The Glory of Submission

Our culture gets the idea of submission all kinds of wrong.

You can hardly even utter the "s" word without the wrath of modern ideology being poured out by people who ought to know (and think) better.

Eyes roll, mouths tighten, necks stiffen...oh, I've seen it happen. And to be fair, there are often a few too-gleeful-and-triumphant looking husbands giving their wives the I-told-you-so look, whenever those *black and dreadful* verses-which-shall-not-be-named are read out loud.

Jesus never rolled His eyes and stiffened His neck when it came to submission.

And He never smirked in arrogant triumph at anyone either.

Instead, Jesus glorified and exalted submission as something to be highly desired, cultivated and sought after.

Jesus was GOD, you know...He spoke the world into creation. He laid the earth's foundations, marked off its dimensions, stretched a measuring line across it, and shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb. He takes the very light to its abode and puts the darkness into its residence. He fills the storehouses with snow and hail, and scatters the east winds over the earth. Every bolt of lightning reports back to Him, for He has created and directed each one of them. (Job chapter 38)

Can your mind even conceive of such vast greatness, can you even begin to consider the majesty and awesome power of Jesus? He is the beginning and the end, He dwells in light unapproachable, He is the WORD OF GOD MADE FLESH. He is the glory of all creation, and all flesh will fall on its knees and worship Him in the end.

And for all of that glory and power and authority and majesty, Jesus Christ submitted in ways that we probably can never fully appreciate. And He did it willingly, in perfect obedience, never demanding that His "rights" be given to Him, never whining that it was unfair. He made submission a glorious thing for us to emulate.

Jesus equated submission with greatness; He equated servant hood, and even slavery, with being the best, and first, position.

Matthew 20:25-28

"But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.""

In Matthew 5:5, Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

So if Jesus, who was God, commended submission and meekness, why do we resent and fight back against it, in any of its many forms? Well, the big answer is that we are full of sin, but more specifically, I think, it's because we are full of PRIDE.

And the culture that we, as post-modern Americans, live in, encourages us to be filled to the brim with the nastiness of pride. I know, because I am naturally a very prideful person. By the grace of God, I can say that I have been sanctified a great deal in this area, but believe me, I understand this particular sin from the inside, out.

This pride tells us that we don't have to submit. That submission somehow is shameful and weak and 'less-than.' That it ain't fair, and that the people we are called to submit to certainly don't deserve our submission.

But contrast all of that "wisdom" with the true wisdom of Jesus. Jesus submitted to Mary and Joseph as His earthly parents, even though He was God. Jesus submitted to the government that he lived under, even though they only held power at His good pleasure. Ultimately, Jesus submitted to a gross and horrible death on the cross, at the hands of people who certainly hadn't done anything to deserve His submission. And He always acts in perfect submission to the will of the Father, with whom He is an equal.

So the next time your mind goes down the rabbit trail of pride, the next time you are tempted to think of submission in a negative light, consider Jesus, and consider it a glory to share with Him in submission, that you might be exalted by Him in due time.

1 Peter 5:5

Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."

Submission of the Gut Wrenching Variety

And just so you know, I'm not talking about husbands and wives in this post. Although I could, cause, boy, is that fertile ground for the topic of submission. But, nope, I'm going to be talking about Jesus.

There are times when we read Scripture and it is just kind of, well...a thing to get through. I have those mornings just like the rest of you.

And then, there are those days when you see something in the text that makes the hair on your arms stand up and your gut suck in a deep breath. I had one of those moments a few days ago.

Most of you are probably familiar with the story of Jesus being arrested by the mob of thugs in the Garden of Gethsemane. It's a Bible story that we church-grown folks grew up hearing. Maybe we even heard it so often that we got kind of casual and flippant about it. Sometimes reading it afresh divulges a gem that is so astounding we can't believe we've MISSED IT all these years!

Let me set the stage a little bit for you and then see if I can wrangle the same WOW out of you that I experienced.


Jesus was a perfect man. He was also fully a man. However, unlike any of us, He was also fully God. The theological term for this seeming contradiction is hypostatic union. And as God in the flesh, Jesus had at His disposal all of the power of God. As a man, who walked around on the earth and felt human needs like hunger and fatigue, He was also the same God who created the heavens and the earth by speaking words. Now, I should be able to stop typing at this point and just leave you with that thought. Because, honestly, if that doesn't make you go, "Whoa," then you haven't thought about it long enough, or deep enough.

But there is more. Jesus, as God, also had at His disposal command and control of the angels. Far from the chubby babies with feathery wings of our popular culture, angels are actually pretty fearsome things. Think of the angel that swept through Egypt and killed all of those first born sons before Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites go. And that was just the work of one lonely angel. Imagine the power that Jesus had at His command as a man who could call down the power of all the angels in heaven at his whim.

