day no. 16,982: and all the king's men

Acts 13:22-23

And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.

King David was a man after God’s own heart, but Jesus Christ was God with the heart of a man.

Revelation 5:9-10

Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

The King of kings became a man in order to make men into kings.

day no. 16,920: making a mess

Genesis 1:31

And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The creation of the world was not the downgrade of the cosmos. Creating matter didn’t ruin the perfect immaterial ether anymore than Jesus was ruined by becoming fully man. Making something doesn't always make a mess of something else.

John 1:1, 14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…  and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The stuff did not ruin the spiritual. The material did not tarnish the meta. Grace and truth are not worse for having been embodied. They are not pure as concepts, but compromised as actions. They are pristine in the packaging and devalued by being played with. Love is not worse for being displayed. Holiness is no less high for bending down low.

2 Corinthians 5:21

For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus became a man in a crib. This was not a sin.

He became sin on a cross. This saved us from ours.

day no. 16,914: handiwork

“Jesus gave both his hands to the nails, how can I keep back one of mine from his blessed work?” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening 

How prepared are we to put our hands to the good work God has prepared beforehand for us to do?

Colossians 3:23-24

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Christ has called us to conquest. We must conquer the world in His Name and cultivate it according to His Word through His Gospel.

Colossians 1:17

And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

The nails that held Christ's hands to the Cross were being held together by Him. If He did not hold the nail together, the nail could not have held Him to the wood. He endured those difficulties for us, we can endure some difficulties for Him.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Whatever you do, do it for the Lord. Anything done for His glory by His grace is not in vain. You cannot overdo it. You can never give Him more than He deserves.

day no. 16,893: Christ captured captivity

Ephesians 4:8

When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men.

Christ captured captivity on His cross. He bound it to His gibbet and left it there to rot.

Colossians 2:15

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

On the Cross, Christ plundered the principalities and powers. He conquered His enemies and captured the spoils of victory. He generously distributed them among His people. He triumphed over triumph, He defeated defeat.

day no. 16,821: headship and safe harbor

Leviticus 16:17

And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.

Before Aaron could intercede on behalf of Israel, he had to intercede on behalf of his family, and before he could intercede on behalf of his family, he needed someone or something to intercede on behalf of himself. 

Aaron first had to atone for his own sin before he was qualified to atone for anyone else's. He then had to atone for the sins of his own family before he could make atonement for the sins of someone else's.

Federal headship is representative government and it is the way God has made the world. Aaron is by nature and grace responsible for his owns sins before God and for the sins of his family. Because he sat in the office of high priest, he also then became responsible for the sins of every family in Israel. He carried the weight of their sins on his shoulders and close to his heart as he approached their God and King on their behalf. He alone was given the right and responsibility to do so. If anyone else went in, they would die. If Aaron did not go in, they would die.

Hebrews 7:27, 9:7, 10:11-12

Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself... But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people... And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.

Because of federal headship and representative government being established and recognized by God Almighty above, we are set free and saved from our sins down here below. Because He stood in our place for our sins, we can stand in His presence with confidence in Christ. We have atonement with our Father in heaven because our sins have been dealt with once for all by God's Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

day no. 16,640: He was hung over our doorways

1 Corinthians 5:7

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast.

Jesus Christ stands in the gap. His blood covers our threshold. He hung over our doorways so that we might enter into the holy of holies. In Him we are safe and sound. He is our feast. He is the bread of heaven, the poured out wine, and the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world for the sins of it.

Therefore, do not neglect the feast, but keep it. No sacrifice remains except that of thanksgiving and praise.

Hebrews 13:15

By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.

day no. 16,539: God knows is not always good news

“God knows” is good news for the repentant, but bad news for the unrepentant.

Proverbs 15:3

The eyes of the Lord are in every place.

God knows. 

He sees everything. That is not good news. That means He sees every...single...sin. Nothing escapes His notice.

For the Christian, that means He has accounted for every sin. There are none left. He didn't miss any. He saw them all and saved you from each and every one of them in Christ.

For the unbeliever, that means you must account for each and every offense against Him. Every ought to left undone and every ought not engaged in must be personally accounted for.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

God knows.

He doesn't miss a beat. Every work will be judged by His standards of good and bad, right and wrong, righteous and evil. There are no secrets or surprise witnesses. When He holds court, He holds all of the evidence.

Psalm 66:7

He rules by His might forever;

His eyes keep watch on the nations;

Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.

God knows.

There are no people He does not know. No one has escaped His notice. No one can settle or move outside His jurisdiction. He will collect back taxes from everyone everywhere.

Job 34:21

For His eyes are upon the ways of a man,

And He sees all his steps.

God knows.

