"I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve."
--1 Cor. 15:3-5
All too often the cross and resurrection of Christ is proclaimed as though it's a fairy-tale. I don't question whether preachers and Christians believe in it or not. I think most of them do believe it happened--I just know that for a long time I believed in it like I believed in poverty in other countries: Something that's real, but since it didn't immediately effect my present situation, I never was forced to wrestle with it or think about it in deep and "present" terms. It's important, but only in conversation--not existentially.
Yet Christianity, since it's inception, has been entirely wrapped up in an event that happened. The work of the Son of God who stepped foot onto earth 2000 years ago and fulfilled the Law of God which man is entirely incapable of keeping (see Mt 5:17, Rom 8:1-4), is to pay a ransom for the sins of many people (Mk 10:45) who are His sheep/Church (Jn 10:15), that they would be "set free from sin" (Jn 8:34-36, Ac 13:39). His being betrayed, tried, condemned, and crucified was all the work of Sovereign God opening the way of salvation (see Ac 2:23, 3:18, 4:27-28) for those in darkness, as also was Christ's being risen the work of God (2:23, Rom 8:11). Through His work on the cross--His death as a perfect final sacrifice instead of the person--the person can receive the gift of eternal life simply by having faith in the goodness of the work in Christ's death and resurrection (see Rom 3:23-26), because through the work of Christ, His Spirit comes from Him to the person, and they are counted righteous, seated with Christ "in the heavenly places" (Eph 2:4-5), and through His work they begin to walk in "good works, which God has prepared for (them) to do" (2:10).
Do you understand this? The cross and resurrection as an event that actually happened is at the center and core of all that Christianity is. If it didn't happen, or if it is only approached flippantly and half-asleep, the natural course of the Christian message will be legalism masked as "Gospel": "Obey these commands, and you'll be saved", which is no different than the Law of the Old Testament. This is why almost all Christian preaching and writing is to one of two extremes: Hyper-legalism (command-keeping as the central tenet), or Relative-loveism (no command matters, just love). Of course, these are both the same thing. The former is just explicit with setting up a Law for sinful and spiritually dead people to follow by their helpless self; the latter deceives itself to think it has the better standard, but it certainly is still a standard which helpless people have to keep, and so is a Law as well.
And neither one is a Gospel, because both give the hearer a standard to have to measure to from where they're at presently.
But the Christian message has been about good news even 400 years before it happened (see Isaiah 40:9, 52:7), as it was from the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry (see Mk 1:15), and so also when He ascended to heaven after the resurrection his disciples were to preach the same good news/Gospel (see Mk 16:15). And what was the message?:
--"When the Spirit comes upon you, you will bear witness about me"--(Jesus in Ac 1:8).
This is why every page of the book of Acts has the Apostles preaching sermons about Jesus' good work on the cross and out of the grave. And this is why Paul, writing in the original passage at the top of the page, reminds the Corinthian church that just as he came preaching the gospel of "Christ crucified" (see 1 Cor 1:17-24, 2:1-5), he also came preaching Christ resurrected (15:4-5). The message, from first to last, was entirely Christ's finished work of going to the cross, rising from the grave, and sitting down at the right hand of God (see 15:27, and the Old Testament passage there quoted).
Because of this event in history, there are infinite riches in the present reality. The gift of Son/Daughter-ship is a present reality dependent upon the past event (Rom 8:15-17, Gal 4:4-7), as well as the gift of belonging to Christ (1 Cor 3:9,16,20; 6:19-20), and the gift of the sanctifying power of Christ to make us pure and holy in Christ-likeness (Jn 17:19, 1 Cor 6:11, Eph 5:26-27, 2 Thes 2:13, Heb 9:14).
Of course this is all dependent upon the greatest gift of all: His Holy Spirit. It has been said that Christ's work was really meant to be the precursor to the fuller work of the Holy Spirit. This wouldn't be inappropriate to say, especially in light of the fact that the Prophets have God's giving His Spirit as THE Great Promise (see Prov 1:23, Ezek 38:27, Joel 2:28-29), and Jesus refers to Him (the Spirit) as the "promise of the Father" (Luke 24:49).
But also note that the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' and the Scripture's own words, can't come unless He goes to the cross and then ascends back to heaven (see Jn 7:39 "those who believe in Him were to receive...the Spirit...(but it) had not been given (yet), because Jesus was not yet glorified", and also Jn 15:7 "it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you."). And when the Spirit comes, He will "guide (believers) into all the truth" (Jn 16:13), dwell in the believers as Christ's presence (see Jn 14:16-24, and read it carefully), and He will cause them to bear witness about Jesus (Ac 1:8, and note the structure of the sentence).
Do you see what I'm saying? The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is what drives and fuels all of the Christian life, and from it we derive all of our life and identity and worth and focus. But without the Cross and Resurrection as an explicit and definite event that happened, approached in reverence and humility among the people of God, the benefits of it's work will never be understood clearly, and so Christianity will be lost among those among whom it has no reason to be lost. Legalism (on one polar end) and relative love-ism (on the other) will be the message to be preached. And while the intention of the proponents of either might be as good as can be, neither message is a Gospel. And so neither message is Christianity. Because neither depends on Christ.
Scott Stine - PhD, Pastor of Darlington Congregational Church, Pawtucket, RI. Follower of Jesus; husband, daddy, distracted by basketball. My book "Christ and Theology: Toward Typological Realism" (Wipf and Stock) is available most places.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Coming to the Cross
"He who would come after me must deny himself and take up His cross to follow me."
Mk 8:31
If one could keep the commandments of God just by sheer will, the Christ wouldn't have had to go to the cross. But since He did go there, all others who follow Him must go there as well. Following Him there means not just obedience to His command (though it does include this), but it first means acceptance of the fact that sheer will is not enough get there. Rather, we're led and drawn to the cross. Every command of Jesus must be understood in light of the cross, and this means that Christ's righteousness poured out on the believer (through the cross) is what BRINGS them to the place of obedience to the command. This is because they can't be justified/saved/righteous by obedience (they're NOT obedient). They need an initial act on God's part BRINGING them TO obedience. That initial act is Christ going to the cross. Otherwise, the commands are just isolated commands to isolated individuals who, isolated, must decide...CHOOSE...whether or not they'll follow Jesus. But "those who did receive Him..he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, NOT of...the will of flesh or the will of man...but of GOD" (Jn 1:12-13)..."whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out IN GOD" (3:21).
With these words the Scripture imprisons any obedience or following on our part up underneath the gracious work of God first. Perhaps much of Christianity's softness in our time is directly related to the fact that most have refused to come to the cross by accepting that their coming is an act of God. And this is certainly also the reason for much of Christianity's hardness, too: those who have "come to Jesus" are convinced that they were 'good enough' to bring themselves to it. If it's about what WE do, then either a) the unbeliever must will their self to be as obedient as I have been, or b) since 'a' is not a very loving perspective, we must just "love" people and not preach the cross. And the Gospel is left out of both scenarios. "When you've lifted up the Son of Man, you will know that I Am Who I Am" (Jn 8:28, Greek). One can only know Christ through the cross, and one can only come to the cross through "the Word of Christ" (Rom 10:17).
