Light of Christ

In the English language, we have one word that signifies love, the Greek, the language of the NT, has four.  Not all the words are used in the NT. The main two are phileo and agape.

The other two are eros which refers to sexual love, and storge, which is love between kinfolk.

Phileo refers to love between friends, a close friendship, fondness, affection, liking.  Agape is a higher love, compassion, to do with the moral principle of loving, and is born out in love of the undeserving, loving without reward, loving though rejected.  It is of course the way God loves us.   This word, agape is the one used most often in the NT.

This is the word used in John 3:16“For God so loved the world,ⁱ that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. And interestingly both phileo and agape are used in the exchange between Jesus and Peter, after the resurrection, in John 21: 15When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

God is love.  His love for us goes to depths we can not even imagine.  He created us, knowing full well, that our first parents would make a mess of things and sin would enter this world.  And His love for us goes to such depths that He allowed His Son to die in our place so that we, though sinful, wretched creatures, may be His adopted sons and daughters.  This plan for our salvation was made before the creation of the world.  And in the fullness of time, God sent His only begotten Son to live on this earth, leaving the glories of heaven for a life as a human, to fulfil the plan.

He lived a sinless life, obeying His Father in all things, (John 12:  49For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.) teaching and healing and reaching out to sinners.
The Father, in several places in the NT called Jesus His Beloved Son. One such place was the Transfiguration, when He added, Listen to Him!  Luke 9: 35And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One;^c listen to him!”

During His ministry, He was asked what was the greatest commandment.  He answered:  Matt 22: 37And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

 

God loves us, Jesus commands us to return that love, and to love our neighbour as ourself.  Several other times Jesus tells us to love our enemies, to care for the unfortunate, and the ultimate comes with the NEW commandment.  Nothing like this is found in the OT.  John 13: 34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  Not only is this love self sacrificial, but it is the sign that you are His disciple.

 

So, agape originates with the Father, and is freely given to us by the death of His Son, so that we can have eternal life, and spend eternity with Him.  And because of that love He gives us, we return His love by loving Him, and spreading it to our neighbour, our enemy, the unfortunate, and each other.  This also gives a witness to others that we belong to Him, and if necessary, we will die for Him.  What greater witness is this?  The Greek word for witness is the word we get martyr from.

The saying is that love makes the world go round.  But this love not only goes round, as in returns to God, it reaches out to others, as Christ reached out to sinners, and as He reached out to us.

 
1 Cor 13: 8Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Agape, the love of God.

Exodus 20:11 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

I would like to challenge all Sabbatarians to really read this verse. Who did the resting?

The sabbath is not a memorial to God creating the earth. It is a memorial to Him resting, or more correctly, ceasing. As in ceased from creating. He was not tired, and therefore needed a rest….He had finished the work. The work was creation, and it was finished.

The sabbath was a sign to the children of Israel. It was a sign to them of the covenant between them and God. It was to be a reminder to them that God rested on the seventh day, and it was to be a reminder to them of Where they would get their perpetual rest, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

The sabbath was to be a reminder to them that God redeemed them from slavery, and it was to be a reminder to them of Where they would get redemption for sin and death, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

The fourth commandment spoke initially of the seventh day sabbath, but included the seventh year sabbath, and the Jubilee sabbath, both of which spoke of rest and redemption. Both of which also pointed forward to the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

The sabbaths were also a time keeping for them. A calendar if you like. Back in Genesis, God gave humanity the sun and the moon for keeping time. Here, the Children of Israel had been redeemed from slavery in Egypt, where there was a ten day week, and they had seen the worshipping of false gods on their “holy days”. They were moving into the region where people kept a seven day week, but likewise worshipped false gods on their “holy days”. So instead of worship, He called for rest on His holy day. Rest which prepared them for the Saviour who would rest in the tomb on His holy day. Rest where they could eat their manna which they had collected the day before and which stood for the Saviour, the Bread of heaven. And they were taught this holy day was the seventh day, the day on which God rested….ceased from creating.

The sabbath included the sabbath year, where the land had rest, and the Jubilee year, which was a time of redemption of ownership and property, debts would be forgiven, and slaves freed. It was the year after seven lots of sabbath years.

Six days shall you labour and do all that you have to do. Six days shall you gather manna. Manna, the bread of heaven. Jesus the Bread of Heaven.

