(Kent Heaton)
When we think of the greatest sacrifice ever given, the scene at the cross comes to mind with the Son of God nailed upon a plank of wood. How cruel man could be to another man and how shameful the act of crucifixion that would be imposed upon God's Son! The power of love and the devotion of Christ to His Father is clearly heard in His cries in the garden and upon the cross. But let us turn the camera back to a time preceeding the cross.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made ... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
(John 1:1-3,14) We see Jesus as He was before His birth and ministry upon the earth. He was with God and was God and through Him the world was made. He dwelt with God before time began and unfolded the creation of the world. He watched as man rebelled against God and the garden of Eden was no longer a safe haven for man.From His presence with God he beheld the terrible flood that would consume the whole earth and destroy all that had the breath of life - save eight souls and an ark full of animals. He would witness the unfolding of the history of man as they would fight and kill one another, and the chosen people of God would rise in victory in their faith and fall in defeat in their unbelief. The "time" would come as the fullness of all things had come, and He knew that to save man from their downward spiral of destruction and fear of death - HE would have to become a man.
"Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."
(Philippians 2:5-8) The phrase, "made Himself of no reputation" means that Christ "emptied" Himself from His place with God.The greatness of the sacrifice of Jesus is found in what He left and what He became. He was God who became man in the flesh and had to bear under the burdens of the flesh. He was tempted as all men (Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:14-16; James 1:14; 1 John 2:16). He left a "realm" of all power, all knowledge and all presence for a world where he had to learn to walk as a little child and learn to talk. He
"increased in wisdom" (Luke 2:52) as other children and yet He was far beyond them all in understanding. (Luke 2:46-49) He hungered where he had never hungered before. He tired and needed to sleep, yet as God He did not weary or sleep. (Isaiah 40:28)He wept and felt anguish of heart in the deep emotions of the human spirit. (John 11) Some things He did not know are seen in the story of the fig tree. (Mark 11:12-14) He felt the pain of the whips upon His back as they beat him unmercifully before they drove iron spikes through His flesh and nailed Him to a cross. He had not felt or known these measures of man as God. He became man to be a merciful and faithful High Priest to aid those who are tempted. (Hebrews 2:17,18) How can we understand the humanity and the deity of Jesus and not understand what He left?
I wonder (and I know there is no answer) what He and His Father said or thought as Jesus left to come to the Earth? They shared glory together (John 17:5) and eternity. How shrill the cry must have been in those final gasping moments when Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?," that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46) How deep the pain and the sorrow as He became sin and for that moment He and His Father must be separated.What Jesus left to empty Himself will never be measured in human terms. What He gave is measured in blood. What He offers is salvation through that blood. What He gained is found in Paul's writing:
"Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11)The Little Maiden From The Land Of Israel
(Kent Heaton)
Life was difficult in the land of Israel. To meet the daily needs of water and food was a constant challenge. Compounding these problems was the constant danger of invading armies attacking or passing through the country. Time and again bands of raiders would sweep across the countryside taking whatever they wanted. Often, to the horror of parents, children were taken as slaves. On one such raid a young girl was taken away from her home and family and forced to serve as a slave. It would seem to be a cruel fate to have to serve the commander of the army who took her away. He represented the terror and horror of life under the sword. All too well could resentment and bitterness be held for such a man.
The heart of this little girl was not filled with hatred but rather an abiding love and devotion to God. Yes, she was not in her home with her familiar surroundings of Jewish life. Her world was filled with the heathen life of the Syrians. She could not run and play as she did before as the daughter of loving parents. He life was now at the bid and call of her captors. The fate of the parents and her family is unknown but what is known is the education given this young girl to love others and trust in God.
Not only could she see her life as a slave, filled with sadness and despair, but to her greatest surprise - her master was a leper. Leprosy was an ugly disease and carried the certainty of death. In her own land, lepers were separated and kept from the common population by law. (Leviticus 13) How terrifying it must have been to see such a man and to work in his house. But again she did not fear nor shrink back in her devotion to God.
From the heart of a little maiden came words of sympathy and love for her enemy. She spoke to Naaman's wife and told her that there was a prophet in her homeland that could take away the disease that disfigured her husband. What great faith from the mouth of a little child. The only recorded instances of leprosy being healed was Miriam. (Numbers 12:13,14) Jesus said in Luke 4:27, "And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."
Where did she find such faith? She believed in the impossible but she believed in God.
