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Category: Life

Do this in Remembrance

Posted on by Bob Christopher

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body.”
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Matthew 26:26-28

Tonight and tomorrow many churches will host services to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Metro Bible fellowship, our local church, will meet tonight to remember the Lord’s death. It is my favorite service of the year. The music, the Scriptures that tell the story of Jesus is final hours and participation in the Lord’s Supper provides an experience of the love of God that is deeply moving.
I know many of you will be participating in services either tonight or tomorrow which is Good Friday. No doubt that you will share in the Lord’s Supper as well. As you do, remember all that Christ has accomplished for you.
When you eat of the bread, remember the day you first trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord. That was the day you were added to the body of Christ. When Jesus was alive, the body of Christ was in singular form. He occupied the body God had prepared for him as a sin offering. Today, His body has a new form. It is made up you believers throughout the world. As Paul wrote, “Now you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it.” Remember that you belong to Christ.
When you drink of the cup, you remember that this cup represents the New Covenant in which you live today. Jesus’s death brought an end to the old covenant, fulfilling it in every detail. His death also ushered in the New Covenant. In this new covenant, God remembers your sins no more and where these have been forgiven there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Remember that you are a forgiven person.
These are the truths that will help you celebrate the Lord’s Supper with a heart full of joy and thankfulness.

A Good Divorce

Posted on by Bob Christopher

Divorce happens.
It is not supposed to. God’s design for marriage has been and is “one man, one woman, until death do they part.” Here is the Bible’s last word on the subject:
To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 (NIV)
It was never in God’s mind for a man to marry a woman and then dismiss her from his care and concern, to send her away and take no further notice of her.
Even though God does not condone divorce when it comes to marriage, He does condone it when it comes to our sins.
The word rendered divorce in the above passage is the Greek word aphiemi. Most everywhere else in the New Testament this word is translated as forgive or forgiveness. We find this word in the Lord’s Prayer, in Romans 4:7 where Paul wrote, “blessed are they whose sins are forgiven”, and in 1 John 1:9 and 2:12. This last verse is one of my favorites in the word of God: “I write to you dear children because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.”
When the Bible speaks of forgiveness it is saying to us that God has divorced us from our sins. Which means He has…

  • Removed our sins from us – Psalm 103:12
  • Sent our sins away – Hebrews 9:28
  • Dismissed our sins – Romans 4:7
  • Let our sins go from His further notice or care – Hebrews 10:17, 18
  • Released us from our relationship with sin and death and set us free to experience new life in Christ – Romans 8:1, 2.

Only God has the authority and the power to forgive. Through the shed blood of Christ He has forgiven us once and for all. He has divorced us from our sins and raised us to walk in the newness of life.
Divorce happens, but when it comes to our sins it is a good divorce.

I Can't Forgive Myself

Posted on by Bob Christopher

“I know God has forgiven me, but I am having a hard time forgiving myself.”
This might be your situation. If so, you are not alone. Many people find it difficult to forgive themselves.
Look underneath the hood of this perplexing problem and three main causes emerge.

  1. People who struggle with forgiving themselves also struggle with God’s forgiveness. They may say they know that God has forgiven them, but the fact they cannot forgive themselves indicates that they are not resting in Christ’s finished work on the cross.
  2. People wrestling with forgiving themselves constantly dwell on the sins of the past. Whenever a person dwells on past mistakes and the consequences of those mistakes, they experience guilt, shame and fear in their present. These feelings mask the truth that Christ has taken away their sins and that forgiveness is theirs.
  3. People wrestling with forgiving themselves struggle with a poor self-image. Rather than seeing themselves through God’s eyes, they see themselves in light of their sins. They may verbalize their identity in Christ, but in their hearts they still see themselves as sinners.

The path to experiencing personal forgiveness starts at the cross.
Step one is to rest in the finished work of Christ, thanking Him for the forgiveness you have in Him.

  • He died once for all of your sins. He took them away, nailing them to the cross.
  • He remembers your sins no more.
  • In Him, you are forgiven people.

Step two is to leave your past behind.

  • Since God does not remember you sins, it doesn’t make sense for you to keep dredging them up.
  • The word forgiveness means to send away or to let go. This conveys the idea of letting sins go from ones further notice or care. Jesus judged sin, he condemned sin and he paid the penalty for sin in full. He did it all.
  • Choosing not to dwell on the past is an attitude that grows out of this liberating truth.