"I've obeyed, others haven't, therefore I have room for boasting", some might say (wouldn't SAY, but would certainly FEEL). But this is not in accordance with Scripture. The question is much less about a theological agenda (there is no such thing for those in Christ), but much more about whether or not one has denied one's self completely by coming to the cross completely, "to show that their works have been carried out in God".
In this, those that are in Christ must be humble and gracious, because they know that Christ has been humble and gracious towards them. That which conservatives hate (a lack of costliness in the gospel) is covered by Christ, and that which liberals hate (a lack of love) is covered by Christ. How is this so? In the fact that it is much more about Christ and HIS call, than it is about us.
Mk 8:31
If one could keep the commandments of God just by sheer will, the Christ wouldn't have had to go to the cross. But since He did go there, all others who follow Him must go there as well. Following Him there means not just obedience to His command (though it does include this), but it first means acceptance of the fact that sheer will is not enough get there. Rather, we're led and drawn to the cross. Every command of Jesus must be understood in light of the cross, and this means that Christ's righteousness poured out on the believer (through the cross) is what BRINGS them to the place of obedience to the command. This is because they can't be justified/saved/righteous by obedience (they're NOT obedient). They need an initial act on God's part BRINGING them TO obedience. That initial act is Christ going to the cross. Otherwise, the commands are just isolated commands to isolated individuals who, isolated, must decide...CHOOSE...whether or not they'll follow Jesus. But "those who did receive Him..he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, NOT of...the will of flesh or the will of man...but of GOD" (Jn 1:12-13)..."whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out IN GOD" (3:21).
With these words the Scripture imprisons any obedience or following on our part up underneath the gracious work of God first. Perhaps much of Christianity's softness in our time is directly related to the fact that most have refused to come to the cross by accepting that their coming is an act of God. And this is certainly also the reason for much of Christianity's hardness, too: those who have "come to Jesus" are convinced that they were 'good enough' to bring themselves to it. If it's about what WE do, then either a) the unbeliever must will their self to be as obedient as I have been, or b) since 'a' is not a very loving perspective, we must just "love" people and not preach the cross. And the Gospel is left out of both scenarios. "When you've lifted up the Son of Man, you will know that I Am Who I Am" (Jn 8:28, Greek). One can only know Christ through the cross, and one can only come to the cross through "the Word of Christ" (Rom 10:17).
"I've obeyed, others haven't, therefore I have room for boasting", some might say (wouldn't SAY, but would certainly FEEL). But this is not in accordance with Scripture. The question is much less about a theological agenda (there is no such thing for those in Christ), but much more about whether or not one has denied one's self completely by coming to the cross completely, "to show that their works have been carried out in God".
In this, those that are in Christ must be humble and gracious, because they know that Christ has been humble and gracious towards them. That which conservatives hate (a lack of costliness in the gospel) is covered by Christ, and that which liberals hate (a lack of love) is covered by Christ. How is this so? In the fact that it is much more about Christ and HIS call, than it is about us.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Religion Apart From the Gospel
"You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that by his poverty you might become rich."--2 Cor. 8:9
The Gospel of Christ begins and ends with what God has accomplished through Him, apart from any works or "doings" on humanity's part. Even the very betraying, condemning, and crucifying of the Lord is attributed in Scripture to God's doing (see Ac 4:28 for example). Far too often the commands of God are preached, taught, and understood as starting from man and not from the Gospel--as commands to be obeyed apart from "the grace of our Lord", instead of commands to be kept BECAUSE OF "the grace of our Lord" through which HE kept what we by nature are unable to keep (Jn 15:5, Rom 8:3). This has become almost so universal that it's not even questioned by most anymore. Most understand Christianity as obeying a set of rules, apart from God's doing, as though God's only parts to be played in humanity's existence are a) creation, b) answering of prayers (that man brings to Him of his own initiative), and c) judgment (at the End). In this, God has no part to play in man's life presently, and man is "on his own" in his faith, obedience, and religion. And in this, the very Gospel itself is betrayed.
If you were to read through your New Testament, you would see that all of the commands of God are connected to Christ and His work. Christ's work is of both fulfilling the Scripture (Mt 5:17, Lk 4:17-21, 24:44-45, Jn 5:39,46) and keeping the commands SO THAT through faith in Him and by His power, righteousness would be kept in us (see Rom 8:1-4 and 2 Cor 2:20-22 for example). If mans' sin is that he's "fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23), the only way he could be saved is if God Himself sends a Christ who will fulfill "the glory of God" perfectly--this is promised to be the case in Is 11:1-5, 42:1, and being fulfilled in Christ (see Mt 3:17 and Jn 13:31-32, 17:4), it is the new "Way" of salvation for God's people. By Christ's obedience, believers are MADE righteous (Rom 5:19), so that His righteousness and obedience would be accounted to us and applied to us--and the fruit of it is His believers striving for His glory in all things. (Do a study of how often the New Testament says "to God be the glory in Christ" or something similar...you'll be amazed). This is why He's a faithful and necessary Savior (see Heb 5:7-10).
This is why all of Paul's writings of admonition (teaching, commands, etc.) begin with Gospel theology and then move into the practical implications (notice Romans has 12 chapters on Gospel theology and ch 13 begins with practicals, and the rest of the letters are similar). Peter's is the same, John's, James', etc.
But what about all of Jesus' teaching in the Gospel accounts? He seems to lay down a pretty heavy load of teaching on what we are to do and not do...how do we reconcile with that? It's very simple--every gospel account ends with Him being crucified and resurrected. All of Jesus' teaching is meant to be understood in light of the cross, because all of His teaching inevitably leads to the cross and flows from the cross. This is why He says that in order for one to "follow Him" he must "take up his cross" (Mk 8:34). Coming to and following Jesus means "learning from Him" (Mt 11:29), and not only that, but keeping and obeying what He says (see Jn 14:15, 15:10). It would seem burdensome, because who could keep His commands perfectly? That's the point--if He was just another teacher of the Law, there would be no gospel. The point is that HE keeps the Law for us, that by faith in His Person and work, "the righteous requirement of the law would be kept in us, who walk by the Spirit" (see how Jn 14:15-17 connects with Rom 8:3-4...amazing!). We take up our cross, because Jesus took up His cross, and we obey because Jesus obeyed to make us able to obey...by His Spirit. This is why Jesus says "apart from me you can do nothing"...apart from Him who went to the cross in my place, I can't do anything. But IN Him, "I can do all things" (Phil 4:13). What a wonderful gospel!
