How We Grow: Fasting

Posted on March 27, 2024 by Jason

Today we want to continue our series by looking at what the Bible has to say about fasting. Last week, we kicked off this series by focusing on prayer as a way of keeping company with God. And it’s fitting that we follow that up by talking about the discipline of fasting.

  • Historically, fasting has been understood as abstaining from food and / or drink for a predetermined period of time. The time and energy ordinarily devoted to eating is directed toward prayer and communion with God.
  • The author Gerald May refers to fasting as “body prayer.” It’s a way of using our body to pray to God, to honor God. I think that’s a helpful way to think about biblical fasting — as “body prayer.”
  • Another author, Adele Calhoun, says that when we fast, we lay down our appetite – either an appetite for food or media or shopping, whatever it might be. That may not seem like much: it’s just a meal or a trip to the thrift store. But fasting brings us face to face with the hunger in our souls. So we lay down an appetite in order to keep company with God.

Jesus teaches about fasting in the greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6:16-18

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

A couple of things stand out to me about this teaching:

  1. When you fast.
    • Jesus doesn’t “if you fast.” Instead, He says “when you fast.” Jesus seems to assume that His followers will participate in fasting.
    • Fasting is not commanded anywhere in the New Testament. This would be the closest thing to a “command” you can find regarding fasting in the NT.
    • But it was a common feature of Jewish life. Jesus implies that His people will participate in fasting.
    • Context: in the flow of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about praying and giving. We know that these are important, so why wouldn’t we assume the same thing about fasting?
    • The Bible is full of examples of people whose faith prompted them to fast. That list includes: Moses, David, Elijah, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Anna, Jesus, Paul, and the shepherds over the church at Antioch, just to name a few.
    • The Didache is a collection of teachings dating back to the late first century. It gives us incredible insight into the faith of second-generation Christians. It shows us that Christians in the late first century were observing fast days every Wednesday and Friday. Those days were specifically chosen to differentiate themselves from the practice of non-Christian Jews.
    • Fasting has been a part of the Christian faith from the beginning.
  1. Why you fast.
    • The emphasis here really isn’t even on the act of fasting itself. Instead, it’s on the “why” of fasting. Specifically it’s a contrast between “showy” spirituality and private communion with God.
      • In Jesus’s day, the Pharisees were big on showing their piety through long prayers and giving in a way that drew attention to themselves. One commentary refers to it as “showmanship piety.” Jesus calls them hypocrites. These Pharisees wanted everyone to know that they were fasting. Jesus says that if we practice our spirituality to be seen by men, then we’ve already received our reward.
      • Instead, Jesus encourages us to fast in secret — just as He tells us to pray in secret and to give in secret.
      • Fasting is not for show. It is about cultivating deeper communion with God, not about showing off one’s spirituality.
    • In the Bible, you find examples of people fasting for a variety of reasons:
      • As a way of demonstrating repentance.
      • As a sign of grief.
      • As a way of seeking God’s guidance.
      • As part of worship.
      • But in every case, the “why” of fasting is focused upon God.

Fasting is important because it’s about self-denial — and self-denial is at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus says, Anyone who wishes to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me (Matt. 16:24). Fasting helps us to “mortify the flesh” — to put to death our fleshly desires, at least to a certain degree. It’s a way of setting limits on ourselves, which really goes against the grain of our consumeristic culture. But we don’t worship the culture and its demands — we worship God.

Paul says that we are easily tempted to make an idol out of our own earthly and fleshly desires. But to do so is to make ourselves enemies of the cross.

Philippians 3:18-21

For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven – and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.

God uses fasting to teach us self-control. He uses it as a safeguard against our temptation to make the belly our “god.” Fasting is a momentary renouncement of those desires which anticipates our future transformation and declares that our citizenship is in heaven. It is a subversive denial of our flesh. It’s saying “No” to one area of your life so you can say, “Yes,” to God.

I was speaking with one of our brothers recently and he told me how fasting had become an essential part of his spiritual life. I asked him if I could share his comments in this sermon. He agreed on one condition: he asked that I share these comments without mentioning him by name. Here is what our brother said about his experience with fasting:

While studying Dallas Willard’s “Divine Conspiracy” with a men’s group, I was convicted to make fasting part of my weekly routine. Study, prayer, giving and serving were familiar and already lifestyle habits, but I had ignored the practice of fasting for the entirety of my walk with Jesus. I simply did not see the need. How could going hungry on a regular basis improve my relationship with God and those around me? Surely He doesn’t want a hangry Christian walking around giving others a bad impression of a life with Christ. I had studied fasting on several occasions and even tried it once or twice, but to quote Dallas Willard, “The disciplines do not confirm their value to those who only talk about them or study them ‘academically’ or hear others talk about them. One has to enter them with Jesus as teacher to find the incredible power they have to change one’s world and character.”

So I committed to fasting once a week, skipping supper followed by skipping breakfast and lunch the next day and then breaking my fast that evening. Yes I got hungry, sometimes accompanied by a headache, but I decided to respond to these moments by singing “Lord I need you oh I need you. Every hour I need you. You’re my one defense, my righteousness, oh God how I need you “. (In my head of course—it sounds better that way). The results were not immediate and even after a year and a half, I can still sense improvement. Denying the flesh and acknowledging God as my only true sustenance has opened the door for the Spirit to work on my patience, helping me to respond to others in a more Christ-like way, even when I am “stressed out“ or “too busy to deal with you right now “. That is, the Spirit has replaced my anger with love and kindness. I suspect it wouldn’t take long for my bad habits to resurface if I stopped the practice of fasting. 

As our brother testifies, fasting is simply one method God uses to grow his soul. God is using this regular practice to produce fruit in this brother’s life — particularly the good fruit of love and kindness in place of aggravation and frustration.

