Jesus’ real mission: A closer study

A CLOSER study What was the real mission of Jesus?

By Ed Rybarczyk

Why did Jesus of Nazareth go public? Millions take for granted the impetus for Jesus’ ministry. Common 21st century assumptions include that He came to: bring peace on earth, end human hunger, establish the brotherhood of man, overthrow all systemic oppression, teach a new ethical code, or even offer a pathway to heaven. Amid such a surplus of supposed reasons for Jesus’ public appearance, we do well to think a bit more carefully.

First, Jesus did not chose His own vocation. No, His mission was given to Him by God the Father. At age 12 He told His parents, “Don’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Lk. 2:49). In Nazareth, at the start of his ministry, Jesus stood in the synagogue and declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” (Lk. 4:18).When the Capernaum crowds wanted Him to remain and continue healing people, He said to them, “I must proclaim the Kingdom to other cities, too; for I was sent for this purpose.” (Lk. 4:44). In John’s Gospel, Jesus was adamant that He had come to accomplish not His own will, but that of the Father, “Look, I’m not here on my own. The one who sent me is true.” (7:28). Or again, “the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father.” (7:57).

Just as astounding as Jesus’ claims to a divine mission was His claim that God the Father intended to share His heavenly glory with Jesus Himself. “The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.” (Jn. 5:22-23). Anticipating His murder Jesus said, “Father, the hour has come, glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.” (Jn. 17:2). Given that the Old Testament repeats the theme that God shares His glory with no one, Jesus was thereby obliquely claiming divinity for Himself. His mission was from the Father, He was one with the Father, and He would enjoy the holy glory of the Father.

But those are not the only insights concerning the purpose of Jesus’ ministry. Across His ministry, He did some things that – to a 1st century Jewish mind – only God could do. He calmed a sea storm when the Jews knew only God was Lord over the terrifying seas. He healed unclean lepers, but Jews knew that lepers were ceremonially unclean, so said healings indicated He had the very power of God to restore. He healed people who were born blind; who had such power but God Himself? He raised the dead! Are you kidding? In the old covenant it was God Himself alone who held authority over death.

And then, of all preposterous things – again, preposterous to a 1st century Jewish mentality – He forgave people’s sins! To a paralytic He said, “Son, you sins are forgiven.” When the roomful of scornful scribes protested, “Stop blaspheming! Only

God can forgive sins!” Jesus said to them, “So that you know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” and, turning to the paralytic, He said, “rise, take up your pallet, and walk!” Dramatically? He proved He had the authority to forgive sins. The room was appropriately stunned! (Mark 2:3-12). To a 1st century Jewish worldview? Jesus did many things that only God Himself could do. This blew their minds. What was Jesus indicating at every turn? He did indeed have the very power of God because He was Himself God, the Son. It is astonishing, but a careful reading of both the Gospels and the New Testament Epistles makes it clear: Jesus was His own mission. Ed Rybarczyk What had Jesus come to do? Establish a new covenant between God and mankind, through His own self, via His own body. What had Jesus come to do? Present Himself as God’s own means of salvation: He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (Jn. 1:29; Rev. 5:6). In fact, so emphatic was Jesus about His own identity that He told His disciples, “Truly I say to you that it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment, than for that city who rejects your Gospel about me.” (Mt. 10:15). Sixty years ago C.S. Lewis pointed out that no other religious leader in history claimed to be either God’s Son or God Himself: not Gautama Buddha, or Confucius, or Mohammed, or Krishna. Lewis noted, Jesus also did not claim to be a moral teacher, like those other religious figures. Instead? Jesus made outlandish claims: “Before Abraham was, I am.” (Jn. 8:58); and, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn. 14:6). If those claims are false then Jesus was either a pathological liar or insane. But if they are true – as His resurrection and miraculous signs attest – then of course nothing could surpass the identity of Christ, right? What is greater than God? What category surpasses eternal God? All of that to echo the refrain: Jesus was His own mission. Think of it this way: for 2,000 years it has been called Christianity. Not “social justice.” Not “love of brother.” Not “the ethic of love.” For 2,000 years its practitioners have called it Christianity because the central element in the Christian faith is Christ. We worship Jesus because He was His own mission. He came to offer Himself to us. He came to transform the creation through His very identity. He came to make Himself known to you, and to a sinner like me. Oh, beautiful Jesus! n Ed Rybarczyk, Ph.D., is both an ordained minister and a retired History of Theology professor. He now produces and hosts the Uncensored Unprofessor podcast @uncensoredunprofessor. com. He may be reached at uncensoredunprofessor@gmail.com.

