The Second Greatest Promise, Ever

I am here to speak to you today about the second greatest promise in the Bible.

The greatest promise in the Bible is found in John 3:16 “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” 

The greatest promise in the Bible purchased and guaranteed the second greatest promise. 

The greatest second greatest promise, and much less known, and not believed in promise, in the Bible is found in Romans 8. “…we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose... He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” 

The greatest promise in the Bible is that by believing in Jesus Christ’s accomplishments on the cross on your behalf, you can have eternal life.

The second greatest is that by being brought into the household of God through faith in Christ, ensures that your heavenly father is working mightily on your behalf to cause all things, easy, hard, painful, light, difficult…for your ultimate good. And the fact that he did not spare his infinitely valuable son on your behalf to purchase the first promise, ensures that he will not spare any other lesser thing to ensure all things for your continued good. 

Let’s examine this further by reading John 11 

My life had two major directional shifts. The first was when I heard and understood the greatest promise for the first time when I was in High School and placed my faith in it. That is, I believed it to be true. 

The second was when I heard the second promised preached for the first time while I was in College. 

John Piper had been invited to a Men’s Breakfast while I was in my freshman year at Moody Bible Institute. I heard one of the best messages I ever heard on the text we read. John 11.  That message totally flipped how I viewed God’s love, God’s intentions, suffering, disappointments, rewards… And it has been burned into my mind, I remember it more than any other message I have ever heard. 

 

I truly believe that this second promise is greatly over looked and under believed in, in most Christians lives today. 

Consider six observations from this God-inspired story—the first two of them painfully obvious and some of them shocking.

First, Lazarus was ill. Indeed, he was mortally ill. Verse 1: “Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.” We are not told what Lazarus’ illness was.

Second, Lazarus’ family sent for help to Jesus. Verse 3: “So the sisters [Mary and Martha] sent to him, saying, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’”

Third, Jesus intentionally did not come as they asked, but let Lazarus die. Verse 6: “So, when [Jesus] heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” He did not go as asked. He stayed. And Lazarus died. Jesus did not come the way they asked him to come. He withheld his mighty healing hand.

Fourth, shockingly, Jesus calls this behavior of his love. Notice the connection between verses 5 and 6: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So [= therefore], when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” John says that Jesus delayed because he loved them. He loved them all: Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So [= therefore], when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed.” 

It was his love that let Lazarus die. Jesus has not ceased to love this family. Christ did not come the way they asked, because he loves them to a greater end than simply protecting them from pain and suffering. How can that be? What is this greater end? What can be better than saving them from this pain and misery? (Human love would say, do whatever you can to save him...that is real love) The last two observations give us a clue.

Fifth, Jesus said that this sickness was for the glory of God. Verse 4: “When Jesus heard it he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’” This must mean, then, the manifestation of the glory of God, as the all-satisfying treasure of our faith, is a greater act of love than preventing Lazarus’ death would have been. Jesus did not come, because he loved them. And he said his aim in not coming was the glory of God and the glory of himself, the Son of God.

Sixth, in spite of Jesus’ choice to let Lazarus’ die, he wept. Verses 33-35, “When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’” Jesus is not a simple person. He chooses to bring about a painful situation. Then he walks into that situation and weeps with those who weep. Jesus, potentially, overcome by the death that awaited him, or overcome with sorrow over the sin cursed world which brought death and sorrow into the world (which God, Jesus himself, never ever intended), wept.

For the sake of love—not just love to Lazarus, but to Mary and Martha and the watching Pharisees, and all of you listening to my voice today—for the sake of the greatest love to the greatest number, Jesus manifested the glory of God and raised Lazarus from the dead. That is, he brought Lazarus from infinite joy back to a life fraught with sin and sickness, stress and frustration, and, in the end, to face the horrible enemy of death a second time...so that Larazus' life might bring the ultimate glory to God possible. And when our lives bring most glory to God, we are most satisfied.

Conclusion: To summarize this, God loves us. But his love is not in human terms of understanding or showing love. God loves us to the greatest end, to the end that is absolutely best for us. 

What is absolutely best for all mankind? That our lives bring glory to God. Plain and simple. 