This is very bad news for those attempting to skirt Him. It is bad news because you can't. You cannot escape Him. He is inevitable. But it is also bad news because He has sent word on how to approach Him. He has provided safe convoy in Christ into His courts. When the wicked meet Him, they will curse themselves for ignoring His warning.

For the Christian, this is Gospel salve. He sees every hurt accrued for His sake. But He also knows every grain of sin inside you. He sees sins you missed and forgives them for Christ's sake. The fact that He knows is the comfort of the Christian. He knows it all and loves us entirely all, because of Christ.

So, sleep well saints... God knows.

And lose sleep sinners... God knows.

day no. 16,474: where misery pools, mercy reigns

The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. - Isaiah 53:6

“It is the most grievous sentence of the three, but it overflows with comfort. Strange is it that where misery was concentrated mercy reigned; where sorrow reached her climax weary souls find rest. The Saviour bruised is the healing of bruised hearts. See how the lowliest penitence gives place to assured confidence through simply gazing at Christ on the cross!” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening 

Where misery pools, mercy reigns

2 Corinthians 5:21

For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Where sin was concentrated, Righteousness was executed.

day no. 16,419: as long as we call even a mite our own, we cannot call salvation ours

Let our debts be what they may,

However great, or small;

As soon as we have naught to pay,

Our Lord forgives us all.

'Tis perfect poverty alone,

That sets the soul at large;

While we can call one mite our own,

We have no full discharge.

— Joseph Hart, Mercy Is Welcome News Indeed

The only thing you must have in order to be saved is the one thing most people refuse to have: nothing. Nothing is more difficult to muster than nothing. Especially when so much is at stake.

It is only natural to want to bring something to the table. To receive favor without merit is humiliating. So much so, in fact, that only humility can do it. But even then, it is easy to be proud of one's humility. Humility is not the something you use to catch grace, it is the word for having nothing to catch with. Grace is given at the expense of the Giver and the benefit of the receiver. Only empty hands can catch it. The mitts of merit will never catch divine favor, but the bare-handed can avoid catching hell.

Achievements will not get you hired in Heaven.

Only those with blank resumes need apply.

day no. 16,334: the Son of Man and the sins of man

"(Jesus) assumed the flesh of unfallen man: it is not for nothing that Paul tells us that he came, not in sinful flesh, but in 'the likeness of sinful flesh' (Rom. 8:3). But this does not mean that the flesh he assumed was not under a curse: it means that the curse under which his flesh rested was not the curse of Adam’s first sin but the curse of the sins of his people: 'him who knew no sin, he made sin in our behalf'; he who was not, even as man, under a curse, 'became a curse for us.' He was accursed, not because he became man, but because he bore the sins of his people; he suffered and died not because of the flesh he took but because of the sins he took. He was, no doubt, born of a woman, born under the law (Gal. 4:4), in one concrete act; he issued from the Virgin’s womb already our sin-bearer. But he was not sin-bearer because made of a woman; he was made of a woman that he might become sin-bearer." -- B.B. Warfield, The Emotional Life of Our Lord

There is nothing inherently sinful about material. If there were, Christ would have committed a sin in becoming flesh. God made stuff. He didn't have to, but He wanted to. In the beginning, through the Word and by His Spirit, He made everything ex nihilo. Everything is made out of nothing plus the Word of God. If God's Word were to be removed, what you'd be left with is nothing. Nothing has existence on its own other than God. He is the only immortal. He alone is the I Am. Nothing exists on its own save Him.

Jesus was not under a curse because He was a man, He was under a curse because as the Son of Man, He took on Himself the sins of man. Jesus was not guilty of sin because He was human, but because He took onto Himself the sins of humanity. Christ was born under the law, but placed Himself under its curse. He kept the Law and fulfilled it for our righteousness and took on its curse and satisfied it for our justification. Jesus was not subject to death by virtue of being a man, but by virtue of being a substitute for mankind.

day no. 16,047: because He rose up and because He sat down

Luke 24:5-6

And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”

Because He is risen, we can sit down and rest knowing that He lived, died, and rose again on our behalf.

Hebrews 10:12

But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God

Because He sits at the right hand of the Father, we can stand up and get to work knowing that He intercedes on our behalf.

day no. 15,920: ...and justice for all

“If God be just, I, a sinner, alone and without a substitute, must be punished; but Jesus stands in my stead and is punished for me; and now, if God be just, I, a sinner, standing in Christ, can never be punished.” -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Everyone will get justice. There is no injustice with God. No one will get short-changed. No one will receive less than what they deserve. And if we get what we deserve, we get more than we can handle; but because Jesus handled everything we deserve, we get more than we can imagine. Those who want their wages will be paid in full. Those who want God's mercy will have their debts paid in full.