Do you believe God could use something like fasting to draw you closer to Himself?

I want to close with a few practical guidelines for fasting. The materials produced by our Education Team covers this at a more in-depth level — you should be hearing more about that in Bible class this morning. But since we’ve already covered the when and why of fasting, I wanted to close with some guidelines on how to fast:

  • Don’t fast if you are chronically ill, pregnant or nursing.
  • A normal fast is to abstain from all food and drink except water. Be sure to stay hydrated when you fast.
  • If you’re new to fasting, begin by fasting for one meal. Don’t bite off more than you can chew (haha – sorry).
  • Work up to longer fasts. Be gracious with yourself as you grow in this discipline.
  • When fasting, you may need to moderate your activity level.
  • Have scriptures and prayers ready. Focus on these during the time you usually spend eating and drinking.
  • Don’t break your fast with a huge meal. Eat smaller portions and break your fast gently.

When we fast, we are living out what the Bible says: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4). He is our true sustenance.

Would you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus today?

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How We Grow: Grace

Posted on March 24, 2024 by Jason

Last week we noted that we don’t grow very much from doing many things one or two times. No, we grow from doing a few things many times. That’s a key to practicing the spiritual disciplines. We have to engage in these spiritual disciplines on a regular basis in order to fully experience God’s power to grow our souls.

But I need to point out another key principle: Practicing the spiritual disciplines is about grace, not law. That means that the spiritual disciplines aren’t about works righteousness; it’s not about creating badges of spirituality. This stuff doesn’t make anyone a “super Christian” — there’s no such thing. And practicing the spiritual disciplines isn’t about legalistic observance of religious rituals either. These disciplines open us up to the grace of God. They’re not to be done to prove that we’re right — that’s legalism.

Legalism is one of the greatest threats to our spiritual lives. Some people in the church will use terms like “progressive” and “conservative” to describe either themselves or groups of fellow believers who hold a different view. And that’s really unfortunate, because those terms are just divisive. Those are political terms that we’ve incorporated into the church — which is a really dangerous thing to do. And in some of the conversations I overhear, those who proudly call themselves “progressive” will use the term “legalism” in a derisive way to describe their brethren who would call themselves more “conservative.” But you know what? Those who like to call themselves “progressive” are often times just as legalistic as the ones they deride.

  • A “conservative” tends to be legalistic about the traditional ways of the faith — the old paths and the way things used to be.
  • But a “progressive” is just as legalistic whenever he thinks he’s found the new right way of practicing faith. He’s guilty of doing the same thing he mocks his brother for doing!

I just want to say that this series isn’t about any of that nonsense. We’re not setting out to be legalistic about these practices. The idea is that these practices are the means God uses to grow us. If we experience any spiritual growth, it’s because of God, not us.

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Jackson: Music Mania (10th Grade)

Posted on March 23, 2024 by Jason

Jackson’s original composition, “Autumnal Nocturne.”

Posted in Family, Kids, Music | Leave a comment

How We Grow: Prayer

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Jason

Today we begin with the gold standard spiritual practice: the discipline of prayer.

  • Prayer is the most ancient of spiritual practices. It’s older than the Bible and it predates the church.
  • Before there was a gospel to preach and a salvation song to sing, there was prayer.
  • Prayer is at the heart of faith because it’s all about communion with God. You and I were made for communion with God. That means we were made for prayer.

What’s unfortunate is that so many believers feel inadequate when it comes to prayer. Public prayer in church is partly to blame, if I had to guess.

Bob Reynolds was a member of my church back home. Brother Bob led the most beautiful prayers in our worship services when I was a child. For starters, he had a voice like he was anchoring the evening news. And his prayers were so eloquent and heartfelt. And he didn’t even use notes! Bob was a first round draft pick when it came to corporate prayer.

As a teenager, I was asked to lead prayer and you know what my immediate thought was? I thought of Brother Bob and I thought, “There’s no way I can pray like that!” He set the bar too high!

And I think many of us can relate to that. Thinking about prayer makes us feel inferior or we feel guilty because we don’t pray enough.

I would like to encourage us to think of prayer differently, to take away all the performance anxiety and church-y language. Instead, I want us to think of prayer as keeping company with God. I think that’s how Jesus understood prayer.

Mark begins his gospel account of the life of Jesus by jumping right into the action. In thirteen brief verses, Mark tells of Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist, being led out into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, and calling the disciples to follow Him. Jesus preaches the Good News and casts out demons and heals people of their illnesses. But Mark also includes a little note about the prayer life of Jesus that is incredibly revealing.

Mark 1:32-35

That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Jesus’s ministry is just exploding at this point. And this explosion of ministry is ripe with Gospel opportunity. And yet, in the midst of it all, Jesus gets away to a quiet place — a desolate place, Mark says — in order to keep company with God the Father.

Noise is one of the great deterrents to our prayer life. Just think about how much noise surrounds us at any given moment:

  • The constant buzz of our phones. Your phone is the greediest entity in your life. It is always beckoning you, demanding your attention. And that can be quite detrimental to your spiritual life.
  • I was in the airport the other day and I was hoping for some prayer time while I waited for my flight. But the person next to me had their phone up so loud — watching reels and videos, etc. We’ll have to be intentional these days if we’re going to follow the example of Jesus and find “desolate places” to pray.

Prayer was such an essential part of Jesus’s life that He made time for it. He woke up early so He could have some quiet time with God.

  • When do you make time for prayer?
  • Is prayer a discipline in your life?
  • Are there dedicated times in your day, in your week, that you have set aside just for prayer?

Daniel is a good example for us on the discipline of prayer. When his enemies outlawed prayer to anyone other than the human king, Daniel continued his practice of regular prayer to God. He determined to keep company with God no matter what.

