Over the years, I have been guided by three New Testament verses that I might call "a holy trinity" (not to be confused with THE Holy Trinity). Together, they form a basic theology of humility that should guide our living and our witness as believers in Jesus Christ. They are holy because they are set apart, they stand out as prime examples of what our continual posture ought to be as we live coram deo (in His presence).
First, in 1 Corinthians 15:9-10, after Paul lays out plainly what the gospel is and how Jesus appeared to many following His resurrection, last of all to Paul, as to (literally) "an abortion," he writes these words under the Holy Spirit's inspiration: "For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." Paul said, "I am nothing without the grace of God. I deserve only punishment without it." The gospel is what changed it all, the fact that Christ died according to the Scriptures (fact) and was buried (proof), and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures (fact) and appeared to many (proof). The gospel is not something we live or do, it is news of something that has happened, something upon which we stake our very lives and destinies. God's grace gives me my gifts, my personality, produces the fruit of character within me, molds me through joy and pain and continually reminds me how loved I really am.
The second verse is found in 1 Corinthians 4:7: "For what makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" One danger of being a Christian in the United States is that we can get sucked into this "American" philosophy of "rugged individualism," the self-made man or woman, the one who pulled themselves up by their own bootsraps. I have heard this philosophy repeated in the church way too often over the years (not in those exact words, of course). Do we really think we earned what we have? I am reminded of Deuteronomy 8:10 and 17-18: "When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God ..... You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth..." Yes, even your paycheck comes, ultimately, from the Lord's grace and not from your hard work, although without the work, there is no check. Do we thank God regularly for our blessings, no matter how great or small they may be - or do we reserve that for Thanksgiving Day once a year, when we give our "nod to God" before heading into the other room to watch football? I'm just sayin'.
Here's the third verse: Jesus was speaking to His disciples in the upper room hours before His sacrficial death, and He reminds them in John 15:5: "I am the Vine; you are the branches, If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." I guess we have a choice - to be like Samson, who went about as normal, but not knowing that the strength was gone from him, because it was in the LORD, not in his hair (Judges 16:20) or like David, who, in spite of his sling and five smooth stones, knew that his real strength was in the name of the LORD Almighty. (1 Samuel 17:45). Whose strength, whose energy, whose wisdom, whose love are we depending on today as we go about our tasks? Our own? That will be like an electric car - about 40 miles before it poops out. When we trust the Lord and obey His call and press forward, we will find that all of the capacity we need will be there - like a V-8 engine purring under the hood of our car - the car won't move until we shift into drive and press on the gas pedal (obey), but once we do, all that power under the hood is at our disposal to get us where we need to go. If we don't turn the engine on or let it sit idling, we won't be going anywhere.
So there it is, my "holy trinity" of verses to inform my daily life. Without Christ and His grace, I AM nothing; without Christ and His grace, I HAVE nothing; without Christ and his grace, I CAN DO nothing.
My story is simple. I grew up in the church, participated in its life from my earliest recollection: Sunday School, children's choir, youth choir, youth group, adult choir, etc. And I was relying pretty much on that. I was a "good" boy, not like so many of my friends who hung out on Saurday nights to see who could get drunk the fastest. I did not "smoke, drink, chew or go with girls who do!" But about a year out of high school, I came to the understanding, by seeing one or two former "bad boys" who had come to Jesus Christ and had been radically changed, that I needed to be saved from my own goodness, my own self-sufficiency, my own sense of accomplishment. And before long into my growth as a believer, I came upon these verses. They have been a steady guide over the years. Not that I have followed them perfectly, far from it, but they keep bringing me back, as needed, to the realization that my life, my hope, my strength are only in Christ. To Him be all the glory!
"And He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy, For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him ... in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19, 2:3) So let's depend on Him like this was true.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Full of Grace and Truth
A dichotomy, according to dictionary.com, is "a division into two parts or kinds; a division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups." There are all kinds of dichotomies created in Christian thought; to name a few: God's sovereignty and our free will, the kingdom already and the kingdom not yet; God's grace and our responsibility, to name a few. There can be valid discussion and debate over these matters without breaking fellowship.
Sadly, today, some would have us believe we can have varying opinions on essentials of the Christian faith. Believe what you want about salvation, justification, the authority of Scripture, Christ's deity, virgin birth, bodily resurrection and personal return. Sorry. I believe that disagreement about these is out of bounds, and if carried to extremes, disagreement about these could bring about the breaking of fellowship, because those who would deny these things would be showing themselves to be not truly of the faith. But that is not the main point I wish to make in this post.
There is another man-made dichotomy that has crept into the church these days. Some Christians feel they can only express their faith by sheltering themselves from or by attacking the culture. Others feel they can be faithful by serving others, but that their moral life doesn't matter. They can follow whatever dictates the current culture espouses on moral issues. So we either isolate ourselves from the culture, or we imitate the culture. There is a third way - we are to penetrate and seek transformation in the culture, to be in the world but not of it. As a former pastor/mentor of mine used to say, "It's great for the boat to be in the water, that's where it belongs. But God help you if the water gets into the boat."
History shows that the early church was known for its compassionate love toward all, especially the least, AND for their high moral standards. It was not either/or but both that attracted new disciples and turned the Roman empire upside down. But more importantly, the New Testament is clear about these issues as well. Let me cite several key texts.
James 1:27 says that "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." See the both/and emphasis? Yes, we care for the needy and marginalized. But we also do not let ourselves get sucked into the zeitgeist, the worldview of the prevailing culture.
Peter weighs in on the topic in 1 Peter 2:11-12. "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us."
This is not new to the apostles. On the first matter, "the abstaining from sinful desires," Paul 's counsel is to run from these things as fast and as far as we can. But Jesus is even more graphic. He takes our sexual purity so seriously that He tells us not to even look at a woman lustfully, to cut off our hands or pluck out our eyes if they offend us. Now we know this is figurative, because He says clearly in Mark 7:21 that the source of our sin is the heart. But at the very least, He means that we are to "be careful little eyes what we see, little ears what we hear..." We watch our intake from television, movies, popular fiction and the internet.
On the second matter, Peter is obviously echoing Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount about being the light of the world (Matthew 5:16). The Greek word for "good" speaks speficially of compassionate, caring kind of works on behalf of others.
Paul's take is in a slightly longer passage from Colossians Chapter 3, where I am preaching for several weeks. First he talks about "putting to death" all sorts of sexual sins and dirty-mindedness, as well as sins of the tongue (verses 5-9). This is followed by a directive to "clothe" ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (verse 12). So our life is to be a balance of continually taking off the old graveclothes of worldly sins while, at the same time, continually cultivating virtues of compassion in our lives. This is called Christlikeness.
My point is that we do not get set the agenda. Too many in the church today are opting for the social ministries of kindness to the poor while advocating thr acceptance of sexual lifestyles and sinful habits which are declared out of bounds by Scripture. We simply do not have the freedom to do this and be true aliens and exiles in this world. If our citizenship is in heaven, it must be shown both by what we reject and leave behind and by what we show forth in ministry to the last, the lost, and the least. This is not a cafeteria, brothers and sisters, where we get to pick and choose. This is a family dinner where we are expected to eat everything on our plates.
Nothing else honors and treasures Christ to the degree that we ought. We are called to be both holy and compassionate in our living - just like Jesus. He was able to walk that fine line - which reminds me of a great song from a few years back by Christian artist Wayne Watson:
There's a fine line between taking bread with a lost man
And being consumed by his way while reaching out in love,
Temptation's right at your door, guard what you're thinkin' of;
It's a fine line. When I hide my eyes
From the darkest of life's insanity, from the worst of the world's profanity,
I've gotta be careful I don't miss someone in need of me,
It's a fine line.
...not talkin' about walkin' fences, not talkin' about compromise,
But living and breathing as pleasing in His eyes.
So where do I walk, where is my place,
The straight and the narrow, the road of grace;
Holdin' fast to You, walkin' at Your pace, walkin' on the fine line.
Jesus is our example, and Jesus is our power to live this way. He was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). And in Him, we can be, too.
"And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him ... in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19, 2:3). So let's walk like this is true.
Sadly, today, some would have us believe we can have varying opinions on essentials of the Christian faith. Believe what you want about salvation, justification, the authority of Scripture, Christ's deity, virgin birth, bodily resurrection and personal return. Sorry. I believe that disagreement about these is out of bounds, and if carried to extremes, disagreement about these could bring about the breaking of fellowship, because those who would deny these things would be showing themselves to be not truly of the faith. But that is not the main point I wish to make in this post.
There is another man-made dichotomy that has crept into the church these days. Some Christians feel they can only express their faith by sheltering themselves from or by attacking the culture. Others feel they can be faithful by serving others, but that their moral life doesn't matter. They can follow whatever dictates the current culture espouses on moral issues. So we either isolate ourselves from the culture, or we imitate the culture. There is a third way - we are to penetrate and seek transformation in the culture, to be in the world but not of it. As a former pastor/mentor of mine used to say, "It's great for the boat to be in the water, that's where it belongs. But God help you if the water gets into the boat."
History shows that the early church was known for its compassionate love toward all, especially the least, AND for their high moral standards. It was not either/or but both that attracted new disciples and turned the Roman empire upside down. But more importantly, the New Testament is clear about these issues as well. Let me cite several key texts.
James 1:27 says that "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." See the both/and emphasis? Yes, we care for the needy and marginalized. But we also do not let ourselves get sucked into the zeitgeist, the worldview of the prevailing culture.
Peter weighs in on the topic in 1 Peter 2:11-12. "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us."
This is not new to the apostles. On the first matter, "the abstaining from sinful desires," Paul 's counsel is to run from these things as fast and as far as we can. But Jesus is even more graphic. He takes our sexual purity so seriously that He tells us not to even look at a woman lustfully, to cut off our hands or pluck out our eyes if they offend us. Now we know this is figurative, because He says clearly in Mark 7:21 that the source of our sin is the heart. But at the very least, He means that we are to "be careful little eyes what we see, little ears what we hear..." We watch our intake from television, movies, popular fiction and the internet.
