Celebrating 35 years

I’ve been thinking about God’s power of late.  Stop and think about it with me: God has power that is unmatched and unparalleled by anyone or anything in the universe.  Just contemplate the miracles that He has done in the Bible.  This subject has been on my mind because I have seen the Lord show up and intervene in my own life.  I could give several examples of this, but the episode that I’m celebrating is how on this day, April 24, 1982 – 35 years ago – God healed me from a very serious illness called Infantile Spasms.

This disease was with me for almost six months (before I even had my first birthday).  One day, while I was in the hospital, I flat-lined; I was clinically dead.  I could have stayed that way and entered eternity that day.  But God, in His supernatural power, revived me.  My heart was beating again, and my brain function was completely normal.  Furthermore, there was no longer any trace of the Infantile Spasms!  I stand in awe of God and His power.  I'm reminded of a Chris Tomlin song lyric, "Our God is greater.  Our God is stronger.  God, You are higher than any other.  Our God is healer, awesome in power."

Every April 24th, I reflect on life.  I wholeheartedly believe that God ordained for me to live at this time, in this place, with these set of circumstances.  Nothing is accidental or random.  This includes when my dad, in seemingly the prime of his life, entered his Heavenly reward in 2015.  God wanted me to assume the role of taking care of my mother.  It’s a sacred responsibility that I take very seriously.  I couldn’t have taken on this role had it not been for God’s healing power in my life 35 years ago.    

Kevin   

"Love has won, death has lost" - Easter 2017

Happy Easter to you all!  I have three points that I want to bring up today.

Number one: Because Jesus is risen from the dead we know that He is God.  Jesus did amazing things on Earth.  He did feats that, quite frankly, only God could do.  Examples: Jesus made stormy weather cease by simply speaking to it; He multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish so that thousands not only were fed, but there were baskets of leftovers; He could also perceive what other people were thinking (Matthew 9:4).  

But the event that probably shocked everyone the most is when He brought Lazarus back from the dead after his being in the tomb four days.  For Jesus Himself to be resurrected, then, only displays yet again the power that God Almighty would logically have.  The resurrection fortifies the truth that Jesus is God in human flesh.  There is a fascinating verse tucked away in Romans 1.  In verse 4 we read that Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power…by His resurrection from the dead.”

Number two: Because Jesus is risen from the dead we don’t have to fear death.  I have seen death firsthand.  It struck my dad unexpectedly back in 2015; this event turned my world upside-down.  I know personally how death looks like a powerful foe that cannot possibly be defeated.  But this isn’t true.  Jesus Christ defeated death!  Billy Graham has a section on Jesus’ resurrection in his book “Peace with God." He writes, “As a result of the resurrection of Christ, the sting of death is gone and Christ Himself holds the keys…the power of death has been broken and death’s fear has been removed.”

I recall an Easter service many years ago where this particular church had death, in an allegory, speak.  Downtrodden and depressed, death remarks, “I remember when I used to be something.  But now, because Jesus conquered me, all I do now is act as a portal to usher believers to Heaven.”  As the hymn puts it, “Hallelujah for the war He fought.  Love has won, death has lost.”  The song goes on to declare, “And when I breathe my final breath I’ll have no need to fear that rest.  This hope will guide me into death.” 

Number three: Because Jesus is risen ­we can trust in Him.  It’s amazing to note just how many times Jesus said, in no uncertain terms, not only that He was going be executed – which is incredible enough – but also that He was going to rise again.  Read through the gospels.  You'll see that He repeatedly stated that He was going to die, but that He would be raised.  If Jesus didn’t back His prediction up, He would have been revealed to be a lying charlatan.  The resurrection is the litmus test for everything that Jesus said.  If Jesus did rise from the dead (and historical evidence overwhelmingly supports that He did), then you and I can trust not just in what He has said, but also in what He has done.

Someone is reading this and you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone to forgive you of your sins.  Perhaps you've never considered the work and claims of Jesus before.  But you stumbled upon these words.  It's not an accident.  God loves you and wants to have a friendship and fellowship with you. You might be saying, "Kevin, I don't really know you, but I think we have been living in different worlds.  If you knew the life I've led; if you knew the sins I've committed, you would be shocked and appalled."  Here's the good news: Jesus died on the cross to atone for all your sins.  The Bible says, "For Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God."  I'll say it again: God loves you and wants to have a friendship and fellowship with you.  The kind of life you've led is immaterial.