To preach obedience and righteousness apart from Christ's obedience and righteousness is to completely miss the point of the Gospel (and sadly, many...including the writer for a long time...have missed it). In the same way, to preach God's love apart from His anger over sin is to miss the point. The Scripture never proclaims His love apart from Christ's righteous obedience (see Jn 3:16-17). The reason is that you need Jesus in order to have God. "No one comes to the Father except through me...apart from me you can do nothing."
Christ, who is so rich that all things have belonged to Him for all of eternity, became poor, homeless, despised, and rejected. He who holds all things in His hand (Heb 1:3) gave himself into the hands of sinful men (Ac 2:23)...sinful men whom He had created and whose lives He upheld even in those moments! These men thought that they were rich, great, and "in control"...and yet Christ was in control the whole time (Jn 10:17-18, Ac 4:28). And what did He do? He suffered...because only through HIS suffering could anyone actually be reconciled to the Holy God-Creator from whom they were fallen (Rom 3:23) and of whom they were hostile enemies (Rom 5:8, 8:7). In this, there are riches beyond comparison (Mk 10:21, 1 Cor 3:21-22, 1 Pet 1:4)...but outside of this it is only death and it will all perish.
The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ will continue to be proclaimed and sung by the people of God for all of eternity...we'll worship Christ because He went to the cross (see Rev 5:9-10). Because He suffered and wept and was betrayed, one day, when all things are new, we the people of God will never suffer, weep, or be betrayed ever again (Rev. 21:4). Those are true riches--riches that are worth dying for. They're riches that Christ DID die for. Let all of God's people rejoice!
The Gospel of Christ begins and ends with what God has accomplished through Him, apart from any works or "doings" on humanity's part. Even the very betraying, condemning, and crucifying of the Lord is attributed in Scripture to God's doing (see Ac 4:28 for example). Far too often the commands of God are preached, taught, and understood as starting from man and not from the Gospel--as commands to be obeyed apart from "the grace of our Lord", instead of commands to be kept BECAUSE OF "the grace of our Lord" through which HE kept what we by nature are unable to keep (Jn 15:5, Rom 8:3). This has become almost so universal that it's not even questioned by most anymore. Most understand Christianity as obeying a set of rules, apart from God's doing, as though God's only parts to be played in humanity's existence are a) creation, b) answering of prayers (that man brings to Him of his own initiative), and c) judgment (at the End). In this, God has no part to play in man's life presently, and man is "on his own" in his faith, obedience, and religion. And in this, the very Gospel itself is betrayed.
If you were to read through your New Testament, you would see that all of the commands of God are connected to Christ and His work. Christ's work is of both fulfilling the Scripture (Mt 5:17, Lk 4:17-21, 24:44-45, Jn 5:39,46) and keeping the commands SO THAT through faith in Him and by His power, righteousness would be kept in us (see Rom 8:1-4 and 2 Cor 2:20-22 for example). If mans' sin is that he's "fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23), the only way he could be saved is if God Himself sends a Christ who will fulfill "the glory of God" perfectly--this is promised to be the case in Is 11:1-5, 42:1, and being fulfilled in Christ (see Mt 3:17 and Jn 13:31-32, 17:4), it is the new "Way" of salvation for God's people. By Christ's obedience, believers are MADE righteous (Rom 5:19), so that His righteousness and obedience would be accounted to us and applied to us--and the fruit of it is His believers striving for His glory in all things. (Do a study of how often the New Testament says "to God be the glory in Christ" or something similar...you'll be amazed). This is why He's a faithful and necessary Savior (see Heb 5:7-10).
This is why all of Paul's writings of admonition (teaching, commands, etc.) begin with Gospel theology and then move into the practical implications (notice Romans has 12 chapters on Gospel theology and ch 13 begins with practicals, and the rest of the letters are similar). Peter's is the same, John's, James', etc.
But what about all of Jesus' teaching in the Gospel accounts? He seems to lay down a pretty heavy load of teaching on what we are to do and not do...how do we reconcile with that? It's very simple--every gospel account ends with Him being crucified and resurrected. All of Jesus' teaching is meant to be understood in light of the cross, because all of His teaching inevitably leads to the cross and flows from the cross. This is why He says that in order for one to "follow Him" he must "take up his cross" (Mk 8:34). Coming to and following Jesus means "learning from Him" (Mt 11:29), and not only that, but keeping and obeying what He says (see Jn 14:15, 15:10). It would seem burdensome, because who could keep His commands perfectly? That's the point--if He was just another teacher of the Law, there would be no gospel. The point is that HE keeps the Law for us, that by faith in His Person and work, "the righteous requirement of the law would be kept in us, who walk by the Spirit" (see how Jn 14:15-17 connects with Rom 8:3-4...amazing!). We take up our cross, because Jesus took up His cross, and we obey because Jesus obeyed to make us able to obey...by His Spirit. This is why Jesus says "apart from me you can do nothing"...apart from Him who went to the cross in my place, I can't do anything. But IN Him, "I can do all things" (Phil 4:13). What a wonderful gospel!
To preach obedience and righteousness apart from Christ's obedience and righteousness is to completely miss the point of the Gospel (and sadly, many...including the writer for a long time...have missed it). In the same way, to preach God's love apart from His anger over sin is to miss the point. The Scripture never proclaims His love apart from Christ's righteous obedience (see Jn 3:16-17). The reason is that you need Jesus in order to have God. "No one comes to the Father except through me...apart from me you can do nothing."
Christ, who is so rich that all things have belonged to Him for all of eternity, became poor, homeless, despised, and rejected. He who holds all things in His hand (Heb 1:3) gave himself into the hands of sinful men (Ac 2:23)...sinful men whom He had created and whose lives He upheld even in those moments! These men thought that they were rich, great, and "in control"...and yet Christ was in control the whole time (Jn 10:17-18, Ac 4:28). And what did He do? He suffered...because only through HIS suffering could anyone actually be reconciled to the Holy God-Creator from whom they were fallen (Rom 3:23) and of whom they were hostile enemies (Rom 5:8, 8:7). In this, there are riches beyond comparison (Mk 10:21, 1 Cor 3:21-22, 1 Pet 1:4)...but outside of this it is only death and it will all perish.
The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ will continue to be proclaimed and sung by the people of God for all of eternity...we'll worship Christ because He went to the cross (see Rev 5:9-10). Because He suffered and wept and was betrayed, one day, when all things are new, we the people of God will never suffer, weep, or be betrayed ever again (Rev. 21:4). Those are true riches--riches that are worth dying for. They're riches that Christ DID die for. Let all of God's people rejoice!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
"Keep Them In Your Name"
"Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one."
John 17:11
In this one short verse Jesus sums up the difference between false Christianity and true Christianity. As He prays to His Father on behalf of His followers ("sheep"--10:2-30, "His own"--13:1), His prayer is very simple and unmistakable: that God the Father who is sovereign over all things would make sure that His sheep remain sheep regardless of what happens.