On the second matter, Peter is obviously echoing Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount about being the light of the world (Matthew 5:16). The Greek word for "good" speaks speficially of compassionate, caring kind of works on behalf of others.
Paul's take is in a slightly longer passage from Colossians Chapter 3, where I am preaching for several weeks. First he talks about "putting to death" all sorts of sexual sins and dirty-mindedness, as well as sins of the tongue (verses 5-9). This is followed by a directive to "clothe" ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (verse 12). So our life is to be a balance of continually taking off the old graveclothes of worldly sins while, at the same time, continually cultivating virtues of compassion in our lives. This is called Christlikeness.
My point is that we do not get set the agenda. Too many in the church today are opting for the social ministries of kindness to the poor while advocating thr acceptance of sexual lifestyles and sinful habits which are declared out of bounds by Scripture. We simply do not have the freedom to do this and be true aliens and exiles in this world. If our citizenship is in heaven, it must be shown both by what we reject and leave behind and by what we show forth in ministry to the last, the lost, and the least. This is not a cafeteria, brothers and sisters, where we get to pick and choose. This is a family dinner where we are expected to eat everything on our plates.
Nothing else honors and treasures Christ to the degree that we ought. We are called to be both holy and compassionate in our living - just like Jesus. He was able to walk that fine line - which reminds me of a great song from a few years back by Christian artist Wayne Watson:
There's a fine line between taking bread with a lost man
And being consumed by his way while reaching out in love,
Temptation's right at your door, guard what you're thinkin' of;
It's a fine line. When I hide my eyes
From the darkest of life's insanity, from the worst of the world's profanity,
I've gotta be careful I don't miss someone in need of me,
It's a fine line.
...not talkin' about walkin' fences, not talkin' about compromise,
But living and breathing as pleasing in His eyes.
So where do I walk, where is my place,
The straight and the narrow, the road of grace;
Holdin' fast to You, walkin' at Your pace, walkin' on the fine line.
Jesus is our example, and Jesus is our power to live this way. He was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). And in Him, we can be, too.
"And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him ... in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19, 2:3). So let's walk like this is true.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Prophet, Priest, and King
As we prepare the celebrate the birth of our Lord, I am reminded of a hymn (not a carol) that we sang recently at our worship service - Fanny Crosby's "Praise Him! Praise Him!" One line in that song says, "Praise Him, Praise Him, Prophet and Priest and King." Jesus was indeed the fulfillment of every one of these offices of redemptive history. I just wanted to take a moment and reflect on Jesus Christ in the fulness of His Messianic work.
For Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed (literally, the "smeared") One. Smeared with sacred oil, the oil of the Holy Spirit, to "proclaim good news to the poor ... to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-9, quoting from Isaiah 61:1-2, NIV). How did He fulfill this calling?
First, Jesus was and is the ultimate PROPHET. Now when most people say today that Jesus was a great prophet, that is no small thing. A prophet was one who heard and spoke the very message of God to His people. Prophets were anointed by God in the Old Testament to proclaim His Word. They did not give their personal opinions, but they prefaced what they said with, "Thus says the Lord..." They were not always appreciated at the time of their ministry, but they were given respect in hindsight. God had promised Moses, "I will raise up a Prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words into His mouth. He will tell them everything I command Him." (Deuteronomy 18:18, NIV). But what made Jesus the prophet stand out was that He was not just a first among equals, but was in a class by Himself, because He not only delivered the Word, he WAS the Word (John 1), living and incarnate. Remember, Jesus taught by saying, not, "You have heard it said..." but "I say unto you..." You don 't have to read much of what Jesus said about Himself, especially in John's Gospel, to understand this: As a prophet, Jesus declared, prophetically, that He was more than a prophet. In other words, as R. C. Sproul puts it, "the central message of the prophetic ministry of Jesus Christ - was Jesus Christ!"
