Good Friday

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus away. Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). There they nailed him to the cross. …”
John 19:16-18a NLT

Another Good Friday, many will say, as they continue with their work-a-day lives. The shops are open. Office lights are burning. Traffic is just as heavy. Even schools are still open in some places. When the societal amnesia is confronted, people shrug, as though to say, “What is that to do with me?” They might even add, “Anyway, what’s good about nailing a man to a cross and leaving him to die?” A lady in my office once said to me, ”What’s the big deal – a lot of men were crucified in those days”. But the scoffers, shruggers and deniers then go about their business, oblivious to the reality that the dying Man on a cross held the key to their future beyond the grave. One day they will know the truth, as we read in Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. There will be no exclusions, and today’s scoffers will realise that what they dismissed on one Good Friday was in fact the crucifixion of Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. 

The enormity of what Jesus did for us has never left me, regardless of the number of Good Fridays that have passed. I still marvel at how radical and complete God’s plan was, assuring all who believe in Jesus that they will receive the gift of eternal life. I still cast my mind to Calvary, the Cross and the lonely God-man, dying for me. I will never get over His gift of love, so complete and selfless. I mourn the fact that the sin of mankind required such a radical plan, but my thanks to God know no bounds.

We pilgrims have been “washed in the blood of the Lamb”. We are assured of our salvation, and one day we too will see the prints of the nails and the hole in His side, as we fix our eyes on our wonderful Saviour. So we rejoice today that Jesus went through all that He did, just for the salvation of all who believe in Him. Today, we finish with a 300-year-old hymn by Isaac Watts, which has blessed many a person this day. With it we worship Him, the Son of God

Dear Father God, we thank You for Your Son Jesus and His sacrificial death on a Roman cross. We cannot help but praise You and thank You for all that You have done. Amen. 

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride

Forbid it Lord that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ my Lord
All the vain things that charm me most
I sacrifice them to His blood

See from His head His hands His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did ever such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown

Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing so divine
Demands my soul my life my all

Proving Ourselves

Posted on by korgrocker

“In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love.”
2 Corinthians 6:4-6 NLT

Paul the Apostle gives us a powerful portrait of authentic Christian ministry. But it is not a picture that correlates well with modern, worldly ideas of success. True servants of God are recognised not by comfort, applause, or influence, but by endurance, character, and purity of heart. Paul wrote that he and his colleagues “patiently endure” things that would have destroyed many lesser people. How convinced are we of our mission in life to put up with the things that Paul did? Look at the pressures he endured. Beatings, imprisonment, exhaustion, sleeplessness, and hunger were listed in our verses today, but there are many others in his list of persecutions. How was Paul able to endure such things? How far would we have got if we were one of Paul’s colleagues? 

In 2 Timothy 4:10a Paul wrote, “Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica. …” and I suspect we would have been hot on his heels, had we been facing into the situations that Paul seemed to attract. Jesus said to His disciples, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Paul experienced “many trials and sorrows” on steroids, but he was prepared to endure such a life because of His Lord, Jesus. Paul wrote, “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” (Philippians 3:10-11). So Paul declared that “true ministry” is not delivered in an absence of suffering but faithfulness in it. We pilgrims have not, and will not, be guaranteed a trouble-free life, but those producing the fruit of endurance are those who faithfully stay the course and don’t abandon the ship at the first hint of a storm. It may mean we have to make decisions that reduce our employment opportunities. It may mean that we have to live somewhere other than our preferred postcode. It may even mean we have to walk away from a relationship because it was becoming toxic to our fellowship with God. The troubles we have to endure may not be of the physical variety experienced by Paul, but we have to persevere in them anyway.

Paul continued to write, “We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love”. Taking these qualities in Paul in turn, we firstly consider “purity”. This is living a life of integrity in all we do, in the public things and the hidden things. Psalm 24:3-4, “Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies”. Paul’s next quality is “understanding”. This is having spiritual discernment and wisdom. James 1:5, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking”. Some situations require us to be patient and kind. But in all of this, regardless of any hardship we might experience, we must persevere, enduring what comes our way. So, when criticised, do we respond with kindness? Or if we are misunderstood, do we act with patience? And a big one – if under pressure, does purity remain?