Daniel 6:10-11

When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God.

Daniel had a regular practice of kneeling in prayer three times a day. In fact, his practice was so regular that his enemies knew exactly when and where he prayed.

  • That’s a good rule of thumb for us, not in a legalistic way but in the way of grace.
    • A regular time
    • A regular place
  • Again, athletes and musicians understand that you have to have those times set aside for practice. You have to be intentional and dedicate the time to practice if you want to grow.
  • Jesus says the most important command is to love the Lord your God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength. If He were preaching today, I wonder if He would add “time” to the list. It’s hard to say you love the Lord with all your heart when He gets less time in your schedule than Tik Tok and Instagram.
  • When and where do you practice prayer?

An author from centuries ago named Theophan the Recluse writes: “To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart and there stand before the face of the Lord.”

  • Prayer is taking your mind into your heart in order to meet the Lord there. It’s about a whole-self relationship with God.
  • One thing that hurts our prayer life is when we limit prayer to a stream of requests. We come into prayer with all these things we’re asking God to do: please bless this person, please heal that person. And that’s certainly a part of prayer in the Scriptures. But when your prayer life is always and only about requests, you’re sacrificing relationship. And prayer is primarily about communion with God, it’s about keeping company with God.

There’s a sanctuary in your heart. It’s where your truest self lives, free from the masks we wear and the roles we play. It’s where we hide all our fears and our dreams, our disappointments and our desires. And there are a lot of things trying to break into that sanctuary. Our enemy wants to infiltrate that sanctuary with things that don’t belong there. But the great challenge is to keep that sanctuary reserved for God and God alone.

In the discipline of prayer, we keep our inner sanctuary holy. We keep God seated on the throne of our hearts. And we wage war against the enemy’s attempts to infiltrate the sanctuary with these things that don’t belong there.

Imagine what would happen if we were disciplined to say, “God, I’m giving you the next 15 minutes. I’ll be right here. Use this time however you’d like.” What a great way to keep company with God!

I want to close with a practical suggestion for those who feel like they’re stuck in a prayer “rut.” There are many different ways of praying if you find yourself in a prayer “rut.” Here are just a few suggestions:

  1. Try different prayer methods. Many of us have been taught that there’s one way to pray: bow your head, close your eyes, and come up with words to say to God. But there are a variety of different methods people have found for communing with God, for keeping company with God. Some of my favorites include breath prayer, centering prayer, and silent prayer.
  2. Try different prayer postures. If you normally pray while you’re seated, try praying on your knees. Or get up and go on a prayer walk. This is one of the best ways to break out of a prayer rut.
  3. Try praying the words of Scripture. When someone comes to me and they’re in a prayer rut, I encourage them to pray through the Psalms. Let the words of the Psalmists give shape to your own prayers. Won’t take long before you find something there that connects with your heart. And I think you’ll be surprised at the kinds of things that people bring before God in prayer. It’s all right there in your Bibles.

This week I want to challenge you to really practice the spiritual discipline of prayer. Dedicate some time to God — any amount of time. And turn off your phone and get away from the noise. And see what God does with that time.

You were made for prayer, because you were made for communion with God.

Posted in Church, Devotional, Faith, God, Jesus, Kingdom Values, Prayer, Quotes, Scripture, Spiritual Disciplines | Leave a comment

How We Grow: Spiritual Disciplines

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Jason
Screenshot

Today we begin our new series entitled How We Grow. We’ll spend the next several weeks focusing on some spiritual practices God uses for our spiritual growth.

When you look at how God has created us, it’s evident that He expects us to grow. We can infer that because He has given us a tremendous capacity for growth:

  • This lifelong process of growth begins at the moment of our conception. We are knit together in the womb, as it says in the Psalms. When Sunny was pregnant, I was fascinated by this little book we had that described how our children were developing on a week-by-week basis. Our God-given capacity for growth is evident from the beginning.
  • Maturing is more than a physical process. We know that emotional growth is a huge part of our development, too. There are many good resources available to help us grow in our relationships, to become emotionally healthy.
  • And this capacity for growth extends to our spiritual lives, too. Ephesians 4:15 says we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. God intends for us to grow in Christlikeness — this is the most important growth of all.

The question we’re trying to answer in this series is, “How do we grow spiritually?“

  • The answer is that we grow through the work of God, first and foremost. He is the One who does the growing in us. We need to say that up front.
  • But it’s also true that we have a part to play as well. We can certainly thwart that growth God is seeking to bring about in us. 1 Thess. 5:19 says Do not quench the Spirit. Willful disobedience can quench the work of the Spirit — kind of like spraying RoundUp on your grass. We can definitely undermine God’s attempts to produce spiritual growth in us.
  • But on the flip side, we can also put ourselves in position to experience God’s power as He tries to grow us spiritually. That’s what this series is all about. We’ll be talking about the spiritual disciplines for the next few weeks. These are the tried and true practices that enable our spiritual growth. Think of these as catalysts, the means through which God grows our souls.

The importance of practice

We don’t grow when we do many things a few times. We grow when we do a few things many times. That’s the key to growth. Anything worth doing requires practice.

  • If you want to be a better piano player, you need to hone your craft through repetition.
  • If you want to shoot a basketball like Steph Curry, you need to take hundreds of shots each day.

We understand the importance of repetition and practice as one of the keys to growth. So it comes as no surprise that the same principle holds true when it comes to spiritual growth. These spiritual practices will aid us in our spiritual growth.

