Jesus Christ – Simply True

A story of joy

We all like getting a pleasant surprise—like a friend’s visit, or an unexpected kindness. And joy is like that. It’s always a gift—something over and above what we’ve deserved or worked for. And, it’s always better than we thought it would be.

God has made us for joy, and we function properly when it’s flowing well—even if gently, and underneath the surface. And, as we have seen, he’s provided us with ample material to put a genuine smile on our faces.

Paul gives us a window into this when he writes to his beloved church in Philippi. He’s shared his life with the believers there, and they with him. And he wants the joy they’ve shared to continue.

Their story starts with a jailer being converted. The full account needs to be enjoyed as Luke tells it.[i] We just note here, that what happens to Paul and Silas in Philippi is cruel and unjust. They sit in their prison with their backs bloodied and their feet in stocks. But then, they start singing!

Then, God reveals his presence with an earthquake. The prison is no longer secure. The jailer is ready to suicide, but Paul says all the prisoners are still present and correct. And he shares the good news of Christ with him.

The jailer and his whole family believe and are saved. He takes his new prisoner-friends into his home—possibly next door—tends their wounds and feeds them. And the meal they share celebrates the fact that they have all believed in God.[ii] No need for balloons and jokes at this party!

Now, possibly a decade later, a rich relationship has formed between Paul and the church that has grown from this beginning. Paul writes to them—and again, he’s in another jail. But joy is still high on his agenda. He raises it about a dozen times in his brief letter.

So, what’s giving joy to Paul now? And how can we grow in joy ourselves? Here’s three of the main things he raises.

First, joy grows among those whose affections are widened by the gospel of grace.[iii]

Look at what gives Paul joy. It’s praying for his friends—friends who are actually partners in the gospel. He’s thinking of the good work God has done in them and will complete. They are ‘partakers with me of grace.’ People who know the same Lord and receive the same grace have a special bond.

Paul adds that he longs for them with the affection of Christ. He hasn’t just received grace. He’s let that grace shape his heart. The joy he feels is coming from the grace and love that Christ has for both him and for those he loves.

Christian joy belongs with love. The Holy Spirit produces them together—not as separate qualities. They are the first two of the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit.[iv]

So, the joy he’s talking about is not just the excitement of a reunion and memories of sharing a project. It’s a movement of his heart. Fun can bounce around easily. Joy belongs with loving.

I remember the person who taught me to play tennis. He was also the Bible teacher for the young people in our church. We knew he loved us, and one day, he said to us after a conversation around the tennis court, ‘God bless your little hearts. And may he expand them!’

Well, that need continues! As Paul prays, may our love ‘abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment.’[v]

This growing must begin with knowing that Christ has loved us—loved us ‘to the end’[vi]. And it continues with us ‘abiding in’ his love. He wants us to make ourselves comfortable there, and to practice the new habits appropriate to this affection.[vii]

Here is where loves grows. And where love grows, so does our capacity for joy!

Paul’s friends are not only receiving the same grace that he is, they are helping him in his proclamation.[viii] And, in fact, they’ve just sent him a gift.[ix] And this brings him great joy too.

Then again, Paul refuses to get upset by some people with the same gospel who are jealous of him and try to annoy him—so long as the gospel still goes out to others.[x]

Nor does he mind getting beaten up at Philippi, if by this, people come to know the Saviour.[xi] He doesn’t mind if bringing the gospel to him costs him his life. It would be his joy. And he wants his friends to feel the same about this.[xii]

Love is reigning! And the gospel is the way to spread the joy.

Second, unity of heart and mind among believers makes our joy complete.[xiii]

Paul asks the Philippian Church to complete his joy by being like-minded. He doesn’t just mean we should conform to a ‘group think’. He wants everyone to think in the same way as Christ.[xiv] When this happens, it creates great joy for us too.

There’s nothing like a good squabble to destroy joy! Particularly when it’s among people who are agreed on the gospel! Paul says it doesn’t need to be this way. There’s something we can do about it.