Paul finished verse 6 of our reading today with “by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love”. In his own strength, Paul would have been unable to survive the hardships. But within Him lived the Holy Spirit, empowering him to bridge the gap between God and man through his love for both. We remember what Jesus experienced, and yet He didn’t lash out when He was abused. He loved people with the love of God, even asking forgiveness for those who hammered the nails home. Paul wrote, “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good” (Romans 12:9). He was a living example of doing just that.

We pilgrims may face workplace opposition or family misunderstandings, but how do we respond? Everything within us may want to walk away, but there is a higher goal at stake. Often, people are looking to see whether our faith is genuine and able to withstand the opposition we face. Is our love for another person able to press through the bad stuff to finally find the good in them? “He who is within us is greater than he who is in the world”, is a great verse to remember when the going gets tough.

Father God. Please help us when troubles come our way. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Embracing God’s Grace: Today is the Day of Salvation

Posted on by korgrocker

“As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvellous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.”
2 Corinthians 6:1-2 NLT

Have we pilgrims ever considered ourselves as “God’s partners”? Surely there’s too big a gulf between us for that. After all, God is the Creator of the universe that includes the populated world on which we live, hidden away in an obscure corner of a galaxy called the Milky Way. But this is just one galaxy amongst hundreds of billions, and the extent of the universe has not yet been defined because we lack the technology to plumb its limits. So how can we be “God’s partners”? To go the other way, scientists are finding smaller and smaller particles that make up the matter of which we are made. The smallest particles discovered are called Quarks, but our scientists might discover even smaller particles, once the technology to detect them is developed. So how can we be “God’s partners”?

It is only when we consider who we are in God’s grand scheme for His creation that we realise how privileged we are. How can the God of all love and care for you and me, pilgrims allotted a life span at this point in history? It is mind-boggling but we have to face the reality and truth of who we are, who God is, and accept that we are His partners. And it has all happened because there was a time when God said, “Let Us make man in Our image …” (Genesis 1:27). And ever since He has been pursuing the men and women He has created because he loves us. God was never going to be satisfied with lumps of rock forming countless celestial objects. He has created human beings, putting His Spirit within those who call out to Him with love and respect. And He has gone so much further by sending His Son, Jesus, through whom all things were created. Colossians 1:16, “for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him”. The amazing thing is that Jesus has called us His brothers and sisters, “So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters” (Hebrews 2:11). 

We pilgrims are not spectators in God’s story. We are participants. Through Christ, we have been reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:18–20), and now we join Him in the ministry of reconciliation. Grace is not just something we receive. It is something we value and look after with awe and grateful hearts.

Paul begged the Corinthians not to “accept this marvellous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it”, meaning to receive salvation outwardly but to resist transformation inwardly. It would be like receiving a present from someone at Christmas, thanking the person who gave it, and then leaving it unopened in a drawer somewhere. That present was given to us from God Himself in the person of His Son, Jesus. Behind the wrapper is the gift of eternal life, but until we open it and embrace and accept the contents, we will still be heading for a lost eternity.  Other people open up the present and say, “That’s nice”, after which they put it on a shelf somewhere, where it gathers dust, and it tarnishes with neglect. But we pilgrims have opened the present, taken out the contents and have then bowed before a Cross to call upon the Man being crucified to forgive us for all our sins. Eternal life with our wonderful Saviour will never be ignored. God’s grace is not passive. It calls us to respond.

In Isaiah 49:8 we find the Scripture quoted by Paul to the Corinthians. “This is what the Lord says: “At just the right time, I will respond to you. On the day of salvation I will help you. I will protect you and give you to the people as my covenant with them. Through you I will reestablish the land of Israel and assign it to its own people again”. Although originally written to the Israelites, the message is just as valid for people today. God’s grace will not be present forever. Paul continued, “today is the day of salvation”. Salvation is not merely a past event or a future hope; it is a present invitation. The trouble with people is that they tend to live as if they have unlimited tomorrows, saying things like, “I’ll forgive later” or “I’ll get serious about faith someday”. But Paul’s message insists on urgency. Today is when repentance happens. Today is when obedience begins. Today is when hearts are softened. Delaying spiritual response dulls sensitivity. Immediate obedience strengthens it. Yes, God will still save people with their dying breaths if they repent and reach out to Him, as the story of the thief on the cross records. 

