Counting the Waves of the Incarnation.

Athanasius, the 4th century Church father, wrote, “The achievements of the Savior through His Incarnation are so astounding and so numerous that any one wishing to describe them in detail would be like one who gazes at the expanse of the Sea, and attempts to count its waves.”

Almost 800 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the prophet Isaiah said, “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given....”  The Prophet is speaking of the long-awaited Messiah, the Anointed One of God, the King of all Kings, and notice the verbs he uses.  The child is “born;” but the Son who rules the Kingdom of His Father is “given.”  One emphasizes His humanity, the other demonstrates His Deity: the Child is born, but the Son is given.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son [Monogenes- ‘uniquely born,’ there is not another like Him and there never will be!] that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have Eternal Life” {Jn. 3:16}.  “And the government will be on His shoulders.  And He [Jesus of Nazareth, the promised Messiah] will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace....”  Each of these Hebrew phrases is a Messianic title, names to be borne by the Great King who would one Day sit on David’s Throne.  “Wonderful Counselor” is the wisest Ruler; “Mighty God” is the greatest Warrior; “Everlasting Father” stresses His eternal nature as Provider and Protector; and “Prince of Peace” means His rule will bring “healing” to “the nations” {Rev. 22:2}.

Isaiah say’s, “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end [Notice, just as the prophet Daniel would affirm two hundred years from this day, ‘His Dominion will be an everlasting dominion ...and His Kingdom is one that will never be destroyed,’ 7:14c].  He will reign on David’s Throne and over his Kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the LORD Almighty [Yahweh Tsevaoth- ‘Lord of the Everlasting Armies’] will accomplish this,” 9:6-7.

In this passage God becomes human.  Our God became one of us, just like you and I.  Every part of Him as human as every part of you.  Our forefathers in the Faith called Jesus “very God and very man.”  By this they meant ‘undiluted divinity, unadulterated humanity.’  In Jesus we see the Creator of All That Is laboring in and among us {very God}; but blink your eyes and look again and you see the Creation to which we are bound in these bodies {very man}.  Theologians call this hupostasis: infinite Deity and sinless humanity welded as One forevermore!

Jesus’ equality with both parties— holy God on one side and fallen man on the other— means He can stand as the Mediator between us.  As Job longed for in the midst of his anguish, “If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay His hand upon us both [See this?  A Mediator is someone to ‘arbitrate between us,’ someone equal to both parties.], someone to remove God’s rod from me [His wrath], so that His terror would frighten me no more,” v. 34.  The apostle Paul declared triumphantly, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men— the Testimony given in its proper time” {1 Tim. 2:5-6}.  A mesites, a “mediator,” is one who arbitrates between two parties to remove a disagreement— what we call ‘reconciliation’— and to reach a common goal— which we call ‘redemption.’  By the grace of the God-Man, the unique and only Son of the Father, we have been reconciled to our Creator, redeemed from the slave-market in which we were born, and set firmly in the Fields of Freedom, under the care and protection of His eternal Kingdom {cf. Col. 1:12-22}!

A glorious End to an inglorious beginning.  Indeed.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

The Incarnation Is Meant to Continue.

Paul say’s Jesus’ Life, His love, and His labor were so the Incarnation could continue... in us!  “My dear children,” Paul calls the Galatians, “for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,” 4:19.  You picking this up?  Until this Man and His Life is formed in you.  Jesus’ humanity was formed in Mary’s womb; Jesus’ spirituality is now being formed in us!  The Word becomes flesh, once again.  Utterly phenomenal.  It is a truth unique to Christian spirituality, to the Faith of the Apostles and Prophets, and to the worship of the One True God.

Athanasius wrote, “Christ became what we are, so we might become what He is.”  Could this possibly be true?  Well, what do the Scriptures say?  Jesus is the Son of the Most High God; Paul, His apostle, said, “You are all Sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” {Gal. 3:26}.  Jesus is the sinless Son of God; 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us [‘in our place, on our behalf’], so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”  Or as Wycliffe Bible Commentary puts it, “The Sinless One became {by imputation} sin for the sinner, that the sinner might become {by imputation} sinless in the Sinless One!”  Jesus is the Heir of the Father’s Kingdom; Paul wrote, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s Children.  Now if we are children,” reasons the Apostle, “then we are heirs— Heirs of God and Co-heirs with Christ....” {Rom. 8:16-17b}.