As we go through this series on the spiritual disciplines, I’ll be returning to this key point over and over: you have to believe in God to practice these disciplines properly. I know that sounds like a fairly obvious thing to say, but let me explain:

  • You have to believe that God uses these practices to grow our souls. Otherwise, you won’t experience their full benefit.
  • Take fasting, for example. Intermittent fasting is really popular these days. Physicians have extolled the health benefits of fasting for years. That’s great — and it has no bearing whatsoever on the spiritual practice of fasting. If you don’t believe in God, skipping a meal isn’t going to cause you to grow spiritually. You may experience some physical benefit, but you’ll miss out on the spiritual element of biblical fasting.
  • So the question I want you to be asking yourself over the next few weeks is, “Do I really believe that God can use this practice for my spiritual growth?” That’s really the key question — and only you can answer that for yourself.
  • But once you open yourself up to that possibility, look out. God is about to do something with that tiny mustard seed of faith.
  • Do you believe in a God who can use intentional spiritual practices to grow your soul?

Nearly 400 years ago, an author named William Gurnall wrote, “The saint’s sleeping time is Satan’s tempting time.”

He’s absolutely right. And these spiritual disciplines keep us awake to God.

These spiritual practices help us pay attention to God, to see what He’s doing in our lives.

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Celebrating

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Jason

This week we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary with a cruise to the Bahamas!

Posted in Blessings, Marriage, Sunny | Leave a comment

Jesus: The Alpha and the Omega

Posted on March 6, 2024 by Jason

Jesus: The Alpha and the Omega

Revelation 22:13

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet. Greek writers used the phrase “alpha and omega” to convey a sense of completeness. We use a similar expression when we say something like, “She has everything covered from A to Z.” With this phrase, Jesus is saying that He is sovereign over every area of life: the beginning, the end, the highs, the lows, and all points in between.

Here’s what it means for Jesus to be the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and end: He becomes my whole life, from A to Z.

A – He is the absolute authority in all areas: my attitude, my afflictions, my anxiety, my anger. My Almighty ambassador is always above me, ahead of me, and all around me. And His Agape love is all I need anywhere and anytime.

B – He is the God over my baggage, my body, my behavior. He bears my burdens in baptism and I become His beautiful bride. It boggles my brain that because of His blood my bonds are broken and I am bereft of blame.

C – He is the Christ, the crown with a capital C. I am called by His cadence to come and commit to the cause, to cast my cares in exchange for His certain compassion and comfort. My champion challenges me to change, to choose to chuck the chains that choke and chafe. He calls me to carry my cross and to celebrate in communion.

D – His decrees are my deepest desires. He is the God over my dreams and my drives, my distresses and my doubts, my do’s and my don’ts. He defeats death, He decimates darkness, He defends me from danger and delivers me from damnation. He decides my destiny and determines my days.

E – He is my everything, from everlasting to everlasting, the God of my everyday ethics who educates my ego. His embrace is encouraging and eternity is His especially epic and extraordinary encore.

F – He is faithful in the face of all my failures, my faults, my filth and my fears. I fervently feel the favor of His fellowship. He is fiery and fierce but He is my friend and I’ll follow Him to the finish.

G – My great God graciously gives good gifts. I can’t wait to get a glimpse of His glory.

H – He is holy, my Helper and my Hero. He habitually holds my heart in His hands and heralds the hope of heaven as my home.

I – Jesus is the image of the invisible God. I find His invitation irresistible. My imperfections are never an imposition to the immortal One who is the most important One in my life.

J – My God is jealous but joyous. He joins me in my journey, His judgments are just.

K – He is the King of kindness.

L – He is the Lord of light who leads me to the land of the living, the long-suffering Lamb who lays down His life so that I might be liberated, the Lifter of my head who listens in love.

M – He is the Master who mends my mind, my Model whose meditations are merciful, my Maker whom I magnify. I am a miscreant who misses the mark. I maliciously malign His moral mandates. But my mistakes make up the measure of His mission. Where I am messy, He is mighty. His ministry is miraculous. He is my matchless, magnificent, majestic Messiah.

N – The noble Nazarene was nailed up naked to neutralize my narcissism. He makes all things new: new beginnings, new creation.

O – He is the object of my observation, the only One who can save me from the obscenity of my offenses and the oppression of my opponent. I ought to be oriented around His oracles because He forgives me over and over and over again.

P – He is my Prince of Peace who promises me a permanent place of provision and protection. He paid the price for my propitiation, He is passionate about His plan for my prospering, He is patient in my pleading and my pain. I will persistently profess my praise for His powerful presence.

Q – He is my God of great quality and great quantity.

R – He redeems me, renews me, reconciles me, recreates me. He gave His life as a ransom in order that I might be recovered. He rules in righteousness and He requires radical repentance to rescind my rebellion. He is risen and He reigns over me in royalty.

S – He is the Savior of my sinful soul. He shatters my shackles and shreds the shroud of my shame. He shields me with shelter and shows me what I should do. His singular sacrifice is my song and my sacrament. He seeks and saves, serves and sends. Nothing can separate me from the security of His salvation because I am safely sealed with the Spirit.

T – He testifies to the truth and He tenderly touches my tears. He tames my temptations and transforms my troubles. He turns trash into treasure. He was tried at the tree but He triumphed at the tomb. Thoroughly I thank Him for thwarting evil on the third day. He is my trusted teacher, my today, and my tomorrow.

U – He understands me ultimately, even when I am unruly. Under His umbrella I am unafraid, united with Him to the utmost. I am unashamed of my unrivaled and utterly unique Jesus.

V – He is the God of my vocation and my vacation. He values me and vanquishes my enemy. His voluntary visitation ended victoriously.

W – He watches over my wishes and my worries, my worship and my work, my wins and my wilderness wanderings. He is the God of my will’s and my won’ts, my when’s and my where’s. He is my whole world.

