He Is Not Ashamed E-Book

Erik Raymond

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Why a Holy God Delights to Claim Broken People as His Family Christians belong to God's own family. This promise is difficult for some people to believe, and even for some believers to remember in their day-to-day struggles with shame or regret. But it's repeated throughout the Bible, reflected in Christ's genealogy, and true of the church today; God's family is filled with broken people whose stories are a testament to his staggering love. In He Is Not Ashamed, Erik Raymond takes a close look at the "family portrait" of God—filled with imperfect people throughout Scripture—and shows that God is not repelled by anyone's shameful past, but delights to redeem and receive those who believe in him. Studying Hebrews 2:11 and other passages in both the Old and New Testaments, Raymond shows that Jesus's heart is bent toward those who have an embarrassing history, feel far from God, or struggle with sin. By studying God's abounding love for undeserving people, Christians learn to accept his grace and confidently embrace their place in God's family portrait. - Explores Redemptive History: Walks through stories from the Bible, including Jacob the deceiver, Rahab the prostitute, and the "sinful woman" in the book of Luke to reveal patterns of God's grace - Faith-Building Resource: Helps Christians reject shame and have a greater sense of Christ's mercy

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“The sweetness of the gospel is that Jesus gives himself to people who do not deserve him. He loves the unlovable. He welcomes those no one else wants. He is not embarrassed by embarrassing people. This is good news, especially for messed-up people like you and me. He Is Not Ashamed welcomes you to come face-to-face with the Jesus who doesn’t shame sinners but summons them to be part of his forever family. Whether you’re just coming to know Jesus or have walked with him for decades, I commend this wonderful work to you.”

J. Garrett Kell, Lead Pastor, Del Ray Baptist Church, Alexandria, Virginia; author, Pure in Heart

“Our past, present, and potential future can often cause us to believe we aren’t worthy of God’s love. And the truth is, we aren’t. This is what makes God’s love through Christ genuinely amazing—it’s freely extended to the unworthy, outcast, and overlooked. He Is Not Ashamed is a thoroughly biblical and experiential portrait of the love, tenderness, and grace Christ extends to all his beloved people, regardless of how we sometimes feel about ourselves. Erik Raymond turns our gaze from our constant introspection to the magnificent wonder of divine love. Wherever you are or whatever you’ve done, these words will undoubtedly be fresh water for your parched soul.”

Dustin Benge, Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality and Historical Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; author, The Loveliest Place

“Erik Raymond has given us a masterful treatment of the most staggering reality in human existence. He Is Not Ashamed is like a tall, full glass of cool water for anyone that is dry and thirsty for grace.”

Jared C. Wilson, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; author, Love Me Anyway

“He Is Not Ashamed might just convince you that the good news about Jesus is even better than you dared to believe. Erik Raymond demonstrates from the Scriptures that Jesus loves his people more than they could imagine, despite our sin, weakness, and shame. It moved my heart with gratitude and joy, and it brought more than a few tears to my eyes. I cannot wait to pass it on to friends.”

Michael McKinley, Senior Pastor, Sterling Park Baptist Church, Sterling, Virginia

“Do you believe that God loves you as he loves Christ? As a pastor of a local congregation, I have found that many Christians, including me, struggle to believe that God truly loves them in the way he says he does (John 17:23). It’s only when we come to grasp God’s staggering love for us that we will experience the deep humility, genuine freedom, and abundant life that we have in Christ. Understanding this naturally leads to a life of loving and grateful obedience to our Savior as we rest in his perfect righteousness, all by the power of the Holy Spirit. I am so grateful for pastor Erik Raymond and for this insightful book that helps us to ground ourselves in God’s unchanging love for us rather than in the constantly changing emotions of our hearts.”