Imagine this.  God set about in His Son the restoration of your humanity and the fallen image of Himself which lies buried in the deepest caverns of the heart.  To rescue and redeem, to heal and restore, that’s the Mission.  What could bring more hope to the faltering heart, more security to the souls of men, than this?  Most people cannot even imagine this, most of God’s Children have never even considered it.  “Yeah... I mean, it sounds good but.  Real life is working, striving, struggling, climbing the ladder of material success and making a mountain of money.  Cash, cold hard cash, is where my hope is.”  There is so much astoundingly bad theology in this, and so many false images of Abba crashing around in our heads, it’s staggering!  Literally.

But what if the very passion and personality of Jesus could be rebirthed in you?  What if His graciousness and generosity could spring forth in your actions and conversations?  They can.  And they must.  The Incarnation is meant to continue: in our lives today.  “God knew what He was doing from the very Beginning.  He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the Life of His Son.  The Son stands first in the line of humanity He restored.  We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in Him.  After God made that decision of what His Children should be like, He followed it up by calling people by name.  After He called them by name, He set them on a solid basis with Himself.  And then, after getting them established, He stayed with them to the End, gloriously completing what He had begun” {Rom. 8:29-30 The Message}.

And so, on this day in which we’ve chosen to celebrate our Savior’s birth, the most mind-boggling act of humility the world will ever witness, the Creator becoming one of His very own creations, we can rejoice with hope renewed in those lines from ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem.

O Holy Child of Bethlehem

Descend to us, we pray

Cast out our sin and enter in

Be born to us today

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

The Savior’s Silent Night Was Really the Great Invasion.

We’re one week away from the Day when we, as Students of the Master, will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our King.  Scripture reads like this.  “And the angel said to them [‘to’ the shepherds in the field], ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you Good News of great joy which will be for all the people.  For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” {Lk. 2:10-11}.  This sentence in the original contains three gorgeous Greek words which define for us the Mission and Ministry of the Messiah: Soter = ‘Savior,’ Christos = ‘Anointed One, Messiah’ {showing Jesus as fully man}, and Kurios = ‘Sovereign Lord’ and ‘Master’ {showing Jesus as entirely God}, all wrapped up in one.  He is the Savior of Man and Anointed One of God, the long-awaited Messiah of Israel; He also happens to be very God of very God— undeniable Deity and sinless humanity welded as One forevermore.  What incredible news this is: wonderful, soul-saving, kingdom-crushing News to the nations of this Earth.

But there is another side to the Story.  The Birth of Christ was much more than a picturesque event witnessed and watched by a motley assortment of Temple animals, faithful shepherds, and kings from afar.  I think you know this much already.  What you may not know is what unfolded according to Revelation 12:1-2, 4-5, and 7: this was the moment of the Great Invasion, of Eternity into Time, of Creator into the realm of Creation, our God choosing to take upon Himself the mantle of human weakness {a body} and defeat Satan on his own turf.  The angels in appearance this night were the angelic Armies passing in review as their King, Creator, and Commander lay crying in the fodder {Lk. 2:13-14}.  It was as Christian author Phillip Yancey has said, “a daring raid by the Ruler of the forces of good into the Universe’s seat of evil.”  This is no ‘silent night’ for the enemies of God; this is D-Day times infinite.

The apostle John told us, “the Son of God appeared for this purpose [this sole and solitary ‘purpose’]: to destroy the works of the devil” {1 Jn. 3:8b}.  I.e., to do Battle for those He loved {4:19}.  And, my oh my, how He loves us.  Scripture tells us He came to battle for the hearts of men {Isa. 61:1} and to offer us the Gift of Life— both eternal and abundant {1 Jn. 3:1-2}.

