Jesus accomplishes the law

Joshua 11:15 "Just as the LORD had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses."

What does Moses represent? The law! It was the Lord who commanded all his decrees to Moses (Exodus 20)

This explains why Moses could never be brought into the promised land (Joshua 1:1-2) representing heaven as the law will ultimately lead to death because no one is able to fulfil it, "For the law brings wrath" (Romans 4:15)

We see that Joshua represents Jesus as he shares in the same name. Therefore Joshua was the doer of the commands given through Moses (the law) in accomplishing ALL that was said from the LORD. The same is true of Jesus who said himself "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matthew 5:17)

He who commands it would later accomlish it! Oh what joy to know that he has left nothing undone of all that he has commanded through his law. Not only that but he welcomes us to be united to himself so that we too might be declared as righteous as he.

Destroy the old and live in the new (1)

Genesis 31:3 states “Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” What is this land called? Verse 18 tells us that he and his family and possessions went “to go to the land of Canaan” What’s so significant about this land? Well it’s the land of promise “I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:8) What does the promise land represent? Let’s check out Hebrews 11:9-10 “By faith he (Abraham) went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” So the land of promise represents “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” (Hebrews 12:22, Revelation 21:2)

Rachel and Leah add to Jacob’s observation that “Laban did not regard him with favour as before” (V2) in Genesis 31:14-15 saying “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house? Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money.” We see here that in a sense Rachel and Leah had been treated like slaves thus we could say this place represents slavery. This parallels nicely with us who were “once slaves of sin.” (Romans 6:17) Furthermore Rachel and Leah are concerned that there is no portion or inheritance for them but they had not to worry about this as all that we receive is given to us by our loving and merciful father as it was with the Levites “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.” (Numbers 18:20) We who are born of God can be sure that our inheritance “is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” and it is “kept in heaven” for us, (1 Peter 1:4) having been qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Colossians 1:12) You see we must seek to store up “treasures in heaven” and not “on earth” as the things of this world will perish but that of Heaven is everlasting. (Matthew 6:19-20)

Despite this Rachael deems it necessary to take her inheritance from her father that being “her father's household gods” (Genesis 31:19) and seeks to take it with her into the land of promise representing heaven. “It was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled” What happens on the third day? Resurrection as Jesus came out of death into life. Let’s see if there are any signs of resurrection in this passage. When Laban catches up with Jacob he asks him this question “why did you steal my gods?” (V30) Jacob lays down a death penalty for this crime saying they “shall not live” not knowing it was his beloved wife Rachel who had carried out this horrendous act of evil. (V32) Laban searched Rachel’s tent but did not find the household gods due to her excuse, (V34-35) thus in a sense Rachel is resurrected as she overcomes the death she deserved and is brought into unmerited new life. The same is true of the believer who is brought into unmerited life through faith in Christ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Like Rachel we want to bring the old with us into new life in doing so we seek to keep and bow down to the gods of the World that includes the idols of sex, money and power. We see in Colossians 3:9-10 that it is improper for a believer to do this “seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self.”

Why do we continue with the idols of our previous life? Surely we know that if we “live according to the flesh” we “will die”? (Romans 8:13) Without doubt Rachel knew that the God of her husband Jacob was the one true God, that it was him who brought success upon Jacob as Laban (Rachel’s father) himself states in Genesis 30:27 “I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.” So why did she see the need to take with her idols of worthless gods? The words of Paul are a helpful parallel to these questions as he says “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Paul’s explanation for this is shown two verses later, he does it because “it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” (Romans 7:15, 17) What does sin lead to? Death as in James 1:15 “sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

You see Rachel sinned in bringing the detestable gods with her into new life which was an abomination to the Lord that deserved death but she is spared by Gods mercy as are we but let us not continue to keep hold of the gods of the past but rather taking the example set by Jacob in Genesis 35:2 “So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.” One could say put off your old self and put on the new self! Galations 3:27 "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ!"

