So with every inch gained and pound added, Jesus Christ was one step and a few seconds closer to dying on the cross and resurrected from the grave for us. 

Luke 2:52 describes the growth of Jesus in this way, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” So clearly, God creates growth, weather grass or people, for His joy and ours too. But it particular, you see how God enjoys watching His Eternal Son grow. 

And this makes the death of Jesus even more striking. God the Father’s pain was immense to see His Son die on the cross because of the eternal joy that He felt in seeing His Son grow. To see His Son cut off from the growth of life would have been excruciating pain for the Father.

So why did He do it? Why did God cut off life from His Growing Son and in doing so endure sorrow? He did it for us, so that He could “feed His livestock.” In Christ’s death, God fed His sheep.

As Jesus says in John 10:9-11 says,  “⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

If you look close enough at this world, you will see how God has created everything–plant, animal, landscape and person–for selfless reasons…so that somebody else can enjoy life through another things movement & growth–a sunrise, changing weather, your pet growing, and even changing clothing. 

Therefore, God causes us to grow for the nourishment, encouragement, and sheer joy of others–even for the joy of God Himself. 

But it all came through the cost of God’s sorrow that saw His Son stop growing as He was “cut off from the land of the living.” And even that had a selfless purpose: so that we can truly live and grow forever. And now in our eternal growth, God rejoices forever over us!

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will exult over you with loud singing.” -Zephaniah 3:17

Be Fruitful And Multiply

Be Fruitful & Multiply

God’s greatest command is,

Genesis 1:28,

 

‘Be fruitful and multiply,’

It is lofty and too high,

 

This command cannot stand, 

To this, I’ll tell you why: 

 

Our womb is shut, 

Sin has cursed, 

 

Evil has burst, 

Made us a mut, 

 

Bred with sin, 

We cannot win, 

 

Our fruit is rotten, 

This is deserved:

 

Offspring: forgotten,

Sin can spread, 

 

I must admit, 

We “multiply,” 

 

This can be said, 

But half fulfilled, 

 

command, untied, 

Bearing fruit, 

 

Is too astute, 

Our womb is barren, 

 

Holiness is glare’n, 

Our sin the cause, 

 

To cut off bliss, 

The sound of ‘hiss,’ 

 

It’s why we miss, 

The sweet kiss,

 

Of fruit, dismissed, 

But John 15:4, 

 

Heals what tore, 

Abide in Christ, 

 

He makes more, 

In Him the store, 

 

Of fruit galore,

Now ‘multiply’

 

Is not too high, 

“Be fruitful & multiply,” 

 

Christ has become the tie,

How? 

 

He was destined to die, 

Why?

 

Because in bearing fruit, 

We are utterly mute, 

 

So Christ is blessed, 

He does the math, 

 

Our Mathematician,

Not a magician, 

 

He makes sweet, 

Multiplication, 

 

He is our fruit, 

Of justification! 

 

In Him we trust, 

This is our thrust, 

 

Sin’s curse so rotten, 

Generations forgotten, 

 

But Christ begotten, 

God’s command, fulfilled, 

 

Our efforts: stilled, 

And sin: distilled,  

 

Because Christ in us, 

Who calms the fuss, 

 

For all we toiled, 

Our labor foiled, 

 

Now Christ in us,

We are oiled, 

 

Christ our Olive, 

Who was crushed, 

 

His face so flushed, 

He could have blushed, 

 

Humiliated, naked, 

For us, forsaken,

 

Like rotten fruit, 

Crushed under boot, 

 

Christ forgotten, 

We must be taught in, 

 

The sweet result: 

Offspring, no halt, 

 

In righteousness, 

Now remembered, 

 

Eternal through forever, 

The maternal never severed, 

 

Generations will last, 

Abide in Christ, hold fast! 

 

Twas through His bitter death, 

That bore our sweet success, 

 

Now Godly offspring, 

The fruit of our womb, 

 

Our womb remade, 

By Christ Who paid,

 

Made possible through, 

Christ’s empty Tomb!

