Jesus

Living the Lord’s Prayer – Part I

/ Lee A. Robinson / 1 Comment

The “Lord’s Prayer” gives us amazing insight into what is important to God. It’s as if God is saying, “Look, this is what you really need to focus on in your life.” The Lord here condenses all that we could pray for into six concise statements. Now, if God laid out a template for our prayers, wouldn’t that also serve as a good template for our priorities in life? How can we pray a focused, passionate prayer about specific things, then leave without those same things being the focus of our lives? I want to focus on how the Lord’s Prayer-Template can also be a good Lifestyle-Template. Take a few moments of meditation on each one of the six themes in the Lord’s Prayer, and ask yourself this question, “Am I cooperating with God in my life as well as with my prayers?”

Matthew 6:9-15 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:  For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 

Hallowed be thy name

Each of the requests in the Lord’s Prayer is in the imperative mood, which means that they are actually commands (in Greek study we called it a “sweet command” because it is being addressed to God; more like an entreaty). So, an accurate way of translating this would be, “Father, Make your name holy.” We are requesting of our Father that he would, by his power, make his name (which represents all of who God is) consecrated, or hallowed in our experience. The desire is for God and his reputation to be viewed as sacred, holy, unique, special, or elevated above all else to us. If this happens anywhere, it is surely a work of God- only the Spirit of God can create reverence for the one true God. But our question is- “Am I cooperating with God after I pray this prayer?” Are you requesting for God to make himself special above all else to you, but your decisions are not working towards that end?  

Where should we expect this prayer request to begin to be fulfilled? Would it not be in our inner life: inside of our heart, mind and soul? Why should we expect the White House, Wall street or White-Castle to consecrate God in their midst if we ourselves are white washed tombs? “Father, make me a holy place. May all my thoughts be pure and pleasing to you. May my soul tremble and rejoice when you speak.” Are you praying this prayer? And are you cooperating with God in your choices?

Romans 13:14 commands, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” 

Are you putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, or only putting on the t.v. or your phone? 

Are you putting Scripture into your mind, or putting on pornography and ungodly entertainment? 

Are you putting on modest clothing and surrounding yourself with God’s humble, holy people, or putting on skimpy, immodest dress and finding fellowship with unholy people?

We could go on, but you get the point. 

We cannot pray for God to make our minds a holy temple if we are desecrating it with our choices. This would be like an Old Covenant saint praying for the Temple to be filled with God’s glory after offering swine on the altar and hanging up a picture of Chemosh near the veil.

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

After the inward parts, we must move to our home. The plea is, “Father, may your name have a sacred, holy place in my house and among my family. May it be clear to everyone- dwellers and visitors, that God is specially honored, respected and obeyed. Amen.” This is a great prayer. Are you doing what is in the power of your hand to facilitate that happening? Is there anything unclean or dishonoring to God on your walls, in your movie cabinet or in your closets? Would your heavenly Father be at ease in your home the way it currently is? Would you be at ease if he came for an unexpected personal visit?

Do you pray that God’s name would be respected in your home, but as a parent you cheapen or even defame his name through hypocrisy your children regularly see? Perhaps the Lord would stoop down to bless your home if he saw you stooping down more often to ask your children to forgive you for the sins you commit in front of them? Do you long for God’s blessed presence to fill the air in your home, but you allow bitterness, unforgiveness, verbal fire-darts and unclean media to fill the air? If you allow devilish things to come through the screens into your home, what kind of spirits do you think will literally visit your home? Clear out the air with repentance, humility and confession. Give family Bible-time and prayer an honored time-slot, and then ask for God to hallow his name there. Make church attendance and service to others in Jesus’ name a priority over sports and extracurricular activities, then request his anointing on your family.

Thirdly, we should pray for God’s reputation to be celebrated in all of the world around us. “Father, make these streets clean and safe; make all of these churches faithful to you, glorifying Christ and his Word only; make our schools academies of truth and godliness; make our businessmen honest and fair; make our law-makers, police and judges upright and just. Make every person and every place humbly submitted to the Lordship and adoration of Jesus Christ!” Amen. Those are good prayers. We should be praying them regularly with specific names attached. But are you cooperating with these prayers? 

Are you praying the church-house is hallowed but you spread gossip about the saints? Do you stride into the service dressed so all eyes look upon you and then sing “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.”? Do we ask for the manifest presence of God while employing fleshly music and tailoring our preaching to the unregenerate?

Public schools are committed to training up animals and you still send your children there, but you’re begging God that they come home saints??? And you don’t speak out at the meetings? 