Destroy the old and live in the new (2)

The Bible is full of parallels expressing the significance of destroying the old and living in the new it’s not just restricted to Jacob and Rachel. Let us first look at Joshua who interestingly wasn’t always called Joshua he was called “Hoshea” (Numbers 13:8) which simply means “Salvation” but Moses changes his name to “Joshua” (Numbers 13:16) which means “the Lord saves.” Why does Moses do such a thing especially when the names are so similar? It’s because Joshua shares in the same name as Jesus as both are from the Hebrew word “Yehoshua” and the Greek word “Iēsous” therefore making perfect sense of Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." So when we look at Joshua we must see similarities with Jesus. Joshua leads the people united to him that being the Israelites into the Promised Land as those united to Christ are brought into heaven. (Link to Hebrews 11:9-10)

In Joshua 1:11 Joshua commands the people to “Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.” Yet again we are alerted to resurrection. But in Joshua 3:2 we see that it wasn’t until the end of the three days that the Israelites united to Joshua pass over the Jordon. Although Joshua’s command doesn’t prove true it still shows us his understanding of what would later happen, that being that the people united to him would pass through the seas of judgement and death into life as we see in Joshua 3:17 “the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.” Joshua like Jacob knows the importance of destroying idols and the consequence of bringing such detestable things with us into new life is death. This is shown in Joshua 7:24-25 when the result of Achan the son of Zerah is death because he stole a cloak, silver and bar of gold from the spoil. He disobeyed the Lords command by keeping these “idols” or “gods” as it were for himself therefore he and the items he had acquired deceitfully were burned with fire.

This same symmetry can be seen with Moses. In Exodus 8:27 he says to Pharaoh “We must go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he tells us." How did the Israelites united to Moses get into the wilderness? They passed through the sea of judgement and death on dry land and walked into new life from the land of slavery. (Link to Exodus 14:22) whilst they are journeying towards the land of promise the people make for themselves an idol golden calf. Moses’ response unsurprisingly is like that of Jacob and Joshua as in Exodus 31:20 “He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.” Not only is this so called god destroyed death occurs to three thousand guilty men. (Exodus 32:28) You see for Moses there was no way you could bring the old life into the promised new.

This theme is also picked up in the New Testament particularly in the books of Acts whereby we see Ananias having been apart of a community of believers who had been brought into new life is killed by the wrath of God because he had made for himself an idol of money when he had held back some of the proceeds of the property he had sold and lied about it. (Acts 5:1-5) As Jesus himself states “You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24) Oh if only the young man who had great possessions could have destroyed his idol of money and walked wholeheartedly in obedience to Christ then he would have achieved eternal life. (Matthew 19:16-22) How we should take note of the new believers that had practiced magic arts in Acts 19:18-19 who having been brought into new life “brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all.”

Lord, may we be more like Josiah who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord in ruthlessly seeking to rid the land of Judah of its idols and false gods which was keeping the people in captivity and in death. (2 Chronicles 34:1-7) I pray that anyone reading this would have a holy anger and hatred towards the gods of this world and the things which keep us in slavery, seeking ultimately to destroy them as Josiah did. Father remind us that such things only lead to death and it is not right for those destined for the land of promise to dabble in such wicked and evil things.

Delight yourself in Gods commands!

We saw that Jonahs response to the Lords command was to disobey it. This represents the state of fallen humanity, we disobey the command of Jesus to “repent and believe in the Gospel” and to “follow me” (Mark 1:15, 17) as it was with Adam and Eve who disobeyed the command of the Lord God "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17) The consequence of Adam and Eve disobeying is death whereas following the command would have brought life as Christ says “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." (John 8:51) In a sense Adam and Eve were following the serpent Satan (Genesis 3:1-6, Revelation 12:9) in eating fruit off the tree and are thus condemned to death. (Link to Ephesians 2:2)

