December 3, 2010

2 Chronicles 2

Solomon is to be commended for several things in today’s passage. He recognized the greatness of the Lord, “Even the heavens cannot contain Him.” With that in mind and with the problems that I have with sin, I immediately see my need for sacrifice. I have offended a holy God. His wrath must be appeased. His judgment must be satisfied. Death is the only thing that satisfies His justice. Sacrifice is the only way that I can ultimately survive. Praise be to God that Jesus is the sacrifice for me. But Solomon seems to have gone to seed on sacrifice.

There were other implements or pieces of furniture that were used by the priests in clearing the way to see the glory of God in the holy of holies. After the bronze altar came the bronze laver. Here the priest had to wash his hands and feet before entering the holy place. After the sacrifice was performed, the priest would clean himself and put on fresh clothes, but before entering the holy place he would wash his hands and feet to clean himself of the dirt collected on the way. This is typical of our lives. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. We are cleansed. But in our daily lives we encounter thoughts, attitudes and actions as we travel along that soil us once again. Those need to be dealt with if we hope to see the glory of God. Entering into the holy place we find the lamp stand which represented the light of God. It would reveal any uncleanness still upon the priest. Across from the lamp stand was the Bread of Presence. It represented the daily fellowship with God. In front of the veil into the Holy of Holies was the golden altar of incense, which represented the prayers of the saints. Behind the veil was the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat and cherubim. There above the cherubim rested the glory of the Lord when Moses first instituted the Tabernacle. It was from there that the Lord spoke to Moses.

Now, look at what Solomon describes as he tells Hiram about the temple that he is building for the Lord. He lists burning incense, showbread and burning sacrifices. Is it just for brevity’s sake that he leaves out the lamp stand and the laver? Now, look at the whole of Solomon’s life. What do you see? On the one hand, there is tremendous wisdom and wealth and a great start at following the Lord. On the other hand, a staggering list of wives and concubines that goes beyond belief. His wives turned his heart to seeking other gods that was surpassed only by Manasseh. From the book of Ecclesiastes we see that in his carnality, he did not withhold a single fleshly temptation from himself. How could such a wise man do such foolish things?

I submit to you that, metaphorically speaking, because he did not daily come to wash himself of the sin he had committed, or step into the light of the Lord to let Him reveal any uncleanness in his life, that the daily grime of his own sin built up and covered his heart and mind to the point that even as the wisest of men, he could not see his own sin. The glory of God following the day of dedication of the temple became progressively dimmer and dimmer until he saw it no more, and all he cared about was feeding his own lusts. How tragic!

I am in danger of falling into a similar trap. Unless I come daily to wash myself at the door of His temple and then step into His light to let Him reveal any spot or stain, then I run the risk of letting the grime build up until all I see is my own lust. Then the glory of God is no longer my concern, but only my own glory. Lord, remove the grime from my life. Show me any spot or stain that needs to be washed away. Enable me to bask in Your presence. Accept the prayers that I send up before Your throne because they actually began at Your throne. Let me see Your glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john

1 John 2

Satisfaction, love, righteousness

I Can't Get No Satisfaction, remember the song from the 60's? What a slogan to describe the people of our day. Are we ever satisfied? We are materially the richest generation and culture the world has ever seen. Compared to times past, most kings have not lived in the comfort and ease in which we live. A wealthy tycoon was once asked, "How much is enough?" He replied, "Just a little bit more." We are never satisfied. There is always better food, clothing, house, car, vacation, recreation, ease. There is always something that beckons to us--just a little bit more.

Do you ever wonder if God is satisfied with our righteous state? Are our sins really taken care of? When I contemplate His perfect standard of righteousness and justice and see my sins, there is such a woeful chasm between the two. It is impossible that the chasm could be bridged. That is where the glory of Jesus comes in. He is the propitiation for my sins. Now that is a fancy word that I usually only use when addressing this passage. It means to satisfy just wrath. Because God is just, He is wrathful against any sin. Is His wrath ever satisfied? Yes it is. He performed His wrath on Jesus, when Jesus was on the cross. The fullness of His wrath was poured out upon Him. It was so awful that even creation seemed to turn. The sun went dark. The earth quaked and shook. Yes, God's wrath was fully satisfied in Jesus.

Satan is an accuser, sometimes as a liar, sometimes just presenting one side of the truth. Whenever Satan presents my sin to God and demands wrath against it, Jesus responds as my Advocate, my defense lawyer. He simply says to the Father, "Your wrath was satisfied for John's sin when I died on the cross." The Father no longer wants to destroy me because of my sin. His wrath is satisfied in Jesus. Now that is glory!

But it doesn't stop there! When we gaze at the glory that He is the satisfaction of our sin and grasp the depth of our forgiveness, we begin to cease hating those who have abused us. Why? Because we begin to understand, they are caught in the same trap of sin that we were caught in. His glory teaches us to love them because they too are forgiven if they have trusted Jesus. They too will be forgiven if they will trust Jesus.

As we gaze at His glory, we realize the beauty of His righteousness and the awfulness of our sin, and our desire to stay in sin fades away. That is why we must speak His glory to one another. It helps us focus on His glory. It reminds others to focus on His glory. Gazing upon His glory brings freedom. Are you a glory gazer? Are you a glory proclaimer? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor John