The Light of the Gospel

I hope this pre-Thanksgiving week finds you blessed and safe in Jesus Christ.  Remember that I'm always interested in any reader's life and if you need prayer don't hesitate to message me (Grady Milligan) on facebook or at grady.milligan@gmail.com.  Without further ado, let's jump into what the Word has to say.

"Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."       2 Corinthians 4:1-6

As cliche as it may seem to the jaded reader, the reoccurring theme of dark vs. light is so evident in the scriptures.  I suppose you could say the Bible is the realest version of that theme, if you believe it to be the true account of God's story with man.  The passage from 2 Corinthians 4 is such an example of those two forces in opposition.  

First I want to remind myself and anyone reading that we are far from hopeless.  In the Light of Jesus, and the turning away from our old ways, we are given strength to take the Gospel to the world.  I'll say it enough times in this post to sicken you probably, but we must believe that we're in a winning battle.  More accurately, WE ARE IN A BATTLE ALREADY ONE!  Jesus has defeated darkness in the past, present, and future and (being the Eternal God, not even bound by time) He has given us victory over sin and death.  But, as we experience daily, this knowledge does not whisk us away from all troubles in the day-to-day walk of Christian life.

Each new morning, we are presented with the opportunity to live, as Paul hopes in his letter, in such a way that the open-handed nature of our honest and sincere love for others would show them the sincerity of the Gospel.  Not only that, but by relying on Christ as the source of life and wisdom, we have the power to be in relationship with the saved and lost alike and do so in such a way that we are above reproach and even our enemies struggle to bring negative accounts of us to mind.  However, it is never so simple a thing to see quick or immediate freedom blooming in those we encounter and minister to, and that is largely due to hold that sin and the enemy have on an individual's life. I don't mean to sound overly dramatic or cliche, but it is critical to understand that we are LITERALLY in a battle with powerful forces when we do ministry.

The enemy, as Paul observes, actively blinds the eyes and minds of those that have not been reborn through Jesus Christ.  It's critically important to remember that the struggle for our souls is not passive and not just due to our sin (though that is ultimately the biggest part in my opinion), but the spiritual death we live in prior to Christ is encouraged by the plots and temptations of the enemy.  And maybe the most important thing of all to remember is this:  the darkness has absolutely no chance in the face of the Light.  Though we exist in a broken world of our making, and our old lives fight to make us disobey, the Lord is not threatened by the power of the evil one in the slightest.  As we can easily observe, humans are not proficient in the art of living in righteous obedience and are quickly blinded by darkness.  But with Christ, the sight and life we receive is eternal, complete, and saving.  Though we must grow into that identity each day and repent (turn away) of the old life, it has no eternal or lasting power of the Lord in us.  And we MUST believe that that is God's hope for the other lost ones around us.  We must live and love with the purpose of seeing the trapped enemies of God become God's friends through the blood and resurrection of Jesus!  I DON'T CARE IF IT'S CLICHE, it is, as I understand it, the very point of my continued life.

And just like in the creation of the world (whether you subscribe to the 6 day understanding or slow and evolutionary understanding of God's meticulous and beautiful creation), the Lord has all the power required to bring Light our of the darkest souls. We have a responsibility, not for our own name's sake and whether we believe in a select number of invitations or an open-ended one (in regards to who can be saved) to speak and act out the Gospel for the glory of God and the resurrection of the dead that He calls to Himself.

Transformed With Unveiled Faces

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:12-18 ESV)

First off, I'm gonna start with huge celebration at the last two lines of the passage. I don't see the "glory to glory" transformation reflected in my actions most days, BUT MAN DO I WANT TO! 

And don't get me started thinking about the unveiled faces bit, I #canteven (I went there) begin to comprehend the joy of seeing our Lord face to face. What really gets me about that particular part of this passage is the marriage symbolism, which is where my romantic brain goes first at any given chance. We, as the beloved bride of Christ, are welcome to grow in closeness and righteousness daily with the Savior..........BOOYAH!

But I need to calm down and meditate on the harder part of the scripture as well. 

Paul's letter encourages the believers that the veil over our spiritual understanding will be lifted when we turn to Christ, amen, but it's heartbreaking to read his report that "to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts."

As is the unfortunate tendency of man, many of the Israelites did not understand the gravity and truth of Jesus as the Way and their Hope.  Paul's letter tells us that, even as the church grew and people were seeing Christ for what He was, there were still many people reading the Old Covenant without the understanding that Jesus was the fulfillment of God's promises and the sacrifice that sealed God's new covenant with all that would believe in His Son.

I want to note that I am not in any way saying that the teachings and stories of the Old Testament are less relevant or less a part of holy scripture (they are still God's word), I'm just examining that, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, we are made free and unveiled through faith in Jesus and that His Holy Spirit gives us the ability to understand God's will and Truth for the purpose of ministry and transformation. 

So I pray that our minds would not be hardened like those before us, but that we would seek the glory of the Lord in ludicrous amounts and desire to be made more and more like our Maker. Walk with joy as the unveiled bride of Christ and look to the lost around you that they might know God's love and power through the light of the Holy Spirit transforming you!

Triumphant Fragrances (2 Corinthians 2:14-17)

To start today's devotional, consider this passage from 2 Corinthians chapter 2.  Meditate on the meaning of the sensory words like "aroma" and "fragrance".  Ask God to open your hearts and eyes and ears to what He may have for you in the scriptures (which might be completely different than what I needed to hear from Jesus today).

2 CORINTHIANS 2:14-17
"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ."

So I wanna talk about 3 cool chunks of this passage:
1. Triumphal procession
2. The fragrance and aroma business
3. Believers as commissioned spokesman of Christ

First, I just want to quickly celebrate how gloriously humbling the that parade image is to me.  The Savior of weak and awful sinners, through His power, transforms us into a new creation that He is proud to display for all the world!  HOW AWESOME IS THIS??? Also, the word TRIUMPHAL is huge because our God is not eventually going to win, HE'S ALREADY WON IT ALL.  We are part of God revealing the glory of Jesus through the Holy Spirit and the VICTORY that is one from the Resurrection and the power of Christ in our lives. It's a celebration with no fear of defeat!

Through this parade of the Lord's power, we spread the "fragrance" of the knowledge of God. 

The word "aroma", found in the next phrase of the passage, reminds me of a passage from the old testiment.  Check this chunk of Numbers out:

Numbers 29:8

"but you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old: see that they are without blemish."

I think it significant that the verse from Numbers deals with sacrifice as an aroma to the Lord. In a final and more perfect sense, Christ and His sacrifice on the cross give us the ability to be pleasing to the Lord. The defeat of sin through Jesus and the ritual sacrifice of animals (which God established before Christ paid our debt in full to make a new covenant) are both means that God's people had to come in contact with Him in righteous and clean communion. Through death in Jesus, we find life, much like the sacrifice of animals showed us the severity of sin and God's promise to forgive the repentant.

It's interesting to me how death and life, on either side of Jesus' offer of salvation, both react INCREDIBLY different to the aroma of Christ. Read this part of the Corinthians passage again:  "to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life."

 Perhaps one of the reasons that the enemy, the world, and our flesh react so violently towards Jesus is the fact that death (the state we live in because of sin and before gracious atonement) is so completely defeated by another kind of death (the crucifixion of our old life with Christ). This reaction is the antithesis of the one we, as believers, experience when another person(s) that loves the Lord enters our space. In that moment, both parties are encouraged and grown through fellowship and common devotion and worship of Jesus.  The connection of the Holy Spirit within the believers is a powerfully binding force, the very Spirit of God affirming Himself in another of His Children.  The fragrance and essence of Christ is the most powerful thing in creation (since He created it), so it will always cause a reaction.

This is why we can say we are not "peddlers of God's word" as Paul writes, but we are ambassadors with authority speaking on behalf of a King. The last point of interest in this beautifully dense passage reminds me that we do not carry a light or fruitless burden in the gospel. I'm also saddened and little angered by the reminder that there are in fact those that would use the gospel cheaply, for personal gain, or without truly knowing the power they speak of. I pray that we seek to be genuine in carrying the truth of Jesus, that we would not be like the pharisees in Jesus' day (who profited off God's teachings without having His love in them). In Jesus, we are speaking the Truth of life and life everlasting.  As Paul says, we speak as the Body of Christ Himself, we are called to be the light of the world in that triumphal procession we talked about earlier.

I've rambled too long, so thank anyone for reading, but I hope that you and I would seek this day, this week, and this season to be the sweet aroma of Christ to God and to the world that He loves enough to die for.

Be bold and courageous, YOU'RE NOT A PEDDLER OF USELESS GOODS, you carry the light and word of Jesus' Gospel!

Much Love

- Grady

Glory to Glory

If you follow any of my musical updates or if you've been to any of the worship events I've played in the last year, you've probably heard my song "Glory to Glory".   The track, which is about to be released as a single from the upcoming "Dusty Stages" album, is much more corporate than most of my songwriter music (thus making it great for singalong worship).  And even though this particular song is not my first choice in style, at least for my own compositions, the theme of the piece is hugely important in shaping how I've viewed my walk with Christ.

The title phrase comes from the King James Version's take on 2 Corinthians 3:18 which reads:

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

A more modern and literal translation (the English Standard Version) reads:

"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

I believe God calls His adopted sons and daughters to spend intensely personal time in His presence, something I know I need to be seeking more on a daily level. It is my understanding that Jesus desires the kind of trust and peace of relationship that He had with Moses (Exodus 33:11) for ALL OF HIS CHILDREN.  The presence of God, that place where we see His power and love and SELF reflecting as if from a pool, is where we who believe can soak up the glory of the Creator and take it out to the world!  We can grow from each visit to His presence and radiate His love from our face, just like Moses coming down from Mt. Sinai (Exodus 34:29)

The compelling image, this grace-fueled molding into the image of God's glory, has been a hugely gravitational force in most of my Christian journey.  As someone that learns well through experiential and tactile study, I desire a fierce and personal encounter with my Savior. Hearing about something God was doing or something He could do was never enough for me, I wanted (and still want) to see Him move for myself, in all of His manifestations. Not that I'm not excited about victories I witness in other peoples' testimonies, I just get CRAZY EXCITED to see the Holy Spirit move in new ways in my own story.

Thinking back to my very formative high school and college years, there was always a groaning urge to do bigger and better things with the Lord.  If I had prayed and healed 2 people, I wanted to pray for 10 the next time.  If a C.S. Lewis book like "The Screwtape Letters" changed my understanding of God for the better, I wanted to read EVERYTHING by Lewis or any of his friends.  During these periods, there was nothing I wanted more than to see more of God

However, in recent months I've been struggling to remain confident in the aforementioned passion. As I mentioned in past blog posts, Brandy and I had been without a true home church until the beginning of this summer.  The lack of fellowship, combined with a period of laziness in personal study and daily prayer, brought me to a place of grumbling and woe-is-me guilt.  

BUT, thanks to great conversations with a church staff that quickly and sincerely loved on Brandy and I, we've truly come out of a rut through the ministry of the Maryville Vineyard church family.

For the first time in what seems like an embarrassingly long while, I feel that healthy and beautiful urge of God's Spirit to seek Him out in each moment of the day.  Though not every hour feels like a new glory to glory discovery, I can gratefully say that the Lord is calling to me louder than in months past (that or my ears aren't clogged with distractions).

In my work, in my music and new album, in my marriage, and in my church-life, I am genuinely ready to reach heights of ministry that my wife and I have yet to see!

WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY LAST THOUGHT:
We cannot let ourselves, as believers saved through grace, despair in moments that seem dark.  No matter how long our stumble, the tie that is God's salvation and love does not vanish because of our human imperfections or weak moments. We don't have to crawl back to a point we once knew, Jesus picks us right back up and into His pace the moment we repent. 

And sometimes you reach the next peak of glory through the valley of the shadow of death, so don't give up when looking at your circumstance or position, but instead ask God to shine light and show you where is wonderfully formative glory can be found.

Thanks for reading or listening, and thanks for any prayers for my family's ministry.  Let me know if you ever need to talk or pray.