Looking back on Genesis 3:1 we see the first thing Satan does is attack the law, he does this by weakening it causing doubt and question “He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" He also presents a benefit in breaking the law “you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5) why does Satan ask Eve this question and not Adam? Firstly she hadn’t been there when the command was given to Adam from the Lord God (Genesis 2:16-17) and therefore she wouldn’t have had firm understanding of the decree, this is clearly shown when she adds to it by saying “neither shall you touch it, lest you die” (Genesis 3:3) the Pharisees themselves were charged with adding to the law (Matthew 12:10-12) due to a lack of understanding. Secondly we see that the passage says that Adam was there when Eve was being tempted “she also gave some to her husband who was with her” (Genesis 3:6) in doing so Satan is testing Adams authority over Eve “the head of a wife is her husband.” (1 Corinthians 11:3) Thus when Adam stands back and watches his wife plunge into sin and death and does nothing how is he honouring her “as the weaker vessel”? (1 Peter 3:7) Infact by doing nothing he is validating it to Eve. It is interesting that Adam is counted as the first sinner “sin came into the world through one man.” (Romans 5:14)

Adam indirectly blames God and certainly uses Eve as his excuse for his sin saying “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." (Genesis 3:12) So Adam doesn’t take any responsibility for his sin and yet Christ the second Adam who was “without sin” (Hebrews 4:15) identified himself with and takes responsibility for our sin as shown when getting baptised (Which represents the forgiveness of sins in mark 1:4) “to fulfil all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15) taking the sinners place under Gods judgement. Furthermore Eve follows Adam in not taking responsibility for sin blaming Satan "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." (Genesis 3:13) By Adam not taking responsibility for his sin he in effect encourages Eve to do likewise.

We must be people who see following the law of God as something that brings life, Psalm 119:92-93 “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life” and not something negative that restricts us as Adam and Eve, Jonah and ultimately fallen humanity believe.

We should seek to remember God’s firm law and proclaim it when we are tempted by Satan as Christ does. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God,” “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” and “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10) Like Adam and Eve Satan presents a benefit in breaking the law to Christ in satisfying his hunger, promoting self glory, justifying himself by proving that he is the son of God and finally vast wealth and power (Matthew 4:3, 6, 8-9) Why was Christ able to withstand Satan’s temptation? Because “his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2) Why does he do this? Because by doing so there is life and freedom Psalm 119:45 “I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts.” Our attitude therefore must be “I delight in the law of God” (Romans 7:22)

Fallen humanity cannot obey the law of God as they are sinners "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot." (Romans 8:7) but all who believe in him are released from the curse of the law as Christ came to fulfil the law on our behalf (Matthew 5:17) “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:4) So those who trust in Christ become united to him and are no longer sentenced to death when they disobey his commands because Jesus takes their punishment. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” As a result the only sin that will condemn us to death is not believing in Christ (John 16:9). How liberating it is knowing that we ourselves are incapable of keeping the law but we are united to one who has fulfilled all the law not failing in any department. Galatians 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free”. Therefore in this freedom that we have “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1) Of Course not why would we want to do that? Let us then be obedient to God in ruining Satan’s plans to lead us into sin and death by meditating on Gods word as Christ did knowing that in it there is life and redemption.

The state of fallen humanity according to Jonah 1

We see that Jonahs response to the Lords command to go to Nineveh is to disobey going away from the presence of the Lord, (V2-3) this represents the state of fallen humanity as Ephesians 2:1-3 states “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience… and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Because we disobey God following Satan, we are under the wrath of God which will lead to death.

During the storm on the boat Jonah says to the other sailors "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." (V9) Why does he focus on these two aspects of creation? And furthermore what do they represent?

