He Learned Obedience

In Deuteronomy 8, Moses told the Israelites that the Lord God had led them in the wilderness for 40 years and that there was a purpose to it. It was so that He might humble them and that their hearts would be revealed. Would they keep His commandments or not? The Israelites were to know by experience that, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” How did God teach them this? He let them hunger. Then He fed them with manna, which they had never experienced before, but only enough to feed them for the day. They learned by experience that the Lord God was faithful. Every morning his mercies were new. They experienced their clothing and shoes preserved. They were to know by experience the discipline of their God.

The ultimate purpose for the discipline of the Lord is holiness. They would then obey His commandments, walk in His ways and fear Him. The writer of the Hebrews echoes this thought when he wrote, “he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Heb.12:10-11 ESV)

There are many similarities between the Israelites experience and that of the temptation of Christ. The Lord Jesus was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days and there was also purpose to it. The Israelites were humbled by God, but the Lord Jesus humbled Himself. Through His humbling, His perfect heart was revealed and His perfect obedience seen. He was a perfect man and the joy of His Father’s heart yet He allowed Him to hunger. The Lord Jesus at any time could have met His need but He didn’t. He humbled Himself under His Father’s hand. “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered.” (Heb. 5:8 ESV) J.M Flanigan in "What the Bible Teaches", points out that the Lord Jesus did not learn to be obedient. He learned obedience. What a contrast! We who are disobedient learn to be obedient through our sufferings and trials, but the Lord Jesus learned, or came to know by experience, obedience. He who was from the glory, whom angels worshipped, and by whom the worlds and everything in them were created, experienced submission.

We who are weak would stop our suffering and our trials and meet our own needs if we could. When the Lord Jesus was tempted by Satan to make the stones bread, He said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” (Luke 4:4) He became obedient even to death, even to the shameful death on a cross. (Phil. 2:8) He humbled Himself. That should humble us and encourage us. Let us not grow weary in our trials. It is for holiness. “Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” (Heb. 12:3)

And what was the ultimate purpose for His experiencing obedience? He was found to be completely fit to be our Savior, “and being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Heb. 5:9 ESV)

Praise the Saviour, ye who know Him!
Who can tell how much we owe Him?
Gladly let us render to Him
All we are and have.

Jesus is the Name that charms us,
He for conflict fits and arms us;
Nothing moves, and nothing harms us
When we trust in Him.

Trust in Him, ye saints, for ever;
He is faithful, changing never;
Neither force nor guile can sever
Those He loves from Him.

Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving
To thyself, and still believing,
Till the hour of our receiving
Promised joys in heaven.

Then we shall be where we would be,
Then we shall be what we should be,
That which is not now, nor could be,
Then shall be our own.

Zechariah's Prophecy

"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:76-79 ESV)

I enjoyed this morning that the Lord Jesus was the sunrise that dawned upon the world. The world sat in darkness and death loomed so close as to cast its shadow upon it. Except for this Great Light we would still dwell in deep darkness. There would be no morning for us, no warmth, no life - only "a darkness to be felt." Not one looked for Light, not one recognized their own darkness. Yet, "because of the tender mercy of our God", the Light of the World spread His glow from the east to the west. The Warmth of God has "shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The feet that were "swift to shed blood" have been guided by the Light "into the way of peace."

"A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!"

What a holy night it must have been when into the darkness came the holy Son of God.

"He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name." (Luke 1:49 ESV)

Narnia Projects

We are reading through the Chronicles of Narnia in Literature this year. We are learning about setting so Haley and Kevin made displays of two settings. Haley chose The Wood Between the Worlds and she wrote a descriptive paragraph. Kevin chose Charn and wrote a cinquain.





The Wood Between the Worlds, by Haley

You might be wondering why it is called "The Wood Between the Worlds." You are probably saying to yourself, "What other worlds are there?" Well, I will tell you. It is a very pleasant place. It is so silent that you can almost hear the trees growing. The funny thing about it is that when you first go there you feel as if you had been there your whole life. The trees grow so close together that you can't even see the sky. You know there is a very strong sun in the sky because there is a green light coming from the trees. One very strange thing is there are pools as far as your eyes can see. And this is why it is called, "The Wood Between the Worlds," for every pool is a door to a different world. Digory and Polly, the main characters in The Magician's Nephew, went to two other worlds. One of them was Narnia and the other was Charn, the desolate city destroyed by the evil queen, Jadis, when she spoke the Deplorable Word. You will find out all about it in The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis.






Charn, by Kevin

City
Destroyed, desolate
Terrifying, horrifying, frightening
Makes blood run cold
Town

Yet

A small word, yet big truths. I think the prophet Isaiah would agree. Each time we find the word “yet” in Isaiah 53 it is a cause for worship.

“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”

While the Lord Jesus was suffering on the cross there were those passing by who derided Him. They shook their heads and were full of scorn for the One who claimed He would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. Here he was, they thought, shamefully hanging on a cross unable to save Himself. “Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save.” All along He was bearing our griefs and our sorrows. It was because of our sins He was hanging on that cross. He did not save Himself so that He could save us. “Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”

“He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth.”