NOW, imagine Jesus as He is praying in the Garden, just hours and moments before He knows He will die a humiliating, painful and horrible death on the cross.

He doesn't really want to go through with it. Now, bear with me here. Jesus is always in perfect, sinless submission to God the Father. But as a human being living in flesh, Jesus the Son had some real anxiety about what was going to happen to Him.

Matthew 26:39

"He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will but as You will."

Jesus says, I will do your will. But, Father, if it is possible, let there be another way. But there isn't. Jesus must die. There must be atonement for the sins of His children. It has to happen this way.

And so, despite the natural resistance of His human nature, Christ willingly submits to the will of the Father. I say willingly, because nobody ever forced Jesus to do it. He willingly submitted to all of the horrors of the cross and all of the horrors of broken fellowship with the Father as He endured the holy wrath of a holy God in order to redeem OUR lives from the pit of destruction.

As the multitude carrying swords and clubs laid hands on Jesus and arrested Him, Peter couldn't contain himself. You can imagine that they were roughing Jesus up in the process of arresting him. And in reaction, Peter drew his sword and struck off the ear of the servant of the high preist.

It is what Jesus said next that is so astounding.

Matthew 26:52-54

"But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then can the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus." (emphasis mine)

Did you catch that? The Father will provide angels. Not He might, or He may, or its possible that He will take that into consideration. He will do it. If I ask, He will. If I ask, this whole plan will not be fulfilled, it will not happen.

But Jesus didn't ask. He died on the cross.

And that, girls, is submission of the gut wrenching variety. Wow. Is there anything else to say?

Hebrews 12:2

"looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

On Bows and Rainbows

I don't have time for a "real" post right now. I've been out of town all weekend and I'm trying to play catch-up before the start of what I expect to be a super busy week. (I'm teaching Ruth Session Two on Wednesday, so please pray for me if you think of it. And I'll try to post the audio by the end of the week.)

But I wanted to share something really interesting that I heard twice this weekend, that I think you will enjoy as well.

Several weeks ago I happened to be riding through town after a wet and rainy afternoon. It was about an hour before dusk and the sky was still filled with gray, misty clouds. Suddenly, my husband pointed out an amazing sight: two full arcs of a double rainbow brilliantly displayed in the sky. I had never seen a double rainbow before, and it was breathtaking. Not only were there two visible arcs, but you could see the full arch from one end of the horizon to the other for each individual rainbow. We pulled the car over and unloaded our family in the middle of an empty parking lot just to stare at this wonder in the sky.

If you remember your Sunday School lessons, you will remember that the rainbow is endowed with special meaning by God. In Genesis 9:13-16, we read the following:

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind of the earth."

To understand the significance of this particular covenant agreement that God made between Himself and all life on earth, you need to remember what God just finished doing. We love to tell the story of Noah and his ark to our children. But how often do we point out to them that the real point of Noah and the ark was to save them from the massive wiping out of life that God purposed and performed? God literally destroyed every person and creature on earth, expect for the inhabitants of that relatively little floating capsule we call the ark.

God did not put the rainbow in the sky as a warm fuzzy feel good to make us smile and reflect kindly on Him when we happen to see one. No, He wanted to assure mankind and all of creation that He was never going to bring such a war upon them again. At least, not in the form of a flood.

While I was at a conference this weekend, the speaker made an offhand point about the shape of the rainbow. It is very similar to the spape of a bow, as in a bow and arrow. The bow and arrow are mostly employed as a sport by archers today, with perhaps some hard-core bow hunters thrown in the mix. But in the days of ancient warfare, the bow and arrow were deadly and effective weapons.

And some have speculated that when God put that bow shaped arch in the sky, He was signifying that He had hung up His weapon of war, never to use that particular one against His creation ever again. I've also heard it speculated that not only was the weapon hung upon the wall, but its curve was pointed up, toward heaven itself, instead of down to the face of the earth.

Because, you see, God did still need to declare war. A war against sin. And we all know who ended up taking the brunt of that war upon Himself. It was God, in the human flesh of Jesus Christ. God put all of His holy wrath upon Himself in order to redeem His fallen children. And that is why the "bow" of the rainbow pointed up to the sky. It was a reminder, a promise and a foreshadowing all at the same time.

Cool, huh?

But What If...

As a Christian, have you ever had one of those moments when the thought hits you like a ton of bricks, "What if all of this is not true? What if it's just made up?"

I haven't been hit by that particular ton of bricks lately, but it has happened before. And it's likely to happen again. Fortunately, it doesn't take too much effort for me to resolve the issue. Pretty much, I just look at the nearest tree. Or, baring the availability of a tree, I glance up at the sky. And Psalm 19 immediately comes to mind.

Psalm 19: 1-4

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world.