My prayer, as the shepherd of a flock I deeply love, is that this perspective be ever present in our minds as we live out our days in a World long at War.  One half of life is the physical, the temporal, and the transient; the other half, which the Word enjoins us to accept as the real half, the weighty half, the most crucial component of reality, is the spiritual, the Eternal, the everlasting.  We must choose to live every moment with one foot in each, simultaneously in both the temporal and the Eternal, with the latter dominating the former.  And we must rivet the eyes of our hearts on the Lord Jesus Christ.  For the Mission He came to accomplish, my friends and fellow-soldiers, is a done deal: “It is finished” forevermore! {Jn. 19:10}.  The Battle has been won and the Ultimate Victory {the Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension} already achieved.  Don’t forget this; don’t ever forget this.  We are what He is— Victorious!  If you will choose to ‘wage war’ from that position, neither you nor your life will ever be the same.

May the blessing of His grace, the peace of His presence, and the power of His Life rest upon you, your family, and your ministry to a fallen world full of broken people.  The year which lies before us is filled with promise and with hope for those who live in the Light of Jesus’ Love.  May we embrace it, and all its opportunity, like we embrace our Lord: with the passion and hunger of a long-awaited lover.  Amen and amen.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Jesus— the New Creation.

C.S. Lewis once said, in Jesus God “was creating man anew: was beginning, at this divine and human point, the New Creation of all things….  The miraculous conception is one more witness that here is Nature’s Lord.  He is doing now, small and close, what He does in a different fashion for every woman who conceives.”

Most of us lovvvve new things, especially this time of year— new cars, new clothes, new homes, new hair, new anything, right?  We like shiny new things on Jesus’ B-Day, new outlooks on life, new beginnings, new restaurants, new relationships.  We like the newness of Spring, the freshness of the morning.  Now, consider the ultimate purpose of God’s Grand Miracle was to make all things new, including you and I.  And this is the greatest gift of all— if we have the eyes to see it.  Jesus came for us and became one of us, so that we might become like Him.  As Lewis wrote, “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become the sons of God,” not one of Him but one with Him.

Jesus became human, perfect humanity, to show us what we could become in Him.  Not only is He the ultimate Example, the Master in whose footsteps we are to follow in faith, but He became a man in order to recreate and renew a fallen Creation, to restore and redeem every soul gone astray.  He came in humility, veiling His glory and the prerogatives of unlimited power.  One Day He will come again, in power and glory unveiled, to make all things new and set the world to rights!

Jesus, Lord of All Creation and Creator of All that Is, came as John said to make “all things new” {NAU}, not all new things.  The life we now have with the people we now love in the body we now inhabit will be ours again, only this time perfected beyond all imagining, every ounce of imperfection removed.  We will dwell in a glorified Universe, as God originally intended, ruling and reigning with the Righteous King, Jesus Christ, the stain of our sin and shame gone for good.  And never to return.  What joy, what glory, what utter relief in the holiness which will permeate our hearts, in the purity, the power, the presence of God unrestrained, flowing like a river over us, around us, within us, between us.

This Advent Season, this B-Day of the Great King {and every day we worship Him}, let it start within us, one by one by one as we sing words like…

Joy to the world!  The Lord is come.

Let Earth receive her King.

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And Heaven and Nature sing….

…No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground.

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found….

As Martin Luther wrote in From Heaven Above,

Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,

Make thee a bed, soft, undefiled,

Within my heart, that it may be

A quiet chamber kept for Thee.

Son of the Father, now in flesh appearing!  O come, let us adore You, Christ the Lord.  “Therefore, is anyone is in Christ, he is a New Creation” {2 Cor. 5:17}.  Amen and amen.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

God’s Love Never Fails.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen, in the preface to his book The Life of Christ, wrote, “Christianity, unlike any other religion in the world, begins with catastrophe and defeat.  Sunshine religions and psychological inspirations collapse in calamity and wither in adversity.  But the Life of the Founder of Christianity, having begun with the Cross, ends with the empty tomb and victory.”

When Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 states for us how “love is patient” and “is kind,” how it “does not envy ...does not boast” or brag or inflate itself with arrogance, how it is neither “rude” nor “self-seeking,” how it is “not easily angered” and “keeps no running record of wrongs,” when he speaks of how “it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” and how it “never fails” {vv. 4-8a}, he is stating for us the reality of the Resurrection, a power beyond our ability to imagine.  For the only One who can weave this kind of love into the fabric of our lives is the Spirit of Christ, the power who conquered the grave and raised up the Lord of Glory {Rom. 1:4}.

Therefore, when all seems lost and the night is at its darkest, remember …love never fails.