Six days the Children of Israel laboured for their manna. And rested the seventh, and were given no bread. This pointed forward to the death of their Bread, when He would lie in the tomb. Sabbath foretold the death of Jesus.

The sabbath was not given to anyone before the Children of Israel. Neither was it given to any races or tribes living at the same time as the Children of Israel. It hasn’t been given to anyone since that time, because it was taken away, as God warned. Hosea 2: 11And I will put an end to all her mirth,
her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths,
and all her appointed feasts.

And the sabbaths have been taken away. The seventh day, the seventh year, the Jubilee, and all gone. The sabbaths kept by sabbatarians now are not the “real” sabbaths. Neither do we need sabbaths now, because our sabbatismos, our sabbath rest, comes from and through Christ.

Sabbath was never a memorial to creation. It was never salvific. It was always to a memorial to rest and redemption and a memorial FOR rest and redemption. It was never a sign of God. It was a sign of the covenant between God and Israel. That covenant is now obsolete.

Notice anything here? The sabbath pointed to and from rest and redemption. It was the sign of the old covenant. The covenant is now obsolete. Sabbaths have been done away with. The signposts have gone.

But what they were pointing to has not gone. He is alive, and His work is finished. He has redeemed us, He has given us eternal spiritual rest, He has saved us.

Why do we look for a shadow, when the Reality is with us? Why do we look for a signpost when what it was pointing to is with us?

Sabbatarians celebrate the death of Jesus every week.

Christianity celebrate the victory of Jesus over death every Sunday.

He is risen! Alleluia!

Gen 2: 1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

 

In the beginning God created heaven and earth.  It took Him six days.  Each of these days is recorded as having a beginning and ending.  The seventh day, when God ceased creating, and rested from the work of creation.  It had no beginning or end.  The day was holy, but it hasn’t ended yet.

The ancient people measured their time by the sun, moon and stars.  Historical records show that they measured the phases of the moon, and recorded sunrises and sunsets.  They knew about equinoxes and solstices and eclipses.  Their base times were days, nights, and months.  Not weeks.  They are a more modern way of measuring time.

 

The Israelites started each month with the new moon, and it was a day of sacrifice to the Lord.  Numbers 28: 11“At the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; 12also three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull, and two tenths of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; 13and a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for every lamb; for a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. 14Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and a quarter of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. 15Also one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

 

1 Chronicles 23:30-31

They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the Lord, and likewise at evening, and to offer all burnt offerings to the Lord, on the sabbaths, the new moons and the fixed festivals in the number set by the ordinance concerning them, continually before the Lord.
After the new moon, the 8^th, 15^th,and 22^nd days were sabbaths.  The days in between sabbaths were sabbath 1, sabbath 2, etc till the day before sabbath,, which was preparation day.

 

Because the new moon happened at different times throughout the year, the sabbath likewise was at different times, though still 7 days after the new moon, or the previous sabbath.  The month is approx. 29.5 days.

The sabbath was not a day of worship for the Israelites.  It was a day of REST, a cessation of work.  As God rested from His work of creation the first seventh day, so were the Israelites told to rest from their work.  Their families, their animals, their servants, everyone (apart from the priests) rested.  They were to remember that God rested, and at the same time they were to look forward to eternal rest from Christ, and eternal redemption, just as they had been redeemed from slavery in Egypt.

 

Christians were not given a day in which to rest.  Christ was here, and He was their rest, He offered them rest for their souls.  They did not need a sign post for what was already here.  Here was eternal rest, eternal peace, eternal joy, all because of eternal love.  God is love, and Jesus is both.

God rested on the seventh day.  He gave the sabbath to the Israelites to point them to Jesus and rest, and to remember His rest, His cessation of creation.  We, His followers, worship Him who gives us both eternal rest and eternal life.

Jesus commanded His followers to proclaim His Gospel. His Gospel is good news to mankind. What good news exactly?

I still remember the day over twenty years ago, when my daughter, then a student at Avondale College, handed me some photocopied pages from the works of ellen.  They told me what she said about amalgamation, and some very racist comments.  I was mortified.  I had seen the other side of ellen. I had read Steps to Christ, the Great Controversy, the Desire of Ages, but I had never read anything like this.