Second, Jesus was and is the ultimate PRIEST. This is what the disciples didn't get until after Easter. They were very ready to accept Him as a prophet, right up there with Elijah or Jeremiah, and even to declare Him to be the Messiah. But when Jesus referred to the priestly ministry He would have to perform to fulfill His mission, Peter said, "Never!" and had to be rebuked by Jesus. Priests were literally anointed with oil for their office in the Old Testament. Now the difference between the work of the Prophet and the Priest was simple: The priest would speak to God on behalf of the people, and the prophet would speak to the people on behalf of God. The way the priest would speak for the people was to pray for them and to offer sacrifices for them, so that their relationship to God could be restored whenever it was broken. But again, Jesus stood out from the rest in His priestly ministry, because he not only offered the sacrifice for the people, He BECAME the sacrifice. You can see this in what we commonly refer to as the seven last words from the cross. In the first three statements, Jesus was acting as priest, as offerer and intercessor on behalf of others ("Father, forgive them..." "Woman, behold your son..." "Today you shall be with Me in paradise..."). But after 3 PM, when all became dark, and He bagan to bear our sin and God's wrath, His words became the words of the offering itself, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world ("My God, my God, why...?" "I thirst."... "It is finished!" ... "Father, into Your hands...") He offered the supreme sacrifice to God for us and He WAS the supreme sacrifice to God for us. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Finally, Jesus was and is the ultimate KING. Kings were also anointed for their role with the people of God. Jesus came, even in His humility, born of the line of David through Hs foster father, Joseph, and showed dominion over death, over demons, over disease, over nature itself, and over the souls of men and women. Now he lives and reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The shepherds and the Magi understood this and bowed before Him. He was given gold, a gift fit for a king. Simeon and Anna understood this. The thief on the cross got it, too, and asked for Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom. And one day, the promise of the book of Revelation will come true once and for all, the promise that we sing every year at this time: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign for ever and ever. Hallelujah!" (Revelation 11:15, NIV)
This is why we treasure Him and worship Him and Hold Him as supreme. The Messiah had to be a prophet like Moses, He had to be of the line of David and the head of an everlasting kingdom, and He had to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Only one Person in history perfectly fulfilled this resume - the one we welcome again at this Christmas season. All glory goes to Him forever.
"And He is the Head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19; 2:3, NIV). So let us honor Him at Christmas like this is true.
For Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed (literally, the "smeared") One. Smeared with sacred oil, the oil of the Holy Spirit, to "proclaim good news to the poor ... to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-9, quoting from Isaiah 61:1-2, NIV). How did He fulfill this calling?
First, Jesus was and is the ultimate PROPHET. Now when most people say today that Jesus was a great prophet, that is no small thing. A prophet was one who heard and spoke the very message of God to His people. Prophets were anointed by God in the Old Testament to proclaim His Word. They did not give their personal opinions, but they prefaced what they said with, "Thus says the Lord..." They were not always appreciated at the time of their ministry, but they were given respect in hindsight. God had promised Moses, "I will raise up a Prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words into His mouth. He will tell them everything I command Him." (Deuteronomy 18:18, NIV). But what made Jesus the prophet stand out was that He was not just a first among equals, but was in a class by Himself, because He not only delivered the Word, he WAS the Word (John 1), living and incarnate. Remember, Jesus taught by saying, not, "You have heard it said..." but "I say unto you..." You don 't have to read much of what Jesus said about Himself, especially in John's Gospel, to understand this: As a prophet, Jesus declared, prophetically, that He was more than a prophet. In other words, as R. C. Sproul puts it, "the central message of the prophetic ministry of Jesus Christ - was Jesus Christ!"
Second, Jesus was and is the ultimate PRIEST. This is what the disciples didn't get until after Easter. They were very ready to accept Him as a prophet, right up there with Elijah or Jeremiah, and even to declare Him to be the Messiah. But when Jesus referred to the priestly ministry He would have to perform to fulfill His mission, Peter said, "Never!" and had to be rebuked by Jesus. Priests were literally anointed with oil for their office in the Old Testament. Now the difference between the work of the Prophet and the Priest was simple: The priest would speak to God on behalf of the people, and the prophet would speak to the people on behalf of God. The way the priest would speak for the people was to pray for them and to offer sacrifices for them, so that their relationship to God could be restored whenever it was broken. But again, Jesus stood out from the rest in His priestly ministry, because he not only offered the sacrifice for the people, He BECAME the sacrifice. You can see this in what we commonly refer to as the seven last words from the cross. In the first three statements, Jesus was acting as priest, as offerer and intercessor on behalf of others ("Father, forgive them..." "Woman, behold your son..." "Today you shall be with Me in paradise..."). But after 3 PM, when all became dark, and He bagan to bear our sin and God's wrath, His words became the words of the offering itself, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world ("My God, my God, why...?" "I thirst."... "It is finished!" ... "Father, into Your hands...") He offered the supreme sacrifice to God for us and He WAS the supreme sacrifice to God for us. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Finally, Jesus was and is the ultimate KING. Kings were also anointed for their role with the people of God. Jesus came, even in His humility, born of the line of David through Hs foster father, Joseph, and showed dominion over death, over demons, over disease, over nature itself, and over the souls of men and women. Now he lives and reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The shepherds and the Magi understood this and bowed before Him. He was given gold, a gift fit for a king. Simeon and Anna understood this. The thief on the cross got it, too, and asked for Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom. And one day, the promise of the book of Revelation will come true once and for all, the promise that we sing every year at this time: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign for ever and ever. Hallelujah!" (Revelation 11:15, NIV)
This is why we treasure Him and worship Him and Hold Him as supreme. The Messiah had to be a prophet like Moses, He had to be of the line of David and the head of an everlasting kingdom, and He had to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Only one Person in history perfectly fulfilled this resume - the one we welcome again at this Christmas season. All glory goes to Him forever.