God knows that he is our best. God knows that he is the most wonderful, mighty, holy, incredible thing in the universe that anyone can know and come into contact with or commune with. 

If his love for us was to any other end, other than us knowing, befriending and glorifying God...he would not be truly loving us, because he would be loving us to some lesser, weaker end (comfort, painlessness, earthly pleasures and personal desires). But God loves us truly and perfectly and loves us to the point/purpose that we get what is best for us, and what is best for us is that we know him and glorify him with our lives. So, he may very well bring us through pain and sorrow, or things that seem "unloving" to us, to bring us to what is ultimately best for us.... his glory in our lives.

This is the aim of Romans 8:28-32

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. ³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

This says that God is working all things together for the good, or for what is BEST for the believer. He goes on to say that what is best for the believer, or the good thing that he is causing all things to come into conformity to are 

1) the believer being conformed into the image of Christ and

2) the believer having a right standing with God and

3) the believer experiencing and obtaining God's own glory.

This verse shows that God's love is the greatest love, and it is rooted in bringing us to him, conforming us to his image and allow us to glorify him and experience his glory.... because those things are what is absolutely, completely what God knows is BEST for us. So, God will cause/allow suffering, sorrow, circumstances that seem "unloving" to us earthy people (like Lazarus and his family), who only experience love in a selfish, earthly manner in order that what is actually truly loving and best for us may happen: God's glory in our life. 

And Genesis 50:20

"As for you, you meant it for evil against me; but God meant it for good."

The same theme is present in 2 Corinthians 4:17

“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison…”

And Hebrews 12:2

“…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

And Hebrews 10:34

“You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.”

We need to 

1) Redefine true love. We need to realize that love is doing what is absolutely best for others. 

2) Realize what is absolutely best. What is absolutely best, for all mankind (our wife, our husband, our kids, our boss, our friends) is that they know God, come to God, be friends of God, be conformed into God's image and glorify God. 

3) Reach out in absolute love. We need to love to this best end. We need to love others in the same way God loved/loves us....that is, that their lives would bring glory to God (not possessions and comfort and affection) but the knowledge of and glorification of God!

This idea is the aim of John 15:8-13 as well

"When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. 9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Jesus says, "What I am about to say will allow you to bring great glory to God, my father". Then he jumps directly into speaking about his love for us and God's own great love for us. He says that this glorification of God, which his love for us is rooted in, occurs when we follow his commands. 

He says that if we do this, we will be filled with God's own joy and our joy will overflow, more than any other other lesser earthly thing (which is not our best) can do for us. He then closes by saying, this is the model that we should follow in loving others, loving them to best end...God's glory and showing them how to know and obey God, so they too may have his joy.

God loves us to the best possible end, that is, that we are glorifying him with our lives and enjoying his best for us.

When our lives are most inline with God's best instruction/intention for us, and are bringing the most glory to God, we can and will be most satisfied and joyful.

God wants us loving other to this exact same purpose. Even to the extent that we give our lives for them to obtain it.

I Have Another Dream...

Though the sound waves are 50 years old, Martin Luther King's voice continues to travel through time. The voice still echoes through the Lincoln Memorial and through the red hills of Georgia. And though some of those dreams have become a reality...many have yet to be fulfilled. Racism and inequality continue to exist in our great nation and most likely will continue to exist as long as we insist on governing ourselves apart from God's word.

As great as the continuing need is for racial harmony and equal opportunity when it comes to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness for all men and women who are citizens of the United State of America...there remains an even greater injustice in the world. 

Martin Luther King was a voice for thousands and hundreds of thousands who had no voice...and he used that voice to make one of the greatest speeches of all time. 

But where are the rallying cries for the millions and millions who are born, live and die without a single moment in, a single interaction with, or a single word from the Bible. Where is the voice echoing through our churches for the millions who have suffered generation after generation for over 2,000 years without a single word of the gospel in their language.

200 years of racial inequality pales in comparison to 2,000 years of living and dying apart from any knowledge of the gospel. Yes many horrific things have happen during those 200 years; but even Martin Luther King benefited mightily from being born in the realm of the gospel reach. His name was changed early in life, after the great reformer 'Martin Luther'.