What the Psalmist is saying, in much prettier words than I could come up with, is that the very existance of creation makes the existance of a Creator obvious. And every single person, of every single language, in every single location in the entire world, knows it. Even those who might exist at the ends of the world, far away from the written language of Scripture or the organized nature of church, are aware that God exists. In fact, the sky, and the arch of the sky (that would be the firmament) not only speak to the existance of God, but they declare His glory. (Chill bumps!) Every single day, and every single night, creation "speaks" and "reveals" knowledge; specific knowledge: knowledge of God's existance and glory. (Chill bumps again!)

Rom 1:20

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse" (emphasis mine)

Here in Romans, the Bible gets even more specific. Not only does creation declare that God exists, but now we see that the "things that are made" understand what is being said.

So why do some persist in disbelieving? Paul goes on in the next verse of Romans to give us an explanation.

Rom 1:21

"because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened."

Foolish, darkened hearts. That's the simple answer. The complicated answer involves a lot more than foolish, darkened hearts. But, I'm content to let Paul's words stand as he wrote them, because, although simple, they are vividly true.

It seems to me that I always have these flashes of doubt when I am riding around in my car, thinking. It makes me wonder where people went to do their serious thinking before cars were invented. For a walk maybe, or sitting in a rocking chair? Perhaps while staring into the leaping flames of a fire? It doesn't matter, I suppose. I do my serious thinking while driving to the grocery store. Which is probably a good thing. Because, while I am gripping the steering wheel of my car, another verse comes to mind and shuts down the argument completely.

2 Peter 3:10,11

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness," (emphasis mine)

I think that my car falls into the catagory of the "works" that are in the earth. And according to 2 Peter, my car is going to melt, or better yet, dissolve. That kind of puts things in perspective. Truth of God? Lasts forever. Steering wheel of my car? Melting like cheese on a hot burger.

And so, my friends, I can drive on with a light heart. It is real. All of it.

The Kinsman-Redeemer

I've been itching to get a post about Psalm 103 up for what seems like forever. And I just kept finding other things to write about instead. So I finally decided to get it done, and as I started looking into the verses I wanted to expound on, I saw something even better than what I originally intended to write about.

But, I just can't leave these verses alone, so humor me and read through these few verses just to appreciate their beauty and richness. Then keep reading and I'll show you something that I thought was "cool" (as one of my children is fond of saying lately.)

Psalm 103:2-5

"Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits--
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems you life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

(Be sure to note the secret to eternal youth there in that last line. And here you were thinking it lay in Botox and plastic surgery!)

This is the part that knocked me over. I started looking at the original Hebrew language in these verses, and the word for redeems held a treasure trove of layered meaning. The word is gaal and here is the definition for it according to Strongs Hebrew and Greek Dictionary: A primitive root, to redeem (according to the Oriental law of kinship,) that is, to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property...)

There are other Hebrew words throughout the Old Testament that are translated as redeems, redeemed, or redeemer, but this particular word gaal has a specific meaning that proves to be prophetic. How? Well, let me show you. To get a full sense of what I mean, we need to take a quick look back at some of the Levitical law that God handed down to the Jews through Moses. I know that the Levitical law makes many people hit the snooze button and roll over, but bear with me here, I think you will like this!

We see an example of this kinsman-redeemer principal in Leviticus 25:25,

"If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold."

It is also one of the main plot points in the story of Ruth and Naomi. If you will remember, Boaz is the kinsman-redeemer who buys back a plot of land that Naomi has sold, and also acquires Ruth as his wife in the transaction. Part of the kinsmen-redeemer's responsibility was to marry the widow of a dead relative, and produce offspring through her, and those offspring would be considered the children of the dead relative. In that way, the dead relative's family line would still continue. That was extremely important to the Jews.

The basic idea of the kinsman-redeemer is that a brother, or the next closest male relative, would buy back, or pay the price required, for the relative to keep his inheritance. In that way, even if someone became poor or otherwise unable to keep his property, it would not be lost, because someone else would pay the required price. And not just any someone, but a close relative.

OK, got that? Now, check this out:

Romans 8: 16-17

"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

So, applying the principal of the kinsman-redeemer, let's look at our own situation for a moment. Mankind was created without sin, we were meant to inherit a perfect, unblemished relationship to God. But through the sin of Adam, all of mankind lost this inheritance. We became in a sense, the poor relative who was unable to buy back what was lost-perfect fellowship with the Creator, God.

Now, if we believe what we are told there in Romans 8, we will see that Christians are called children of God, and joint heirs (siblings) of Christ. Do you see where I am going with this? Jesus is THE kinsman-redeemer who paid the price and bought back our inheritance! We couldn't provide a way for ourselves, so our brother paid the ultimate price-the sacrifice of himself on the cross-in order to give us back what was lost. Like I said earlier, now that is cool!

