Saturday 25 February 2023

"There is no difference : all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3.23

Miss the goal ? Only ?

We sometimes hear or read that the biblical definition of the word "sin" is "missing the mark." Indeed, the etymology of the Greek word “hamartia”, very often translated as “sin”, is very literally “to miss the target”. But, as sometimes happens, the etymology can give an incomplete or even distorted view of the real, biblical meaning of a word.

Take an archery shooter : he bends his instrument, shoots the arrow... but misses his mark. Never mind ! He takes He takes another arrow, tries to aim better... and hopes to hit it this time. And if he misses again, he still retains the hope that, with time and practice, he will end up hitting the bullseye !

But for sin, it is radically different. The case is totally hopeless : even if we try, at least one day, not to commit a sin, we will not succeed ! To think that, by one's own efforts, one will succeed in improving oneself and reaching the goal set by God is an illusion. Let's reread the beginning of the epistle to the Romans, where Paul, by relentless reasoning, demonstrates all the arguments to conclude that the glory of God is unattainable.

And not only have all of our shots always missed the target, but our shooting ability is itself fundamentally insufficient. Paul demonstrates that we have committed sins, but a little further on, he also demonstrates that we have within us a source of evil, called "the" sin (and no longer "the" sins), which a priori ruins all our efforts. It comes from a long time ago, from the fatal day when Adam, as head of the human race, disobeyed the only prohibition that God had given him.

Adam, and us after him, not only missed the mark ; we deliberately turned our backs on the target ! Sin is above all this revolt against our Creator, this refusal to recognize his lordship, this obstinate desire for autonomy vis-à-vis him.

But if we can increasingly despair of what we ourselves are by nature, we can also rejoice ever more in the great salvation that God has offered us by grace, which delivers us from sin and now allows us to reach glory of God !

Source (Pleasing the Lord)

Sunday 12 February 2023

"I will not talk much more with you, for the prince of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me. However, thus the world will know that I love the Father and that I act according to the order that the Father has given me." John 14. 30, 31

The love of the Son for the Father

This verse is the only one in the Gospels which speaks to us explicitly of the love of the Son for the Father. But, without Jesus saying so, his whole life was a demonstration of it. Jesus said : "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work" (John 4:34). The purpose of his life was to do the will of God because he loved his Father : "I act according to the order that the Father has given me". Love shows itself in deeds, not in declarations : "Let us not love with words and with the tongue, but in deeds and in truth" (1 John 3.18).

It is at the cross that her love for her Father shines most intensely, through her obedience and her desire to glorify him. Jesus accepts his Father's will in the terrible battle of Gethsemane. And at Golgotha, nailed to a cross, he gives her the supreme proof of his love and of his perfect obedience. This obedience cost him a lot: he was "obedient unto death, even death on the cross" (Philippians 2.8).

The cross reveals to the world that the Son loves the Father and acts in order. In order to bring this dazzling demonstration to the world, he submits himself to death, freely and voluntarily, out of love for his Father. It was the Father's will for him, it was the Father's will to save us and deliver us.

Jesus goes to the cross of his own free will. He goes there to fulfill God's plan and for his Father to be glorified : "Now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say ? Father, deliver me from this hour ? But that is why I have come 'at this hour. Father, reveal the glory of your name !' (John 12. 27, 28). Jesus had to die, he who was without sin and who had committed no sin, out of obedience and love for his Father.

Isn't obedience to God the best proof of our love for him ? In such a way one is sure to follow the Lord. Let's take his love as an example.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

David, a good shepherd

David said to Saul : Your servant was tending his father's sheep. And when a lion or a bear came and took one out of the herd, I would run after it, hit it, and pull the sheep out of its mouth. If he stood against me, I grabbed him by the throat, struck him, and killed him. Thus thy servant slew the lion and the bear, and so will the Philistine, this uncircumcised, as one of them, for he has insulted the host of the living God. 1 Samuel 17:34-36

David guards and cares for his father's flock. He loves sheep ; he loves them so much that when one of them gets caught by a lion or a bear, he doesn't say : "I'm not going to put my life in danger for a single sheep." No, even if the sheep is already in the lion's mouth, it grabs the beast, kills it and frees it. He also delivers him whom a bear carries away.