 

His curse, 

Our blessing, 

 

Baby boom!

Offspring fruit, 

 

Comes through Christ,

 forever bloom!

 

“And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply…” -Genesis 1:28

⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”                                                                           -John 15:4-5

“13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” -Galatians 3:13-14

“Save Your people, bless Your heritage, be their Shepherd and carry them forever.” -Psalm 28:9

Oh That My Sons Will Follow The Lord!

Oh That My Sons Will Follow The Lord!

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

that they know what Christ has bought, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

Through Christ alone, they must be taught, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

A heritage for God that Jesus sought,

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

To fulfill the price, Christ’s ransom wrought,

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

No greater joy, will it be, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

That Jesus is who they see, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

I pray to God on bended knee, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

In spite of me, this is my plea, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

By grace alone, this is the tone, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

God’s mercy through Jesus shone, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

To worship God, with raised up arm, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

Kept from evil, safe from harm, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

See Christ in me, and follow Him, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

Light up their face from brim to brim, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

Oh curse of Moses, it can’t be done, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

Oh curse of Christ, You were shun, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

Blessing of God, from Christ, oh run! 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

God’s covenant of old, redone, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

Christ covenant, kept through Him alone, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

Abide in Christ, sonship’s perfect clone, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

Jesus obedience, our infinite model, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

I’m tempted now to molly coddle, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

I will trust in God’s Word I stand, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

By the saving power of God’s mighty hand, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

Run to their Rock, safe from sinking sand! 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

Their might  known throughout the land, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

I’ll love the Lord in the home, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

To taste God sweet like an ice-cream cone, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

My wife and I will do what’s right, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

We will love God with all our heart and might, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

We will live by faith not by sight, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

That faith in Christ, save from sins smite, 

 

Oh that my sons will follow the Lord, 

A relationship with Christ, firm and tight!

____________________________________________________________________________________________

“And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘be fruitful and multiply…'” -Genesis 1:28

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^“4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” –John 15:4-5

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“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you… (are)…bearing fruit in every good work…” –Colossians 1:9-10

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“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. ⁴ Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. ⁵ Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” –Psalm 127:3-5

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“Oh, save your people and bless Your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.” -Psalm 28:9

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^“Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring.” -Malachi 2:15

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“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in God’s commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.”       -Psalm 112:1-2

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“May He grant You Your heart’s desire and fulfill all Your plans.” -Psalm 20:4

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“I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from our children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and His might, and the wonders that He has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God...” -Psalm 78:2-7

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“For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the Living God, Who is the Savior of all people, especially to those who believe.” -1 Timothy 4:10

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“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” -3 John 4

Virus Running, God’s Grace So Stunning!

Dear Church,

There is a deep poetic heart that God has dug down deep from my mind. I don’t practice chipping my way down into the echos of my soul’s caverns very often, but when I do, I always find God’s heart alive in me. Therefore, I’ll admit that I’m very encouraged by my own poetry sometimes–not because I’m impressed with myself–but because I feel like I’ve discovered the mind of Christ and the heart of Christ living deep within me (1 Corinthians 2:10-16, Romans 5:5). I hope and pray that this would encourage you as well with truth and inspire you to work for yourself at digging down deeply into the heart of God through His Scriptures, the place where He speaks and where our words become mere echos of His voice.

Virus Running, God’s Grace So Stunning

“12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…15 for if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many…17 for if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” -Romans 5:12…15…17

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” -1 Peter 2:24

The virus ran,

Activities ban,

 

The bad news,

Everywhere,

 

The good news,

A blank stare,

 

People thinking,

Not really fair,

 

God weeping,

A tragic tare,

 

An antidote,

Not found,

 

Bad news,

Abounds,

 

God speaks,

A healing sound,

 

A solution,

Has been found,

 

God says,

‘Let there be,’

 

Obedience comes,

All around,

 

God’s voice,

Filled with poise,

 

Breaking through,

The viral noise,

 

God speaks,

‘It is done,’

 

Good news,

Brings us peace,

 

Bad news,

Is released,

 

Good news,

Puts at ease,

 

Jesus filled,

With our disease,

 

The virus ran,

To Christ, we ban,

 

Eternal death,

With bloody sweat,

 

We cast a net,

Took His breath,

 

Rejecting God,

What He taught,

 

To luck,

We bet,

 

Our plague,

He met,

 

Not fair,

I say,

 

He took,

My sin.

