Posts Tagged ‘Risen Lord’

Messianic Glory

Posted: April 24, 2012 by Pam Larson in April, Devotionals/Commentaries, Mark
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Pastor Kim Riddlebarger on the Transfiguration in Mark 9:

And so, while we look for God’s glory in Christ’s person and work (as Luther put it, in the cradle and on the cross), we also know that one day we will see the kingdom come in power. That will be the day when God raises the dead, judges the world and recreates heaven and earth. Therefore, Jesus’ transfiguration is a sign of Christ’s messianic glory, more importantly, it is the sign that God graciously veils his glory so that he can save his people from their sins. Yes, Jesus’ exaltation is sure to come.

The transfiguration is the proof to Peter, James and John, that God will fulfill his promises to his people. And so let us not forget that the revelation of Christ’s messianic glory comes only because Jesus was willing to humble himself and set aside his glory and remain obedient to the father’s will–obedient all the way to the cross.

And because he was obedient unto death, Jesus was raised King of kings and Lord of Lords. And one day, we will see his glory, and we will need not fear. Because for all those who are Christ, this will be the day of resurrection. Amen!

To read the rest of the sermon, “Listen to Him,” click here:

“Please preach this sermon at my funeral!”

Posted: March 25, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, March, Matthew
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He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay…And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
—Matthew 28:6,18-20

I have a tattered copy of a sermon stuffed into my Bible, with these instructions scribbled in the margin, “Please preach this sermon at my funeral!” Why?

  • If it is true that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead (verse 6),
  • and that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him (verse 18),
  • and that he will be with his disciples to the end of the age (verse 20) ,
  • then nothing is more important in our lives. Nothing.

I would want everyone to hear that message and put their trust in the risen Savior, Jesus Christ.  And I would want them to know that I fully trusted in the promise that He indeed has ALL authority and was with me to the end, even if I died in some “tragic accident.”  (No accidents when Jesus has all authority!)

Here is a part of that sermon, “Jesus Christ: Alive and With Us To the End” by John Piper-

Here’s the practical value of this promise. You might take the truth of Christ’s authority over all things and just turn it into a theological problem. Well, if he has authority over the world, why is it in such a mess? Or: If he has authority over life and death, why did my child or wife or mother die?

But there is another way to respond to the power and authority of Jesus. If you will – and Jesus calls you to this – you can see it as the power and authority to free you from sin and fear and greed so that when you trust his promise to be with you, you are unstoppable in your love. If he is with you to the end, and if he has all authority in the universe, then you can love and serve and sacrifice, and never lose. This is the practical effect of the resurrection of Jesus when you experience it as powerful and personal.

If you trust him to be powerful for you and personally there for you, no matter what, you will be able to live your life not just for your private interests, but, say, for the 1.5 million street children in the Philippines (Action International Ministries – http://www.actionintl.org), or for 16 million people in the horn of East Africa who are now threatened with starvation (Newsweek, April, 24, 2000), or for the 255 people groups in the world that no one has even planned yet to pursue with the love of the gospel of Jesus (Joshua Project – http://www.ad2000.org/peoples).

Trusting Jesus to Be All-Powerful and Personally with Us

If Jesus is not all-powerful and not personally with us to the end, and if we don’t trust him to be that for us, we will simply ignore the needs of others and live for our own private comfort. Let me give you two examples, and invite you to trust him in this way:

World Magazine last week reported that three children were killed in Bosnia when they wandered into a minefield. One of them, an 11-year-old girl, called for help for hours before she died, but no one would go into the minefield to help her. What would you have done? What would I have done? Could it be that this is why Jesus told us that all authority is his – not so that people would create a theological problem out of it, but so that some follower of Jesus would lift his heart and say: “Jesus, all authority over these mines is yours, and you are with me to the end; if you will, you can keep me from stepping on a mine; and if you will, you can take me to heaven; but this I know, you call me to love that little girl; so trusting your power and your personal presence, I go.” That is why Jesus tells us that all authority is his. This is the kind of love that will make many disciples (Matthew 28:19).

And then, as many of you know, Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards died this week in Cameroon in a car accident – Ruby in her eighties and Laura in her seventies. Ruby gave all her life in medical missions among the poor. Laura, a doctor who practiced in India for many years and then here in the Cities, was giving her retirement for the bodies and the souls of the poor in Cameroon. Both died suddenly when their car went over a cliff.