My daughter had found these pages in the College Library, as she had been looking for various things for her studies.  No internet then.  So she got them photocopied, and handed them to me, with a minimum of explanation.  None was needed.  I read them, and I was in disbelief.  How could a woman of God say such things?  And set about studying the Bible, to prove her right.  Well that was a silly thing to do, if I wanted to prove her right.

Hence started my journey out of the SDA church.  I present similar facts to SDAs today and am met with a similar disbelief to mine.  Depending on the person, I might also be met with abuse, even curses, and blocking.  I can only hope and pray that the person turns to the Bible and sees for themselves Who is right, and that during the whole procedure hears the voice of the Holy Spirit calling them “out of her”, and to their Saviour, Jesus Christ.

I admit, and I know a lot of former SDAs and other cult members will agree, I feel terribly disappointed and disheartened by their rejection of obvious truth.  All we as survivors of cults can do is to keep praying for them, and for ourselves as the messengers who are so often shot when bringing them the good news of the Gospel, which they perceive as bad news, because it is not the news of their false prophet.

Following on what I posted earlier, there are an awful lot of cult members, whichever one, whom we do not meet in groups, the ones “on the ground” I think you could say, who attend church, and really are Christians, or as Christian as their cult will allow them to be.  They love the Lord Jesus, and serve Him as they think He wishes.  They way their cult says to.

They have no idea at all about amalgamation, that the IJ is unbiblical, the ellen and joseph made it up as they went along, and that the Holy Spirit was not with them.  They are only encouraged to read those parts of the Bible that agrees with their doctrines. They are taught that we are doomed, because we have rejected the truth.  That our Bible is unreliable, that we need to be reading their denominational literature.  The truth to them is a day, a denomination, a prophet….and not Jesus.  Their church has taught them He is not enough, has not done enough. They have a small god.

We must pray for these people too, these unwitting victims of deception.   Pray for them and love them.

And pray for those who work to tell them and show them the Truth.  He is worth it.

I still remember the day over twenty years ago, when my daughter, then a student at Avondale College, handed me some photocopied pages from the works of ellen.  They told me what she said about amalgamation, and some very racist comments.  I was mortified.  I had seen the other side of ellen. I had read Steps to Christ, the Great Controversy, the Desire of Ages, but I had never read anything like this.

My daughter had found these pages in the College Library, as she had been looking for various things for her studies.  No internet then.  So she got them photocopied, and handed them to me, with a minimum of explanation.  None was needed.  I read them, and I was in disbelief.  How could a woman of God say such things?  And set about studying the Bible, to prove her right.  Well that was a silly thing to do, if I wanted to prove her right.

Hence started my journey out of the SDA church.  I present similar facts to SDAs today and am met with a similar disbelief to mine.  Depending on the person, I might also be met with abuse, even curses, and blocking.  I can only hope and pray that the person turns to the Bible and sees for themselves Who is right, and that during the whole procedure hears the voice of the Holy Spirit calling them “out of her”, and to their Saviour, Jesus Christ.

I admit, and I know a lot of former SDAs and other cult members will agree, I feel terribly disappointed and disheartened by their rejection of obvious truth.  All we as survivors of cults can do is to keep praying for them, and for ourselves as the messengers who are so often shot when bringing them the good news of the Gospel, which they perceive as bad news, because it is not the news of their false prophet.

Following on what I posted earlier, there are an awful lot of cult members, whichever one, whom we do not meet in groups, the ones “on the ground” I think you could say, who attend church, and really are Christians, or as Christian as their cult will allow them to be.  They love the Lord Jesus, and serve Him as they think He wishes.  They way their cult says to.

They have no idea at all about amalgamation, that the IJ is unbiblical, the ellen and joseph made it up as they went along, and that the Holy Spirit was not with them.  They are only encouraged to read those parts of the Bible that agrees with their doctrines. They are taught that we are doomed, because we have rejected the truth.  That our Bible is unreliable, that we need to be reading their denominational literature.  The truth to them is a day, a denomination, a prophet….and not Jesus.  Their church has taught them He is not enough, has not done enough. They have a small god.

We must pray for these people too, these unwitting victims of deception.   Pray for them and love them.

And pray for those who work to tell them and show them the Truth.  He is worth it.