The “marvellous gift of God’s kindness” is something we call grace. But gifts such as grace can be neglected. How do we ignore grace? By hearing the truth but refusing to change. By receiving forgiveness but withholding it from others. By celebrating salvation but resisting sanctification. Grace saves us, but it also shapes us. To truly receive grace is to let it transform priorities, relationships, and purpose. Paul, in his letter to Titus, wrote, “For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, will be revealed” (Titus 2:11-13). 

Can we pilgrims pause for a moment before we embark on the busy day ahead? Should we be asking ourselves some difficult questions? How about, “Am I postponing something God is prompting me to do”? Or, “Have I grown comfortable with grace instead of being responsive to it”? Is there anything significant that we need to do today that is spiritually significant? Paul’s plea is loving but urgent. God has acted by sending His Son into this world. The invitation to the “day of salvation” stands open. And the clock of our lives is not ticking toward anxiety. Instead, it is ticking toward opportunity.

O Lord, thank You for Your marvellous gift of grace. Please keep us from treating it casually and instead help us to respond quickly to Your voice. Teach us to live with spiritual urgency, without fear, but full of faith, on this day, another day of opportunity for us, as we are graciously called to be Your partners. Amen.

Exploring God’s Plan: Reconciliation Through Christ

Posted on by korgrocker

“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 NLT

Paul wrote that “God was in Christ”. There is a pivotal moment recorded in the Gospel of John, one that we know very well. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. This verse sets out how God, in the presence of His Son, reached down into humanity to bring reconciliation with Himself. I never tire of reading this verse because it provides us with a glimpse of the wonderful God we worship, our Heavenly Father, who loved us so much that He was prepared to take the initiative and bring Heaven to earth and salvation for sinners. But what makes this verse so powerfully poignant is that He did this while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners”. 

But what does “reconciliation” mean? It represents a healing process following a relationship breakdown. So a husband and wife will go to sessions with a therapist, intent on reconciliation to save their marriage, perhaps after a partner has been unfaithful. Following reconciliation, the relationship is restored. In Colossians 1:19-20, we read, “For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross”. 

The wonderful thing about the reconciliation between God and man is that sins are no longer recorded. Paul wrote that after this reconciliation, God “no longer [counted] people’s sins against them”. This does not mean sin doesn’t matter. It means that in Christ, the penalty has been addressed. Romans 6:10-11, “When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus”. God’s justice was satisfied at the cross. Because of Jesus, believers stand forgiven, not because sin was ignored, but because it was paid for. No matter how hard they try, people can never atone for their own sins. Only Jesus could do that, and His atonement is only possible through God’s plan for the salvation of mankind.

Paul continued with, “And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation”. The next verse starts, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors”. An ambassador represents the authority and heart of their king. As believers, we represent Christ’s heart to a divided, hurting world. We carry the news that people are not too far gone to be saved. No sin is ever too bad that it cannot be forgiven (Yes, I know about the “unpardonable sin”, but that was something focused on things the Pharisees were saying to Jesus at the time). Our message to the lost also declares that God is not holding their past against them and that peace with God is only possible through Jesus. He said, “ … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

We pilgrims have been forgiven much. In fact, if we could weigh up on the scales of eternal life all the sins that we have committed, there would be no balancing weight heavy enough to tip the scales in our favour. And yet, Jesus balanced the scales by removing the pile of sins, saying that He would take them on Himself. To do so would require a humiliating and very painful death on a Roman cross, but no balancing weight required. Reconciliation with God should produce reconciliation with others. When we understand how much we’ve been forgiven, we become agents of forgiveness. When we’ve received peace, we pursue peace. Hebrews 12:14, “Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord”. Paul continued, “God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”” Do we plead with others to accept His grace and love? We must, because it is only through Jesus that reconciliation with God is possible, and we pilgrims are here on earth at this time in history to “speak for Christ”. We have around us a generation who have never heard about what God has done for us. How will they hear if we don’t tell them?

Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for reconciling us to Yourself through Christ. Help us live as grateful ambassadors, reflecting Your grace and sharing Your message of peace with the world, as we invite our friends and families, and anyone we meet, to be reconciled to You. Amen.

