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In the story of Abraham and Isaac there is a verse filled with rich gospel imagery:

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. (Genesis 22:13)

Abraham turned and what did he see?  A lamb wearing a crown of thorns!  A ram caught by its horns in the thicket.  The lamb was offered “INSTEAD OF HIS SON.”  An innocent one dies instead of another—as a substitute.  That’s what happened at the cross.

Many people today struggle with the idea of a substitute making atonement.  How God a loving God demand such a thing?  That sounds like a pagan notion, they insist.  Christ’s atonement, though, is radically different from paganism.  In paganism it is always humans who must do something to placate the offended gods, perhaps offering sacrifices or performing rituals.  Human beings must do something to appease the divine.  But the gospel is completely the opposite of paganism.  In fact, the gospel declares that there is nothing we can do to compensate for our sins or turn away God’s holy wrath.  We can’t beg or bribe him to change his mind.  We deserve nothing but judgment, yet God, based on his sheer mercy and grace, has taken the initiative to make things right.  He himself is the one who offers to himself what is required.

I Jn 4:10–This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

God was the one who provided the atonement, not us.  This is the opposite of pagan ideas.  God’s love is the source, not the result, of the atonement. God doesn’t give grace because of the atonement, but provides the atonement because of grace.  God doesn’t love us because Jesus died, but Jesus died because God loves us.

John Stott (in his classic masterpiece, The Cross of Christ), writes:

“It is God himself who in holy wrath needs to be propitiated, God himself who in holy love undertook to do the propitiating, and God himself who in the person of his Son died for the propitiation of our sins.  Thus God took his own loving initiative to appease his own righteous anger by bearing it his own self in his own Son when he took our place and died for us. There is no crudity here to evoke our ridicule, only the profundity of holy love to evoke our worship” (p. 175).

In June of 2008 we participated with over 1800 churches from 28 countries in a global event called “One Prayer.”  We shared powerful video teaching from gifted communicators, but also we prayed together, served together, and partnered together in an offering with a goal of planting 500 churches in four countries.  If you’d like a report on the progress of this shared mission endeavor go to: http://2008.oneprayer.com/missions/news.  You can read interesting stories and view video reports of the progress.  Here is a summary:

·         364 participants (pastors/planters) have been enrolled

·         5,910 evangelistic contacts have been made

·         3,328 people have participated in Bible Study

·         598 individuals have been baptized

·         74 churches have been planted

It appears that the initiative is on track to meet the goal of 500 new churches within 18 months.

We are planning to join the One Prayer event again this June.  The theme this year is “God is_________.”  Once again, world class communicators will speak to us as we examine different characteristics or qualities of God.   This year we will also participate in a community serving project to assist schools in the Thompson Valley school in cooperation with other area churches.

Below is a video we used for our “Break the Famine” moment…

At Grace Place church we decided to “Break the Famine” and read through the Bible together this year.  I have sensed a lot of excitement about this journey we’re taking together and it has been so cool to share insights with others from the daily reading—just in the course of everyday conversation.  I have been recommending that you have four tools with you every day when you are ready to read: 1) a Bible; 2) a reading plan (which can be accessed at www.graceplace.org); 3) a pen; and 4) a journal (to personalize the reading using SOAP—Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer).

If you are person who uses a daily planner or calendar to keep your life organized, consider bringing that with you as a fifth optional tool.  Wayne Cordeiro, in his book, Divine Mentors, talks about how easy it is to get distracted when you are reading the Bible.  Perhaps you start thinking about a call you need to return, an email you need to send, an errand you need to run for your spouse, etc., and soon you are side tracked.  Just take a minute to pause and write that down in your planner.  Then you’ve captured it as a reminder for later, but also cleared your mind so you can concentrate again on God’s Word.

I find it helpful also to jot down a few action items for my day or week after reading the Bible.  It seems like I am more tuned in to what my real priorities are at that moment.