"For with God nothing will be impossible." (Luke 1:37) She exercised her faith in desiring to have her master healed of such a horrible disease. Her heart was not filled with a hatred to destroy but a love to change a mans life. In the whole of Israel there was no such faith as in the land of Syria from the mouth of a maiden.Naaman sought out the prophet and was told how to heal himself of his leprosy. (2 Kings 5) After a period of time filled in anger over the manner Elisha had treated him and the instructions given, Naaman went to the Jordan river - dipped seven times - returned home with
"the flesh of a little child." How fitting that his flesh became in the figure as the flesh of the little maiden who loved him and wanted him to be healed. The commander of the army of the king of Syria, a great and honorable man, a mighty man of valor, had become like a little child in humble obedience.How great her faith and how great her love. Her name remains hidden from the pages of history but her act of love and compassion is told time and time again to the faithful of heart. The story of Naaman is a story of a maiden's love for her enemy and her devotion to her God.
"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:44,45)(Kent Heaton)
It seems uncharacteristic to say that God hates because we think of God as John's description in 1 John 4:8 - "God is love." The character of God is so filled with love as He gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross for the salvation of man. As a loving Father, we cherish the fellowship of love enjoyed by His presence. To examine the complete character of God is to understand the full measure of His nature. Paul wrote in Romans 11:22, "Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off."
Jehovah has a character of love and a character of hatred. This hatred is not like the hatred of the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). The hatred of God is towards those things that defile His holy name and nature. The children of Israel were warned about bowing down to false Gods in Deuteronomy 12:31,
"You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods." The nature of idol worship was as abomination to the eyes of the Lord and He hated what they were doing. "You shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the LORD your God hates." (Deuteronomy 16:22) God commands man to put Him first in all things and He hates the idols' men make.The Psalmist gives a side to the character of God when he writes:
"The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates." (Psalms 11:5) The action of the wicked and those who love violence is against the Holy character of God. The wise man wrote in Proverbs 6:16-19: "These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren." Here we see the abomination that sin brings to the mind of God.Malachi points out another thing that God hates in Malachi 2:16 -
"'For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one's garment with violence,' says the LORD of hosts. 'Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.'" God hates divorce because it is against the pattern love he established in the garden of Eden. God hates divorce! It destroys the home, the family, the society, the nation and ultimately can lead to the destruction of the soul. Marriage is a beautiful fellowship created by God for happiness and love. When men choose to disregard God's law of marriage and follow divorce, God hates it.God hates hypocrisy in worship. Amos 5:21-23 describes how God felt about the worship of the Jews -
"I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments." The character of God requires worship to be in "spirit and truth." (John 4:23,24) Worship is to be from the heart and in truth before God.God is a loving God and how blessed man is to know of His love. However, man must also realize that God hates sin - not the sinner - but sin.
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)(Kent Heaton)
The woods and scrubs of this back-road seemed to stretch for miles and miles. With soft rolling hills and contours of dense forest and open pasture, one can get lost in the peacefulness of North Florida. A few houses speckle the landscape far from the main road. Traveling this road took one away from the hustle and hectic pace of the main highway. In this setting it seemed odd to find someone along side the road sitting on the ground. And then I saw what was before him.
I had seen it a few days earlier as I passed by. My daily commute had brought me this way and I began to put the pieces of the landscape together with each turn and each hill. A silent white cross stood bathed in flowers with words inscribed upon it. A familiar scene in too many places upon the roads and highways of the land. Small memorials at the place of great sadness and tragedy. A moment in time changed the lives of a family, a group of friends, a community and a life. Silent memorials testifying to a love shared by others in death.
He sat before this scene of quiet solitude consumed in his own thoughts. I pondered his thoughts and desired to know more about what happened on a day that changed his life. There he was - alone in a world so beautiful around him - flowers draped over the staff of wood, touching with his heart memories of someone he deeply cared for.
In the back-roads of life we find the lesson of life and death haunting us. Death is all consuming and takes so much away from us. So often there is no understanding and there is no explanation of why. In a moment a life filled with happiness and purpose is taken by a tragic event of death. We sit before memorials of our memories and read the names of our loved ones with tear stained faces and want so much to touch them once more. The voices that once filled our lives are now silent and the hands that we could touch now lie folded in silent sleep. Memorials are the places of our hearts and the remembrance of the frailty of life.
"For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."
(James 4:14) Death comes upon all men and so often without warning. Life is filled with all the thoughts and deeds of our desires and wishes. What is life but a time spent before death? It is so fleeting and so short and yet upon this short life eternity depends.Our lives are not about this world but a better world that has been prepared for us.
"O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:55-57) The consolation found in Jesus Christ is the knowledge of sitting before our memorials is not a final act. We mourn and grieve the loss of our loved ones for the absence of the body. In Jesus Christ we find the solace and the peace to know that as we will travel that road one day we have a hope of the blessed assurance. Take a moment and read again 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.Hope springs eternal for the children of God in the knowledge that life beyond this world is to be longed for and embraced with open arms. The back-roads of life will always bring us to remember how frail and precious life is. The comfort we have is found in standing in the shadow of the cross that held the Son of God. Before him we can stand secure in the
"hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began." (Titus 1:2)