Embrace Your New Life in Christ

Posted on by korgrocker

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.”
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 NLT

One of the most hope-filled promises in the Bible is found in today’s verses. They remind us that, through Christ, we are not merely improved but completely transformed. Paul wrote, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person”. The transformation described here is not an external behaviour modification, because it is a spiritual rebirth. When we place our faith in Jesus, our identity changes. A verse well known to us is the one that records what Jesus said to Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Being “born again” means just that, starting a new spiritual life. In His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus compared a natural birth to a spiritual birth, both of which are necessary for a new believer. A baby has to be born into this world, after which they will go through many stages until they leave it, the process of the “womb to the tomb”. Similarly, a person’s spirit must be born into God’s world, His Kingdom, but with a big difference. A reborn spirit never dies. Instead, it inherits eternal life.

We are no longer defined by our past sins, failures, or shame. Instead, we are defined by Christ. We read another verse from Paul yesterday in Galatians 2:20, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me”. In Christ, our story does not end with our past. It begins with His grace. Our old lives were represented by our separation from God, because they were ruled by sin and self. Our new lives represent a restored relationship, guided by the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote, “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives” (Romans 6:4). But what are these “new lives”? Well, we find that we have a new heart. Ezekiel 36:26, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart”. We will also find that we have a new mind. Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”. And pew-warming is not an option for us pilgrims because we have a new purpose. Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”.  Impatient people like me want all these good things right now, but thankfully, God is patient and kind, and He has given us His Spirit to renew and empower us to grow. 

Paul wrote, “all of this is a gift from God”. Becoming a new person is not earned. It is a gift of God’s grace. Paul emphasised this in Ephesians 2:8-9, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God”. We don’t clean up ourselves before we can come to God. Too many people say they are unworthy to come into God’s presence. But through His love and grace, He cleans us up when we come to Him. This truth keeps us humble and grateful. Our salvation is not the result of our efforts. Instead, it is the result of Christ’s finished work on the cross.

We are God’s children

“God … brought us back to himself through Christ”. In other words, we are reconciled to God through Jesus. I always picture in my mind two sides of a deep chasm, too wide to be bridged, or too deep to be scaled. On one side is God and His Kingdom, the place where we want to be. But we find ourselves on the other, too far away to cross the gap through our own efforts. Even the Redcoat soldier in 1689, being pursued by Jacobites, and who was reputed to have jumped across the raging River Garry at Killiecrankie in the Scottish Highlands, would never be able to jump the gap. There is only one Person who can connect us to God across the chasm, and that is Jesus. Colossians 1:19-20, “For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross”. Because of what Jesus did for us, we are no longer enemies of God. But it gets better, because God adopted us as His children. 1 John 3:1, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognise that we are God’s children because they don’t know him”.

In 2 Corinthians 5:18, Paul wrote, “And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him”. Paul reminded his Corinthians readers that this is what they were tasked with. I write much about our mission as pilgrims because we contain within us the treasure of knowing Jesus. So what else can we do but tell others? We share the message of reconciliation with those around us at every opportunity. Walking through my local city centre this morning, I was struck by the apparent looks of misery and hopelessness imprinted on people’s faces. They, too, are stuck on the wrong side of the chasm, without hope and any vision for the future, but we have the message of the Good News about Jesus. We pray for opportunities to share it. Our new life is not meant to be private. It is meant to reflect Christ to others. So we live differently, we forgive freely, we love boldly, and we speak the truth gently. Our changed lives become living evidence of God’s grace.

There are some practical things we pilgrims can do in the light of our now being a “new person”. Firstly, we need to stop defining ourselves by our past. We have a natural tendency to say things like, “I’ve always been like that”. Or assume that what we do is the way we always do things. But by doing so, we forget that if we belong to Christ, we are a new creation, set free from the shackles of the past. Secondly, we must remember that salvation is a process we call sanctification. We renew our minds daily by reading the Bible, spending time in prayer, and being obedient to what God asks of us. Our verses from 2 Corinthians today remind us that Christianity is not self-improvement but divine transformation. God takes what was broken and makes it new. He restores what was lost, and He invites us to participate in His redemptive work. The old life is gone, and the new life has begun. And the amazing thing is that it is all a free gift from God.

Dear Father God. Thank You for making us new. We are “ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven”, and it is all because of Jesus. We reach out to You today in praise and worship. Amen.