If we would only truly understand how much worse, how much more awful, traumatic and desperate is it being born in a land where there is no gospel light than being born black in America in any era. Being born in a land where there is no gospel...means you never have the opportunity to call on the name of the Lord and be saved. And you if can not call on the name of the Lord...you perish. You lived eternity apart from him, in torment. That is much worse than anything we can imagine or suffer here in America. (Never mind that most of those same people don't have access to clean drinking water and medication never mind the right to vote, health care and flat screen tv's and the 1,000 other luxuries we have!!!!) 

The lack of fervor by supposed born-again believers for world evangelization is a much worse atrocity than any social injustice we face in America. The lack of interest in living for God's dream because we are too busy living for our own dreams is a much worse injustice than any social issue America is up against today.

I have a dream...that one day America Christians will wake up to their disobedience and realize that there are still over 2,393 whole languages in the world that do not have a Bible. They do not have the message of sin through Adam and salvation through faith in Christ alone! 2,393 whole languages can not call on the name of the Lord and be saved today! But we are more worried about our cell coverage.

I have a dream...that one day America Christians will wake up to the reality that there is only 1 missionary per 1 million unreached people in the world today! 

I have a dream...that one day soon Southern Baptist Christians will wake up from their stupor and realize that there are over 6,686 Southern Baptist Christians per unreached group in the world today!! 

I have a dream...that we would start caring less about our own comforts and desires and more about God's desires.

I have a dream...that we would be more concerned about people in Kenya getting the gospel for the first time than if we are treated fairly today, or if our clothes are just right and our lives are turning out exactly the way we planned.

God has a dream. Will it be your dream?

God has a dream...that all the nations that he has created will come and worship him. (Psalm 86:9)

God has a dream...to gather all his sons and daughters that he created for his glory. (Isaiah 43:6-7)

God has a dream...that one day there will be a great multitude from every tribe, tongue and nation worship him in Heaven! (Rev 7:9, 5:9)

God has a dream...that the church would abandon their own pursuits and obey him at all cost to make disciples of all nations. (Matt 28:19, Matt 16:24, Matt 19:29)

To close...amongst all the hype of continuing social injustices in America that do need to be addressed, don't forget the greatest injustice and inequality of all... that we have over 100 translations of the Bible in English, while 2,393 languages don't have a single one.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Two Criminals, Two Crosses, Two Choices...

<sup>Two Criminals, Two Crosses, Two Choices...

I love the allegories in the Bible. The analogies. I have come to learn that everything that happened in the Bible (from the smallest, seemingly most insignificant account to ---> the greatest) has a specific, intended spiritual lesson. I really love the ones that increase the understanding of the significance of Jesus' death. One of my favorites is the comparison of Jesus and Barabbas to the scapegoat and sacrificial goat in Leviticus 16. I would really encourage you to study up on that one. The account of choosing of Barabbas over Jesus seems so insignificant and random that you can totally miss it; I know I did for the longest time. The fact was that the High Priests were the first to cry out "Free Barabbas - Crucify Jesus" (Mark 15:11) while the two men stood at the front of the Temple...and they were literally performing the Old Testament instruction for the Priest to select the appropriate animal for an atoning sin sacrifice at the front of the Tent of Meeting. (Lev 16:7-9)
 
If I asked you "Who was the first person to be set free because of the sacrifice of Christ?" You may flip through your Bible to look for the first disciple who expressed clear understanding after the resurrection. You may look for a name of someone at Peter's speech at Pentecost. A really observant person may even say "the Roman Solider who was at the foot of the cross" and after Jesus died, said "Surely, this man was the Son of God!" (Luke 23:47) Truly the first person to benefit from the sacrifice of Christ, in a very real way, was Barabbas. 


This note isn't about Barabbas (though I should probably write one about that account)...this note is about the first person to be spiritually set free because of the sacrifice of Christ. 

38</sup> There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews. ³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:38-43

The two criminals represent all humanity. All of humanity will be categorized along side of (with) these two criminals...and the determining factor will be how we each, individually, respond to the savoir in the cross in the middle of us.  


Notice how similar they are. Both are suffering the pain of crucifixion. Both are guilty of a crime ("we are getting what our deeds deserve," v. 41). Both see Jesus, the sign over his head ("King of the Jews," v. 38); they hear the words from his mouth ("Father forgive them," v. 34). And both of these thieves want desperately to be saved from death.