A short survey of the surrounding context shows the "troubles" that are sure to come to His disciples: Jesus' departure and leaving them (14:12), hatred from the world on account of Himself (15:18) and corresponding preaching of the Word anyways (15:27), temptation to fall away (16:1), sorrow (16:19-20), and "tribulation" (16:33). Surely we mustn't forget perhaps the darkest one of them all: Jesus' telling Peter that Peter WILL deny Jesus when He is handed over, to which the other gospel accounts show Peter scoffing at Jesus (13:38). How scary of a statement would it be for an emotionally vulnerable person to hear that they will soon betray that which is most precious to them?--that they are so flappible and so wavering that they WILL have a fall, when it appears that this is the least possible thing that could happen? It must have been devastating to Peter when he actually DID deny Jesus, and this is why each of the Synoptics have Peter "weeping bitterly" the moment he denies Jesus' fellowship the third time (Mt 26:75, Mk 14:72, Lk 22:62).
But Jesus' prayer is that the Father will KEEP His followers. There is nothing more powerful than the prayer of the Author of Life (Ac 3:15) who is the Word of God (Rev 19:13) who has authority over all things (including salvation--Mt 11:27) (Mt 28:18).
In fact, Lk 22:31-32 has Jesus telling Peter (regarding his eventual fall) that Satan demanded to have him, but "I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Peter then says (again) that he won't fall, to which Jesus (again) tells him that he will. But the point is that Jesus prayed for him. Jesus' word is more powerful than Satan's. And this is why He tells Peter "when you have turned again" and not "if you turn again"...it's not up to Peter whether his fall will be final or temporary--it's up to Jesus, as it always is. It's so sure that Jesus speaks of it almost in past-tense terms: "When you have turned again...". This is much like Paul calling Christians those who are "glorifiED" (past tense-->Rom 8:30), as well as those who are "seatED with Christ in the heavenly places" (clearly a future-tense reality, but it's so sure that it's considered a present reality-->Eph 2:6).
And notice what Jesus tells Peter to do "when he has turned again"--"strengthen your brothers". Why should Peter do this? Because in denying Jesus three times like Jesus said He would, Peter sees his utter helplessness in and of himself, but in knowing that he didn't fall away finally because Jesus prayed for him, he will rest in Christ and His sovereignty...and this will make him capable of "strengthening his brothers". Only when one has absolute and utter faith in Christ's power over themselves will they ever be able to "strengthen" anyone--especially when they are in an important position of authority like Peter was.
Jesus saying trials will come isn't simply a message of His foreknowledge--it's a message of his predestining that these are necessary for a Christian. Much like that Jesus' betrayal, sentencing, flogging, and crucifixion was predestined by the Father to take place (see Ac 2:23, 3:18, 4:28, 14:27--unmistakable) to bring about salvation to His sheep, His sheep will undergo trials, temptations, and hardships as part of the predestined plan of God as well.
This is the unmistakable message of Paul: "We are afflicted...persecuted...struck down..always carrying in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh...this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory..." (2 Cor 4:8-11, 17)--notice he thinks there is a purpose for his persecutions...as though God is in control of them.; "We sent Timothy...to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one may be moved by these afflictions...for we are destined for this" (1 Thes 3:2-3)--very simple message: we are DESTINED, as Christians, for persecutions and trials.
This is the unmistakable message of James: "Count it joy..when you meet trials of various kinds, for...the testing of your faith produces steadfastness...that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing...Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised those who love him..." (Jms 1:2-4, 12)--I wish I could spend more time looking into the depth of this passage and the surrounding context, but that'll be for another time.
This is the unmistakable message of Peter: "Blessed be..God..he has caused us to be born again...(you) by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation...in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith...may be found to result in praise and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet 1:3-7)--to Peter, these trials are here SO THAT we will praise and glorify Jesus when He returns; again, it's God who brings this about IN us, and He who will bring it to completion, as Paul had elsewhere said in Philippians 1:6.
Finally, two more points of reference:
First, twice does the Book of Acts tell us of this point (9:16--when Paul first becomes a Christian, God tells Ananias to take him in, because "(God) will show him how much he must suffer for (God's) name"...as though it was planned; 14:21-22--Paul goes on a ministry tour for the purpose of "strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God"...since it is not only a certainty but something that is necessary for us;
Second, Jesus himself (again) makes clear that this is going to happen as a necessity for their faith (Jn 15:18-20--"If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you...a servant is not greater than his master...if they persecuted me they will also persecute you"...taking all of the above passages into consideration, they persecuted Jesus because God had planned it to take place, and Jesus is telling the disciples that "just like they've done this to me, they will do it to you, too" as though that's part of God's plan...and it is (again, see above passages, esp. Ac 14:21-22, 1 Thes 3:2-3, and 1 Pet 1:3-7).
And remember that both James and Peter said that the Christian life will be full of "various trials" (Jms 1:2, 1 Pet 1:6), meaning it doesn't always just mean social persecution...often it means exactly what we saw earlier that Luke and John had recorded: lapses in faith, temporary falls, lapses in judgment, etc. Peter also reminds us that "your adversary the Devil prowls around like a lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world" (1 Pet 5:8-9 {also see v10}), using the exact same language as Genesis 4 when God tells Cain "sin is crouching at the door. It's desire is for you" (4:7) referring to Cain's jealousy...apparently our battles as Christians aren't always outward, but many times are inward. But these are necessary, so that we would be made holy, which is God's final will for us (see 1 Thes 4:3,7).
But the point of all of it is that Christ has prayed for us. He has prayed that, as Christians, we would be kept in the Father's name, that we may be "one" with Him and His Son Jesus. Being united with Him, we have hope, rest, assurance, and peace that He will bring us through the trials and keep us rooted in Him. "He who has ears to hear" will hear this and rejoice. He who doesn't will scoff and say "I'm still in control of my life", and will eventually "fall away" because he never belonged to Christ in the first place (see the intentional language of Heb 3:14 and 6:4-9 and read it carefully, asking for the Spirit's discernment; also 1 Jn 2:18-25 and 5:18-20 and read these carefully as well, with the Spirit's discernment).
"But you beloved...keep yourselves in the love of God"...but that's not all it says!..."now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory...to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever, Amen." (Jude 20-21, 24-25). The command is clear: "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling...FOR it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil 2:12-13).
John 17:11
In this one short verse Jesus sums up the difference between false Christianity and true Christianity. As He prays to His Father on behalf of His followers ("sheep"--10:2-30, "His own"--13:1), His prayer is very simple and unmistakable: that God the Father who is sovereign over all things would make sure that His sheep remain sheep regardless of what happens.
