The heart has an insatiable hunger and greed, it cannot ever have enough. It must have more, it must have all. People try to feed this hunger and alleviate the symptoms by countless methods, but only work temporarily. They resort to materialism and completely rely on it for fulfillment, yet as always the hunger pains resurface to the bottomless stomach of the heart. The emptiness, loneliness, depravity of the heart screams at the souls of men, only to be drowned out with i-pods, television, facebook, movies, books, magazines.
The most terrifying thing to people is silence because it has a way to make people realize that they are alone, empty, unfulfilled, and unhappy. It’s as if the average person, understands deep down inside that they are severed from the source of life, fulfillment, companionship, and happiness. People try to keep away from this very realization. The heavier the hunger pounds, the more they drink and smoke. When the heart says I’m unfulfilled they buy more clothes, accessories, cars, latest gadgets and toys, hoping that it will go away.
The truth is people are severed from the source of life, fulfillment, perfect companionship, and happiness, and that is none other than God. Every heart has been severed from God because the heart is sinful and every person has sinned. Every human heart deep down inside truly longs for God, but are blinded from the realization that it is God that it truly needs.
But hope has come. That hope is Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” John 6:32-33
Call your attention to the very last sentence, it implies that this bread is outside our reality and is foreign to this world.
There is also a thesis in the remark of Jesus in which He reveals that this bread would give life to the world, this could only be said, if everyone in the world is in need of life, which would suggest that all are dead.
The insatiable hunger within each human being is the hunger for life, and all humans have invented generic and cheap imitations of life, it comes in the form of materialism, hedonism, in fact any methods that try to fulfill the person.
The gnawing feeling of emptiness, unfulfillment, and unhappiness is the symptom of a heart deprived of life.
But hope has come; there is a bread that can satisfy the hunger of the heart permanently, ultimately, and decisively.
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” -John 6
Jesus then reveals that He is the bread of life, that anyone who would come to Him would never go hungry and whoever would believe in Him will never be thirsty ever again.
In Jesus there is complete fulfillment, happiness, companionship, and most of all: life.
What comforts, luxuries, material possessions, and hedonistic lifestyle fail to do, He can do. He is the only one who can give life, He is the only one who can satisfy the hungry and thirsty. Come to Him.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Scandalous Servant-King
The Scandalous Servant-King
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross. – Philippians 2:6-8
The gods of this world demand service
In a pluralistic world in which there is a wide array of deities, we find a common trend among all the gods of different cultures and societies. They are all similar in the fact that they desire and demand much of man: his affections, his worship, his devotion, his attention, his service, his everything.
Often these gods are so transcendent that there is a remarkable and evident gap between them and their followers; the deity is highly esteemed, on the throne, while the follower is of no importance and
is to be committed to his god at all cost. Their only relation is on the terms of boss and servant, the relationship between the two stops at this point and nothing beyond.
Jesus the scandalous King
Then Jesus came and He shook the status quo of society and changed everything.
Jesus who is God, gave up all his divine privileges and took the humble position of a slave.
Wow. Let me just give you a second to pause and think about of the enormity of verse 7.
He became a human being. He willingly humbled Himself to the position of a slave.
Jesus who had everything gave up his divine privileges. That is an enormous statement in which one
would have difficulty and trouble trying to fathom and understand – from the view-point of both saved and unsaved.
The eternal King of the universe and everything that exists, Creator of all, Majestic Lord, the one who is infinitely precious and beautiful. Wrap your mind around Him in all His glory and splendour, and then imagine Jesus taking the position of a slave. Mind-boggling. A King-servant? Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Rowland Croucher captures the imagery well: “In first century Palestine, slavery was very evident. The slave was a pitiable person. He had no name, no possessions, no rights. He was sold into slavery in the marketplace to the highest bidder. He was a nobody. And Jesus came into this world as a slave.”
Everything changed.
The King became the servant out of pure will. Everything was turned upside down.
Man gives his health for his god, while Jesus healed the sick.
Man feeds his god by offering food, while Jesus fed the hungry.
Man makes sure the statue of his god is spot-free, Jesus washed the dirty feet of his disciples.
