the cross – Calvary Chapel

How the Gospel Heals Shame

Benjamin Morrison — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Shame is an experience common to every person on the planet. Charles Darwin, in classic materialist fashion, defined shame primarily in terms of its physical expression: casting the eyes downward, lowering the head, blushing and a slack posture. No matter what culture a person is from, these are universally accepted signs of this universally experienced condition. To clarify what we’re talking about, it’s helpful to differentiate between shame and guilt. The difference has been stated very well in the following way: “guilt is a sense that my actions are wrong. Shame is a sense that I am wrong.” It’s interesting that even when a person denies guilt over certain actions, the sense of shame is much harder to escape. A person might completely deny the existence of “moral standards”, and yet they may still go through life with a sense that “I’m not right”.

Where does shame come from?

The theme of shame runs throughout the whole Bible. We see it from the very beginning. In the garden of Eden, God created Adam and Eve. Gen. 2:25 says that they were both “naked and unashamed”. But in chapter 3 they fall into sin, disobey God and, all of a sudden, there is a change. The very first result we read of after they eat the forbidden fruit is that “the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. ”

The very first result from sin mentioned in the Bible is shame. It was the direct result of sin. It wasn’t just that they thought their action was wrong. They thought that they were wrong and had to hide themselves, so they sewed coverings. When God calls to Adam, Adam says, “I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” They didn’t just wipe their mouths from the juice of the forbidden fruit to hide their action. They tried to hide themselves. This is shame, not just guilt. Shame is the fear that “someone will see me as I really am and reject me because I am disgusting”. They realized that now, in a real sense, they themselves were not right. And their immediate reaction was to create a covering, a way to hide their own shame. Think about it: was there anything sinful in the fact that they were naked? Just Adam and Eve were there, a man and his wife. No! The problem was not their nakedness. But their shame caused them to try and hide themselves. The act of covering oneself as an expression of shame is well known to all of us, even when that shame has nothing to do with a directly physical cause.

The picture of nakedness as an illustration of shame continues throughout Scripture. This is essentially something we associate with nakedness anyway. Almost everyone has had the nightmare where you show up to school and you forgot to put on clothes and you’re standing there in your underwear or naked and everyone is laughing and you’re just dying of shame. Even if you haven’t had that dream, the concept is so ubiquitous that you’re sure to have seen it in a movie or two. But along with this picture of nakedness as shame in Scripture, clothing one’s nakedness is a picture of the covering of shame.

Trying to heal our own shame

Now, in the sense that we’re fallen, sinful people, shame is appropriate. * We should have a sense that we aren’t as we should be, because we aren’t as we should be! We were not created to exist in a condition of sin and alienation from God! But at the same time, it’s impossible to constantly live in shame. It will lead us to despair and depression. In fact, in some cases, the horrifying, conscious realization of shame is so strong that it can push a person to suicide. And so we attempt to “heal” our shame in one of 2 ways:

1) We sew fig leaves for ourselves. That is, we attempt to hide our shame under that which we’ve made with our own hands. Even if we refuse to admit guilt over a specific action, if we try to justify it or even if a person denies the existence of moral standards, we still go about life trying to cover our shame through our works and accomplishments. We attempt to cover who we are with what we do. That might be with accomplishments in business or wealth, perhaps in popularity or relationships or sex, or even in religious accomplishment and devotion. We feel that we are wrong on some level and attempt to cover that with the work of our hands. Only it doesn’t work.

Think about the story in Eden. If the fig leaves had really covered their shame, why did Adam and Eve hide in the bushes after they had made themselves a covering? It becomes obvious that, although they attempted to deal with their own shame through their accomplishments, it didn’t work. If it did they would’ve been standing in the middle of the garden in confidence. See, whichever accomplishments we try to heal our shame with, they will never work. We will only make matters worse. There are 2 (at least) major down sides to making your underwear out of fig leaves. First, it’s a very temporary solution. The fig leaves would quickly wither and Adam and Eve would constantly have to be renewing the fig leaves. Secondly, if you’ve ever felt a fig leaf, you know that they feel like sandpaper. There’s a mental picture for you: sandpaper undies. Do you think that was comfortable? No. They weren’t made for a covering!