A short survey of the surrounding context shows the "troubles" that are sure to come to His disciples: Jesus' departure and leaving them (14:12), hatred from the world on account of Himself (15:18) and corresponding preaching of the Word anyways (15:27), temptation to fall away (16:1), sorrow (16:19-20), and "tribulation" (16:33). Surely we mustn't forget perhaps the darkest one of them all: Jesus' telling Peter that Peter WILL deny Jesus when He is handed over, to which the other gospel accounts show Peter scoffing at Jesus (13:38). How scary of a statement would it be for an emotionally vulnerable person to hear that they will soon betray that which is most precious to them?--that they are so flappible and so wavering that they WILL have a fall, when it appears that this is the least possible thing that could happen? It must have been devastating to Peter when he actually DID deny Jesus, and this is why each of the Synoptics have Peter "weeping bitterly" the moment he denies Jesus' fellowship the third time (Mt 26:75, Mk 14:72, Lk 22:62).
But Jesus' prayer is that the Father will KEEP His followers. There is nothing more powerful than the prayer of the Author of Life (Ac 3:15) who is the Word of God (Rev 19:13) who has authority over all things (including salvation--Mt 11:27) (Mt 28:18).
In fact, Lk 22:31-32 has Jesus telling Peter (regarding his eventual fall) that Satan demanded to have him, but "I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Peter then says (again) that he won't fall, to which Jesus (again) tells him that he will. But the point is that Jesus prayed for him. Jesus' word is more powerful than Satan's. And this is why He tells Peter "when you have turned again" and not "if you turn again"...it's not up to Peter whether his fall will be final or temporary--it's up to Jesus, as it always is. It's so sure that Jesus speaks of it almost in past-tense terms: "When you have turned again...". This is much like Paul calling Christians those who are "glorifiED" (past tense-->Rom 8:30), as well as those who are "seatED with Christ in the heavenly places" (clearly a future-tense reality, but it's so sure that it's considered a present reality-->Eph 2:6).
And notice what Jesus tells Peter to do "when he has turned again"--"strengthen your brothers". Why should Peter do this? Because in denying Jesus three times like Jesus said He would, Peter sees his utter helplessness in and of himself, but in knowing that he didn't fall away finally because Jesus prayed for him, he will rest in Christ and His sovereignty...and this will make him capable of "strengthening his brothers". Only when one has absolute and utter faith in Christ's power over themselves will they ever be able to "strengthen" anyone--especially when they are in an important position of authority like Peter was.
Jesus saying trials will come isn't simply a message of His foreknowledge--it's a message of his predestining that these are necessary for a Christian. Much like that Jesus' betrayal, sentencing, flogging, and crucifixion was predestined by the Father to take place (see Ac 2:23, 3:18, 4:28, 14:27--unmistakable) to bring about salvation to His sheep, His sheep will undergo trials, temptations, and hardships as part of the predestined plan of God as well.
This is the unmistakable message of Paul: "We are afflicted...persecuted...struck down..always carrying in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh...this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory..." (2 Cor 4:8-11, 17)--notice he thinks there is a purpose for his persecutions...as though God is in control of them.; "We sent Timothy...to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one may be moved by these afflictions...for we are destined for this" (1 Thes 3:2-3)--very simple message: we are DESTINED, as Christians, for persecutions and trials.
This is the unmistakable message of James: "Count it joy..when you meet trials of various kinds, for...the testing of your faith produces steadfastness...that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing...Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised those who love him..." (Jms 1:2-4, 12)--I wish I could spend more time looking into the depth of this passage and the surrounding context, but that'll be for another time.
This is the unmistakable message of Peter: "Blessed be..God..he has caused us to be born again...(you) by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation...in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith...may be found to result in praise and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet 1:3-7)--to Peter, these trials are here SO THAT we will praise and glorify Jesus when He returns; again, it's God who brings this about IN us, and He who will bring it to completion, as Paul had elsewhere said in Philippians 1:6.
Finally, two more points of reference:
First, twice does the Book of Acts tell us of this point (9:16--when Paul first becomes a Christian, God tells Ananias to take him in, because "(God) will show him how much he must suffer for (God's) name"...as though it was planned; 14:21-22--Paul goes on a ministry tour for the purpose of "strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God"...since it is not only a certainty but something that is necessary for us;
Second, Jesus himself (again) makes clear that this is going to happen as a necessity for their faith (Jn 15:18-20--"If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you...a servant is not greater than his master...if they persecuted me they will also persecute you"...taking all of the above passages into consideration, they persecuted Jesus because God had planned it to take place, and Jesus is telling the disciples that "just like they've done this to me, they will do it to you, too" as though that's part of God's plan...and it is (again, see above passages, esp. Ac 14:21-22, 1 Thes 3:2-3, and 1 Pet 1:3-7).
And remember that both James and Peter said that the Christian life will be full of "various trials" (Jms 1:2, 1 Pet 1:6), meaning it doesn't always just mean social persecution...often it means exactly what we saw earlier that Luke and John had recorded: lapses in faith, temporary falls, lapses in judgment, etc. Peter also reminds us that "your adversary the Devil prowls around like a lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world" (1 Pet 5:8-9 {also see v10}), using the exact same language as Genesis 4 when God tells Cain "sin is crouching at the door. It's desire is for you" (4:7) referring to Cain's jealousy...apparently our battles as Christians aren't always outward, but many times are inward. But these are necessary, so that we would be made holy, which is God's final will for us (see 1 Thes 4:3,7).
But the point of all of it is that Christ has prayed for us. He has prayed that, as Christians, we would be kept in the Father's name, that we may be "one" with Him and His Son Jesus. Being united with Him, we have hope, rest, assurance, and peace that He will bring us through the trials and keep us rooted in Him. "He who has ears to hear" will hear this and rejoice. He who doesn't will scoff and say "I'm still in control of my life", and will eventually "fall away" because he never belonged to Christ in the first place (see the intentional language of Heb 3:14 and 6:4-9 and read it carefully, asking for the Spirit's discernment; also 1 Jn 2:18-25 and 5:18-20 and read these carefully as well, with the Spirit's discernment).
"But you beloved...keep yourselves in the love of God"...but that's not all it says!..."now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory...to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever, Amen." (Jude 20-21, 24-25). The command is clear: "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling...FOR it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil 2:12-13).
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
...except that it be given him from heaven.
"A person can receive nothing except that it be given him from heaven."--Jn. 3:27
Most people really have a hard time accepting gifts. Most feel the need, when receiving a gift, to do something in response, in effect paying for the gift (which would make it no longer a gift!). Others have no problem accepting gifts--they receive the gift, say "thank you", and move on the enjoyment of said gift.
The Gospel meets both types of people (and I do believe most people are one or the other). The reason the Gospel meets both is that it says that all is dependent upon the grace of God, along with the fact that it says we're responsible creatures. This would mean that even our responding positively to God's command is also a gift, "so that he who boasts would boast in the Lord" (1 Cor. 1:31).
After John the baptizer says what he says in John 3:27, Jesus later sheds even more light on it. In context of speaking with his disciples about their bearing good fruit for him, he says, "As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me..." almost immediately adding, "..for apart from me you can do nothing" (15:4,5). Jesus' point is very clear--we can do nothing apart from Him.