We can look at how Jesus thinks. We can have his ‘one mind’ together, and so, be in ‘full accord’. He even names two women who have shared with him in gospel ministry, and asks them to ‘agree in the Lord’.[xv]

Paul is not talking about a dispute that can be resolved by an appeal to Scripture. He talking about differences that happen because of egos.

Jesus—who comes among us as fully God—empties himself of all priviledge to live among us, like us—apart from sin, to die on a cross. His whole life is focused on his Father’s will to do good for us. There’s not a selfish thought in him anywhere. This is our Saviour who is now established in power beside the Father.

Here is the love, and the unity of purpose, that explains the universe. Here is the message that heals the world. What joy when this outpouring of love—of Father and Son, for each other, and for us—begins to flow into our church community! And out into the world!

In the same way that Paul asks the Philippians to complete his joy by being of one mind, we need to bring joy to one-another by having this mind amongst ourselves. Is there any comfort in Christ? Are we comforted by his love? Is there any affection and sympathy in our gospel? Then it needs to show.

Paul tells us about Timothy who ‘genuinely cares for your welfare’, and about Epaphroditus who has been ‘longing for you all’. He asks the church to ‘receive him in the Lord with all joy…for he nearly died for the work of Christ’.[xvi]

We’ll probably spend the whole of our life discovering the layers of self-interest that we all have. But real God-likeness will happen, really happen, when we focus on what manner of Lord we have in Jesus.

When that work is complete, it will be heaven. Or, in heaven, it will be like that. We need some practice at being that way now!

And this is important for the world too. People around us need to see us being together—as one. It will be a witness to them. They will see our joy in being one in purpose and in heart.[xvii]

Third, decide to be happy in the Lord.[xviii]

Paul tells us to ‘Rejoice in the Lord’. He raises it twice in his letter, and on the second occasion, repeats it for emphasis![xix] He’s explained where joy is to be found, but we need to do it!

A British London pastor, George Muller, was called by God to open homes for children who’d been orphaned in the early 20^th century. As the work developed, he led a team that cared for some 2000 children. Doubtless, he brought joy to many people.

But the thing that was most important to him, every day, was to have his ‘soul happy in God’. He wrote a small article called ‘Soul nourishment first’ where he describes his discovery of this need.[xx]

When Paul first tells us to rejoice in the Lord, he follows it up by exhorting us to watch out for any who throw us back on our own resources.[xxi] He’s been there! And he knows how sterile this is and how bitter it makes us. Now, he knows the surpassing worth of knowing Christ and makes this his goal. It’s in knowing him that joy flows.

The second time Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord, he follows it up with an exhortation to be gentle with others, and prayerful about our own needs.[xxii]

We don’t need to be frustrated with people, and then, insist on everything working in the way we think it should. And we don’t need to be anxious about the threats and uncertainties of living in this precarious world. Paul is reflecting our Lord’s teaching: ‘Don’t be anxious about your life’.[xxiii] But now, this Lord Jesus is ‘at hand’ and ready to act!

Paul may be asking us to think about the second coming of our Lord. That will be the time when everything will be sorted out. Not now! But Paul could also be asking us to think about how close the Lord is to us now. Jesus has told us he will be with us always. Either of these options are true. Either way, we can rely on the Lord being near.

It’s very easy for people or circumstances that take centre-stage in our attention and affections. But the Lord is waiting to be gracious to us.[xxiv] The heart of our Advocate in heaven ‘grows warm and tender’. He cannot give us up.[xxv]

In other words, if we live in the knowledge that the Lord is rejoicing over us[xxvi], it becomes easier for us to rejoice in the Lord.

It would be easy for us if all our joys were visible and predictable, but we are called to live by faith, not sight. And everything around us is where it is because God has spoken—because of something unseen.[xxvii]

And now, it’s the same with joy. We can’t see our Lord. We can’t hear his voice. But when we believe his word, a tangible joy begins to grow where before there was nothing. And so, joy is a sign that God’s new creation is coming, and even now, we are tasting its beginnings.