When a person attempts to cover their inherent sense of shame, their “I’m not right” with any accomplishment, first, it doesn’t last for long. That temporary sense of relief from shame will soon disappear, like all fig leaves, and you’ll have to find another covering. That’s why a person who uses, say, material goods to mask his shame has to keep getting more. The old leaves fade. That’s why a person who uses romantic relationships to mask their shame has to keep getting more, changing partners, etc. Second, whatever you’ve made your “covering” from shame will begin to irritate you and you’ll hate it in the end, cause it wasn’t made to cover your shame! That’s why people who try to use their families to cover their sense of shame end up leaving their families, or crush them under heavy demands and resentment. That’s why people who use religious duty to cover shame often harbor a mild contempt for God and are very irritable. Whatever you are trying to cover your shame with today, whatever you’re using to mask sense that you’re “not right”, be sure that it won’t last and you’ll hate it in the end.

2) The second approach is to pretend you aren’t naked. To deal with shame, some try to simply deny the existence of shame, to boast in their wrongness. But the fact of the matter is, even people who theoretically deny a sense of shame will still ultimately act out of it. You might pretend you’re not naked, but if you go outside in the winter, you’re going realize it. One interesting example in our culture here in Ukraine is «civil (common-law) marriage». People will say that there’s nothing shameful about living together and having sex outside of marriage. And yet they’ll most often call the person they’re in fornication with «husband/wife». Why do that? If it’s really not shameful, why are people attempting to cover it up under the name of marriage? The truth is we can deny shame all we want, but it will still be there and we’ll still act out of it.

True healing from shame

So here’s the question: how can shame be healed? How can we get rid of that sense that “I am wrong”? If we can’t cover it over with our own accomplishments and we can’t effectively pretend that shame doesn’t exist, are we doomed to remain in that sense of shame forever? No!

Now we look at the healing of shame. Let’s return to the story of Eden. Adam and Eve had sewn their fig leaves to cover their shame. But then God came and called them. When Adam confessed to hiding because of the shame of his nakedness, God asks, “who told you that you were naked”? “Did you eat the fruit ?”. Once God had clearly convicted them of sin, pronounced the result of sin in the curse, and as Adam and Eve were leaving the garden, God sacrificed a lamb to make them a covering for their shame. But here’s what we maybe don’t think about: in order to accept God’s covering for shame, His healing of their shame, they had to take off their fig leaves. They had to stand naked before Him in the reality of their shame, not hiding it, not denying it, but confessing their shame. Only then was God free to cover their shame for them.

The fact is that a person can never cover their own shame, no matter what achievements they try to use. That’s because the healing of shame takes place as much in the undressing as it does in the covering. The healing of shame is in having someone see you in all your shame and, knowing you as you are, then cover your shame. The healing takes place when God says “I see you as you are, your shame, and I will accept you and cover your shame.” It’s not just the covering, but that He gave the covering, knowing what we were like without it.

Well, that’s a beautiful story for Adam and Eve, but are we so lucky as to have God offer us the healing of our shame? YES! The other condition we need to notice in that story is that for Adam and Eve’s shame to be covered, the lamb had to lose its covering, have it’s skin ripped off. It had to die. Of course, some animal could not truly heal the deep shame of fallen sinners. It was a promise that one day the Lamb of God, Jesus, would come to heal our shame. His skin was flayed off with a roman whip. He hung completely naked, bearing our shame, before the crowd that ridiculed Him. He lost the covering of His honor and blessing and was rejected by the Father on the Cross. That was the price of our shame. But in doing so, He gives us His covering: the rich robes of His righteousness. If we will take off our fig leaves before God, stand spiritually naked before him admitting that we are “not right”, open our shame to Him, not hide or deny it, then He will cover us with the very righteousness of Jesus, the Lamb of God. He will see who we are and accept us and cover us anyway. And in that we will find the true healing of our shame. He will declare, “You are right”.

This is what it means to be “righteous”: right before God. This is why the Bible can boldly promise, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” (Rom. 10:11) It is with this sacrifice of the Lamb of God in mind that Isaiah prophetically writes in chapter 61, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. ” Here we also see the hint that we are not dressed in just any clothes, not even in His righteousness in a generic sense, but that the robes of salvation are a wedding dress. In Revelation 19 at the return of Christ we see the Church, those who have received Christ, and it says, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” Christ doesn’t merely heal our shame but clothes us as His bride in His righteousness. Shame is the fear that someone will see me as I really am and reject me because I’m disgusting. The gospel is the assurance that God sees us as we are and accepts us anyway because He is beautiful. The Gospel heals shame.

