Fifty Shades of Grace Chapter 16

Chapter 16--Solving One of the Bible’s Greatest Mysteries

Do you ever hear adults talking about how bad the world is getting? Some people believe that things are going to keep getting worse and then the world will come to an apocalyptic end with disasters of biblical proportion. Those are big words that mean the whole world will come to a crashing end. But is it true? Put on your detective hats because we are going to see what the Bible clues are. 

In the Old Testament, the prophets foretold that there would be a Day of the LORD. This day was going to be disastrous for unbelievers because they would get the punishment that was coming to them. But it would be a good day for believers because it meant that Jesus would be the ruling king and Eden would be restored on earth. But the Old Testament prophets did not foresee that Jesus would come twice—once to do the work of salvation and become the king and then again when he comes at the end of time. To them those times were all smooshed together. They thought the beginning of his reign and the final end would all happen at once. 

When Jesus was on earth, he was talking to his disciples one day and he told them about how Jerusalem was going to be destroyed and how the temple would crumble and be burned and the whole city would suffer under God’s wrath because they rejected Jesus. God was going to put an end to the Old Covenant and make it impossible for them to carry out their sacrifices and temple worship. The disciples thought that when this happened, it would be the end of time: As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” But Jesus told them that although Jerusalem would be destroyed relatively soon, the end would not come for a very long time. 

In Matthew 24, Jesus told his disciples that he was going to come back twice—once to judge Jerusalem and destroy it once and for all, and then again at the end of time. If you read the first 35 verses of that chapter very carefully, you will see that Jesus is talking about what will happen just before the destruction of Jerusalem. There would be earthquakes and famines and wars and plagues like the world had never seen before. Even the stars in the sky would appear to be falling out of control. These are the things that were going to happen when Jesus was formally introduced to the world as the King of all creation. The entire creation would recognize the ruling King who was ruling for the very first time as a man. He called that period of time ‘the great tribulation.’ 

There was a historian by the name of Josephus who recorded all these things as they happened around A.D. 70. There were comets in the sky and meteor showers that made it look like the stars were falling out of the sky. Famine took over the entire Roman empire which had never happened before. People were dying by the thousands from plagues and sickness. Even the ocean went crazy and there were major tsunamis and earthquakes. The Romans went after the Jews and destroyed Jerusalem just the way Jesus said they would. Toward the end of the Jewish War, people from all over the city came and reported that they had seen the armies of heaven in the clouds above Jerusalem and even heard the voice of God! So Jesus did come back on a cloud but not all the way to the earth! He came in judgment of the Jews who crucified him.

But back to Matthew 24—you will notice a shift in verse 36. Jesus says, “BUT concerning THAT day and hour no one knows.” We know he is talking about the end of time now because the word for the second coming is a different word in the Greek. What Jesus tells them then is a shocker:  “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”  

Looks to me like people were having a pretty good time. There is no reference to wars or famine or plagues or cosmic shifts or even global warming. People are partying for crying out loud!  Peter tells us the same thing. He says it will take a very long time for the end to come—not because God is slow to fulfill his promise, but to make sure all the elect have time to repent. And then he says Jesus will return like a thief in the night! In other words, people will NOT be saying, “the end is near.” They will feel so secure that they will be asleep. 

So here is the point: the great tribulation has already occurred. That doesn’t mean that things will never get bad again, but we don’t have to live in fear of cosmic disasters. We don’t have to look for any signs of the second coming, BECAUSE THERE ARE NOT GOING TO BE ANY SIGNS! A thief in the night does not give you clues that he is about to rob you! Jesus is going to come back when everybody least expects it. So children, be ready every day. The outrageous, scandalous grace that you have been reading about is coming in its fulness. 

In the meantime, continue to have your tea parties

and your spaghetti dinners

and all your good times. Enjoy the life God has given you and DO NOT BE AFRAID of the future. 

