FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Introduction

Over the next few weeks I want to talk about fasting. In this week's devotion, we will first begin by examining a few of the reasons why many Christians don't like the idea of fasting. Second, we will examine Scripture in order to determine if fasting is something we are still meant to do in this day and age. Then we'll finish up by examining Jesus' response to the devil's temptation after His 40-day fast. Next week we will continue our Biblical examination of fasting.

Our Distaste for Fasting

For many of us, the idea of fasting leaves a bad taste in our mouths. Maybe this is because we think of those who fast as being holier than thou. We assume that those who practice fasting only do it for the wrong reasons (e.g., to get attention). Thinking of fasting reminds us of Jesus' words to the Pharisees: “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:16-18). We don't want to put on a show for others. We don't want to be hypocrites. We don't want to be perceived as being self-righteous, and so we abstain from fasting.

ccc Another reason for our distaste for fasting is that we think of it merely as a form of asceticism. Dictionary.com defines asceticism as: “the doctrine that a person can attain a high spiritual and moral state by practicing self-denial, self-mortification, and the like.” If we fast as a means of attaining a higher form of spirituality, then we are essentially claiming the ability to achieve a higher spiritual state. But we know that our spirituality comes from God alone—not from some form of imposed self-denial. As 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 says : “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Since we know that we are not capable of making ourselves more spiritual or more moral, we don't see the purpose of fasting. We are opposed to the idea that fasting might provide a sort of leverage to get what we want from God.

ccc Furthermore, we are unsettled by the seemingly close relationship between fasting and works-righteousness—the (wrong) idea that we can earn our own righteousness, or salvation, by our good works. The Bible makes it clear that this idea is not true. God judges us against His perfect law and, because we are not able to obey the law, we are helpless to save ourselves (Ephesians 2:8-9): “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” If we believe that we can somehow make ourselves right with God by doing good works, then we are placing our faith in our own works rather than in God's perfect work of salvation through Jesus. This is a very dangerous place to be! The Bible clearly states that our righteousness comes from God (Philippians 3:8-9): “I consider [all things] rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” God the Father, draws us to Jesus (John 6:44), and we come to Him offering nothing. The Holy Spirit creates faith in us, through which are able to receive what only Jesus can give us—eternal life. And even though we are called to be holy, it is God who washes, sanctifies, and justifies us (1 Corinthians 6:11). Given all of these problems, we have a hard time understanding why we should fast. We see the pitfalls of fasting, but none of the benefits.

ccc So we see that fasting, in and of itself, is meaningless. But the same could be said of prayer or worship (which I think we'd all agree are very important). The problem is that it's all too easy to do things without even thinking about them. We can mindlessly recite the words of prayers we've known since we were children, but is this really what prayer is? We can sing ages old worship hymns without thinking about God at all. Is this really worship? In the same way, we can deny ourselves food for a day, but if we do it for the wrong reasons and don't consider why we are doing it, then it's just a meaningless act. If fasting is just a form of works-righteousness, then we ought to discount it. But why then did Jesus Himself use this practice? Perhaps we should not discount it just yet...

Fasting: A Thing of the Past?

I am not aware of any verse in the Bible that commands us to fast, but it is clear from the Old Testament that fasting was a part of the Jewish life (e.g., Judges 20:26, 1 Samuel 7:6, 31:13, 2 Samuel 1:12, 12:16-22, 1 Chronicles 10:12, 2 Chronicles 20:3, Ezra 8:21-23, Nehemiah 1:4, 9:1, Esther 4, Psalm 109:24, Daniel 9:3, Joel 2:12, Jonah 3:5, Zechariah 7:3). When Jesus addressed the Jewish people in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:16-18), He did not say “if you fast,” He said “when you fast.” Jesus Himself began His earthly ministry with a 40-day fast (Matthew 4:1-4).

ccc Fasting was such a part of the Jewish tradition, that the people expected Jesus' disciples to fast. From the Bible we learn that John's disciples and the Pharisees fasted, but Jesus' disciples did not. When questioned about this, Jesus said (Matthew 9:15): “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom [Jesus] will be taken from them; then they will fast.” By this statement, Jesus was saying that His disciples would fast when the time was right. While Jesus was still with them, it was a time of celebration rather than mourning—a time of feasting instead of fasting.