________________

To God,

I thank,

 

For all,

Bad things,

 

I deserve,

Much worse,

 

But Christ,

Took my curse!

 

To Christ,

I say,

 

You deserve,

Much better,

 

The weather,

Lighting,

 

God’s wrath,

frightening,

 

The echo,

Thunder,

 

My blunder,

Sin’s tumbler,

 

Christ went,

asunder,

 

Christ Jesus,

Was struck,

 

God’s wrath,

My sin,

 

God took,

On Him,

 

Not fair!

I stare,

 

God’s grace,

Misplaced,

 

God’s mercy,

kind,

 

Christ’s love,

I find.

“This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” -1 Timothy 1:15-17

Genesis-Exodus Pandemic

Dear Church,

Although I don’t want to focus too much on this Coronavirus pandemic like our news stations do, I would like to make the most out of this world wide event in order to illustrate biblical truth for us.

My prayer is that you can better understand the Good News of the Bible through this bad news in the world.

Therefore, let me mention two pandemic stories in the Bible that I pray the Spirit of God will apply to our situation today: one from Genesis and the other from Exodus.

Genesis 12:17 is the very first mention of some kind of plague in Scripture. It says, “But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.”

The context is interesting because the Pharaoh seems to be a pretty innocent victim of God’s plague here in Genesis 12:17. In the verses leading up to verse 17, it describes how Abram, with a fear of man, plans to basically give his wife Sarai over to the Pharaoh just as soon as they arrive into Egypt.

Therefore, the Pharaoh takes Sarai, thinking that she is an unmarried woman, without a warning from God or a fight from her husband Abram.

Nevertheless, God inflicts Pharaoh and his house with great plagues!

Notice that the household of people who didn’t take Sarai experienced a plague because of their association with Pharaoh who did take Sarai.

So you might say that the first mention of the word “plague” in Scripture seems a little unfair. It comes upon an entire household who wasn’t expecting it and certainly didn’t think they deserved it.

Yet in God’s mind, He says that there was a reason for inflicting this plague upon Pharaoh and his house….”because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.”

Because of the Bible’s narrative on plagues, I’m convinced that there is always a reason for sickness and plagues in this world. It’s never just an accident. I wouldn’t even say that God “sovereignly allows it,” like plagues, disease & sickness in the world.  I personally think that statement, how God “sovereignly allows” bad things to enter the world, waters down God’s complete sovereignty and elevates man’s perceived morality.

When we say that God simply allows bad things like plagues to enter the world and hit households who look very innocent and kind, we underestimate our wicked sinfulness and we ignore God’s holiness.

We begin to say things like this: ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’

To that question I always respond: “bad things never happen to good people, because people aren’t good. ‘no one does good, no not one” (Romans 3:12)!’ Of course, this is coming from God’s holy perspective, not my human perspective. To me, there are some really good people in the world, but they aren’t going to impress God because He is holy and they are not. God is only impressed with His Son Jesus, not us.

Therefore, God does not merely allow bad things like plagues to happen to good people who don’t deserve it. We deserve an eternal pit of Hell a lot more than a plague (I mean Hell literally here).

I believe that God always brings sickness, disease and plagues to bad people who deserve much much worse.

With that perspective, I’m grateful for every  bad thing that comes my way because God’s mercy is great through it all. I deserve worse and respond to God with “why do good things happen to bad people? Your grace is great!”

So to say that God only permits a plague to come upon our earth and inflict humanity is an oxymoron to God’s sovereignty and holiness, I believe.

God has personally delivered a plague into our world for a purpose, much like He has a purpose for bringing a plague to Pharaoh’s household.