Luke 4: 16Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read, 17the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:

18“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,

because He has anointed Me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent Mee to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to release the oppressed,

19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”f

20Then He rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him, 21and He began by saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

This was a direct quotation of Isaiah 61:1.  The book of Isaiah was initially addressed to the exiles, as they were returning to Jerusalem, and promising them future greatness.  Their Messiah at that time was Cyrus the Great, who freed them from captivity.  However, Jesus, by proclaiming these words, applied them to Himself, and took upon Himself the title of Messiah.

And rightly so.  Right through the history of Israel, God has done this.  He has set the captives free, He has released the oppressed, He has cared for the poor, and the sick.  He freed them from Egypt, and from their various captivities since then. And finally, His Son has done the same for us, and for all His followers.

When Jesus started His ministry, the nation of Israel was under the government of the Romans.  Many thought He would deliver them physically, He would lead a rebellion, and set up an earthly kingdom, and Israel would be great again.  We hear this today with regard to the politics of various countries.  If only this would happen..and our country will be great again.

But Jesus’ ministry and His goal was not political, it was spiritual.  He came to be a sacrifice, and to save us from the wages of sin.  To present us as worthy before His Father by His imputed righteousness.  He came to preach His good news to the poor, and the down trodden.  To release those in captivity…not necessarily physically, but those bound down in chains to anything that imprisoned them…to give the blind sight.  How many are blinded by false religion?  They do not worship God, but an idol of their own making, or they have been deceived to believe their idol is God.  He came to release the oppressed, and to comfort those who are broken hearted.

And this He has done.  Many have heard His words and believed, and some have given their lives as a witness to what He has meant to them, and what He has wrought in their lives.  Their lives have born good fruit.  Christianity is the most persecuted of all religions, even today, but those imprisoned or killed count it an honour that they are able to witness for the One who has given all for them.

Jesus issued us a commandment.  That we carry on this work, that we proclaim His good news to the whole world.  And He also said we should love God, and love humanity.   To love humanity, we need to proclaim the good news to the poor.  We also need to set the captives free (figuratively and spiritually as well as physically).   Also we need to restore sight to the blind (again figuratively and spiritually as well as physically)

If we love our neighbour, we cannot help but do these things.  This also shows we love God.  Love is the sign of our obedience.

He has set the captives (us) free.  He wants us to proclaim His Gospel so that others will be set free as well.  He wants us to show the world His love.

As He did long ago.

He set the captives free.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee

verse 4 of And can it be, by Charles Wesley

This is one of my favourite hymns and loved by many.

This  verse describes Peter’s escape in Acts 12 from the clutches of King Herod:

5So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him.

6On the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with sentries standing guard at the entrance to the prison. 7Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists. 8“Get dressed and put on your sandals,” said the angel. Peter did so, and the angel told him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

9So Peter followed him out, but he was unaware that what the angel was doing was real. He only thought he was seeing a vision. 10They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city, which opened for them by itself. When they had gone outside and walked the length of one block, the angel suddenly left him.

11Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”

12And when he had realized this, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying. 13He knocked at the outer gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. 14When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she forgot to open the gate, but ran inside and announced, “Peter is standing at the gate!”

15“You are out of your mind,” they told her. But when she kept insisting it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

16But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded. 17Peter motioned with his hand for silence, and he described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Send word to James and to the brothers,” he said, and he left for another place.

18At daybreak there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19After Herod had searched for him unsuccessfully, he examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent some time there.

 

Herod was not a very nice person.

God had plans for Peter and by this miracle, He rescued Him to enable Him to carry those plans out.

At the same time, it describes the miraculous rescue of sinners everywhere.  They were imprisoned by a life of sin.  They didn’t have to be particularly bad people, but our works and righteousness are as filthy rags in the sight of God.  So even the best   of us are bound down by sin…until we see the light of Christ, and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, calling us to Jesus.  Then, our chains fall off, and our hearts are free!

We are standing in the Marvellous Light and follow Him!  It is such a joyful thing to do!

Verse 5, the first line:  No condemnation now I dread;  That is from Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

We are free from the chains of sin.  We now wear the robes of His imputed righteousness.  We have eternal life and have passed from death to life. (John 5:24)  We are God’s adopted children;  co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). We have been bought with a price(1 Cor 6:20).