Seeing Others Through Christ’s Eyes

Posted on by korgrocker

“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time, we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NLT

As we look around us at the people we see, how do we view them? Being human ourselves, we use our own value system to assess and review who they are. So, in the office, we might see one person as an irritation or another as a threat. In the street, we might approve or otherwise of a person’s dress code or behaviour, particularly if it doesn’t align with our own perspectives. Humans tend to categorise values such as success, looks, and other external factors, but Paul wrote, “So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view”. The Bible consistently reminds us that God sees deeper than we do. In 1 Samuel 16:7, we read, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart””. When we adopt Christ’s perspective, we begin to value what God values—character, faith, and potential. 

Paul admitted that even his understanding of Jesus was once limited. He wrote, “At one time, we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view”. There was a time when Paul saw Christ from a purely human standpoint, perhaps as a controversial teacher or threat. But after encountering the risen Lord on the Damascus Road, his perception was radically changed. Paul later wrote in Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”. The way we view other people happens in our minds, and Paul taught that it is there that we are transformed. As God renews our thinking, we learn to see life differently. This includes viewing people as image-bearers of God (Genesis 1:27), recognising potential rather than just problems, and offering grace rather than quick criticism. When we truly know Christ, our relationships begin to reflect His compassion.

Paul continued, “How differently we know him now!” The exclamation mark is very telling. Paul’s encounter with Jesus totally transformed his life. His perspective of Jesus went from Him being a threat to the Jewish traditions and faith that he knew and loved, to one of Him being the Son of God, here on Planet Earth, on a mission to save mankind. 

Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”. We are new creations, so if our identity is no longer defined by our past, then neither is anyone else’s. Every person becomes someone Christ died for, someone capable of renewal. The Apostle James went further. He warned, “My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favour some people over others?” (James 2:1). In God’s kingdom, human distinctions lose their power. Wealth, background, and reputation cannot determine a person’s worth. But it’s hard trying to see others through the eyes of Jesus, perhaps because that means treating them with dignity before it’s earned, or offering mercy before judgment. Qualities that Jesus extended to us when we bowed before Him on the cross of Calvary. Perhaps we must call upon the help of the Holy Spirit within us at every human encounter.

Christ died for us
while we still sinners.

So, how do we pilgrims view 2 Corinthians 5:16? Transforming our thinking to God’s thinking is a life-changing event. We will never succeed overnight; instead, it will take a lifetime of application. As we look at people, whatever the occasion, we must ask ourselves: Am I seeing this person through my biases or through Christ’s love? We remember our own story, our own encounter with the risen Jesus. Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners”. We will meet many people who have been damaged by their life choices. The beggars sitting outside our supermarkets. The lonely person sitting on a park bench. The divorcee regretting their selfish ways. But in each case, God has not written them off. Through our witness, God can plant His seeds of restoration. There was a thief who was finally being executed for his lifetime of crime, and yet with his dying breaths He was restored to the man God intended him to be. 

Our churches and fellowships are, or should be, communities where believers work out their Kingdom relationships. However, all too often we evaluate others from a human point of view. But when we begin to see people not as labels, but as lives in progress, people loved by God, pursued by grace, and capable of transformation, we find a glimpse of how God sees them. And perhaps most importantly, we remember how differently we now know Christ. That changed vision becomes the foundation for how we see everyone else.

Dear Lord, please renew our vision. Help us to see people as You do, through Your eyes of grace. Teach us to look beyond appearances and recognise Your image and Your work in every life. In Your precious name. Amen.

Shining as Believers: A Call to Action

Posted on by korgrocker

“If we are ‘out of our mind,’ as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
2 Corinthians 5:13-15 NIVUK

Paul wrote that Jesus died for all. Not just the Israelites, the Jews living in the First Century, but also for the Gentiles, people like you and me. Jesus died the death that we were supposed to have died because He took on the punishment we deserved for all our sins. What are they? Anything that is in opposition to God. There are no “little white lies” or half-truths. Every wrong thought and deed has been brought under the cleansing blood of Jesus. Isaiah wrote, ““Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). The Bible has a theme running through it, about God pursuing people everywhere because He loves them. Peter wrote, “ … He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent” (2 Peter 3:9c). And He achieved that aim through Jesus, “that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life”. Jesus died our death so that we would be able to live His life. What a Saviour! 