"And He is the Head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19; 2:3, NIV). So let us honor Him at Christmas like this is true.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
It Starts in the Mind
"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD
with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are His;
we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His;
we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise;
give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the LORD is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations.
(Psalm 100, NIV)
What are we called to do? Worship with a focus on God, not on ourselves. See how many times the name of the LORD (Yahweh, the great "I AM") or God shows up in this Psalm. It really is all about Him. In this narcissistic age we live in, we really need to hear this again and again.
And worship with exuberance. Look at the commands of verses 1,2 and 4: "Shout," "worship" (or serve) with gladness (not out of obligation); "come with joyful songs"; "give thanks", "praise", and (the second "praise" in verse 4, "bless" (literally, to bow, give homage). There is true overflowing joy combined with deep reverence and awe of God.
The same idea can be found in Psalm 95, where we are told twice to "come." (Latin, venite) Remember, "Venite adoramus - O come, let us adore Him." First the Psalmist says to come with singing, shouting, thanksgiving, extolling. Then further down he says to come bowing down and kneeling. Both of these are expressions of exuberance, and we do not need to pit them against one another.
This is obvious, and yet many Christians come to church with an apparent attitude of boredom. When the Willow Creek Church near Chicago was just starting out in the 80's, they surveyed whole neighborhoods to ask why people had stopped going to church The number one and two answers given were, "Church is boring," and "Church is irrelevant." So what's the problem?
I think the answer is found in Psalm 100, verses 3 and 5. Verse 3 begins with the command, "Know..." We do not know God as we should. We do not know that God is GREAT (verse 3). He is God, the only God. He made us, He is our Creator. We are not products of chance or evolution. We are not merely the product of our parents. Our genes do not determine who we are, God does. And then He redeemed us through Christ, so that "we are His people." He made us. He bought us. If we are believers in Jesus Christ, we are twice His. What an awesome God!
But wait, there's more! (I've always wanted to say that.) In verse 5, we are told that God is GOOD. He is good, He is loving, and He is faithful. And He will be these things forever. And we, as New Testament Christians, only need to look at Calvary to know how true this is. He died for us while we were yet sinners, and when we look to Him in faith as our Savior and our Substitute, He will keep his covenant with us, no matter what.
God is great. God is good. When we really know this, worship becomes the easiest, most natural thing in the world. No wonder Jesus, when asked what the greatest commandment was, quoted the Shema from Deuteronomy 6. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength (exuberant worship and service); but don't forget the last part - and with all our mind. We need to know God to worship Him - and knowing God starts with knowing about God. This is why Bible study and active listening to sermons is so vital - because theology leads to doxology, and orthodoxy is the only true way to orthopraxy (that is, right doctrine leads to right practice). Treasuring Christ, worshiping Him from the heart, really does begin in the mind - so crack open that Bible and ask Him to show Himself to you more and more. As He does, your response of worship will also grow more and more each day.
"And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him ... In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19; 2:3, NIV) So let's start worshiping like this is true.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Digging for Gold
"In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:3) This verse is part of our theme verses for this blog. So how do you find these treasures? Jesus gave us a hint in John 15:7-8 - "If you remain in Me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." Remaining or abiding in Christ is key to answered prayer and to Christian maturity (fruit-bearing), so that people will know that we are learning from Him (discipleship). A major component of this abiding is the taking in of His Word. Since Jesus was steeped in the Old Testament Scriptures in His teaching and could show the twelve, after His resurrection, how He could be found in the entire Old Testament, and since later He tells the apostles that the Holy Spirit will remind them of everything He said as well (our New Testament), I believe He wants us to be saturated with the whole Bible. We will find all of the treasures of Christ, both in the types and shadows of the Old Testament as well as in the full and final revelation of the New Testament.
But here is where the paradox comes in. I, for one, do not buy this idea that the Bible is full of contradictions. People who say this simply do not take the time to research apparent contradictions in order to find that the law of contradiction is never violated in God's Word. However, Scripture IS full of paradox.
In this case, the paradox is shown in two passages. The first is in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10. "However, as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived - the things God has prepared for those who love Him' - these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit."
Now it is always tempting to apply this quote from Isaiah 64 to heaven. But in context, Paul is not talking about heaven, but about truth. He is saying that the truth of Scripture cannot be figured out by either inductive or deductive reasoning, or logic. It can only be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit - like when Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Flesh and blood had not revealed that to him, but the Father. We can only know what God has for us to know if He chooses to reveal it to us - and He has. BUT...
The other side of the coin is in Proverbs 2:1-5: "My Son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding - indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."
Look at the energy and effort described here: Accepting (welcoming) it, storing it up (memorization); turning your ear and applying your heart (meditation); calling out and crying aloud (praying as we read and listen); searching and looking (hard, careful, diligent study, comparing Scripture with Scripture, checking context, watching the grammar, etc.). That's when we will understand and find the treasure. Yet verse 6 echoes 1 Corinthians 2. "For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding."