We are His.  Nothing can take us out of His hands.  John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

No one can condemn us.  Freedom is ours.  All because of grace.  Eph 2: 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

And we do HIS works, that have been prepared beforehand, not our own works, and we are walking in them.

The hymns we sing, as well as praising Him, are often mini sermons:  the Proclamation of the Gospel!

1 Peter 2: 21For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.25For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls

My children were fairly normal.  Every so often they inflicted injuries upon themselves, as children do, and most were fixed with a kiss and/or an Elastoplast.  They weren’t as bad as the neighbour’s child who thought he was Superman and hurled himself out of a tree, collecting a broken arm for his trouble, and the nickname “Birdman”.

We had the normal amount of skinned knees and superficial cuts and scrapes, but one of my children, my second son, was a bit of a disaster area.  At the age of 4, on a visit to the local pool, he fell over and ended up with 9 stitches in his eyebrow.  A rather good job of stitching by the family doctor, who used plastic surgery techniques.  Then he fell through a glass door, more stitches in his face and 4 in his hand.  As he got bigger he swapped to different techniques, stabbing himself with a soldering iron, and dropping molten solder down his leg.  And then there was the incident with the chain saw.

So by the time he was finished high school he had quite a collection of scars, of which he was very proud.  Then his older brother took over.  He was injured in a serious car accident, and bore the scars of surgery required to fix the broken bones and cuts to his face.  Fortunately he had a very good plastic surgeon and the facial cuts healed quickly with minimal scaring.  He was then very proud of the scars to his legs, and between the pair of them, looked like battle hardened warriors.

While these scars were interesting to my sons, and painful for a short time, in the scheme of things they were pretty minor.  We could hardly say that “by their wounds you have been healed”. Yet we can say that of the Saviour.  “By His wounds you have been healed”.  By His wounds we HAVE been healed.  Healed of the sickness caused by sin.  Healed of the wages of sin.

He received these wounds so we could be saved, so we could be redeemed , so we could be the adopted sons and daughters of God, so that we could share in the glory that is rightfully His.  The glory He rejected for a time, so that He could live with us on earth, so that He could fulfil the law and the prophets, so He could be the Lamb that was worthy, the Lamb that was slain.

He received these wounds so we could receive grace.

 

Come and see, come and see
Come and see the King of love
See the purple robe and crown of thorns he wears
Soldiers mock, rulers sneer
As he lifts the cruel cross
Lone and friendless now he climbs towards the hill

We worship at your feet
Where wrath and mercy meet
And a guilty world is washed
By love’s pure stream
For us he was made sin
Oh, help me take it in
Deep wounds of love cry out ‘Father, forgive’
I worship, I worship
The Lamb who was slain.

Come and weep, come and mourn
For your sin that pierced him there
So much deeper than the wounds of thorn and nail
All our pride, all our greed
All our fallenness and shame
And the Lord has laid the punishment on him

Man of heaven, born to earth
To restore us to your heaven
Here we bow in awe beneath
Your searching eyes
From your tears comes our joy
From your death our life shall spring
By your resurrection power we shall rise

Graham Kendrick
Copyright © 1989 Make Way Music,
www.grahamkendrick.co.uk

By His wounds, we are healed.

John 13: 1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and2 that he had come from God and was going back to God,  4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.  5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.  6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”  10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,  but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”  11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

 12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20  Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

This was truly an act of humility.  Jesus’ whole life had been an act of humility.  He was the Word Incarnate (John 1), He had lived in the glories of heaven, at the side of the Father.  He humbled Himself so He could live as one of us, so He could be the Lamb who was worthy, the Sacrifice that saved us.  He worked as a carpenter, He travelled as an itinerant worker and healer, funded at least in part by the provisions of women (Luke 8:1-3).

Here, during the meal, He left His role as teacher and leader, and took the role of servant.  Hospitality  at the time said that when people visited a house, a servant should wash their feet.  Their feet were dusty.  But no one had.  So Jesus did, and taught them that they should be servants to each other.

There is more to this than just foot washing, and that is symbolic for how we should treat others.  We should be their servant.

 

I think of the Servant Song:

Brother, let me be your servant.
Let me be as Christ to you.
Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

 

And there we have the really hard part.

