All about Jesus

I think that there's a common misconception that the bible is all about what we should do to please God. We should read the bible daily and pray and serve and give and et cetera. Not that they are bad things, but the bible is God's story. It really is not about us. Even throughout the old testament God is telling a story about Jesus - foreshadowing the greatest moment of love in history.

Here's a blurb I found from Tim Keller:

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, "Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me," now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, "Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us."

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God's justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people's victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn't just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn't just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He's the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The gospel is written all over the bible - we just have to focus on Jesus more than ourselves when we read it :)

The Urgency of Now

Wow.. its been a while since I last blogged.. been busy studying and traveling for school.. but I'm back!!

I recently joined facebook to see what the big deal was about.. I must say that it's pretty cool.. i found some old friends from elementary school and it was cool to see what they've been up to. Even got to see some old pictures of us when we were kids!



yup.. that's me with the fist.. haha.. pretty wild huh? I think I've tamed down a little since then :P

Anyways.. all this got me thinking of heaven. I think its awesome that the family of God will be reunited in heaven. So no matter how far I travel, or where I end up practicing, I'll be reunited with my family in heaven in the end. But would I get to see ALL my old friends again there? I hope so.. but the reality of it is probably not - which is why I'm reminded of the urgency of spreading the good news of Jesus to others. While I was in elementary school I thought that these people would be with me where ever I went and that I would see them everyday. Now I realize that there's only so much time together that you get with certain people in life.. people come and go in your life and you might never hear from them again. Without facebook I probably would have never talked to them. Hence the urgency to tell them the news of Jesus. Facebook might not always be around... internet fads come and go and you might only have a moment to share it before people disappear from your life - are you willing to step out of your comfort zone to tell them? The urgency of now. We have to be ALWAYS ready to share the gospel.. ALWAYS living out the grace of God (the gospel).. and ALWAYS extending that grace to others. If you wait until later you may just miss your chance.

How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"
~Isaiah 52:6-8

one man's junk is another man's treasure

Stumbled upon this cool picture today - Its remarkable how such an awesome picture can come from all this junk. Reminded me of a discussion that we had in fellowship a few weeks ago.. We once were given a beautiful garden to live in, but because of sin, we now live in a dark, rebellious, and fallen word - but by the grace of God, he gives us an opportunity to help make it beautiful again. We are to be the light, to help make the tragic beautiful - just like how Jesus made us beautiful again by being nailed on the cross.

When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works
~Psalm 104.30-31

"I just have a lot of gum"

Funny story today..
So a few of us went down to South St. today to just hang out and walk around. Lo and behold, there was a booth giving out free gum and free t-shirts!!! So how could I resist getting a free t-shirt! So we lined up, and there were a few baskets filled with chewing gum samples - so I grabbed a few. (And by a few I mean a lot - I think I grabbed like 6 or 7 packs :P). Anyhoo, I got a cool orange shirt saying that the gum lasts longer than 1000 bucks at Vegas. So we finish walking along South St. and we decide to go check out the liberty bell and the independence hall. And they have security at these places. At the liberty bell they let me walk right through, but at independence hall, I had to walk through a metal detector. So I put my keys, phone and wallet in the basket.. but as I walked through the metal detector, it beeped. So the security guard asked, "Sir what do you have in your pockets?" And so I reach into my pockets and say, "Oh, I just have a lot of gum!". We both laughed and he waved me through.

Can't believe the aluminum foil on the gum set the metal detector off. Haha

The 10 Commandments

I went to NY yesterday for a Redeemer service, and I must say that Tim Keller preached one of the best sermons I have ever heard. So good that I just have to share this with you guys.

The sermon was based on the 10 commandments in Deuteronomy 5:6-21, 24-29. Keller outlined the origin, the substance, the problem, and the solution of the 10 commandments.

Origin of the law
God created the 10 commandments not so that he could control us - I mean think about it, He's God. He's all powerful. He doesn't need commandments to control us, he could just snap his fingers and have us bow before him. But he wanted us to have a relationship with him. In Deut 5:29 he says: "Oh, that their heards would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever". He gave us laws so that all might go well with us - the laws are for our own good. He gave a good analogy of if the doctor said that you had high cholesterol and a bad heart, and told you to stop eating fatty foods, but you continued to eat them, then you have no one to blame but yourself for your demise. Similarly, God made the law for our good: if we break them, then it is would not be well with our souls and we hurt ourselves.

Substance of the law
The law is not 10 individual commandments per se, but they are laws that are all connected with each other. In James 2:10 it says: 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. Keller was struggling with this as a young Christian - he was saying how he should get points for keeping 8/10 of the laws, or 9/10 of the laws - it seemed unfair that if you break just one of the laws that you would be guilty of breaking them all. But he realized that James wasn't saying that at all and he was saying how the 10 commandments are all connected - so if you break one, you break them all.