We are like Pharaoh and his house, probably thinking that we don’t deserve a plague. What have we done wrong? I don’t know? Yet, God has a Sarai answer for us. Because (fill in the blank), the Lord afflicted the world and nice families living in it with great plagues.

Ultimately, the fill in the blank answer can always be “sin.” Because we have sinned against God, we deserve death. “For the wages of sin is death” according to Romans 6:23. Now that is fair!

Therefore, if the whole world, including myself and my family becomes a part of this Coronavirus and God forbid one of us die, I stand convicted that I and my family deserve it because we are sinners.

I said before that the narrative of the Bible has convinced me to believe that sickness and plagues never happen by accident. Therefore, I think it’s important to give continuous examples of plagues in Scripture only to point out that they are anything but accidental. God does not simply and sovereignly “allow” them to happen. They stem from God’s good and awesome holiness and our wretched and wicked sinfulness.

So next, let’s look at the great exodus of God’s people from Egypt. That story might be the most famous and well known example of plagues in the Bible.

If I were on the game show, “Family Feud” and was asked “where do plagues pop up in the Bible?” my mind would immediately go to the story of the Exodus.

I won’t exhaust this point because it’s so familiar, but let me give just a few verses to jog our memory and point out the purpose of God attached to these plagues.

Exodus 8:2 says, “But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs.”

God is speaking through Moses to Pharaoh and says that His reason for sending a plague is “if you refuse.” Another word for that is rebellion. For rebellion, God says, I’ll send you a plague. Yet another way of saying what God is saying here is “if you don’t cooperate with Me and My purposes then I will plague your country.”

And notice how God very intentionally sends this plague for a purpose, as opposed to just sovereignly allowing this plague to naturally occur.

Exodus 9:14 says, “For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.”

Notice the acute purpose in the plague here, ‘so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.”

You ask, “what is the purpose of plagues?” And God’s answer is something along these lines: “so that you can come to know Me and My uniqueness!”

What is God’s purpose in this COVID-19 pandemic? It’s so that God grabs the attention of the world off of the world and onto Him so that we can learn something about God’s unique power, holiness, and our sinfulness.

Exodus 11:1 goes onto say, “The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely.”

Here, we see another purpose of these Egyptian plagues: submission & repentance.

“Afterward he will let you go from here,” that is, God explains how after the last plague, Pharaoh will repent. He will change His mind and let the people of Israel go free.

“Afterward he will let you go from here,” that is, God explains how after the last plague, Pharaoh will submit to God’s Word that has repetitively said, “let My people go!”

Therefore, I propose that God’s purpose in this Coronavirus pandemic is to get our attention, to turn to the Lord and submit more earnestly to His Word.

Finally, Exodus 12:13 says with ultimate purpose: “The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”

Make a note that God doesn’t want to plague people, and that is why He plagued the Lamb, which I will speak more about later…

Exodus 12:13 speaks of the 10th and final plague that God would send on Egypt which is the Passover plague where God kills the first-born sons of every family in Egypt unless they smear the blood of a slaughtered lamb on their door mantel.

This plague cuts through every plague. It is the heart of all plagues because the Passover plague shows no symptoms and offers no warning signs. This plague is death itself. The first born children would just die.

You know, every time a person dies, it’s because “the wages of our sin is death.” We’ve earned death. Therefore, Plague number 10, the pure and simple plague of death, is the plague that all of us have brought upon our-self through sin. We deserve this one.

Logically, this means that the lesser plagues like those of frogs and flies and locusts were more than deserved and less than delivered. In other words, the whole world deserves more than a curse of frogs, flies and locusts. We deserve death! Therefore, God could have given Egypt something much much worse than these animal plagues and God could give our world something much much worse than this COVID-19 plague, and if He did, then we would deserve it.

Think about this: the frog, fly and locust plagues didn’t kill anyone, it would have just annoyed them and made their life really inconvenient. No doubt, a plague of flies and locusts would have put a damper on Egypt’s community life and economic world.