More than a feeling Continued from page 27

When we’re dating, we are in the sales and marketing business. We’re selling an image of a person we hope the other one will buy. In turn, they are doing the same. And when romantic love, initiated by this “sales transaction,” is mistaken for lasting love, we marry an idealized image of our partner. Only that person does not exist in real life. And in time, marriage asks us to look reality squarely in the face and reckon with the fact that we did not marry the person we thought we did.

Each of us constructs an idealized image of the person we marry. That image is painted by our partners’ eager efforts to put their best foot forward and to sell us. And then the image takes root in the rich soil of our romantic fantasies. We want to see our partner at their best. We imagine, for example, that they would never become irritable or put on excess weight. We believe their body is exempt from the forces of gravity. We focus on what we find admirable and blank out every blemish. We see them through the lens of romance as more noble, more attractive, more intelligent, and more gifted than they really are. But not for long. Why? Because, as a married couple, we’re now living in closer proximity for extended periods of time in a less controlled environment. Romance is fueled by feelings. And as the real person begins to emerge, our idealized images begin to shatter and our feelings begin to change.

Romantic love, by its very nature, is fleeting. There are two main schools of thought here. One school believes that the half-life of romantic love is about three months. The other school believes romantic love stays at a peak for two to three years before it starts to fade. Whichever school is correct, the reality is that mutual idealizing gives way to mutual disillusionment. No human being can fulfill an idealized dream. Letdown is inevitable. Strangely, the moment a couple realizes this, is the moment they find what they were hoping for all along. Their disenchantment, once accepted as a sign of growth, not despair, enables them to move into deeper and enduring Gary Moore intimacy. The late English writer Beverley Nichols put it this way, “Marriage is a book of which the first chapter is written in poetry and the remaining chapters in prose.” Love is more than a feeling. n Gary Moore served as associate pastor at Cloverdale Church of God for 15 years. He does couples’ coaching and leads couples’ workshops and retreats called MUM’s the Word. He does a weekly radio program called Life Point Plus on KBXL 94.1FM at 8:45 a.m. on Fridays. Monday mornings at 10 a.m. he does live relationship teaching called MUM Live on his Facebook page Mutual Understanding Method. He may be contacted at glmoore113@gmail.com.

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GOD Dots Rongo, Kenya church gets its first Bibles

Above left: Wycliff Ouma Oyangore, who pastors an as-yet unnamed church in Rongo, Kenya, picks up boxes of Bibles sent to him by members of a small church in Hazelton, Idaho. (Courtesy photo) Above right: Pastor Wycliff distributed the Bibles he got from members of Evangelical Valley Presbyterian Church in Idaho to people who attend his church in Africa. First, the adults were given Bibles, then the young people. (Courtesy photo)

By Jim Day

Editor’s note: In the May/June issue of Christian Living Magazine, Jim Day wrote about an email that Evangelical Valley Presbyterian Church in Hazelton, which Jim pastors, received from a pastor in Africa. The small article here, accompanied by photos, is a follow-up to the original article. To read the full original story, go to https://www. christianlivingmag.com/god-dots-africanpastor-calls-small-idaho-church.

Thanks to the financial support of folks all around southern Idaho, we were able to provide the Bibles requested by the little church in Kenya that as of yet has no name. The church still needs a denominational sponsor (we are working on that), but the Word of God is being taught and heard in the community of Rongo, Kenya.

Jim Day

Shown here is a photo of Pastor Wycliffe Ouma Oyangore picking up the Bibles as they were delivered, as well as handing out Bibles to the people of Rongo who are now being reached with God’s truth. I truly believe that this is a God Dot. Wycliffe and I email several times a week, and he is very hopeful that his church will receive sponsorship before the deadline. Our little church in Hazelton is looking at sending a couple to minister to Wycliffe and those who count themselves members of his church. It is expensive – about $6,000 to send two people over for a week. We are looking to the Lord for direction and provision. Please stand with us in prayer. Blessings to all and thank you for your prayers! n Jim Day is the pastor of Evangelical Valley Presbyterian Church (EPC) in Hazelton, Idaho. He may be reached at jandcday87@gmail.com.

BIBLICALLY Responsible Investing Don’t fall for the world’s ‘believable lies’

By Doug Hanson

It is a popular group game for getting-toknow-each-other, but one that I do not like. I have never grown accustomed to lying and that is one of the premises of the game. Some of you may have played it in youth groups or other settings: Two Truths and a Lie. As the name implies, everyone is to share two things that are true about themselves and one that is not. The object is for others to figure out which one is the lie. The best strategy is to tell two obscure truths and one believable lie. Telling a believable lie often leads to victory.