* There is an “illegitimate shame” which is the result not of our sin, but of others’ sins against us, be that mockery or physical/sexual abuse, etc. This shame is not something that is our “fault”, and yet we still need to see that it is in Christ that this kind of shame is also healed.

This post is an excerpt of the sermon from 1 Cor. 13:7a, “how love heals shame”.
The audio is available in Russian here.

The Problem with a “Theology of Glory”

Nick Cady — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 06:51:00 +0000

Do you have a theology of glory, or do you follow the theology of the cross? Here’s an easy test: honestly ask yourself the question, “Do you seek God primarily because you consider Him useful, or because you find Him beautiful?”

There are many things about God that are useful; He is omnipotent and He is able to answer prayers, do the miraculous, help in time of need. But do you seek Him primarily for what He can do for you, or do you seek Him primarily because of who He is?

Is Jesus Merely a Self-Help Guru?

A theology of glory, as Martin Luther explained, most famously in his Heidelberg Disputation (1518), views God primarily as useful to you. A theology of glory, as Luther used the term, is really a theology of man’s glory. Rather than focusing on and seeking the glory of God, a theology of glory is focused on seeking your own personal glory — with Jesus as your self-help guru or the one who gives you a “boost” or a “shot in the arm” to help you achieve your goals and reach your potential.

The theology of the cross, on the other hand, states that it’s ultimately by looking at the cross that we learn who God is and who we are (cf. Hebrews 1:1-2). For example, the cross of Christ shows us that, as human beings, we are completely unable to save ourselves — this is why Jesus’ death on the cross was necessary. Furthermore, it’s through the cross that we come to known the depth of God’s love for us.

Savior, not Side-Kick

The theology of the cross understands that Jesus is your savior, not your side-kick or personal assistant. The cross causes us, as Paul the Apostle puts it in Philippians 3:3, to “glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,” i.e., trusting in our own abilities or goodness to justify ourselves or earn God’s blessings.

The Message of the Cross Transforms Our Goals

As we come to see the beauty and depth of God’s love, displayed for us in the most ultimate way on the cross, it compels us to respond by surrendering our lives to Him (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). This transforms us from being people who seek to use or leverage God for our own power or glory to those who instead take up our crosses and die to ourselves, that Christ might live in us (Galatians 2:20). We do this, remembering that Jesus surrendered Himself to the will of the Father, even unto death on a cross, after which God highly exalted Him (Philippians 2:8-9). Therefore, we also know that if we, rather than seeking to exalt ourselves, seek to exalt Jesus and surrender our lives to Him, God will exalt us in the end as well (1 Peter 5:6).

What about when following God isn’t “useful”?

Do you seek God primarily because you consider Him useful, or because you find Him beautiful? How you answer that question will have big implications for how you view God, and how your faith weathers the storms and trials of this life. For example, if you seek the Lord primarily because you find Him useful, what will happen if there’s a time when you feel that following Jesus isn’t useful? What if God doesn’t answer your prayer in the way, or within the timeframe, you expected, or hoped?

If, however, by looking at the cross, you become acutely aware of the beauty of God’s heart and the depth of His love, you will have a faith that’s able to weather any storm.

The Cross is Where the Beauty of God’s Love is Most Powerfully Displayed

By looking at the cross, we are made aware of who God is and who we are. May we look to the cross, and rather than putting confidence in our flesh, may we glory in Christ Jesus. As we look to the cross and see the beauty and love of God on display, may it compel our hearts to live not for our own glory, but for Him who died and was raised for us.

7 Reasons Jesus Couldn’t Stay Dead

David Guzik — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 07:00:00 +0000

The Bible tells us that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead on the Sunday after Passover. The risen Jesus met with and spoke with people for 40 days following that, including up to 500 people at a time (1 Corinthians 15:6). At the 40 day mark, He ascended to heaven, as His disciples watched. Ten days after that, on the day of the Jewish festival of Pentecost, one of His disciples preached about the risen Jesus to thousands of people. In that sermon, Peter spoke of Jesus as the one, “…Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it” (Acts 2:24). Many years ago, that phrase caught my attention, and I am still amazed by it: It was not possible for Jesus to remain dead in the tomb. He had to rise. In the season of Easter and Resurrection, it’s good for us to think deeply about how Jesus had to live, had to die, and had to rise again.

Here are a few thoughts on why Jesus had to rise from the dead. It’s a short and incomplete list – feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments.