Burk Parsons, Senior Pastor, Saint Andrew’s Chapel, Sanford, Florida; Editor, Tabletalk

He Is Not Ashamed

He Is Not Ashamed

The Staggering Love of Christ for His People

Erik Raymond

He Is Not Ashamed: The Staggering Love of Christ for His People

Copyright © 2022 by Erik Raymond

Published by Crossway 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Crystal Courtney

First printing 2022

Printed in the United States of America

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated into any other language.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-7934-9 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-7937-0 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-7935-6 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-7936-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Raymond, Erik, author. 

Title: He is not ashamed : the staggering love of Christ for his people / Erik Raymond. 

Description: Wheaton, Illinois : Crossway, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references and index. 

Identifiers: LCCN 2021035683 (print) | LCCN 2021035684 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433579349 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781433579356 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433579363 (mobipocket) | ISBN 9781433579370 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: God (Christianity)—Love. | Forgiveness of sin. 

Classification: LCC BT140 .R39 2022 (print) | LCC BT140 (ebook) | DDC 231/.6—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021035683

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021035684

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2022-04-04 01:17:14 PM

To those who fill out the family photo of Jesus.

May you stand upright, with a smile formed by grace,

assured that Jesus not only knows you but loves you.

“If I ever reach heaven, I expect to find three wonders there:

first, to meet some I had not thought to see there;

second, to miss some I had expected to see there;

and third, the greatest wonder of all, to find myself there.”

John Newton

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1  He Is Not Ashamed of Those with Embarrassing Stories

2  He Is Not Ashamed of Those Who Opposed Him

3  He Is Not Ashamed of Those Who Are Overlooked

4  He Is Not Ashamed of Those Who Were Far from God

5  He Is Not Ashamed of Those Who Have Nothing

6  He Is Not Ashamed of Those Who Are Weak

7  He Is Not Ashamed of Those Who Still Sin

8  Whom Is Jesus Ashamed Of?

General Index

Scripture Index

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to God for providing so many encouraging friends to help with this project. It has been a joy to partner with Crossway, an organization that reflects its biblical convictions not only with the content they produce but also with their diligence in ensuring it’s done well. In particular, I’m indebted to Dave DeWitt and Todd Augustine for encouraging the book. Chris Cowan has been a rich blessing as an editor. I’m thankful for the support of my church family, Redeemer Fellowship Church, where I’m privileged to serve as a pastor. I’m indebted to many conversation partners who’ve provided thoughtful and clarifying feedback. I’m especially thankful for my friends, Andrew Belli, Dave Comeau, and Philip Van Steenburgh. They helped me wrestle through ideas, read the manuscript, and provided thoughtful feedback. I’m also thankful for my family’s strong support and sacrifice for this project, especially my loving wife, Christie. Her encouragement to carve out a weekly writing rhythm was both wise and fruitful. This along with continued feedback and discussion are treasured. You are indeed an excellent wife more precious than any earthly treasure (Prov. 31:10).

Introduction

Imagine if we gathered together all of the believers throughout history and lined them up for a massive family photo. Whom would we see? What kinds of people would be there?

We may be surprised.

Dotting the horizon of this picture, we’d find people with unflattering stories. Some are known as the chief of sinners, the sinful woman, the thief on the cross, and the prostitute. We’d also see those who were overlooked and disregarded by society. We’d find weak people unable to give God anything. We’d even see those who wore the uniform of opposition to God. Here in the portrait of grace, we’d find a multitude of misfits. It would be quite the picture.

If this were your family, would you hang it on the wall or hide it in the attic?

Now zoom in closer. Focus on the middle of the picture. Jesus is there. Seems out of place, doesn’t he? There, in this panorama of redemption, is Jesus, the perfect Son of God, wedged shoulder to shoulder with people marked by their depravity. Jesus, identifying with men, women, and children of all ages and backgrounds. Bearing the scars that narrate their painful stories and sinful histories, they surround Jesus.

At first glance, we might think that Jesus doesn’t belong with people like this. What business does majesty have with outcasts?

But poring over the Scriptures, we see something else. In this family photo, Jesus may seem out of place, but in reality he’s exactly where he belongs. Even more, he’s right where he wants to be. Instead of being ashamed of them, he calls them family.