We pilgrims, therefore, have an obligation to live our lives God’s way, without self-centred ambition and in a way that hides our spirituality from those around us. We are not monks shut away from the world behind the walls of a monastery. We are out there, shining like a beacon in a dark and hopeless world. We must live in a way that is Christ-centred, and no longer focused on our self-centred ways. Paul wrote, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (Philippians 2:3-5). In it all, we must each consider the question, “Who is at the centre of our lives, me or Jesus?” But what does “shining like a beacon” look like? It is a counter-cultural manifestation of human qualities soaked in the Holy Spirit, not the spirit of the world. So, we pilgrims will not join in with the negative talk amongst friends. We will not join in with the office gossip or smutty jokes. We will not rubbish the government (read Romans 13). We will not get involved with worldly ideologies. Instead, we will speak the truth about God and all He has done for us.

“Because He lives
I can face tomorrow”

Paul wrote, “that those who live should no longer live for themselves”. Of course, everyone “lives” until the day they die, but that is not the “live” that Paul was meaning. Peter wrote, “For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). To a Jewish leader called Nicodemus, “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” … “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life” (John 3:3, 5-6). Our bodies will one day wear out and die, but our spirits will continue to live forever. There are men and women who claim to be Christians but who deny that it is necessary to be “born again”. The term has somehow been associated with a fundamental minority who have become radicalised into believing something more associated with sects. But we pilgrims “live” a spiritual, born-again, life, the Jesus way, following in the steps of the Master.

Jesus died on that Roman cross, and if that was all that there was, then we are a sad people. Paul wrote, “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). But he went on, “For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world” (1 Corinthians 15:13-19). Indisputable logic from Paul, emphasising the importance, the cornerstone, of our faith. Jesus died and rose again, and through Him we can also look forward to our resurrection one day.

The Cross is validated by Jesus’ resurrection, and through Him we have victory over death. The grave no longer has any hold over us, because we pass through it into eternal life. We pilgrims serve a living King, victorious and glorious. Jesus said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me” (John 15:4). Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we remain connected to the Vine, who is Jesus, living the life that He has granted us through His grace and mercy. 

We serve the risen Jesus. He is alive today, tomorrow, and forever. So today, we must turn up the wick on our beacons, shining brighter and brighter, bringing Jesus’ life into the lives of those around us. 

Father, we pray for forgiveness for our sins, in deep gratitude for Jesus and His death and resurrection. With His life within us, we share the Good News, the truth about our faith, to those we know and even to those we don’t. We pray for our friends and families that the light and life of Jesus will illuminate their lives as well. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Understanding the Bema Seat: Rewards and Judgments in Faith

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.”
2 Corinthians 5:8-10 NLT

Paul wanted to please Christ. Don’t we all? But Paul’s drive and commitment to sharing the Gospel came from the assurance that, regardless of what happened to him in this life, he would one day be in Heaven with Jesus, his Lord. When he wrote these verses, we get the sense that Paul was feeling a bit weary and really wanted to leave his earthly body behind and put on his new Heavenly body. I’m sure many Christians feel the same, although there are also many who are perhaps not so sure of the future beyond the grave. Yes, they say all the right things and read the Scriptures, but perhaps there are a few doubts. It is natural to feel a bit wobbly about the future. Generally, people want to be in control of their lives and struggle to put their faith in God and His promises. But Paul had no doubts, and wrote, “Yes, we are fully confident”, not a little confident, or confident on every Sunday, but completely assured of his future.

Paul went on to write, “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body”. It is not a nice thought that we will one day be called to give an account of how we have spent our lives. Every moment of our lives will be rolled out before Jesus, both good and bad, after which will come the words of His judgement. Note that there will be no exceptions. Paul will be there as well as you and me. However, we should note that this is not the “Great White Throne” judgement of Revelation 20. The judgement on this occasion is for believers, and we sometimes call in the Bema seat of judgement, bema being a Greek word describing a raised platform. We also know that Jesus will be the Judge. John 5:22, “In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge”. Paul said to the High Council in Athens, “For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). His statement didn’t go down very well with the Council members, although one or two joined Paul wanting to know more.

Paul is clear in his letters that this judgment is not about salvation. Christ will not declare in that moment whether someone will go to heaven or hell. In no sense is this verse implying that this judgment, or the deeds it examines, are what decide someone’s eternal fate. Salvation is a gift given to everyone who trusts in Christ. We all know the verse John 3:16, “… for whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life”. We also know that “We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, but through Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary and our belief in Him and the confession of our sins, we are redeemed from the punishment we deserve and are counted as righteous before God.