“My hope lives not because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, he is my righteousness. My faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what he has done, and in what he is now doing for me.” -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

If it were not for Christ, God being just would be bad news for the unjust. And since by His standards, all have fallen short, everyone would have reason to mourn the fact of God's immutable justice. But because of Christ, God's justice is satisfied, His unchanging commitment to justice is our confidence. I can live in boldness knowing that Jesus has paid my fine and will reward me according to His wages, not mine. My confidence is Christ's accomplishments and His Father's commitment to honoring His promises to keep His Word that never, ever changes.

Romans 3:21-26
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—  the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,  whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

day no. 15,789: anything you can do, God can do better

Jeremiah 2:12-13
Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Sin is substitution.

Man sets aside his God and crafts for himself another one. That is why when you break the first commandment, you always break the second and no one breaks the second without first having broken the first. Man substitutes himself for God in creating a world to his liking, but because man cannot shake off the compulsion to worship, he also creates a substitute to worship.

Salvation is substitution.

God sent His Son in the form of a man as a substitute. Jesus took our place in living the life we owed God and in dying the death that our sins had earned. Jesus rose from the grave in our place so that we might also rise to newness of life. This is called penal substitutionary atonement. A penalty (for sin) was placed on someone else (substitution) in order to pay what was owed (atonement). 

Man plunged the world into sin and error through substitution.

God restored the world to righteousness through substitution.

day no. 15,691: the Curse Himself

"All created mankind shall come to the fire of testing, and many shall be offended and perish; but they that endure in their faith shall be saved by the Curse Himself." -- The Didache, J.B. Lightfoot translation

Christ became the Curse. He became the forsaken. He became sin in order to save us from our sins. He became a curse for us in order to save us from the curse we deserved.

Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”

Our only hope in light of the curse upon us is the Curse Himself upon the cross -- in our place and for our sins. The tenth and final plague of Passover was God Himself. He sent His presence and it devastated the land, ending the life of every firstborn son of every household except for those covered by the blood of the sacrificial lamb. Christ became the final Lamb. He provided the perfect blood to cover our households in order to save us from the plague and curse of God. Furthermore, in Christ, God's presence is no longer a curse, but a blessing. In Christ, we are as the Beloved -- blessed because He became as we were... cursed.

day no. 15,684: buying the field for the sake of the treasure

While reading the John MacArthur Handbook of Effective Biblical Leadership, I came across a message by Phil Johnson titled The Extent of the Atonement where he referred to an illustration Curt Daniel gave regarding Matthew 13:44 which says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

"Buying the field ensures that the man buys the treasure. The treasure was the object and the aim of his purchase. The treasure was the reason for His great joy. The treasure was the reason He made this deal in the first place. But He did not purchase the treasure only; He purchased the whole field... That is a very clear statement that there is a universal ramification of the atonement. Christ's death, in some sense, purchased Him an exalted position of lordship over all. There is a true sense in which Jesus purchased the whole world in order to get the treasure, the church."

Jesus bought the entire field, but He pays particular attention to the treasure buried in it. The whole field is benefited by being owned by Him, but the treasure benefits especially.

1 Timothy 4:10
To this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe

The treasure is dug up and unearthed out of its darkness; it is lifted and exalted up from the ground. It is resurrected to see the light of day. It is brought into the Master's home and elevated to a position of honor. It is treasured because it has particular value. The entire field benefits in general because of the particular love the Master has for the treasure.

"We believe that by His atoning sacrifice, Christ bought some good things for all men and all good things for some men." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

In other words, we can fully expect the world to be improved and benefited by the grace of God for the sake of His elect. For the sake of the especially, everyone experiences salvation. The salvation of the one, however, is qualitatively different from that of the other. The field is saved from being under the deed of the previous possessor, but the treasure is possessed by the new owner in a way that the field isn't. The treasure is saved in a way that is unique. It too is no longer under the deed of the darkness, but it is delivered from it in ways manifestly different than the dirt that was dug up along with it. The Treasure Hunter rescues the prize from the ground and carefully brushes the dust off of the object of His pursuit, but He does not attend to the dust as it falls. 

"The design of God in the atoning work of Christ pertained primarily and directly to the redemption of the elect, but indirectly and secondarily it included all the blessings of common grace." -- R.B. Kuiper

God provides for many when providing for the elect. Many ate bread in the desert and drank water from the rock and were led by fire by night and a cloud by day and were saved from Pharaoh and from slavery in Egypt who would not enter into the promised land. For the sake of the elect, many are blessed. For the sake of the saved, the whole world is baptized and the flood of His goodness covers the entire landscape. No one can escape some of His grace. Just as He promised not to flood the world again in wrath, He did promise to flood the world with grace. And everywhere we look, we can see the sea is rising and His tide is coming in.