ccc By His own words Jesus admits that He “will be taken from” His disciples. We might think that this phrase refers to His crucifixion and death. But I think it applies, more appropriately, to Jesus' ascension into heaven (Acts 1:9-11). It is apparent from the Bible that the latter explanation is what the early church understood to be true, because in Acts 13:1-3 it says “In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers... While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul [Paul] for the work to which I have called them.' So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.” Why would members of the early church fast if they believed that it was no longer appropriate?

ccc From these passages, I believe we must conclude that fasting is still relevant for us today. The question that remains is this: What is the purpose of fasting? Or Why should we fast? This question is more difficult to answer. We will begin by examining the events following Jesus' 40-day fast.

Not Bread Alone

What is the purpose of fasting? Jesus points us to the answer in His dialog with Satan during His temptation (Matthew 4:1-4): “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' ""

ccc “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” This is a profound statement. This saying originates from Deuteronomy chapter 8, which recounts the journey of the Israelites through the desert after they fled from Egypt. Eventually, we will shed some additional light on this passage by looking at the context of the original verse. But for now, I have a few general comments about the verse itself.

ccc When you consider that life itself came about by the commands (the words) of God, it's easy to see that man does not live on bread alone. Bread cannot bring life—only God can do that. Furthermore, it is by the words of God that all things came into existence. For example, Genesis 1:24 records: “And God said, 'Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.' And it was so.” And in Psalm 33, we read: “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth” (verse 6), and “he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (verse 9). When God speaks, His words come true. Everything we have today is here because God spoke it into existence. Everything—including our life—comes from God.

ccc Not only has God given us life, He also actively sustains our lives. We tend to think of food (e.g., bread) as our sustenance (that which sustains and nourishes us), but this is incorrect. So often we fail to recognize the work of God around us. We see only what we do and begin to think that we deserve credit and thanks for the food we harvest. Farmers plant seeds, they water the ground, they tend the weeds. Do farmers produce food? Psalm 104:14 says that God “makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth.” Later, in verses 24 and 27, the psalm continues: “In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures... These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.” The work of a farmer is hard. But farmers do not grow crops, they harvest them. Man is not capable of making seeds grow—only God can do that. We can't even comprehend why a seed mixed with soil, water, and sunshine should produce anything new at all—but it does. We take it for granted that our lives are in God's hands, and we frequently neglect to give Him thanks for what He's done. Verses 29 and 30 of Psalm 104 do a good job of expressing the extent to which our lives are truly in God's hands: “When you [God] hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.” So we see that both life and bread are gifts from God, who is our true sustenance. Whether we acknowledge God or not, day after day our lives continue because of Him (Psalm 3:5): “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.”

ccc God created us and gave us the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). We were made to live forever, but, because of our sin, we perish. However, as Christians, we know that there is hope. God sent Jesus to earth to bear our sins on the cross. Through Jesus, we can “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4, ESV). Remember that this new life is the result of God's grace, and it comes to us through faith in Jesus' atoning sacrifice (Ephesians 2:8)—“whoever believes in him [Jesus] shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). But without the Bible (the word of God), we would not know the truth of our salvation. We would not know what to believe in. “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). We are alive today because of God. In spite of our sins, we will not one day cease to exist. Instead, because we hear Christ's words and believe, we will live with Him forever. In this way also, we see that “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Eternal life comes from faith in the words of Christ. And this is what Christ said (John 6:35-40): “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty... All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

ccc From all of these Scriptures, we see that God is the true source of life. He sustains us day by day and has even paid the price to redeem us from the grave. Eternal life is ours through faith in what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. We have done nothing. God has done everything. Fasting, then, is a way of acknowledging that God—rather than bread—is the true source of life.

ccc Next week we will continue our Biblical investigation of fasting. In the meantime, I hope you will join me in meditating on the sustenance of God. I hope you will remember that Jesus is your bread—the one who sustains you in this life and keeps you for the life to come. Amen!