[i] Acts 16:16-40

[ii] Acts 16:34

[iii] Phil. 1:3-8

[iv] Gal. 5:22

[v] Phil. 1:9

[vi] John 13:1; Gal 2:20

[vii] John 15:9

[viii] Phil. 1:7

[ix] Phil. 4:10

[x] Phil. 1:16-18

[xi] Phil. 1:18-26

[xii] Phil. 2:14-18

[xiii] Phil. 2:1-11

[xiv] Phil. 1:27; 2:2, 5

[xv] Phil. 4:2

[xvi] Phil. 2:19-30

[xvii] John 17:22-23

[xviii] Phil. 3:1; 4:4-9

[xix] Phil. 3:1; 4:4

[xx] The article can be read here. < https://www.georgemuller.org/devotional/soul-nourishment-first >

[xxi] Phil. 3:2-11

[xxii] Phil. 4:4-9

[xxiii] Matt. 6:25

[xxiv] Isa. 30:18

[xxv] Hos. 11:8-9

[xxvi] Zeph. 3:17

[xxvii] Heb. 11:3

Jesus is Lord

The confession that Jesus Christ is Lord is perhaps the central truth that unites all Christians. And it’s the confession that lifts us from lostness to reconciliation with God.[i]

Clearly, we need to know what this means, and enjoy the truth of it and let others know that this is the path to life.

In his Pentecost sermon, Peter tells us that God has made Jesus Lord. He now sits beside God and is wholly in charge of God’s affairs. His enemies will become like a mere stool for resting his feet.[ii]

When Peter says this, all the opposition to Jesus being Leader and Saviour, and his being Israel’s Christ, have amounted to nothing. Jesus is alive. He’s leading, and saving and fulfilling God’s promises. And he’s Lord as well.

We all need to acknowledge the reality of this. The danger of not doing so is great. Our world is crooked. If we don’t let this Lord straighten us out, we will be shamed when God exposes what our life really is.[iii]

In fact, many of those who are the first to hear this announcement, repent of their unbelief and ungodliness.

Christ hasn’t been made Lord simply because he deserves it. He’s been made Lord so he can rescue us. If we confess that Jesus is Lord, and believe God has raised him from the dead, we will be saved.[iv]

And so, ‘Lord’ becomes one of the favourite ways in which the early church addresses this Jesus Christ who reigns. And they are glad to acknowledge themselves as his servants or bonded slaves.[v]

‘Other lords’ have been in control of us.[vi] But not anymore.[vii]

Clearly, the work of this Lord Jesus is wide and deep, but here are four words that may help us know and grow in walking with the Lord.

Authority

Our Lord Jesus has been given authority over us as his people, over God’s kingdom, and over everything.

In this world, it’s seems hard for us to accept that anyone has absolute power because authorities on earth tend to be so self-interested.[viii] But the authority of Jesus is gracious. And its purpose is to set us free from all that has stopped us knowing God and fulfilling our calling.

The great lie of Satan, that God is mean and that we should look after ourselves is here demonstrated to be false. God is good—not tardy.

We can now recognise the authority of our Lord for what it is. Love. Powerful love. Jesus has blazed a trail through every obstacle to our trusting and obeying God. And we know it! Like Paul, and like Peter, we’ve discovered that the Lord is kind.[ix]

So, our life now is for pleasing the Lord. It’s for doing his will. It’s for revealing what happens when we trust him.

Deity

The disciples of Jesus have been calling him ‘Lord’ for three years while he is with them. And their appreciation of how great he is, grows.

But during this time, he does and says things appropriate only to God—like forgive sins[x], expect honour equal to that given to the Father[xi], calls God his Father and says that the Father and he are one.[xii] He uses passages of Old Testament that apply to God and uses them of himself.[xiii] He insists on this publicly. And he’s crucified because of it.

If a human being claims to be God, they are either insane, or evil, or real. And it’s impossible to attribute the first two of these to the Jesus of the Gospels. We need to reckon with what he says.

But now, the resurrection awakens the disciples to more of what ‘Lord’ really means. He has sent his Holy Spirit to them—as he had promised. They are brought to life in a way they had never experienced before. These are things that God does.