Man decorates his god with the finest linen and clothing, Jesus clothed us with his righteousness.
I am not claiming that man became the king/god of Jesus, no, that would be blasphemous. What I am pointing out is the outward demonstration of Jesus servant-hood.
Jesus served.
Nothing makes this clearer than Mark 10:51-52 in which a blind man encounters Jesus, and the following ensues:
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.
“My rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.
In the encounter with the blind man, Jesus does something shocking and scandalous. Jesus asks the blind man how He can serve him. This is not what we expect – How could the Lord of the universe ask such a thing? Because He took the position of a servant.
God-Centered service
But let us remember - lest we become man-centered - that Jesus serving men is only a secondary matter. Let us not forget the primary and ultimate reason why Jesus took the form of a servant and that was to glorify the Father by being obedient to unto death. Jesus ultimate and main aim was to pour out His life as an offering in complete obedience, and this was His perfect service to His Father.
Jesus first and most importantly gives His life in service to the Father, and then secondly and in turn served us as He gave us His eternal life.
This is the Servant-King. He is infinitely different from the deities of the world.
And our ultimate service and honour to Him is to give the entirety of our lives for His glory.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross. – Philippians 2:6-8
The gods of this world demand service
In a pluralistic world in which there is a wide array of deities, we find a common trend among all the gods of different cultures and societies. They are all similar in the fact that they desire and demand much of man: his affections, his worship, his devotion, his attention, his service, his everything.
Often these gods are so transcendent that there is a remarkable and evident gap between them and their followers; the deity is highly esteemed, on the throne, while the follower is of no importance and
is to be committed to his god at all cost. Their only relation is on the terms of boss and servant, the relationship between the two stops at this point and nothing beyond.
Jesus the scandalous King
Then Jesus came and He shook the status quo of society and changed everything.
Jesus who is God, gave up all his divine privileges and took the humble position of a slave.
Wow. Let me just give you a second to pause and think about of the enormity of verse 7.
He became a human being. He willingly humbled Himself to the position of a slave.
Jesus who had everything gave up his divine privileges. That is an enormous statement in which one
would have difficulty and trouble trying to fathom and understand – from the view-point of both saved and unsaved.
The eternal King of the universe and everything that exists, Creator of all, Majestic Lord, the one who is infinitely precious and beautiful. Wrap your mind around Him in all His glory and splendour, and then imagine Jesus taking the position of a slave. Mind-boggling. A King-servant? Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Rowland Croucher captures the imagery well: “In first century Palestine, slavery was very evident. The slave was a pitiable person. He had no name, no possessions, no rights. He was sold into slavery in the marketplace to the highest bidder. He was a nobody. And Jesus came into this world as a slave.”
Everything changed.
The King became the servant out of pure will. Everything was turned upside down.
Man gives his health for his god, while Jesus healed the sick.
Man feeds his god by offering food, while Jesus fed the hungry.
Man makes sure the statue of his god is spot-free, Jesus washed the dirty feet of his disciples.
Man decorates his god with the finest linen and clothing, Jesus clothed us with his righteousness.
I am not claiming that man became the king/god of Jesus, no, that would be blasphemous. What I am pointing out is the outward demonstration of Jesus servant-hood.
Jesus served.
Nothing makes this clearer than Mark 10:51-52 in which a blind man encounters Jesus, and the following ensues:
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.
“My rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.
In the encounter with the blind man, Jesus does something shocking and scandalous. Jesus asks the blind man how He can serve him. This is not what we expect – How could the Lord of the universe ask such a thing? Because He took the position of a servant.
God-Centered service
But let us remember - lest we become man-centered - that Jesus serving men is only a secondary matter. Let us not forget the primary and ultimate reason why Jesus took the form of a servant and that was to glorify the Father by being obedient to unto death. Jesus ultimate and main aim was to pour out His life as an offering in complete obedience, and this was His perfect service to His Father.
Jesus first and most importantly gives His life in service to the Father, and then secondly and in turn served us as He gave us His eternal life.
This is the Servant-King. He is infinitely different from the deities of the world.
And our ultimate service and honour to Him is to give the entirety of our lives for His glory.
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