FACE TO FACE

“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). These words speak of Christ's return, which is mentioned over and over again throughout the New Testament—and is even alluded to in the Old Testament (e.g., compare Daniel 7:13-14 to Mark 14:62 and Revelation 1:7). The subject of this week's devotion is Christ's Return. It is not my intention to go into all the details of the end times, but rather to (1) have a brief look at the purpose of Christ's second coming and then to (2) focus on how we should live our lives in light of the certainty of His return.

Salvation: The Reason for Jesus' Return

Hebrews 9:26-28 describes the reason why Jesus came to the earth, and it distinguishes between His first and second coming: “...But now he [Jesus] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” The reason Jesus came the first time was to earn our salvation by bearing our sins on the cross. The reason He will come again will be to bring salvation to those who, in faith, are waiting for Him to return. Jesus' second coming will involve a gathering up of the true believers: “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens” (Mark 13:26-27). So we see that with Christ's return comes salvation.

ccc I think it's worth taking the time to answer the question: What does salvation accomplish for us? Why do we need to be saved? It all began with Adam and Eve's rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden, when they decided to be obedient to themselves and live for themselves rather than for God. We might be quick to blame them, but we are not innocent either. The Bible says that everyone is guilty of sin (Romans 3:23), and that all sin is really an offense against God (e.g., Psalm 51:1-4). Because we have all sinned against God, we are all in His debt—owing Him our very lives: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). In other words, death is the penalty for our sinfulness. Romans 5:12 expresses it this way: “...sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned..” So the answer to our question—What does salvation accomplish for us—is that salvation frees us from sin (and, therefore, from death): “...Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.' They answered him, 'We... have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?' Jesus replied, 'I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed'” (John 8:31-36).

ccc The more I come to know Christ and His perfect law, the more I realize that what He is saying in this passage above is so true. I am a slave to sin. Every second of every day, sin is crouching at my door, desiring to have me (Genesis 4:7). And, like Paul, I can truly say “...I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good... I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out... Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it... For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched [person] I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!...” (Romans 7:14-25).

ccc Jesus said, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” But He also said, whoever the Son sets free is free indeed! It's important to realize, though, that freedom from sin is not the freedom to do whatever we please (Romans 6:16,22): “Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ...But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” In this life, we really only have two choices: (1) Be slaves of satan and his desire for us to sin—which further separates us from God—or (2) be slaves of God and and His desire for us to be obedient to His life-giving commands. Whom would you rather your master be—someone who wants to harm you (satan) or someone who has your best interest at heart (Romans 8:28) and loves you so much that He suffered greatly in order to redeem you from the grave (God)?

Judgment: The Reason for Jesus' Return

John 5:22 says that God the Father “has entrusted all judgment to the Son.” In 1 Corinthians 4:5 we find Christ's second coming associated with judgment: “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.” Therefore, with Christ's return comes judgment.

ccc God's Judgment is not something we like to talk about. It is not something we like to think about. But with guilt comes judgment. We are on trial for our sins against God and the verdict has just come in—we are guilty. I think most of us would agree that laws are good. They bring order from chaos. They set a standard for all to follow. When someone does us wrong, we are glad when justice is served. Why is it different for the law of God? Do we really consider ourselves innocent? God's judgment is what we deserve—each and every one of us. And this is God's judgment (John 3:16-18): “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” This passage says that we are no longer judged by our ability to follow God's law, but rather by our belief that Jesus—in our stead—has already faced the death penalty for us and has paid the price for our sins.

ccc What is a saving belief? This is a difficult question. From my own experience I know that we—as sinful human beings—have a tendency to try and take “belief” and make it into something safe and easy. We want to have the salvation without the suffering (Philippians 1:29) and selflessness (Matthew 16:24). It took me a while to grasp what God was telling me—through His word and Spirit—about being in relationship with Him, but this is the understanding that I have come to accept: We all have to start somewhere in our relationship with Christ, and I believe the saying that “Jesus meets us where we are...” The Holy Spirit creates faith in us, and God meets us where we are... But then He takes us to a place we could never go on our own (Matthew 19:26, Philippians 4:13). When God calls us into a faith relationship with Him, He calls us to holiness (1 Peter 1:16). He calls us to die to sin (Romans 6:11) and become slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18). He calls us to a life lived for Him (2 Corinthians 5:15). There is no one in such a bad state of sin that Christ cannot reach that person (Romans 3:21-24)... But there is also no one so well off that they do not need Christ's help (Romans 3:23).