Step three is to embrace your identity in Christ.

  • No longer are you called a sinner. God declares you to be His child. You may not feel or act like a child of God at times, but this does not change the truth.
  • God sent his Spirit into your hearts to bear witness with your human spirit that we are a child of God. This testimony breaks the bonds of fear in your life and gives confidence to draw near to God.

If you are struggling with forgiving yourself, step fully into the forgiveness of God and rest in Christ’s finished work on the cross. His forgiveness will enable you to keep your past in the past and will help you live in your identity as a child of God.

Three Words that can Change Your Life

Posted on by Bob Christopher

In the 26 years of the People to People radio broadcast, forgiveness ranks as the number one topic of discussion. Here are three things we have learned from all the questions that have been asked about this critical issue:
1. The forgiveness of God is greatly misunderstood,
2. People like to argue about forgiveness,
3. People long to have forgiveness.
You can understand why forgiveness is such a hot topic. All of us sin. This reality raises numerous questions in our minds.
• What do I do when I sin?
• How can I know that God has forgiven my sin?
• If He has forgiven me, why do I keep doing the same sin over and over?
Here is the good news. All of these questions are answered by the three words Jesus uttered from the cross, “It is finished!” Jesus paid the debt in full. Nothing more needs to be done, or can be done concerning forgiveness of sins.
I wished I had known this truth early in life.
With each sin I committed in those days, I felt I needed to do something to get it forgiven. I prayed. I promised. I studied the Bible. I made deals with God. But nothing changed.
I wanted His forgiveness so badly, but in spite of all my efforts, I never felt forgiven.
The glorious truth is that there was nothing I could do to gain God’s forgiveness. Jesus had already done the work. He forgave all of my sins. His shed blood took them away once and for all.
When His finished work finally hit my heart, the weight of guilt lifted from my shoulders. And something even better happened. The love of God broke through to my soul. It was the first time that I knew, I mean really knew, that He loved me.
This is what I wanted more than anything. I think we all want to truly know that God loves us. Forgiveness is the truth that makes God’s love real to us.
Just three simple words comprise the most powerful, life-changing phrase in the entire Bible.
It is finished!
These three words can change your life.

Don't Forget This One Thing

Posted on by Bob Christopher

Growth.
Transformation.
These two words characterize those who know Jesus Christ.
At least they should.
However, far too many believers live stymied lives. They want to grow and change, yet they never seem to mature in their faith. This isn’t a new phenomenon, something that has popped up in our day and age. The writer of Hebrews made this observation: “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” (Hebrews 5:12 NIV)
We can’t live on milk forever. At some point, it is time to move on toward maturity, to grow in grace and be transformed by the knowledge of Christ Jesus. What keeps this from happening?
The Apostle Peter answers clearly and profoundly.
But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. (2 Peter 1:9 NIV)
Forgetting this one thing stops spiritual growth and transformation dead in its tracks. That one thing is the fact, the liberating truth, that you have been cleansed and forgiven of all sin.
Forget and you become nearsighted. You can’t see anything beyond you — your guilt and shame, your weaknesses and struggles, your fears and frustrations..
Forget and you become blind. Your spiritual eyes become shut to all that Christ has done and is doing in your life.
Forgiveness is the key to growth and transformation in Jesus Christ. Step onto that foundation and rest confidently in the truth that your sins have been taken away once and for all.
When you do, strap on your spiritual seatbelt and be prepared to experience the power of God’s love and grace to grow you in your knowledge of Christ and transform you into His image.
Just don’t forget. In Christ, you are a forgiven person.

Seven Reasons to be New Covenant

Posted on by Bob Christopher

To the fence sitters, here are seven reasons to get off the fence and boldly declare that you are a New Covenant believer.
Paul stated the reasons plainly in his letter to the Corinthians. The passage is 2 Corinthians 3. Read through it. I think you will find the seven reasons to be compelling.

