We recently read the book "The Donkey Who Carried a King" to our children. It was fantastic! In his usual style RC illustrates a Biblical principle using an engaging story that children can understand and apply to their own lives. In this book RC helps children understand that they should carry out every task in their lives without grumbling. He does it by telling the story of the Donkey who carried Christ into Jerusalem. Certainly Davey, the donkey, was overjoyed to have such a special task. After taking Christ to Jerusalem however Davey is put back to seemingly menial tasks for which he begins to grumble. Through a wonderful depiction of the servant's heart that Christ displayed your children too will see the importance of doing every task without grumbling as though doing it for the Lord directly.
As always this book was Biblical and a delight. Can't wait for the next children's book release from RC.
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Have you ever struggled to find the significance and beauty of the sacrifices in the Old Testament? Most of us have at some point or another. Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence set out to exegete crucial Old Testament texts that shadow what was accomplished by Christ on the cross.
The truth that man MUST have a substitute for our sins in order to be spared from God's just wrath is at the very heart of the Gospel. Dever and Lawrence bring this out in a totality from the Old Testament all the way to looking at the actual words and work of Christ in the New Testament. From there they look at the depiction of Christ and His suffering from Isaiah 52 & 53. Bringing it home by then looking at what God has revealed about the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. They highlights the comprehensive and permanent nature of the salvation that God has provided by His grace. Climaxing in the understanding that the beauty in the life of a Christian comes from understanding the Gospel more, so that we learn to enjoy God fully as our all-sufficient Savior and see the benefits of our having been redeemed as being far more precious than any mass of worldly treasures and pleasures. In light of so great a salvation, how could we not trust Him more daily? One last note, I definitely appreciated there thorough use of Scripture to make their points as well as their constant encouragement to unbelievers, who might be reading the book, to repent and for the believer to guard their heart against legalism and self-righteousness.
Five out of five stars! Highly recommended! Great for individual study or small group.
Just finished reading this one with my children. I found it absolutely fantastic! It is a great explanation of the transaction that takes place at salvation where we receive Christ's imputed righteousness and He takes our sin. It puts it in terms that children can understand. At the end of the book it has several study questions for parents to discuss the book with the kids to help them see the truths of the Gospel and what Christ has done for us. I read it to my 5 & 4 year old. It was just a little too long to maintain my four year old's attention the entire time but he enjoyed it nonetheless.
Read as always with your Bible open. In fact, the great thing about this book. In the study section it outlines how to transition from talking to your children about the story to moving on the more important facts of the Gospel so that you raise your children in the truths of the Lord. You can pick this book up from Ligonier.org.
** Please note that I received a review copy of this book from Reformation Trust but was in no way obligated to give a favorable review, just a fair one.
You hear many these days say that people die and go to Hell because they don't know Christ. There is definite truth in that statement... but it isn't the most accurate way to phrase the 'why' of why people go to Hell. Let me make this statement which will at first make you recoil. No one has ever gone to Hell because they didn't trust Christ. No No No I am NOT a heretic... Please read on and let me explain.
John 3:16-18 (NASB) - “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
In verse 17 it says that Jesus didn't come to judge the world but to save it. If He came to save it then we can easily see the inference that the world stood condemned. Not for a lack of belief in Christ but for something else. Ephesians 2 makes it clear that we WERE dead in our sins. We are dead in our sins but God in His goodness has sent Jesus Christ so that those who repent and trust in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
What does it say there in verse 18. He who does not believe has been judged already. He who does not believe is ALREADY CONDEMNED. The REASON people go to Hell is because they are dead in their sins. If God sent people to Hell because they didn't trust Jesus then He would be a cruel God wouldn't He? It seems that way to me.... in a way of thinking at least...
Verse 18 is explaining what was said in verse 16 and 17. Verse 18 makes plain that those who are in Christ are saved from the judgment that once awaited them and that those who have rejected the Savior are still facing judgment as a result.
However, we are responsible for our own sin (Romans 3:23). God does not cause us to sin. We sin because we are sinful. So we condemn ourselves to Hell. However, Jesus Christ is the only One who can save us! Those who don't believe on the Son are condemned already, yet those who trust in the Lord will be rescued! Will be saved!
That shows Him to be the good God that He is, the beautiful Savior that He is!
Suffering for the sake of Christ. We briefly touched on this last week as well. Matthew 5:11-12 - “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Walking with Christ, following Jesus, means that you will be at some time or another, persecuted for your stance. Satan hates that Christians, true Christians, live for God. He hates every righteous step and sign of growth in us. Like he did with Job, Satan is always trying to get God to revoke your salvation. Guilt of sin is the one rope that Satan has with which God allows Him to pull us to hell. When Christ saves you, the cord is severed. Satan has no more grasp on you and so he will unleash with all his might on you to tempt you. He was not afraid to tempt Christ Himself. Who are we to escape a similar trial?
Our suffering, no matter how great, cannot compare to the suffering of our Savior on the cross. Turn with me if you would to Revelation 5:1-14 - Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” 13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” 14 And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
Verse 6 there says… ‘as if slain’. Implying that the wounds are still visible yet He stands there alive. The death brought by the wounds of our iniquities has no hold on Him any longer because He has risen! He stands, He is worthy to take up the Book of Life!
The greatest suffering ever in the entire universe was the death of Jesus Christ. And it is that suffering that is the center piece of the Grace of God. It will be the theme of our unending praises in Heaven. It will be the wonder of us for all eternity. The cross was God’s plan before the foundation of the world and everything else is the mean’s He has used to demonstrate His Grace.
Jesus was slain… it’s the peak of God’s Grace. John Piper says it like this, “The ultimate reason that suffering exists was so that Jesus could suffer and die for sinners.” Jesus’ death on the cross was the highest demonstration of the Grace of God. It brought Him the maximum amount of Glory. He saves us through Christ and since He does it that way then it must have been the best and only way because if it weren’t He would have chosen some other way. Let that sink in for a moment.
The word slain, more accurately rendered, is slaughter. It’s not what you do to kill a human, it’s what you do to kill a lamb. It’s a violent word. The suffering of Christ was the worst suffering ever. And in Him we can expect suffering as well, but Jesus said, “Rejoice” in suffering for His sake, for your reward in Heaven is Great.
The Cross of Christ is the central theme of the entire world and the entire universe. The purpose of the Cross was that Christ would die to redeem a people. Whose names have been written and sealed in the Lamb’s Book of Life long before the world began. He accomplished that and now in all sufferings of any kind for any reason, Christians have hope because of Jesus Christ!
A question that typically arises out of this is, ‘Well, how do we know the difference between the types of suffering?’ Answer, there is no secret formula to it. Each case of suffering, regardless of the type, should drive us to the Word of God and to prayer and God will strengthen us in that act of obedience. He will renew our hope in Him. If He do desires, He will make it clear to you why you are suffering… if not, you’ll understand it in eternity. He saw no reason to explain to Job. He didn’t see a reason to explain to Paul why the thorn was there, He merely said, ‘My grace is sufficient.’.
If you are not in Christ. If you’ve never repented (that is turned) from your sin and placed your trust in the sufficient saving power of Jesus Christ. I plead with you. Cry out to the Lord today to save you and do not stop until you feel Him assuring you that He has done just that.
Cry out to the only One who can wash your sins away and justify you before a Holy and Righteous God!
As always, if you are in need of me, I’ll be down front. But I cannot save you any more than a prayer can. But God can save you. Cry out to Him. He will save you.