Living in light of Jesus' Return

One day Jesus will return—and with Him will come judgment and the completion of our long awaited salvation. If this is what we truly believe, it should affect the way we live our lives. 2 Peter 3:10-14 describes the coming of the Lord Jesus and His judgment as follows: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.”

ccc What kind of people should we be? How should we live our lives in light of the certainty of Jesus' return? Given that the entire New Testament deals with this question in one way or another, it is not possible to give a comprehensive answer. Instead I will attempt to touch on a few main points.

Purification & Sanctification: The Pursuit of Holiness

The first point is the one that is most clearly expressed in the passage from 2 Peter 3 above. These are the words that Peter uses to describe how we ought to be: holy, godly, spotless, blameless, and at peace with Jesus. In a sense, all these words are saying the same thing—be holy. I like the way John says it in his first epistle (1 John 3:2-3): “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he [Jesus] appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he [Jesus] is pure.” This passage of Scripture is saying that the people on this earth who are truly looking forward to Christ's return will seek purification. To be sure, holiness and purification are closely related (1 Thessalonians 4:7): “For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.” True holiness is the end result of the process of purification (or “sanctification”). And this is how important our purity is to God (Ephesians 5:5): “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”

ccc Consider the purification of a metal. The purity of a metal determines its value. Through the aid of fire, metals are refined in order to purify them. The refining or purification process involves the removal of the impurities or “dross”. As Proverbs 25:4 says, “Remove the dross from the silver, and out comes material for the silversmith.” In the same way that the silversmith desires to remove the dross from the silver in order to make it more pure, God desires to remove the dross from our lives. This analogy is used several times throughout Scripture: Isaiah 1:22, 25: “Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water... I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities.” Ezekiel 22:18: “Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are the copper, tin, iron and lead left inside a furnace. They are but the dross of silver.” Zechariah 13:9: “This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'” Malachi 3:3: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness...” 1 Peter 1:7: “These [trials] have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

ccc To seek purity means to seek the removal of our impurities, or dross. One obvious example of dross is sin. In the Bible, there are clear-cut examples of sin (Exodus 20:1-17: idolatry, murder, adultery, theft, etc). But really, anytime we fail to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—and to love our neighbor as ourselves—we break God's commands and are, therefore, guilty of sin (Luke 10:27). In this life we will sin. We are not perfect, but—with God's help—we strive for perfection. We strive for continued purification. This is how Paul described his own struggle with purification (Philippians 3:12-16): “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.”

ccc We know that we are going to mess up at times—that's inevitable. But when we do slip we need to repent (i.e., acknowledge our sin before God, ask for His forgiveness, and seek to do better in the future). The real problem is when we live in continual unrepentant sin. The Bible warns us not to do this when it tells us not to “change the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (Jude 4). Our sins should grieve us because they grieve God and—if we do not repent of them—they will continue to separate us from Him.

ccc Besides the obvious sins, there are other things in our lives that are not inherently bad, but they can become bad if they are misused. Television is a good example. (Something I've struggled with in the past.) If I like watching TV so much that I don't have time for God, then it becomes a bad thing in my life. Therefore, dross is anything in our lives that distracts us from God—anything that prevents us from single-minded devotion to the Lord. It is the stuff that we ought to consider loss for the sake of Christ. This is how Paul puts it (Philippians 3:7-8): “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.”

ccc Having said all of this, it's easy to become overwhelmed by our faults and failures. The devil wants to drive us to despair, but we must never forget the forgiveness and the mercy of God. If we really seek to purify ourselves, God promises that we won't have to do it alone (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24): “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify [purify] you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”

