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Better in Every Way

Posted on by Bob Christopher

The book of Hebrews was written to make this one point — the New covenant is better than the Old in every way.

The reason is simple. The New Covenant totally rests on the shoulders of Jesus.

His once for all sacrifice.

His eternal priesthood.

His indestructible life.

As Hebrews 7:22 states, “This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.”

His finished work on the cross guarantees every promise, every provision.

His resurrected life in you guarantees that every promise, every provision of the New Covenant becomes a reality in your life.

No longer do you have to rely on human effort. you can trust the one who loved you and gave himself for you.

So what makes the New Covenant better than the Old?

In a word — Jesus.

The Right Side

Posted on by Bob Christopher

Are you on the right side of history?

Politicians will tell you that you are if your views line up with their’s.

But they miss the point.

They limit history to the course of human events.

To the decisions and policies men and women make to move the human story forward.

Absent from the equation is the fact that history is really God’s story.

And he is writing that story through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

At the end of the age, his redemption of man will be the history that stands front and center.

Let me ask, are you on the right side of history?

You are if you have been redeemed by the Lamb.

Made for Marriage!

Posted on by Bob Christopher

When it comes to marriage, Ephesians 5:22-33 is the go-to passage. Paul lays out complete instructions for husbands and wives to live in harmony one with another. These instructions, however, follow an enormous amount of truth concerning the effects of God’s grace in our lives…your life.

Let’s start with this familiar passage: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Saved by grace through faith. This is the Christian story…your story. But what does it mean to be saved by grace through faith?

We all know that salvation is not of our own doing. It is not something we have earned. It is a gift we have received…the gift of life.

Your story began with these words: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Not something to brag or boast about. But don’t feel bad. It’s where every person’s story begins.

Spiritual death was the result of Adam’s fall. He died the day he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, exactly as God had said. Death came into the world through him and it affected us all.

You came into this world alive to sin, but dead to God. Your life was ordered according to the ways of the world and to the prince of the power of the air. You lived to gratify the desires of the flesh. You were by nature a child of wrath (Ephesians 2:2-3).

God’s design for marriage doesn’t fit this framework. Two spiritually dead people living to gratify the desires of the flesh will have a difficult time trying to make it work. It is no wonder the divorce rate is what it is. It is no wonder that culture is bent on changing the marriage paradigm to fit this worldly ethos.

God has a different idea. He wants to fit us into his design…to make us compatible with him. This is where grace comes into the story. We cannot overcome the power of sin and death. But God can and he did through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

God’s love for you moved him to act on your behalf. As Paul wrote, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5). To be saved by grace is to be made alive together with Jesus Christ.

In the beginning, “the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7). Adam was fully alive, equipped to leave, cleave and become one flesh with Eve.

All that changed when sin entered the picture. But God in his grace and mercy took sin out of the picture through the cross of Jesus Christ, and breathed life back into man…into you.

You were once dead in trespasses and sins. Now you are alive in Christ. Marriage, as God designed it, is for those who are fully alive in Him.

This is you…made new in Christ to carry out God’s design for marriage.

How Not to be Gods Guy

Posted on by Bob Christopher

How is the Christian life really supposed to work?

For the longest time, I didn’t know the answer.

I wanted to be God’s guy. And to show God my sincerity on the matter, I made a vow to him that I would give it my best effort to be the best Christian I could be. It didn’t work out so well for me. I failed time and time again, but each time I did I promised to “try harder.”

Bottom line, I didn’t know what it meant to be a Christian or how the Christian life was supposed to work.

In this video lesson, Richard and I discuss the misconceptions we had about the Christian life, the ones that are common to many believers and the answers we discovered. And yes there are answers. There is a way out of the frustration, fear and guilt that leads to peace and joy. It’s all there for you as a gift from God, given by grace.

Good News — Sunday is Here!

Posted on by Bob Christopher

Have you ever heard the sermon, “It’s Friday, Sunday’s Coming?” I was introduced to this masterpiece in high school. A pastor friend borrowed it for one of his messages. That was almost forty years ago and I’ve never forgotten the message. I found a recording of this sermon on YouTube delivered by the great S.M. Lockridge. I’ve listened to it literally hundreds of times. I still get goose bumps every time I listen.

The preacher starts softly, “It’s Friday…Jesus is praying…Peter is sleeping…Judas is betraying…but Sunday’s coming.”

“It’s Friday,” he says again, this time a little louder. “The disciples are running like sheep without a shepherd…Mary’s crying…Peter is denying…but they don’t know that Sunday’s coming.”

He keeps repeating the phrase. With every turn, that horrible Friday grows darker and more hopeless.