Jesus wouldn’t hide his family picture. He’d hang it on the wall.

What a staggering reality! How do we forget it? From beginning to end, the Bible includes emphatic examples of the types of people Jesus identifies with. Take, for instance, Jesus’s family tree listed in genealogies in the New Testament. Matthew’s list (Matt. 1:1–16) includes Judah, Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, and Manasseh. These aren’t exactly the all-star cast members of the Old Testament. Why does he include them? Every name carries a generous portion of depravity, separation, and shame that mark all who would follow Jesus. These are the people that Jesus comes to identify with and save. Don’t forget this vital truth: Jesus not only comes from sinful people, but he also comes for them. He’s not ashamed of people like you and me (Heb. 2:11).

We need help remembering this. We rob ourselves of joy and Christ of glory when we forget where we came from and Christ’s heart for us.

We Can Easily Forget Where We Came From

With each passing day, Christians move further away from the hour of their conversion. And it can become easy to forget where we came from. This is natural. Days tick by, as do months, years, and decades. Our minds are full of current burdens and recent memories. It’s tough to recall the experiences and emotions that characterized our lives before.

So easy to forget, but so important that we remember.

The Bible constantly reminds us to look over our shoulder. Paul tells his readers to look back:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Eph. 2:1–3)

He continues with this retrospective approach in Ephesians 2:11–12:

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Paul reminds these Christians of their hopelessness and helplessness apart from Christ. He opens up their spiritual biography and begins reading from the ugly pages of their past. His words remind all believers that our natural disposition was one of opposition to and alienation from God. We were fully engaged in a rebellious insurgency against him. Listening to the direction of the commander of this world, we fell in line and marched to his cadence. Our mission was to satisfy our flesh. In a word, this is depravity. Depravity describes who we were, which in turn explains what we did. We were depraved, so we lived in sin.

Several years ago, someone made a video clip of John Piper saying in a sermon, “I don’t just do bad things, I am bad. And so are you,” accompanied by music from Michael Jackson’s “I’m Bad.”1 While the arrangement might make us laugh, the theological truth is dead on. Our natural status is alienation from and enmity with God (Rom. 5:10; Col. 1:21). Although some may sin in larger font (bigger, bolder, and more noticeable sins), we all have a past characterized by rebellion against God. We all have something written on the page. To say it another way, none of us were as bad as we could’ve been, but we weren’t as good as we should’ve been. As he surveys the whole of human history (except Jesus), God declares, “None is righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10), “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

Forget this truth, and we dull our spiritual senses. Our gratitude to God should correspond to our understanding of what we have been forgiven. If we are forgiven little, our love will be little. But if we have been forgiven much, then we will love much (Luke 7:47). And, the truth is, we all have been forgiven much. Consider the alienation we all once experienced. Because of our sin and God’s holiness, we were infinitely separated from him. But God in Christ reconciled us to himself! How could we ever get over this?

When we look into the family photo of Jesus and consider the lives we see there, I am sure we’ll notice people just like us. And this should encourage us. Jesus identifies with people like you and me.

We Can Easily Forget the Heart of Christ

In addition to forgetting our sin, we can forget Christ’s heart. We can forget how he views his people. You can forget how he sees you. The types of people that attract Jesus make other people uncomfortable. Jesus is different. His heart is drawn to the battered and broken. Nobody has a story that can make Jesus blush. Our sin doesn’t repel such a compassionate Savior. It attracts him. This is something religious people tend to forget. To them, Jesus is a scandal, not a Savior. We see this all over Luke’s Gospel.

And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” (Luke 5:30)

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” (7:34)

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” (7:39)

And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (15:2)

And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” (19:7)

Let’s make sure we’re not following the playbook of the Pharisees and religious leaders who were scandalized by Jesus. Pharisees teach us to scoff at sinners. Jesus welcomes them. Jesus is the Savior we need: someone we can be honest with and trust that he will welcome us, someone with whom it’s okay not to be okay, someone who’s not ashamed of us. We need Jesus.

