Lion vs Lion

September 7, 2024

Last month I got to thinking about lions. Specifically, about “adversary the devil,” who walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Then, about that greater lion, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5), who alone is able to bring history to completion.

We see many representations of Jesus the Lion in current literature and art. I think it really began to take hold with C.S. Lewis’ Narnia tales about Aslan, the lion who represents Christ. When Lewis describes him as “dangerous, but good,” we get this picture of him, strong and powerful, defeating the White Witch with a swipe of his clawed paw. But that’s not how Aslan defeated her, and it’s not how Christ defeats Satan.

Listen to the rest of his description:

Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain…” —Revelation 5:5-6 

The Lion of the tribe of Judah is the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world for our sins.” Satan is defeated not by a show of muscular or military strength, but by Jesus submitting himself to death that he might overcome death in his resurrection. 

The power of the enemy in our lives today is defeated the same way. We submit ourselves to the will of God, surrender our right to determine our destiny, even swallowing injustice ourselves so the love of Christ might be manifest in and through us. It’s not easy, but Jesus himself said if we would truly live, we must die to ourselves, pick up a cross, and follow him.

Worries

I’ve been thinking about 1 Peter 5:8-9 for quite awhile now. But before Peter counsels us to be on the alert for our enemy who prowls around like a roaring lion, he has a word of encouragement that I suspect many of us need today. 

 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” —I Peter 5:6-7 

We may talk about the first part of that sentence at another time, but it’s the last part that I think is so needful today: “Cast all your care upon him.” We live in an almost unprecedented time of anxiety. It’s dangerous to assume our time in history is worst than any other, but a ubiquitous media which seems to believe its primary purpose is to instill fear, coupled with a fragile faith foundation, causes anxiety even among Christians. 

Peter tells us there is a remedy for our anxiety: “Cast all your care upon Christ.” Not just some of it—ALL of it. We can give our anxiety to him because he cares deeply for us and will instill his peace within us if we simply leave our troubles with him. Our problem is that we give our anxieties to Jesus, but as soon as we finish praying, we pick them up again.

There’s an old gospel song that goes, “Take your heavy burdens to the cross; and leave them there.” It’s good advice that helps us access the Good News.

 

Imputation

 September 6, 2024

“The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.”

—Proverbs 28:1 

I left you yesterday with a clear statement: “If you want to be bold, be righteous,” which begs the question, “What does it mean to be righteous?” 

The first thing most people think when they hear this word is someone who is stuffy and has a “holier-than-thou” attitude. The Biblical word is not as much a moral or ethical term as it is relational. To be righteous is to be in a right relationship with God. This has moral implications, but isn’t something we can attain by trying to be good.

The only way we can be in a right relationship with God is through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We admit that despite our best efforts, we fall short (Romans 3:23), and place our faith in what Jesus did for us when he took our sins upon himself when he died on the cross in our place. 

The word Paul uses to describe this is “imputation” (Romans 4:5-8). It’s a financial term. I have no money in my account, so someone else puts his money in for me. That’s imputation, and it’s what Jesus did. We were not only bankrupt, we were hopelessly in debt, but God placed Christ’s righteousness in our accounts when we repented and placed our faith in him. That’s righteousness. That’s why we can be bold. We aren’t trusting in our own goodness, wondering if it’s enough. We’re trusting in Christ’s righteousness, which we know is enough.

Lion-Hearted

 September 4, 2024

More than a month ago I detoured from talking about lions; specifically, Satan the roaring lion who seeks to devour us, and Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. I detoured to talk about the protection, the defense God gives us to deal with that counterfeit lion.

Today I want to look at a different lion…YOU. 

If you want to know how to live your best life, read the book of Proverbs…again and again. here’s a gem from Proverbs 28:1

“The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.”

—Proverbs 28:1 

There have been times in my life when I wanted to be able to act boldly, to stand firmly amidst opposition, but caved at the last moment. Looking back, I realize that whenever that happened, I had sinned, causing my confidence to evaporate. I was like Samson who when Delilah shaved his head, didn’t realize that the Spirit of the Lord had left him. He tried to do the mighty things he had done before, but was weak and powerless. 

Sin undermines confidence. We may put on a smiley face and strut around like a peacock, but if we let jealousy, anger, melancholy, fear, unforgiveness, and the like have a place in our hearts, our confidence gets stripped away. If you want to be bold, be righteous!

Enough

 September 3, 2024

\“praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—” —Ephesians 6:18 

For me, one of the hardest parts of prayer is found in these last four words—“for all the saints.” I have a prayer list that’s all dog-eared and worn. It has all your names on it, along with little notes to remind me what each of you need. Linda’s list is much more detailed than mine; she’s a much better pray-er than I. 

Here’s my problem: I know a lot of people, but I don’t know specific needs many of them have. I know generalities about my Cuban brothers and sisters, and of my friends Tsoogii and Tsengel in Mongolia, but I don’t know for them the day to day kinds of things we pray for you. This is where Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:16, 1 Thessalonians 1:2, and Philemon 1:4 are helpful to me.

In these three letters, Paul speaks of “making mention” of his readers in his prayers. I take this to mean he didn’t know all the details that would have informed his prayers so they could be specific. Instead, he simply remembered them by name before the Lord, knowing that God knows the details that are unknown to Paul. And if God knows, that’s enough.

On Track

September 2, 2024

 “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—” —Ephesians 6:18 

“Supplication for all the saints.” Paul piles up words here.  In this single verse he uses two different words twice each to encourage us to pray. It’s as if he’s saying, “Don’t miss this! Pray with all prayer and supplication… with supplication!” 

If you’ve gotten serious about prayer, you know how hard it can be to stay on track, to stay focused, or to invest much time in it. Why do you suppose that is? I’ll tell you what I think: The devil is scared of our prayers. He knows how powerful they can be and how powerless he is against genuine prayer. So he’ll let us do any good work we choose so long as it keeps us from the one thing that can actually do him damage. So don’t give up. The harder prayer gets, the closer you are to victory.

Almost There

September 1, 2024

 “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—” —Ephesians 6:18 

“Supplication for all the saints.” Paul piles up words here.  In this single verse he uses two different words twice each to encourage us to pray. It’s as if he’s saying, “Don’t miss this! Pray with all prayer and supplication… with supplication!” 

If you’ve gotten serious about prayer, you know how hard it can be to stay on track, to stay focused, or to invest much time in it. Why do you suppose that is? I’ll tell you what I think: The devil is scared of our prayers. He knows how powerful they can be and how powerless he is against genuine prayer. So he’ll let us do any good work we choose so long as it keeps us from the one thing that can actually do him damage. So don’t give up. The harder prayer gets, the closer you are to victory.