Watching & Waiting: Keeping an Eternal Focus

Luke 21:34-36 is a frightening passage: “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” Let's consider the meat of what this passage is saying.

ccc First of all, Jesus will return “at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:44). This means we should always be ready for His return. We should be waiting for His return. So the question is: What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for your schedule to free up before you commit to following Christ wholeheartedly or are you waiting for Christ's return with eager anticipation (Philippians 3:20-21) and longing (2 Timothy 4:8)? Another way of thinking about this question is as follows: Is your heart set on earthly or heavenly things? Are you focused on the temporal or the eternal? I'm sorry to say that most of my life thus far has been focused on myself and my earthly life, rather than on Christ and eternity. The passage stated above warns us not to get so caught up in our earthly lives that we neglect our relationship with God, which has eternal consequences. Therefore, as followers of Christ, we are called to readiness and watchfulness as we wait for His return.

ccc Secondly, having just talked—in the previous section—about our need for God's help in our purification, it is fitting that we should bring up the subject of prayer. In the passage above, we are commanded to pray that we would “escape all that is about to happen” and that we would “be able to stand before the Son of Man.” Are you ready to see Jesus, face to face in all of His glory, and to give an account of your behavior to Him? (See Romans 14:12 and 2 Corinthians 5:10.) I don't know about you, but when I think of having to do this, I cringe. I'm not sure if that's the right reaction or not, but it definitely motivates me to pray! In the book of John, Jesus repeatedly tells His disciples that He will give them whatever they ask for in His name (John 14:13-14, 15:7,16, 16:23-24). The conditions of Jesus' promise, however, are that His words remain in us, that we bear fruit as His disciples, and that our request be something that brings Him glory. If we ask for a free porsche, for example, we probably won't get it. But if we ask for things we know God wants us to have, then we can be certain we will receive them. Therefore, in view of eternity, we should pray that God would purify us and make us blameless so that we would be able to stand before Jesus when He returns.

Conclusion

There are many more things I could say regarding the ideal Christian lifestyle, but my purpose was not to be comprehensive. Wherever you are in your walk with God, I encourage you to “press on”—to forget what is behind and to strain toward what is ahead. Assess your priorities as you fix your eyes “on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). And as you strive to press on towards purification and a closer relationship with God, do not neglect to pray. To do so would be to forget that we are unable to purify ourselves, but are in desperate need of God's help. In the words of M. E. Andross, “If the Christian does not allow prayer to drive sin out of his life, sin will drive prayer out of his life. Like light and darkness, the two cannot dwell together.” (I encourage you to read through some of the other prayer quotes.) Let me end with a verse of Scripture (1 John 2:28): “And now, dear children, continue in him [Jesus], so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.”

THE BEST IS YET TO COME

Introduction

This week's devotion is essentially an expansion of 1 Corinthians 13:10, which says, “when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” Although this verse deals specifically with a future time when spiritual gifts will become obsolete, it can also be used to describe other times when God—according to His will—brought about something new and better to replace a previous, imperfect system. Although the theme of this week's devotion is things that have or will become obsolete, our main topic for this week—summed up in Hebrews 9 and 10—is the transition from the old to the new “covenant” (or “testament”). In a sense, we will be investigating the way in which God has interacted with His people through time—first at the temple by way of imperfect animal sacrifices, and then through the coming of the Holy Spirit by way of Jesus' perfect sacrifice. Although as Christians we do not adhere to the rituals of the old covenant, I hope you will appreciate the beauty of their symbolism.