X – He is even the Lord over all the xtra places I want to keep for myself. He reigns there, too.

Y – In Him, all of God’s promises are “Yes.” I yield to Yahweh whose yoke is easy.

Z – And I am zealous for the One who zeroes out my sin.

This is what it means for Jesus to be the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end. From A to Z, my life is built upon Him and Him alone.

Jason Bybee

March 3, 2024

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Knowing Jesus: Alpha and Omega

Posted on March 3, 2024 by Jason

Sermon Thesis: Jesus as the Alpha and the Omega.

Sermon Texts: Revelation 1:8; Revelation 22:12-13; Colossians 3:1-4

Today we wrap up our Knowing Jesus series by looking at one final name for Jesus that we find in the Scriptures. This one comes directly from Jesus Himself: He says that He is the Alpha and the Omega. That’s a little different than some of the other titles we’ve talked about like “Son of God” or “Lord” or “Messiah.” What does Jesus mean when He refers to Himself as the Alpha and the Omega?

The book of Revelation is bookended by these statements from Jesus.

Revelation 1:8

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 22:12-13

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters in the Greek Alphabet. You find this phrase in other Greek writings from long ago. It was used as a way of saying that something was complete or comprehensive. The phrase is basically shorthand for the entire alphabet. It would be like saying something like, “She has everything planned out from A to Z.” Same idea.

When Jesus says that He is the Alpha and Omega, it’s another way of saying that He rules over everything. He has it covered from A to Z.

  • Jesus refers to Himself as the one who was and is and is to come. That’s saying that He is the supreme ruler over time — the past, the present, and the future.
  • He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end. There is nothing beyond the scope of His authority. There’s nothing you can bring Him that He cannot handle. You’re never beyond the reach of His grace. And you’ll never grow to the point that you don’t need Him to rule over your life.
  • This statement is as all-encompassing as they come: Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the One who was and is and is to come.

Alpha and Omega, from A to Z. Apply that to your life. When I recognize Jesus in all the ways we’ve discussed in this series, I’m putting Him in a position of authority over EVERY ASPECT of my life.

He was and is and is to come. If He is truly sovereign over all time, then this means that He is sovereign over my past, my present and my future. Just let that sink in for a minute:

  • When we think about the things we’ve done in the past, all of our sins and failures and mistakes, our hearts can so easily be filled with regret and shame.
  • And when we think about the future, it’s so easy to go to that place of anxiety and fear because we don’t know what the future might hold.
  • And then right here in the present we are often overwhelmed with things like disappointment and doubt and the daily aggravations of life.

But when Jesus says that He is the Alpha and the Omega, He’s saying that He has control of all of that.

  • When I come to know Him, He reigns over my past by setting me free from that shame and that regret. He helps me see that I’m not defined by my past mistakes — He’s saved me from those sins and given me a new identity.
  • And He reigns over my future as well. He makes promises to counter all of those anxieties and fears — promising me an eternally safe dwelling place with Him.
  • And if He reigns over my past and my future, how much more so does He reign over today, this present moment! And He makes Himself available to us — really present with us — as we face whatever today might hold for us.

Jesus as Alpha and Omega sounds a bit odd to our ears — because we don’t speak Greek and because it comes from the book of Revelation, which intimidates us. But it’s one of the most practical ideas in the entire Bible. From the heights to the depths, from start to finish, from the good to the bad and at all points in between, Jesus is sovereign. He reigns. He’s in control. It’s all about Jesus — it always has been and it always will be.

He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

  • The Jews sought to honor God by reciting the Shema twice each day, once in the morning and once in the evening. The Shema is Deuteronomy 6:4-5,Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
    • They believed the best time to recite the morning Shema was in the moment just before sunrise. If you couldn’t do that, the sages said that you should pray the morning Shema as soon as you wake up.
    • And they taught that you should say the Shema right before going to bed. It was recited as protection so that the Jewish people would go to sleep with the word of God on their lips.
  • I’m afraid that in our effort to not be legalistic we’ve swung the pendulum too far the other way. Sure, some disciplines can become rote and legalistic — but spiritual disciplines also bring us into richer communion with God.
  • I love the idea of beginning my day and ending my day with God. That’s such a good way to give Him the firstfruits of your day and to give Him your final moments before you drift off to sleep. And it’s consistent with this teaching that Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega.

Jesus is a part of your life vs. Jesus is your whole life

Sometimes the Gospel is presented in a way as if it’s just adding one final piece to your otherwise wonderful life. “Make Jesus a part of your life.” That’s a very American way of proclaiming the Gospel. We think of our “spiritual life” as just one component of our lives: our financial lives, our personal lives, our professional lives, our spiritual lives.

But that’s not the way it works. Jesus is not content with being just a part of your life. If Jesus is your Lord, then He becomes your whole life. He IS your life. That’s the way Paul says it in Colossians 3.

Colossians 3:1-4

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Alpha and Omega means He has sovereign control over every part of your life. That means you give up the right to say “No” to Jesus. You cede control to Him in every area of life. He calls the shots from A to Z:

  • If He is your Lord, then He is lord of your finances.
  • He is the Lord of your relationships and your sex life and your thought life.
  • He controls your attitude and your dreams and your regrets — all of it.
  • Even down to the small things — the things that we think are insignificant. There is no part of your life that is off limits to Him. He’s welcome everywhere because He’s the Lord of it all.

Here’s what it means for Jesus to be the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and end. He becomes my life, my whole life, from A to Z:

A – He is the absolute authority in all areas: my attitude, my afflictions, my anxiety, my anger. My Almighty ambassador is always above me, ahead of me, and all around me. And His Agape love is all I need anywhere and anytime.

