The Son of God was not spared
Day 5
Big Idea: The Son of God was not spared so you can be saved.
Mark 15:39: “And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’”
As I shared on Sunday, I love the contrast of the sacrifice of Isaac to the sacrifice of Jesus. Why is it that in the story of Isaac, my heart races more, my fears rise up higher in my throat, and my desire for relief is so much greater? Why is it I struggle to accept God asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son, yet take for granted that God sacrificed his only son?
The difference in the story of sacrifice in Genesis 22 and Mark 15 is that in Mark 15 the person dies while in Genesis 22 the son is spared and the ram is slaughtered.
That brings us to my big idea today: The Son of God was not spared so you can be saved.
The Son of God was not spared so you can be saved.
The Son of God was not spared so you can be saved.
Yes, I meant to do that because I want you to see it. Feel it. Hear it. Experience it.
Jesus was not spared though he was sinless so that you, though sinful, can be saved.
I end the week with this verse: Romans 5:8: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Sit in that today!
Jesus is not only…
Day 4
On Sunday I stated, if Jesus was only a teacher, then at best he could offer us wisdom. If Jesus was only a healer, then he could fix our ailments. If Jesus was only a good person, then he could show us how to live. If Jesus was only a prophet, then he could warn us of what is ahead.
But Jesus is not simply a great teacher, or magnificent healer, or sinless man, nor merely a prophet: Jesus is the image of the invisible God in whom the fullness of God dwells.
He is God among us! God with us! God suffering for us. God dying in our place. God defeating death once and for all. God giving us hope, life, and peace.
Big Idea: Jesus is not merely a ________, he is the Son of God sent for us!
Where do you need to expand your understanding of who Jesus is?
Fully God and Fully Man
Day 3
Past Days:
Don’t complicate the simple!
When Jesus is called the Son of God it is a direct repudiation of Caesar who was treated as a god.
Big Idea: Jesus is Fully God and Fully Man.
Philippians 2:5-8: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
Jesus existed from the beginning. John’s gospel calls him the Word of God, which, when you connect that concept to Genesis 1’s creation story, leads us to the conclusion that it was through Jesus all things were made. Jesus is fully God!
Yet, through the womb of a virgin in the virgin birth, Jesus is fully man. Jesus started as a helpless infant like me and you. Jesus had a childhood like me and you. Jesus experienced the teenage years and learning adulthood like me and you.
Everything we have experienced on this earth, Jesus experienced something similar. He mourned the loss of friends and family. He was scraped and bled. He hungered and thirsted.
While every other religion requires man to try to attain the divine through perfection and holiness, Christianity shows God stepping into our world as one of us—enduring, suffering, and experiencing all the heartaches of this broken world.
Jesus, the almighty and all-powerful, takes on flesh and dwells among us, dies for us, and defeats death once and for all. As Paul writes in Colossians 1, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and the fullness of God dwells in him.
Today, I encourage you simply to be overcome by the fact that God became man to suffer and save.
Mark’s Direct Attack
Day 2
Big Idea: When Jesus is called the Son of God it is a direct repudiation of Caesar who was treated as a god.
Mark 1:1 states clearly: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
If you lived in Rome at the time, “Son of God” was not a new name. Following the death of Julius Caesar, the fallen emperor was declared divine. His successor, Caesar Augustus, began calling himself Son of a god. Coins were minted with that title. Inscriptions were crafted. Augustus liked this title as it reinforced political loyalty. To confess “Caesar is Lord” was political allegiance. To call him “Son of God” was acknowledging imperial supremacy.
Then Jesus shows up. Mark, in a direct rebuttal of the Roman power of the day, calls Jesus the Son of God! Mark is not just making a theological point; he is making a political point as well.
Jesus is the supreme leader.
Jesus is the great power.
Jesus is the one to follow.
Most of us are not tempted to call a political figure any name of deity, but if we are not careful, we are very tempted to bow down to the ideologies, power, and success of these figures.
If we are not careful, we are tempted to worship gods of comfort, achievement, and accomplishment. We worship the dreams of peace, happiness, and health with our whole heart, mind, and soul.
Jesus, the Son of God, is the only one worthy of our highest attention and affection. Remember back to our series in February on following Jesus and consider the question raised in Luke 9:25: “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”
Is there anything in this world that is worthy of our whole heart, mind, and soul?
Jesus makes it clear: nothing else is worthy except me!
Mansplaining and Shelaborating
This week I have 5 simple devotions for you as we consider the FACT that Jesus is the Son of God.
Day 1 Big Idea: Don’t complicate the simple!
There’s a term in our culture called “mansplaining”—when a man over-explains a simple idea in a patronizing way, repeating the same point again and again. We can all be guilty of this (or maybe even “shelaborating”).
The issue that arises when we pile on too many details is that we risk burying the point. We get stuck in the weeds of details. Mark refuses to risk his audience missing the point so he starts his writing as so: Mark 1:1 “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
Mark gets straight to the point without any filler material or added detail. This writing will be about the good news that Jesus is the Christ and he is the Son of God.
These two descriptors capture everything Mark wants to be heard:
Jesus is the promised Savior.
Jesus is the actual Son of God.
That’s the simple, powerful reality we’re called to believe and share: Jesus isn’t merely a good teacher or moral example. He is God come to die in our place, paying the debt of sin for every man, woman, and child.
It’s tempting to over-explain with all the details we’ve learned—but resist that urge. The gospel doesn’t need embellishment to be profound. Jesus is the Son of God, sent to give his life as the sacrifice for our sins.
This is the good news. This is the gospel. This is what we’ve staked our lives on.