Jesus had to rise from the dead to fulfill the promises of the Old Testament.

The resurrection of the Messiah was described in the Hebrew Scriptures in Psalm 16:10 and spoken of in a prophetic sense in passages such as Hosea 6:2 and Jonah 1:17. Another example is the scenario in Genesis 22 where Isaac, as a picture of Jesus, is “raised” on the third day of their journey, at the beginning of which Abraham had reckoned his son dead.

Jesus had to rise from the dead to fulfill His own promises.

The promises Jesus made that He would raise from the dead are recorded in Matthew 16:21, 17:23 and 20:19 and in many other passages. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then He and His promises were lies. It was impossible for the One who is the way, the truth, and the life to remain dead.

Jesus had to rise from the dead to prove that the price was paid at the cross.

The price was paid at the cross, just as He said with His last word before giving up His spirit: It is finished, which could also be understood as paid in full. Yet, every payment needs a receipt. The empty tomb was the evidence that Jesus remained God’s Holy One (Acts 2:27), through the whole ordeal of the cross. God had to raise His Holy One from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus proved that He bore our sin without becoming a sinner.

Jesus had to rise from the dead to make certain of our resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:20 says that Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection that is promised to all His people. He was the beginning, and if it was real for Him, it will be real for all who have put their trust in Him. Romans 8:11 says it beautifully: “He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

Jesus had to rise from the dead to show that death was defeated.

If death could not hold Jesus in the tomb, it proved that death had no power over Him. If death was defeated for Jesus, then it is defeated for all those who put their faith in Him who are identified with His death and resurrection. No wonder Paul could almost taunt death by saying, “O Death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)

Jesus had to rise from the dead to bring hope and security to His followers.

Because of the victory Jesus won through the empty tomb, His people don’t have to live in fear of death or anything in our future. Hebrews 2:15 says that one aspect of the work of Jesus at the cross and resurrection was to release those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For Jesus’ people, the fear and torment of uncertainty is gone.

Jesus had to rise from the dead to demonstrate the greatness of God’s power.

In Ephesians 1:19-20, the Apostle Paul prayed that believers would know the greatness of God’s power, which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:20). This is ultimate power, the power to give life to that which is dead. This is the power that God gives to us in Jesus Christ, and power for us to know and live in.

During this season of Easter and resurrection, think deeply on why Jesus had to rise, and especially all that His resurrection brings to those who repent and put their faith in Jesus. It’s something to not only know, but to live.

7 Reasons Jesus had to Die

David Guzik — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 07:00:00 +0000

We believe there is a plan and a destiny for every life, but that was true of Jesus in a way unlike anyone else. As Jesus taught, made disciples, healed, confronted corruption, and performed miracles, He lived a life like no other. Yet, the life of Jesus was directed towards one goal greater than any of those remarkable things He did: His destiny was to die in obedience to His God and Father. The work of Jesus on the cross becomes the center of all history. Everything before it looked ahead to what God the Son would accomplish on the cross. Everything after it looks back to the work that had to happen. In the season of Easter and Resurrection, it’s good for us to think deeply about how Jesus had to live, had to die, and had to rise again.

Here are a few thoughts on why Jesus had to die and die on the cross. It’s a short and incomplete list – feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments.

Jesus had to die to fulfill all the types, promises, and prophecies of the Old Testament.

From God’s promise to provide a sacrifice (Genesis 22:8-14), to the prophecy that the Messiah would be cut off (Daniel 9:26), to almost innumerable promises and prophecies in-between, it all had to be fulfilled in the death of Jesus. Even the way Jesus would die was prophesied hundreds of years before it happened (Psalm 22:11-18, Zechariah 12:10).

Jesus had to die to finish all the sacrifices and ceremonies of the priesthood.

Everything that Israel’s priests did pointed to the perfect atonement that Jesus would accomplish in His death on the cross. Every animal sacrifice the priests of Israel offered was like a bank check that would be paid out at the cross.

Jesus had to die to completely identify with humanity.

Man is born to trouble (Job 5:7), and that trouble ends in death. As children of Adam and Eve, we are born to die, and death has spread to all (Romans 5:12). Through His life, Jesus identified with the misery of humanity. He was born in danger and humility, lived most of His life in obscurity and hidden obedience, and Jesus experienced the temptations and challenges we all face. When He voluntarily laid down His life at the cross, He tasted death for all humanity (Hebrews 2:9).

Jesus had to die to complete His perfect obedience.

