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THE DYNAMICS OF GRACE,
Part 5
Justification by Faith Equips us for Honesty in Prayer by Jay Wegter INTRODUCTION –
By justification in Christ, we have bold access to the throne of grace (Eph.
3:12). Justification frees us from our
cowardice and hiding and enables us to draw near to God in honesty and realism. All of our
fleshly attempts to manage pain, suffering and failure cause us to turn away
from the ruthless honesty that Scripture enjoins. (The temptation is always to return to the fleshly strategies of flight, denial, open resistance and/or
appeasement instead of the atonement.) Only the
justified person has the resources for realism (realism born of heroism). He sees himself in Christ but also as a sinner who is utterly dependent. He knows that his completeness is a
function of his union with Christ
(Col. 2:10; 3:3). Our completeness and
right standing are carried by God’s
Son (Rom. 5:9). No specific fact
concerning the believer’s depravity can harm his immutable standing in Christ. JESUS CHRIST IS
OUR SYMPATHETIC AND MERCIFUL HIGH PRIEST (HEB. 4:14-16; 2:17,18; 5;1,2,7,8; IS.
53:3; 2 COR. 13:4). In Christ’s High
Priesthood there is a sympathizing with our weaknesses and merciful aid for our
temptations. Christ’s obedience as a
suffering Servant exposed Him to the consequences of sin. As an obedient Son, He fully identified
Himself with the sorrows and exigencies of the human condition. The
efficaciousness of His priesthood is coextensive with both the guilt and the
effects of sin. Christ manifests His
High Priestly mercy to us in areas where we experience indwelling sin,
weakness, failure, inadequacy, helplessness, pain, persecution and suffering. The Credentials of our
Great High Priest – Scripture ties the depth of Christ’s mercy toward us to His
sufferings. He was tempted in all
things and made like His brethren in all things (Heb. 2:17,18). (God can be no more merciful than He is, but
in Christ, there is a human heart that resonates with us. Without sinning, Christ identified with the
plight of the sheep. He is able to
sympathize.) If God would
have desired it, He could have ordained the sacrifice of His Son to be carried
out in a manner that would have insulated Jesus from the abuse of wicked
sinners. BUT God predestined the
sacrifice should be carried out by enraged sinners. His Son was exposed to torture, spitting, flies, nakedness,
shame, mockery and betrayal. All the aspects
of Christ’s passion are not to arouse our deepest pity, but that we might
understand that Christ’s identification with sinners is so complete as to
include all the ugly scandals of human existence – injustice, humiliation,
victimization – every heart-wrenching experience. God spared not His own Son from this in order that He might
identify with our plight and deliver us by His death. Christ took on
our nature that He might be our sin-bearer. But also as our substitute, He identified Himself with the consequences of sin – death,
separation and agony of soul. The pressure He
experienced in Gethsemane’s garden was not primarily the recoil of human nature
from death by crucifixion. The
avalanche of mental and emotional anguish consisted of the crushing weight of
expiring as sin’s curse, under the wrath of God, while separated from God. The greatest agonies of soul are tied to
shame, condemnation, isolation, abandonment and divine wrath. Application - Discuss the reasons why the stress Jesus
experienced when He sweat drops of blood must have exceeded that ever
experienced by any man. What was Jesus
requesting of His Father in Hebrews 5:7?
(Think about the fact that Jesus had been the master of every situation. As He faced Calvary, He was to be a passive
victim in the face of evil and injustice.
He was to be cut off, left alone and condemned as an accursed object
worthy of destruction.) The Grace and Mercy of
our High Priest
– Christ’s kenotic descent into radical humiliation enabled Him to assume our
condition and penalty (Phil. 2:5-8).
The Almighty Ruler, Creator and Lawgiver voluntarily became a curse, a
victim and a corpse that He might gain the victory over death and sin for His
people. (See Acts 2:24; 1 Cor.
