At His death, where did Jesus’ Very Image of God go? He wasn’t extinguished…with no spirit, no soul bearing the Image of God, a dead body only.  If He wasn’t extinguished, what happened at His death?  It’s “deep time” on the Image of God.

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In the past, when the ancients in faith died, they had no spirit of life left, just a dead body.  Their souls (Image-bearing identity) went to the place Jesus refers to as Abraham’s side.  Any ancients without faith died and were buried.  They went to Hades in torment (with their Image-bearing identity).  According to Jesus, Luke 16:22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.  23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side”.

Souls—even with identity–don’t have the bodies they left behind.  In the past, a human body was in the ground, the human’s Image-bearing soul was at Abraham’s side for those of faith, but the spirit was gone.  No life.  The curse of death persisted as the wages of sin.  Dust to dust.  No spirit of life.

In the moment of His death, Jesus, I’d argue, was different for a multitude of reasons.  “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit’” (Luke 23:46).

He gave up His fully human spirit life and died a fully human death.  But He was also fully God.  His Spirit-life was never extinguished by a curse of death.  Unlike us, death had no hold on Him.  Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me” and this fulfilled Scripture from Isaiah, according to Luke 4:16-21.

His human body was dead enough to be in a tomb on Holy Saturday.  But His Spirit-life and Very Image soul went straight to Abraham’s side…the place Jesus called “paradise” to the thief next to Him at Crucifixion.  Here’s the distinction: Jesus showed up at Abraham’s side with His Spirit-life in addition to His Very Image of God soul.  His Spirit-life made all the difference.  The only thing Jesus left behind was His earthly body which would be resurrected.

Focus for Lent: Those ancients of faith who had been imprisoned by the curse of death (no life), were souls without life until Jesus set them free by His earthly death and Spirit-life.  His Spirit-life gave them eternal life and once He was resurrected, He’d be able to give them bodily resurrection in due time.  They will rise first when He returns according to the Apostle Paul (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

Questions for even deeper thought:

Jesus, we’re told, also made proclamation to the disobedient imprisoned spirits, the distress for them so great it’s something people sometimes refer to as the Harrowing of Hell. 

1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.   19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits– 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.”

As long as all humanity was imprisoned (obedient at Abraham’s side/bosom and disobedient in Hades), the disobedient could still taunt.  Prison was, after all, prison.  And death came to all. It was prison for everyone, “ha-ha” was the taunt of the disobedient.

But then here comes Jesus with His Spirit-life, able to give life to all.  He even talked about it in a sense,

John 6:60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you– they are full of the Spirit and life. (Jn. 6:60-63 NIV)

Suddenly the disobedient aren’t laughing anymore.  Abraham’s side gets the spirit-life, freedom, and eternal life.  Ah, but the souls who are disobedient will also have eternity, but they will remain imprisoned in hell.  God will not be mocked, and Jesus silences laughter of the willfully ignorant mockers.

In what way was mortality for Image-bearers made possible by sin, but eternity was made possible by Jesus’ resurrection?

One final point of depth in Scripture (and truly I don’t have all the answers, but I read God’s Word and these things make sense to me).  Matthew tells us of a weird scene from the Crucifixion and beyond.  It’s almost as if he breaks the timeline into happening now, happening spiritually, and will happen someday when Jesus returns.

Matthew 27:50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.  51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.  53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

No other gospel writer mentions this event, but keep in mind that Matthew was written to the Jews for the purpose of displaying Jesus as Messiah.

So, on this Holy Saturday, to recap as we fully appreciate Jesus as the Very Image of God in advance of the empty tomb with His body resurrected, setting the launch for resurrection of all the faithful…

Jesus is God’s Very Image of Perfect Love, Perfect Holiness, Perfect Unity, Perfect Knowledge, Perfect Sacrifice, Perfect Mercy, Perfect Relationship, Perfect Creativity, Perfect Submission, Perfect Rulership, Perfect Service, Perfect Patience, Perfect Endurance, Perfect Completion, Perfect Ethics, Perfect Mindset, Perfect Justice, Perfect Goodness, Perfect Faithfulness, Perfect Peace, Perfect Gentleness, and Perfect Self-control.  These, among others, encircle the Image of God in us and form His fingerprint upon human life, broken now, but born again to perfection at His Return.