When the demons of doubt, disappointment and despair are railing at your soul, remember …love never fails.

When the times are tough and the Battle is raging, remember love never fails.  And a love which refuses to speak up and speak out, to wage war against the agents of evil, is nothing more than sentimental nonsense.

When the motivation to walk “in step with the Spirit” is gone, when the hope to live as a Child of the King is fading, just remember… love never fails.

When there’s no passion left for prayer, no hunger to see a death-bound world brought roaring to Life, a dying Christian Community renewed and restored by the Spirit of Grace and Glory, remember love never fails.

When fear overrules faith and those we love desert us, remember love never fails!

We serve a God who has promised, sworn on the Life of His Son, to “never leave” us nor “forsake” us— Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5.  Because He has sworn never to forsake us, because He has sworn His “love” will never fail us, we are to “say with confidence, with boldness, ‘The LORD is with me….  The Lord is my Helper; I will not be afraid.  What can mere man do to me?’” {Heb. 13:6}.

God’s love never fails— which means He never fails.  Our hearts rest in the hands of a Father who never fails!  My friends, that is gloriously Good News.  And the world needs to know it.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Gratitude Is the Glory of Grace.

If we were to start with a triumvirate of thanksgiving, a trio of God’s glories to be grateful for, it might look like this: the Son of God; the Word of God; and the Grace of God.  From His grace flow the blessings of freedom, of family, of friendship, of food on the table and laughter in the air.  From Abba’s grace come all the things worth living for in this Life {and dying for, if the moment should demand it}.

Count your blessings, my friends, enumerate the gifts and glories of His Kingdom, which have been bestowed on you and I courtesy of His grace, courtesy of Abba’s limitless largesse.  We didn’t earn them and we’ll never deserve them, but they’re ours none-the-less.  How our hearts should soar in gratitude when we reflect on this reality.  If we find our hearts somewhat lacking in appreciation, what’s this really saying?  Maybe we’re in such profound pain psychologically that ‘thank you’ just seems like a million-mile march.  Maybe we’ve lived with such an entitlement / expectant mentality for so long we don’t know any other way to live.  This unholy aspect of arrogance has grooved a rut in our neural pathways and now we expect, even demand, others take care of us, watch over us, feed, clothe and house us, etc.  Ingratitude goes hand in hand with this particular pathology.  Trust me on this one.

Maybe— and in this case, the fault lies in two directions: the shepherd and the sheep— we’ve never been taught the glorious riches which are ours in Christ {Eph. 1:3-23}, the unsearchable wisdom of the treasures of God {Rom. 11:33-36}.  Or ...we just don’t believe it.  Either way, not a good prospect for the Church in the 21st century.  As “Jesus replied” to His opponents in Matthew 22:29, “You do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.”  Precisely where we are today.  And because of this they lived in “unceasing error.”  And so do we.  Because we have not known in such a way that this knowledge gets carried into the present, informing our view of God, the world, others and ourselves, because we’ve not gotten settled in our souls by faith the Scriptures and their implications in reality {like ‘resurrection’}, we have no hope in the “power of God,” no real trust that God will come through in any situation.  We are practicing agnostics at best, and atheistic pagans at worst.

But when we understand something of the nature of Abba, His essence revealed in the “radiance” of His Son {Heb. 1:3}, when we get a glimpse of His glory, a taste of His grace, one drop of His mercy after a lifetime of dying of thirst, the only genuine response of the heart should be, “Thank You....  Thank You, thank You, thank You, thank You, thank You.”  Gratitude, appreciation, a groundswell of praise.  Right?  So what’s hindering our hearts from getting caught up in this tide?  What’s keeping us from entering into the joy of our Master?  Whatever it is, and however deep it runs, Abba will remove it in His time and according to His will, if we ask Him to.  Do we have the courage to let Him break our hearts yet again— only this time not to harm, but to heal?

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Follow Love Like Your Life Depends on It.