In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul addresses the importance of what we build as followers of Christ. Much of what we do will not survive the “fire” of judgement day. Paul wrote, “Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). If we really took our Christian lives seriously, we would perhaps pay less attention to the church roof and more to applying Christ’s teachings in our daily lives. Another couple of verses worth noting are in Colossians 3:23-24, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ”. 

Note that Paul wrote that we will all receive a reward, or otherwise, for the things we have done while on this earth. Living in our earthly bodies is a preparation for eternity to come, and our stewardship in how we conduct our lives is important. The time we have is short compared to the eternity ahead of us. Paul mentioned the reward is connected to the good and bad things that we have done. The “good” things are those that are spiritually valuable and profitable in the Kingdom. And as we expect, the opposite of those things is worthlessness and unprofitability. But we do have the assurance of our salvation. The Bema seat of judgement is all about reward or otherwise.

“Well done, good and faithful servant”

So, how should we pilgrims live our lives? We must live daily with the awareness that one day we will leave this life and this earthly body and find ourselves in Heaven. In all that we do, we should bear in mind that we are doing it for Christ. I think it was Billy Graham’s wife who had a sign above her kitchen sink that said, “Worship services held here three times a day”. We must align our priorities and perspectives with the values of the Kingdom of God. Another thing we should consider is the motives behind what we are doing. If it is for human applause and affirmation, then it has no value at all. Above all, we must invest in what is of eternal value. I once asked someone I knew, who attended the Abbey Church in Dunfermline, if they thought all their hard work in looking after their building, wonderful and magnificent as it is, would get them into Heaven. It is a shame that the heavy burden borne by the fabric committee will have no value at all when they stand before Jesus. In the end, the one thing we aspire to hear is Jesus saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant”. That’s all that will matter.

Dear Lord Jesus. Please lead us and guide us in our commission as we work for You. We confess our sins and ask for Your forgiveness. In Your precious name. Amen.

The Assurance of Resurrection in Christ

Posted on by korgrocker

“But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.”
2 Corinthians 4:13-15 NLT

Paul and his colleagues, men who travelled with him on his missionary journeys, had a terrible time when they preached the truth about Jesus. In his day, people generally didn’t want to hear anything about Jesus, preferring instead to continue in their evil ways. But Paul kept going anyway, enduring the physical violence for the sake of the Gospel. His faith was strong and consistent because he knew that his future with God was secure. 

One of Jesus’ seven “I am” statements can be found in John 11:25-26: “Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”” To prove the veracity of his statement, Jesus went on to raise Lazarus from the dead. This wasn’t just a one-off miracle designed to bolster Jesus’ reputation. It was a prophetic display of God’s power and what will happen in the age to come. 

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul explained to them, “Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back” (1 Corinthians 15:22-23). Paul wrote that Christianity without the resurrection was pointless because eternal life is central to our faith. We all know the Easter story: when Jesus rose from the grave and appeared to His followers. That was a pivotal moment that founded and strengthened our faith, because God promised that Jesus was the first to be resurrected and that He would be followed by all who believe in Him.

But what does being raised with Jesus really mean to us pilgrims? Paul started 2 Corinthians 4:14 with the words, “We know …”. Do we have the same assurance as Paul, or are we not sure and have doubts? Sadly, some believers don’t know; instead, they wish or hope that everything will work out for them in the end. But the historical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection is there. Paul wrote, “He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him” (1 Corinthians 14:4-8). That’s surely enough evidence to turn a “wish” into a “know”.

“God … will also raise us with Jesus”

Paul wrote that, “God … will also raise us with Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:14a). Notice how personal this is. Paul wrote that the resurrection is not just something Jesus experienced. It is something believers will share in. Just as Jesus was raised bodily, so will we be raised, and that will totally change our perspective on our lives. Instead of becoming depressed and fearful of death as we grow older or perhaps sick or affected by the death of a loved one, we will look forward to the time when we, too, will be released from the privations of this life and will join Jesus in Paradise. The grave is not a destination; it is a doorway.