Likewise, our COVID-19 pandemic has slowed our social and economic life. And for most, it’s the type of plague like the animal plagues that were sent to Egypt because the Coronavirus doesn’t kill most people, although it affects all people in one form or the other. For most, it’s a plague of inconvenience more than death, much like Egypt’s plagues of frogs & flies.

But the 10th plague, this plague of death, is so much worse than our world-wide pandemic. For that, we can thank God and, instead of assuming that we don’t deserve this pandemic, praise God that He isn’t sending something much much worse than this COVID-19 plague.

Therefore, if we deserve more than this pandemic, because we all deserve death, then isn’t it completely fair to say that we at least deserve this pandemic and more!? 

Actually, if we are talking about fair, then no, it’s not fair that our world is going through this pandemic. It’s not fair. It’s merciful! We deserve worse.

Jesus is the only one Who deserved better than the plague of death that He was served.

And if Jesus Christ didn’t deserve His plague of death but underwent it for us, then certainly whenever we do encounter plagues, suffering, sickness and disease, we more than deserve it. We deserve it because Christ didn’t deserve it but took it for us…because we deserve it!

So again, when we go through any kind of lesser plague than the plague of 100% death, we deserve it. In fact, we deserve more.

Jesus is what the final plague of Egypt foreshadows: “The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”

Jesus is the One (the Lamb who was slain) Who takes away our plague of death by being put to death on our behalf.

We receive His plague absorbing life by doing something real and active with His blood for the preservation of our life.

Let me finish up by trying my best to help us understand how this plague from Egypt along with any plague on earth connects to us.

Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us–for it is written, ‘cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.'”

What is this curse? It’s the curse that comes on those who don’t “abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them” (Gal. 3:10). This includes all of us who don’t abide by all things written in God’s book. In other words, the standard is perfection here, which we all fall short of.

What is this Book of the Law? It’s the book of Deuteronomy, which the above quotes.

And what does this curse from the Book of the Law include? Deuteronomy 28:15 and 20-22 outlines some of the curses for those who break God’s law (even once)…

“But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you…The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. ²¹ The Lord will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. ²² The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.” 

Notice, that some of the curses includes pestilence, wasting disease and fever, something that our Coronavirus pandemic gives us and something that God delivered to the Egyptians.

Although God does not work in quite the same program that He did before Christ came, He still works with an unchanging character and nature, as a holy, perfect and a just Law Giver.

Therefore, every time we receive these pestilence symptoms of Deuteronomy, it remains true today just as it did then that they come upon us because we’ve broken at least one part of God’s law once. As James 2:10 says, “for whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.”

Even though the program of Deuteronomy has passed away because of Christ who set up a new covenant for us–not in replacement of this Deuteronomy covenant, but in fulfillment of it–the law aspect of Deuteronomy has not perished because Deuteronomy is considered the book of the law, and the Law Giver hasn’t changed.

Therefore, we are still accountable to the Deuteronomy standards, which we’ve failed at one point or another in life –lying, stealing, coveting, disobeying parents, not loving God with all of our heart–hence the consequences of pestilence remain the same as they did in Deuteronomy. Clearly, the cause of any pestilence/plague was people failing to follow God’s law, AKA: sin. The result was sickness and disease to various levels. Not only that, but along with these curses came “confusion and frustration.” Sound familiar?

If you aren’t convinced yet that we deserve any plague that is cast upon us, then apply reverse logic to Deuteronomy 28 along with Galatians 3:10-13 and James 2:10. If we didn’t break any part of God’s law, then any kind of curse such as pestilence, disease and various forms of sickness wouldn’t come upon us. The only way that we don’t deserve these curses is if we haven’t sinned once. But none of us float in that boat.

We are in a sinking boat of curses that have been enacted on our neglect for God’s law, to love Him and love people with complete perfection.