B – He is the God over my baggage, my body, my behavior. He bears my burdens in baptism and I become His beautiful bride. It boggles my brain that because of His blood my bonds are broken and I am bereft of blame.

C – He is the Christ, the crown with a capital C. I am called by His cadence to come and commit to the cause, to cast my cares in exchange for His certain compassion and comfort. My champion challenges me to change, to choose to chuck the sinful chains that choke and chafe. He calls me to carry my cross and to celebrate in communion.

D – His decrees are my deepest desires. He is the God over my dreams and my drives, my distresses and my doubts, my do’s and my don’ts. He defeats death, He decimates darkness, He defends me from danger and delivers me from damnation. He decides my destiny and determines my days.

E – He is my everything, from everlasting to everlasting, the God of my everyday ethics who educates my ego. His embrace is encouraging and eternity is His especially epic and extraordinary encore.

F – He is faithful in the face of all my failures, my faults, my filth and my fears. I fervently feel the favor of His fellowship. He is fiery and fierce but He is my friend and I’ll follow Him to the finish.

G – My great God graciously gives good gifts. I can’t wait to get a glimpse of His glory.

H – He is holy, my Helper and my Hero. He habitually holds my heart in His hands and heralds the hope of heaven as my home.

I – Jesus is the image of the invisible God. I find His invitation irresistible. My imperfections are never an imposition to the immortal One who is the most important One in my life.

J – My God is jealous but joyous. He joins me in my journey, His judgments are just.

K – He is the King of kindness.

L – He is the Lord of light who leads me to the land of the living, the long suffering Lamb who lays down His life so that I might be liberated, the Lifter of my head who listens in love.

M – He is the Master who mends my mind, my Model whose meditations are merciful, my Maker whom I magnify. I am a miscreant who misses the mark. I maliciously malign His moral mandates. But my mistakes make up the measure of His mission. Where I am messy, He is mighty. His ministry is miraculous. He is my matchless, magnificent, majestic Messiah.

N – The noble Nazarene was nailed up naked to neutralize my narcissism. He makes all things new: new beginnings, new creation.

O – He is the object of my observation, the only One who can save me from the obscenity of my offenses and the oppression of my opponent. I ought to be oriented around His oracles because He forgives me over and over and over again.

P – He is my Prince of Peace who promises me a permanent place of provision and protection. He paid the price for my propitiation, He is passionate about His plan for my prospering, He is patient in my pleading and my pain. I will persistently profess my praise for His powerful presence.

Q – He is my God of great quality and great quantity.

R – He redeems me, renews me, reconciles me, recreates me. He gave His life as a ransom in order that I might be recovered. He rules in righteousness and He requires radical repentance to rescind my rebellion. He is risen and He reigns over me in royalty.

S – He is the Savior of my sinful soul. He shatters my shackles and shreds the shroud of my shame. He shields me with shelter and shows me what I should do. His singular sacrifice is my song and my sacrament. He seeks and saves, serves and sends. Nothing can separate me from the security of His salvation because I am safely sealed with the Spirit.

T – He testifies to the truth and He tenderly touches my tears. He tames my temptations and transforms my troubles. He turns trash into treasure. He was tried at the tree but He triumphed at the tomb. Thoroughly I thank Him for thwarting evil on the third day. He is my trusted teacher, my today, and my tomorrow.

U – He understands me ultimately, even when I am unruly. Under His umbrella I am unafraid, united with Him to the utmost. I am unashamed of my unrivaled and utterly unique Jesus.

V – He is the God of my vocation and my vacation. He values me and vanquishes my enemy. His voluntary visitation ended victoriously.

W – He watches over my wishes and my worries, my worship and my work, my wins and my wilderness wanderings. He is the God of my will’s and my won’ts, my when’s and my where’s. He is my whole world.

X – He is even the Lord over all the xtra places I want to keep for myself. He reigns there, too.

Y – In Him, all of God’s promises are “Yes.” I yield to Yahweh whose yoke is easy.

Z – And I am zealous for the One who zeroes out my sin.

This is what it means for Jesus to be the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end. From A to Z, my life is built upon Him and Him alone.

It reminds me of the simple words of the song called “Jesus in the Morning.”

Jesus, Jesus

Jesus in the morning

Jesus at the noontime

Jesus, Jesus

Jesus when the sun goes down

Praise Him

Love Him

Serve Him

Invitation: In the name of Jesus Christ, the Sovereign Lord who makes all things new, he who has ears let him hear.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How have you come to know Jesus lately? What are you learning about Him or hearing from Him recently?
  2. Today’s message focused on Jesus as “the Alpha and the Omega.” These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. What significance does this hold for us? If someone said, “Jesus has it covered from A to Z,” what would that mean to you?
  3. Read Revelation 1:8 and 22:12-13. What stands out to you about these passages?
  4. In Revelation 1:8, Jesus says that He is the One “who is and was and is to come.” Is Jesus saying that He is sovereign over time? If so, what are the implications for our past? Our present? Our future?
  5. Read Hebrews 12:1-2. What does it mean when the text calls Jesus “the author and perfecter of our faith?” (Your translation may use different words for this sentence.)
  6. By claiming to be the Alpha and the Omega, Jesus states His sovereign lordship over every area of life. Is there an area of your life that you find difficult to submit to the lordship of Jesus? Can you think back to a time when you experienced a blessing from giving Jesus control of an area of your life, even if you were reluctant or fearful to do so at first?
  7. In the sermon Jason made a distinction between making Jesus a part of your life vs. making Jesus your whole life. What is the difference between these two ideas?
  8. Read Colossians 3:1-4. What does it mean when it refers to Jesus as “Christ who is your life?”
  9. Read the words of Jesus in Luke 6:46-49. What does this passage teach us about the lordship of Jesus?
  10. Close by sharing some prayer time together.
Posted in Devotional, Eschatology, Faith, God, Gospel, Jesus, Kingdom Values, Poetry, Scripture, Theology | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Judge? Good News?