A good place to look in regards of what sea represents is in passages referring to baptism 1 peter 3:20 “God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you.” 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 “For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” So we see that the sea was God’s agent in order to bring about judgement and ultimately death as the flood in Noah’s time blotted out the people not united to the “righteous man” Noah (Genesis 7:4) and the same is true of Moses only the Israelites who were united to him were saved but judgement and death came to the Egyptians. (Exodus 14:27-28) As Revelation 20:13 says “And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.” What then does dry land represent? It represents life as without dry land there is no life. Noah waits for the face of the ground to dry (Genesis 8:13) in order to leave the ark in order to have abundant life on dry land. We see with Moses that the people of Israel travel through the sea of judgement and death on dry ground and in doing so they are given life (Exodus 14:22)

The sailors find out that the reason there is this storm is because Jonah was fleeing from the presence of the Lord (V10) but instead of following Jonahs advice to throw him into the sea to calm the storm (V12) they “rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.” (V13) So we see the Sailors knew that the storm was of God but instead of submitting to him they row hard in order to get to dry land (life). Therefore this is a picture of us instead of submitting to God we try to earn salvation “life” by our own works “rowing hard” Romans 4:4-5 states “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” This shows us that if we work for wages to try and earn favour with the Lord it will come to nothing as the only thing that grants us favour with God is believing in his son Jesus Christ and that is a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”

Instead of working to earn anything off God Adam and Eves very first day of existence is teaching them that life is all about accepting the free grace of God, Life is simply trusting the Lord as Mike Reeves explains a more literal meaning of Genesis 2:15 is this “The LORD God took the man and rested him in the garden of Eden to Serve it and to keep it.” Hebrews 4:10 “for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” The Lord provides for our salvation as he provides for all Adams needs in planting the garden, making a helper fit for Adam, bringing the animals to Adam to name as well as Eve (Genesis 2:8, 18, 19, 22)

Jonah is cast into the sea (V15) and is swallowed up by a great fish (V17), Whilst being in the great fish Jonah calls it “the belly of Sheol” (Jonah 2:2) this representing death the consequence of disobedience. How long is he in the belly of the fish? “Three days and three nights.” (V17) What is the significance of three days? Well what happens on the third day? Resurrection! This is shown in Genesis 1:9 on the third day of creation when “God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.” So we see here that life comes out of death as the land comes out of the seas. So when we see in scripture “on the third day” it is often about resurrection/new life. Although it’s worth bearing in mind that the third day can also be about judgement and death, as in Genesis 34:25 “On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males.” Having both of these in mind helps us when we come to passages like Genesis 40:13 when Joseph says to the chief cupbearer “In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office” but in Genesis 40:19 he says to the chief baker “In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head--from you!--and hang you on a tree.” To one there came life out of death and imprisonment but to the other there was judgement that brought death.

What is the significance of days and nights? Genesis 1:5 “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.” What’s so important about the light being called day? Because light is also paralleled to life, John 1:4 “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” As Jesus himself says “"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12) What then is so important about the darkness being called night? Because darkness is also paralleled to death, Psalm 107:10-11 “Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons,” why? “For they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.” Isn’t that what Jonah did? Therefore he deserved death but the Lord in his great mercy brings Jonah into life. Jonah 2:10 “And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land”

Let us focus on Jonahs claim in the previous verse “Salvation belongs to the LORD!” Deliverance can only come from the Lord and not by mans efforts how comforting this is!

We must be clothed for blessing!

If we check out Genesis 27:1 we see that Esau the older son or as he calls himself the firstborn son (V19) was to be blessed by his father Isaac.
Who else is called the firstborn? Christ as Colossians 1:15 says “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” It is Christ and him alone who deserves the blessing and inheritance of the father.

Jacob the younger son deceives his father in order to obtain blessing. (V27-29) How does he do this? By clothing himself in animal skins (V16, 23) and wearing his brother “the firstborns” garments (V15, 27) Where else is there clothing of animal skins of garments? Well in Genesis 3:21 “And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” How did the LORD God make these garments of skins? Well a sacrifice would have been made of an animal in order for Adam and Eve to be clothed. Thus as Christ was “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) We are clothed in him and in his sacrifice he covers over our sin making us righteous before God, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) The high priests also had to wear garments given to them ordained by the Lord in order for them to do their service thus they were counted holy because of what they wore Exodus 40:13 "and put on Aaron the holy garments. And you shall anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve me as priest." Jesus is our high priest according to Hebrews 4:14 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” But unlike Aaron he didn't have to put on holy garments for he himself is holy as Peter declares "you are the Holy One of God." (John 6:69)

This gets further picked up in Isaiah 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” The Church is the bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7) symbolising us being united to him “And he is the head of the body, the church.” (Colossians 1:18) “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!” (Psalm 133:1-2) The anointing and ultimately the blessing comes from the head that being Christ and runs down to the body that being the Church as the head is united to the body.