1 Corinthians 14 begins with this opening salvo, a heartbeat carried forward from Paul’s declaration in 13:13 that “the greatest” of all the gifts of the Spirit, the greatest of all the fruit He bears within us, “is love.”  The initial command of v. 1 is, “follow the Way of Love,” i.e., ‘keep striving for love, keep seeking after love, keep aspiring to love’ …in the Spirit.  “Follow Love, chase it down, track it to the ends of the Earth” and “passionately desire intimacy with the Holy Spirit, desire your gifting and God’s glory!” {RRExp}.  We’re commanded {each and every one of us} to pursue love, to strive for it in relationships, to seek after it in every encounter with another, to focus on the Father’s love and embrace it as a priority in our lives.  The ultimate aim of Jesus’ Apprentices is to become loving Sons and Daughters, people of strength and wisdom and courage and compassion, fierce and faithful and generous.

And what does love do?  Love sacrifices; love stays; love serves.  It doesn’t demand recognition; it doesn’t assert its rights over the rights of others; it doesn’t abuse its position of power.  It gives and gives and gives in the Cause for which Christ died: “to seek and to save that which was lost” {Lk. 19:10b}, to redeem the ransomed soul, to snatch from the ashes the last ember of a dying faith.  It’s been said, “The world is full of beauty when the heart is full of love.”  Which means we’re going to have to humble ourselves in the presence of the Lord and ask Him for more of His love within us, a fresh outpouring of His love.  And when we do, the love of Jesus will be like “rivers of living water flowing from within us” {Jn. 7:38}.  Love will reach the hearts of the lost and the lonely; it will work!  It’s the only thing that can.

When you boil 1 Corinthians 13 down to its bare essentials, strip everything away, lose the lofty language and idealistic emotions, what does Abba tell us?  “Love never fails” {1 Cor. 13:8a}.  You may fail the love of God but the love of God will never fail you!  We don’t earn His love in our lives anymore than we earn His grace in our redemption.  The Lord of all Life, the King of all Creation, loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love.  Jesus’ love for me is absolute and unconditional: and nothing I will ever do or not do will ever change this.  What we need, above all else in a faithless Age, is the ‘courage to accept His unconditional acceptance,’ and the joy and wisdom to live from this place!

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Jesus... Times Seven— Part IV.

There are seven “miraculous signs” of the power and glory of Jesus the Christ in the Gospel of John.  The Greek term semeion is the most frequently used term in the New Testament to signify God was working in and through the Lord Jesus Christ to reveal the glory of both the Father and the Son.

The first of these is His turning well-water into flawless wine— 2:1-11; this occurred, of course, at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.  The second was the healing of the Royal Official’s son— 4:46-54: he is the man who “took” Jesus “at His Word.”  You may want to give serious consideration to the fact that this is the means to unleashing divine power in your life: to take Jesus at His Word, to rest your faith in the Word of God.  The third was Jesus’ healing of the invalid at the Pool of Bethesda— 5:1-9.  If I had to summarize in a single word what these three miracles signify, I would say: community, compassion, and communion.

[iv] The feeding of the 5,000— 6:1-14; this is the sign which sets the stage for Jesus’ offer of Himself as the “Bread of Life.”  In v. 32 of this same ch. “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the Truth, it is not Moses who has given you the Bread from Heaven, but it is My Father who gives you [‘who constantly and continually offers you’] the true Bread from Heaven.  For the Bread of God is He who comes down from Heaven and gives Life to the world.’  ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘from now on give us this bread.’  Then Jesus declared, ‘I Am the Bread of Life.  He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and He who believes in Me will never be thirsty,” 6:33-35.

[v] Walking on the surface of the sea— 6:15-21; it represents guidance for the Journey of Life.  After Jesus say’s to the fearful Disciples, “It is I, do not be afraid” {v. 20}, it says, “then they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading,” v. 21.  When Jesus is welcomed into the boat, when Jesus is welcomed into the life, when Jesus is welcomed into the deepest regions of the human heart, we will always get where He wants us to go.  We always get where God wants us to go.  It won’t necessarily be where we wanted to go, but eventually we come to understand, like everything else we once viewed from a temporal perspective, it’s exactly where we needed to be.

[vi] The blind man given sight— ch. 9; it pictures Jesus as the Light of Life.  In v. 12 of the previous ch. Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I Am the Light of the world.  Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of Life.”

[vii] The raising of Lazarus— 11:1-44; it represents the ultimate Triumph of Life over death.  Remember what Jesus said to Martha?  “I Am the Resurrection and the Life.  He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies [‘will live’ spiritually and eternally ‘even though he dies’ physically]; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die [‘whoever lives’ temporally and physically ‘and believes in Me will never die’ spiritually].  Do you believe this?,” 11:25-26.