Paul tells us about being awakened to know these things.[xiv] He is encountered by Jesus. He calls him ‘Lord’—but he doesn’t know who this ‘Lord’ is. Then he hears that it’s the Jesus he’s persecuting. And the strong-minded Paul asks for directions!

Paul wants us to know that the same Lord who confronted him now confronts us. We become blinded by the god of this world. He doesn’t want us to see ‘the glory of Christ, who is the image of God’.[xv]

But the preaching of the gospel is nothing less than the coming of Christ to us who hear. And when we receive his word, the Creator God, who first made light to shine, shines in our hearts with the knowledge of his glory. And the ‘face’ we see in this way is the face of Jesus Christ.

It’s true! The Jesus who has lived among us—humbly, kindly, sympathetically, strongly—is the face of God. All of God is present in his body.[xvi] And God has blessed us in this way with his presence because he is reconciling the world to himself!

So now, we know what our God is like—exactly. We know what he does and what he wants for us.

Recognising God in any shape or form is not something sinners like doing. So, when we confess that Jesus is Lord, it’s because the Holy Spirit has given us a new life.[xvii]

This is not a confession to make lightly. As Paul later says, ‘Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness’: he was manifested in the flesh…’.[xviii]

Belonging

The apostles quite often talk about Jesus as ‘our Lord’ or ‘my Lord’.[xix] They don’t mean that they own him. Rather, they are owned by him[xx]. He pays a high price to have us as his own.

Because of this bond, the whole Christian community is held together.[xxi] And we are kept from trying to be little lords of others by knowing that each believer belongs to the Lord and not to us.[xxii] Our place is to walk humbly before the world’s one Lord.

There are similarities between saying ‘Jesus is our Lord’ and saying ‘the Lord is my Shepherd’. The shepherding of Israel’s covenant Lord is now being done by Jesus.[xxiii]

How can we navigate all that happens in this life apart from the truth that our Lord knows us, leads us and talks to us? How can we expect to live well without being led by him in paths of righteousness? How can we be secure in dark valleys unless we know he is with us?

Rather, because we now know ‘the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’, we are persuaded that nothing will be able to separate us from this.[xxiv]

Battling

Not long after the apostles announce that Jesus is Lord, hostility erupts in Jerusalem. But they regard it a privilege to suffer for him.[xxv] Paul says he doesn’t reckon his safety of great importance, so long as he can finish the job given to him by the Lord Jesus.[xxvi]

Peter tells us to honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being ready to share with others the reason for the hope we have—even if we suffer for it.[xxvii]

The promise in David’ psalm concerning Jesus sitting at God’s right hand, continues by saying, ‘Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power’.[xxviii]

When we see Jesus reigning, and know him as God, and are embraced by his loving, we will gladly join the many who want to share in the battle, and to have a share in his victory.

There is a day coming when every person born on this earth will acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. Believers will do so with worship and gladness. But none will be able to deny that it is true.[xxix]

[i] Rom. 10:9

[ii] Acts 2:32-35

[iii] Acts 2:40

[iv] Rom. 10:9-11

[v] Acts 4:29

[vi] Isa. 26:13

[vii] Col. 2:13-15

[viii] Luke 22:24-30

[ix] 1 Pet. 2:3

[x] Mark 2:5-7

[xi] John 5:23

[xii] John 5:18; 10:30-33. This clarified in v. 38.

[xiii] For example John 8:58, effectively quoting Isa. 43:10.

[xiv] Acts 22:6-11

[xv] 2 Cor. 4:4-6

[xvi] Col. 1:19-20

[xvii] 1 Cor. 12:3

[xviii] 1 Tim. 3:16; also Col. 2:2-3

[xix] In fact, just less than one in five references to Jesus as Lord are preceded by ‘our’. For example, see Acts 15:26; 20:21; Rom. 1:4; 4:24; 5:1; 6:23; 7:25; 8:39; 15:6, 30; 16:20, 24.

[xx] 1 Cor. 6:19-20

[xxi] 1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 4:3-6

[xxii] Rom. 14:4-9

[xxiii] John 10:10-15 with Psalm 23

[xxiv] Rom. 8:39

[xxv] Acts 5:41

[xxvi] Acts 20:24

[xxvii] 1 Pet. 3:15

[xxviii] Psa. 110:3

[xxix] Phil. 2:10-11

Why Jesus Christ?