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This concludes the Lenten Devotional Series for 2023. Thank you for coming with me on this journey. Wishing you all a blessed Easter with full confidence that He is Risen, He is Risen indeed.

In the words of Eugene Peterson, perseverance is a long obedience in the same direction.  Jesus knew it by living it.  He persevered until the very end.

After fulfilling the very last of Scripture needing fulfillment by drinking vinegar from a sponge (one last act of kindness from some anonymous person to our dying Savior) Jesus said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

Focus for Lent: The 33-year ministry of our Lord Jesus reached its end in earthly form.

Questions for further thought:

How does Jesus’ ministry continue? What role does discipleship play?

They were real people who were at the foot of the Cross on which our Savior died.  They heard His last words.  They saw how He died. Yet, Scripture keeps almost all of them anonymous.   In what way did they perform this following Scripture? “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? (Matthew 25:37).

On the Holy Week calendar, Maundy Thursday was the night of the Last Supper (when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples in an act of humility and service). On Good Friday at the Cross, someone served Him. That person didn’t know He would rise from the dead as Messiah. To that person with the sponge, maybe Jesus was just another being crucified, no one special, yet that person served anyway. In what way did that person display the Image of God? 

Prayer:  Lord, help me to be a compassionate and loving person at all times, not just when there’s something in it for me.  Help me to neither seek fame nor attention.  The temptation is great to want to be known for what we do, to go viral or have many followers.  I ask for Your help in resisting that.  May I be content with Your awareness and knowledge alone.  That the good things I do quietly and in secret will be rewarded by You someday.  It’s an act of faith to persevere when we cannot see the fruit or know the outcome.  It’s an act of trust that whatever small good we bring, when it’s given to You, multiplication of what is good is what You do.  Give me the kind of servant’s heart that knows Your pleasure and is well-content with that.  Thank You Lord for showing the way.  I love you, Lord Jesus.  Amen.

I find oddities interesting.  The same Jesus who had food to eat that no one knew about and could resist hunger when tempted to make stones into bread, spoke one simple Greek word (διψάω) among the last 7 phrases He spoke upon the Cross: “I am thirsty.” (John 19:28) or as the KJV has it, “I thirst”.

It was an odd thing to say except Scripture prefaces it with “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.”“

Here’s the same guy who “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:37-38)

How could He possibly thirst with living water? 
Here’s the key: He was diligent, ensuring that all Scripture about Him had been fulfilled.
Meticulous perfection is what one would expect from full deity–
and it was held in beautiful tension with
the subject of thirst as a powerful affirmation of His humanity.

Focus for Lent: It was necessary that both divinity (Very Image of God) and humanity were fully on the Cross in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Questions for further thought:

Which Scripture was being fulfilled? After all, the Greek word (διψάω) shows up nowhere in the Scripture of Jesus’ day…not even in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. 

Some suggestions are Psalm 69:21”They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.“  Or Psalm 22:15 “My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. “

Other options, perhaps He was quoting from Psalm 42 or 63, uttering but a single word aloud for a man who struggled to breathe under the painful agony of the Cross and longing for intimacy with the Father, now impossible because of the payment for sin. 

Psalm 63:1 A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

What if with vinegar on a sponge, He fulfilled Scripture by one audible utterance? I’m confident that Jesus was comforting Himself with His Word. As fully human, He was no doubt thirsty in the hot afternoon sun. But His focus was Scripture. What about this one?

Psalm 143:1 A psalm of David. LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. 2 Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you. 3 The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in the darkness like those long dead. 4 So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. 5 I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. 6 I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. 7 Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. 8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. 9 Rescue me from my enemies, LORD, for I hide myself in you. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. 11 For your name’s sake, LORD, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. 12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.” 

