A couple days ago, we listed seven universal problems that only Jesus can solve.

Today, I want to offer seven biblical ways that he solves these problems:

The problem: We are separated from God
Jesus’ solution: We are reconciled to God through the forgiveness of sins.

“God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”
(Acts 5:31)

“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation”
(2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
(Ephesians 4:32)

The problem: We are spiritually dead in sin.
Jesus’ solution: We are born again and made new.

“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”
(John 3:3)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
(1 Peter 1:3)

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.”
(1 John 5:1)

The problem: We are enemies of God.
Jesus’ solution: We are made members of God’s family.

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”
(John 1:12)

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
(Romans 8:15-17)

“he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,”
(Ephesians 1:5)

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”
(1 John 3:1-2)

The problem: We are slaves to sin.
Jesus’ solution: We are freed from sin and empowered to change and mature into Jesus’ image.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
(John 3:16)

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”
(Romans 6:22)

“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
(Romans 8:2)

The problem: We are unable to understand anything about God.
Jesus’ solution: We are given new minds with the ability to understand the things of God.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
(John 14:26)

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
(John 16:13-15)

“But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’– these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”
(1 Corinthians 2:9-13)

The problem: We are unable to live for God’s pleasure.
Jesus’ solution: Makes us a new person with the ability to live for God’s pleasure.

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,”
(Colossians 1:9-11)

“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”
(1 Thessalonians 2:13)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
(2 Corinthians 5:17)

The following is taken from The Royal Invitation, a new online devotional available at the BLB. The Royal Invitation is one of five books contained in a collection written by Frances Ridley Havergal in the 1880s. This book embraces the many requests from God’s word for us to ‘come’ to Him. (Click here for previous posts)

“Come unto Me.” (Mat 11:28)

But what is ‘coming’?

What would you understand by it, if you heard the words “Come to me” for the first time? What does a little child understand by it (Matthew 11:25)? It is positively too simple to be made plainer by any amount of explanation. If you could see the Lord Jesus standing there, right before you, and you heard Him say, “Come!” (Mat 14:29) would you say, “What does ‘come’ mean?” Continue Reading→

The following is taken from The Royal Invitation, a new online devotional available at the BLB. The Royal Invitation is one of five books contained in a collection written by Frances Ridley Havergal in the 1880s. This book embraces the many requests from God’s word for us to ‘come’ to Him.

When Jesus said to the disciples “Come follow Me,” it was a royal invitation of His kingly love, which He offers to us even now. Indulge your heart with this wonderfully-composed devotional that will bless your soul and elicit praises for our King of kings.

“Come unto Me…”

This is the Royal Invitation for it is given by the King of kings. We are so familiar with the words, that we fail to realize them. May the Holy Spirit open our ears to hear the voice (Jhn 10:27) of our King in them that they may reach our souls with imperative power.

“Lord, to whom shall we go?” Not “to what shall we go.”

For the human heart (Jhn 6:58) within us craves a personal, living rest and refuge. No doctrines, however true; no systems, however perfect; nothing mental, moral, or spiritual, will do as the answer to this question of every soul that is not absolutely dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1). As surely as you and I are persons, individualities, real separate existences, so surely must we have a Person, no less real and individual, to whom to go in our more or less conscious need of salvation. And so the great word of Invitation, Royal and Divine, is given to us, “Come unto ME!”

“Unto Me.”

Just think what that one word means! Seek out all the great and wonderful titles of Christ (Isa 9:6) for yourself, and write after each one-”And He says, Come unto Me!” Unto Me, “the mighty God,” nothing less than that! “Mighty to save” and “ready to save me.”

Then seek out all the exquisitely winning beauties of the character and words and ways of Him who went about doing good (Act 10:38), till you “have heard Him and observed Him.” All through those years of patient and perfect ministry, and recollect all the time that it is He who says to you, “Come unto Me!” Unto Him, the man Christ Jesus (1Ti 2:5), full of compassion, and tender yet royal grace.

Then look at the great central scene of the universe—the central moment not of a world’s history only, but of eternity—look at the Saviour, who His own self bore our sins (1Pe 2:24) in His own body on the tree, bowing His bleeding head under that awful burden, because His faithfulness was unto the death, and His love was strong as death! “Behold your God,” and “Behold the Man” (Jhn 19:5), who loved you and gave Himself for you; hear His own touching call, “I said, Behold Me, behold Me!” Look away from all the “other things” (Mar 4:19), look at the Crucified One, and as you gaze remember that He says, “Come unto Me!”

Is it nothing to you, (Lam 1:12) all ye that pass by, that both from the depth of sorrow, and from the height of glory this Royal Invitation comes to you?

For it is the call not only of Jesus Crucified, but of Jesus Reigning and Jesus Coming. “See that ye refuse (Hbr 12:25) not Him that speaketh” for He is coming (Rev 1:7) to judge the living and the dead. He is reigning now, and there are no neutrals in His kingdom. All are either willing and loyal subjects, or actual rebels—those who have obeyed the King’s call, and come, and those who have “made light (Mat 22:5) of it” and not come.

