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What God Gave Up for Lent – Day 38

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38. Ritual Distraction

do not enter Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. (John 18:28)

Did you get the irony? The Jews were willing to conduct a mock court, seek to commit murder and reject the True Son of God, One Who is sinless, faultless, perfect and blameless; but they are unwilling to become unclean so as not to miss Passover? They already missed the Lamb of God, the very One they were waiting for.That’s what legalism will do to you: it seals off your heart while you cling to the rule of the Law, and you miss the Intent of the Law Giver. When you can’t see and feel the heart behind the Law, if your heart is not included in your obedience, the heart will wither and die while you blindly cling to the rules and regulations that your mind has accepted and your hands so willing do—yet without love, without the heart. And that’s what makes it so easy to move from the Sanhedrin to the unclean pagan courts.

The word defiled literally means stained. We are all stained by sin. The questions that arise are: Who defines the stain? Who recognizes the stain? Is there a stain of sin in your life which you are unaware because you believe your ritual has made you safe and secure? Is there some outward practice that has inoculated you against realizing that your sins killed the Christ? Is there some sacrament you perform which you think has removed the stain when it has only whitewashed it?

“Although you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your iniquity is before Me,” declares the Lord GOD. ( Jeremiah 2:22)

So then, what removes the stain? Only the blood of the very One Who was crucified. Do you remember the old Gospel hymn? What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

“And a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’” (Acts 22:12-16)

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:5-10)

For years when I would read this verse it always struck me that someone would actually think he has no sin. Now I suppose there are some committed atheists who do not acknowledge their sins because they do not believe sin exists. But there are others who do acknowledge the existence of sin but say they have no sin. Are they claiming some sort of immunity? Or are they claiming some sort of fix?

It is the latter which I believe they are claiming. They trust in a system of ritual and rules to place them into what they believe is a condition of forgiveness. They may not be claiming sinless perfection; rather they believe they are protected because of their ritual practice—which although was once rooted in truth, has had the very life squeezed out of it.

Finally, there’s an attitude problem. The Jews were essentially saying: Lets get this annoyance over with and out of the way so we can get to the important stuff: Passover. After all, Jesus has only been around causing problems and stirring up the people for a couple of years; but we have been celebrating Passover for centuries. What’s a crucifixion compared to such a long standing ritual? And, Passover started out while we were in a foreign country under foreign rule, and here we are again under foreign domination. Could they have thought that Passover would provide another deliverance, this time from the Romans? Regardless, they missed the deliverance that would be accomplished by the Lamb of God, the Son of God.

For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:7)

So, are there rules and regulations, rituals and traditions that are keeping you from seeing Jesus, your Deliverer? Or maybe it’s nothing as elaborate as that. Maybe it’s self-deception; or a counterfeit worldview. Such things are utterly devoid of grace; and grace is the only answer for deliverance from our sin.

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly. (Galatians 2:21)

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

What God Gave Up for Lent – Day 1

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1. It all Starts Here

Fine GoldKnowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. (1 Peter 1:18-20)

There are not many passages in Scripture which allow us to peer into eternity. And not just eternity, but what was going on in the very heart and mind of the Godhead. To gaze upon the very event when the Triune God determined the method of your salvation should stop you in your tracks. Before the world was hung in space, long before you had been born, the Lord knew you, and resolved that His Son would die for you.

Four things we should take away from this passage: Price, Payment, Person and Period.

First consider the Price: You were not redeemed, you were not purchased out of the slave market of sin, by things as common and transient as silver and gold. Another word for perishable is corruptible. In other words something like gold and silver does not last. Aren’t you thankful that your salvation is not based upon something which is temporary, and is destined to rot (or rust) away?

Next Consider the Payment: You were redeemed with the precious—very dear and very costly—blood of Jesus Christ. Your salvation cost Christ His very life. All blood is precious—at least your blood is precious to you, and it is precious to God. Imagine how precious the blood of Jesus was to His Father. A commandment to the Israelites explains this: ‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.’ ( Lev 17:11) But we learn in Hebrews 10:4 the blood of bulls and goats was not sufficient: For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. So Christ gave His life, and shed His blood for you, for your atonement.

Next consider the Person: For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. ( Isa 9:6-7)

¨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 came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. ( John 1:14-15)

¨And He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. ( Col 1:15-20)

We could say much more about the Person of Christ: His oneness with the Father; His willingness to do the Father’s will. But, all we need to understand is Jesus was willing to lay aside His deity, and took on flesh, so He could secure your eternal salvation. And He did so by becoming the Lamb of God. When the Triune God determined the price to be paid for our sins and our redemption was to be the Son Himself, is it any wonder the payment of salvation could only be made with His own blood?

¨He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (1 Cor 5:21)

¨Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

¨And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

 Finally, Consider the Period: Before the foundation of the world, it was determined that Christ the Son of God would become the Lamb of God. After the end of time, and throughout all eternity, Christ is still the Lamb:

 “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped. (Rev 5:12-14)

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. (Rev 21:22-23)

Before the universe was set in place, God knew you, and set His love upon you. Before anything was created, Jesus chose to be your Savior and sacrifice. Your salvation was set in place before time began, so that you would live with Him, after time ends.

I promise this will be the only study that is this long. But I wanted you to know the unique, awesome and special privilege you own as a Child of God, for whom the Son of God Himself died. May the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ be the greatest impact in your life, as you consider What God Gave Up for Lent.

 

 

 

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