However, the blood of Jesus took on our curse by carrying a world wide plague of death along with the symptoms of “confusion” –“my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus did this for us, even though He didn’t deserve it, because we do deserve this.
That is why, I believe with all my heart that we deserve this pandemic that we are in right now. I don’t want to be uncaring or unsympathetic with that statement. But I want to be honest and God honoring with that statement. I hope it to be a Christ exalting statement to say that we always deserve any curse of death that God has brought on us because by admitting it, I admit the very reasoning that led Jesus to die on the cross and endure our ultimate physical and spiritual plague upon Himself.

If we don’t deserve this plague, then I believe that we under-look our sin and overlook Christ’s death on our behalf. For that reason, I say, we deserve this and more, but Christ didn’t!

Let us cast ourselves upon Jesus, our gracious and merciful Savior during this time and like Daniel says in Daniel 9:4-5 & 17-18, say: “ I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁵ we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules…Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. ¹⁸ O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. ¹⁹ O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God…” 

The Gospel of Pandemic

Hello Church!

There is a pandemic happening around us, but it reminds me that there has been a pandemic happening around us since Genesis 3. There is a pandemic behind the pandemic. The pandemic of sin is the reason for this pandemic of the Coronavirus. The Coronavirus is merely a pandemic symptom of an eternal pandemic. This is a physical pandemic that shadows our spiritual pandemic.

SO here is my question for us: ?what is the first mention and last mention of plagues in Scripture?

I hope that this study can give us some perspective on this pandemic.

First, without using the word “plague,” I think that the first root of any plague must be reduced to death, since this is the real fear in any plague. Plagues threaten a large population of people’s life to death.

Therefore, the first cause of any and all plagues comes from Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve sin against God’s Word.  They transgress God’s line of command and trespass onto a property that has a tree marking its territory with the words of God printed and stamped on it that read, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.”

And in trespassing, they sin. And as they sin, death sweeps the universe so quickly that it spreads to every person ever born into the world.

For that reason, Romans 5:12 says this: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”

Can you relate to that statement during this time of pandemic? There is a virus that is so courageous, living in people. COVID-19 lives in people. It’s a personal virus. It started in China and spread throughout the world. How is it passed onto others? It’s passed onto others through others!

This describes what happens in Genesis 3 and as it is explained in Romans 5. Adam sinned, which resulted in ultimately death and a myriad of other curses. At the end of Genesis 3:19, God tells Adam that Adam will work until he returns to the ground…aka: death.

And now, this death has spread to us through Adam. Therefore, death is our ultimate plague.

And Why? Why do we, the human race, deal with this universal plague called death?

Because we deserve it. As Romans 5:12 says, “death spread to all men because all sinned.”

We’ve chosen the consequence of our sin which is the plague of death. We were forewarned about this in Adam when God told him “in the day that you eat of that tree you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17).

This leads me to believe that our COVID-19 “plague” is only a little plague compared to the ultimate plague that sweeps the globe. It’s interesting how such a small plague can get the attention of our world when the biggest plague on earth hasn’t.

You see, every person from every nation will die from the plague of death. And yet, between 2-3% of those who catch the Coronavirus die from it and the rest recover.

Yet the grave truth behind the matter is that everyone who is recovering from the COVID-19 virus will only recover to soon get knocked out of life through death.

So why does it take the COVID-19 virus to catch our attention?

Personally, I think that God is trying to catch our attention: death is real. Get ready for it. It’s the most certain thing of life. Even atheists believe in death as they live. It’s peculiar how that works!

During this time of COVID-19 sweeping the globe, it reminds me that there is only one antidote for this contagious disease that can reverse much much more than this virus. He can reverse the pandemic of death!

Yes, our antidote for the pandemic of death is “Him.”

Romans 5 goes onto say in verse 14 that “Adam was a type of the one who was to come.” This speaks of Jesus Christ.

How was Adam a type of Jesus?

Romans 5:17 explains this: “¹⁷ For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”

You see, just as Adam sinned by eating from a piece of fruit that transgressed God’s command, and from that place in the garden of Eden, sin and death immediately spread to every man, Jesus Christ kept God’s righteous rules for us who failed to keep them, and from the place of Calvary, Jesus Christ died on a tree for us so that from the empty tomb life could spread to every man freely–that is, those who place their faith in Jesus Christ on the cross.

