Since I last wrote during Passover, there were campus protests on the grounds of many major universities.  Commencement traditions have been canceled, scaled back, and held with heightened security.  There are now students who have been encouraged to flee for their safety or offered virtual learning. Some are demanding refunds of their tuition or alumni are withdrawing donor support. University administrators have openly mocked panels dealing with antisemitism and are attempting to quash lawsuits over failure to respond.

Meanwhile the war in Gaza rages on.  Protestors in the US clash with fellow protestors at “pride parades” with the very un-self-aware among them listed as “Queers for Palestine.”  According to Reason,

“There are aspects of the Israel-Palestine debate, and the territorial disputes, that are more complex than many would probably like to admit. This aspect? Not so much, because “Queers for Palestine” is about as convincing as “minks for fur coats.””

One must wonder why so little of the actual conflict and reasons behind it are considered newsworthy, ranking behind “summer” and “Tesla” and barely peeking its head on A6 of a major national paper.

But antisemitism in this world is still newsworthy because it has been fed to maturation by our media/social media.  The antisemites know how to get their message out to saturation on social media and dupe the ignorant among us.

No Christian should be an antisemite.  We can be against a war, but how many people would tolerate neighbors throwing Molotov cocktails over the fence into their yards or paragliding in and shooting up your graduation party?  We’re 10 months out and still nothing justifies what Hamas did on October 7.  Nothing. 

What shall we do? Simply let time make us forget?
No. God would have us call on His Name to Remember.
Jews and Gentiles are heirs together,
but God’s enemies are legion.

“But God is my King from long ago; He brings salvation on the earth.  
Remember how the enemy has mocked You, LORD,
how foolish people have reviled Your Name.”
Psalm 74:12,18

For those simply against a war, do they feel the same about the war in Ukraine or in any of the areas of the world currently experiencing conflict?  I dare say many of the young people protesting have no idea about other areas of the world.

Nothing will fix what Hamas did except for a radical, total, spiritual transformation and a miracle that comes with understanding Jews and non-Jews are heirs together…in Christ.

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14)

Questions to ponder:

Why does spiritual darkness have a louder cultural voice than Christianity?

Does the culture object to antisemitism the way it does to pro-Jewish voices?

What is the biggest obstacle that Hamas has regarding learning about and becoming Christian?

Father God, please help our world to see the evils of hatred of another people group on account of their heritage. I ask Father that You would open the eyes of even those who are terrorists that they might see the evil they are perpetrating upon the world; they would repent; and turn to You Lord God while there is still time. You asked us to pray for our enemies and yet we know that when we pray for our enemies, we’re also bringing them up to Your throne for You to deal with them. In prayer, we’re placing them on the battleground that is spiritual. So, Lord, we ask for Your mighty intervention to put an end to war no matter where it’s going on so that lives would be saved in the moment in hopes of the lives being saved for eternity. May we preach the gospel of peace and as You cause it to be heard above the cacophony that is conflict and chaos. We thank You for our Lord Jesus; we thank You that He destroyed the dividing barrier that wall of hostility; and praise You that He is our peace. We offer You glory in His mighty Name. Amen.

We’re in the midst of Passover, a time when the Jewish people remember that God set them apart.  I don’t know why people fail to understand that this wasn’t just until Jesus came, as preeminently important as that was. 

I am astonished, and not in a good way, at what’s happening with antisemitism on college campuses.  It’s shocking.  It’s almost like a resurgence of Hitler youth training camps. The students are all passion, no truth, and in some cases total blindness since some have gone on record stating they don’t even know why they’re protesting.

My passion for the nation of Israel stems from Scripture…which is the very definition of truth. So, I can admit what God has stated: there is a sinful group within the larger nation of Israel…

Amos 9:7 “’Are not you Israelites the same to me as the Cushites?’ declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir? 8 ‘Surely the eyes of the Sovereign LORD are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth.’”

Sinners are sinners,
one and the same in the eyes of God. 
They’re all going down… apart from the blood of Christ
and their ultimate Passover in Him.

The sinful nation will be destroyed, but there will be a remnant:  Amos 9:8 “Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob,” declares the LORD.  9 ‘For I will give the command, and I will shake the people of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground.   10 All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’”

Here’s what people fail to understand:  God will restore Jacob.  He will do it for the sake of the covenant and all people who would believe upon Jesus Christ from every nation.  We are heirs together.

Amos 9:11 “In that day ‘I will restore David’s fallen shelter– I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins– and will rebuild it as it used to be, 12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,’ declares the LORD, who will do these things.”

Just as the predicted exile ended… Amos 9:13 “’The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills, 14 and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.’”

The reestablishment of Israel is certain because God said so:

Amos 9:15 I will plant Israel in their own land,
never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,”
says the LORD your God.”

Questions to ponder:

Why do people not want to believe Amos 9:15? 
In what way are phrases like “never again” and “I [God] have given them” absolutes?
Given Amos 9:15, when people protest and want to abolish Israel, who are they really against?
Who are they siding with in spiritual terms?
How is a political solution insufficient for a spiritual problem?