The 10 commandments combine the vertical with the horizontal and teach us to love God and to love others. The first 4 are those that teach us to love God and the last 6 are those that teach us how to love others. The 10 commandments also combine the internal and the external. Laws 1,2 and 10 are the internal, while laws 3-9 are the external. Now if we break one internal law, we pretty much break them all. If we break law #1 [You shall have no other gods before me. (v7)] then we effectivly have an idol and thereby break law #2 [You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (v8)] and law #10 ["You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (v21)] Now our internal state governs our external state - when we become Christian, we die to our old ways both internally and externally. So if we are not completely satisfied with God, if he is not our first priority, not our first love (internally), then we will break the others (externally). We will lie because we are insecure in ourselves (law #9, v20). We will overwork because we want to make money to feel more secure in ourselves (law #4, v12-15). We will committ adultary if we feel more secure in other people and find pleasure in sex (law #7, v18). We will not be satisfied with what we have in Christ and will steal (law #8, v19). So if we break one of them, we effectively break them all. Cool huh? Wait... there's more to wow about...

Problem with the law
Deut 5:24-26 says: And you said, "The LORD our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with him. 25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer. 26 For what mortal man has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?

And there lies the problem - God wants such great things for us so he sets up these laws so that we can achieve these great things. However, it's something that we cannot live up to. We can never fulfil the law perfectly. We are sinful, and we are bound to break the law - even one as beautiful as God's.

Solution of the law
So what’s the solution?? What else - the gospel. Jesus’ sacrifice. If you notice throughout the law, God says that he is OUR God. The law is very personal and relational! In verse 6 it says "I am the Lord YOUR God...", in verse 9, "...for I, the Lord YOUR God...", in verse 11 "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord YOUR God...", in verse 12 "...as the Lord YOUR God has commanded you...", and again in verse 14, 2 times in verse 15, and another 2 times in verse 16. The law was very personal. And on the cross, Jesus demonstrated his love not only to us, but also to God. As Jesus was about to die and enter into the depths of hell he said "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt 27:46). Notice he didn't say God, God, why have you forsaken me, but rather "MY God, MY God, why have you forsaken me?" It’s one of the most personal things to say to someone who is letting you die and allowing you to go to hell. To say that God is still considered dear to Jesus' heart as he was dying, as he was being forsaken. And this really blows my mind - On the cross, as he uttered those words, it demonstrated his great love for God – and at the same time he demonstrated his love for us. At no other time in history has someone both loved God and loved others as Jesus did when he died on the cross. The gospel is the embodiment of the 10 commandments. The gospel shows us how to love God, and others.

WOW.

stumbling

I recently found a great way to surf the net: StumbleUpon. Its a toolbar that you can download. It asks for all your interests and basically surfs the internet for you - finding websites that match your interests. I find that its a great way to waste time - I've stumbled across so many cool sites and so many cool pictures that I would have never found otherwise. Here are a few pictures that I've stumbled upon lately:


Do women really like wearing heels? Looks uncomfortable - especially at that toe joints! (or as us podiatrists say - metatarsophalangeal joints.. hehe) I mean.. you can actually see the pain (depicted in red) oozing out of the joint on x-ray! (Just joking, you really can't see pain on x-rays - would be cool if we did tho)


Haha... I like bacon :)

"last photo I ever took" pics:




Cool Art by Rob Gonsalves

Friends

Reason #253 why I love the raptors:

The best teams are said to have the best chemistry. The better chemistry you have with one another, the better you will play together. This year's raptors have me so excited - and not only because they're winning - but also partly because they genuinly care and love each other. When they clinched the Atlantic division, Chris Bosh took everyone out for a steak dinner. When Garbajosa broke his foot, his teammates supported him and encouraged him. Jose Calderone took him out for a spin in his new wheelchair! Anyways, I was reading an article on them today and this quote from Garbo on his team just made me smile:

"You have to be in this locker room to feel what kind of relationship we have with each other. The first thing after the injury, I just wanted to come here to see my teammates because I love them," he said. "They gave me a lot of support when I was at home (recovering), they came to my house to see how I was, calling me, sending me messages ... I can say they are more than my teammates, they are my friends."

How awesome is that? Reminds me a lot of how Jesus views us. We all have a mission from God, and we all have a purpose on God's "team". And yet, Jesus says that we are not only his followers or his servants, we are his friends. How amazing is it to be called God's friend? His friendship is something that we do not deserve - we deny, hurt and betray him again and again - but by his grace and his love he has blessed us with his friendship.

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ~John 15:15