Monthly Archives: April 2025

April 16, 2025 · 5:10 PM

Jesus Means No Going Back

When Columbus discovered America, the course of history changed forever. There was no undoing it. America could not be un-discovered.

After the Wright brothers bounced around in their kite-looking contraption on the beach, flying for short stretches, history moved in a new direction. Within one lifetime, astronauts walked on the moon.

When it seemed that millions might die to end the war in Japan in the 1940s, the power of the atom was harnessed. Two atomic bombs were dropped and the war ended. The nuclear age was born and there was no going back. The world has been a different place ever since.

In the 1970s a man named Marty was working for Motorola. He made the first cell phone. Can we even imagine a world without cell phones now?

All these changes in human history were profound yet they pale in comparison with Jesus Christ. Jesus is the great dividing line in all human history. The change made by Jesus is cosmic.

This is not to say that Jesus changed everything. He did not replace God and his revelation of himself in the Old Testament. Jesus did not do away with holiness. God is still holy and our goal is still to be holy.

Jesus did not cancel God’s promises to Israel. God made unconditional promises to his chosen people Israel and they will be fulfilled, like his promise to give them the Promised Land.

So, what exactly did Jesus change? Jesus opened a new and living way to God and his blessings. When Jesus died on the cross, he said, “It is finished.” At that moment, the curtain that blocked entry into the holy of holies in the temple in Jerusalem was torn apart. Suddenly, there was an opening to that place of God’s presence.

The curtain covering the entrance to God’s presence was not torn from the bottom up, as if people forced their way in, demanding to experience God’s presence. The curtain was torn from the top down. God invited us in because of the profound change accomplished by Jesus. We can now approach God’s presence with confidence because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross at Calvary.

We no longer bring a goat or a lamb to church when we gather to worship. We no longer pour out the blood of a sacrificial animal at the base of the altar. That was a vital part of worship for God’s people in the Old Testament, the old covenant.

Jesus shed his precious blood as the final and full sacrifice for all of God’s people for all time and eternity. We come before God by faith in him and his blood, no longer needing to bring our sin offerings over and over, year after year, generation after generation. It is finished!

On the third Day, God raised Jesus from the dead. He walked away from his tomb, alive forever, victorious over sin, triumphant over death. The course of time and eternity was altered permanently. Jesus is the agent of a new age, the age of God’s kingdom.

Thinking about Jesus as new may be difficult for those of us who have grown up in church hearing all the Bible accounts about him. Saying that Jesus is new may seem strange since his Church has now been in existence for two thousand years.

But Jesus is the new way. Any other way is the old way, the way of hoping our best will be good enough for God. Now we can be confident because God has given us his best, his Son and our Savior Jesus Christ.

We should rejoice that God has chosen to put us at this moment in history. Yes, the Old Testament saints had their blessings, but what an honor it is to live in the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection!

May our hearts and souls bless the Lord with great joy on Easter and always,

Brother Richard

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April 16, 2025 · 3:36 PM

Jesus Disappointed Them

Imagine a city where nobody is ill. No need for a hospital. No clinics. No doctors or nurses. No pharmacies. Nobody calling in sick.

For just a few hours, a city in Galilee enjoyed this amazing experience.

It all started with Jesus. His words had astounding authority and power. With a word, he could liberate a man possessed by a demon. With a word, he could heal a woman suffering from a high fever.

Social media was yet to be invented. Social networks, however, were surprisingly effective. The word about Jesus spread like wildfire.

Everyone in town brought those who were sick to Jesus. He healed them. Every single one! They even brought people with demons. Jesus cast them out. All of them!

The next morning, they were upset to discover that Jesus was missing. They went into a panic and searched for him. They found Jesus in a deserted place praying.

The crowds tried to convince Jesus that he should stay with them. Look at all the good he was doing! No doubt they could use him in the future. After all, people get sick.

Their desire to keep Jesus to themselves is certainly understandable. Jesus did so much good for their families and friends. He made their city a better place.

Despite their earnest appeals, Jesus disappointed them. He refused their offer to stay in that city and take care of all their needs. Why did he decline their offer?

Jesus told the people, “It is necessary for me to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose” (Luke 4:43).

