We just have read the Apostolic Creed. It is one of the oldest creeds of the Christian church, functioning as baptism confession in the early church already.
But is it striking that nothing is mentioned about the life of Jesus. From his birth from Virgin Mary the creed jumps directly to the suffering under Pontius Pilate. It is all about his great work of salvation, bringing back a lost world to its Creator. This is the great truth of the Gospel. And it is the duty and the joy of the church to preach this and to ask faith and repentance from those who hear the Gospel.
But Jesus is also a model. He didn’t only give his life for our justification (to become right with God trough faith), but He also lived his life on earth for our sanctification, leaving us an example of a holy life, a life that honours God and loves the neighbour.
It is very clear in both Scripture readings. Phil. 2:5 ‘Your attitude should be the same of that of Christ Jesus’. The apostle Paul gives a lot of indications how to live together and care for one another in the church. Vs. 4 ‘Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others.’ Then he quotes this hymn about the humiliation and the exaltation of Jesus. Look at Him, what He did and how He did it. He participated in the glory of the Father. To be equal with God he didn’t consider something to be grasped (like Adam and Eve wanted to be like God, they wanted to steal it..) No it was Jesus’ nature, it was his joy. But nevertheless He gave it up, to become a servant, even less than a servant. Adam and Eve were disobedient, but He made himself obedient to death – even death on a cross! That’s why God exalted him to the highest place and gave Him a name above all name (vs. 9).
In Hebr. 12: 2 you find the same: ‘Let us fix our eyes in Jesus, the author and perfector of faith’. Here the apostle is talking about the ‘career’ of Jesus. He did everything – He endured the cross, scorning its shame – Why? Because of the joy set before him. What is this joy? It is the joy to sit at the right hand of the Father and to sharehis glory and honour. Isn’t that the same position that He had already before his humiliation? Not exactly! Because now Jesus is at the right hand of the Father with his mission accomplished. Now He is there with a rescued world. Now He brings all the names of those whom he had saved to this Father, showing what He has done for them. That is his full joy; that made him going that incredibly heavy way of suffering.
Seeing the example of Christ gives a strong motivation not to give up. The writer compares life with a run, a race. He might have thought about Olympic games in a stadium with a lot of observers, a crowd looking at the runners, and shouting to them to go for it, not to give up. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, who ran for the joy set before him.
Last Friday (5 May) we celebrated Liberation Day in the Netherlands. Even 72 years after WW2 it is an important event. But you cannot celebrate 5th of May without 4th of May- the memorial of those who have given their life for freedom. Why the allied forces decided to make a huge effort to win back Europe from the oppression of the Nazi? Why they gave an incredible amount of young promising lives for it? In order to see to see the end of violence and oppression and to see freedom re-established.
The other day I read an interesting article in the newspaper dealing with the question: where do you want to be 10 years from now? I learned that you could use apps and websites to write a letter/email to your future self that you will receive within a certain time (10 years). So you receive a letter from your old self 10 years later. ‘Make the future you proud!’ What should give you joy, if you look back after 10 (20) years? It is a searching question. You can think in terms of achievement: a permanent job, an acknowledged position, living with your family in a good house etc.. But maybe you find it more important to say: ‘After ten years I want to be sure that I have spent enough time with my family and friends, that I helped a fair number of others to overcome problems, that I see considerable growth in love and patience and joy in my life. Etc.
Do you know the story of Alfred Nobel, how he came to the idea of a Nobel price? He was a successful chemical engineer. Already in his life he was known because of his material successes especially in developing and producing dynamite. But in 1888 while he lived in Paris, he read a memorial of himself in the newspaper. The journalist made a mistake, thinking that Alfred Nobel died (actually it was his brother Luvig), describing his success, and calling him a ‘trader in death’ (because of the dynamite took a lot of victims in wars), living like an emperor in his harmful industrial kingdom. Nobel read this memorial and he was scared. It made him change his testament. His money should be used to give prices each year for people who contributed greatly to the society and the improvement of the world. That is why we have 5 Nobel-prices each year on his day of death.
Let us return to the example of Jesus in Hebr. 12. Why He did endure, why He made that difficult race? The joy set before him was the clear motivation. That helped him to pay the price and not to give up. This was what the Father, the Son and H. Spirit had agreed in a holy council from eternity. God wanted to include a lost world in his fullness of glory and joy! And the Son committed himself fully to that eternal assignment. Do you believe that He did this for you, for your salvation?