Was that a tragedy? Well, in one sense all death is tragic. But consider this.

Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards, at their age, could have been taking it easy here in retirement. Think of tens of thousands of retired people spending their lives in one aimless leisure after another – that is a tragedy. The fact that Jesus Christ took authority to make Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards valiant for love and truth among the poor and lost and diseased of Cameroon when most Americans are playing their way into eternity – that is not tragedy. And that he took them suddenly to heaven in their old age in the very moment of their love and service and sacrifice, and without long, drawn-out illnesses and without protracted and oppressive feelings of uselessness – that is not a tragedy. Rather, I say, “Give me that death, O Jesus Christ, Lord of the universe, give me that life and that ministry and that death!”

Read or listen to the rest of the sermon:

Piper: see at least three massive peaks in the mountain range of Christ’s character

Posted: March 24, 2011 by 4theloveofgod in Devotionals/Commentaries, March, Matthew
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We see the glorious truth of the resurrection of Jesus in today’s reading from Matthew 28:1-10.  John Piper exults in our living Savior in a sermon, “Worship the Risen Christ”

The great tragedy of the human race is that we were made to find infinite joy by admiring God, but have become so blind and so foolish that we spend energy and time and money seeking out things in the world to satisfy our insatiable craving to admire greatness and beauty. The irony of our human condition (and nobody here is an exception) is that God put us within sight of the Himalayas, and we have chosen to pull down the blinds of our chalet and show slides of Buck Hill. But every single person here knows that it hasn’t worked. Our posters and post cards and rock stars and scenic tours and glossy books have never satisfied the deepest longings of our heart. They give some pleasure, and make the drudgery of life a little more livable. But they can never compare to the times when you walk to the window, raise the blinds, throw open the shutters, and see the Himalayan glory of the risen Christ.

If your life is flat, empty, without exhilaration, without significance, without a single and fulfilling orientation, it is because you do not see the risen Christ for who he really is. Some of you see him scarcely at all, perhaps. Others have such a pitifully small and sentimental picture of him on the wall of your mind that you are starving for the real thing. So what I want to do today is take you to the window of God’s Word and point to Christ. For if we could keep in view the risen Christ as he really is, our bottomless appetite for beauty and greatness and wonder would find satisfaction, and our lives would be unending worship and joyful obedience.

The last chapter of Matthew is a window that opens onto the sunrise glory of the risen Christ. Through it you can see at least three massive peaks in the mountain range of Christ’s character: the peak of his power; the peak of his kindness; and the peak of his purposefulness. And we all know in our hearts that if the risen Christ is going to satisfy our desire to admire greatness, that is the way he has to be. People who are too weak to accomplish their purposes can’t satisfy our desire to admire greatness. We admire people even less who have no purpose in life. And still less those whose purposes are merely selfish and unkind. What we long to see and know is a Person whose power is unlimited, whose kindness is tender, and whose purpose is single and unflinching. Novelists and poets and movie-makers and TV writers now and then create a shadow of this Person. But they can no more fill our longing to worship than this month’s National Geographic can satisfy my longing for the Chattooga River. We must have the real thing. We must see the Original of all power and kindness and purposefulness. We must see and worship the risen Christ.

Read, download or listen to the rest of the sermon

The Clincher=Eating Fish

Posted: September 24, 2010 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Luke, September
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“See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” Luke 24:39 

Coty Pinckney comments:

His hands and feet are pierced. He has flesh and bones. He has a real physical body. He then eats fish.

This is no ghost. This is not simply a bodiless spirit. This is the risen body of Jesus Himself. He is changed. But He is physical.

So Cleopas and the disciples get the evidence they want: They see Jesus! He is risen indeed! They believe the resurrection.

They now have four pieces of evidence:

  • The storyline of Scripture
  • The specific statements of Jesus predicting His death and resurreciton
  • The empty tomb
  • Seeing Jesus Himself

The last is the clincher. In their moment of despair, Jesus appears. He eats with them. They believe.

What about us? We don’t see Jesus with our eyes. Our situation is like that of Cleopas before He recognizes Jesus. We have these pieces of evidence:

  • The storyline of Scripture
  • The specific promises of Scripture that apply to our particular situation
  • Evidence in the world around us of God’s hand at work

And we wait for Jesus to come again physically, suddenly, and bodily, with power and great glory. That may happen soon. At that moment, we will see the risen Lord with our eyes.