  • Life — As Paul wrote, “the law kills, but the Spirit gives life.” The end of the law is death. That is the wages of sin. In the New Covenant, you receive life, Christ’s life.
  • Righteousness — The law is a ministry of condemnation. No way to feel close to God or even know that He truly loves you when you keep failing to live up to His commands. In the New, God makes you righteous in Jesus. You are accepted.
  • Eternal Security — The Old Covenant was temporary. It had a limited purpose – to show you your need for Christ. The New is eternal. Jesus’ promises and provisions last forever, which means that you are saved completely and eternally.
  • Hope — The weight of the law squeezes out all measure of hope. As the writer of Hebrews stated, apart from Christ, you live in the fearful expectation of God’s punishment . In this New Covenant, your sins have been taken away once and for all. You are forgiven. You have Jesus and He is your hope of glory.
  • Freedom — Under the law, you were in bondage to sin and death. Sin was your master, as Paul wrote. But in this New Covenant, the Spirit of Life sets you free from the law of sin and death. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
  • Transformation — Self-effort keeps you stuck in the Romans 7 trap: the things I want to do, I don’t, and the things I don’t want to do, I do. But in the New Covenant you are transformed into the likeness of Christ, from glory to glory.
  • Jesus — Under law, it is all about you and your ability to live up to the standards. In the New, Jesus lives His life through you. He was the One who was revealed when the curtain in the temple was torn. He is God’s gift to you.

It is time to get off the fence. Make the declaration: “I am a New Covenant believer!”

What If…

Posted on by Bob Christopher

What if the Old Covenant was God’s final word to man?
What if the Ten Commandments were the only means available to us to gain entry into heaven, or to earn God’s love and acceptance?
Where would this leave us?
What would our eternal fate be?
How would this affect our lives here and now?
The Old Covenant was God’s word to Israel. Not His first word to Israel, nor was it His last. But it did define Israel’s way of life as a nation from Moses until Jesus. The teachers of the Law believed Israel’s role in the world was to live out the righteous requirements of the Law, and in so doing, become a blessing to all other nations.
Where did this leave them? The same place it leaves anyone who attempts to gain God’s acceptance through obedience to Law – judged, condemned, fearful and dead in sin.
That’s the Old Covenant, a ministry of condemnation and death.
When read correctly, the Law is God’s word about man, the plain, stark truth. It answers these questions: What is the destiny of a people caught in the throes of a lie? What will be their end? According to the Law, the final stop is death, but only if the Old Covenant is God’s final word.
The denouement of this story has a twist. It is revealed on a hill called Calvary, outside the walls of Jerusalem. A man hung there on a cross, suspended between heaven and earth. He was no ordinary man, and the death he died was no ordinary death.
The man whose hands and feet were pierced was the Lord Himself, the unblemished Lamb of God. His death was in place of ours. Live out the full story of the Law and it ends at the foot of this cross. Look up and see God’s final word to man – Jesus.
Death is not God’s end for man, it is Jesus. In Him we have forgiveness of sins, righteousness and a new way of life defined by the New Covenant. That leads to several questions.
What if we truly believed that Jesus was and is God’s final word to man?
Where would this leave us?
How would it affect us here and now?
The New Covenant answers – in Jesus totally forgiven, completely loved and fully alive!

How You Can Have a Vibrant Faith in 2012

Posted on by Bob Christopher

If you want to experience a vibrant faith, then ask and answer this question.
Jesus first posed this question to His disciples at Caesarea Philippi. The curiosity of the people of Israel concerning the identity of Jesus had the nation abuzz. Who was He? Jesus asked His disciples for feedback. Then He asked them, “Who do you say that I am?”
Most of us think of this question in terms of apologetics, defending the faith. Yes, Jesus’ identity is central to Christianity, and we as believers must be well versed in sharing the truth of His claims to be God.
The question, however, is much broader in scope. The answer has continuing effects in our day-to-day lives. It relates to our faith as individual believers.
“Who do you say that I am?” is not a question to be asked and answered merely once in a lifetime. We should circle back to it time and time again.
Our faith, to have value and substance, must be tied to an object. Without an object, faith is a meaningless word. For Christians, the object of our faith is Jesus Christ Himself. As our knowledge of Christ grows, our faith in Him expands within our souls.
This far exceeds the facts the question initially invokes. Peter answered the question correctly when Jesus asked it. He boldly delivered the answer that had been revealed to him, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Yet, when Jesus, in response to Peter’s answer, shared His ultimate mission, Peter recoiled. Jesus rebuked him saying, “You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.” The fact of Jesus’ identity was clear in Peter’s mind, but fact had not yet blossomed into full faith.
Faith is a dynamic word that is lived out in trials and tribulations. Sometimes, in trials, we carry on as if we had never come to terms with the truth of Jesus. We act as if He is irrelevant to our life issues. However, it is in those times, we need to come back to this most significant question: Who do I say that He is? When we come back to the truth that Jesus is God and is living in us, then we can release our burdens to Him and confidently trust that He is capable of working the situation together for our good.
In 2012, make a point to circle back to the most compelling question ever asked time and time again. If you do, you can count on experiencing a vibrant faith in the New Year.