This means that not only is my good fruit a result of His life in me bearing good fruit, but my very faith in the first place is a result of God's grace towards me (see 1 Cor. 15:10, Eph. 2:8), which means that my being grafted into Him the Vine is also a result of God's grace towards me (see Rom. 11:17-21). We remember Jesus' sobering reminder to the disciples lest they become prideful, "You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide" (Jn. 15:16).
This shouldn't be hard for Christians to understand--in fact it should be readily accepted. Unfortunately it is hard to accept and believe by many American Christians who are more American than they are Christian; we so struggle with finding out complete identity in Christ because our culture has told us to "believe in ourselves" and "achieve our dreams", which has bred a people who desperately want credit for what they do. Those in Christ should know of no such thing--the whole POINT of God's work in Christ is God's glory and not ours. He testifies to it in the Prophets (Is. 12:3-4--"In that day you will draw water from the wells of salvation, and you will say, 'Give thanks to the Lord..make known his deeds among the peoples"; Ezek. 36:27,38--"I will put my Spirit in you and cause you to walk in my statutes and obey my rules...(and) then they (cities, nations, etc.) will know that I'm the Lord"), and Peter testifies to it in his epistle (1 Pet. 2:9--"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness".) The whole point of the work of Christ is for us to exalt the glory of God and make known HIS deeds--because man truly can receive nothing unless it's given him from heaven, and this includes faith, obedience (see Ezek 36 passage), and good fruit.
We have a sovereign God who "works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:11), and He has united us with His risen and resurrected Son who sits at His own right hand in heaven. My prayer today is that you understand that God is to be glorified because everything, from you fruit to your obedience to your faith has been accomplished by Him in the first place anyways--therefore it's insanity and foolishness to want to take any credit. Those in Christ won't--because those in Christ know that they're in Christ as a gift given them from heaven. When God is glorified, then your heart will fill up with thanksgiving, and you will be filled with joy. Only this time, it will be joy as coming from the Father, so it will be complete, instead of the half-joy that is rampant among the Church today. And this true joy from God will be for our good, and His glory.
Most people really have a hard time accepting gifts. Most feel the need, when receiving a gift, to do something in response, in effect paying for the gift (which would make it no longer a gift!). Others have no problem accepting gifts--they receive the gift, say "thank you", and move on the enjoyment of said gift.
The Gospel meets both types of people (and I do believe most people are one or the other). The reason the Gospel meets both is that it says that all is dependent upon the grace of God, along with the fact that it says we're responsible creatures. This would mean that even our responding positively to God's command is also a gift, "so that he who boasts would boast in the Lord" (1 Cor. 1:31).
After John the baptizer says what he says in John 3:27, Jesus later sheds even more light on it. In context of speaking with his disciples about their bearing good fruit for him, he says, "As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me..." almost immediately adding, "..for apart from me you can do nothing" (15:4,5). Jesus' point is very clear--we can do nothing apart from Him.
This means that not only is my good fruit a result of His life in me bearing good fruit, but my very faith in the first place is a result of God's grace towards me (see 1 Cor. 15:10, Eph. 2:8), which means that my being grafted into Him the Vine is also a result of God's grace towards me (see Rom. 11:17-21). We remember Jesus' sobering reminder to the disciples lest they become prideful, "You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide" (Jn. 15:16).
This shouldn't be hard for Christians to understand--in fact it should be readily accepted. Unfortunately it is hard to accept and believe by many American Christians who are more American than they are Christian; we so struggle with finding out complete identity in Christ because our culture has told us to "believe in ourselves" and "achieve our dreams", which has bred a people who desperately want credit for what they do. Those in Christ should know of no such thing--the whole POINT of God's work in Christ is God's glory and not ours. He testifies to it in the Prophets (Is. 12:3-4--"In that day you will draw water from the wells of salvation, and you will say, 'Give thanks to the Lord..make known his deeds among the peoples"; Ezek. 36:27,38--"I will put my Spirit in you and cause you to walk in my statutes and obey my rules...(and) then they (cities, nations, etc.) will know that I'm the Lord"), and Peter testifies to it in his epistle (1 Pet. 2:9--"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness".) The whole point of the work of Christ is for us to exalt the glory of God and make known HIS deeds--because man truly can receive nothing unless it's given him from heaven, and this includes faith, obedience (see Ezek 36 passage), and good fruit.
We have a sovereign God who "works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:11), and He has united us with His risen and resurrected Son who sits at His own right hand in heaven. My prayer today is that you understand that God is to be glorified because everything, from you fruit to your obedience to your faith has been accomplished by Him in the first place anyways--therefore it's insanity and foolishness to want to take any credit. Those in Christ won't--because those in Christ know that they're in Christ as a gift given them from heaven. When God is glorified, then your heart will fill up with thanksgiving, and you will be filled with joy. Only this time, it will be joy as coming from the Father, so it will be complete, instead of the half-joy that is rampant among the Church today. And this true joy from God will be for our good, and His glory.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Worshiping the Lamb
"And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever!'"--Rev 5:13
If you've read the account of Revelation 4 and 5, you know that 4 contains an account of the elders and angels in heaven bowing down before the throne of God to worship him. They sing "Holy, holy, holy", and night and day "they never cease"(4:8). This is a clear reminder of Isaiah 6, where the angels were singing the same song to God enthroned, even hundreds of years earlier.
But notice that there in 5:13, whereas God is worshiped by the angels and elders, the Lamb of God, Jesus the Christ, is not just worshiped by the angels and elders as His Father is. He's worshiped by "EVERY creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth." The point isn't that Jesus deserves more worship than God the Father--the point is that in order to approach the throne of God, man must have a Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 4:15-16). Since this is the case, for man himself to be able to worship God on His throne, He must worship the Lamb of God, the Christ, as the Mediator between God and man. This is why the New Testament has such a clear message about Jesus' Lordship and Authority--man in His fallen state MUST have a Mediator if he'll approach God. Therefore, man doesn't have God unless He has Christ (1 Jn. 2:23, 2 Jn. 6), nor does He have Christ unless he has God (Jn. 6:44,65). But having Christ as his Mediator, he can approach the throne of grace and worship with the angels and elders in heaven.
This is why belief in God is so hard in our time today--people have no problem believing that the world has problems and that "things aren't the way they're supposed to be", but they struggle with the fact that THEY THEMSELVES are part of the problem too, and thus will never get to the place of accepting that they need a Mediator between themselves and God. But the truth is that you can't know, see, or have God unless you HAVE this Mediator. And He went to the torture of the cross to give Himself as the Mediator. Because of this, those who humble themselves can approach the throne of God and sing "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever!". They don't sing this just because they're commanded to worship (as though worship is just an act of obedience)--they sing it because they WANT to worship, because worship is a response to recognizing and understanding God's worth-ship.
Understanding their fallen state, they treasure the work of Christ who went to the cross for them, so that he would sit on the throne for them. He "always makes intercession for them" before Holy God (Mk. 16:19, Heb. 7:25, 1 Jn. 2:2). And they love Him for it.