So there's the paradox. We can only find the treasures of Christ in His Word if God reveals them to us. But He will only reveal them to us if we are in an attitude of seeking and digging. Yet when we have sought and dug, we will, in the end, find it only because He reveals them to us. But He will not reveal them to the lazy and idle - only to the diligent.
So we dig and scratch and search, even as we abide and listen and pray. And then we will begin to see the treasure and put things together and see the wisdom of God's eternal plan. This is the only way we will be able to have the Bible shed light on our day-to-day living, with each day's joy and pain, and gradually move forward in maturity, becoming more like Him as we get closer to home.
The treasure is here, right before us. "X" has already marked the spot. We just have to start some serious digging and then humbly wait for him to show it to us, one gem at a time.
"And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19; 2:3, NIV) So let's start digging like this is true.
But here is where the paradox comes in. I, for one, do not buy this idea that the Bible is full of contradictions. People who say this simply do not take the time to research apparent contradictions in order to find that the law of contradiction is never violated in God's Word. However, Scripture IS full of paradox.
In this case, the paradox is shown in two passages. The first is in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10. "However, as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived - the things God has prepared for those who love Him' - these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit."
Now it is always tempting to apply this quote from Isaiah 64 to heaven. But in context, Paul is not talking about heaven, but about truth. He is saying that the truth of Scripture cannot be figured out by either inductive or deductive reasoning, or logic. It can only be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit - like when Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Flesh and blood had not revealed that to him, but the Father. We can only know what God has for us to know if He chooses to reveal it to us - and He has. BUT...
The other side of the coin is in Proverbs 2:1-5: "My Son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding - indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."
Look at the energy and effort described here: Accepting (welcoming) it, storing it up (memorization); turning your ear and applying your heart (meditation); calling out and crying aloud (praying as we read and listen); searching and looking (hard, careful, diligent study, comparing Scripture with Scripture, checking context, watching the grammar, etc.). That's when we will understand and find the treasure. Yet verse 6 echoes 1 Corinthians 2. "For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding."
So there's the paradox. We can only find the treasures of Christ in His Word if God reveals them to us. But He will only reveal them to us if we are in an attitude of seeking and digging. Yet when we have sought and dug, we will, in the end, find it only because He reveals them to us. But He will not reveal them to the lazy and idle - only to the diligent.
So we dig and scratch and search, even as we abide and listen and pray. And then we will begin to see the treasure and put things together and see the wisdom of God's eternal plan. This is the only way we will be able to have the Bible shed light on our day-to-day living, with each day's joy and pain, and gradually move forward in maturity, becoming more like Him as we get closer to home.
The treasure is here, right before us. "X" has already marked the spot. We just have to start some serious digging and then humbly wait for him to show it to us, one gem at a time.
"And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19; 2:3, NIV) So let's start digging like this is true.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Never Forget
"Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:1-3, NIV) In the last few days, in the wake of the 10th Anniversary of 9-11, we have frequently heard and seen one short but potent phrase - "Never forget." Well, the Bible is also full of calls to remember. In the Old Testament, Israel was commanded always to remember her deliverance from slavery in Egypt. She was given a Feast to help her remember, the Feast of Passover (Exodus 12). The entire intricate layout of the Tabernacle and the sacrificial system was intended as visual aids to enable them to remember. The nation was also called to remember her crossing of the Jordan River into Canaan by placing twelve stones in the river, one for each tribe, after she had miraculously crossed in safety. These stones were to be a memorial so that she would never forget (Joshua 3-4). In 1 Samuel, after the Lord gave a great victory to an outnumbered Israel over their Philistine enemies, Samuel set up a stone and named it "Ebenezer," meaning "Thus far the Lord has helped us." It was to serve as a reminder.
But things did not change in the New Testament. Jesus gave us new symbols to remind us of our greater deliverance from sin through His death on the cross. The night before He died, He shared bread and wine with His disciples, saying, in essence, "This is my body, this is My blood, don't you dare forget it."
In the passage we began with, Paul wrote to remind the Corinthians of the gospel. Remember now, he was writing to Christians, not to pagans. He knew how quickly we can forget. He was amazed at how easily the Galatian churches allowed themselves to be duped by the Judaizers. He cautioned the Colossians about being taken in by "hollow and deceptive philosophies." some of which involved the worship of angels and strict adherance to special days. On more than one occasion, he wrote that he did not want the church to be ignorant about specific matters related to the faith, such as spiritual gifts, or the second coming of our Lord. To Timothy, Paul gave instructions to remind the people he served of the trustworthy sayings that deserve full acceptance, among them, that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Pretty basic stuff - but they had to be reminded regularly so that they would not forget.
The writer to the Hebrews picks up this theme when he quotes from Psalm 95, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts..." We all tend to be fickle at times in matters of faith. No one decides to reject the gospel's teachings in a moment. Rather, we drift - and we do so because we forget. Hence, the constant call to remember.
