The Man Who Would be God or the God Who Would be Man

The crime that Jesus was accused of was that he, being a mere man, represented to be God. Many people throughout history have been accused of like ambitions. But when push comes to shove, they can't back up the claim. The miracles and signs testified to the truth that Jesus spoke, yet few believed.

The harder truth is that this was God becoming a man. I find it harder and harder sometimes to wrap my head around this truth. I held my new granddaughter for the first time this week. This little girl can only do three things - eat, poop, and wail. The Lord, creator of the universe was a helpless baby like that. God incarnate walks the earth for three years living penniless and homeless.

The cross takes that even a step further. God takes the abject punishment of a slave, naked and laid bare hoisted up on a tree. Mid-day as Jesus utters His last breath, there is some inkling that He spoke the truth. The sky becomes black and the earth shook and bodies rose out of the tomb. But there is still a body up on the cross. The body is laid in a tomb heavily guarded.

Then the resurrection testifies to the claim. Jesus appears to more than 500 witnesses, many of whom are alive at the time of the writing. Christianity is the only religion that is based on a historical event. That is the God of the universe took on human flesh for the sole purpose of dying an ignominious death to bear the personal punishment that our sins deserve. Thanks be to God for that gift.

The Final Score

After the Cavaliers had won the NBA championship, I started reliving the moments of Game 7 and now have purchased through iTunes Games 5,6, and 7 so I can relive them in even more detail. I can recite the key moments of the game - "Oh, blocked by James" or "Kyrie Irving for 3 puts it up, it's good". The common thread of all these games is I can watch it knowing the final score. Usually, I can pick up a thing or two each time I watch it. The details are more fun when you know your team wins. I did the same thing with the World Series games 2,3, and 4 all games they won. I did download game 7 because it was so epic, but it wasn't so much fun because even though there was the homerun to tie the game, I knew the end result was not in our favor.

 

As I think about Easter, I am reminded that we know the final score. The final score was etched when Christ rose from the grave. Good has won - evil has lost. The price has been paid for the penalty of sin and the payment accepted. But unlike the Cavs, even though the final score is won and our team wins, the day to day game still lives on. Satan does not give up even though he knows the final score. If he can't win, maybe he can convince enough people not to believe their team has won. Or maybe he can convince others of an alternate reality that the game is still very much in doubt.

So I need to live my life in the reality of the final score. Easter very much reminds me of that. Jesus said "It is Finished" - the word tetelestai used there is the final score. There is victory in Jesus. Doesn't always feel like it every day, but since it is reality, it is fact. My feelings don't change the final score. What does that do to me? What does it change?  This needs to be a daily reminder. As Paul says, the resurrection is everything. Without it, we are "of all men most to be pitied". But with it "it is finished" (tetelestai).

Two Books

The hottest world record seems to be the knuckle pushup record. Lately there has been a string of videos documenting the competition of achieving this record, the latest being just this week as Al Waselenchuk attempts to break the record by performing 91 in a minute.

Not all kinds of record books are about achieving a feat or breaking a record. Record books can record any listing of acts or deeds. As I think about this Easter, I am reminded that there are two record books mentioned in the Bible. The first is not a pleasant one. It records every sin and every offense against God. It is a very thick book. Psalm 130:3-4 says that if God should mark every iniquity, who could stand? This is the book I am held to account for when I stand before God in judgment. This book is a ledger book.

The second book is the Book of Life. This book contains not a record of my action, but a record of those who are redeemed by God. It is almost like a receipt or an admission ticket. When I go sign in to trade shows, I want my name to be on the registered list because it means that I am able to attend. Someone had to pay the price for my name to be on the list. There is only one relevant action to be in that book and that is the complete payment of sins by Jesus Christ. We want our name in that book and not in the ledger book.

In Ezekiel and Revelation, the ledger book is described as sweet to the taste and bitter to the stomach. God's wrath should be bitter - it carries a high cost in judgment, one way or the other. On Good Friday, the realization that Christ was bearing the complete wrath of God in full payment should be nauseatingly bitter. It also should be bitter to the realization that those who are relying on their own ledger book will receive the full weight of the judgment of God. On Easter Sunday, it is sweet to the soul as we are in complete relationship with God. Psalm 130:4 describes the transition from the ledger book to the book of life this way - "As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that's why You are worshiped." (MSG)

Bread

Along the Pan-American highway in Peru, there is this bread place that pops up seemingly out of nowhere. It has been our traditional stop whenever we make our way up to a beach spot close to two hours from where Mom and Alberto live. When we first stopped there they had only one oven, but business expansion has pushed this up to I think five ovens.You can get the bread with either cheese (con queso) or olives (con aceitunas). I am not a big fan of olives in anything so of course I opt for the one with cheese.





Isn't it interesting how big a part bread has played in the movement and symbolism of God?

1. Part of the worship of Israel and the sacrificial system
2. God's provision to Israel in the desert was manna, a form of bread.
3. Part of the celebration by Israel (Passover, bread without leaven)
4. Temptation of Jesus ("command these stones to become bread")
5. Part of the Lord's prayer ("give us this day our daily bread")
6. Reference to the body of Christ when celebrating Communion ("this is my body broken for you")
7. Symbolizes free gift of God (Isa 55:1)

Then there are the numerous uses of it in figurative language in the bible. “The bread of tears” (Ps. 80:5) and “the bread of sorrows” (Ps. 127:2) refer to food eaten in grief and distress. The “bread of mourners” (Hos. 9:4) is bread eaten at the time of death. The “bread of adversity” symbolizes hardship (Is. 30:20). The virtuous woman does not eat “the bread of idleness” (Prov. 31:27); she is diligent, hard-working, and productive. (Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary)

All points to Jesus as the "bread of life" and the "true bread from heaven" (John 13:26-35). He is an eternal supply of divine sustenance. Just as manna predictably supplied nourishment to Israel, Jesus supplies an endless supply of nourishment for the famished spiritual soul, of which I count as one. Passover and Easter meet in the person of Christ, the bread of life.