Which are you?

Think of the day when the great white throne is set, and when the Son of man shall come in His glory; when all will be gathered before Him, and He shall separate (Mat 25:32) them one from another, and know that it is this same Jesus who now says to you, “Come unto Me! “

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come!

We are pleased to announce that the following new content is available:

• “The Gospel of Grace” by Pastor Bill Foote is a twenty-part study through Scripture bringing us to rememberance of what has been accomplished for our salvation in Christ Jesus, our Redeemer.
• The Women’s Resources page has added Margaret Ashmore’s an audio study on “The Abundant Life,” which instills Biblical clarity to some popular misconceptions; andCathy Dickinson’s audio message, “What Must Be Forgotten,” sharpens our focus on running the race with endurance.
• “The Royal Invitation” is a thirty-one day text devotional byFrances Havergal that will prompt your heart, mind, and soul to come to and give praise to the High King of Heaven.

Today is Ascension Day, marking the 40th day after Resurrection Day.

This historic event is recorded in three passages of Scripture: Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:6-12.

Here are a few thoughts from John Walvoord on the Ascension:

In the general theology of the historic church, the ascension of Christ has not been given much attention. It has been overshadowed, on the one hand, by the importance of the incarnation, the death, and the resurrection of Christ; and, on the other hand, it has been eclipsed by the present work and future work of Christ.

…

In the light of these facts, the ascension becomes important, not only for its obvious significance, but also as an introduction to the present work of Christ in that it lays down a number of guidelines concerning the nature of His work prior to His second advent.

The ascension of Jesus Christ is significant for at least four reasons:

It was the end of the period of His self-limitation

In many respects, the ascension marked the transition from the old sphere of ministry under the self-limitations of the kenosis which Christ endured on earth and the new sphere of release and glory of the ministry of Christ in heaven. While the resurrection was perhaps more important—in that it was the first step in the self-exaltation of Christ which freed Him from humiliation, weakness, and the limitations of the flesh—in the ascension, Christ returned to His infinite glory which was veiled not only during His lifetime but during the forty days of His post-resurrection ministry.

Not only did the ascension mark the end of the period of Christ’s humiliation but also the end of the important ministries carried on while on earth. Completed now was His sacrificial work on the cross in which He provided a propitiation for our sins. Ended too was His prophetic work which now was to be carried on by the Holy Spirit, though His office as a prophet continued. Christ no longer was to do miracles in His bodily presence on earth, though miracles continued to be done in His name and power. The ascension, therefore, provided a climax to the period of kenosis which characterized Christ’s entire life on earth.

It was the occasion for exaltation and glorification

The ascension of Christ was also an anticipation of the exaltation and glory which was to follow. The ascension, in some respects, bears the same relation to His glorification as His birth did to His humiliation. Both indicated a passage from one state to another. The new glorification which Christ entered upon His ascension included a number of important factors.

1. It marked the resumption of His preincarnate glory in keeping with His prayer in John 17:5 that He receive the glory that was His before the foundation of the world. This meant that He not only cast aside the limitations which characterized His life on earth, but that He added a positive quality of manifestation of His inherent glory of the Second Person of the Trinity.
2. In His glorifications, there was the added glory of being the Savior and Mediator who had triumphed over sin and death. While His inherent glory was unchanged, the new glory as given to Christ was based on His work rather than His person, though it included now victorious humanity as well as deity.
3. His glorification also had the aspect of reward, in that the Father bestowed upon Him added glory in recognition of His triumph over death and sin. Hence, in Ephesians 1:20-23, it is declared that all things are under His control or dominion (cf. Heb 2:8), and Philippians 2:19 states that God “hath highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name.”
4. The glorification included His position at the right hand of the Father’s throne in which He would share the dominion and glory of the Father (Ps 110:1) and would be in a position to plead for believers on the basis of His finished work on the cross.

It marked the entrance of resurrected humanity in heaven

In the ascension, for the first time a resurrected man entered heaven. As such, Christ is the forerunner (Heb 6:20) of believers who would thus enter heaven either through resurrection or translation, and His presence in heaven is a pledge that every believer in Christ would also enter into the heavenly sphere. The entrance into heaven, therefore, was not simply a return to the preincarnate glory of deity but it constituted, for the first time, a glorification of humanity. As Charles Hodge expressed it, “the subject of this exaltation was the Theanthropos; not the Logos especially or distinctively; not the human nature exclusively; but the Theanthropic person.”

It introduced His present work in heaven

The ascension also marked the beginning of His present work which differs dramatically from that which occurred between the incarnation and the ascension. In the present age, Christ is carrying out the peculiar purpose of God for this age, namely, the calling out of the church from both Jew and Gentile, bringing to consummation the revealed will of God for creation, for the Gentiles, as well as for other aspects of the divine program. The nature of His new work implies His presence in heaven in glory and the administration of the plan of God from heaven rather than from the earthly sphere.