When Goliath, the Philistine giant, challenges the armies of Israel, no one has the courage to come forward to attack him. Yet Saul, the titular king, is endowed with an impressive stature : he is a head taller than all the men of Israel (1 Samuel 9:2). He could stand against the giant, but he is afraid and would like one of his soldiers, attracted by the rewards he offers, to take up the challenge. He is reminiscent of this man paid to herd, but who runs away as soon as he sees the wolf coming (John 10:12,13).

David is still a very young man who has neither the appearance nor the training of a warrior. He is already secretly anointed king over Israel, but he does not reign yet. However, he is full of affection for the people of God and very grieved at the outrages that Goliath pronounces against the Eternal.

As soon as he arrives on the battlefield, he takes the cause of his people in hand, puts his trust in God, advances towards the giant, kills him, and delivers the Israelites.

David is an image of the Lord who defeated the devil (Hebrews 2:14,15). He is a model for every Christian who must consider his brothers and sisters as the beloved sheep of the good shepherd. The Lord asks us to love them as he loves them, to sympathize with them in their difficulties, and even to lay down our lives for them (1 John 3:16).

Source (Pleasing the Lord)

Wednesday November 9, 2022

Enter in the Kingdom of God

They returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the minds of the disciples, exhorting them to persevere in the faith, and saying that it is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God. Acts 14:21,22

After the persecutions suffered by Paul and Barnabas and their eventful departure, the disciples of Lystra, Iconium and Antioch must not have had it easy from their fellow citizens. This is why the two messengers of the Gospel take it to heart to return to these cities which had so wickedly chased them away. They want to encourage their brothers and sisters to persevere in the faith.

They do not promise them prosperity in their enterprises, nor wealth, nor the consideration of others. On the contrary, they declare to them that it is by many afflictions that we must enter the kingdom of God.

Make no mistake about this warning from Paul which also applies to us. Yes, one enters the kingdom of God by the new birth (John 3:5) ; but once you have passed through the door, you must move forward, penetrate more deeply into the domain of God. For the Christian on earth, the kingdom of God is to live in the world according to the teachings of God, and not according to the habits or the objectives of the world. It is this difference that earns him opposition from those around him.

Paul is a good example of the best way to enter the kingdom of God: he goes into the world to announce the Gospel, to gather believers around Christ and to free Christians of Jewish origin from Judaism. Result : he was persecuted all his life, but entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (him) will be fully granted (2 Peter 1:11).

The worst way is to be content with being saved : we have our ticket to heaven, we are content to stay near the door and we live as hidden as possible to meet the minimum of difficulties.

Of course we are not all called to travel the roads of the world to announce the Gospel. But each of us, where he has been placed, can do the work of an evangelist : he finds his happiness in obeying his King, despite, perhaps, the incomprehension of his neighbors and even sometimes of his relatives.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)

Monday, November 7, 2022

David accused unfairly

He (Shimei) came out of there. He advanced while pronouncing curses, and he threw stones at King David... Here is what Shimeï said while cursing him : Go away, go away, bloodthirsty man, rascal ! The Eternal will bring down on you all the blood of the family of Saul. You reigned in his place and the Eternal delivered the kingdom into the hands of your son Absalom. So you are unhappy as you deserve, for you are a bloodthirsty man !... (David said) :...Perhaps the Eternal will see my distress and will do me good in the place of today's curses. 2 Samuel 16:5-8,11,12

David flees in disaster before Absalom, his own son, who has plotted against him to seize power. Everything seems to be against him. Many abandon it. The situation is terrible for David. Yet we do not hear a complaint against the Eternal come from his lips.

While he is worn out with fatigue, Shimei, a man of the house of Saul, violently curses him and throws stones at him. He accuses him of having caused the fall of Saul and his family to take his place. But David never struck a blow against any member of the house of Saul. On the contrary, he wept when Jonathan and Saul died in battle (2 Samuel 1:11,12). More so, he welcomed Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson, into his own palace as one of his sons (2 Samuel 9:7). All his conduct, contrary to the customs of his time, was benevolent, good and just towards Saul and his descendants.

Faced with this injustice, David could have reacted. But no, he accepts the situation. He knows the sentence of the Lord against him (2 Samuel 12:10) and understands that his trial is part of it. He relies on the grace and mercy of God which he has often experienced.

It can happen in our life that circumstances seem to be all against us, and sometimes it is our fault. Like David, never complain about God. He is immutable in his love and in his justice ; to say or think the contrary, would that not be blasphemy ? Let us continue to trust him, even if we are wrongly accused. Let the Lord justify us, if necessary.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)