Jan. 29: What the Lord really requires of us
by IAN GREIG writing in THE LIVING WORD
Living God’s way has sometimes been seen as austerity, religiosity and constant penitence, but the Holy Spirit helps us see ourselves as new creations, free from selfish sin and enabled to live well towards God and others
This is The Living Word Bible Study for Sunday, January 29, 2023.
It’s based on these Bible readings (NIV) which are the ones set for Jan 29 in the interdenominational scheme used by many churches and chapels.
Micah 6:1-8 — How the Lord wants us imitate Him, not appease Him
Matthew 5:1-12 — Headlines setting out the values of the kingdom
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 — Choosing God’s power and wisdom over man’s
Theme: What the Lord really requires of us
- Read this week’s linked article How God Gives Us His Nature To Live His Way
- Watch the video or listen to this week’s episode of The Living Word podcast
Psalm 15
1 Lord, who may dwell in Your sacred tent? Who may live on Your holy mountain?
2-3 The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbour, and casts no slur on others;
4-5 who despises a vile person but honours those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.
///////
Micah 6:1-8 — How the Lord wants us imitate Him, not appease Him
A prophecy challenging the Nation of Israel about its false priorities
1-2 Listen to what the Lord says: “Stand up, plead My case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. “Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against His people; He is lodging a charge against Israel.
“Hear… listen… a case against” — Through Micah the Lord speaks to the mountains as solid, enduring witnesses to the covenant, about the people’s unfaithfulness.
3 “My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer Me.
“What have I done” — the Lord, Yahweh, takes the stance of a defendant.
4 “I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.
“Out of Egypt” — the miraculous deliverance that defined Israel as God’s chosen nation.
5 “My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.
“Remember your journey” — from Acacia Groves, west across the Jordan River into the Circle of Twelve Stones of the Promised Land, a key moment in the story of God’s faithfulness to them.
6-7 “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
“Will the Lord be pleased” — the list of sacrifices grows to the extremes.
8 “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
“What does the Lord require of you?” — not insincere, lavish demonstrations but simply an attitude of unconditional integrity, love and forbearance, with worshipful humility.
Reflection
SUMMARY Micah’s most-remembered words, “To do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (NLT) bring to mind Jesus’ Great Commandment which connects love for God with prioritising love in all our relationships.
APPLICATION Sacrificial offerings, a way of showing our love of God, are of no value if not accompanied by sincere love from the heart — which is what God seeks. Micah urges us not to dress it up with rituals to satisfy ourselves, while avoiding what God really wants, our hearts.
QUESTION In our complex lives, what does walking humbly with God look like?
///////
Matthew 5:1-12 — Headlines setting out the values of the kingdom
The Sermon on the Mount gives a definition of godly heart attitudes
1-2 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them.
“Up on a mountainside” — or “He climbed a hillside” (The Message), probably finding a natural amphitheatre in the hill country above Capernaum. His mainly Jewish followers would have seen a parallel with Moses in giving foundational teaching on a mountainside.
3 He said: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are…” — fortunate, prosperous, experiencing hope and joy.
“Theirs is” — not an impossible ideal, but the values of the new kingdom order Jesus is setting out. All who know their need to belong to Jesus experience a spiritual transformation, and find themselves empowered to grow in kingdom attributes, not achievable by independent effort.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Those who mourn” — loss or difficulty in life prompts turning to depend on God. In this broader context, Jesus is calling people to lament the spiritual state of Israel, and turn to God in repentance for spiritual renewal.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Meek” — or (JB Phillips) humble-minded and (Amplified) kind-hearted and self-controlled, therefore gentle, as in gentlefolk, and like Jesus, who is quoting Psalm 37:11.
“Poor in spirit… those who mourn… the meek” — these first three beatitudes echo Isaiah 61 esp. vv.1-3 and 7 which Jesus linked to His divine call, provoking a sharp reaction in His home synagogue at Nazareth, Luke 4:16-30.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Righteousness” — or “hunger and thirst for God’s approval” (God’s Word) with an emphasis on justice.
“Will be filled” — the blessings are God’s gift and impartation to Jesus’ followers, not something achieved by our good works.
• For further study, Psalm 11:7, 85:10-12; Isaiah 11:1-4; Jer. 23:5-6, 33:16.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
“Will be shown mercy” — we, through exercising God’s mercy in us, can give this away in unconditional love to others, and find mercy especially in the final judgment.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Pure in heart” — not disguising judgmental hearts with rule-based ‘doing right’, as many Pharisees did.