Are you praying for an awakening in your society, but you don’t preach the Gospel? Praying for the seeds of the gospel to sprout up new conversions but you are not sowing the seed? Praying that God would send forth laborers into his harvest and not considering it might be you that he wants to send?           

Our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of deep, unrivaled respect and adoration. This is a work of the Holy Spirit of God that we should beg God for. But our prayers should have feet on them. 

“Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3). Make room for God to do his work and then wait upon him! 

In this prayer-template given by the Lord, holiness is at the top of the list. Should it not be at the top of the priority list in our lives? 
Remember, this prayer is addressed to your heavenly Father. He does not deal with us as criminals, but as favored sons and daughters. If we simply confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). He is not looking for a slight slip to judge you. Not at all. He is very patient, kind and long-suffering. But we must yield to his authority. A broken and a contrite heart God will not despise (psalm 51). If you have not been cooperating with God, be humbled before him today and ask him to give you strength to yield your life to him. Amen.

Are You Ready To Die?

/ Lee A. Robinson / 6 Comments

Death is not the subject we ever want to talk about. It’s the last call we ever want to receive. Death is the last face we want to stare into. But death is real. All of us are going to die. You will. Are you ready to die? 

On Christmas morning my brother in law received a call that a family member woke up to her husband unexpectedly dead in bed. I just got off a phone call with a dear friend intubated in the hospital most likely breathing her last breaths. We have heard of many Covid cases recently, many among very vulnerable people. During our recent family skirmish with Covid we became nervous about my wife not making it due to severely low oxygen levels. 

Death comes. Sometimes it’s foreseen, sometimes unexpectedly, but nevertheless it comes. The death rate is 100%. No one escapes. It may sound far fetched and unlikely, but you could die today. In the United States just about 100 people die each day in a car accident. None of those people today are pulling out of their driveways expecting it to happen. Visit the cemetery today and you will find many buried who were younger than you. Even if you live to be old, the time is coming quickly. 10% of the American population dies every year (about 3.3 million people). The time to be prepared for death is today. 

There are no greater answers in the world for being ready to die than the Holy Bible. Notice how this is the source people run to for funerals, engravings, etc. Death and Life are major subjects of that Book. It’s pages reveal to us why we die, what happens after we die, and more importantly, how we can be personally assured of life after the grave. Take a few moments today to hear these things, and if need be, allow God to open your heart and mind before the time is too late…

Why do we die? 

The Bible teaches clearly that God designed mankind to live forever. He created the world without defect or death (Genesis 1-2). God placed in the middle of the garden of Eden two trees: The Tree of Life and The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil. God commanded Adam & Eve to not eat from the second tree. If they did, the consequence was, “Ye shall surely die.” In the Bible, death is seen as a judgment from God. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” Death is wages, or the consequences of our sins. Death is a curse. It is not the natural outworking of the world that God made, but rather the result of us rebelling against the God who made us. 

Adam & Eve sinned, and because they did they died. You and I have sinned, and because we have, we will die. Romans 3:23 concludes that, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” We have all missed the mark. We all have failed the exam. We have all offended our conscience, broken God’s Laws, and done things which have earned us death – whether it be lies, slander, anger, fighting, bitterness, theft, drunkenness, fornication, adultery, disobedience, rebellion, etc. We all have different sins, but we all are alike in that we are fallen, sinful, condemned creatures. 

What happens when we die?

Why are we so afraid to die? 1 Corinthians 15:56 says, “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.” Sin is like a spiritual venomous snake that we allow to bite us. It kills the body and the soul. If we had no sin we would not have to fear death, but we do have sin, therefore we fear death. Notice also it says, “the strength of sin is the law.” Our sins are actual crimes because God gave us a Law and a conscience. We are afraid to die because our death-date is also our court-date with our Creator, Almighty God. 

Revelation chapter 20 gives us a vision of this Final Judgment. God sits on his great white throne (symbol of purity) with certain books opened before him. We are sure that one of those books is his Law and another one is the detailed, faithful account of your entire life: every word, action, appetite, relationship, thought and even motive will be examined and tried by God’s Law. Those found guilty will be punished appropriately: “But the fearful, and unbelieving…and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). This is why so many people are afraid to die. We know intuitively that there is a day of reckoning, that our lives will be brought to account. If you have sinned and do not know that your sins are forgiven, you should be afraid. 

So we as people have two great spiritual problems – Sin and Death. Sin is the cause of our death; death is the result of our sins.    

How can we live?