Now you might be wondering, "If what you say is true, I want that.  What do I have to do to obtain this?"  All you have to do is put your faith, trust, and belief in Jesus. The Bible says you are "justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation [meaning an acceptable, atoning sacrifice to God] by His blood, to be received by faith."  You don't try to work your way to Heaven; you simply accept, by faith, what Jesus has already done for you.  Take the free gift today.  Talk to God in prayer.  It's not a magical arrangement of certain words, but you could say something like, "Lord, I know I'm a sinner in need of a Savior.  I need You.  I need You to save me. Please forgive me of all my sin.  By faith, I put my trust and belief in You today.  Thank You for your mercy and grace toward me.  In Jesus' name, amen."  If you made a decision for Christ, let me be the first to congratulate you!

I'll conclude today with this: Aslan the Lion was gone.  That’s where we left him on Good Friday.  He had sacrificed his life in C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”.  His act was noble, heroic, and inspiring, but nevertheless Aslan was still gone when Narnia needed him.  Lucy and Susan, who saw this sacrifice, cried until “they could cry no more” as Lewis, via the narrator, put it.  Hours and hours passed, and the girls were enveloped in their grief.

As the morning light dawned, Lucy and Susan were stunned to see Aslan very much alive (with his mane flowing in all its glory).  When they asked Aslan how this was possible, he explained that there is what he called a deeper magic that the witch knew nothing about.  Incidentally, when Aslan speaks of magic, he is referring to the binding laws and ordinances of Narnia.  He says, “When a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead…Death itself would start working backwards.”  Aslan is a picture of Jesus Christ.  Jesus died for us, but He didn’t stay that way.  He is risen!

Kevin

Jesus "the atoning sacrifice" - Good Friday 2017

Have you ever stopped and pondered why this holiday is called “Good” Friday?  After all, this is a day that commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  First of all, crucifixion was an excruciating, barbaric, violent, and bloody method of execution.  Secondly, Jesus wasn’t guilty of any wrongdoing; He didn’t deserve to die at all.  So why would this day be considered “good”?  This is an important question.

You have to understand the notion of substitutionary atonement to understand the ramifications of Good Friday.  I recently heard a sermon where the pastor said, “Without substitution, the death of Jesus is unintelligible.”  I agree.  Substitutionary atonement is the theological truth that Jesus took the punishment that you and I rightly deserved on the cross.  When Jesus was hanging on that cross, He wasn’t paying for His sins; He was paying for the sin of every human being.  The Bible puts it this way: “But He (speaking of Jesus) was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him."

No one else in all of human history could have done what Jesus did all those centuries ago.  Jesus alone was qualified to take the price of all that sin on Himself.  Only Jesus was (and is) God in human flesh.  The Bible declares, “For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”  Further, only Jesus was sinless.  The Bible says that Jesus “committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”  Therefore, only Jesus Christ was worthy to be the sin-bearer for all of humanity.  The Bible says, “He (Jesus) is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

In C.S. Lewis’ wonderful book “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter Pevensie stumble into the magical land of Narnia.  Edmund meets Jadis, the evil White Witch.  She offers him a hot drink and some Turkish delight.  For a time, Edmund allies himself with Jadis; he even goes so far as to tell the witch where he last saw his siblings, putting them in mortal danger.  He begins to see the White Witch’s true colors, comes to his senses, and eventually turns against her.  But the cost for his transgression remains.  The cost, as he is told, is blood.  

Seeing the dire situation, Aslan the Lion, the true king of Narnia, does something that shocks every Narnian: he gallantly chooses to give his own life to save Edmund’s. Under the cover of night - after having his mane shaved - and after being taunted and jeered by the crowd, the evil witch, slays Aslan with a knife.  This scene points us to Christ’s sacrifice for us.

     

I’m convinced that someone reading these words has been tracking with me, and is even in agreement with everything that has been said.  But just knowing these facts are not enough to be in right standing before God.  You have to put your faith and trust in Jesus.  You have to take the gift of reconciliation with God for yourself.  The Bible says, “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you have no money, come, buy and eat…let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God for He will freely pardon.”  He will have mercy because of Jesus’ shed blood.  He will freely pardon because of Good Friday.  Receive the gift.  Move beyond intellectual understanding, and in faith, say “yes” to Jesus today.

Kevin