“Will see God” — Jesus says that those born again into His new life are transformed by the grace of God, and thereby enabled to perceive and participate in God’s plans and purposes.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Peacemakers” — this new heart of mercy, righteousness and justice is expressed as reconciliation, which Jesus’ followers recognise as their kingdom priority.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Those who are persecuted” — Jesus says the kingdom belongs to those who suffer for it. Doing right by Jesus and His teaching brings opposition, Matt. 10:16-23; 2 Timothy 3:12.
11-12 ‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“In the same way… prophets… before you” — owning Jesus as Lord is taking an intentional position in the spiritual battle that has always waged around God’s people since Cain murdered Abel, Gen. 4:8.
Reflection
SUMMARY There were practical reasons to choose a natural hillside amphitheatre for such a large number to see and hear. However, the parallel with Moses’ teaching on a mountainside will not have escaped these mainly Jewish followers. Echoing Micah’s prophecy, here the Lord Himself is teaching them the values, as well as the reality, of the kingdom of God,.
APPLICATION The moralistic and legalistic type of church homily urging us to avoid what is bad and try to do more of what is good, misses the point of Jesus’ teaching. This is how we are enabled to live with new life, changed hearts and priorities, a transformation (or rebirth) that comes when we allow Him to be our Lord.
QUESTION How do we allow God to help us ‘up our game’ in living out this teaching?
///////
1 Corinthians 1:18–31 — Choosing God’s power and wisdom over man’s
- The example of Christ crucified makes no sense except to those being saved
18-19 For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’
“The wisdom of the wise” — everyone in Corinth was trading opinions, to which ‘wisdom’ Paul quotes Isaiah 29:14 in this fresh context.
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
“God made foolish” — the wisdom of this world and God’s spiritual insight are opposed to one another; the powerful message of the Cross is unintelligible apart from faith.
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
22-24 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
“A stumbling block… and foolishness” — to Jews the proclamation of Christ’s victory through being crucified was like associating the Messiah with a curse? To the philosophical, logical Greeks, how could the lowest class of offender become a Saviour?
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
“Foolishness of God… wiser” — Paul sets out the upside down nature of God’s kingdom which exalts humility, and put down man’s wisdom as a barrier.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
“Not many…. influential” — apart from Erastus, the city treasurer, those in the Corinth church were a mixed lot and quite ordinary — living proof that salvation doesn’t follow from human attributes.
27-29 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.
“But God chose” — differently from us. No intellect or education or deservedness can add anything to Christ’s work on the Cross, our simple choice to receive it and God’s choice of us.
30 It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
“Because of Him” — we are transformed from unworthy sinners to become viewed as right with God and entirely acceptable to Him in the new identity we have “in Christ Jesus”. This is what happens when we believe and take hold of the divine exchange Jesus worked, by His death in payment for our new life.
31 Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.’
“Boasts” — no-one has anything of themselves to boast about, but Christians can make a “boast in the Lord” about having received graciously imparted divine wisdom and the heavenly way of being made right.
Reflection
SUMMARY Micah’s prophetic appeal in the OT was “What does the Lord require of you?” In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus teaches what this means in announcing what the kingdom of God that He represents, looks like. Now following the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit is active in the believers who made up the church in Corinth. Even in the hostile, pagan culture of that teeming city the Holy Spirit is enabling them to live distinctive new kingdom-orientated lives.
APPLICATION Everyone in Corinth is a bit of a philosopher; presentation and appearing wise matter to them, but as Paul emphasises, that is not God’s way. He takes our nothing and transforms it. The more that we think we have something to offer, the more of a barrier it is to the Holy Spirit. The scandal of the Cross makes no logical sense, but it is the powerful spiritual truth by which we can be born again into new and eternal life as part of His kingdom.
QUESTION What do we have to let go — to live, not by what we have done, but by what Christ has done for us?
PRAYER Lord, to be boastful or self-promoting is completely against the gentle, merciful, peacemaking way of life You taught as the values of Your kingdom. Yet when we consider what You have done for us, for all who truly believe in You, how can we not boast about the Saviour we know and love? Give us courage and clarity to speak about You, Jesus, and what You have done, to others that they too might turn to You and come into Your kingdom. Amen.
///////