Our father Adam disobeyed God which resulted in sin and death coming into the world (Romans 5:12). However, the Bible speaks of another “Adam,” the “last Adam,” whose obedience brought righteousness and life into the world – Jesus Christ (Romans 5). When mankind fell into sin and a curse in those beginning days, God promised that one day a child would come into the world who would deliver us from sin and death (Genesis 3:15). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world for the express purpose of solving our chief problems of sin and death: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15); “Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4); Romans 4:25 states that Jesus “was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.” 

Jesus solved the cause of our death (i.e. sin) when he was crucified, and then he solved the result of our sins (i.e. death) when he was resurrected. 

Jesus, as God & Man (the God-Man), was morally perfect. He did not deserve to die. But the good news of the Bible is that Jesus willingly went to judgment in our stead. He exchanged his perfect life for our sinful life. He embraced our judgment (death, judgment from God) so that we could embrace his reward (resurrection and eternal life). One Scripture that makes this very clear is 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For he (God) hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Jesus was our perfect substitute as he hung on the cross. We committed the crime and he paid our fine. 

The Gospel (which means “good news”) is the promise that if we simply recognize our sinfulness, turn to God for forgiveness, and trust in Jesus’ sacrifice for us, we will be given the gift of eternal life. In John 3:16 Jesus promised, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus also said in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” Jesus backed up these words by immediately after this raising a man from the dead (Lazarus) after he had been dead for four days!

The greatest proof we have that we can trust in Jesus, as recorded in the Bible, in that Jesus raised himself from the dead. He told the people that if they killed him he would raise himself on the third day (John 2:19). The only person who can help us overcome these two great enemies of sin and death is Jesus Christ, because he overcame both of them!!! 

Revelation chapter 1 gives us a vision of Jesus Christ risen from the dead and glorified in heaven. Here he says, “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Revelation 1:17-18). He has the Keys! If you want out of this spiritual dungeon, call upon Jesus Christ! He is alive forevermore! 

The Bible concludes with the awesome promise and description of eternal life. Revelation 21:4 says, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” These promises are only for those who have repented of their sins and have trusted in Christ. Jesus is the Tree of Life. Eat from him today (by believing in him) and live forever! 

For further insight read: John 3; Romans 3-5; Revelation 1

What If Jesus Were Never Born?  

/ Lee A. Robinson / 2 Comments

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS

We celebrate the births of those we love. We’re glad they came into the world. We highlight how they enrich our lives, help us, and give us great laughs. We celebrate not only how they have blessed our lives, but also the world around us. If they had never come into the world none of these things would have ever happened – watch the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” 

What would it have been like if Jesus never came into the world?  

Let that question sink in… 

Here are a few of the reasons why the birth of Jesus is so important. 

  1. The birth of Jesus means that we can trust God and His Word. 

At the fall of man, God in judgment remembered mercy by promising a child who would deliver mankind from the serpent and sin (Gen. 3:15). This theme of the promised child developed during the Old Covenant times and Scriptures (Abraham’s seed; a King on David’s throne; virgin born; God would become flesh – Isa. 9; born in bethlehem, etc.). The One to come is summed up in the title “Messiah.” The hope of all Israel was the arrival of this Son. He would be the Governor of Israel, The King who would sit on David’s throne who would establish an eternal dynasty, the Hero and Deliverer of God’s people, the Suffering Servant, The RIghteous Emperor greater than Solomon, etc. 

The problem though is that it seemed like the more history Israel experienced the worse things were getting. There were rays of light after the Babylonian captivity, but then the Roman iron fist was clenching tighter than ever. “God, where are you? Where is your promised anointed one? Have you forgotten about us?” 

When the life of a nation could perhaps become no darker, that is when God began to fulfill his Word. God works at His own pace and in His own time. If the people were paying attention, and were guided by the Spirit of God, they would have known when God was going to do this work in history (the timeline in Daniel), and some did know it (Simeon, Anna and others). But whether we can see what God is doing or not does not dictate whether He is working or not. Whether the world was ready or not, He Came, just as He said. Jesus descended from heaven, was conceived in human DNA, developed blood, bone and flesh in the womb and then was born. This “Baby-God” was proof that God keeps His promises. God is faithful to His Word. You can trust Him at His Word. In the same way the long awaited anticipations of the Old Testament were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, everything else that those same Scriptures say (as well as the New Testament) that relate to us and the world around us are just as faithful, reliable and certain. 

God promised a Son – – – that Son came. 

God promised _________ (you fill in the blank) – – – _______________ (that promise will be fulfilled. 