From the Manger to the Cross

Posted on by Bob Christopher

In six short verses the writer of Hebrews takes us from the manger to the cross. In Hebrews 10:5, he starts with this: “When Christ came into the world…” Then, within a few short statements, he fast forwards the reader to the cross. Along with the resurrection, these are the salient points of His story. The writer of Hebrews links these two events to show us the purpose for which Christ was born.
The first Christmas morn, Jesus inhabited a body. He entered into our world and became one of us. He took on our flesh and blood. This body had been prepared for Him by His Father. This body was to be the final sacrifice for sin.
Sacrifices were required by the Mosaic Covenant, but those sacrifices were not sufficient to take away sin. The blood of bulls and goats did not equal the weight of our sin. Even though the blood provided the people temporary relief from their guilt, it also reminded them that their sin still stood between them and God. The way into His presence had not been opened.
That required a greater sacrifice, one of infinite worth. Jesus came to be that sacrifice, the perfect Lamb of God. Yes, Jesus inhabited a body. Hearing the story of that holy night fills us with awe and wonder. The image of Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes strikes a chord of hope in each of us. It was this body that would be sacrificed on the altar of God’s mercy. This was the will of the Father. Jesus gladly took on our flesh and blood to carry out His will. Within this short passage, we see that the will of the Father is two-fold.
First, Jesus came to set aside the first covenant to establish a New Covenant. That first covenant judged us all guilty and left us dead in our sins. That covenant provided no means of escape, no opportunity for redemption. That covenant brought death. Jesus stepped into a body that was subject to the Old Covenant and He lived up to every righteous requirement. He was tempted just as we are and yet He was without sin. Not only that, He walked in perfect love, and as Paul wrote, “love is the fulfillment of the Law.”
But there was still the issue of our guilt and punishment. Something had to happen regarding both to bring the Old Covenant to its completion. Jesus offered Himself, perfect and unblemished, as the ultimate sacrifice for sin. On the cross, He cried out, “It is finished!” The Old covenant had been fulfilled once and for all. Jesus fulfilled it in order to establish the New Covenant.
The second aspect of the will of His Father is this: to make us holy through the sacrifice of Christ’s body. Martin Luther spent much of his life tormented by this question: “How can an unjust man survive in the presence of a just God?” The question could be asked this way: How can an unholy person survive in the presence of a Holy God? Apart from Christ, meriting the state of holiness is impossible.
But Christ stood in our place and took away our sins once and for all. His cleansing blood sets us apart and makes us holy. His sacrifice sets us apart from the law of sin and death; sets us apart from the empty way of life that was handed down to us by our parents; sets us apart to live righteous lives through faith in Him. Through Christ, you have been made holy. Jesus accomplished the will of the Father for you.
Yes there is much more to the story. As the apostle John wrote, “if everything was written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
But here in these six verses, Hebrews 10:5-10, the writer of Hebrews tells us why Jesus became one of us and just exactly what that means for us. Jesus was born to die, and through His death He made us holy forever.
The Angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds saying, I bring you good tidings of great joy. Today in the city of David, a Savior has been born, Christ the Lord. It was good news to the Shepherds. It is good news to us.
Merry Christmas!
For more on Hebrews 10:5-10, click this link to listen to the message, “The Origin of Christmas.” http://realanswers.net/radio/player.php?id=3443

