Category: Mark

  • Big Foot and Good People

    At least one and maybe both are mythical

    I did it; I captured Bigfoot on film. Not the Yeti, the American Coot, whose big feet enable it to walk atop water vegetation with ease. Similar terms, but with completely different meanings. 

    That happens all the time in discussions of faith and religion. Someone will say, “I believe in God,” but what God? The God of the Bible or from another faith or even something you’ve crafted in your head? Christians, Muslims, Mormons, Buddhists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, pantheists, and more would give you a different definition of God but use the same word.

    Someone will tell you that they are a good person. What is good? By whose definition are you good? Do you mean you think you aren’t as evil as someone else, or that you make fewer mistakes than someone else? Do you mean you do enough good things to make up for the bad?

    I don’t know if Bigfoot is real or mythical, but most think it’s mythical. If so, it has more in common with good people than you might think.

    The Bible has some hard teaching on that subject.

    And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Mark 10:17-18

    The rich young ruler wasn’t a particularly evil man; in fact, from what follows, most people might say he was good.

    You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Mark 10:19-22

    He seemed to have at least tried to keep all the rules of the Law. It would have been impossible, but at least he made the effort. Still, he wasn’t a good person.

    Or perhaps you can say, I keep all the commandments, and I don’t love wealth like the ruler, so I’m good. Still, Jesus would say you aren’t good. Only God can say that.

    The bible says we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), and if we say we are without sin we are liars deceiving ourselves (1 John 1:8). That’s totally contrary to what the world teaches. Other than Jesus, God made flesh, no one has ever been good, at least in God’s eyes.

    That doesn’t mean we are without hope. The gospel clearly proclaims that if we trust in Jesus by faith, we will be born again and forgiven. We are covered in the righteousness of Jesus until we get to glory, where we will be without sin.

    If you haven’t come to Christ yet, open your heart today. If you are already His, rejoice that He loved you even when you were far from God and came to set you free.

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    I finally caught ‘Bigfoot’ on camera, but it was an American Coot, not a legendary creature. That same kind of mix-up happens when someone says they believe in God or that they’re a good person.

    TAKEAWAY

    If you think you’re a good person, ask yourself by what standard you’re measuring “good.”

    You can keep every rule you know and still fall short, because Jesus said only God is truly good.

    If you’ve trusted Jesus, you’re covered by His righteousness, not by how good you’ve managed to be on your own.

    YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

    The gospel – the best news you will ever hear

    Why no one has an excuse – you know the truth

    God’s loving touch

    Unintended results

  • A Snowy Day

    White Garments and the Righteousness of Christ

    The air was fresh and crisp, and the late morning temperature was barely below freezing. The bright morning sun set the snow aflame with sparkling diamonds of light. The effect was brilliant but blinding, and I needed sunglasses. Seeing the brilliant white snow made it easy to see why snow blindness might be an issue.

    The Bible often uses the color white as a metaphor for purity.

    We see an example of that on the Mount of Transfiguration.

    And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Mark 9:2-4 ESV

    In writing to the church in Sardis, John spoke of the Lord’s promise of white garments.

    Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. Revelation 3:4-5 ESV

    The idea of new garments for old, putting on a new nature, shows up in a beautiful Old Testament prophetic passage. Admittedly it doesn’t mention “white,” but we see a delightful picture of the transformation.

    Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.  And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.”  And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by. Zechariah 3:1-5 ESV

    My dear friends, that is what happens to you and me as believers. When we turn to Christ, we exchange our filthy rags of sin for the covering of His righteousness. In glory, when we are free of any taint or possibility of sin and fully righteous, we will have our own white garments. We will be entirely righteous and whole and able to serve, worship and fellowship fully with the Lord of our salvation.

    How glorious will that be? I look forward to seeing all of you clothed in robes of white, so brilliant it makes the eyes hurt.

    None of us deserve to be covered in the imputed righteousness of Christ, yet in His perfect love and mercy, He makes it possible. It is a gift we cannot earn, but we must humbly accept it in repentant faith.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    The blinding brightness of sunlit snow reminded me how Scripture pictures purity in dazzling white garments. Through Christ, we are offered that same white covering as a gift, not something we can earn.

    TAKEAWAY

    You don’t have to clean yourself up before coming to Christ. Like Joshua the high priest, He removes what’s filthy and clothes you in what’s pure.

    The white garments Revelation promises the redeemed picture complete, unstained righteousness, not a reward for good behavior.

    This righteousness isn’t something you earn. It’s a gift you receive by turning to Christ in repentant faith.

    Check out these posts

    Why everyone knows the truth, even if they deny it

    Celebrate your identity in Christ

    On trial for your life

    On the day – some thoughts on Christ