This Will Get You Saved

Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. [Matthew 27.27-31] 

Any person who claims 'Jesus is Lord' but does not give up their own way, take up their cross, and follow Him, is guilty of no less mockery than is seen in Matthew 27.27-31.

A lot of people throw around "God" as if they have some kind of bond with Him. However, talking about "God" without acknowledging Jesus Christ is ...well ... stupid because Jesus said:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. [John 14.6] 

What does "through me" mean? It means specifically:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

And, what does following Jesus mean? It means He is going somewhere that we too need to go:

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. [John 14.12] 

Jesus came to earth with one ultimate goal: to get back to the Father. It is the grace of God that Jesus walked on earth so that we might be afforded the chance (called by grace) to follow Him to God (chosen by our own undivided faith).

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. [Ephesians 2.8]

The prayer of Jesus found in John 17 says it all. Read it!

Jesus' journey to earth was God's plan to come to earth and return to heaven having established "a following" of believers spanning all time as we know it. It was indeed a rescue mission. It was a redemption mission. It was the love of God:

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. [John 3.16-18]

The sad truth however is found in Jesus' own words:

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7.13-14] 

Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. [John 10.9] 

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” [Matthew 22.14]

The requirement for being called is simply to be human. God's undeserved grace calls all to redemption without exception. The requirement for being chosen is giving-up-your-own-way-taking-up-your-cross-following-Jesus exclusive and undivided faith in Him ALONE. 

Yes, the requirement for being chosen is to follow Jesus ON HIS TERMS:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

Jesus demands that we follow (or trust) nothing else. We must give it up - we must repent of it (turn away from it altogether). In contrast, Satan deceptively says it's okay to trust ourselves and the man-made idols of the world because he alleges they are God's way for us to be like God (wealthy, secure, healthy, and comfortable) - in the same deceptive language that tripped up Adam and Eve in the Garden (the original sin):

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” [Genesis 3.1-5] 

If we can see it, the Roman soldiers were not the first people to mock Jesus... Adam and Eve were. The Roman soldiers were not the last people to mock Jesus... Every person who has ever lived mocks Jesus to this day by not giving up their own way, taking up their cross and following Him exclusively - regardless how much "God-talk" they engage in.

The Roman soldiers would have been right to mock Jesus if He had only been a man...

Father in heaven, may my mockery of Jesus forever cease as I understand He was not just a man, give up my own way, take up my cross, and follow Him as the Messiah of God. May others follow Him by my testimony and example. So be it.

Ezekiel and Jesus

Again a message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, take a piece of wood and carve on it these words: ‘This represents Judah and its allied tribes.’ Then take another piece and carve these words on it: ‘This represents Ephraim and the northern tribes of Israel.’ Now hold them together in your hand as if they were one piece of wood. When your people ask you what your actions mean, say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take Ephraim and the northern tribes and join them to Judah. I will make them one piece of wood in my hand.’

“Then hold out the pieces of wood you have inscribed, so the people can see them. And give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: I will gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home to their own land from the places where they have been scattered. I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two kingdoms. They will never again pollute themselves with their idols and vile images and rebellion, for I will save them from their sinful apostasy. I will cleanse them. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.

“My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever. And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers, and I will put my Temple among them forever. I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And when my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I am the Lord, who makes Israel holy.” [Ezekiel 37.15-28]

Ezekiel prophesied here in regard to Israel's reunion as a nation. While this reunion did occur between Ephraim and Judah after the Babylonian captivity, it can easily be argued that it did not occur in strict accordance with what Ezekiel described above.

Really, the prophecy above makes more sense when considered through Jesus and His work on behalf of the 'true Israel' - those who believe in Him. The allegorical application of Ezekiel's prophecy above very accurately describes what Jesus did on behalf of the Church.

As a matter of fact, Jesus' main theme throughout His prayer in John 17 is unity - the very basis of Ezekiel's prophecy many years before! And, Ezekiel's use of words like "covenant of peace"and "everlasting covenant" as well as his references to the Temple existing "forever", make me believe Ezekiel was speaking more in Messianic prophecy than he was in immediate relief from Babylon's rule. Furthermore, Ezekiel's prior mention of the unified "Israel" "never again" polluting themselves and their being cleansed can only refer to Jesus' work - because only by faith in Him is one truly made clean.

So, the take-away from this today for me is that Jesus has given and done everything described by Ezekiel for Israel and, that I am "Israel" by faith in Christ!

Father, thank You for Ezekiel's willingness to write what You inspired him to write! Thank You for the preservation of this and the many other inspired writings in what we know today as the Bible!