As Luther would say we are in need of an “alien righteousness” something outside of ourselves (because we are sinners and are unrighteous) that being Christ as he is our righteousness revealed in Jeremiah 23:6 “…And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.” We wear the garments and robes of righteousness of Christ that don’t belong to us because “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” This can be paralleled with Adam and Eve’s attempt to cover up their nakedness by using fig leaves (Genesis 3:7) as they try to restore what they had brought upon themselves through their own works rather than in Christ Jesus.

This idea of being in Christ is eluded to in Hebrews 7:9-10 “One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.” You see Levi was in Abraham so when Abraham pays the tithes it was as if Levi was doing so. This is a picture of us as we are either in Adam or in the second Adam being Christ; “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22) Therefore it is absolutely essential for us to be in Christ in order that we might live being “born again” rather than to be cursed with death for being in Adam “as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sin” (Romans 5:12)

We see that we are blessed not because we haven’t sinned but rather our sins are not counted against us Psalm 32:1-2 “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

Furthermore Jacob is later renamed Israel (Genesis 32:28) which represents the Old Testament Church, the ones who were sinners but who were also counted righteous in Christ by Gods grace. Jacob/the nation of Israel is given a blessing he/they didn’t deserve or warrant (V27-29) but achieves it by being clothed in the sacrifices of the animal and the clothes of the “firstborn.” Esau is left without a blessing; one might even go as far as saying a curse from his father Isaac (V39-40) Jesus himself is cursed for us Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” as Deuteronomy 21:23 states “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.”

Finally let us reflect on the words of Paul In Ephesians 1:5-6 “he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” and the words of Christ to his father about the people who would later believe in him (That’s us) John 17:22-23 “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Perfection vs Authenticity; So whats it going to be?

A massive problem facing this generation in and out of the church is that we struggle to be real, honest and open with one another! When was the last time you told someone your inner most heart or shared what you really struggle with? Or is that just too risky? What if people see who I really am? If they knew the real me they would they like me?

I'll give you a few well known verses from the Bible which illustrate the need to be perfect;

Matthew 5:48 "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Philippians 3:12 "Not that I have already obtained this [resurection from the dead] or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own."

These verses are great examples of the need to pursue perfection. I'm not saying we shouldn't follow these verses diligently but because of the mis use of these verses it has created a culture where we don't admit our struggles and we don't want God to expose areas of darkness in our lives! We are comfortable just as we are. We create the "Christian mask" answering "life’s ok" to the question everyone asks which is of course "how are you?" Never ever going deeper than that! I’m guilty of this too; it's just so much easier to say I’m ok... I mean it's not as if you are lying there’s been both good and bad in your day so by saying ok you are giving a fair reflection of your life without giving something away of how you are really feeling! Perfection at the cost of authenticity leads to a false person, a hypocrite and a liar... this includes me.

What's so important about being authentic? Well lets look at Biblical examples;

Abraham in Genesis 18:22-33 questions God and wrestles with him over Sodom and Gomorrah.
Moses argues with God; surely you haven't got the right guy? in Exodus 3:1-22. Moses does it elsewhere, his response to God wanting to destroy the Israelites after worshipping an idol is this; "Moses implored the LORD his God and said, "O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?" (Exodus 32:11)
David gets angry when the Lord's anger strikes out against Uzzah in 2 Samuel 6:6-8. David also constantly wrestles with God in the psalms, a few of these represent Jesus struggles too (Luther says this about the psalms "You should assume that the psalm is about Jesus even spoken by Jesus unless as you read it you realise that it's impossible!") like Psalm 22 also known as the psalm of the cross, which starts with "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?..." Jesus at Gethsemane prays "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." (Matthew 26:39) He is completely honest with the father, he wants another way but doesn't want to tarnish what the father wants, he is willing to walk in obedience full heartedly!