I am struck by how Psalm 143 encompasses themes of so many Good Friday/ Crucifixion scenes and “last words”.  What do you think?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thirst for You, for the living water welling up to eternal life! We praise You and thank You for Your faithfulness upon the Cross, and for all the ways You were faithful to do the Father’s work until the very end. Indeed, You put Your trust in God the Father throughout Your ministry. Please show us the way we should go as we entrust our lives to You. We pray that You will rescue us from our enemies as we hide ourselves in You. We pray that You will teach us to do Your will and by Your Holy Spirit, to walk on level ground in confidence of Your unfailing love. Father, please bring us out of trouble, silence our enemies, and destroy the wicked who only want to propagate wickedness in Your face and in our midst. We take no vengeance but leave room for Yours. We wait patiently for your Name’s sake. Amen.

Jesus said many confusing things on earth.  This passage in John 6:48-60 is one of them.

Jesus said, John 6:48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

Yeah, it was a hard teaching then, but for those of us on this side of the Cross, having witnessed the Last Supper in Scripture, we can understand that Jesus’ Crucifixion was not a bad turn where evil got the upper hand and we’re suddenly all becoming cannibals. 

Focus for Lent:  Evil did not get the upper hand.  It was the plan.

Questions for further thought:

Is it any surprise, then, that Jesus who said, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about…to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:32-34) that He would comfort Himself with Scripture, even as He was dying?

“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

As God’s Very Image, Jesus yet felt in His full humanity, the forsaken condition of the sinner on account of sin.  He felt it.  He knew as deity that sin was deserving of wrath.  He comforted Himself by calling out to His Father as His earthly ancestor David did (Psalm 22), identifying with him. 

How did doing the will of God nourish Him as the wrath of God against sin was paid in full? I don’t mean to question other pastors and theologians who say God turned His back on His Son and their view of what happened. But I must ask, did God stop loving His Son in that moment in order to pour out wrath?

Did God actually forsake Him (as God’s Very Image), or did it bring glory to the Father that Jesus was crucified, identifying as sin in Image-bearers to pay the penalty of sin, according to His will? 

Would God forsake Him as deity for doing the will of God or was Jesus expressing a cry of humanity in need of God’s intervention?  See Philippians 2:6-11. Was He forsaken only in His humanity or also as deity?

Prayer: Father God, some teachings are hard for us to understand—that Jesus would humble Himself to death on a Cross and what happened to the Very Image that Jesus was/is in that moment of His death.  Surely Your full wrath even for a moment–it is an excruciating thought that Jesus would bear this! Oh, Lord, and that we caused this pain! It’s a hard teaching… hard to understand… hard to fathom that kind of love for us as Your Image-bearers… hard for us to fully comprehend how offensive sin is to You!  Jesus became sin for us. We ask Lord that You would give us understanding in some small way to make sense out of the senseless so that we can appreciate to the fullest extent Your grace, Your compassion, Your mercy, Your love, and Your forgiveness for the very ones who offended You … in every manner, all the time.  We thank You, Lord, that even though our hearts still seem inclined to only evil all the time as mankind before the Flood, yet You do not destroy us without offering the opportunity for redemption of Your Image in us. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank You Lord Jesus for Your sacrifice!  All glory be to You. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.

The Bible isn’t like any other book on your shelf.  It is life itself. Sometimes people use a BIBLE acronym standing for “Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth.”  I can’t help but think that Jesus must have viewed His Word that way.

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life … Image-bearing and Word-honoring and Life-Giving.  He is the Word of God made flesh, and He proved in His last words upon this earth that He meant every word of it when He gave us instruction about His Word.

Deuteronomy 32:45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you– they are your life. 

John 6:63 The words I have spoken to you– they are full of the Spirit and life.

Knowing He was going to die, He honored the Fifth Commandment for His mother Mary and His Father God.  He made sure His mother was cared for in the tradition of the Jews as He was the oldest of Mary’s sons.  Jesus’ other family members thought He was out of His mind, so Jesus reached out to a true brother, one who loved, a faithful disciple.

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” John 19:26-27.

Focus for Lent: Seeing the high value Jesus placed on obeying Scripture, aim to do the same in your life.

Questions for further thought:

If Jesus describes His Word as full of the Spirit and life, why do so many dismiss the Bible as no longer relevant or worth obeying?