Read this slowly. Jesus “is not ashamed to call [us] brothers” (Heb. 2:11). Although Jesus has every reason to be ashamed of us, the staggering fact is that he isn’t at all. We sometimes use family terms like brother or sister to communicate close relationships. It was no different at the time when Hebrews was written.2 Whether you’re male or female, brother means the same thing here. When Jesus calls us his brothers, he’s communicating the removal of all barriers imposed by his superiority.

To put it another way, he’s pulling us close to himself and publicly owning us as his own. What could be more encouraging than this? “No unworthiness in them, no misery upon them, shall ever hinder the Lord Christ from owning them and openly avowing them to be his brethren.”3 No matter what we’ve done or what we’re going through, he’ll never love us any less. This should give believers unspeakable joy!

What’s behind this unflinching love?

His Eternal Oath

God’s love for his people is unconditional. In other words, no one could merit such love for themselves. It’s a gift of grace. Such love is humbling because it is undeserved and unearned. It’s entirely beyond our grasp—even on our best days. But this love fortifies us too. God lavishes his love on people even though they don’t deserve it. For our sin, we deserve judgment (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). Yet, in a shocking reversal, we are given salvation as a gift. The God who knows all things knew that our best day would still merit his wrath. He also knew that our worst day wasn’t beyond his mercy. In eternity past, before he even created the world, God set his love on his people.

God communicates this eternal act to us with a covenant.4 A covenant is an oath, or promise, with an obligation. This particular covenant is between the Father and the Son, promising and obligating themselves to lovingly redeem sinners. There is a sacred bond between members of the Trinity. The Father sent the Son to assume human nature (Heb. 2:10–14; 10:5–7), put himself under the law, and pay the penalty for sin for all of his people (Gal. 1:4; 4:4–5). The Father promised the Son that he’d support him in his work through the Holy Spirit, deliver him from death, seat him at the right hand of glory, and send the Holy Spirit to build the church (Ps. 16:8–11; Isa. 42:6–7; John 14:26; 15:26; Phil. 2:9–11). The Father promised the Son the reward of a people from every tribe, language, and nation and that he’d draw and keep them unto glory (Ps. 2:7; John 6:37–45; Rev. 5:9). This eternal pact between the members of the Trinity was compelled, accomplished, and secured by love.5

As Christians we often allow our circumstances to interpret God’s character. If we are enduring a difficult season, we might be tempted to think that God is angry with us or distant. Shouldn’t we instead see our circumstances in light of God’s character? Our fluctuations don’t change him. They can’t. Our cool hearts can’t chill his eternal love. As you perceive a growing sense of your sin, zoom out. Notice the rays of his love that cannot be eclipsed. The matter is settled in eternity between the unchanging, all-powerful members of the Trinity. Moved by love, the Father elected a people (Eph. 1:4) and gave them to his Son (John 17:6). When Jesus went to the cross, he knew whom he was purchasing. And he didn’t keep the receipt.

His Solidarity with Us

Hebrews also shows us that Christ’s solidarity with his people is a chief reason for why he’s not ashamed of them, “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers” (Heb. 2:11). The one who sanctifies is Jesus, and those who are sanctified are the people of God. The shared source is God. This is anchored in the truth of the covenant of redemption: Jesus is the Son of God who entered into an eternal oath to save sinners. In a time before time, Christ identified with us. God loved us.

Jesus is not ashamed of his people because they are the ones on whom God has set his love before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4–5). God’s people are Christ’s people (John 17:6). We are the children that God has given him (Heb. 2:13). Jesus is not ashamed of his family photo because he loves every single one of us. He is well aware of our baggage. And he loves us anyway. He treats us like family. He always has and always will. Nothing we think or do could ever overturn such divine love to his children.