Habakkuk 2:14

The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

day no. 15,629: from Cana of Galilee to the Cross of Golgotha

John 2:11
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him

John 19:28-30
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

The beginning of Jesus' miracles was turning water into wine whereas the last of His miracles was that of changing blood into wine. The beginning of Jesus' glory was saving a wedding whereas the fulfillment of His glory was saving a funeral.

What began at Cana in Galilee ended at the cross in Golgotha.

day no. 15,626: Jesus was rent, His tunic was not

"When Jesus died, the sacrifices were all finished, because all were fulfilled in him, and therefore the place of their presentation was marked with an evident token of decay. That rent also revealed all the hidden things of the old dispensation: the mercy-seat could now be seen, and the glory of God gleamed forth above it. By the death of our Lord Jesus we have a clear revelation of God, for he was "not as Moses, who put a veil over his face." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Moses had to veil his face to keep the echo of the glory of God from frightening His people. Jesus' veil was removed and kept in one piece, while the veil on the temple was ripped in two, revealing the mercy seat for all to see. The full glory of God in the finished work of Christ on the cross was revealed so that His people might rejoice in the fully disclosed, unveiled majesty of the mercy seat, the propitiation, on display for all who would receive and believe in Him.

The priest's robes were rent.

Matthew 26:65
Then the high priest tore his robes

The temple's curtain was rent.

Matthew 27:51
The curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

But Jesus' tunic was kept in one piece.

John 19:23-24
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.”

Jesus was rent, His tunic was not.

Jesus was ripped apart for our transgressions, but His righteousness remained in perfect oneness. In Him, our sins are ripped from us and by Him we are clothed and covered without gap. In Christ our sins are torn apart and their power obliterated and in Him our righteousness is provided in perfect, powerful covering. Just as the mercy seat was covered completely, so we are covered. Jesus is our mercy seat and He is our curtain. He clothes and contains all the majesty and might of the Lord God and hides us in Him by opening the way to all that He is through the torn veil of His body to His shed blood.

day no. 15,599: mastering the art of dying and mastering death

"Socrates mastered dying; Christ overcame death." -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison

A man may rise to the ranks of manliness and face his death by playing the man, but even that is the most a man can aspire to achieve. He may live a life worth living and a give a life worth remembering, but being good at dying is the best a man can do.

Jesus did not merely live and die in order to join the ranks of those who lived and died well. He did not live and die even in order to be the best at living and dying, although He certainly was.  He lived and died in order to deal a deathblow to death itself. He did not merely face His fate like a man, He changed the fate of men. He didn't merely do the best a man can do concerning death, He did what no man could ever do... He killed death. He reversed the curse and left death in His grave.

Hebrews 2:14-15
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

We don't merely need to be better at living and dying, although we could all benefit from being better with respect to both, we need salvation from lives that fall short and death that never does. Jesus did not come simply to say, "You're doing it wrong." He came to live in a way that no one ever had and die in a way that no one ever did.

day no. 15,578: the day after it is finished

Genesis 2:1-2
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

When God says "It is finished," He takes a day off.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth in six days. After finishing His good work, He rested on the seventh day and consecrated it as holy.

On Good Friday, Jesus finished His good work and rested on the Sabbath day that followed.

John 19:30
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished": and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Jesus rested all day Saturday in Sabbath repose. His work done, He prepared to begin afresh at sunrise. 

Just as God rested on the seventh day after the world was created by His Word, He rested on the seventh day after the Word was crucified by His world. The Sabbath consecrated His completed work and laid the foundation for the new creation. When the Son rose the next morning, He got to work.

day no. 15,558: while looking for the fine print, don't forget the headline

Psalm 115:3

Our God is in the heavens:

He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.

Luke 12:54-56

And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?

(The following was originally written a few days before Easter 2020 when the corona-monium seemed to be accelerating with each new press release.)

It stands to reason that many are asking, "What's going on?" To that, I say,

What is going on is what is always going on... God is sovereign and commanding all creation to acknowledge His Son as the one, true, Savior King by turning from wickedness in repentance and turning toward righteousness in faith. It isn't wrong to try and read the times, but there are wrong ways to read the times as Jesus points out in Luke 13. The problem isn't trying to read, but not knowing how to read. The lessons we can clearly observe in these days are that God is in the heavens and does as He pleases and that He has provided His Son as an acceptable sacrifice for our sins so that whether we live or die, we may live forever in the joy of our Master.

So while trying to read the fine print, don't forget the headline.

Luke 13:1-5

There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.