15:55-57; Heb. 2:14,15.) The torments of
soul and body happened to our High Priest by God’s will that He might be
uniquely qualified to minister to every human ache and agony. He sympathizes with our weaknesses. He has experienced the frailties of our
human nature. Though sinless, He has
great compassion for sheep that become hopelessly entangled in sin. He is friend of sinners. He is the wonderful counselor to believing
sinners. Our Great High
Priest has purchased at Calvary all of our sonship privileges. Those privileges include an endless supply
of grace. Our Heavenly Father is
teaching us to roll our burdens onto Christ and to cry to Him for our daily
needs of grace. Application – Nearly all of our natural instincts for
managing the pain and hurt of life are fleshly “solutions” that are ultimately
destructive. Blame, denial, escape,
bitterness, defiance and appeasement hurt our fellowship with the Lord and our
relationships with people. (Israel’s
failure in the wilderness is meant to be a negative example to the N.T. Church,
see 1 Cor. 10:1-14; Heb. 3-4.) The fleshly
strategies cause us to come short of obeying Hebrews 4:16 – they stop us from
drawing near to the throne of grace. In
order for God to use you as a channel of grace to others, one must develop the
habit of drawing near to the throne of grace in your own need, pain and
inadequacy. Before we come
to the throne of grace, we first identify ourselves as “needy” (4:16b). We face the daily decision of “crying for
mercy and grace” or of defending our pain by fleshly strategies. The burden of
the text falls upon the believer to make use of the infinite resources found in
his High Priest. THE PSALMS SET
FORTH A PATTERN OF HONESTY BEFORE GOD IN PRAYER. The godly man
makes God his refuge in every area of life (Ps. 34:8). Such radical trust is unnatural. The tendency is to attempt to conceal pain
of soul from oneself and God. The Scripture
commends a reverent but ruthless honesty before God. “Trust in Him as all times, O people; Pour out your heart before
Him; God is a refuge for us" ”Ps. 62:8).
The promise of
tender mercy, refuge and help are strong inducements to come out of hiding and
exercise heroism. (While under the
influence of fleshly strategies, we are shut up in the “gray castle of self.” We are not free to engage in spontaneous
praise, adoration and surrender.) According to
Calvin, the Psalms provide a complete anatomy of the soul. They demonstrate a model of heart
transparency before God. We see the
Psalmist meeting with God in some very painful places. Though praise is abundant, there are numerous
prayers that express despair, despondency, depression, betrayal, persecution,
disillusionment, resentment, guilt and injustice. Agonizing memories and ache of soul for offenses committed and
received are not an uncommon theme. In
many instances, the psalmist utters imprecatory prayers -- calling for God to
execute vengeance and judgments (Ps. 35:1-8). Application – The command to rejoice in the Lord always (Phil. 4:4) and to give thanks in all things (1 Thess. 5:18) honors God amidst our
circumstances. Our Savior entered into
the emotional experiences of life, but was never sinfully controlled by
emotions (Jn. 11:33). The believer is
not to manage his emotions by stoic denial of them or by sinful expression of
them. The pattern found in the Psalms
leads to realism before God and intimacy with God. The Psalms exalt God’s covenant faithfulness amidst every
circumstance (Ps. 111:5,9). POURING OUR
HEARTS OUT TO GOD INVOLVES THE “PROCESSING” OF NEGATIVITY. The Psalmist
considered the negativity in his life (rejection, disillusionment, persecution,
failure etc.) to be appointments with
God. He regarded these negatives to be
an opportunity to cry for fresh measures of grace, mercy and equipping. When a believer
refuses to accept “appointments” with God in these areas of negativity, these
same areas become sealed off from the full benefit of Christ’s grace. When “appointments” with Christ in our
regions of negativity are consistently refused, the heart builds prisons to
house these unacceptable negatives. The exhortation
stands, “Pour out your heart to God” (Ps. 62:5-8). When the believer chooses to “manage” negativity in a carnal
manner, he makes a choice for lukewarmness.
