Author: Brian Burdett

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” – John 1:16-17

The Law was a glorious gift, given through Moses to reveal God’s holiness and our sinfulness. It was an offer of blessing to those who would follow it. Yet the Law pales in comparison to God’s gifts given through Jesus Christ: grace and truth.

God’s grace is the undeserved, unearned favor of God that comes through faith in Christ alone. By God’s grace, we are forgiven our sins, though we don’t deserve forgiveness. Through grace, we are restored to relationship with God, though we are unworthy. By grace, we become walking temples holding God’s Spirit though we are flawed and fragile jars of clay. Through grace we’re given an eternal inheritance in heaven simply because we’ve been adopted as children of God. By grace, we experience God’s infinite love despite having rebelled against Him, rejected Him, and opposed Him throughout our lives.

God’s grace is freely, generously, abundantly given to all who put their faith in Jesus Christ. This is the truth, the one and only path to God. Jesus is the ultimate truth, God’s perfect revelation. In Jesus, all who believe experience truth and are set free. We’re set free from the compulsion to sin, from the categories and labels of the world, and from the dark parts of our past. We’re set free to live the truth of who we truly are by God’s grace: His beloved children, adopted and made new in Jesus Christ!

“And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.” – Luke 24:41-43

Have you ever considered why this odd little detail was written down forever in the gospel account of Christ’s resurrection? To prove that Jesus was physically resurrected! In a world that generally believed in ghosts and spirits, it was widely understood that they couldn’t eat. Spirits didn’t have bodies to chew or digest food, but Jesus did. He was no longer dead, but completely alive, fully resurrected, spirit and body!

This little detail was as much proof of His resurrection as inviting His disciples to touch His hands and side. The resurrection of Christ was a resurrection of His total being. His victory over death was all-encompassing. We are on solid ground when we trust in the resurrected Jesus who crushed sin and death!

Likewise, our resurrection as His followers will one day be complete – soul and body. The Bible makes clear that our bodies aren’t some unfortunate afterthought or necessary evil. We were made to be bodies with souls. One day, when Christ returns, our bodies will be raised, restored, perfected, and glorified. Our bodies will be like that of Jesus after His resurrection. Our resurrected bodies will be distinctly us, and yet also different and better.

1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” The weaknesses, brokenness, indignities, aches, and pains that may accompany our present bodies will be gloriously gone on that day. Now that’s a promise to look forward to!

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.”
– Psalm 51:12-13

In the midst of his own repentance, King David recognized his ability to help others be restored to God. David had sinned horrifically, yet he knew that God forgave him abundantly and completely when he turned away from his sin in sorrow and repentance. God’s forgiveness is absolute and gloriously healing. David knew the joy of that and wanted others to know. His moral failure and restoration allowed him to powerfully and authentically offer hope to others trapped in sin and desperation.

As we share the hope we enjoy in Christ, we should never pretend that we have everything together, that we’re better or more deserving, or that we didn’t reject and disappoint God. We must be open and honest about our struggles and our failures, because out of them, the glory of God shines brightly!

There is no hopeless situation when it comes to God. No matter how far we’ve fallen into sin, how far we’ve tried to run from God, or how defiantly we’ve rejected Him, God is always right there to forgive us and restore us when we turn back to Him. When we finally get to the end of ourselves and realize that what we thought we wanted only degraded and destroyed, God stands ready to forgive, cleanse, and embrace.

How can God be so kind, merciful, and gracious? Because of the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Through our faith in His Son, God offers the welcome, love, embrace, and adoption as forever family that our heart longs for, even when we don’t realize it. You can always return to God, for He is always near at hand. This is hope you can count on and hope you should offer freely to all who struggle.

“And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.” – Luke 23:26

Can you imagine being Simon? You’ve traveled (or perhaps moved) from North Africa and were innocently headed into Jerusalem for the festivities surrounding Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Suddenly a group Roman soldiers grab you and force you to carry the heavy cross of a condemned criminal. That criminal, one Jesus of Nazareth, is too weak from His earlier beating and scourging to carry the heavy wooden cross beam to His place of execution. So you’re shoved into this terrible procession, made to follow Jesus to the place of death.

It must have been confusing, embarrassing, frustrating, uncomfortable, and perhaps even terrifying. The casual violence and cruelty of Rome could easily have been directed toward Simon as he followed Jesus. And yet…

Mark’s gospel records that Simon is the father of Alexander and Rufus. This implies that those two boys, all grown up by the time of Mark’s writing, were well known to the Christian community. It would seem that the unexpected events of that awful day began a process that led to new life and salvation for the family of Simon of Cyrene. It would seem that by taking up His cross and following Him, Simon ultimately met Jesus.

For most, these things happen in the opposite order. First, we meet Jesus, then we’re called to take up our cross and follow Him. Either way, an encounter with Jesus should never leave us unchanged or unchallenged. Every true follower of Jesus must ultimately take up a cross and follow Him as Simon did. Through life and death, suffering and triumph. Have you? Will you?

“A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.” – Luke 22:24

That a group of guys sat around and argued about “who’s the greatest” isn’t surprising. However, the setting in which the disciples had this debate should force us into some honest reflection!

Jesus and His disciples had just eaten the Last Supper together. Jesus spoke of His body broken for them and His blood shed to establish the long-awaited New Covenant. Jesus told them one of them would betray Him. And in that solemn, dark time of reflection on God’s grace and faithfulness, and the ever-present human potential for treasonous sin, their minds wandered to…who’s the greatest!

The situation would be ridiculous if it weren’t characteristic of our own walk with Christ! Christ has given us everything: forgiveness of sins, new life, union with Him, eternal life. He’s the greatest and there’s no other! But rather than fully submitting to His greatness and following Him humbly, we still try to build empires and ever-larger monuments to our greatness. Often we’ll do things in His name, but we ultimately do them to receive the applause, recognition, and respect of other people.

We shouldn’t. We don’t need to. We’ve received everything we need and more than we deserve! We should live our lives to please Jesus. He’s the greatest. We need only receive His applause and approval, not that of other people. We need to let go our desire to have our name known and celebrated here on earth, as we humbly live our lives to hear just one thing: “Well done, good and faithful servant!”