Looking back at Psalm 103 for a moment, David was prophesying when he said about God in verse 4, "who redeems (as the kinsman-redeemer) your life from the pit." The italics is mine. And David probably didn't even realize it! The Old Testament believers did not have a clear understanding of what exactly God's plan was to redeem their lives. We, who live after the events in the New Testament, can clearly see the foreshadowing of the kinsman-redeemer throughout the Old Testament.

But there is the hand of God, creating his living and active word, the Bible, down to the last minute detail in the specific word that David choose to call God the redeemer. Because, like I said, there are other Hebrew words that mean "redeem."

It's hard to imagine that I ever thought the Bible was boring. And you know, even that confusing and archaic seeming Levitical law has some foreshadowing of Christ in it. God is certainly a God of details.

Not Just the Heavens

There is nothing quite like an azalea bush heavy laden with flowers.


Psalm 19:1-4

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world."

General revelation, that is the 25 cent word which means it should be obvious to all people who observe the glories of nature that an intelligent, majestic and mighty Creator must be responsible. I know that some people who fancy themselves very intelligent look at the same creation I do and see only the hand of random chance. Phooie. That's what I have to say about that. I don't care how many degrees you have. It's as plain as the nose on your face, which by the way is an amazing testament to God's creation all by itself, that chance could not have provided the glorious earth we inhabit. But, I digress...

Around here, regardless of the fact that spring should not begin until next week, it has sprung. There are buds and blooms and pollen rioting all over town. There is something specific that I always look for every spring, and to me, it is like a show-off signature of God Himself. It is found in the bloom of the azalea. Now, as far as plants go, I am not all that fond of the azalea plant. It's not a particularly attractive bush, it has plain leaves that are kind of fuzzy, and really sticky sap. But this time of year, I can't get enough of the azalea. The blossoms are gorgeous, and there is such a variety of vibrant color. Few things thrill my heart like an azalea bush that has been transformed from plain jane to dazzling, breathtaking beauty.

And every azalea flower that I have ever seen, has an amazing leopard-like print inside of it. As far as I can tell, this little flourish serves no evolutionary purpose. And every time I see it, it seems to me that God is showing off a little bit. As if to say, "the brilliant petals of this flower are mighty impressive, but look closer and you will see my glory displayed just a bit more."

Here are a few pictures from my backyard, including some close-ups that show the leopard-like pattern I am referring to.



You can see it best in the last picture of the light pink azalea. The neat thing is, in every different shade of flower, there is a corresponding shade to the pattern inside. The light pink flower has a dark pink print, the white flower has an almost green pattern, the hot pink flower has an even bolder pink printed inside. The combinations are as endless as the shade of the flower itself. I love it.

So, yes, clearly the heavens declare the glory of God. But they aren't the only thing, not by a long shot. Take a look around you and find something that is not so obvious to admire in God's beautiful creation. I hope it will bless your soul like it has mine.

Even the sparrow

I overslept a little bit this morning. This used to mean that I would be rushed to get everyone in the house ready to get out the door, but now, it means that I have lost a chunk of my personal Bible study time. I hate it when I do that.

So, I sat down at the kitchen table, opened my Bible, glanced at the clock and groaned inside as I realized I probably only had 15 minutes of peace before the whole house woke up and needed my attention. I began to read Psalm 84, what Charles Spurgeon refers to as the "Pearl of the Psalms." I have to agree with him.

Psalm 84:1-2

"How lovely is Your tabernacle
O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God."

At this point in my reading I get distracted. A tiny sparrow has been spending a great deal of time in the basket of a dying house plant that is sitting on my back porch. (I'm notorious for killing plants, despite coming from a long line of green-thumbed women.) I think this little bird must be building a nest. For some reason this morning, he or she, I can't tell which it is, was just a singin' at the top of its little lungs. I stood up and walked over to one of the windows to get a better look at the joyful little bird. It saw me standing on the other side of the glass, probably less than 4 feet away, and it flew to the table that sits on our back patio to continue its song.

Its beak pointed straight up into the air. Its little tail bobbed with each exuberant chorus. Its chest swelled and the feathers on its back puffed in and out as this tiny creature poured out his joy. It sounded to me like his song declared, "Do you know? Do you know? Do you know?"

I just stood and watched him for a few minutes, enjoying this special close-up glimpse of the beauty of creation. Then I sat back down to continue my reading. Here is exactly what I read in verses 3-4.

"Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young--
Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
My King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
They will still be praising You."

I was stunned. It really felt like I just got a big wink and grin from God!

The 84th Psalm is deserving of a much more in-depth post, and maybe I'll even get around to writing one, but just for this morning, it was all about that little sparrow, and the treat it seemed God planned just to set my day off on the right course.

Praise Him all creatures here below!

By the way, if you have any similar stories, I'd love to hear them. Just leave me a comment!