Tag Archives: Jesus

Exodus 30-31; Five Bucks. Five Bucks.

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Each Jewish adult was required to pay a ransom for his or her life. (30:12) The price was half a shekel, or about 8 grams of silver. So by today’s standards, a life was worth about five bucks. (chabad.org)

A rich person wasn’t worth more than a poor person. A poor person’s debt wasn’t simply forgiven for lack of funds. Men didn’t pay more than women. Healthy not more than the sick.

Five bucks.

This says two things to me. 1) We are all equal in God’s eyes. That may give you warm fuzzies, but the reality is we are all equally guilty in God’s eyes. We all have sinned. We all are his enemies. We are all in need of redemption. But…

2) Jesus paid it all!!

Jesus went to the cross and died once for all. My ransom cost Him exactly what yours did. The wages of sin is death. Jesus died. I’m no more special than you, no more chosen than you, no more loved than you.

Jesus paid my ransom at the same time and in the same way He paid yours. I am forgiven because I’ve accepted His work on the cross and claimed it for my own. I pray you have done the same.

Exodus 27-29; A Step Further

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There were a lot of hoops Aaron and his sons had to jump through before they could do the work of the priests. From the top of their heads to the tip of their toes, from what they ate to where they ate it, from what animal they used in the sacrificed to what they did with every inch of the animal, nothing was left to chance. Their instructions, which were many, were clearly spelled out so the Jews could have their sins forgiven.

But after all that, even if carried out to the letter, the ceremony and sacrifices could only cover their sins, none of it could actually take those sins away. (Heb 10:4)

Only Jesus can do that. (Heb 9:15, 26; Romans 3:23)

Scripture tells us that when Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice, He washed our sins away, removed them as far as the east is from the west, buried them in the deepest sea, and promises never to remember them ever again.

What we read in Exodus is a picture of the intricate details Jesus fulfilled. But He went a step further. And I am praising Him today because He did!

Exodus 19-20; Good Folk

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I love knowing that all the Jewish people gathered around the mountain that day actually heard God’s voice. It must have been an incredible and terrifying experience. I love that God spoke to them in their own language, and I love that He came down to them to meet with them on their level. God is so personal.

We Christians know the Law God gave to the Jews wasn’t given as a recipe for acceptance. I am reminded that God was speaking to His already saved people. He had already rescued them from Egypt, and they were already free. They were already the children of God’s promise to Abraham.

The Law was given as a guide for living in Canaan, and ultimately to point them to Jesus. Following the Law has nothing to do with salvation. Oh, it’s a result of salvation. But it can never fulfill the requirements for salvation. It was never intended to.

So when people say they hope they’ve lived a good enough life to get to heaven, or if they are convinced they’re ok because they aren’t as bad as some mass murderer, they are wrong.

The Jews were saved when the blood was applied to their doorposts. It was the blood alone that saved them.

And it’s the Blood still today.

Exodus 11&12; Only The Blood

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This is salvation. When God instructed the Israelites about the final plague, he painted a picture of what He was prepared to do Himself. The perfect lamb, slain, it’s blood painted around the door, it’s meat ingested, resulting in life and freedom from bondage, and the hope of the Promised Land.

The blood that saved them from certain death, while those without the blood suffered unspeakable loss. The blood, the only means of salvation.

Yes, that’s Jesus. God didn’t require anything of His people He wasn’t willing to fulfill Himself. He demanded obedience of His children, and He was obedient to His Father. That blood protected the families from death. Not might, or intellect, or self-effort. It was only the blood.

And it is still only the blood. What protects you from the consequences of sin? Without the blood of Jesus, there is no protection at all.

Genesis 48-50 Looking Ahead

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Genesis, the book that starts at the beginning of life, ends looking ahead to the glorious future. The Messiah is coming, Jacob tells his sons, and He will rule forever. (49:10) Jacob speaks of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, and we know Jacob spoke of Jesus, even if he didn’t know Jesus’ name.

God had promised Abraham that He would use his descendants in a way that would bless all nations. And God will be true to His Word in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus will be born a Jew from the line of Judah. And He will rule the world.

Those are the thoughts we’re left with here at the end of this precious first book of the Bible. So many lessons are learned from watching the nation of Israel as God sets them apart for the privilege of revealing God to the world, and ultimately for producing the flesh and blood Savior.

I’m looking forward to continuing this journey as we dig into Exodus.

Genesis 44-45 Let Me Pay For That

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Judah’s heartfelt plea for Benjamin’s life sealed the deal. Joseph could hide his identity no longer. Jacob’s family would be restored, and saved. Judah’s love for his father resulted in his voluntary sacrifice of himself to pay for the sins of his much-loved brother.

Sound like anyone you know?

There are so many parallels between Judah and Jesus. Although it’s not a perfect comparison, it reminds me that Jesus willingly gave His life to pay for my sins. His life revealed the Father, His death marks my debt paid. And it’s because of Jesus that my relationship with God, once separated by sin, is restored. I am saved.

