The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“Awesome!”

I was speaking in a church in Arizona. As I left the motel to step next door for breakfast, a beautiful 1957 Chevy slowly drove past. It was a sight to see indeed. Stopping, a teenage boy stepped out, took a look at the car, looked at me, looked at the car again and then said, “Awesome, isn’t it, dude?” There are two problems with his statement. First, I am pretty sure that I am not a “dude,” whatever that means. Second, I am totally sure that the ’57 Chevy is NOT awesome. It was a pretty car, but there is only One Who is awesome! It is the Lord our God Who said, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. I am He that lives and was dead: and, behold, I am alive for evermore” (Revelation 1:8, 18). He alone is awesome.

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“He Made the Demands. He Paid the Price!”

“For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). The righteous and holy demands are absolutely clear. Sin results in death. The story doesn’t end there, however! This same righteous Lord paid the price for us. “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23b). There’s only one Judge Who made the verdict and Himself paid the price, Jesus Christ our Lord.

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“Things in Emmaus Would Never Be the Same!” (Luke 24)

The seven-miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus included two disciples who were trying to talk through their thoughts and emotions. “And they talked together of all these things which had happened” (Luke 24:14). They were among those who had truly believed that the Lord Jesus was truly the Messiah and that He surely would establish His kingdom. They continued to communicate and reason with each other” (24:15a). Surely this conversation focused on the betrayal, denial, arrest, the mock trials, the severe beating, the crucifixion, and death of their beloved Jesus. It was a long, sad walk home. But things were about to change! “Jesus Himself drew near and went with them” (24:15b). He had the amazing ability to be in their presence but not recognized. During those moments on the highway, He gave them a precious course on what the Bible says about the Messiah and His suffering. Arriving home, at their insistence, He came in for supper and lodging. “He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them” (22:30). Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they knew Him. He disappeared (22:31). As He served the bread, the scars on His nail-pierced wrists were visible! They recognized Him and then He vanished from their presence! Immediately they returned to Jerusalem, joining the other disciples with the news that “HE’S ALIVE! WE HAVE SEEN HIM! HE MADE HIMSELF KNOWN IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD!” Things would never be the same!

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“What a Scene”

“Certainly this was a righteous man” (Luke 23:47). No doubt this centurion had witnessed the execution and death of many men. No doubt he had heard the cries of many proclaiming their innocence. This man, Jesus, was very different though. The centurion proclaimed His righteousness and used the word “Certainly.” Perhaps an innocent man or two had died under his watch but never a righteous man! There’s only One Who is righteous, and He shed His blood and died for us. What a scene. www.michaelpeck.org

“Two Fathers and Their Sons”

The first father and son is found in Genesis 22. Abraham was commanded to offer his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah. The three-day journey must have been agonizing for Abraham. Arriving there, Isaac asked his father, “Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (22:7). Abraham answered, “God will provide Himself a lamb” (22:8). It must have been shocking to Isaac to discover that he was the one to be sacrificed. Abraham built the altar, laid the wood in order, bound his son, and laid him on the altar (22:9). Just before the sacrifice would take place, Abraham must have been thrilled to hear the voice of God stopping Him and providing the ram in the thicket. Rejoicing in the Lord, Abraham called Him “Jehovah-Jireh” (the God Who sees and provides 22:14). It must have been a joyous time going back home together.

But there was another Father and Son. God the Father and His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus, who went to Golgotha. There would be no last second stopping the sacrifice of the Son from taking our place. Think of it. The Father spared not His only Son. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Two fathers and two sons with two very different outcomes! God did indeed provide Himself a Lamb in both cases!