Pray that I might have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

Peter found it difficult.  Peter found lots of things difficult.  So have I and I dare say many others too.

Quite a few years ago, I did a lot around the community, and for the Church, playing the organ, typing this and that, baby sitting other people’s children, driving people here and there, taking food to the bereaved, you know, the sort of thing most people are glad to do, as a way of help to others.  My life has changed drastically for several reasons, and now I am the one needing to be driven places, my meals are provided, my cleaning and shopping done for me.

I am really grateful for this.  But there are times, when people are so eager to help they will not let me do the things that I can do.  It really is a struggle at times not to be rude to them and just tell them to leave me alone, but I have to be gracious and say thank you.

I really do have to do a really quick prayer to God…..because for years I was their servant, now they are being mine.  They want to show me the Light of Christ, and I want to be grateful.  They are witnessing to me, and I am witnessing to them.

Does anyone else have this problem?  You are happy to help others, but have problems being helped?

Let’s get physical said Olivia Newton John, back in the 80s (I think)

Should we though?  Should we care about what we eat, or whether we exercise?  Whether we keep ourselves healthy?  Is this the way to the Kingdom of God?

Common sense says we should eat a healthy diet.  It is up to you whether you are a vegetarian, vegan, omnivore, or whether you follow one of the new dieting plans.  As long as what you eat keeps you healthy.   This, as I said, is common sense, and has nothing to do with salvation.  All good parents I know, whether they are Christian, atheist, or callathumpian, try to instil good eating habits in their children.  This is not an easy task, I remember.  But parents try really hard to set their kids on the right track so they persevere. Until, eventually, their children realise it is a good idea not to fill up on junk food, they really do feel better if they eat their veges, a piece of fruit, that lovely hearty stew or soup.

Should we exercise?  Should we ride bikes?  Walk instead of driving?  Use the stairs instead of escalators/elevators?  Yes.  It is all part of keeping ourselves healthy and avoiding the doctor/hospital.  Along with adequate rest.  We need to keep our lives in balance.  Right food, exercise, rest.

Is this what the Bible said when it told us we had to look after our temples?  No.

1 Cor 16:19 is often used.   19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
But let’s look at that in context.

12“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16Or do you not know that he who is joined^d to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.18Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin^e a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

This is worth looking at for a couple of points.  First, verse 13.  Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other.

Then the last part of the verse:  The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

This whole section is about sexual immorality, it is not about food!  To keep yourself pure, is not what you eat, it’s about sex!

And here we have 2 Cor 6: 14

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.

But again we should continue..

As God has said:

“I will live with them

and walk among them,

and I will be their God,

and they will be My people.”b

17“Therefore come out from among them

and be separate, says the Lord.

Touch no unclean thing,

and I will receive you.”c

18And:

“I will be a Father to you,

and you will be My sons and daughters,

says the Lord Almighty.”
Again this is not about food.

Ephesians 2: 19Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. 21In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God in His Spirit.

Not about food either, rather Christ is our cornerstone!

Romans 14: 13Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

20Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.^c 22The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.^d

Verse 14:  17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

And what did Jesus say about what defiles you?

Mark 7:  14And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”^e 17And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”^f (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,22coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

It is not food!

The kingdom of God is not about food and drink.  Salvation is not about food or drink.  The only way to be saved is through the spilled blood of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.   The Gospel is not about food and drink.  It is about Salvation.

Do we need to get physical to attain salvation? No, we need to get spiritual.  We need to be born again, or as John 3:7 says,  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

Read the whole story in John 3:  1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  7Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You^d must be born again.’ 8The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.^h

For God So Loved the World

16“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

You must be born of the Spirit.  Get spiritual, not physical.  Your physical body will not inherit the Kingdom of God.  It will decay, and as those of us who are older will tell you, things don’t work real well.  So look after your SPIRITUAL future.

Look after your physical body for continued health, but don’t expect it to save you.  Your physical health is not an indication of your spiritual health.

People come to Jesus in all manner of physical and mental health conditions.  He does not say come when you’re better, He says (Matt 11) 28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

That more or less encompasses all of us, whatever state we are in.  From the healthiest to the sickest.

Jesus said Come.

Look after your health, because that is sense.  But come to Jesus, because that is salvation.