It’s interesting for me to think about how vaccines work that prevent diseases. I’m no scientist, but I understand that vaccines incorporate a dose of the germ enemy itself into your system so that your body learns to recognize and combat that pathogen, hence prevent that particular disease or illness.

Jesus became the vaccine for our pandemic of death by incorporating a full measure of our spiritual pathogen called sin into Himself. In fact, “He became sin who knew no sin for us…” (2 Cor. 5:21). And it killed Him.

Let me reiterate this. Jesus became sin and death for us. That is, in COVID-19 language: He became the COVID-19 virus of a deadlier kind….one that kills 100% of the globe and has been wiping out humanity since Adam.

Jesus became that ugly virus for us.

And He became our Vaccine!

Jesus became the pathogen itself that leads to death that needs to be incorporated into our soul so that our soul can learn to recognize sin and combat it.

Jesus, that vaccine, becomes the One Who combats sin in us.

All that we need to do in order to be saved from this spiritual and global pandemic of death is believe that we have this disease called death that has been transmitted through our sin, and we must believe that Jesus is the Vaccine for it. If we believe this, then we will desperately and gladly receive Jesus in our life and He will come into our life and vaccinate us from death through His death itself.

Jesus says in John 11:25, ““I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Do you believe this?

Those who believe that they have a disease that will surely lead to death and believe in a vaccine that will surely save them from death will absolutely take that vaccine.

Likewise, those of us who believe that we have a disease called sin that will surely lead to death and who believe that Jesus Christ is the Vaccine Who became sin for us, died in our place, and Who rose from the dead, will absolutely partake in this Vaccine called Christ.

And when we do, Galatians 2:20 comes to pass: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

And in believing in Christ as our Vaccine this means that we repent which means to turn from our old ways of sin and self confidence without Christ.

Those who are laying on their sickbed in home and hear about a vaccine that can save them from death, if they believe that they are dying and there is a vaccine that will work life in them, will quickly turn (repent) from their home and by any means possible seek that vaccine, no matter where it is.

And if we understand that we will die, then we do good to repent and seek the Lord Jesus Christ Who is our Vaccine for death!

Acts Mark 1:15 says, “repent and believe in the gospel.”

And what is the gospel? It is that “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” -1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Now that is an Easter message!

Therefore, if we partake in this gospel Vaccine which is Christ Himself, then we partake in His death with the eternal side effect of life! His resurrection proves Himself to be a powerfully successful Vaccine.

I’ve discussed the first mention of “plague” in Scripture and now let me go to one of the last mentions:

Revelation 21:4, which might be considered the last mention of something plague related, speaks well of how the eternal ramification of Christ as our Vaccine looks for those who take Him…

“ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Just as 1 Corinthians 15:24-26 says, “²⁴ Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

Our ultimate enemy is not the COVID-19. It’s death. And through Christ’s death for our sins, and His resurrection from the tomb, He proved that He alone can defeat this pandemic we are in. And He did!

As Revelation 21:4 says, the result of Christ’s death & resurrection is an eternal economy & society (the Kingdom of God) without the interruption of pain, suffering, crying and ultimate death. This is called heaven, a place where disease & death don’t create social distancing rules. It will be a place where we will be more intimately and permanently close within the society of relationships forever, which nothing will ever separate.

If you are a Church member who read this, then I’m glad that I could practice Romans 1:15 on you as well as 1 Corinthians 15:1-2. Romans 1:15 says,  ^“So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” This speaks of those who were already Christians. And 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 says, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, ² and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.”

Sometimes, we need a fresh view of the gospel just in order to remind us how eternally great our good news found in Jesus really is. Death is defeated! Jesus is our Vaccine! And we will live in a society without stock market crashes and traveling restrictions. You can take stock in that!

And if you aren’t a Christian, then believe and repent to Jesus Christ, your Vaccine from death.

“All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved” -Romans 10:13.