If you've read the account of Revelation 4 and 5, you know that 4 contains an account of the elders and angels in heaven bowing down before the throne of God to worship him. They sing "Holy, holy, holy", and night and day "they never cease"(4:8). This is a clear reminder of Isaiah 6, where the angels were singing the same song to God enthroned, even hundreds of years earlier.
But notice that there in 5:13, whereas God is worshiped by the angels and elders, the Lamb of God, Jesus the Christ, is not just worshiped by the angels and elders as His Father is. He's worshiped by "EVERY creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth." The point isn't that Jesus deserves more worship than God the Father--the point is that in order to approach the throne of God, man must have a Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 4:15-16). Since this is the case, for man himself to be able to worship God on His throne, He must worship the Lamb of God, the Christ, as the Mediator between God and man. This is why the New Testament has such a clear message about Jesus' Lordship and Authority--man in His fallen state MUST have a Mediator if he'll approach God. Therefore, man doesn't have God unless He has Christ (1 Jn. 2:23, 2 Jn. 6), nor does He have Christ unless he has God (Jn. 6:44,65). But having Christ as his Mediator, he can approach the throne of grace and worship with the angels and elders in heaven.
This is why belief in God is so hard in our time today--people have no problem believing that the world has problems and that "things aren't the way they're supposed to be", but they struggle with the fact that THEY THEMSELVES are part of the problem too, and thus will never get to the place of accepting that they need a Mediator between themselves and God. But the truth is that you can't know, see, or have God unless you HAVE this Mediator. And He went to the torture of the cross to give Himself as the Mediator. Because of this, those who humble themselves can approach the throne of God and sing "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever!". They don't sing this just because they're commanded to worship (as though worship is just an act of obedience)--they sing it because they WANT to worship, because worship is a response to recognizing and understanding God's worth-ship.
Understanding their fallen state, they treasure the work of Christ who went to the cross for them, so that he would sit on the throne for them. He "always makes intercession for them" before Holy God (Mk. 16:19, Heb. 7:25, 1 Jn. 2:2). And they love Him for it.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Jesus' Revelation, and His Authority
Last night at Bible study we began looking at the book of Revelation. Typically this immediately draws attention from many, because Revelation is interesting to so many people. It's polarizing--many love the book because of it's imagery and mystery, while others hate it because it calls for repentance and reveals a God who--surprise surprise--actually IS sovereign and powerful.
While we studied the first chapter last night, a few things jumped out:
1. First, the first words of the book are "the revelation of Jesus Christ..." So often we come to Scripture to hear what it has to say, without considering for more than a second who it is that's talking to us. When opinions about what the Bible says are flying from left to right and vice-versa, it becomes painfully obvious that those speaking are considering the words being spoken (and rightly so), but aren't considering who it is speaking them. If the Bible is true (and I know that this is the biggest "if" in all of creation), then Jesus is God and He has the ultimate authority in all things at all times in all matters (see Matt. 11:27, 28:18; John 3:35, 17:2; Eph. 1:22-23; Heb. 2:58; several others similar). What if the Jesus who rose from the dead, actually is God? The writers of the Bible seem to be pretty clear that He is (see esp. John 1:1-3, Col. 1:15-18, Heb 1:2-3). If He is, then we shouldn't just consider what's being said, but we should consider all that is said in light of His Person and work (Lordship, Messiahship, cross/resurrection, etc.), and humble ourselves in complete subjection to Him.
We remember God's words in Isaiah 55:10-11, "my Word that goes out from my mouth does not return to me void, but accomplishes all that I plan for it to accomplish". That means that Jesus' words are effective and true and powerful. How would that change your Bible reading? That's what He starts Revelation off with.
1:5 calls Jesus "the ruler of the kings of the earth". That means that there's not a king, president, ruler, emperor, czar, dictator who has ever lived that wasn't under Jesus' Kingship. Even the worst ones were--we could easily assume that because of their capability, they could have been even worse, but Jesus restrained them sovereignly. He's the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. And He's the one whom this Revelation is about and from.
2. Second, vv 5-6 speak of Jesus as "him who...has freed us from our sins by his blood...to him be glory and dominion forever". Not only is He the sovereign God of all who is glorified, lifted high, and speaks to us and isn't silent. But He, against whom all sins are against, has justified us by His own blood! What kind of a Gospel is this that Christians preach? It's nothing like anything that's ever been heard before--that a sovereign God is perfectly holy (from this attribute of Him we derive our sense of right and wrong), and those who receive the news in faith, though they be wretched and evil sinners in His eyes, are immediately justified by His grace as a gift (see Acts 20:28, Rom. 3:23-26). No other message ever preached is as scandalous (and true) as this one. If only more Christian church pulpits preached this with clear-headed and humble conviction.
3. Thirdly, the rest of ch. 1 deals with Jesus' identity and His beginning this book with letters to seven churches in Asia minor (chs. 2-3 contain the letters). Why would Jesus, who is God, and who is revealing "what will soon take place" (1:1) with all of the imagery and power in the rest of the book consider it important to begin the whole thing with letters to churches? It's because Jesus loves His Church, and He builds His Church and cares for His Church. It's because, more important to Him than what and how the end of the world will happen, is His Church knowing Him in His power, and His knowledge of their acts/practices. If they know this, and that He's still sovereign God who knows all things, they'll listen to the rest of what He's about to say. Jesus loves His Church, and always has the Church on His mind.
In Matt. 16:17, Peter had given "the good confession" calling Jesus "the Christ, the Son of the Living God", and Jesus said "on this rock I will build my Church, and hell won't be able to stop it". What "the rock" is, is a point of disagreement among Catholics and Protestants (Catholics think the rock is Peter, Protestants think it's Peter's confession), but if "the rock" means Peter (the Catholic view), Peter himself would even say the point of all this is Jesus, "for there is no name under heaven by which man must be saved" (Peter in Acts 4:12). Since all of Peter's sermons and epistles are about Jesus' authority and Lordship, it's clear what Jesus is talking about here in Matt. 16.
In Matt. 7:24-27, nine chapters before the previous passage, Jesus had closed his famous "Sermon on the Mount" by giving the well-known parable that "whoever listens to my words and puts them into practice will be like a man who built his house upon the rock", and when the storms came, the house stood. Jesus then says that whoever DOESN'T believe His words will have their house built on sand, and the storms will come and wash it away. It's no coincidence that this close to each other in Matthew's gospel account is Jesus talking about His authoritative words in terms of "a rock" that can be depended upon...so strong that neither storms OR hell are powerful enough to destroy!
The point is that the Church...the true Church...is built on Christ's words, because His words aren't just words: they're God's Word. His teaching is the Scripture. The Church believes the Bible, builds on it, and stands firm. And if John 1 teaches us anything, it's that the Word is Christ.
