Category Archives: redemption

Untold Tenets: Maintaining the Status Quo – Luke 8:26-38

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“When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left” (Luke 8:35-37, NIV)

This series of devotions, Untold Tenets, captures its lessons from lesser-known and sometimes overlooked scriptures that are embedded within or immediately following a well-known bible story or biblical text.

In this well-known and powerful story of demonic possession and exorcism, Jesus purposely went to a Gentile region and ministered there. As He got out of the boat after crossing the Sea of Galilee, a man possessed by many demons ran up to Jesus screaming and begging Jesus not to torture them or send them to the underworld prison of evil spirits.

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Resident Evil, Part 1 – Genesis 6:5-7

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good_evil“The Lord saw that humanity had become thoroughly evil on the earth and that every idea their minds thought up was always completely evil. The Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and he was heartbroken. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe off of the land the human race that I’ve created: from human beings to livestock to the crawling things to the birds in the skies, because I regret I ever made them’” (Genesis 6:5-7, CEB).

It didn’t take long after the Creation for people to become so evil that God was sorry He created them. Evil must have spread among human beings at an exponential rate.

Evil seems to have grown simultaneously with the human race because God wanted to destroy the whole human race. Apparently everyone, or almost everyone, was evil!

Did God make a big mistake when He created human beings? If the humanity that God created had become thoroughly evil, then did God create evil?

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Small Beginnings, Enormous Endings – Zechariah 4:10

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baby_jesus“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand” (Zechariah 4:10, NLT).

When the first wave of Jewish exiles returned to Judea, they were enthusiastic about rebuilding the Temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians nearly fifty years earlier. But when their efforts to start rebuilding the Temple were opposed and resisted by neighboring nations and internally by the current inhabitants of the land, the repatriated Jews became discouraged and the Temple continued to lie in ruins for almost twenty more years.

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Resurrection! Part 4: God’s Anger = God’s Mercy – John 11:33-35

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God's Hand of Mercy “When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved. ‘Where have you put him?’ He asked. ‘Lord,’ they told Him, ‘come and see.’ Jesus wept” (John 11:33-35, HCSB).

This meditation is Part 4 of a four-part series from the story of the raising of Lazarus from death. When Jesus arrived in Bethany after Lazarus had died, He encountered family and friends mourning over the death of Lazarus.

Jesus exhibited a wide range of emotions as He shared in the sorrow of Lazarus’ death with family and friends.

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Whatever It Takes – Romans 11:32

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“whateverittakesFor God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.” (Romans 11:32, NLT).

In Romans 9-11 the Apostle Paul addressed the theological question raised by the Roman Christians about the unbelief of so many Jews. Why had God promised salvation to Israel, His chosen people, and so few Jews were being saved?

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The Eternity Connection – 2 Samuel 14:14

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connected_hearts“All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him” (2 Samuel 14:14, NLT).

These words were spoken to King David by a woman with a reputation for great wisdom (vs. 2). With advice from this wise woman, King David was persuaded to reconcile with his son, Absalom.

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Wrath Versus Mercy – Romans 9:22-24

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God'sWrath&Mercy2“And what if God, desiring to display His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath ready for destruction. And what if He did this to make known the riches of His glory on objects of mercy, that he prepared beforehand for glory–on us, the ones He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” (Romans 9:22-24, HCSB).

These verses do not mean that God desires to show His wrath on those who deserve it. Rather, they mean that God desires to show His mercy by saving those who deserve His wrath. And, God can best show His love by having mercy on those who deserve His wrath.

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Grace Glue – Romans 8:28, Part 4

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BrokenCeramicFigurine-Trans“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, NASB).

In Part 3 of this series of meditations on Romans 8:28, we determined that the good that God is causing is not about you or your problems, it’s about you being a part of God’s greater good, God’s will. And our individual and collective lives then acquire significance by becoming part of God’s grand plan and purpose for His creation.

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The Greater Good – Romans 8:28, Part 3

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Greater_Good“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, NASB).

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series of meditations on Romans 8:28 we established that we are broken people living in a broken world and God is redeeming us and all His creation.  God’s redemptive plan for the created order is not an accident of creation but is God’s design, His eternal plan.

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Repaired – Romans 8:28, Part 2

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repairman“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, NASB).

In the first part of this meditation we established that God is Love but human beings are willful and rebellious. We are broken and God wants to fix us. So, our redemption IS God’s master plan. Redemption is the whole purpose behind the created order.

So why didn’t God just fix us so we didn’t need “fixing” in the first place? Romans 8:28 provides some clues that help us solve this theological perplexity…

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