God starts making promises after we become sinners. He gives us an opportunity to start trusting him again—to discover that he is worthy of our love. So, it’s not surprising that every promise he makes (in the Old Testament) is based on what Jesus will do, or (in the New Testament), has done among us.

The Bible has many promises that God will be with us or help us (Psalm 37 and 91:14-16 are some well-known examples). We may be comforted by them. But then, if we imagine that these promises will be fulfilled because we are nice people or because we feel good when we read them, we are deceived. We need what Christ does to receive what is promised.

Jesus says ‘Yes’ on our behalf to everything God promises (2 Corinthians 1:20). We are slow to believe and reticent to trust. Not Jesus! He wants God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

For example, he has power to lay his life down and take it up again because his Father has commanded it—or we could say, promised it (John 10:18). That’s amazing certainty to have in a world that’s full of danger.

It’s Christ’s ‘Yes!’ that enables us to say ‘Amen!’ We learn from him that God means what he says, wants do us good and can bring about what he has promised.

Notice how confident Paul is when he says this. Because God’s promises are being fulfilled in Christ, he can be definite in making promises to other people. The reliability we need to make a good future comes from what Christ does.

This is why, when Jesus is born, that there is so much joy (Luke 2:8-14). A promise made to King David—that he would have a great Son—has come. All the things God will do to save our broken world and damaged lives are now going to happen (Luke 1:67-79).

What God promises David is central to all the promises God makes. A descendant of his will reign forever (2 Samuel 7:12-19).

Finally, someone will come who can deal with this world, and with us—given our capacity for deceit and distrust. He will be greater than David—his ‘lord’ in fact (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:44-46). He will sit beside God until all opposition is overcome.

He will be a priest as well as a king. That’s because we need more than a leader to solve problems. We need someone to bring us to God.

As Israel’s history becomes worse and worse, God’s promises about his King get better and better. This son will be God’s Son. And the idea that any power could frustrate his purpose is laughable (Psalm 2).

Later generations are told that he will be called ‘Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:6). Through him, the whole earth will be given peace, and will know God (Isaiah 11:1-9).

When Jesus comes, promises made about David’s Son are quoted to show that he is the one promised. Everyone needs to decide if Jesus is this Christ or Messiah—like Peter (Matthew 16:15-16), or Jewish leaders (Matthew 26:63-64) or the people at Pentecost.

This is what Peter talks about after Jesus ascends and sends his Holy Spirit. God’s people have killed their anointed Leader and King. But God has raised him up. They need his forgiveness—urgently (Acts 2:36-38).

This is why it’s so important to hear God’s promises brought to us in Jesus’ name. He’s taken account of our preference to trust ourselves, our ungratefulness and resentment. And, he comes to us, raised from the dead, with the offer of new life.

This promise is not only being made to Peter’s audience. It’s being made to us—as many as God calls (Acts 2:39; Romans 15:8). Our sins too can be forgiven. We too can be reconciled to the God we have offended. And we can hear all the promises Christ came to fulfil and be persuaded that God really means to do us good.

We can read Psalm 37:4: ‘Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart’. We can hear the same thing from Jesus: ‘If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you’ (John 15:7).

Preaching about Jesus as God’s promised Saviour starts with forgiveness through Christ’s death, and with the renewal of hope through his resurrection (Acts 13:23, 32, 38; 26:6). By raising Jesus from the dead, the promise made to us is not, ‘You will die’, but ‘You will live!’

Our life is now full of hope. We can be what we really are because of ‘the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus’ (2 Timothy 1:1). Instead of being subject to the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15), we are liberated by the expectation of life and resurrection.

No wonder the promises of God needs this coming King. No-one can guarantee anything unless they are in charge. And here, Jesus has taken charge of everything—our self-sufficiency and troubles and fears on the one hand, but also, all the wonderful purpose of God for us on the other. He has led us into the meekness of trusting in him.

This changes our expectations, our habits, our relationships, our conversations—everything!