Jesus lived His entire life in obedience to God the Father, but it was important for Him to remain faithful unto death. In John 12:27-28 Jesus said shortly before He went to the cross: “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”

Jesus had to die to satisfy the justice of God.

All the sin of humanity made a debt greater than any mere man or woman could pay. It took the God-Man, Jesus Messiah, to pay the price of our collective and individual debt to God. Just before He gave up His life on the cross, Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30) – which has the sense, paid in full. Jesus paid every obligation that God’s justice requires.

Jesus had to die to defeat the power of Satan, sin, and death.

Humanity’s debt of sin may be our greatest problem, but it isn’t our only problem. We also face the adversary of Satan, the power of sin and death, and the bitter reward of sin. The work of Jesus disarmed Satan and his evil associates (Colossians 2:15), triumphed over the power of sin (Romans 6:10-11), and defeated death (2 Timothy 1:10).

Jesus had to die to demonstrate the love of God.

God’s love is written on every page of the Bible, yet the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love (Romans 5:8, John 3:16). Alexander Maclaren said this about the necessity of Jesus’ death: “He must die because He would save, and He would save because He did love.”

In light of the greatness of God’s love demonstrated at the cross, we should not ask God to prove His love for us – He already has, and He can give us no greater proof. It’s fine to ask God for fresh demonstrations of His love, but the greatest proof was given once and for all. Now we can, “… Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:2).

7 Surprising Things You Need to Know About Jesus’ Life

David Guzik — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 08:00:00 +0000

Strange and important events fill the pages of history and our individual life. Sometimes, we think about great events and wonder, “Did that have to happen?” Could the crime have been stopped? Could the accident been prevented? Could the good thing that came to us worked out a different way?

The Christian has peaceful confidence in God’s hand on history. When we think about the events in God’s plan, we know they had to happen. It is especially true when we think about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

In the season of Easter and Resurrection, it’s good for us to think deeply about how Jesus had to live, had to die, and had to rise again.

Here are a few thoughts on why Jesus had to live, and live among us. It’s a short and incomplete list – feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments section below.

Jesus Had to Live Among Us Because God Promised to Send the Messiah.

Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, we read God’s promise to send a deliverer, a conqueror, and a savior. Starting in the Garden of Eden and going all through the Old Testament, this promise remained. At some point in time, it had to be fulfilled, and it was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Can you describe some of the highlights of God’s great plan?

Jesus Had to Live Among Us So Man Could Meet God.

Jesus perfectly revealed to us the nature of God. Through history, there have been thousands – probably millions – ideas of what God is like. Jesus settled every question about the nature of God. We don’t have to wonder what God is like; we see Him perfectly displayed in Jesus of Nazareth. Have you met God in the Person of Jesus Christ?

Jesus Had to Live Among Us to Fulfill God’s Law

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that He came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. One of the ways Jesus fulfilled God’s Law was in His perfect obedience. Every man and woman before Jesus and every one after Him has disobeyed God in some way or another. Yet Jesus was and is the One who did what Adam and the whole human race was not able to do: perfectly obey God. Do you look to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law?

Jesus Had to Live Among Us to Bear Witness to the Truth

Jesus told Pontius Pilate that this was why He came (John 18:37). Jesus came to both tell us the truth and to be the living Truth among us – the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). This truth was so important that God brought it in Person. He used messengers before and after Jesus, but Jesus was more than a messenger – He was and is truth itself. Do you believe and receive the truth of Jesus?

Jesus Had to Live Among Us to Seek and Save the Lost

Jesus said that He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). In our separation from God, Jesus did not just wait for us to seek Him. He came to earth and lived among us as living proof of God’s heart to seek after the lost and troubled. Have you let Jesus find you and rescue you?

Jesus Had to Live Among Us So the Price Could be Paid

Regarding the cross, Jesus said for this purpose I came to this hour (John 12:27). In Going to the cross and paying the price for guilty humanity, Jesus fulfilled His purpose. Do you look to Jesus as the payment of the price you owe?

Jesus Had to Live Among Us to Divide Humanity

Jesus said that He came to divide humanity (Matthew 10:34-35), between those who accept Him and those who reject Him. Are you on the right side of that divide – on the side of those who accept and trust in Jesus? The life of Jesus is God’s great gift to the human race and all creation. Yet the value and goodness of that gift depends on our receiving it. Let the life of Jesus – the life He had to live – have full effect in your life.