Do we view all Ten Commandments as God’s actual Commandments or just helpful suggestions?  Is it easier to obey the “table” Commandments 1-5 or the ones pertaining to our treatment of our fellow Image-bearers (Commandments 6-10)?  View the Commandments in Exodus 20.

Do you ever feel like obeying 1-5 is more important than obeying 6-10?

Prayer: Father God, please help me to remember that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that we might be equipped for every good work as Your servants.  Help me to realize that it is unhelpful and wrong for my picking and choosing among Your Word, treating it like a buffet instead of like Your clear instructions for how to live.  Please forgive me Lord.  I pray that You will renew a strong desire in me to honor Your Word in all things.  They are words of life, words of power, and words of truth!  Thank You for Jesus who is the Word made flesh.  Thank You for His sacrifice.  Help me to appreciate all these things at all times, Lord.  I humble myself with an attitude of gratitude during this Holy Week and always for the great things You have done! Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.

Most of us know the famous quote attributed to Alexander Pope,
“To err is human, to forgive is divine”.

As He hung on the Cross, Jesus—the Very Image of God being crucified for us—displayed not just His humanity but also His full divinity.  Reaching out to the Father in a prayer, Jesus cried out loud, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Focus for Lent:  If God’s perfect revelation of Himself in the person of Jesus Christ is any indication, being forgiving is an aspect of the Image of God. 

Questions for further thought:

Back in Exodus 33, God states that He will proclaim His Name to Moses.

Exodus 33:19 And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion…Exodus 34: 5 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

In the attributes of God, we see His Image.  Forgiving is there, balanced with justice.  Why is forgiveness alone less than God’s Image? What would it say about God’s holiness if blanket forgiveness stood alone? If God gave a pass on sin?

As Image-bearers should we be any less forgiving than the One whose Image we bear?

How does trust in God allow us to forgive with the assurance He will not leave the guilty and those who harm us unpunished?

Prayer: Father, thank You that You are a forgiving God. I ask, Lord, that You would help me to be more forgiving because we’re supposed to forgive others as we have been forgiven. It can be hard, Lord, for us to look outside ourselves and remember that at the end of the day, You will always be faithful, and that vengeance is Yours. As we continue in Holy Week, may we remember what Jesus endured and His heart of forgiveness. Even being in agony and dying, He forgave. Lord, the heart of forgiveness You have for Your Image-bearers is beyond our fathoming, that kind love that would save us though it cost the crucifixion of Your One and Only Son. Oh, Lord, that His life would be the price He would pay for our redemption, we humble ourselves and fall upon Your mercy. Thank You for our Lord Jesus Christ! We glorify His holy Name. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.

This year’s Lent Devotional Series “Created to Display His Image” resumes tomorrow after today’s Sabbath rest to meditate and worship. Today, reflect on the Messiah as we enter Holy Week.

As Image and Spirit-bearers,
we have assurance that nothing/no one can
or ever will be able to snatch us out of the hands
of the One who Created and Redeemed us.

“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:27-28)

No one.  This is the beauty of the finished work of Christ:  Assurance.  Confidence.  Unshakable.  Unchangeable.  Carved in stone.  Permanent.  Enduring.  Eternal.

As Jesus was hanging on His Cross, two criminals were on either side of Him, both hanging, each on his own cross for his own crimes.  One criminal next to Him persisted in abuse.  The other saw what justice looked like with the other criminal and himself, comparing himself to sinless Jesus who was on a cross unjustly, and he decided mercy was better.  He asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus came into His Kingdom.  

Both criminals were about to meet their Maker.  Only one saw justice but pleaded for mercy.  For such a response, Jesus said among His final words upon this earth, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

Jesus said it and that was assurance of the highest order…for one criminal only. 

John 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you– they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.  65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

Focus for Lent:  Somehow in the moment of faith and repentance, one criminal became a faith-filled Spirit-bearer.  What about you?

Questions for further thought:

In what way is the crucifixion scene a portrait of two choices: one to mock, deride, and dismiss versus repenting and believing?

How does justice fail to benefit the sinner the same way that mercy does?  What does justice give a criminal?  What does mercy offer?