Footnote: Jesus’ earthly lineage includes Judah. That’s why I love reading the Bible. It’s not just a series of nice stories. God’s Word is the complete picture. And it all points to Jesus!

Genesis 9:25-10:32- The Name

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I didn’t know that Shem, in Hebrew, means Name.

“What did you name your child?”

“Name.”

But here is what is thrilling about that. Jesus – the Name above all names – is a descendent of Noah’s son Shem!

Is this Book about Jesus from Genesis to Revelation? On every page. In every verse. God lovingly inspired men to write about the Name that will one day cause everyone who ever lived to bow before him and confess that Jesus is Lord!

Genesis 3 – And We All Fall Down

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First let me say that I believe Adam and Eve were real people, created not born. I believe they walked with God in a beautiful garden, loved and were loved. I believe a snake spoke to Eve, and I believe Adam and Eve chose sin.

Sin didn’t just happen to them. God wanted them to trust Him, to believe Him. But they willingly disobeyed. Rather than believe God, they believed Satan’s lie that they could be like God.

The couple knew they had changed the moment that fruit hit their stomachs. God knew they had changed, too (No, it wasn’t a surprise). And He immediately set His plan of redemption in motion. There are so many beautiful aspects to God’s response to Adam and Eve after they sinned.

But I love – LOVE – the fact that God went looking for them. Not because He didn’t know where they were. But because they didn’t know where He was! God didn’t wait for them to come to Him. He sought them out!

Luke 19:10 says Jesus came to “seek and to save that which was lost.” What was true in the garden is true yet today. God goes after the lost lamb, turns the house inside out looking for that lost penny, goes into Zacchaeus’ house, and eats at the table with publicans and sinners.

God, who is not willing that anyone die without Him, stops at nothing to win a soul for eternity while that soul is still inhabiting a body in this lifetime. He’s not up there somewhere sitting in a recliner with remote in hand, checking this person, then switching to someone else. He is actively seeking every person. He’s actively seeking you and me.

We all sin. We’ve all taken the same fall Adam and Eve took so long ago. And the same God who came looking for them, is doing the same for us. When I read this chapter in Genesis I don’t just see God’s condemnation for sin, or His curse on creation.

I see God’s love, the provision of forgiveness through the blood of His Son. I see grace and mercy. I see Someone who WANTS me with Him, who is right here right now trying to get my attention.  I see God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And I love Him.

December 28 – Intentional

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Revelation 1-5

Whenever I read John’s Revelation, I always pray that my focus would not be on the horizontal, but on the vertical. Not on the material pictures painted here, but on God Himself. And when I do, I can almost join that worship service I read about and sing with the angels, “Holy, Holy, Holy! Worthy is the Lamb!”

God speaks to us Christians through John about the role of the church; the pitfalls, and the promise. I hear Him tell us not to just go through the motions, but to serve Him with the same love we had when we first believed.

I hear Him tell us to stay true to Scripture and reject Satans’ lies. I hear Him say it won’t be easy, that persecution will effect Christians all over the world.

Don’t accept false teaching, He tells us. Wake up and live this Christian life intentionally. Hold on. Be passionate and effective for the kingdom.

God tells us He will discipline the disobedient Christian in order to save them.

And, for those of us who overcome, we will receive the best prize ever – God Himself: the crown of life, the power and authority, the Word, the morning star, JESUS!!

Reading Revelation and not thinking it’s a history book, or a futuristic prediction, makes it alive and personal today. God wants us to be active Christians, obedient, loving, and alert so that others can know Him, too. I don’t think the book of Revelation is so much a book of the future. I think it’s a book for today, right now, with important lessons for us to follow.

My intention is not to offend those of you who study this book and look for material interpretations. I certainly don’t intend to criticize you if God is directing you in that way. I am telling you how He is directing me. And I don’t want us to miss the messages He has for us for today, to make us stronger and more effective workers in His Kingdom. I think we can all agree that  all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, correction,  so that we are equipped to do what God wants us to do as we live out our salvation at the end of 2016 and into the new year.

Today, as I read His Word, I believe God is asking me to be intentional in my walk with Him. And He promises it will be worth it, when I realize He Himself is my prize!

December 27 – Walking In Truth

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2 John; 3 John

John uses the term, “walking in truth,” several times in his last two letters. So I’ve been sitting here thinking about my own walk, the truth I live by. Here are some things that came to mind:

In the beginning God created… (Gen 1)

The virgin shall conceive and bear a son… (Isaiah 7:14)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… (John 1)

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one can come to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:5)

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (I John 1:9)

For we believe that Jesus died and rose again… (I Thess 4:14)

If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again… (John 14:3)

That’s the Truth I’m walking in. It’s the Truth that defines me, strengthens me, encourages and blesses me. It’s the only Truth by it’s very nature. I pray you’ll be walking with me in Truth today.