God loves a heart that is honest, people who wrestle with injustices and a generation who’s on it's knees praying for God to bring hope! "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51:17) We shouldn't just be authentic with God but also our brothers and sisters as the church in acts were, example Acts 4:32 "Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common."

Too often the Church has been a place of judgement and condemnation but that's not our place, its Gods job to sort out! We simply must love one another and pursue holy living and righteousness by being open to God's conviction! That's what transforms. You can't ignore the problems you are facing if you do you're not free from the power of sin! If you can't confess your sin to your brothers and sisters then you are not free from the power of sin and it will continue to destroy! 'Cos that’s what sin does it DESTROYS check out James 1:14-15 "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." Don't be fooled by what sin is. "I should never think some unclean or unworthy act or thought is ok. Because others do it or "I’ve done it before and apparently got away with it" or because Jesus is loving and forgiving and will understand. I must see that any sin wounds Christ, grieves the Holy Spirit, harms the church and me and my walk and witness." (quote)

What should we be doing therefore in regards to sin? This is clear in James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." This is the standard we are set! None of this it's ok to keep our sins inside or no one needs to know rubbish. "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." (Proverbs 28:13) We must be accountable to someone! Who are you accountable to?

We must accept responsibility for the things we do wrong and speak out and turn away from it. Forgiveness breeds freedom. A heart thats free is one that is overcome with joy and praise for God. We are so much more effective once we taste Gods mercy and forgiveness. It's as if you can't help but pray for others, that they too might experience his love and forgiveness.

Often we can be gulity of praying prayers like God let you kingdom come and your will be done, but what does that actually mean? It means you want God to come in all his glory. But when he does his light will expose all darkness in us. When Isaiah sees the glory of the LORD the first thing he does is pronounce a death curse over himself "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"(Isaiah 6:5)

To say we are only human is a rubbish excuse for committing sin once we've received the Holy Spirit! Can you imagine what would have happened if Jesus took this same attitude? We are now indwelt by Gods spirit and called into a holy life that is full of purity and integrity. Galatians 5:24-25 "And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." Sure we will mess up but it's not as if we could ever earn salvation by ourselves anyway as it is already won for us in Christ and in him alone. We constantly need Gods grace and so my prayer to all who read this is that you would continue to receive Gods grace which he lavishes over you. But if we truly reflect on what Christ has done for us and accept his grace how can we not be a changed people? If we follow Jesus do we want to be held back in sin? Of course not! I'm not saying we are all of a sudden perfect but we are in the process of being restored. Philippians 1:6 "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

I am convinced that living a life of authenticity is Gods calling on all our lives, it requires the ultimate test of all and that is this; Am i willing to toss aside my pride? Will i be obedient to Christ at any cost? There is always a cost to living authentically, being completely honest and giving people access to all of your live but it is worth it! We must live by the values we expect others to live by! When people look at me I don’t want them thinking that I never go through hard times or he never has any struggles or Alan's a real holy one he is or this guy is perfect because it isn’t true, I’m a foul sinner in thought, word and in deed. I want people to think of me as a guy who falls short by a long long way but a guy who loves Jesus passionately, who's obedient to Christ, who’s open and honest to others, a man who shares all himself not hiding anything including his short comings and a man of integrity. As I was growing up I struggled so much with the sins of the flesh but because everyone had their Christian masks on I thought I was the only one going through hard times, I thought I had to be like everyone else and act like everything was ok when it wasn't. Later on i found out that people do struggle with the same things i did resentment, lust and loneliness for example. I want to encourage anyone who's reading this to live like the David's, like the Moses' and like the Abrahams' who fell short but were always so honest with God. You can either live the life of an actor or you can live the life of freedom... the choice is yours