When you boil it all down, when you strip away the scales from our rotten belief-systems and tear down the scaffolding we try to erect to keep Christ the Creator out of our consciousness {‘You’re ruining my god-complex, bruh!’}, to keep Christ the King at a distance from ‘atheism,’ to keep Christ the Savior away from our souls and Christ the Shepherd out of our lives, it all comes down to this simple question.  The Son of the Living God, the Savior of All Mankind, has made His claims in the Scripture.  It’s a fairly simple proposition: “Do you believe this?”  Think long and hard about your answer; search the Gospels for yourself; read the New Testament from cover to cover.  Look at the History of nations who’ve lived in the Light of His shadow versus those who have flailed their way along in the darkness of religion.  Then answer the question upon which your destiny depends: “Do you believe this?”

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Jesus... Times Seven— Part III.

Jesus’ work at the macro-level, at the cosmic level overshadowing the Earth, is one of subduing the nations, subjecting the nations of the Earth to His rule, His reign, and His Kingdom.  There are a couple of key passages here, one of which is Psalm 110 {cf.}.

This image of Jesus as the coming Judge, the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah” {Rev. 5:5b}, is the central focus of something vital and absolutely non-negotiable to sound, ‘orthodox’ theology: that there is a Day of Wrath approaching, a Day of judgment coming on the nations of the Earth, in which the King and Creator will set His world right once and for all.  This theme, known to the Prophets of Israel as the “Day of the Lord,” is repeated over and over throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, then picked up and clarified further in the New.  In Hebrew prophecy and in the Hebrew mind, there are essentially two Ages: there is the “present Age,” which is utterly and irrevocably evil; and there is the “Age to Come,” which is entirely good, holy, beautiful and abundant.  In between the two is the Day of the Lord, the Day when Yahweh would personally and powerfully intervene for His People on planet Earth, destroying His enemies {and the enemies of the Jewish nation}, setting right all wrongs, and inaugurating His everlasting Kingdom.  This is what the Hebrews thought of in the phrase the ‘Day of the Lord.’

It might be good to remind ourselves that throughout the Scriptures God’s coming judgment is something to be celebrated, longed for, deeply desired by those who belong to Him.  Now think about this, especially in an election year.  In a world of systematic injustice, a world of brutality, violence, and oppression of human freedom, the firmly founded belief that there will come a Day when the wicked are put permanently in their place and the poor and defenseless are given power and protection is grand and glorious news!  Listen carefully.  Faced with a world in rebellion against His rule, a world filled with exploitation and wickedness, a good and righteous God must be a God of judgment and justice— cf. Psalm 2.  Must!

When the image of the “Son of Man” from Daniel 7 who “was given authority, glory, and sovereign power” and “all peoples, nations, and men of every language worshiped Him,” whose “dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and” whose “Kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” {v. 14}, is transposed to the New Testament, we find Jesus fulfilling the role of the Son of Man.  The early Church, in accordance with the revelation they were given, understood full well Jesus is the One through whom God will set the world aright.

“So, how do I play a part in this?”  You can play a part in this, first of all, by offering the Gospel of Grace freely and openly and generously to any who don’t have it.  You can expand the boundaries of the Royal Empire one soul at a time!  And secondly, you can train Disciples to train other Disciples, you can teach other Followers to teach other Followers, and slowly, sometimes imperceptibly, but surely you can lead human hearts to surrender themselves and their lives to His will, His purpose and His plan for them.  That’s how you can help Jesus subdue the nations beneath Him; that’s how we can labor for the Kingdom, both in its present form and its future form.  Two things in closing here.  [i] We are not called in this Age to subject persons or nations violently or militarily to Jesus’ rule and reign.  There’ll be a time for this, but that part comes later: at the Return of the King of Kings to tread down the winepress of Abba’s wrath and judgment {Isa. 63:1-6; Rev. 14:18-20; 19:11-21}.  [ii] The Church’s warfare is spiritual, not national!  Nowhere in Scripture are we told to convert anybody, anywhere, by force.  Nowhere.  And don’t forget it.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
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Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously