Four Splendid Typologies of Christ - Mediator - Part II

The apostle Paul wrote: “there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5, 6). The Greek word used here for ransom is antilutron (an-til’-oo-tron), which means “ a redemption price.” To redeem is to recover ownership of something by paying a specified sum. The sum owed for humanity’s sins was a perfect sacrifice:

“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:27, 28).

Christ, as the representative Man, holds tremendous importance with respect to His mediation on our behalf. By taking on the nature of man, Jesus is best able to empathize with our plight. Who better to understand the specifics of our struggles than the One who has walked a mile in our shoes, who knows the burdens we carry in life (see Isaiah 53).

Discover more in my book The Conditioned Mind. Blessings upon you and those you love!

Four Splendid Typologies of Christ - Mediator - Part I

A powerful example of Christ's mediation can be found in the words He spoke to Peter: "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22:31, 32). Note that Jesus did not say He would prevent such an act; rather, He prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail. The reference here to sifting wheat is significant. To do so, the stalk, along with its head, must first be cut off. Peter experienced a cut off from Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. This must have been a frightening and confusing event for him. He understood Christ to be the Messiah, (See Matthew 16:13–17) so why would Jesus allow these men to take Him captive? Why would the Son of God, with all of His power, allow such a thing? We can all relate to Peter in this matter. We, too, often ask ourselves similar questions. But we do not always realize that Christ is doing something. In Peter’s case, Jesus not only prayed that his faith would not fail, but also that he would serve as a source of strength to those who followed him.

In relation to wheat, chaff is made of dry bracts known as husks that enclose the mature grain. Before wheat is processed into eatable forms, the chaff must be separated from the grain through a process known as threshing. Here the stems and husks are vigorously beaten. No doubt, Peter felt the threshing of his soul as he denied Christ not once, but three times. One can only imagine the fear and utter confusion Peter felt as he was being threshed by Satan.

But the attack did not stop there. Remember, the devil had asked to sift Peter, the implication meaning to be ground down and screened into a fine power. In Jesus’ time, this involved grinding grain between stones. Once the grinding occurred, the ground wheat would then be set out to dry and later passed through a sieve, an instrument with a mesh or perforated bottom that further separated the coarse parts from the fine parts.

Satan's intent was to sift Peter into a finely ground powder, and God allowed it! In His infinite wisdom and power, God used this trial to refine Peter into what He desired him to be: a source of sustenance for the first century church to feast on! The same holds true for each one of us. God uses anything and everything to refine us. Nothing gets wasted. Right there in the middle of it all is Christ Jesus, our Mediator, interceding on our behalf, praying for us that our faith will not fail, so that one day, we, too, might turn and strengthen our brothers and sisters.

Learn more about Christ as Mediator in my new book, The Conditioned Mind.

Four Splendid Typologies of Christ - Part III

With regard to Christ as our Shepherd, Jesus Himself proclaimed: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." (John 10:11). The Greek word used here for good is kalos (kal-os’), pertaining to that which is right, beautiful, fine, or excellent. In this context, being right means to conform to morality, the quality of being in accord with standards of good conduct. So when Jesus says He is the good Shepherd, He is indicating that His quality of life is in harmony with God’s standards of conduct. Christ is not just good because He laid down His life for us. He is good because He never wavers from the Father’s will. Our Creator is love. Therefore, His will is rooted in love. The more we live by His standards of conduct, the less we inhibit the flow of His love. From this perspective, we can see the beauty of Christ as our Shepherd. We can observe how the love of the Father flows so purely through the Son and out into this world. As we follow Christ, we come to experience His quality. No one else could ever lead us with such superiority. There is none who is higher in rank or importance than Christ. He is worthy of all merit. While tempted, Jesus never yielded; He never deviated from the Father’s will. Jesus is excellent! This is what He meant when He said: “I am the good shepherd.”

Yet, Christ does not make this proclamation from a position of arrogance. Note the very next thing He says: “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Here we find the utmost of humility. The good Shepherd, the One who is right, beautiful, fine, and excellent, gives His all for us! In the life of Christ, we find the will of God manifested and carried out to the fullest extent. No sin was found in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:21–25; 1 John 3:5). Though He submitted to the complete punishment for humanity’s sin, at no time has He ever ceased being our good Shepherd.

In addition to ensuring His flock is well fed and saturated with love, Christ offers protection. In the wilderness, there are predators that make easy prey of a flock of sheep. But the actions of the shepherd thwart the predator’s intent. In the days of Jesus, shepherds carried a rod—a club carved from a thick tree branch—which was used to fend off attackers. In their attempt to protect the flock, many shepherds laid down their life. Thus, Jesus’ statement about being the good Shepherd and laying down His life had significance to those He was speaking to. Because Christ is our Shepherd, we are not in want. He knows our needs and avails Himself to us as our Provider and Protector (see Psalm 23:1 for wants; Matthew 6:25–34 for needs; and John 10:28 for provider/protector). He is the one we want to follow. Jesus can be trusted!

To learn more about the typologies of Christ, pick up a copy of my book, The Conditioned Mind. Have a blessed Good Friday and Easter celebration! Peace.