Father, please help us to see the eternal picture, the biblical picture in every human event. It is so easy to get caught up in the contemporary problems of our day and focus there, all the while failing to see that this is Your plan, both shaking nations and saving people, marching ever forward…until the Day of Jesus’ Return, for which we give You praise! We praise You for Your patience with us and Your love toward us! We praise You for the witness we have and our being a part of Your glorious plan by sharing Your Gospel for our salvation. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your sacrifice and the mercy of God in Your blood shed for us. We love You, Lord. Amen.

The Apostle Paul knew a mystery.  Actually, he knew plenty of them.  In 2 Corinthians 12:2-10, he lets us know that he did and displayed how these revelations cut him to the core.  He knew inexpressible things no one is permitted to tell. 

“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know– God knows.  And I know that this man– whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows–was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.”

He was so shaken and humbled by it that he says, “I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth.”

Then he tells us the consequences of having seen amazing, hidden things—these many mysteries.  The consequence was an equally mysterious “thorn” in his flesh.  No one really knows these days what the thorn was, but its purpose was crystal clear: it was to keep him humble about what he had seen because it was so powerful.

“But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”

Paul continues his description about something so painful, saying that he pleaded with God to take it away.

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

But one thing we can say is that Paul understood the Gospel in a deep and thoughtful way on account of it.  There was one mystery he was permitted to tell: that Jews and Gentiles are heirs together in Christ.

We will begin a short study on that mystery, but for now, questions for further thought:

How would knowing something really cool that you aren’t allowed to tell result in a constant temptation?

Can a person in their own strength (with a sin nature still present on this side of heaven) resist the temptation to prove themselves, provide evidence when challenged, or flaunt that to display their own power and importance?

When Paul says that “Christ’s power may rest on me” does this display the source of his ability to withstand constant, unrelenting temptations?

Why do you think Paul was allowed to tell the world, recorded in Scripture (Ephesians 3:6-11), that one mystery is that Jews and Gentiles are heirs together by faith in Christ?

Father God, thank You for the shed blood of Jesus our Lord, for the sins of Jew and Gentile alike. Thank You that Your Kingdom is not a democracy in which any human being, race, sex, or creed can determine the fate of others in eternal terms by simple majority. Only You can determine that…and we praise You that only You can define the narrow road of salvation in Christ. As the days of man on the earth become fewer in number since surely the return of Jesus is every day sooner, we ask, Lord, that Your harvesters sent into the harvest field will clearly articulate this mystery You have made known in the Gospel. Give us words, grant us opportunities, place within our hearts a desire to see salvation come to many irrespective of demographics because Your Word tells us that Your Kingdom will be from every tribe and language and people and nation. Here am I. Send me, Lord. Send me. For Your glory, Amen.

Ephesians 3:2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”

Born again with new eyes, we can now see the incomparable and infinite Love of God Almighty while we were still sinners. And He loved us to His death because we were still sinners!

Divine Love from our Eternal God, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, His Love has been for us since before us.

He is Risen and conquered Death by rising alive from the grave!  The tomb is empty! 

Death is empty-handed. The devil ain’t got nuthin’ on us.  He ain’t got nuthin’ … at all. No amount of pretend holidays and stolen rainbows changes that. Christians still look for Jesus, witness to an empty tomb, and know He has Risen! Hallelujah!

“Do not be afraid… you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
He is not here;
He has risen, just as He said.”
(Matthew 28:5-6)

Are you looking for Jesus? In a world of evil that seems to be taunting God to display His wrath, are you remaining steadfast, looking for your Savior? Jesus paid it all!  By faith in Him, though we may die the first death as He did, it’s only a physical death that takes us from this world. He is Risen!  And by faith in Him, so shall we.

The second death still lurks out there because sin is still out there flaunting itself, proclaiming itself, and ushering in the wrath of God.  The second death is an eternal death, an everlasting death in the lake of fire. That is the death the devil delights in the most because that death that lasts forever and separates us from our Creator. A great many people are taunting God on His holiest of days and will deserve every minute of eternal damnation. Infidels know no shame!

But God is greater, and His Love saved us from that second death, the everlasting death, and dying endlessly, over and over eternally.  The second death forever with the infidels is what God saved us from by Jesus’ Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection! 

Praise the Lord!  He is Risen!  He is Risen, indeed!
Happy Easter, everyone!

Have you ever gotten to an interstate toll booth and the person ahead of you paid yours in addition to their own?  You arrive at the booth, but no payment is due.  Someone else had already done that.

In a much more profound way, Jesus paid our debt that we could never repay and that’s how He came to save the world. 

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Because of Him and His payment for our sin, our names yet can be recorded—by faith—in the Book of Life. That Book of Life testifies to believers’ redemption by the blood of Christ which washed clean all their evil deeds recorded in the Book of deeds.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Judgment is still in the future though no one knows when it will be. So, please, if you have not done so…right now is the perfect moment to accept the sacrifice of Christ for mankind. It’s not too late as long as Judgment Day is still in the future and you’re alive now to make that decision to follow Christ.

