Good Friday's Fellowship of Fools

The day Jesus was crucified gave birth to a unique Fellowship. Open to all, yet not all will join for various reasons. 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 explains the entrance criteria and the title of the leader (from the World’s view). Marshall’s translation of the Nestle’s Greek text, ‘for the Logos of the cross is to the ones perishing is folly, to those being saved it is the power of God.’

There is a double meaning in using ‘Logos’ for it means ‘word.’ As such it can refer to the message, the preaching and teaching of the cross. However, it also refers to Jesus. In John 1:1 -14 is the declaration that He is the Word, Emmanuel, come in the flesh (Philippians 2:5-8) to fulfil the Father’s promise summed up in Isaiah 53.

The reaction of the people over Jesus’ crucifixion from the resurrection day onwards is expressed in the Corinthian verse. The word for ‘foolishness’ comes from the Greek ‘moron.’ It is the view of the sophisticated, worldly wise, outwardly upright people that Jesus was and is a moron for being crucified. This leads them into the rejection of His resurrection and the refusal of His saving grace. Fundamentally, this is due to their conceit that they are good enough, wise enough and helpful enough to meet Heaven’s entrance requirements. Or they believe the lie of evolution that death is the final state.

The remarkable thing that confounds such a mindset is the power of the message, the attractiveness of the Christ. When you and I responded to its message our faith allowed the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to unleash the Triune God’s transforming power. Our lifestyle validates the promise of the Cross from Genesis to Malachi. Our worship honours the person of the cross and bears testimony to Him. But there is a cost. Jesus said it in Matthew 10:25, “If they call the Master of the house, Beelzebub [and moron], how much more the members of His household?’ That is part and parcel of our believing the promise about the Person, agreeing with the testimony of His death, entombment and resurrection and responding in obedient faith to His call. It is defined in the taking up your cross and following.

To be called a moron for believing in Christ puts us in good company. It is the Fellowship of Good Friday’s Fools (called the Church), whose President in Jesus. We should wear the insult with pride, express it with gratitude and share it with grace. We are humbled by the Person who by His foolishness prevailed over the cross, over us, over death, over sin, of the prince of darkness and will one day return to reign! He is Jesus, the Christ, Son of God, Saviour and Lord!

“Foolishness” they cry.

“Beyond comprehension.

Defies all convention

Expecting us to believe

Anyone would conceive

Such a ridiculous plan

About a cross

And mutilated man

To deal with Sin,

Cleanse sinners within

Through trusting in Him.

“Foolishness” they cry.

Unsound reasoning
From the God on high
That His Son would die
Sin’s curse to defy,
The Father’s wrath satisfy
Upon a cross.
We are sophisticated
Well educated
Beyond believing
We stand in need of saving.

“Foolishness” they cry,

So unbelievable.
Yet, is it possible
That God’s foolishness
Is stronger, wiser
Than what we could devise?
The symbol of glory won
At Calvary by God’s Son.
In gratitude let’s confess,
We believe God’s foolishness!

                                                            ©Ray Hawkins April 14th, 2017.

The Cross before Time

You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your fore–fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 1 Peter 1:18-20.

The Lord God’s foreknowledge made Him well aware of Adam’s future act of treason in Eden. Being expelled from the garden would seem, on the surface, a mild rebuke rather than a judicial decree. The declaration about death also doesn’t appear to be very frightening. Only as the record unfolds do we gain an appreciation of the horror and dread sin unleashed. A question remained. How could the holy God still communicate with the expelled couple, and later, their offspring?

Strange though it may be the answer is given in the closing book of the Bible. Revelation 13:8b tells us that the Lamb (a title for Jesus) was slain from the creation of the world. God could only bear with Adam and his offspring because in God’s mind the Cross had already taken place. God was able to deal with humanity because He looked at them through the Cross. This is still the only way He can deal with the world. One day, in His time, the Lord will say, ‘It’s judgment time!’ On that day He won’t be looking at people through the cross. He will be assessing them from his throne!

In the book of Job, one of the friends makes a very pertinent quote, ‘How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of a woman be pure? If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes, how much less man…’ (Job 25:4-6a). In Genesis 3 Adam and Eve tried to make themselves respectable to God by covering themselves with fig leaves. It was an attempt to camouflage their true condition. There was no repentance and there was no indication of sin’s action being atoned.

In Genesis 3:21 is the act of real atonement. The word atonement refers to a covering. ‘The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.’ This was provided so as not to be offensive to God and thereby be destroyed. The initiative was God’s. It cost the life of a substitute animal. Here is a shadow of God’s answer to the quote from Job: the only way to be righteous before God is for someone to pay the price for our covering.

When Revelation 13:8b speaks of ‘a Lamb slain’ the word for slain refers to an act of slaying for the purpose of sacrifice. Within the sacrificial system of ancient Israel animals were slain as a substitute for the individual or nation. The shadow cast by the sacrificial system of Israel is fulfilled in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Before time had begun the Godhead knew the consequences of creation mixed with freewill. God was willing to pay the price! The Lord was without sin. He fulfilled the requirements of the Mosaic Law. Therefore He was able to offer Himself as our atonement.