Fifty Shades of Grace Chapter 15

The Secret Mysteries in Jesus’ Parables

Do you love a good mystery story? Most of us do. When Jesus was on earth he told lots of them. Many of the stories he told were called parables. When I was little, one of my teachers told me that a parable was “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning”—whatever that means. The point about parables is that they have a deeper meaning—a meaning that not everyone can understand. In other words, deep within what appeared to be simple stories that even a child could understand, was a meaning that was hidden from certain people. It is like when you hide something in plain sight and nobody can find it because they look in all the wrong places. 

Sometimes my sunglasses like to hide on top of my head and I go all over the house looking for them and they are right on my head. You might ask your little sister to find a little trinket you have hidden and she looks in all the drawers and hiding places when all along it is hanging from the cat’s collar and the cat is right in front of her! Haha!

Jesus hid true meanings in plain sight  on purpose to keep some people from understanding. You may not believe me, but it is true. Look at what the Bible says:  “Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” Matt. 13:10-11.  

Jesus knew that the Holy Spirit would enlighten the minds of God’s chosen so they could understand the deeper meanings of the parables, but others could not. Look at this verse: “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” Luke 10:21. 

Most of the scribes and Pharisees and teachers of the law were considered to be very smart but they did not seek after Jesus at all. The true children of God seek after him. That means they want to understand and they ask a lot of questions and they don’t give up until they get an answer. I have two granddaughters, Meagan and Kristen, who liked to ask a lot of questions about Jesus. When I would tuck them in bed at night, they would want to talk about God and be assured that God loved them and that they were saved. That is what a true disciple does. When that happens, the Holy Spirit gets inside their minds and shows them the truth. 

Do you know what we call that when the Holy Spirit shows us the truth? I bet you do know by now! It is GRACE! We do not deserve to know the secrets and the mysteries of God’s plans, but his GRACE is so OUTRAGEOUS and SCANDALOUS. He gives us his grace so that we can understand and be saved and live with him forever. 

Understanding God’s Word is evidence of God’s grace in our lives. Here is some more evidence of God’s grace in my life: 

SaveSave

Fifty Shades of Grace Chapter 14

Chapter 14--Do You Want a Miracle?

Everybody wants a miracle, right? Wouldn’t you love to see someone do a real miracle that couldn’t be explained by slight of hand? Wouldn’t you like to see a loved one raised from the dead? 

Jesus did authentic miracles. He did them so his people would recognize him. The Israelites knew that God could perform all kinds of miracles because He performed them in the Old Testament. There were the 10 plagues which we don’t often see as miracles until we consider that 7 of them stopped at the doors of the Israelites and only affected the Egyptians. There was the parting of the Red Sea, manna in the wilderness, water from the rock and countless others.

Let’s compare some of the miracles Jesus did with the miracles in the Old Testament. Jesus changed water into wine. God changed water into blood in Egypt. Jesus fed the five thousand. God fed two million people in the desert with manna. Jesus made the blind see. God made Elisha’s servant see the hosts of heaven when they were surrounded by enemies. Jesus raised people from the dead. God (through Elijah and Elisha) raised people from the dead. Jesus cured lepers. Namaan was cured of leprosy in the Old Testament. Do you begin to see WHY the Jews should have recognized WHO Jesus was???

Jesus was doing everything he had seen the Father do first! That is called glorifying God. When we reflect God by doing what he does, we glorify him. We draw people’s attention to God, because they know we could never do those things on our own. 

Some people think God doesn’t do miracles in our day, but that is only because they are not paying attention. Every single time a person gets healed from something, it is God who does the healing.  He still uses medicine and doctors and things to help us get better, but without God nobody would EVER get better. Without God we could not even take our next breath. 

And then there is the GREATEST miracle of all. God changes hearts. When we are born, our hearts are already wrecked by sin. People think we are born good, but that is probably because they have not had children yet. All they need to do is work in a nursery for a while and they will know the truth. Nobody teaches children to be selfish or naughty. They just come that way. When my oldest granddaughter Alice was two years old, her parents were trying to get her to obey. They tried to motivate her by asking her if she loved them. Her response? “I don’t love daddy and I don’t love mommy and I don’t love Jesus. And I won’t obey!” You just gotta love two-year-olds! It’s a good thing Jesus loves us in spite of our attitudes. But God changes hearts and today Alice has grown into a beautiful young teen who loves God and all the rest of us too! 