Today’s post has been adapted from an article published by Dallas Theological Seminary called Bibliotheca Sacra, January – March 1964, Volume 121, Number 481. You can view the article in full at the Blue Letter Bible.

You can get version 2.10 of the Blue Letter Bible App for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) in the iTunes App Store. In this update, you’ll find a few improvements and some exciting new editions:

• BIG UPDATE: You can now listen to the Bible within the app! We’ve added a new audio/media player to the BLB app. Just click on a verse to see your audio options.
• Added Greek/Hebrew pronunciation to the Strong’s lexicon. Have you ever wondered how to pronounce that Greek or Hebrew word in the BLB lexicon? Just click on the audio icon to hear it.
• Added NIV Bible to Red Letter preferences. Under Preferences > Font/Text Settings you will find that the NIV translation has been added to the “Red Letter Bibles.”

Other updates and improvements

Updates:

• Updated copyrights to reflect NIV 2011 version change

Improvements:

• Improved parallel Bible viewing and syncing
• Improved delivery of audio commentaries
• Optimized interface performance
• Improved memory usage

Fixes:

• Fixed navigation error when returning from Verse Tap Selections
• Fixed daily reading plan to allow reloading current reading plan

The following is taken from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon titled “A Sermon for the Time Present,” delivered  October 30th, 1887. Although the “present” Spurgeon wrote it for was the late 19th century, its truths are still relevant today, as God’s Word is timeless (1 Peter 1:24-25).

“In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.”
— Zephaniah 3:16-18 KJV

Charles Spurgeon:

“The LORD will rejoice over thee with singing.” Think of the great Jehovah singing! Can you imagine it? Is it possible to conceive of the Deity breaking into a song: Father, Son and Holy Ghost together singing over the redeemed?

God is so happy in the love which He bears to His people that He breaks the eternal silence, and sun and moon and stars with astonishment hear God chanting a hymn of joy…

If God sings, shall not we sing? He did not sing when He made the world. No; He looked upon it, and simply said that it was good. The angels sang, the sons of God shouted for joy: creation was very wonderful to them, but it was not much to God, who could have made thousands of worlds by His mere will.

Creation could not make Him sing; and I do not even know that Providence ever brought a note of joy from Him, for He could arrange a thousand kingdoms of providence with ease. But when it came to redemption, that cost Him dear. Here He spent eternal thought, and drew up a covenant with infinite wisdom.

Here He gave His Only-begotten Son, and put Him to grief to ransom His beloved ones. When all was done, and the Lord saw what became of it in the salvation of His redeemed, then He rejoiced after a divine manner. What must the joy be which recompenses Gethsemane and Calvary!

Here we are among the Atlantic waves. The Lord God receives an accession to the infinity of His joy in the thought of His redeemed people. ‘He shall rejoice over thee with singing.’

I tremble while I speak of such themes, lest I should say a word that should dishonor the matchless mystery; but still we are glad to note what is written, and we are bound to take comfort from it. Let us have sympathy with the joy of the Lord, for this will be our strength.

The full sermon is available at the Blue Letter Bible. You can read hundreds of Spurgeon’s sermons here.

The following is taken from Charles H. Spurgeon’s classic devotional Morning and Evening, available at the Blue Letter Bible.

“These all died in faith.” 
— Hebrews 11:13

Behold the epitaph of all those blessed saints who fell asleep before the coming of our Lord! It matters nothing how else they died, whether of old age, or by violent means; this one point, in which they all agree, is the most worthy of record, “they all died in faith.”

In faith they lived—it was their comfort, their guide, their motive and their support; and in the same spiritual grace they died, ending their life-song in the sweet strain in which they had so long continued. They did not die resting in the flesh or upon their own attainments; they made no advance from their first way of acceptance with God, but held to the way of faith to the end. Faith is as precious to die by as to live by.

Dying in faith has distinct reference to the past. They believed the promises which had gone before, and were assured that their sins were blotted out through the mercy of God.

Dying in faith has to do with the present. These saints were confident of their acceptance with God, they enjoyed the beams of His love, and rested in His faithfulness.

Dying in faith looks into the future. They fell asleep, affirming that the Messiah would surely come, and that when He would in the last days appear upon the earth, they would rise from their graves to behold Him. To them the pains of death were but the birth-pangs of a better state.

Take courage, my soul, as thou readest this epitaph. Thy course, through grace, is one of faith, and sight seldom cheers thee; this has also been the pathway of the brightest and the best. Faith was the orbit in which these stars of the first magnitude moved all the time of their shining here; and happy art thou that it is thine.

Look anew tonight to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith, and thank Him for giving thee like precious faith with souls now in glory.