The David and Sherry Ward Family

We have found it particularly difficult to help our children with sins of lying, deceit, or trickery since it is often hard to determine the facts and so much depends on motives and attitudes that are not easily discerned. Today the Lord reminded me of one of the primary reasons for obedience in all areas but particularly in our hidden thoughts and acts of secrecy that we must keep before our children continually. We do not want them to tell the truth and be honest simply to please us, but to please the Lord. Children do not intuitively understand that the Lord sees every action and thought, but God’s word makes this clear in Psalm 139:

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tounge,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

May the Lord be at work in our children to help them remember that they can never hide their sin from God or “get away” with anything before Him, and that their obedience is to please Him and not just us.

(A medidation on scripture for a communion service)

Jesus’ death simultaneously demonstrated love and wrath, mercy and justice.

I want to show this by comparing Jesus’ death on the cross to the worldwide flood of Noah’s time. This might seem like an unusual comparison, but Scripture itself uses the flood to teach us about the cross. Let’s first run through the flood account to remind ourselves of what happened:

Genesis 6
11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. 13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. 14 Make for yourself an ark…”
(and in verse) 17 Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. 18 “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

Genesis 7
10 It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. 12 The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
(and in verse) 19 The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. 20 The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. 21 All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; 22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. 23 Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky , and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.

In this great flood God unmistakably demonstrated His power, holiness, justice, and wrath. He is a God who takes vengeance on sin. Like at Sodom and Gomorrah, men’s sins had become so odious to God that He took action in one great event to judge the entire world. I can hardly imagine a more terrifying prospect than the entire world being destroyed by a cataclysmic disaster. In the summer of 1998 two successful movies were made about the potential of all life being destroyed on earth – Deep Impact and Armageddon. Scenes of millions of people panicking and running for high ground as the ocean surge from a meteor approached reminded me of the horror of the flood.

The flood should not only strike fear, terror, and sobriety into our hearts, but move us to awe and wonder at the tender mercy of God. Here’s how: While virtually the entire human race perished in the flood, God was actually preserving humanity through Noah. Mankind had become so sinful that if left to their own devices they would have destroyed themselves completely. Genesis 6:13 says “the end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them.” Look also at what Genesis 6:1-6 says.

1 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful ; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. 5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

A possible interpretation of verses 1-2 is that the human race was not only corrupted morally, but was somehow being physically corrupted through breeding behavior or genetic manipulation. If God had not intervened, humanity may have perished forever. But God, in His mercy, DID intervene.

So how does this relate to Jesus’ death on the cross?

Jesus’ death rescues those who trust in Him from the flood of sin, which is destroying mankind while they live and upon their death will destroy them forever in hell. At the same time, his death seals judgment for those who do not believe. Look how John 3 illustrates both of these points:

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Jesus’ death is the proof that God has appointed a day on which he will judge the entire world for their sins:

Acts 17:30-31
God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

And Peter links the flood with Jesus’ death and resurrection by explaining the significance of baptism.

1 Peter 3:18-22
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

We are saved from the wrath of God because Jesus died for sins in order to bring us safely to God. Jesus’ resurrection proves that he has authority over all other angels and powers, authority to bring us safely through the waters of judgment.

In fact, God is still demonstrating His patience towards humanity just like in the days of Noah before the flood. Look at what Peter says in 2 Peter 3:7-9

But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

God is patiently waiting to send the Lord Jesus back for judgment until all of those He plans to save have come to repentance. And notice how Jesus’ return reminds us of the destruction of the flood, only MUCH WORSE. The destruction of all things is coming, and this time not only will all breathing things drown, but “the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:10) We can only be saved by clinging to the ark of Jesus’.

My prayer is that we will believe God’s warnings and trust in His salvation, becoming an “heir of righteousness” just like Noah in Hebrews 11 (6-7):

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Let’s remember how Jesus’ death is like the flood as we sing “Here is Love.” My favorite line is in the second verse – “Heaven’s peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love.”

John Piper has keenly diagnosed the problem with the worship of many churches (and individual believers), including me. Praise God for using the book Desiring God to help me refocus and repent of my dull heart that has starved itself of the pleasures of God!

Piper postulates that there are three stages (or phases) of worship that believers can be in. From pp. 96-96:

1. There is the final stage in which we feel an unencumbered joy in the manifold perfections of God-the joy of gratitude, wonder, hope, admiration. “My soul is feasted as with marrow and fat and my mouth praises thee with joyful lips” (Psalm 63:5). In this stage we are satisfied with the excellency of God, and we overflow with the joy of his fellowship. This is the feast of Christian Hedonism.

2. In a prior stage that we often taste, we do not feel fullness, but rather longing and desire. Having tasted the feast before, we recall the goodness of the Lord-but it seems far off. We preach to our souls not to be downcast, because we are sure we shall again praise the Lord (Psalm 42:5). Yet for now our hearts are not very fervent.

Even though this falls short of the ideal of vigorous, heartfelt ad oration and hope, yet it is a great honor to God. We honor the water from a mountain spring not only by the satisfied “ahhh” after drinking our fill, but also by the unquenched longing to be satisfied while still climbing to it.

In fact, these two stages are not really separable in the true saint, because all satisfaction in this life is still shot through with longing and all genuine longing has tasted the satisfying water of life.

3. The lowest stage of worship-where all genuine worship starts, and where it often returns for a dark season-is the barrenness of soul that scarcely feels any longing, and yet is still granted the grace of repentant sorrow for having so little love. “When my soul was embit tered, when I was pricked in heart, I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee” (Psalm 73 :22).

It is very easy to fall into stage three and remain there for long periods of time, both individually and corporately. The excitement we have for the doctrines of God, fueled by expository and thorough preaching can actually mask a barrenness of heart that can slowly creep in on us and catch us unaware. Piper puts it this way:

For many, Christianity has become the grinding out of general doctrinal laws from collections of biblical facts. But childlike wonder and aw have died.

From my own experience, I know that even when my heart is not engaged, I tend to remain excited about worship for external reasons: because the songs/prayers/teaching are biblical, deep, and faith-building. I sweep the fact that I feel close to nothing under the carpet because after all, this worship MUST be great since it appears biblical and since so many other people are so excited about it. But this veil of deception is exactly what Satan loves, because it keeps us from life-changing encounters with God. Paul teaches us that

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
- 2 Corinthians 4:4

It would seem to me that even though Satan can not ultimately blind the minds of believers, he can influence us in a similar way by causing us to look not to Christ, but to the pleasures of our own life. I can see Satan grinning with glee when we “cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” The pitiful, tangible pleasures we have settled for have caused our capacity for joy to become shriveled. We have so long teased our affections with counterfeit jewels that we have difficulty detecting real treasure.

This morning I read Deuteronomy 6 and was reminded how easy it is to forget the Lord, both the glories of His character and the manifold ways He has shown us his kindness. Meditating on these passages helped bring me out of stage 3 worship this morning:

Be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. – Deuteronomy 6:12

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. – Ephesians 2:1-7