Four Splendid Typologies of Christ - Shepherd (Part II)

Another way the Shepherd tends to us as His flock is when He provides living water for our soul. While traveling through Samaria, Jesus stopped at a place known as Jacob's well. It was there that He asked a woman to draw up some water so He could have a drink. Instead of fulfilling Jesus' request, the woman focused on the prejudices that had long existed between Jews and Samaritans. Jesus' response to her was: "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." (John 4:10). Of the water in the well, Jesus said: "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14)

Our physical thirst can be quenched by water, but we will eventually thirst again. However, our spiritual thirst can be completely satisfied through the indwelling of God's Spirit. Once we drink of this living water, the Source is made ever-present within us. Our Shepherd knows exactly what we need, not just our physical needs, but our spiritual, mental, and emotional needs as well. It is for this reason that He leads us to quiet waters. (Psalm 23:2).

To learn more about how Christ can Shepherd you, pick up a copy of my book today, The Conditioned Mind. Peace!

Christ Is Good

Four Splendid Typologies of Christ - Shepherd (Part I)

A shepherd is one who herds, guards, and tends sheep. Long ago, the prophet Isaiah foretold the following about Christ: “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart." (Isaiah 40:11). As our Shepherd, Jesus cares for us with a tender heart and a great concern for our needs. He leads us to green pastures and gives us rest (see Psalm 23:2). Within the green pastures of God’s word, we can pause for a while, grazing on its rich spiritual sustenance. Recall that we were not created to live on bread alone (see Deuteronomy 8:2 and Matthew 4:4). We are more than mere physical beings; we have a soul, and our soul requires nourishment, the kind of nourishment that comes only from the word of God. What the world has to offer leaves us unfulfilled and wanting more. But God’s word is wholesome and satisfying; it contains all that we need. Within the green pastures of His word, we can relax; there is no need to hurry on. We can recharge the energy zapped by the trials and pressures we face in this world. It is Christ Jesus, our Shepherd, who leads us to the word of God, for He is the revealer of God (John 1:18). As we work to address our dysfunctional states of thought and behavior, we come to better understand the significance of this facet of God’s love reflected in Christ as our Shepherd. The process of reconditioning our mind is arduous at times. Entrenched modes of thought and behavior require serious effort to change. To be effective, we are going to need the rich, fertile pastures of God’s word to reenergize.

You will find a more in-depth study of this topic in my book, The Conditioned Mind. Have a blessed weekend! Peace.

Four Splendid Typologies of Christ - Introduction

In this new series, we will look at our glorious Savior in four splendid typologies of Shepherd, Mediator, High Priest, and King. Each represents a separate facet of our heavenly Father’s love for us; the One who ultimately created you and I in love so that we, too, would choose love. But true love cannot exist without free will. This is understood to be true, because the very essence of love requires a decision to be made—a decision to give of oneself. Not out of selfish ambition, but out of a true desire for what is good and right. Such a decision cannot be robotic in nature. For it to be of love, we must first have the freedom to choose. In this, we will have a glimpse of our Creator’s original intent for humanity, along with the moral character we were designed to represent, for which we would be given the free will to choose God’s love and thus become extensions of His love. When this flow of love is inhibited to too great a degree, disease is the result. In truth, love with excessive conditions is not really love at all, but an attempt by one person to control another. So the psychopath lashes out as a result of the injustices committed in the name of love. The obsessive seeks to control their life and others as a means to corral love, to bind it in hopes of being able to hold onto it. Those who tend toward emotionalism cry out, saying, “Love me!” They will be whatever they believe they need to be to please others in exchange for love. Because these types of individuals incorrectly harbor their self-worth in other people as opposed to placing it in Christ, their sense of worth is in a constant state of flux. So they use up love’s energy as a means to bolster a distorted sense of self.

While each of us can most likely see our own tendencies toward the characteristics found in the psychopath, obsessive, and emotional personality types, we come to observe in Jesus the ultimate model of a life lived in love. The observance of such a matter is glorious! The uninhibited love of the Father, flowing freely though the life of His Son, is so full of grace that all one can do is stand in awe. 

For a more in-depth study into the typologies of Christ, pick-up a copy of my book, The Conditioned Mind. Looking forward to exploring our Savior in this series!

Resisting The Devil - Put On The Full Armor (Part VI & Conclusion)

As Christians, we are instructed to use the sword of the Spirit— which is the word of God. The Holy Spirit is the author of God’s word (see Acts 28:25 and II Timothy 3:16). While Satan works to bring darkness to our life, God’s Spirit illuminates the darkness by cutting through to reveal the truth:

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. (I Corinthians 2:10-12).

We do not have to live in bondage to our past, bound by unresolved pain and anguish. No longer do we need to be timid about coping with our conditioned modes of thought and behavior. Along these lines, Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy, stating: “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (II Timothy 1:7). With the full armor of God, we can stand firm against the tricks and schemes of the devil.

We must submit our thoughts to the Lord and be willing to allow God to search our mind, so that He can reveal conditioned modes of thought and behavior that do not line up with His will. As we gain greater awareness, we can then work toward accepting the truth and lean on the Lord for strength as He works to transform us. Through this process, we become conditioned to take thoughts captive for the Lord. We make choices to behave in ways that coincide with the will of our Creator. We stop submitting to a yoke of slavery. Putting on the full armor of God, we stand firm on His word and walk in freedom.

With this post, we bring to a close this series on resisting the devil. It is my sincere prayer you have found important means to walk in the power, love, and soundness-of-mind of God! For a more in-depth study on this topic read my book, The Conditioned Mind. Blessings to you and those you love!