But He also gave us an example to think about what moves us, what keeps us running? You know that phrase: born a human and died an engineer (or a professor), or whatever. In my student’s time I was impressed by a film of Ingmar Bergman (also from Sweden) ‘Wild strawberries’, it is a black and white film about a successful professor, who is on the way to get a honorary title at Lund university. On the way who gets ‘flash backs’ or rather a ‘flash aheads’ to moments after his burial. From there he looks back at his life. One of the moving scenes is a lecture room, all of a sudden turning into a courtroom with all his family sitting there and accusing him that he never was there for them. It makes him think where and when he lost the joy of life and the film shows that he is not to old to get it back!
What did Jesus face the difficulties and endure the cross? It was the joy to win the price, to sit at the right hand of the Father with a rescued world. It is the fruit of love. The example of Jesus helps us to think: what do you want to be found under the tree of your life? (Achievements? Successes?). Is it the joy of being loved, to joy of love others, the joy of having shown the love of Christ to others, the joy of belonging to a fellowship? (as the apostle Paul says in Phil. 2: 16v). Maybe you call it a fruit, not an effort. It grows, you cannot make it; it is a gift. But you can help it grow by feeding it, watering the tree etc. Even for Jesus: having a name above all name, to get all authority in heaven and earth, in order that every knee will bow and every tongue confess him as Lord, is a gift from the Father (Phil. 2: 9).
Here again we need to talk about motivation, what moves us. What we are doing is less important than why we are doing it. The question of ‘what’ is often there, especially for students who have the opportunity to chose. And many experience dilemma’s (choice stress). If I chose this or this my career, is it the right choice, or do I delete important possibilities for developing my career? (dilemma of those who are in their 20-ies or 30-ies).
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus. See how He ran the race. ‘He endured the cross, scorning it shame’; He emptied himself, He made himself a servant.’
How to cope with difficulties in our life career? If we ask one another about it, I think that many of us are able to mention a lot of challenges: your daily troubles, from an empty bike tube to the misunderstanding of your colleagues. From the feeling of inadequacy to the real setbacks in your study. From loneliness and being misunderstood to your own lack of discipline, your failures and sins. It is summarized in Hebr. 12:1 with ‘burden’ and with ‘sin’. They prevent us from running well. How do we cope with it? Actually in Hebr. 11 you find a long list of people who all had to cope with difficulties in their life career – Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses and many more. They all didn’t give up. Why not? Because of what they saw in future. In faith they saw God new world, the joy of being with Him, and to become member of a great community, a complete row of saints from the beginning of the world to its end, a big cloud of witnesses. Two points of motivation (like in Jesus): the joy set before them and to belong to a fellowship of witnesses!
How does it help to cope with these life problems?
There are three possibilities, and you may think which of the three bothers you most:
- We can try to run away from problems, to avoid them, neglect them, by seeking distraction or trying to forget them (and experience that it is not easy)
- We can fight against them with all our power, doing all efforts to eliminate them, solve them. Often we experience that the more you fight, the more it kills you.
- Look it into the face, accept that it is there, and give it some place in our life. Maybe this problem is here because I need it to grow, because God in his wisdom uses it to make me a more complete person.
In practice it is not easy to discern what to do, and how to cope. It brought the Reformer John Calvin cry out; ‘Lord, give me the courage to change what can be changed, give me the patience to accept what cannot be changed, and give me the wisdom to discern between the two!’
When the author looks at the big row of saints, he is impressed by their endurance; they didn’t give up despite all the problems (see what kinds of difficulties they faced in Hebr. 11: 34-38!). They are a big cloud of witnesses. But we don’t look too much on them, they look on us! They are the people who sit on the galleries in the stadium, they shout at us, they encourage us: ‘don’t give up, without you the row is not complete!’ Let our eyes be fixed on Jesus, who went ahead, in from of us. No, who went for us, prepared the way. We must throw off the clothes that hinder us in the race (every little burden that holds us from running), and sin that is like a bush with thorns that hook in our body.
But, what if the last enemy, that takes everything, death, comes? Jenny and I have a housemate, I knew her from her students time, she was a gifted missionary and worked in Indonesia and Malaysia, now she is in her last months on earth because cancer. It is not easy, she wants to do so much more, but last week she told us about the incredible comfort she experienced in the word of the apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 4:17v ‘For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen…and while our earthly tent falls apart, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven. And while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened – we do this with all creation and we cannot escape that– but life is waiting. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose, and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.’ Are we able to say this? (I am very hesitant), but I pray that God grants us this grace when the time is there that we need it. Do you pray with me? Glory to Him, father, Son and Holy Spirit! Amen
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