Jesus had a message that was meant for everyone. Staying in one city to heal their sick and cast out their demons would keep his message from reaching others.

“I was sent,” Jesus said. He was sent by God. His message and mission were from God. The folks in this city had no right to override God’s plans.

Jesus told them that he was sent “to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God.” God’s kingdom is his benevolent and transforming rule in the hearts of all who trust in him. God’s kingdom was announced and initiated by Jesus; and it will be consummated at Jesus’ Second Coming.

Jesus was sent “to the other towns also.” He left that town and continued proclaiming the good news about God’s kingdom throughout Israel, and beyond. The power of his word continued to heal and to liberate, advancing into other communities, into other lives.

After Jesus’ sacrificial death on a cross in Jerusalem and his triumphant resurrection from the tomb, he prepared to return to God the Father in heaven. His disciples asked if he was restoring God’s kingdom to Israel at that time. Like the people who wanted Jesus to stay in their town, the disciples were still limiting his reach. Stay in our nation and bless us!

Jesus told them to be witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. He entrusted his mission to his followers. They followed his instructions and continued proclaiming the good news. The good news about God’s kingdom spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire.

Since then, Christians have faced the same temptation as that city in Galilee almost two thousand years ago: to try and keep Jesus to ourselves. But Jesus will not be contained. God’s mission is unchanged. His Spirit in our hearts urges us to tell people everywhere about God’s benevolent rule through faith in Jesus.

Jesus has entrusted his mission to us, his followers. It is our turn to be faithful in our generation. If we try to keep Jesus to ourselves and ignore the great spiritual need in other lives and communities, Jesus will disappoint us.

When we tell others the good news about Jesus, we are participating in God’s great work of salvation. When we tell others the good news about Jesus, God will use our efforts to save souls for eternal life!

May the love of God compel us to tell the good news about Jesus Christ,

Brother Richard

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April 15, 2025 · 1:33 PM

Is There No God?

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” These words are about three thousand years old, recorded by King David in Psalm 14:1. The temptation to dismiss God as a figment of someone’s imagination is nothing new. And this ancient notion is still with us today.

We live in a world filled with skepticism about eternal realities: life after death, final judgment, heaven and hell, and so forth. Satan has convinced many people that God is nothing more than a threat to their personal freedoms. Without God, he promises, they are free from accountability, thus free to live as they please, to do as they please.

But the old serpent is not telling the whole truth. Without God, we would live in a world utterly devoid of real meaning and purpose. True, we would be able to do whatever we wished, or at least we could try. But whatever we might do would be empty of any lasting value. Whatever momentary thrill we gained would soon be lost and forgotten, just as we also would be.

Life without meaning is a deeply troubling prospect. Those who fear that their lives have no purpose are often visited by depression. We are ‘hardwired’ to believe that life should be meaningful. If there is no God and life truly is meaningless, then why are we so stubborn in our conviction that our existence must have meaning and purpose?

Here are more ancient words from the Bible: “He (God) has put eternity in their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). God has put eternity in the hearts of all people everywhere at all times. In the very core of our being, our mind, will and emotion, we are ‘stamped’ with the idea that life is both valuable and meaningful. This is one mark of the image of God in us. God’s existence is meaningful. So is ours, because we reflect him.

This ‘imprint’ of God’s character on each of us is robust. Parents who lose a beloved child to an apparently random accident or disease might insist on starting a foundation to raise money and do research to avoid future similar fatalities. This good work is done in the name of the lost child. Why? In order to find meaning in a life that was cut off too soon. Living with the idea that the child’s life had no meaning is unacceptable.

Atheists propose a solution to the problem of our desire for purpose and our need for God to supply ultimate meaning. They insist that people can still live fulfilling lives even if God is imaginary and life is ultimately meaningless. How? By simply inventing a purpose for life. In other words, by pretending that life does have meaning, all the while knowing that it doesn’t.

The atheist considers this a bold and admirable move. But is it honest? No. They are asking us to live a dishonest and deceived life. This bizarre solution is ironic since atheists have long accused Christians of engaging in wishful thinking and refusing to face reality.