We are not automatically covered, and thereby protected, from God the Father’s justice. Faith must compel us to cry out to the Lord to forgive and to cover us. Only then are we fit to stand before Him. How beautiful is Galatians 3:26-27. ‘You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.’

Ray Hawkins

This is a day's devotional  from His book 'Captured by Calvary.'

http://rayhawkinsauthor.blogspot.com.au

DEVOTION: He Is Risen Indeed! ~ by Kathi Macias

"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay" 

(Matthew 28:6, NKJV).

“The Old Rugged Cross” will always be one of my favorite hymns, for the old rugged Cross is where the costly, bloody price was paid for my sin—and for yours. Without it, we would all be without hope in this world.

But the story doesn’t end at the Cross. Though we focus on that great sacrificial symbol throughout Holy Week—and rightfully so—that beloved Cross would be meaningless and powerless if it hadn’t culminated in the empty tomb. On Easter morning, our focus moves from Christ’s death to His Resurrection, for that is what we truly celebrate.

Without the empty tomb, the Cross, as precious as it is to those of us who have personally identified with its sacrifice, would be the saddest emblem in history, the symbol of the worst failure and defeat of all time. For if Christ had not risen from the dead, then He would merely have been a nice man who performed good deeds, modeled a good life, and then died a martyr, deserted by His followers, leaving nothing more than an example behind.

Praise be to God that the Story did NOT end there! God accepted His Son’s sacrifice, and visibly exhibited His acceptance by raising Jesus from the dead and restoring Him to power at the right hand of the Father. That very acceptance, shown in the Resurrection, is our insurance of resurrection as well. Because humanity had turned away from God, each choosing to go his or her own way, a tremendous price had to be paid to restore us to relationship with God. That price could only be paid by One without sin. 

No human being has ever met that criterion, except the One who was both Man and God—Jesus Christ Himself. Out of a depth of love that we can’t even begin to imagine, God sent His only Son to be that sinless sacrifice. Out of that same unconditional love, the Son willingly came and suffered an excruciating death on our behalf. But three days after being placed in the grave, He burst the bonds of death and hell and arose, victorious, opening the door to heaven once again.

That old rugged Cross will always be precious to me, but it is the empty tomb I will celebrate this Easter. May you too join the many choruses of hallelujahs resounding around the globe this Sunday morning as we celebrate the pivotal point of all history, the empty tomb!

Kathi Macias is a multi-award winning writer who has authored nearly 40 books and ghostwritten several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi has taught creative and business writing in various venues and has been a guest on many radio and television programs. 

Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences. She won the 2008 Member of the Year award from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) and was the 2011 Author of the Year from BooksandAuthors.net. Kathi “Easy Writer” Macias lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband.

The other day on the radio I heard a radio announcer talking about the traditions of Easter. Was he talking about symbols like the cross and the empty tomb? No instead he was talking about Easter bunnies, rabbits and signs of fertility. In other words, things that have been introduced for commercial reasons and are on the periphery of Easter as far as I am concerned.

Yet to many people all that Easter is about is a few days holiday, maybe a weekend away, the Easter bunny and chocolate eggs. I love chocolate as much as anyone, but admit by this time I am sick to death of eggs and rabbits dominating the shops. Even the humble hot cross bun has been lost any significance these days. It comes out months before the actual event, usually about January, and my guess is many people have no idea whatsoever why there is a cross on the buns.

Bunnies and eggs and all those other things are peripheral. They are not what make Easter. You can have all those things and it may be a celebration of some sort but it is not Easter. Easter is about Jesus and his death for us on the cross before being raised to life again having paid the price of sin. Too often though, Jesus is pushed aside.

So what can we do to bring Easter back to what it should be about? Here are a few suggestions. One church I know is having a purely chocolate night. On that night they are having a demonstration of chocolate goodies to make. These will include an empty tomb, a crown of thorns and all things that relate to the real Easter. There will also be a short talk which explains where each of these symbols fits in to the Easter story.  At the same time the gospel will be explained. Each item made on the night will have a small tract that explains the gospel message.

In our area we have an Easter Festival with stalls and crafts, a jumping castle, face painting etc. But along with those things, people from the local churches also have a stall where they hand out gospel portions and tracts and talk to people about Jesus.

Perhaps you might decide to make some hot cross buns for a friend or neighbour and include something that tells them what the cross signifies and that points them back to the bible story.

When you go to church, why not invite friends and family along to special Easter church services where they will hear the good news about Jesus?

Or you might choose to read the Easter story together as a family and pray for those you know who don’t know Jesus.

The Bible tells us that Jesus 'died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them, and was raised again,' 2 Corinthians 5:15. So what can you do this Easter to live for Him and to let His light shine?

I’ve given you a few ideas but I’d love to hear any other ideas of how we can put Jesus back in His rightful place as central to Easter.

 

 

Streets on a Map, was published by Ark House Press. Prior to that Dale has had seven children’s books and Kaleidoscope a collection of poetry published.

Along with her husband, Dale was for a time houseparent for a family of twelve boys. She has also written bible studies and Sunday school lessons. For several years she wrote about Christian living, marriage and home related topics for www.families.com. More information about Dale can be found at www.daleharcombe.com or on her Write and Read with Dale blog

http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/