The Problem and the Solution

Adam and Eve had perfect fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden. But when they rebelled against Him, mankind's ability to relate to God (and really our ability to relate to all other living creatures) was damaged. The problem is that our sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). As the Bible says “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth” (1 John 1:5-6). Isn't John saying that if we walk in the darkness (in sin) that we can't have fellowship with God? Therefore, in order to draw closer to God and have a relationship with Him, atonement for our sins must be made.

ccc Forgiveness and atonement for sin is not something we can accomplish for ourselves. As Psalm 49:8 says, “the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough...” But God—in spite of the fact that we rebelled against Him—loved us so much that He chose not to leave us dead in our sins. According to the Bible, the key to forgiveness is blood. God says, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life” (Leviticus 17:11). Ever since the fall, when sin came into the world through Adam and Eve's rebellion against God, our sins have separated us from God so that it was impossible for us to have a right relationship with Him. But, through blood, payment for our sins can be made.

Whose Blood?

If blood is the way to salvation, it is worth considering the following question: “Whose blood?” Hebrews 10:1-4 (NLT) says that “The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” This passage of Scripture says that the old testament sacrifices were only a “shadow” and a “preview” of the perfect sacrifice that Jesus would one day make. These sacrifices pointed forward to the day when the people's sins would be paid in full by Jesus.

ccc The Passover (Exodus 12:1-13), in particular, is a beautiful picture of what God had planned for the salvation of His people from the very beginning. During the Passover, each Jewish family was instructed by God to take a year-old, male lamb “without defect” and slaughter it at twilight. Then they were to “take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses.” On that same night, God was going to “pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn.” (This was the final plague that God inflicted on Egypt to motivate Pharaoh to let the Jewish people—who were enslaved by the Egyptians—go free.) As God passed over Egypt, He looked for one thing—blood. “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”

ccc In the same way that God struck down the firstborn males of Egypt, He allowed His only Son—His firstborn—to be struck down. The perfect year-old, male lamb that the Israelites sacrificed during the Passover was a preview of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. And, on the Day of Judgment, God will be looking for one thing—blood. He will look for the mark of Jesus' blood in our hearts and in our lives to see who it is that we have been living for—whether for Jesus or for ourselves (2 Corinthians 5:15).

ccc To the Jewish people, the Passover was a time to remember what God had done for the Israelites long ago (Exodus 12:25-26). But Jesus revealed the truth to His disciples when He celebrated the Passover feast with them on the night of His arrest (Luke 22:19-20 / Matthew 26:28): “[Jesus] took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'” This new covenant—or new testament—was something God had promised long ago (e.g., Jeremiah 31:31-34). Shortly thereafter, Jesus fulfilled these words through His death on the cross. The timing of Jesus' death was no coincidence. He died on the eve of the Passover because He was the true Passover lamb: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

All about the Timing

If animal sacrifices are not the way to salvation, our next question is: “Why did God use them?” I have heard some say that God exists outside of time. Regardless of whether or not this is true, the Universe certainly exists within time. And everything God does in our realm is accomplished within the frame of time. As the Bible says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). We may not know why God used the timing that He did, but we do know that, within our earthly frame of reference, there was a time before Christ (B.C.). Not a time before Jesus existed (see John 1), but—at least from our point of view (see Revelation 13:8)—a time before He came to the earth to pay for our sins. In the time before Christ, the Jewish people relied on the old covenant, with its system of sacrifices, to enable them to draw near to God. But because that system was imperfect, it was never meant to last forever: “For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established” (Hebrews 9:10, NLT).

The Tabernacle: God's Dwelling Place

“Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary” (Hebrews 9:1), which was referred to first as the “tabernacle” or “tent of meeting” (a movable building) and later as the “temple” (Exodus 40:6, 1 Chronicles 6:32). This sanctuary was not only a place for the Jewish people to come to make sacrifices for their sins, but also it was a place for God to dwell among His people (Exodus 25:8)—a place where they could come near to worship.

ccc In old testament times, the ark of the covenant (or the ark of the testimony) was the most holy and perhaps the most cherished thing in the tabernacle. The reason the ark was considered so sacred was because that is where God promised to meet with the high priest (Exodus 25:22): “There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.” Once the Israelites had finished building the tabernacle, just as God had instructed, the Bible says that “the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34). Why the God of the Universe should want to constrain Himself to a tent built by human hands in order to dwell among insignificant, sinful human beings is beyond me. But the beauty of it is that this is exactly what God did, and He did it all for the sake of His people!

ccc Acts 17:25 tells us that God “is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything” but rather that “he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.” On the surface of things, it might appear as though the Israelites did a lot for God by following all of those tedious instructions as they built the tabernacle (Exodus 25:1-31:18 and 35:4-40:33) and repeatedly offered sacrifices to Him, but God didn't need the tabernacle or the sacrifices for Himself. All of these things were for the sake of the Israelites. For without the sacrifices, the Israelites would've been completely cut off from God because of their sins.