Things are then divided between these two criminals and between two categories of people by how they each respond to Jesus on the cross, next to them.

All of us have all these things in common with these two criminals: there is suffering in our lives because of sin and we are dying because of it. We are guilty of many crimes. Most of us have seen Jesus on the cross in some way, shape or form and have heard his claim to kingship and his gracious words of forgiveness. And all of us want to be saved from death and suffering in one way or the other.

The First Criminal

The first criminal says, "Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”   What a picture of a spiritually destitute, worldly man. It is a matter of total indifference to him that he is suffering "the due reward of his deeds." He does not recognize that he is a criminal and that the punishment he is receiving is correct and fair.

To him right and wrong, praise and blame, good and bad are of no interest: his one objective is to save his earthly skin. He might even believe Jesus is the Messiah, the King of the Jews. But, it's only a matter of convenience to him: he'll take anybody as king who can get him off the cross. Just another way to serve his own worldly purposes. He fails to acknowledge that he is on that cross because of his own doing.

Notice however the other criminal: this one is the one Luke and Jesus want us to be like...

The Second Criminal

First, he is not sucked in by the other criminal's response.

He is not basing his opinion or response to Jesus on anyone else's inaccurate babbling about Jesus. The world has a bunch of incorrect notions about Jesus and will babble all day about your "craziness" to believe in such a man. Do not let your individual response to Jesus be swayed by other dying criminals who fail to recognize their situation. 

Second, he fears God.

'the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? '
God was real to this man and he feared the holy wrath of God.

Third, he admitted that he had done wrong and that the penalty he was receiving was correct. 

"We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve."  He had no desire to save face any more; he had no more will to assert himself. He was here and laid open before the God he feared and there was no way to hide his guilt. Not only did he admit to wrong and guilt, he accepted his punishment as deserved. We must admit that we are sinful, we are criminals against the most high God and we must admit that our sentence of death and separation from him is what our deeds deserve.

Fourth, he acknowledged that Jesus was righteous and the King of heaven.  

"But this man has done nothing wrong....Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
It didn't make any difference to the first criminal if Jesus was right or wrong. We must say with the second criminal: "This man has done nothing wrong." This man only does what is good. This man only speaks the truth. This man is worthy of our faith and allegiance and imitation.This man was perfect and died in my (a criminals) place. This man acknowledged that Jesus was who he said he was; the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, righteous and holy as God alone is righteous and holy...and we must do the same. 

And finally, the second criminal does one more thing. He fears God, admits wrong, accepts justice, acknowledges the goodness and power of Jesus. Now he pleads for help.

"Jesus, remember when you come into your kingdom." Both criminals wanted to be saved from death. But how differently they sought their salvation: 1) "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" Prove yourself to us! 2) "Jesus, remember when you come into your kingdom!" If you don't remember me, I have no other hope!!! There is an infinite qualitative difference between "Remember me!" and "Save me!"

Jesus response to these two criminals was almost as radically different as their own responses to him.

To the first criminal, there is no record of response. I take this to mean that Jesus didn't reply. He didn't respond. Jesus did not reply to the first man. Jesus did not save this man, or give any promise of future deliverance. The man did not come to Jesus in the way that God demands. Neither will Jesus respond to any sinful criminals alive on earth today who do not come to him the way that God demands.

Jesus does reply to the second man.

He promises this second man that today, this very day, without delay...the man will be with Jesus in his kingdom. If we too reply like the second man, today, this very day, we can be brought into the kingdom of God. We can be called children of the King, sons and daughters of the most high God. We can be removed from the punishment that is due our deeds.

God is for me and that's good. God is for God and that's not bad. God's glory in me is best for me.

I decided to launch this note as a spin off of the key phrase in Wreck-It-Ralph...Boston's favorite flick. 

Wreck-It Ralph: I am bad and that's good, I will never be good and that's not bad, there's no one I would rather be than me. 

Here it is: God is for me and that's good. God is for God and that's not bad. God's glory in me is best for me. 

There are a handful of truths that have so completely turned my life upside down that I base almost everything I do/teach on them. They are so profound and totally encompassing that you'll find their hands in all of scripture. I have found that the more I focus on these overarching few truths, the better off I am.  