When I think about that appalling scene where a whole battalion of Roman soldiers is gathered around the Lord Jesus, I am awed at His silence. They stripped the holy Son of God, put a purple robe about Him, fashioned a crown of thorns for His head and placed a reed as a scepter in His hand. Thus arrayed, they bowed before Him in mockery saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they took the reed and beat the crown of thorns into His head. They spit on Him and beat Him and scourged Him. Then they crucified Him.

The words the Lord Jesus said to Peter come to mind. “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” “Yet he opened not His mouth.”

“He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him.”

The Lord Jesus was not dying for His own sin, but for ours. No one that he came into contact with could bring one accusation against Him. The Jews brought false witness after false witness before the tribunal in order to find some charge to condemn Him. “But they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.” Three times over in Luke 23, Pilate stated that He didn’t find any guilt in the Lord Jesus and neither did Herod. One of the criminals hanging beside Him railed at Him. “But the other rebuked him, saying, “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.” Even a Roman centurion who witnessed the death of the Lord Jesus confessed, “Certainly this was a righteous man.” Heaven itself opened up on more than one occasion to declare, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.”

Yet, this One who “always did those things that pleased the Father,” was the One that it pleased the Father to bruise. It was the will of the Lord to “put Him to grief.” Not me, but Him. My soul can only sing in some heavenly language that I cannot fully comprehend. There are no earthly words – no earthly language – that could express the worship due Him. But let us try.

The Power of God

The theme of power runs throughout the book of Ephesians. There are five words used to describe power, strength, might, authority or the effectual working of it in the Greek language. All five of these words are found over 20 times in the short book of Ephesians. Four of these words are contained in one verse of chapter one where Paul prays that the saints may know “the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.” Paul first shows us what the power of God has done for us, then what it is presently doing in us, and, finally, what it enables us to do – all to the praise of His glory.

In chapter one, the apostle Paul sets forth all the spiritual blessings we have in Christ Jesus; chosen to be holy, predestined for adoption, redemption through His blood, and an inheritance sealed with the Holy Spirit. The only thing that could accomplish this for us is the immeasurable power of God, the same power that “He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.”

Paul recalls to our minds what we once were in Ephesians two. Dead in our trespasses and sins, we were separated from Christ and without God in this world. We followed after the prince of the power of the air and fulfilled the lusts of our flesh. In short, we were utterly depraved and without hope. Does it surprise us then that it would take the power of God, the very power that raised Christ from the dead, to give us life, seat us in heavenly places with Christ, and make it possible that children of wrath should walk in good works? This power has brought those that are far near, united Jew and Gentile into one new man, given us access to the Father through the Spirit and made us “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

Not only has the power of God brought all this about for us in the past through the work of the cross, but in chapter three Paul declares that even at the present time this power is at work in us, strengthening the inner man so that we may know and understand the immeasurable love of Christ and “be filled with all the fullness of God.” Let’s rethink that a moment. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is now, this moment, working in us for the express purpose of revealing the vast and unfathomable love of Christ so that we may be filled with the virtues and excellencies of Christ. Oh, if only we could be here, drinking this truth in moment by moment. This can only be a foretaste of heaven.

In chapter four, five and six this power enables us to live with our brethren in unity and equips us with spiritual gifts to build up the body of Christ. It is the strength needed to turn from our wicked works and walk in the light. It is the power needed for a wife to submit to her husband, for a husband to sacrificially love his wife, for a child to obey his parents, and for a slave to obey his master as he would Christ.

Paul wraps up his letter with three power words in one sentence. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” The efficacy of His power is so complete that we can withstand the principalities and powers and the rulers of darkness that work against us. Outfitted in the whole armor of God, we are able to stand before Satan himself.

I can only say with Paul, “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."

Accountability

I just had a moment of enlightening. It doesn't happen too often so I'm writing it down so I can see it in black in white. I have been reading a book called, "The Pursuit of Holiness" by Jerry Bridges. He commented that often, when we sin, we say things like, "I failed," or "I was defeated by that sin," and thereby place blame on something outside of ourselves. This rang a bell for me. It sounds so much better than, "I disobeyed God," which would shift the responsibility where it ought to be - on me. Sin cannot defeat me any longer. I choose to sin. I don't think this is semantics. This is how I hold on to those sins that I lament so loudly over. I hear a convicting voice saying, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." I need to hold myself accountable for my sin and remember that Jesus suffered for it so that I don't take it lightly. And then rest in His amazing grace.

Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary

My New Purchase

I just hit the "order now" button for Teaching Textbooks 6. I am so excited. I think it will be another resource (albeit an expensive one) for Haley in reviewing multiplication and division and learning fractions and decimals. She needs to be more independent next year so this will get her ready to make a smooth transition to TT7. I did major spring cleaning in my desk area today. There is such satisfaction sitting at my desk and surveying my organized and uncluttered desktop. We start back full-time tomorrow - adding in our history and literature.

I Was a Little Bored Today.......

Peanutus Sumus!

We made birthday invitations in Latin using Minimus. It's a fun introduction which everyone is enjoying. It's amazing how much we understand.

A New Year

August 6, 2007 - Our first day back to school! I made Schultute cones (a German tradition) and filled them with the coolest school supplies I could find at Staples - a label maker, art markers, highlighters and pens. And, of course, books. It was like Christmas morning. I wouldn't let them come downstairs until I had the breakfast table set with everything to make ice cream sundaes. Later, we transferred this picture onto T-shirts and underneath it we ironed on the letters, "Home'scool." It was a special day.