On the church calendar, today is Holy Saturday, the one day in which death momentarily claimed the One who never sinned and therefore, had no debt to pay.  The first death, the physical death, claimed Him. But Death’s victory was short-lived and premature.

You see, Jesus is in the grave for now, but Sunday is coming.  Mortality existed even for the only One who never deserved it!!  No sin. No wages of sin. No death as a penalty. Had it not been for the love of the Father, the Image of God, and the fact of Jesus’ Incarnation, God could have us pay the wages ourselves, be lost forever, and be done with it. But the whole reason He came was to seek and save the lost who bear the Image of His Father. It was love that made Him do it.

Jesus showed us how to live and taught us that we will fall short, time and again, because mankind can do no other as sinners. We can’t help but fall short and commit the very sins that made His death necessary to save all of mankind. It was His divine Love that accomplished this victory over sin and death.

“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,
so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:21)

Do you want to have His righteousness and your name in the Book of Life?
You can pray this prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You for dying on the Cross for me. I ask for Your forgiveness because I sin … even when I’m trying not to sin. It’s like I can’t help it. But I want to change and I’m sorry for my sins against Your Image in me and other people. I need Your grace and mercy! Please cleanse me with Your blood so my name can be found in the Book of Life. I need You, Lord Jesus. I love You. Amen.

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This concludes the Lenten Devotional Series “Seeing His Love with New Eyes”. Thank you for joining me. It’s the joy of my heart to write these and create the photos that accompany them. Wishing you all a blessed Easter!

“Seeing His Love with New Eyes”. began on Ash Wednesday, February 14 and can be found in the archives.

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Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series:

• 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.
• Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 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.
• Last year’s devotionals “Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.

On the church calendar, today is Good Friday and our eyes turn to the Cross.  The Crucifixion is the clearest display of God’s love toward us.  God couldn’t just let hell win and claim the souls of men without offering mankind a way out … but He had to do it while still maintaining both His justice and His holiness.

God does not love us because of the blood of Christ.  He has loved us from eternity past. Rather, the blood of Christ is God’s love to us and every reason for us to love Him in return.  He sacrificed everything to save our souls and give us a home with Him in heaven.

Jesus said, “It is finished.”
With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
(John 19:30) 

It’s a new covenant in His blood. So why is the blood so rarely pictured?

Exercise:  On social media, they often blur out items of sensitive viewing, death, blood, violence, etc.  The movie “Passion of the Christ” attempted to depict, to some degree, the gruesome violence of the Crucifixion.  Ponder why you think most artistic renditions of the Crucifixion involve only a little blood when that was the imperative payment for sin.

Jesus is one day closer to His Crucifixion and takes time for an act of service and the giving of a new command to love each other as He has loved us.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13:34)

This is also what the Crucifixion means:  as God’s Image-bearers we most visibly bear the Image of God when we love and serve each other.

Exercise: Read “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:18) Ponder ways in which this old command is raised by Jesus to a new level.

In the Passion Week timeline, Jesus is within hours of dying on a Cross for the sins of humanity.  Why did He go through with it? 

The only answer is that there was no other way. 

.

In His humanity, Jesus prayed to His Father about whether there were other possibilities.  “Going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from Him.” (Mark 14:35) His humanity prayed to the Father—about whom Scripture says all things are possible (Matthew 19:26)—that the Father might take the cup from Him. 

All things are possible with God, right?  It’s in Scripture, right???

Understand this profundity:  In this singular case, was there any other way? 
There was not. 

Possible in theory but not possible for God in Christ to deny Himself or turn His back on His Image.  Once Incarnated, God had no choice.  The only way was to finish the task of infinite sacrifice.

He is an infinite God and sins against Him are infinitely destructive.  His Image in us is what makes all sins ultimately against Him.  The only way to correct that would be with an unlimited, eternal and infinite sacrifice to pay for the infinite sin against an infinite being.

Exercise:  Joseph understood this. Do we? When confronted by the relentless advances of Potiphar’s wife, he finally said, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9)

On a surface level, the wicked thing would have been against himself and her, but it’s more than just that.  Because they both bear the Image of God, any sin against each other is actually sin against God Himself.

What about the way we speak?  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.”

In our treatment of others, let’s understand this as well. Any sin against each other is in the end, a sin against God.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2024 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.
• Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 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.
• Last year’s devotionals “Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.

The events of “Passion Week” always strike me as amazing.  The fickleness of crowds, the political realities, the pressures of the public, the elites with their grip upon the lives of people who still hold them to be leaders, and then here’s Jesus.  Countercultural.  Resolute.  Knowing the Truth.  Marching into Jerusalem knowing the Cross is ahead of Him. 

.

How fast the events transpire! 
On Sunday, they were welcoming Him as King. 
By Friday, they want Him dead.

Yet, He presses on.  The way of true life is the way of self-sacrificing love. 

Exercise: The journey any of us will make to the way of life is through the Cross.  Jesus calls to us, Deny yourself and follow Me in God’s love. 

Luke 9:23 Then Jesus said to them all: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.  24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it. (Luke 9:23-24)

Pray about what self-sacrificing love looks like in your life.

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2024 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.
• Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 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.
• Last year’s devotionals “Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.