Posted on February 22, 2024 by Jason

A little extra thought here.

How is it good news that Jesus is the judge of the living and the dead?

It’s actually good news for those who have suffered, those who have experienced oppression.

Look at what Simon Peter says about Jesus in Acts 10.

He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him (Acts 10:38).

In the same teaching about Jesus being the judge of the living and the dead, Simon Peter links this to the idea of Jesus going around “doing good” and ministering uniquely to the oppressed.

Justice is always good news for those who are oppressed.

The people who have the greatest problem with Jesus being the judge are usually the same people who’ve never really been oppressed.

Those who have experienced oppression, however, look to Jesus and ask, “How long, O Lord?” They see His judgment as a moment of vindication, an act of righteousness. They’re not offended by His judgment the way elite Westerners seem to be offended — offended by everything, by the way. No, just the opposite. The oppressed would find His lack of judgment to be offensive.

For those who have suffered, they long for a God of justice to hear their case and level the scales.

Posted in Culture, Eschatology, God, Gospel, Hope, Jesus, Scripture, Social Issues, Theology | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Knowing Jesus: The Judge of the Living and the Dead

Posted on February 19, 2024 by Jason

Over the last few weeks, we have looked at a lot of important descriptions of Jesus. But you can’t tell the full story of Jesus without including this one: He is the Judge of the Living and the Dead. I suspect this is probably one of the least popular ways of picturing Jesus — at least for Christians today. But it’s right there in the Scriptures.

You find this phrase in Acts 10 as Simon Peter is talking to a man named Cornelius. Cornelius is called a “God-fearer” — which means that he is a non-Jewish person who has come to believe in the God of Israel. This is a huge moment in the history of salvation. Look at what Simon Peter says:

Acts 10:34-43

So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened … how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day …. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Cornelius is a God-fearer, but he’s still lacking something. When Simon Peter walks in the door, Cornelius falls at his feet and begins worshipping him. Peter says, “No, stop. I’m a man just like you.” And he tells Cornelius what we just read: he tells him the good news about Jesus — how he was anointed by the Spirit, how we healed people who were oppressed by the devil. And he closes with this line: “Jesus is the judge of the living and the dead. Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

And while he was still saying these things, God was doing something to confirm His favor on all who heard the word: the Holy Spirit fell on them and they started speaking in tongues. And Peter said, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And they were baptized in the name of Jesus.

There are a lot of fascinating things about this story. But for our purposes today, I’ll just focus on one: in his proclamation of the Good News, Simon Peter says that Jesus is the Judge of the Living and the Dead. How is that Good News? I mean, the idea of any sort of judgment is usually offensive to modern people. So how do we reconcile this image of Jesus? How is this part of the Good News?

Well, I think it’s important to note what it says in the first part of this passage: God shows no partiality. Jesus may be the judge of the living and the dead, but we can take heart that He’s an impartial judge. It’s usually not judgment that we fear; it’s judgment that’s partial, that’s unfair. And it needs to be said that this isn’t the judgment of Jesus. He doesn’t favor one group or person over another. He’s the impartial judge.

And the impartial judge judges each person according to the same standard. Now, that doesn’t mean everyone receives the same outcome as a result of His judgment. He’s not showing partiality if He judges one person to be innocent and another person to be guilty. The impartial judge renders judgment according to a universal standard. When it comes to final judgment, that standard is faith in Jesus. As Simon Peter says, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. Those who do not believe in him do not receive forgiveness of sins. This is the standard by which the impartial judge will render his judgments.

  • We have a few judges who are a part of this congregation. Judge Patrick Tuten and Judge Donna Pate serve as circuit court judges here in Madison County. So they can speak to this far better than I can.
  • Judge Pate and Judge Tuten administer their rulings according to a universal standard: the law. Their rulings are impartial, but those rulings are going to differ from case to case based upon a defendant’s adherence to the standard or their failure to comply with the standard. Everyone receives equal treatment under the law — this is the standard by which they are to be judged — and yet, case by case, rulings will differ based upon behaviors that either comply with or violate the law.

I bring this up because our modern understandings of justice and equality have shifted from the traditional understandings of the terms. For many people today, the idea of equality is based upon equality of outcomes. They want equal outcomes for everyone — apart from the myriad personal choices people make over the course of their lives that impact those outcomes. These people believe that until we arrive at the place of equal outcomes for every individual, we’ve not achieved true equality and true justice. And this view of equality is championed so much that many people assume it to be the truth.

But that’s not the traditional understanding of the term and it’s certainly not the biblical picture. Equality is not determined by equal outcome but by equal opportunity and equal standards. That’s where biblical judgment comes in.

  • Biblical judgment implies that everyone will be treated equally in the sense that they are judged by the same standard.
  • But on the Great Day of Judgment, there will NOT be equal outcomes. And yet, this does not negate Jesus’s role as the impartial judge.

One of the last songs Johnny Cash ever wrote was called “The Man Comes Around.” He spent a long time working on it, using a lot of imagery taken directly from the book of Revelation. He pictures Jesus as this apocalyptic figure who comes at the end of time to judge the living and the dead:

There’s a man goin’ ’round takin’ names

And he decides who to free and who to blame

Everybody won’t be treated all the same

There’ll be a golden ladder reachin’ down

When the man comes around

When it’s all said and done, we will see that the two most important moments in history center on Jesus. The first was His coming in the flesh to die for our sins. And the second is when He returns in glory at the end of time. His first coming brought fulfillment to the Old Testament prophecies; the Second Coming will bring fulfillment to the New Testament prophecies.