  

  1. The birth of Jesus marked the arrival of the Eternal King. 

The word “Gospel” in New Testament Greek is “εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion)” which means “Good News.” Related to this are the words “Evangelize, or Evangelist – a bringer of good tidings.” In the Greek/Roman world of the first century it had a deep, special usage that is carried into the story of Jesus in the New Testament. One instance of the word being used was in reference to a man running out of a battlefield home with the good news, “We have won the battle!!!” It’s not good news like, “Yay! I have enough butter for my toast,” but rather a triumphant, anticipated, world-shaking celebration.

This word was also applied to announce the installment of a new emperor. They didn’t have phones or the internet back then, so they would commission preachers, or “Evangelists” who would spread throughout the empire to proclaim the Gospel, or good news, that the new emperor was installed. Check out this one engravement that has been uncovered called the Priene Inscription, which was written about the birth of Caesar Augustus:  

“Since Providence… has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus, whom she filled with virtue, that he might benefit humankind, sending him as a savior (σωτήρ), both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things, and since he, Caesar (and inherent from this Lord), by his appearance…. surpassing all previous benefactors, and not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done, and since the birthday of the god (τοῦ θεοῦ) Augustus was the beginning of the good tidings (εὐαγγέλιον) for the world that came by reason of him…”

This inscription ascribes to Augustus the titles of God, Lord and Savior. His birthday, in their minds, marked the arrival of a great King who surpassed all others in bringing political deliverance and peace to the world. He came to “arrange all things.” All of this is called the Gospel or “good tidings” of Augustus. 

Now, all of this should sound super familiar to anyone who knows the accounts of Jesus well. The Gospel of Mark begins with, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” The Scriptures give Jesus the titles of God, Lord and Savior among others. It is clear that he came to “arrange all things” and to be the fulfillment of the long awaited plan of God. His birthday marked the day when the unique Son of God entered into the world as the last and greatest King. Basically, the Apostles were saying, “Yeah, the way you guys feel about Caesar Augustus is the way the One True God and us Christians think about Jesus. Just we think Jesus was much greater than your view of Caesar. Jesus is not a god, but the God, the Logos, the Messiah, the final King. He will not only bring peace to peoples and nations, but peace between us and God. He is the conqueror even over the Devil himself. 

So, to our application. The birth of Jesus marked the dawning of a new era in world history. He came to transform it into a different and better place. He crushed the head of the serpent at the cross; He defeated death at his resurrection; he ascended to rule over the world as King of the Kings and Lord of the Lords. Mankind now has verifiable and a living HOPE: forgiveness of sins, eternal reconciliation with God and each other in a deep, real way. His birth was the beginning of this all. 

 

  1. The birth of Jesus revealed to us something more about the true heart of God.

We knew alot about God before the incarnation: He is the infinite Creator and Sustainer of all things; He is highly Moral, loves righteousness, hates wickedness and will judge the world (the Flood, Sodom, etc.); He is the Providential Ruler of History and Nations. We also find the mercy, love and grace of Yahweh in choosing Israel, delivering them from slavery in Egypt, preserving them in the wilderness, giving them the Promised Land, exalting them to a great empire with David and Solomon, and even bringing them back after captivity and not forsaking them even though they had been stiffnecked and hardhearted since they came out of Egypt. 

However, what was now fully revealed with the birth of Jesus was the Humility of God. Yes, we knew that God is loving, patient and long-suffering. He was willing for his global reputation to be vulnerable because of his loyalty to his people Israel. But the fact that Yahweh, the LORD of Hosts, would arrive as a baby, lays bare to us a humility, vulnerability and empathy never seen before.

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation (literally emptied himself; divested himself of the outward form of his glory and divine prerogatives), and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men…” God condescended lower than any being could. He exchanged glory and worship of angels for obscurity, poverty, and dependence. They say that a human baby is the most dependent creature on the face of the planet.  

“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8) As though going from God-to-Man is not humbling enough, he became a servant to men. Not the form of a royal king, opulent and powerful, but a common man, a Jew, poor, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, a friend of publicans and sinners. The crown of which in the end was made of thorns- death by crucifixion: public, scandalous, shameful, and undeserved. 

God did all of this so that we could know Him more intimately and also so that He could know us more intimately: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man…Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour (help) them that are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:9,17-18) God not only knows about the temptations, heartaches, pains and sufferings of man, he feels them as well. God experienced dependence upon man to show us that we can truly depend upon God. 

All of Scripture reveals to us the full counsel on God’s nature, but we do find something very special about our God when we look to the manger. 

“Thank you, Father, that you sent your Son Jesus from heaven to come in the flesh like us. Thank you for fulfilling your Word and proving to us that we can trust every line in the Bible, that it is inspired and backed by you. Thank you for breaking into the world to bring a new Covenant and to establish your eternal kingdom. You are Almighty God, yet you understand a feel all of our troubles.” 

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)