Lessons learned from the Samaritans

Posted on by Bob Christopher

One of the oddities of the New Testament is the contradiction the Samaritans present. Read through its pages and you’re not sure if the Samaritans are the good guys or the bad guys. One thing is clear and that is the Jews and the Samaritans did not like each other at all. As a matter of fact, bitter hatred flowed between the two groups.
On one occasion, Luke recorded the story: A particular Samaritan village did not welcome Jesus because he was traveling to Jerusalem. On the surface, the reaction to Jesus seems trite. Dig a little bit, however, and you see that a deep root of bitterness had grown in the hearts of the Samaritans toward the Jews. This incident infuriated James and John so much they asked Jesus,” Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy these people?” You might say that they overreacted, but not in their minds. This was a bitter feud, acrimonious through and through.
“Samaritan” even became a pejorative term for the Jew. Once, after Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of the Jewish leadership, they responded with this vitriol; “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon possessed?”
With this hatred as the back story, how do you explain the occasions Jesus presents the Samaritans in a positive light? Did he think they were the good guys? It is rather odd, isn’t it? I think Paul can help us understand this oddity.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul explained a mystery: “…through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:6 NIV). Jew and Gentile have become one in Christ. God created one new man made from these two distinct people groups. So how does this relate to Samaritans?
Samaritans were considered to be a mixed race. Following the Assyrian conquest of Israel in 772 BC, Assyrian pioneers settled in Samaria. They intermingled with the Jewish people that remained. This unholy union created a new people group. It was the merging of two groups, Jew and Gentile, into one. A syncretism of philosophies, religious beliefs and practices followed. In essence, we see in a Samaritan the perfect blend of Jew and Gentile in one body. As a type, a Samaritan represents the body of Christ.
This helps us understand why Jesus cast the Samaritans in such a positive light. He was pointing to the Spirit’s work of making one new man out of the two and showing the nature and characteristics of the church. Let’s take a closer look.
The Woman at the Well
We read this story in John’s Gospel. On one of Jesus’s trips back to Galilee, he traveled through Samaria and stopped in Sychar. There, he met a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. They talked about water, worship and her string of failed marriages. At the end of the conversation Jesus revealed to her that he was the Messiah. She went back to her village and told the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” This woman’s testimony was powerful, and many of the Samaritans who heard her believed. They went out to see Jesus, and many more believed because of his words. They were convinced that he really was and is the Savior of the world. This is the story, and here is what it teaches us about the body of Christ.

  • The body of Christ lives by the truth. This woman did not shrink back when Jesus exposed her sins and failures. Rather, she stepped into the light, and saw the emptiness of her soul. Her response exemplified what Jesus told Nicodemus just prior to this encounter at the well: “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”
  • The body of Christ experiences contentment in him. Jesus offered living water to the Samaritan woman. At first she was confused. But once Jesus exposed her sins and her empty way of life, she gladly received his offer of living water and experienced contentment in him.
  • The body of Christ is also the bride of Christ. Paul explains in his letter to the Ephesians: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for herto make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27). We are the bride of Christ and we say along with the Spirit, “‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17 (NIV).

The Good Samaritan
Jesus told this story to a lawyer, a so-called expert in the law who tried to test Him. This lawyer wanted to know what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus turned the tables on him and asked, “What is written in the law? How do you read it? He did know the law and answered that we are to love God and to love our neighbors. “You’ve answered correctly,” said Jesus, “now do this and live.” “But who is my neighbor?” the lawyer pressed. To this question, the story of the Good Samaritan was the answer. Of these three, a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan, only the Samaritan extended mercy and care to the man robbed, beaten and left half dead. In doing so, the Samaritan proved to be the good neighbor.
As I read this story recently, my mind connected the Good Samaritan to Ephesians 2:8-10. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The body of Christ is God’s workmanship and it is the body of Christ that carries out God’s work in this world. Here is the take away. Jesus as the head of the body works in and through us, the members, to extend his love, grace and mercy to those in need.
The 10 Lepers
Jesus cleansed 10 lepers, but only one came back to thank him for what he had done. This one was a Samaritan. Jesus said to him, your faith has made you well. The others were healed of their disease. The Samaritan experienced healing of the soul. This healing marked him out for a new way of living altogether, a life of faith expressed through a heart of gratitude. Isn’t that the mark of the body of Christ? Those of us who have come to Christ by faith, whether Jew or Gentile, are the ones in this world who give thanks to Jesus for all he accomplished for us through his death, burial and resurrection.
Jesus cut through the hatred of the day to show the Samaritans in the light of his love. In these particular stories a Samaritan stood as the protagonist, the hero, the person God was seeking to find. Who were these people and what did they represent? A Samaritan was a mixed breed, a Jew and a Gentile in one body. This is a picture of the body of Christ.