At His first coming, Jesus said, “I did not come to judge the world, but to save it” (John 12:47). He brought salvation through His atoning death and the promise of eternal life through His resurrection. But at His second coming, things will be different.

Acts 17:30-31

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Are you ready for the Man to come around?

A moment ago we asked: How is it Good News that Jesus is the judge?

  • As we said, it’s good news because He’s good. He’s fair and righteous, so His judgments will be fair and righteous. He’s ethical. He can’t be bought or bribed. He cannot be swayed toward injustice. So that’s good news.
  • But His judgment is also good news for those who have suffered greatly. It IS good news that the suffering of the oppressed will one day be brought to the light of day.
    • This week, I had the privilege of sitting with some people who shared the stories of their suffering. These are fellow believers who have suffered a variety of injustices at the hands of others: women who recounted their stories of sexual abuse, for instance. I thought of my own mother who was sexually abused as a young adult. We shed a lot of tears together as we shared these painful stories with one another.
    • Knowing I was going to be preaching this message this week, I kept thinking, “It’s good news that Jesus is the good judge, the righteous judge. His judgment is good news for those who have suffered.”

I thought of the book of Revelation where it says that the souls of the martyrs cry out to God, “How long, O Sovereign Lord, before you judge and avenge our blood?” And the answer comes from heaven: “Hold on just a little longer.“

The idea of God’s judgment is good news for those who have suffered — because when the man comes around, He will make right what has been wrong for so long.

Harry R. Truman was a colorful character who spent most of his life operating a resort on Spirit Lake in the shadow of Mount St. Helens, which is an active stratovolcano in Washington state. In early 1980, geologists detected some earthquake activity and began warning people that the volcano would likely erupt. In March, the mountain erupted for the first time in over 120 years. Those who lived nearby were told to evacuate the area. But 83-year-old Harry refused. When local reporters interviewed him, he vowed to never leave his home, claiming, “the mountain will never hurt me.”

Truman became something of a mini-celebrity — partly because he shared a name with former President Truman, but also because of his cavalier attitude about the coming eruption. Reporters covering the story could always count on a colorful quote from Truman. He received stacks of letters from school children begging him to leave the mountain. One fifth grader pleaded: “You can replace a house or lodge or something like that, but you can’t replace YOU.” Another student put it more bluntly, asking: “Do you have a family? If you do, why not go back to them? I don’t think you would enjoy being covered with steaming, boiling lava.”

But Truman just dug in his heels more deeply, refusing to leave. On May 11, 1980, scientists issued their most dire warning: it was no longer a question of “if” but “when.” An eruption was seen as inevitable. On May 13, another earthquake started an avalanche of ice on the north side of the mountain. Officials again urged Truman to vacate, even offering to fly him out via helicopter. But he said, “I’ve made up my mind more than ever not to leave.”

On the morning of May 18, 1980, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake shook Mount St. Helens, resulting in a major eruption of ash and lava that lasted for more than nine hours. 1300 feet of the mountain’s peak collapsed or blew outward in the eruption. Here’s a before and after picture. Millions of tons of rock, ash, and mud rushed down the mountain at 200 MPH. The eruption killed 57 people and destroyed 200 homes, 47 bridges, and 185 miles of highway. Harry Truman was one of those who lost his life that day. The Mount St. Helens eruption remains the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history.

Harry didn’t have to die. He received warning after warning that this day was coming. The scientists said, “It’s not a matter of if; it’s a matter of when.” But Harry didn’t listen. In his pride, he ignored the warnings. There is something in us that says, “Maybe they’re wrong. It won’t be that bad.” Until it’s often times too late.

There is a day coming — a day of judgment. It’s not a matter of if; it’s a matter of when. And in His Word, God has given us warning after warning. The Man will come around.

Are you ready for Him to come? Are you ready to stand before His throne?

The Good News begins with this bit of bad news: we are sinners. We fall short of God’s standard — we are rebels and lawbreakers, every last one of us. But the Good News is that Jesus has made a way for us. Fall before Him in faith and confess His lordship. Enter into those waters of baptism and become a new creation. And as Simon Peter says, you shall receive forgiveness of your sins.

There is a day of judgment awaiting us all. The Man comes around. Are you ready?

Invitation:

In the name of Jesus Christ, the Sovereign Lord who makes all things new, he who has ears let him hear.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you get the impression that most people struggle with the picture of Jesus as “Judge of the Living and the Dead?” Do YOU struggle with this image? If so, why?
  2. If someone asked you to reconcile the picture of Jesus as a loving person with the picture of Jesus as the Judge of the Living and the Dead, what would you say? How do we hold these seemingly contrasting pictures of Jesus?
  3. Read Acts 10:34-43. Simon Peter is proclaiming the Good News to Cornelius, yet he declares that Jesus is the judge of the living and the dead. How is this Good News?
  4. In the sermon, Jason noted that many people today choose to define equality as “equal outcomes.” In what ways do you see this in our culture? Jason suggested that the biblical understanding is not based on equal outcomes but on equal opportunities and an equal standard (faith in Jesus). Do you agree or disagree?
  5. Look at Hebrews 9:27-28. What does this passage teach us about judgment? About the second coming of Jesus?
  6. Read Romans 14:9-12. How should the image of Jesus as the great judge impact the way we relate to one another?
  7. Jason noted that the idea of Jesus as the Judge is Good News because He is impartial. What does that word mean to you?
  8. Jason also pointed out that the image of Jesus as impartial Judge is Good News to individuals who have been oppressed and people who have suffered greatly. What do you make of this statement?
  9. Read Revelation 6:9-10. What stands out to you about this passage?
  10. Close with some prayer time together as a group.
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