The Curtain: Limited Access to God

As great as the ark of the covenant and the temple were, access to God was still quite limited under the old covenant. The ark of the covenant was housed in an inner room of the temple known as the “Most Holy Place” which was separated from the outer room by a curtain. As described in Hebrews (9:6-8, NLT), “the priests regularly entered the first room as they performed their religious duties. But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.”

ccc The Bible records that when Jesus died, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Mark 15:37-38). Therefore, it was not until Jesus' perfect sacrifice on the cross that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was freely opened to us. Jesus' blood made atonement for our lives. He paid the price for our sins in full. Through Jesus, we can now come into the presence of God. As Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith...”

The Temple of the Holy Spirit

Under the old covenant, the earthly sanctuary—and the ark of the covenant in particular—was the dwelling place of God's Spirit. The Jewish people treasured the ark of the covenant, and the fact that it would one day become obsolete was beyond their ability to comprehend. But God alluded to something better when he said “In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land... men will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made” (Jeremiah 3:16). The ark of the covenant was good, but the best was yet to come.

ccc Interestingly, in John 1:14, we hear that Jesus—described as “the Word”—“became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” In that same chapter, we can read John the baptist's account of Jesus' baptism (John 1:32-34): “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” In the next chapter, we hear how Jesus drove the money changers and the people selling animals from the temple in Jerusalem. Afterward, “the Jews demanded of him, 'What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?'' Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.' The Jews replied, 'It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?' But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken” (John 2:18-22). In these Scriptures we see that Jesus' body was the temple of the Holy Spirit. But being with Jesus was not the closest fellowship with God that the disciples would experience. The best was yet to come.

ccc In His conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus alluded to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (John 4:19-24): “'Sir,' the woman said, 'I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.' Jesus declared, 'Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem... a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.'”

ccc Before Jesus' arrest and crucifixion, He spoke to His disciples, telling them about the coming of the Holy Spirit (John 16:5-14): “Now I am going to him who sent me... It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment... when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” Then, after Jesus was raised from the dead, before His ascension into heaven, “he appeared to [the apostles] over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: 'Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth'” (Acts 1:3-8). Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit. He was the one who would baptize, not just with water, but with the Holy Spirit as well.

ccc “When the day of Pentecost came, [the disciples] were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them...” (Acts 2:1-4). When Jesus told the disciples He was going away, it was hard for them to imagine anything better than having Jesus by their side. But when the Holy Spirit came upon them, their bodies became temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), and they received spiritual gifts, just as it was promised long ago by the prophet Joel (2:28-29).

ccc And this is God's will for all followers of Christ (Acts 2:38): “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This is the season we now live in. Animal sacrifices are no longer necessary because Jesus has paid for our sins in full. And, because of His ascension into heaven, He has sent us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth and to gift us for the building up of the church—the “body of Christ.” But Jesus is not gone forever. He has promised to return (John 14:2-3): “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

ccc Just as the old covenant became obsolete, so also the gifts of the Holy Spirit will one day become obsolete. When we see Jesus face-to-face, we will no longer need the gift of faith because all of our hopes will be confirmed. We will no longer need prophets to tell us God's will or tongues to help us pray to Him because we will be able to speak to Him directly and to clearly hear His reply. “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Surely the best is yet to come.

ccc This week I hope you will join me in meditating on the beauty of God's symbolism in the old covenant. And also, “since we [now] have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God,” I encourage you to “draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith...” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

(Next week we will focus on 1 Corinthians 13:12—“Then we shall see face-to-face”—by discussing how the certainty of Jesus' Return should affect the way we live our lives.)