Nov 14
Andrew J. NicewanderMeditations on the Scriptures Christ, Depression, Despair, Foolishness, God's Grace, Love, Wisdom
Ecclesiastes 7:1-13
This is a passage written by a man who is tired. This is a man who is tired of life. This is a man who is tired of sin. This is a man who is tired of the wickedness and the injustice of the world. This is a man who has tried to be wise and tried to be good and tried to be just, but who has found out that it cannot be done.
Who can really blame this man for his despair? Who hasn’t felt the pull of despair or the tickle of such dark cynicism? Who hasn’t at times found it more comfortable to live in the house of sorrowful mourning rather than joyful feasting? Who hasn’t at times wallowed in black thoughts and feelings? Who hasn’t tried to keep God’s Law and failed? Who hasn’t tried to be wise for wisdom’s sake alone? Who hasn’t felt more comforted in sorrow than laughter? Who doesn’t feel passionate frustration at the cruelty of the oppression of the weak? Who hasn’t felt utter frustration at the laughter and tomfoolery of fools?
Still, even more depressing, we are more often than not the fools! We laugh at our stupidity when we should mourn over our sin. We oppress and we bribe. We would rather hear the songs of fellow fools rather than feel the stinging rebukes of the wise and just. We’re proud people with proud spirits and we don’t want to think about our own mortality nor consider or immorality. We are impatient and selfish. We are discontent with our own lives, always looking back into the past or selfishly looking into the future, hoping for what we alone want. We dwell in the house of mirth, unaware of our foolishness and not caring.
Surely such a reality should drive us to madness! What depression we should naturally feel when forced to see the blackness of our own hearts! We try and try to be wise and be good and holy but we can’t, won’t and to try only drives us to despair.
Thanks be to God for Christ! In Christ our hearts are made new and our sins are forgiven. We are given hearts of flesh to replace those dead hearts of stone. Although we still sin we know our sins are forgiven and covered by the blood of Christ. We once wanted only to engage in our wickedness and now we desperately want to be like Jesus. In Christ death is defeated! We now are free to laugh and enjoy what God has given us! We need not despair over our sin because Christ died for us! We need not try to keep God’s Law to save ourselves because Christ kept it perfectly and in Him we are made righteous. What love, what Grace, what Mercy!
Nov 11
Andrew J. NicewanderMeditations on the Scriptures Christ, Righteousness, Sin, The Cross
I am not a righteous man. tells me this. I don’t truly fear the LORD, nor do I greatly delight in His commandments. In fact, I seem to sin more than do good. I am prideful in my sin against God. Although I want to do good, I often don’t. I’m rarely ever gracious and merciful. I hate men in my heart and I covet what other people have. I’m not a grace giver, and my pride keeps me from being a humble grace receiver.
I do not deal generously. When I do give it’s always with the taint of grumbling and selfishness. The idea of lending without expecting a return is a hard concept for me. Bad news scares me. Hard times frighten me. My heart quakes and my soul shakes when faced with the unknown. I’m scared about the future and I have a hard time trusting the Lord when I am forced to deal with things outside of my control. I’m stingy with my possessions. I don’t give to the poor. When I see the poor man, I am repulsed and I shy away from him.
I’m a wicked man. In my soul no real righteousness dwells. My offspring won’t be mighty in the land, and if left to me, my generation would not be blessed. My righteousness does not endure forever because I have no righteousness within me. My heart is moved and I will not be remembered forever. I will be forgotten. I will not triumph over my adversaries in my righteousness. I will not endure forever and I will not be exalted in honor.
But God sent His Son for me. Christ, the Righteous One, died for me. Christ kept the Law for me. Christ suffered for me.
In Christ my sins are forgiven. In Christ my heart is made new. In Christ my affections are changed. In Christ my desires and will are completely remade. In Christ I am covered by His Blood. In Christ I am clothed with His Righteousness
In Christ we will endure forever. In Christ the Light dawns for us. In Christ we are truly blessed. In Christ we are remembered forevermore, by God and for God. In Christ our hearts are held firm by His Pierced and Steady Hands. In Christ death is defeated and bad news has no power over us. In Christ our Enemies are defeated.
He’s the Savior of the poor, broken and downtrodden. He’s the Salvation of Sinners and the Hope for the Lost. His Righteousness endures forever and He is forever exalted.
I once saw Christ and I was angry. I gnashed my teeth at Him and hated Him. Yet, my desire perished. My heart was remade. Christ defeated me and made me new. I am born again, in Christ, and I am forgiven.
Nov 04
Andrew J. NicewanderMeditations on the Scriptures Christ, Forgivness, Love, Mercy, Sacrifice, The Cross
Leviticus 14:1-32
At first glance, this passage in Leviticus 14 is simply a set of ceremonial rules to make a formerly leprous man ceremonially clean once again. This passage is not giving rules for making a leprous man clean or verifying the leprous man had been cleansed (that was provided in the immediate context). But, if a man had been cleansed, this passage lays out some rules to make him once again clean and acceptable to come back into the camp of God’s people.
This is more than just an emotionless, rote religious ceremony. In the rules themselves we can see something of the holiness of God. It is interesting that it is not enough for the leprous man to simply be made well, but that that man must also take the extra steps to be made clean. It’s not enough to simply not be dirty or defiled, but to be even in the same camp as God a man must be truly clean and set apart
Yet, who can really do this? If simply having leprosy was enough to defile you before God, what about the more vile and wicked things we do? Do those not separate us from God even more? After all, the man cleansed from leprosy had to take two birds, kill one, dip the live bird (along with hyssop, cedar and scarlet yarn) in the blood of the dead bird (over running water) and then sprinkle that blood and water mix over the man seven times (the number of completeness) in order for the man to come back into the camp. Yet, that man was still not ready to enter his tent, as he had a bit of bathing and shaving and waiting to do and then he had to sacrifice a spotless lamb for a guilt offering and some grain for a grain offering and after all of that, then he could be cleansed!
Thank God for Christ! In Christ we are cleansed! We’re washed with HIS blood and clothed with HIS righteousness. We no longer need the sacrifices of lambs and birds and grain to atone for our defilement. Christ’s work on the Cross was greater than Namaan’s miraculous healing at the hand of Elijah or Christ’s healing of the Ten Lepers. His sacrifice was complete and his body was broken and bruised. Like the killed bird and the sacrificed lamb, Christ was slain so that we might be acceptable before God. In Christ and Him alone we have access to the Father and we are always admitted into His body, the Church. Christ’s work accomplished a spiritual cleansing; something much deeper than anything the Old Testament priest could provide. In Christ, that work of salvation has been completed and our sins are forgiven and Christ loves us and we are loved by the Father, no matter our sicknesses, foibles or sins. In Christ even the poorest and nastiest and grossest of us can have forgiveness and admittance and access to the Father. Thanks be to God!
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