Sealing off the pain of suffering and the ache of sin’s consequences can
cause us to split off from the very
regions of the heart that are needed for godly passion and Christian
compassion. In many
respects, our personal ministry to others is the outgrowth of how we deal with
our own souls. Without contact
with the God of all grace in the areas of our own negativity, it is unlikely
that we will be able to weep with those who weep (Rom. 12:15). Paul makes it clear that believers who draw
abundantly from God’s comfort in their own sufferings are best equipped to
comfort others (2 Cor. 1:3-6). CHRIST OUR HIGH
PRIEST EQUIPS US FOR INTIMATE COMMUNION WITH THE FATHER. Christ redeems
us from cowardice in the area of transparency with God. Through Him, we dare to draw near. He has given us His grace that we might be
courageous in dealing with our sin and suffering. The very
emotional resources needed for compassion, pity, empathy, passion,
tenderheartedness are most available to God’s use when the heart is transparent
before God. Giving up false
refuges is necessary in order to take pure delight and comfort in God. One cannot fulfill the assignment to delight
in God when the flesh has prisons with prison guards in the soul. By way of
example, the oyster responds to irritation by forming layers of smooth
iridescent nacre around a particle of jagged sand. So also, our tendencies are to defend and split off from our pain
and hurt with layers of defensiveness, denial and stoicism. At times, God
brings suffering into our lives to break up all the lime scale of our defenses.
He sends those trials that our hearts may have a renewed ability for intimate
contact with Him. (The thicker our
protection layers, the less intimate our contact with God.) The furnaces of
affliction are a mercy. For in them,
our defense mechanisms utterly fail (Ps. 73:26). This is compassionate discipline from God, for we need to desist
from control in order to assume a posture of childlike reliance. A united heart, a whole heart, a truthful
heart that is unrestrained in affection comes only form a childlike disposition
in the presence of the Father. Application – God’s chastening love permits burdens
too big for us that we might develop the habit of unburdening ourselves before Him in prayer. He gives us these “errands” so that we will
pour out our heart until the care and pain is spent and “rolled upon” our High
Priest. It is by these “appointments”
that He restores joy from the deadness of carnal self-sufficiency. Our right standing is the foundation for
intimate fellowship with God. THE CROSS REDEEMS
THE NEGATIVITY IN OUR LIVES. So much of our
self-protection, pretending and hiding our hearts from God is due to the fact
that we do not understand the present value of the cross. The finished work of Christ is perfectly
suited for dealing with every sin and every fruit of sin. The present value of the cross allows the
believer to process the most
horrendous things about himself. All of the
methods of escape, denial, defense and self-protection make a man’s latter end
infinitely more painful. This is a
great paradox. Those who attempt to
live the most “pain free” now will have the greatest discomfort later. The secrets of men’s hearts will become
public knowledge on judgment day (Rom. 2:16; 1 Cor. 4:5). Short accounts with God was Paul’s watchword
(Acts 24:16). The cross works
across the grain of the flesh and opposes the self-preservation strategies that
turn upon self-sufficiency. Carnal
strength resorts to innumerable strategies employed in pain management. Allowing our pain to come in contact with
God is the standard for His saints.
“Thou hast taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Thy bottle;
Are they not in Thy book?” (Ps. 56:8).
Why are our tears so precious to God?
The Lord values intimacy of soul in it interface with Him. The humble are vulnerable before God, they
are willing to be searched by Him (Ps. 139:23,24). Guarded dungeons of pain keep us from receiving God’s love in new
areas of our being. The Priesthood of
Christ deals with the fruit of sin as
well as the sin itself. The cross is a
paradigm for redeeming the negatives of life.
The growing believer increasingly regards it to be so. Paul frequently spoke of the negativity in
his life through the lens of the cross.
(See 2 Cor. 4:7-18; 6:3-10; 7:6; 11:18-33; 12;9,10). Application – Realism is a hard won asset. Strategies to defend pain and woundedness
tend to be habitual and instinctive.
The ultimate goal of our transparent prayer life is that we may draw
near to God in adoration and love. By
unburdening our souls before God, we make supplication for new installments of
grace. By this renewed strength, we are
enabled to do His will and bring Him glory.
We pray that we might follow in the footsteps of our Savior as
overcomers. |