Alice at 2

So Jesus did miracles to help the people understand that He was God. Many people believed in Him and they were saved. But the religious leaders who should have known better were jealous. They tried to turn the people away from Jesus and plotted to kill Him. Once they even tried to throw him off a cliff. When they saw his miracles, they said he got his power from Satan! That pretty much sealed their fate which we will discuss another time. 

Alice at 15

All of us need a heart change and if we don’t get it, we will not be saved. There is nothing we can do to change our own hearts. We can’t change by trying to be good or fighting to do better. It just won’t work. It requires a miracle. But if you ask God to perform this miracle in your heart, he will do it. He will not turn turn away anybody who comes to Him in true repentance. Do you know why? GRACE! OUTRAGEOUS, SCANDALOUS GRACE! 

Fifty Shades of Grace Chapter 13

Chapter 13 How Can Jesus Be God and Man?

To begin with, we have to understand that there is only one God. But there are three persons in the Godhead. I am not making this up. I know it is hard to understand. I remember one time when I took two of my granddaughters out to Panera for a treat and while I was getting their drinks, they were talking about God. Sadie said something about Jesus being God. Katy said “I thought God was Jesus’ dad.” To which Sadie replied, “Well, actually there are three Gods, but you can only trust one of them.” 

Junior Theologians

Katy and Sadie ages 4 & 5

See what I mean? These kids understood the Trinity about as well as most adults. At least they were talking about it and they were only 4 and 5 years old. But the doctrines of the Trinity and the dual nature of Christ are easily remembered if we can remember one, two and three. God is one being with three persons. Jesus is one person with two natures. Simple, right? 

Let’s start with the Trinity. No other god of any nation had three persons. But our God does have three persons and that is extremely important because it means that our God has always been a family. He has always been part of a community. He has always been able to love because there was somebody to love. He has never been selfish. He has always been welcoming and embracing. He has always delighted in someone else. If our God were not a Trinity, there would be no such thing as love or family or friends or teamwork or any of those things that we enjoy so much. Bet you didn’t know that! The Trinity is very important. 

Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. The Father is the first person and the Holy Spirit is the third person. Jesus has always been fully God from all eternity. But one day he became a man. When he became a man, he was still fully God and also fully man. Some people think that Jesus was a man with super powers, but that is not true. He was human with all the human weaknesses that you and I have. 

Jesus had a human body just like ours. He was born just like we were. He grew and he got tired and hungry and thirsty. He became physically weak when he fasted. And he died. And he had a real human body after he rose again. 

Jesus had real human emotions. When other kids didn’t invite him to their birthday parties, he cried. When people told lies about him, he was very sad. The Bible says He offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears. His soul was troubled at times. Other times he was joyful—like maybe on special holidays and feast days. Just like us. 

Believe it or not, Jesus was not born knowing everything. He had to go to school. He increased in wisdom. One time he even said he didn’t know everything! He said he didn’t know when he was coming back!!! That is because Jesus' human mind was finite even though his God mind was infinite—at the same time! Try to wrap your mind around that one. 

Jesus also had two wills—a human will and a divine will. He would sometimes say things like, “I came to do not my will but the will of him who sent me.” He has an infinite divine will that he shares with his Father and a finite human will that is perfectly in sync with and submissive to the divine will. 

A lot of folks think that Jesus’s two natures kind of blended together, but that is wrong. Both natures were completely distinct. Fully God and fully man. Impossible, right? 

Jesus is just like us in his humanity except for one thing—he never sinned. When he died on the cross for us God gave us His righteousness. If we are in Christ, it is not only just as if we never sinned, but also just as if we did everything right! And there is that outrageous, scandalous grace again. It’s all grace!