A few of them are: Man must have faith in what God has said. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. I can do all things, and only things by Christ who strengthens me. We must be confident in our position, if we are to be impactful in our condition... etc. 

One of the most revolutionizing that: When God seeks his own glory in my life, it is actually the most loving act possible towards me. God's aim and effort to glorify himself is very loving (not selfish) and is without fault of any kind and is very different from human self-exaltation and it is a supreme act of love. 

Let me explain....

God Pursues His Own Praise

Everything he does is motivated by his desire to be glorified. God's goal in all he does is to receive praise for the glory of his name.

Isaiah 48:11:

For my own sake, for my own sake I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

It's pretty clear that even our salvation is under the purpose of his own gathering of glory: 

Listen to Ephesians 1. There is a phrase repeated three times in verses 6, 12, and 14 which makes it very clear what Paul thinks is the goal of God in saving us from sin and for himself. Notice verses 5 and 6:

He predestined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace.

Then verse 12:

We who first hoped in Christ...have been appointed to live for the praise of his glory.

Finally, verse 14:

The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.

His goal in the end is that he might be admired, marveled at, exalted, and praised. Christ is coming, Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 1:10, at the end of this age, "to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at by all who believe." 

Some people have a very hard time swallowing all this however, because it makes God appear to be selfish. And doesn't God love us? Because doesn't John 3:16 say that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son?" Wasn't salvation based strictly on his love? Was he for us when he saved us or for himself?

It is all right for God to be praised, but it doesn't seem quite right for him to seek praise. Didn't Jesus say, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted"? Yet, God's clear purpose from Scripture is to exalt himself in the eyes of man.

There are two reasons, I think, why we may stumble over God's love for his own glory and his zeal to get men to praise him for it.One is that we don't like humans who act that way, and the other is that the Bible seems to teach that a person ought not to seek his own glory. 

First, we just don't like people who seem to be very enamored by their own skill or power or looks. 

Second, we are told not to be self seeking...1 Corinthians 13:5 says,"Love seeks not its own." So this, seems to create a crisis: if, God makes it his ultimate goal to be glorified and praised, how then can he be loving? How is it not selfish and self-centered for God to be seeking his own glory, and how it is in fact loving?? 

Scriptures that teach that God is for himself. "For my own sake, for my own sake I do it, my glory I will not give to another" (Isaiah 48:11). But if God is a God of love, he must be for us. Is God for himself or is he for us?

The Infinite Love of God in Pursuing His Own Praise

The answer is: because God is unique as the most glorious of all beings and totally self-sufficient, he must be for himself in order to be for us. If he were to abandon the goal of his own self-exaltation, we would be the losers. His aim to bring praise to himself and his aim to bring pleasure to his people are one aim and stand or fall together. 

(For any other creature to seek self exaltation and praise would be SELFISH, because every other creature is NOT supremely valuable.) 

Think about this: What could God give us to enjoy that would show him most (perfectly) loving?There is only one possible answer, isn't there? HIMSELF! 

If God would give us the best, the most satisfying thing,that is, if he would love us perfectly, he must offer us no less than himself for our contemplation and fellowship. Because, isn't God the best there actually is??

And this was God's very intention in sending his Son. 

Ephesians 2:18 says that Christ came that we might "have access in one Spirit to the Father." And 1 Peter 3:18 says,"Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God."God conceived the whole plan of redemption in love to bring men back to himself, for as the psalmist says, "In your presence there is fullness of joy, in your right hand are pleasures for evermore" (16:11). God is after us to give us what is best—not prestige,wealth, or even health in this life, but a full-blown vision of and fellowship with himself.

Therefore, if God is truly for us, if he would give us what is best... we must know that, he must make it his aim to win our praise for himself. Not because he needs to shore up some weakness in himself or compensate for some deficiency, but because he loves us and seeks our best that can only be found in knowing and praising him, the most beautiful of all beings.

God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking his own praise is the ultimately loving act. For him self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When he doesall things "for the praise of his glory" as Ephesians 1 says, he preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world which can satisfy our longings. God is for us, and therefore has been, is now, and always will be, for himself.