Let’s consider another aspect of this solidarity: Jesus’s humanity. Let’s not forget who Jesus is. When he became a man, he didn’t stop being God. Although his flesh veiled his infinite glory, he nevertheless remained the Son of God. The infinite and eternal God, the one from whom angels cover their eyes (Isa. 6:1–4), is, in fact, Jesus of Nazareth (John 12:41). Isaiah beheld the glory of Christ in a vision and was undone. God took on the form of a servant (Phil. 2:5–7), being born of a woman and under the law (Gal. 4:4–5). This Jesus, himself God, “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Tim. 6:15–16), has condescended from his palace of exaltation to his place of humiliation (Phil. 2:5–8). Considering who we are and who he is, the fact that Christ says he’s not ashamed to call us brothers has staggering implications.

Dear Christian, if you ever struggle to believe that God loves you, especially as you feel the weight of your weakness, remember that God became a man for you. To summarize Thomas Watson, it’s a more extraordinary demonstration of humility for Christ to become a man than it is for him to die. It’s natural for a man to die, but unheard of for God to become a man.6 Far from Jesus being ashamed of his people, the fact that he became a man showcases his love for us.

His Suffering for Us

Jesus didn’t back into the cross. His suffering and death for us was intentional and motivated by his eternal love. He willingly chose to come, live, and die for us and our salvation. His face was set like a flint to go and suffer (Isa. 50:7; Luke 9:51). He loved his own, even to the end (John 13:1). This love continued even onto the cross where Jesus prayed for those who opposed him and proclaimed the gospel to those who mocked him (Luke 23:34–43). Paul says that the cross was the supreme display of God’s love for you:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:6–8)

Think of how rare it is for someone to sacrifice his life for a good person. But how much rarer is it to give one’s life for an enemy (Rom. 5:10)? This is meant to reassure us in moments of doubt and despair: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). This is an argument from the greater to the lesser. If God took care of your biggest problem, which cost him the most, how much more can you trust him to take care of your relatively minor problems? He’s proven his love for you at the cross.

Besides being the most violent and torturous way to die, nothing was more soaked with shame than crucifixion—so much so that people considered it improper to even speak of crucifixion in polite company. The one crucified was nailed to the cross, completely naked, in the thoroughfare into the city so that all could see the power of the Romans. The victims were mocked by people and picked at by birds. It was horrible.

But in addition to this, when Jesus was on the cross, the sin of his people was charged to him, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). While physically naked, Jesus was swaddled in the garments of our sin. He publicly bore our shame, guilt, and curse.

The cross should settle the question of whether Jesus is ashamed of you. He endured such shame and suffering because he loves his people. It would be a great insult to question the love of one who went to such depths to display it.

God wants us to know that Jesus loved us before the cross, on the cross, and after the cross. I do hope you see the value of looking through Christ’s eyes and sensing his love for you. He’s not ashamed of his people.

John Owen writes of the value of reminding a believer that “God in Jesus Christ loves him, delights in him, is well pleased with him, has thoughts of tenderness and kindness toward him; to give, I say, a soul an overflowing sense thereof, is an inexpressible mercy.”7 When sitting under a shadow of depression, discouragement, or guilt that seems like it will never budge, remember this in that very moment: our Lord Christ is not ashamed to claim you as part of his family. He proved his love to you on the cross (Rom. 8:32). His sufferings console us. And remember, Christ’s heart in heaven is the same toward us as it was when he was on earth. “He loved us then; he’ll love us now.”8

We would do our souls well to reflect on the eternal oath between the members of the Trinity, Christ’s solidarity with us in the incarnation, and the extent of his sufferings for us. Indeed, he is not ashamed to call us brothers. Look at what he’s said and done. Praise the Lord!

What I Aim to Do in This Book

In this book we will examine the types of people God delights to identify with. We’ll see in chapter 1 that Jesus is not ashamed of those with an embarrassing history. Nobody has a story that can make Jesus blush. He doesn’t Photoshop anyone out of the picture. In chapter 2, we’ll look at some who opposed Jesus and yet were saved by him. Christ delights to showcase his mercy by turning his enemies into ambassadors. In chapter 3, we’ll consider how Jesus