There are many believable lies in this world – lies that are mixed with truths. Fortunately, there is one source that only tells truths, and that is Scripture. Within the financial planning industry, the term “wealth” is used in many ways: some more valid than others. The good news is that Scripture provides us truthful insights into wealth. Although there are many places we can turn to in Scripture, the book of Proverbs provides us with five significant truths.

God blesses us with spiritual wealth. Proverbs 15:6 reads, “Great wealth is in the house of the righteous, but trouble is in the income of the wicked.” The righteous – those who are right-before-God – have a treasure that others do not have: spiritual blessings. These spiritual blessings are manifested in this life and for eternity – true spiritual wealth.

God blesses us with capability to gain material

wealth. Proverbs 13:11 reads, “Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.” God has blessed each of us with unique capabilities to build wealth, but they must be put to good use. Hard work is required to maximize whatever unique abilities and skills the Lord has blessed us with.

We should focus more on spiritual wealth than ma-

terial wealth. Proverbs 13:7 reads, “One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.” Here we are reminded that it is more important to store up treasures in heaven than riches on Earth. We can strive to do both, but we must keep the right perspective lest we end up pretenders with nothing.

We should spend our material wealth in a godly

manner. Proverbs 29:3 reads, “The man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but if he hangs around with prostitutes,

his wealth is wasted.” Spending money on prostitutes may not be a temptation for us, but there are certainly other ways that we can waste our wealth by focusing on self-gratification. We should filter all spending decisions through God’s Word.

We should gain our material wealth

in a godly manner. Proverbs 28:22 reads, “A person with an evil eye hurries after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him.” The mental picture of an “evil eye” conjures up images that are not pleasant, ones that do not honor the Lord. We need to Doug Hanson be careful how we earn wealth – and how we invest wealth – since both contribute to gaining wealth. We should filter all financial decisions through Proverbs 3:9 – “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with your first fruits of all your produce.” Notice the “and” in the middle of the verse. Giving of our “first fruits” is important, but it is only part of the picture. We are also to “honor the Lord” in all aspects of our finances, including how we build wealth. In America, where we focus on self-sufficiency – especially when it relates to building wealth – we can easily neglect making God a priority in our investments. Our Heavenly Father cares for us deeply and wants us to appropriate the full blessings He has for us. God wants us to invest and build wealth (Matthew 25:14-30), but only in a manner that makes Him a priority and honors Him. The teachings on “wealth” in Proverbs should cause each of us to take a second look at our priorities. We would be remiss if we followed the believable lies of the world and focused more on earthly wealth than heavenly wealth. We would also be remiss if we obscured the truth and distanced Scripture from how we handle our earthly wealth. Let us not live a life of wealth-remiss! n Doug Hanson is an investment advisor with Christian Wealth Management in Boise, providing biblically responsible investment advice to Christians. For more information, visit investforthegloryofgod.com or contact him at doug@ christianwm.com or (208) 697-3699.

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WEDNESDAY’S Child Raymond, 13, likes church and pancakes

Raymond, 13, is a spirited boy who describes himself as kind, smart and good in school. He enjoys reading, playing basketball, drawing and painting. He loves country music and to be outside with his friends, playing games like Freeze Tag and Capture the Flag.

Raymond also enjoys church, pancakes and pizza. He is a sweet boy, with big dreams for his future. He hopes to one day be a firefighter or police officer.

Raymond needs an adoptive family that will be supportive of his dreams and engage with him in his daily activities. Raymond is very bright and creative. Given all that he has been through, he still manages to keep smiling and keep others laughing – and he can be quite the jokester.

Raymond’s permanency team is looking for a family that will be able to meet Raymond’s individual needs and partner with community resources that will continue to help him learn, grow and thrive. A family that is trauma-informed and who may also have experience in TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention) parenting would be a fantastic fit. Raymond will need a family that values biological connections and will be committed to supporting ongoing relationships with his siblings.

If you are ready to start a lifelong adventure full of love and laughter with Raymond, inquire at www. idahowednesdayschild.org to learn more about this special boy. n For more information on the Idaho Wednesday’s Child Program, visit www.idahowednesdayschild.org, or contact Recruitment Coordinator Shawn White at swhite52@ewu.edu or cell 208-488-8989 if you have specific questions.

Jerry’s Life By Jerry McMurray