Peter also echoes this thought. "I will always remind you of these things, EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW THEM and are firmly established in the truth you now have" (2 Peter 1:12, emphasis mine). The danger comes when some in the church, come to believe that since they know the truth, they no longer need to be reminded of it. Yes, Hebrews 6 tells us to move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ, but that does not negate the need to be reminded. In the first Lord of the Rings film, as the Hobbits start out on their journey, Sam, the faithful companion tells Frodo, as they step over a piece of ground, "I have never been this far away from the shire before. I cannot see my home." He says this with sadness and with some trepidation. They know they cannot go back until their mission is finished. But what sustains them through the perilous journey through all three films is their remembrance of the shire. We move toward new horizons, but we cannot ever forget home, where we began.
We must also let John weigh in on this. In 1 John 2:12-14, the Apostle says he is writing to three distinct groups - he calls them "dear children," "fathers," and "young men." In other words, he writes again about the basic truths of what it means to be "born of God" to Christians at every stage of growth and maturity. No one is exempt.
To think that we no longer need to be reminded of the basic truths of our faith, to think that we no longer need catechesis - ah, that is a dangerous place to be. To think that we no longer have need of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers - that is when we find ourselves again to be "infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitul scheming" (Ephesians 4:11-14).
The gospel is where the power of God is. So we keep coming back to that. We fail to do that at our peril. If we ever lived in a day of theological and doctrinal shallowness, it's today. Christians so often want to be entertained, not fed. They say they cannot handle theology intellectually, they cannot remember all of the important things the Bible teaches. Yet, they can easily tell you the latest minute details from the world of politics, sports, entertainment, and the stock market.
It is easy for preachers and teachers to be discouraged. But we, too, must never forget. We must not forget the gospel, and we must not forget our primary calling - to "preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season: (i.e., when it is popular and when it is not) correct, rebuke, and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction" (2 Timothy 4:2). They may not want to hear it - but for their souls' sake, they must. It is the only way we and they will never forget.
"And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knwledge." (Colossians 1:18-19; 23, NIV) So let's remember like this is true.
But things did not change in the New Testament. Jesus gave us new symbols to remind us of our greater deliverance from sin through His death on the cross. The night before He died, He shared bread and wine with His disciples, saying, in essence, "This is my body, this is My blood, don't you dare forget it."
In the passage we began with, Paul wrote to remind the Corinthians of the gospel. Remember now, he was writing to Christians, not to pagans. He knew how quickly we can forget. He was amazed at how easily the Galatian churches allowed themselves to be duped by the Judaizers. He cautioned the Colossians about being taken in by "hollow and deceptive philosophies." some of which involved the worship of angels and strict adherance to special days. On more than one occasion, he wrote that he did not want the church to be ignorant about specific matters related to the faith, such as spiritual gifts, or the second coming of our Lord. To Timothy, Paul gave instructions to remind the people he served of the trustworthy sayings that deserve full acceptance, among them, that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Pretty basic stuff - but they had to be reminded regularly so that they would not forget.
The writer to the Hebrews picks up this theme when he quotes from Psalm 95, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts..." We all tend to be fickle at times in matters of faith. No one decides to reject the gospel's teachings in a moment. Rather, we drift - and we do so because we forget. Hence, the constant call to remember.
Peter also echoes this thought. "I will always remind you of these things, EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW THEM and are firmly established in the truth you now have" (2 Peter 1:12, emphasis mine). The danger comes when some in the church, come to believe that since they know the truth, they no longer need to be reminded of it. Yes, Hebrews 6 tells us to move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ, but that does not negate the need to be reminded. In the first Lord of the Rings film, as the Hobbits start out on their journey, Sam, the faithful companion tells Frodo, as they step over a piece of ground, "I have never been this far away from the shire before. I cannot see my home." He says this with sadness and with some trepidation. They know they cannot go back until their mission is finished. But what sustains them through the perilous journey through all three films is their remembrance of the shire. We move toward new horizons, but we cannot ever forget home, where we began.
We must also let John weigh in on this. In 1 John 2:12-14, the Apostle says he is writing to three distinct groups - he calls them "dear children," "fathers," and "young men." In other words, he writes again about the basic truths of what it means to be "born of God" to Christians at every stage of growth and maturity. No one is exempt.
To think that we no longer need to be reminded of the basic truths of our faith, to think that we no longer need catechesis - ah, that is a dangerous place to be. To think that we no longer have need of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers - that is when we find ourselves again to be "infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitul scheming" (Ephesians 4:11-14).
The gospel is where the power of God is. So we keep coming back to that. We fail to do that at our peril. If we ever lived in a day of theological and doctrinal shallowness, it's today. Christians so often want to be entertained, not fed. They say they cannot handle theology intellectually, they cannot remember all of the important things the Bible teaches. Yet, they can easily tell you the latest minute details from the world of politics, sports, entertainment, and the stock market.
It is easy for preachers and teachers to be discouraged. But we, too, must never forget. We must not forget the gospel, and we must not forget our primary calling - to "preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season: (i.e., when it is popular and when it is not) correct, rebuke, and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction" (2 Timothy 4:2). They may not want to hear it - but for their souls' sake, they must. It is the only way we and they will never forget.