Jesus gave words of assurance.  How does the indwelling Holy Spirit give us the same assurance?  Ephesians 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession– to the praise of his glory. (see also 2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5)

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we praise You and thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, the seal of Your ownership of us.  We ask Lord that You would make us more and more responsive to Your Spirit’s conviction and compelling every day.  Bring forth in us the fruit of the Spirit so that we would be a beautiful fragrance of Christ to those who need mercy instead of justice.  Thank You, Lord, for Your word … words of truth, ancient words of life, fulfilled words in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.

When Jesus comes to rapture His Church, we will bear His Image and we will have His Spirit.  The two together are the determinant of those heaven-bound.  That’s how He recognizes who will be raptured. Image and Spirit. There’s no favoritism here at all because the Holy Spirit will be given to anyone who repents and believes.

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Luke 11:9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Focus for Lent: Recognition of being more than Image-bearers as Christians.  We are Spirit-bearers.

Questions for further thought:

Have you ever been cut to the heart over what Jesus’ crucifixion means for you?  Acts 2:37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”   38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

To be Image-bearers and Spirit-bearers are both acts of God.  There is nothing we can do to give ourselves God’s Image or His Holy Spirit.  We simply need a heart to receive. Acts 2:39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off– for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words [Peter] warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”

Take a moment to consider modern culture. How do you save yourself from this corrupt generation? Protest? Pile law upon law? Lockdown? Surrender to it? Redefine corrupt as normal?

Jesus’ Return is imminent even though we do not know the day or hour.  
There are only three things you can do: Repent, Believe, and Ask to be saved.

Prayer: Father God, we look around this world and are appalled at the corruption, at the violence, at the decadence, deviance, and destruction that we are wreaking upon this world and ourselves. Murder of school children occurs and yet Your people are silent. It is appalling. Give us a sense of shame and righteous anger that we are letting a corrupt system set criminals free to commit new crimes, excuse evil and aberrant behavior to be propagated to another impressionable generation by our silence, and that we do not protect what is godly, righteous, and know to be true. Lord, I implore You to wake up our Christian leaders to vocal leadership or publicly shake them out. If they will not stand for the truth, let them not stand in leadership. Cast them down and let another rise in their place. We know that no one can save us apart from Christ Jesus. We ask, Lord, that You would bring quick, authentic repentance in the hearts of those yet to come into the Kingdom so that You would return soon, Lord. We’re watching and waiting and speaking up where we can. We desire to be found faithful when You return. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.

God sees value in His Image-bearers.  But sometimes people decide instead to attribute motives to God that do not exist.  Looking through their lens of sinful humanity, they think God must be a narcissist, that it’s all about getting people to worship Him.  Or that He selfishly wants all the glory to and for Himself. 

Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Yes, He deserves worship and gets the glory, but His motives are perfectly holy.  God looks at sinful humanity and sees worth and value inherent in His Image reflected back at Him.

When we are growing to be like Jesus, authentically bearing His Image, we will see value in others and want to see their value set free to be the fullest it can be. 

This is the kind of value Jesus saw in others.  It’s what He saw in Zacchaeus. 

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Luke 19:1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was,
but Jesus also wanted Zacchaeus to see … who Zacchaeus was. 

Luke 19:5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”   6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

Not everyone sees the value in others. 

Luke 19:7 All the people saw this and began to mutter,
“He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

Seeing Zacchaeus’ repentance and restitution, Luke 19:9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Focus for Lent: Make a point of seeing the Image of God in others and knowing the priceless value God bestowed upon them.

Questions for further thought:

Read James 3:9-1. How does seeing the value in others speak to this passage? James 3:9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and saltwater flow from the same spring? 

How well do you see value in others the way Jesus did? How does seeing the valuable Image of God in people drive home the response we should have to tragedies like mass shootings?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, help me to love the things You love, honor the things You honor, respect the things You respect, and value the things that You value.  Teach me to be more like You every day.  May the power of Your Holy Spirit continue to refine me and finish the good work that You began in me.  I praise You and thank You that You saw value in me before I ever knew it myself. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2023 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
• Last year’s devotionals, Revelation in 40 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.