The Fearful Goodness of Good Friday

In Hosea, we receive an interesting prophetic picture of the soon-to-be-released goodness of God in redeeming a truly wretched, sin-loving bunch. In fact, this “latter” goodness is presented as something “to be feared.”

We read in Hosea 3:5,

"They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days" (NKJV).

How can something like God’s goodness bring us to tremble? Simple—it’s absolutely awe-inspiring when considered in context to Who God is and who we are:

• Consider Who the Father is—Holy, perfect, blameless, majestic, glorious.

• Consider who we are—wretched, sinful, at enmity with God, and yes, murderers of the very God Who came to rescue us.

• Finally, consider the glorious exchange Paul describes in Ephesians 2: We were then by nature children of [God's] wrath and heirs of [His] indignation…”But God--so rich is He in His mercy! (Eph 2:3-4, AMP).

There are many roads I could travel down with this topic, but really, I want to focus on the terrifying goodness of God as expressed through His extravagant forgiveness.

Satan has an agenda for us. He seeks to corner believers with his lies and convince us that the sin in our lives alienates us from the love, presence, and yes, forgiveness of God. He wants us to believe that in order to “get right with God again,” we have to… fill in your personal blank. Do penance in our heads. Feel bad enough to become good enough again to be received by God. Or worse of all, travel down this road long enough, ascribing to these lies so often that we ultimately believe: “God doesn’t want me anymore. I’m a screw-up Christian. I just keep missing it.”

Works will not redeem you from this line of thought—revelation will. Period. Lift your eyes to the cross and everything it represents. Satan doesn’t want our minds going there, so let’s really bend him out of shape and BOLDLY behold the cross and the Man, Christ Jesus, nailed front and center. Do you know what His presence there tells me? His forgiveness and mercy are extravagant beyond comprehension.

He died an outcast. His people rejected him. His own disciples abandoned and denied him. Surely even his mother was engaged in mental gymnastics, hoping he would bypass this “cup” of suffering. Let’s face it—God came to the earth to redeem us, and what did we do? We killed him. If that’s not evidence for the total depravity of man, I don’t know what is.

Now here’s the kicker—If you and I literally killed God (which we did with our sin), and He still declared, “forgive them…” do you really think what presently we “deal with” sin-wise now places us beyond His mercy? I think not.

Behold the Man upon the Tree this Good Friday. Look upon the One we pierced—I know it’s confrontational and uncomfortable—but beyond the confrontation with our sin is the most explosive revelation of mercy one could ever receive.

Medicate upon the Savior through this dynamic worship anthem. He truly deserves all of the praise.

Missional Worship

Just a quick Word of encouragement to the worship community (namely, all of us who have been redeemed and live to radiate authentic gratitude for the Cross of Christ)…

God has been exhorting me to concentrate less on naturals and hone in on the supernatural concerning what it means to missionally worship— yielding (not creating, for that’s God’s job and not a church’s) atmospheres to evangelistic worship. This may sound slightly intangible and different, but let me explain.

The Church of Jesus Christ — you and I — can veer off into one of two imbalances: Being too heavenly minded for earthly good, or being a “Christian” carbon copy of the world. The reality is that we are stationed in two realms simultaneously. We are spiritually positioned in Christ, seated with Him in heavenly places as voices that proceed from the Throne of God (which is such a powerful Truth concerning our spiritual placement), and, at the same time, we are on earth — strangers, foreigners, and aliens, indeed— but nevertheless, “on earth.” Until the consummation of the age when Jesus physically returns to Earth, we are anointed and charged to see that the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God.

Ultimately, God’s agenda for lost humanity is divine Kingdom-drafting. Jesus did not commission us to “go ye therefore and make converts of all nations.” He intentionally used the term “disciple.” People who are radically touched and transformed by the Living Christ to go forward and imitate Him— to literally “be Jesus” on Earth, a people who truly grasp that they are His temple, His tabernacle, His house, His vehicle, His body on Earth.

Fine and good, but what has the power to create a disciple? Programs don’t. Emotionally appealing altar calls don’t. Church-as-usual does not. What can instigate a true, lasting, supernatural change in the hearts of the once-lost, and, in a miraculous moment, transform the “chief of all sinners” into a radical Kingdom advancer?

The presence of the Awesome One. A genuine, real-deal encounter with the Living, tangible, loving, powerful, mighty Yahweh. Okay, so, where does missional worship concept come into play? Very simply, Scripture reminds us that the God of heaven inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). His presence is magnetically drawn to the fragrance of true, authentic, extravagant, selfless, yielded worship. Not “I’ll worship to get my breakthrough.” That’s selfishness and shame on us for even buying into that garbage. Not “I’ll worship because God NEEDS it.” He’s entirely self-sufficient, so let’s give up believing that mess. Not “I’ll worship because I like the music.” Nothing to do with music. Not “I’ll worship when I feel like worshipping.” David declared, “I will bless the Lord at all times…” “I will.” There’s an element of decidedly lifting one’s eyes beyond circumstance and fixing gaze upon the beautiful Savior. In short, true worship is of the Romans 12:1 caliber.

“In view of God’s mercy” we offer up our lives as living sacrifices. Genuine Spirit and Truth worship begins with a revelation of Truth — the Truth of the Cross of Christ, the blood of Jesus, and our eternal gratitude for being radically liberated from a horrific fate that we chose and was well-deserved. We don’t just worship for worship’s sake. The Cross is the ultimate manifestation of God’s glorious mercy, so that is what we fix our focus upon and in turn, respond to. We respond to everything it represents and the endless dimensions of God-revelation it has generously opened us to.

The reality is that when we understand the missional, or evangelistic byproducts of worship, something glorious happens. Now granted, we don’t worship just so that something happens in our atmosphere, personally or corporately. We worship Him because He is Jehovah. Ah, but in worship, we must possess an undergirding understanding and expectation of the sovereign move of the Spirit of God. He DOES respond to our praise and DESIRES to move in our midst.

“Change the atmosphere…” I sense that this is a phrase emerging from the Spirit. God wants to supernaturally transform atmospheres. I believe He wants to charge whole environments with a spirit of revival and evangelism. When we as believers encounter God in the midst of Spirit & Truth worship, we are revived by His presence and long to worship Him and in turn, manifest His will on earth all the more! When the lost are present in these atmospheres, in accordance with God’s sovereignty in salvation, the Spirit cannot help but go after these folks and do what He does best — powerfully introduce sinners to Jesus Christ. I’ve seen it; it is incredible.

I pray that we would be mindful of this supernatural dimension while we worship God. It can never just be about singing songs… even singing songs to God. God wants to tangible release Himself into atmospheres, by His Mighty Spirit, and awaken the sleeping, revive the dying, and save the sin-stained. So, while we gather to worship in church, or we are jamming in our cars, I pray that we would prophesy to the ever present looming clouds, be it over our churches, over our neighborhoods, over our cities, over the nations — “Let it rain…”