"And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knwledge." (Colossians 1:18-19; 23, NIV) So let's remember like this is true.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Profit and Loss
"What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things." (Philippians 3:8)
In Philippians 3, Paul speaks in terms of profit and loss. He is using a spiritual "ledger" if you will. This is a personal testimony about his discovery of the reality of the parables Jesus told in Matthew Chapter 13.
"The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." (Matthew 13:44-46, NIV)
For Paul, nothing was worth keeping in order to gain the treasure. That included what the world would consider to be good things - his religion, his good upbringing, his morality, his faithfulness to the Torah of Moses, his zeal to be faithful to God. What could be wrong with those? He answers this question in verse 9: None of these things compared to having a righteousness that was not his own from the law, but the righteousness of Christ, which is by faith. This is what is so hard for so many to grasp - that God is absolutely unimpressed with our good deeds, our efforts to please Him that do not arise from faith in what He has already done.
This, along with the Incarnation of Christ, is what separates Christianity from every other religion of the world. Every one of them depends on pleasing God through human effort. That includes Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christian-like cults, as well as atheism and agnosticism, and even secularism. Press most Americans (including faithful church-goers), and they will say they believe in God, but they will also say that the way to heaven is by being good enough and hoping that their good works outweigh their bad ones when God puts them on the final scales.
Brothers and sisters, the symbol of our faith is not a set of scales! It is a cross! Ours is an alien righteousness. We would be utterly hopeless if righteousness were not granted to us through the substitution of Christ on our behalf. He who fulfilled the law to the letter was pronounced guilty, so that we who had no hope could be pronounced righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is the treasure that Paul discovered on the road to Damascus. As a result, he bundled up all of his works, good and bad, and filed them in the "loss" column of his ledger. He only had one asset in his asset column - Christ - and it was more than enough.
An old Puritan saint named David Dickson once said in a sermon, "I have made a heap of all my bad works AND of all my good works, and I have fled them both to Christ" (emphasis mine). Until we flee ALL of our works, including our best ones, we have not yet fully discovered and appreciated the Treasure that is Jesus Christ, who accomplished the ultimate good work at Calvary on our behalf. Can we say, in our heart of hearts, with the hymn writer:
"Could my tears forever flow, could my zeal no languor know,
These for sin could not atone, Thou must save, and Thou alone,
In my hand no price I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling."
(Augustus Toplady, Rock of Ages, verse 2)
That's the only treasure worth keeping.
"And Christ is the head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19; 2:3, NIV) So let's total things up like this is true.
In Philippians 3, Paul speaks in terms of profit and loss. He is using a spiritual "ledger" if you will. This is a personal testimony about his discovery of the reality of the parables Jesus told in Matthew Chapter 13.
"The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." (Matthew 13:44-46, NIV)
For Paul, nothing was worth keeping in order to gain the treasure. That included what the world would consider to be good things - his religion, his good upbringing, his morality, his faithfulness to the Torah of Moses, his zeal to be faithful to God. What could be wrong with those? He answers this question in verse 9: None of these things compared to having a righteousness that was not his own from the law, but the righteousness of Christ, which is by faith. This is what is so hard for so many to grasp - that God is absolutely unimpressed with our good deeds, our efforts to please Him that do not arise from faith in what He has already done.
This, along with the Incarnation of Christ, is what separates Christianity from every other religion of the world. Every one of them depends on pleasing God through human effort. That includes Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christian-like cults, as well as atheism and agnosticism, and even secularism. Press most Americans (including faithful church-goers), and they will say they believe in God, but they will also say that the way to heaven is by being good enough and hoping that their good works outweigh their bad ones when God puts them on the final scales.
Brothers and sisters, the symbol of our faith is not a set of scales! It is a cross! Ours is an alien righteousness. We would be utterly hopeless if righteousness were not granted to us through the substitution of Christ on our behalf. He who fulfilled the law to the letter was pronounced guilty, so that we who had no hope could be pronounced righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is the treasure that Paul discovered on the road to Damascus. As a result, he bundled up all of his works, good and bad, and filed them in the "loss" column of his ledger. He only had one asset in his asset column - Christ - and it was more than enough.
An old Puritan saint named David Dickson once said in a sermon, "I have made a heap of all my bad works AND of all my good works, and I have fled them both to Christ" (emphasis mine). Until we flee ALL of our works, including our best ones, we have not yet fully discovered and appreciated the Treasure that is Jesus Christ, who accomplished the ultimate good work at Calvary on our behalf. Can we say, in our heart of hearts, with the hymn writer:
"Could my tears forever flow, could my zeal no languor know,
These for sin could not atone, Thou must save, and Thou alone,
In my hand no price I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling."
(Augustus Toplady, Rock of Ages, verse 2)
That's the only treasure worth keeping.
"And Christ is the head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19; 2:3, NIV) So let's total things up like this is true.
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