“It’s Friday. See Jesus walking to Calvary…His blood dripping…His body stumbling…And his spirit’s burdened…But, you see, it’s only Friday, Sunday’s coming.”

“It’s Friday…The world’s winning…People are sinning…And evil’s grinning.

“It’s Friday…The soldiers nail my Savior’s hands to the cross…They nail my Savior’s feet to the cross…And then they raise him up next to criminals.”

“It’s Friday…But let me tell you something…Sunday’s coming.”

The cadence quickens.

“It’s Friday…He’s hanging on the cross…Feeling forsaken by his Father…Left alone and dying. Can nobody save him?”

“Oh, it’s Friday…But Sunday’s coming.”

“It’s Friday…The earth trembles…The sky grows dark…My King yields his spirit.”

“It’s Friday…Hope is lost…Death has won…Sin has conquered…And Satan’s just a-laughing.”

The pastor pauses briefly. His next words are stark, emptied of all emotion.

“It’s Friday…Jesus is buried…A soldier stands guard…And a rock is rolled into place.”

Friday ends in the worst possible way, but…

“It’s Friday. It is only Friday.

“Sunday is coming!”

With those last three words, the pastor fills that darkest day with light and hope.

If you ever hear this sermon, you’ll never forget it. To me, it is one of the most powerful, evangelistic sermons ever delivered.

I shared this sermon with you to make this point – Sunday is here!

On that third day, the huge stone was rolled away and Jesus walked out of his borrowed tomb. When the women went to the garden early Sunday morning, they were shocked by what they saw. “Who took his body away and where did they take it?” they wondered.

Jesus told them on seven different occasions that he would rise from the dead. The disciples did not understand what he meant, nor did the ladies that visited the tomb. When they saw the empty tomb, they did not think that he was alive. But he was, and he is today. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and He lives forevermore. This is the good news story.

Have you come to know this story?

I don’t mean as an historical fact. Has your dark, hopeless Friday come to an end — the searching, the restlessness, the emptiness, the guilt and shame? Have you found what you were looking for in the person of Jesus Christ? Has he given you new life?

If so, the resurrection story has become your story. Sunday is here for you. As John wrote in his gospel account, “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life” (John 6:47).

You have everlasting life.

Let that soak in.

Like Jesus, you’ve walked out of your spiritual tomb fully alive – raised to walk in the newness of life here and now.

Sunday has arrived for you!

Excerpted from Simple Gospel, Simply Grace
 

He is Alive — The Christ Event!

Posted on by Bob Christopher

In this Basic Gospel radio webcast, Richard and I tell the full Gospel story and share…

  • the significance of Jesus’s words, “It is finished.”
  • exactly how Jesus fulfilled the law
  • why the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus as Messiah
  • the good news that Jesus is alive!

At the end, we extend an invitation to receive Jesus as life. Sharing this message is a great way for you to help connect those you love to the resurrection story.

Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs

Posted on by Bob Christopher

God does not count our sins against us. That isn’t logical to us. It is the the very opposite of the way our natural minds work. We want to keep a record of wrongs and count sins against others. It’s just the way the flesh operates.
With every wrong suffered, the flesh records that wrong in a mental spreadsheet. When appropriate, the flesh accesses that record to use against others to somehow even the score. Here’s how it works.

When we get hurt by the actions of others, we take note. It’s like a video record we store in our minds, a high definition, 3-D video, mind you. Every aspect of the event is stored in vivid detail. We know the who, what, when and how, and we give a lot of thought to the why. All this effort to keep a tally opens the door for resentment to creep in and set up shop in our minds.

The writer of Hebrews issued a strong warning about resentment and bitterness: “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many” (Hebrews 12:15). Resentment is not content to merely stew. It wants to cause trouble. All kinds of evil thoughts begin racing through the mind, hatching a plan for revenge.

Does this sound familiar?

Once a plan for revenge is hatched, we wait for the perfect time and place for the payback. Then we tally the score. The record says that we are ahead, and the flesh is satisfied.

But love doesn’t do this. God does not do this. He reconciled you to himself in Christ, and he does not count your sins against you. God is not resentful when you sin, nor does he think evil. And that sin is not recorded in God’s books. His spreadsheet is empty.

As this truth sinks deep within our hearts and minds, it starts to shape how we treat one another.

Do you want to see the love of God in action in your marriage, your family, your relationship with your children, your friends, your fellow-workers and your brothers and sisters in Christ?

Throw the record of wrongs away. Rest in the truth that you have been reconciled to God in Christ, and that he is not counting your sins against you. And then rejoice in the truth that God is not counting the sins of others against them.

The heart of reconciliation and the foundation for strong, healthy relationships is this: Love keeps no record of wrongs.