But what purpose is there in a world filled with evil and injustice? How can we believe in a good God, they ask, considering the terrible pain and suffering in this world? They want us to conclude that either God is not good (since he allows suffering), that God is not all-powerful (since a good God would stop suffering if he could), or that God is non-existent. They opt for the final choice and persuade us to agree with them.

However, the atheist’s argument from the existence of evil is incomplete. There is another possibility. Perhaps pain and suffering is meaningful. This is precisely what the Bible reveals. The greatest example is Jesus Christ. The life of Jesus shows that God is willing to join us in our suffering (since Jesus is God). And, the sacrificial death of Jesus shows that suffering can produce great good. Jesus’ unjust suffering on the cross saves all the faithful from eternal judgment and condemnation.

God loves us enough to send Jesus to join us in our pain and suffering. God despises pain and suffering enough to send Jesus to the cross to sacrifice himself so we can be set free even from death itself. God proves his power by raising Jesus from the dead. God is powerful enough to defeat suffering and injustice and to create a new heaven and earth where evil will no longer exist. God invites us to join him in that new heaven and earth by trusting in Jesus.

May we seek the Lord while he may be found,

Brother Richard

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April 4, 2025 · 8:53 AM

God’s Word Need An Update?

The church in Thessalonica was new. The believers had recently heard the gospel and put their faith in Jesus. They were enduring persecution from fellow citizens who rejected the good news about Jesus. They needed more instruction in their newfound faith. They needed mature and experienced leadership.

The great first-century missionary Paul had planted the church. But he was forced to leave the city because his life was threatened by violent opposition. Paul writes to them after he gets welcome news that they are persevering in the faith. His letter is filled with both encouragement for their progress to date, and instructions for their continued success.

In one place, the missionary thanks God for the Christians in Thessalonica because of their response to God’s word. They welcomed it “not as a human message, but as it truly is, the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

The new Christians did not consider the good news about Jesus to be a human creation. They knew that Paul’s words about Jesus were not his own invention. They recognized the message as something far more, the very words of God. Paul’s proclamation was God’s revelation about eternal salvation by grace through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.

For two thousand years Christians have welcomed God’s word, not as a human message, but as it truly is: the word of God. And, for two thousand years, God’s word has also met with doubt, disdain, and denunciation.

“Did God really say . . .?” That was Satan’s question to Eve in the Garden of Eden. His question was meant to plant doubt in her mind about God’s word. That same provocative question is still asked today. It is still meant to plant doubt in hearts and minds about the faithfulness of the Bible.

Is it really God’s word? Or, is it merely a human message? If it is merely a human message, then we are not required to believe and obey, right? In fact, if it is a human message, then we may need to update or alter it from time to time.

Efforts to update and edit the Bible’s message are rampant in our culture. Some people foolishly believe they can improve God’s word. Those who doubt the perfection and authority of the Bible try to retain some of the words in Scripture so they can maintain a façade of godly authority. But they have rejected God’s authority.

If God’s word is no longer the perfect standard and authority for truth and goodness, then what is? What standard is being used to judge and adjust the Bible? Popular ideas based on sinful desires are the guide for editing Scripture. Alternative notions about sex, marriage, family, parenting, gender, and other fundamental truths are being promoted as replacements for God’s revealed design.

Those who doubt God’s word dare to redefine God’s love. They treat love as a synonym for desire. Love is whatever they want it to be. Anyone who disagrees with them is accused of being hateful. But God’s word demands a higher standard for love, a standard exemplified by Jesus. God’s word boldly proclaims the truth, shining as the much-needed light in a spiritually dark age.

In Paul’s letter to the believers in Thessalonica, he went on to remind them that the word of God “works effectively in you who believe.” Their faithfulness to the gospel, despite the persecution they were enduring, was visible proof that God’s word had taken root in their hearts and was working to bear spiritual fruit for eternal life.

Despite the accusations of hatred from those who doubt the Bible, God’s word still works effectively in all who believe. Those who welcome God’s word for what it truly is will always meet opposition in this broken and dying world, but we will always enjoy God’s effective work and eternal hope in our hearts and for eternity.

May we welcome God’s word for what it truly is,

Brother Richard

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