Paul adds something beautiful at the end of 2 Corinthians 4:14: “and present us to himself together with you”. The future for us pilgrims is not solitary. We are not saved alone. We are raised together. Paul envisioned a day when believers stand together in the presence of God: presented, restored, complete. We are a people, not just individuals. Heaven will not be isolation; it will be fellowship perfected. This truth reshapes how we treat one another now. If we stand together before Christ, then our unity matters deeply today. So, before we think disparaging thoughts about a fellow believer, remember that we will spend eternity with them. Hmmm…

Earlier in the chapter, Paul wrote, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Why was he prepared to put up with so much suffering? Paul understood that what was happening was not the final chapter. The certainty of being raised with Christ gave him the courage to endure. The promise of presentation before God gave purpose to his perseverance.

Well, we pilgrims know how the story ends, so no matter what we are facing just now, it will turn out to be insignificant in the light of eternity, full of God’s glory and grace.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You that You will never abandon us. We are part of Your family forever. Amen.

Pressed on Every Side

Posted on by korgrocker

“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-12 NLT

Paul described the persecution he and his travelling colleagues experienced, but always with a positive “spin”. He could have just written about the facts, the physical and verbal attacks, the beatings and stonings, but he always followed the description of his attacks with a positive comment. For example, he wrote, “We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God”. Paul was a man the world has never seen the like of again, although some have come close. Paul had a mission that never left his vision, and he was even prepared to give his life for Jesus, willingly if it were part of the furtherance of the Gospel. Why did he do it? Because after his encounter with Jesus, what else could he do? I have known several men who have had an encounter with Jesus that was so real that they were freed from drug addiction. Subsequently, they have been very committed to evangelism. One of them confided in me that “he who has been forgiven much will give much”. In other words, his encounter with Jesus totally turned his life around, and he dedicated the rest of his life to his Saviour. Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road was so real to him that it transformed his whole thinking and sent him on a journey that ended in his premature death, just for sharing his Jesus-experience with others. Has Jesus got hold of us to that extent? Are we so fired up with our mission for Jesus that we have put Him at the centre of all we do?

At the start of his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul described a situation that was life-threatening. “We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). Again, he used that word “crushed”. It’s a word that we normally associate with something like what we do to a clove of garlic to extract the flavour within. But crushing human beings points to an episode of physical torture and utter depravity. Paul’s experiences led him to expect to die, and that had the effect of crushing his spirit. A crushed spirit is a state of deep emotional, mental, and spiritual exhaustion, characterised by a loss of hope, passion, and the energy to face life. Often described as hitting rock bottom or a “dark night of the soul,” it represents a profound, oppressive pain that renders a person feeling broken or empty, frequently linked to severe stress, grief, or betrayal. To an unbeliever, such a state leads to hopelessness and a state of extreme mental anguish. But to Paul, there was a light that broke through into his dark place, the presence of God Himself. He knew that God could even raise the dead, and that sustained him and his colleagues. As we read on in the first chapter, we find that God did indeed rescue them from “mortal danger”, and he continued with “And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety” (2 Corinthians 1:11). 

Paul and his colleagues faced many hardships during those missionary journeys because the enemy was not going to give up his territory without a fight. And how better to stop the Way, the early Christian movement, than by doing away with the ones responsible for its spread? But Paul reminded the Corinthians that because of the cost he was prepared to pay with his own life, they had the benefit of eternal life. 

We pilgrims also have the opportunity to tell others about Jesus. There may be some opposition, but here in the West, there would be nothing on the scale of what Paul experienced. We Western Christians do not really understand what persecution means. But we still have to look for opportunities to share our testimony about Jesus. Yesterday I met a man walking his daughter’s dog in the local park. In the conversation that followed, he admitted that he was glad that he was coming to the end of his life, because he was so depressed by the state of the world. Thankfully, I was able to share the hope of the Gospel with him, but it reminded me that many people walking our streets are almost overwhelmed by feelings of hopelessness. It may be inconvenient to stop and talk to people sometimes, but we must do so anyway. We may be resented or receive abuse in return, but it is only we pilgrims who have those precious words of eternal life, of God’s love and grace. And we pray for ourselves, for opportunities to share the Gospel, for our families and friends, all with the assurance that God hears our prayers and will work in hearts and minds to bring about His purposes.

Dear Heavenly Father. We thank You for all You have done for us, for our salvation and for Jesus. Regardless of what the world thinks of our faith, we share it anyway, thankful for Your strength helping us, and for giving us the words to say. We worship You today. Amen.