Ephesians has all sorts of teaching on Jesus' authority in growing His Church. 2:18-22 says we Christians are God's house being built together "into a dwelling place for the Lord by His Spirit...with Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone." Christ and His Word is the cornerstone. 4:8-16 gives all the teaching of how Jesus gives gifts to the Church for the sake of growing it up into maturity in Him, and finally, 5:22-30, the famous section on marriage between a man and his wife, perhaps more importantly, shows how Christ saves His Church, sanctifies His Church, and cherishes and nourishes His Church. He loves His Church enough to make it pure and holy with His powerful and more-often-than-not convicting Word.
Far more important than Christians knowing how and what will happen at the end of the world is them knowing the truths of Christ's Lordship, their sin, and their need for repentance.
That brings us finally to His teaching in John 16: v8 has Jesus saying that He's going to send His Holy Spirit into the world to "convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment"; then 13-14 has Jesus saying the Spirit will only speak what Jesus tells Him to speak. The convicting will come by the Spirit, but it will originate with Jesus.
This is why every letter in Rev. 2-3 (all 7 of them!) has Jesus starting each one off with some sort of variation of "the words of Him who..." and then something about Jesus' character, and closes with some variation of "he with ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Staggering! The Spirit speaks because Jesus speaks! And when Jesus speaks, He speaks to His Church! He reveals Himself in His authority, reveals the churches in their sin, and then powerfully calls them to repentance, where His Word is powerful enough to bring it about in them. This is because Jesus loves His Church enough to convict it when it needs convicted, and in this He builds it into Himself.
What if this was our attitude every time we came to the Scriptures?--if we understood that this Word being spoken to us was the Word of Him who died and rose again and is Lord of all; Him who doesn't owe anything to anyone alive on earth, and yet has graciously loved us His Church enough to convict us about the delusion of sin and the truth of Himself.
Would that change how you read the Bible? My prayer is that you will understand every word of Scripture in light of Christ's authority as the One who is God in all his holiness and fullness. To Him be glory forever and ever amen!
While we studied the first chapter last night, a few things jumped out:
1. First, the first words of the book are "the revelation of Jesus Christ..." So often we come to Scripture to hear what it has to say, without considering for more than a second who it is that's talking to us. When opinions about what the Bible says are flying from left to right and vice-versa, it becomes painfully obvious that those speaking are considering the words being spoken (and rightly so), but aren't considering who it is speaking them. If the Bible is true (and I know that this is the biggest "if" in all of creation), then Jesus is God and He has the ultimate authority in all things at all times in all matters (see Matt. 11:27, 28:18; John 3:35, 17:2; Eph. 1:22-23; Heb. 2:58; several others similar). What if the Jesus who rose from the dead, actually is God? The writers of the Bible seem to be pretty clear that He is (see esp. John 1:1-3, Col. 1:15-18, Heb 1:2-3). If He is, then we shouldn't just consider what's being said, but we should consider all that is said in light of His Person and work (Lordship, Messiahship, cross/resurrection, etc.), and humble ourselves in complete subjection to Him.
We remember God's words in Isaiah 55:10-11, "my Word that goes out from my mouth does not return to me void, but accomplishes all that I plan for it to accomplish". That means that Jesus' words are effective and true and powerful. How would that change your Bible reading? That's what He starts Revelation off with.
1:5 calls Jesus "the ruler of the kings of the earth". That means that there's not a king, president, ruler, emperor, czar, dictator who has ever lived that wasn't under Jesus' Kingship. Even the worst ones were--we could easily assume that because of their capability, they could have been even worse, but Jesus restrained them sovereignly. He's the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. And He's the one whom this Revelation is about and from.
2. Second, vv 5-6 speak of Jesus as "him who...has freed us from our sins by his blood...to him be glory and dominion forever". Not only is He the sovereign God of all who is glorified, lifted high, and speaks to us and isn't silent. But He, against whom all sins are against, has justified us by His own blood! What kind of a Gospel is this that Christians preach? It's nothing like anything that's ever been heard before--that a sovereign God is perfectly holy (from this attribute of Him we derive our sense of right and wrong), and those who receive the news in faith, though they be wretched and evil sinners in His eyes, are immediately justified by His grace as a gift (see Acts 20:28, Rom. 3:23-26). No other message ever preached is as scandalous (and true) as this one. If only more Christian church pulpits preached this with clear-headed and humble conviction.
3. Thirdly, the rest of ch. 1 deals with Jesus' identity and His beginning this book with letters to seven churches in Asia minor (chs. 2-3 contain the letters). Why would Jesus, who is God, and who is revealing "what will soon take place" (1:1) with all of the imagery and power in the rest of the book consider it important to begin the whole thing with letters to churches? It's because Jesus loves His Church, and He builds His Church and cares for His Church. It's because, more important to Him than what and how the end of the world will happen, is His Church knowing Him in His power, and His knowledge of their acts/practices. If they know this, and that He's still sovereign God who knows all things, they'll listen to the rest of what He's about to say. Jesus loves His Church, and always has the Church on His mind.
In Matt. 16:17, Peter had given "the good confession" calling Jesus "the Christ, the Son of the Living God", and Jesus said "on this rock I will build my Church, and hell won't be able to stop it". What "the rock" is, is a point of disagreement among Catholics and Protestants (Catholics think the rock is Peter, Protestants think it's Peter's confession), but if "the rock" means Peter (the Catholic view), Peter himself would even say the point of all this is Jesus, "for there is no name under heaven by which man must be saved" (Peter in Acts 4:12). Since all of Peter's sermons and epistles are about Jesus' authority and Lordship, it's clear what Jesus is talking about here in Matt. 16.
In Matt. 7:24-27, nine chapters before the previous passage, Jesus had closed his famous "Sermon on the Mount" by giving the well-known parable that "whoever listens to my words and puts them into practice will be like a man who built his house upon the rock", and when the storms came, the house stood. Jesus then says that whoever DOESN'T believe His words will have their house built on sand, and the storms will come and wash it away. It's no coincidence that this close to each other in Matthew's gospel account is Jesus talking about His authoritative words in terms of "a rock" that can be depended upon...so strong that neither storms OR hell are powerful enough to destroy!
The point is that the Church...the true Church...is built on Christ's words, because His words aren't just words: they're God's Word. His teaching is the Scripture. The Church believes the Bible, builds on it, and stands firm. And if John 1 teaches us anything, it's that the Word is Christ.
Ephesians has all sorts of teaching on Jesus' authority in growing His Church. 2:18-22 says we Christians are God's house being built together "into a dwelling place for the Lord by His Spirit...with Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone." Christ and His Word is the cornerstone. 4:8-16 gives all the teaching of how Jesus gives gifts to the Church for the sake of growing it up into maturity in Him, and finally, 5:22-30, the famous section on marriage between a man and his wife, perhaps more importantly, shows how Christ saves His Church, sanctifies His Church, and cherishes and nourishes His Church. He loves His Church enough to make it pure and holy with His powerful and more-often-than-not convicting Word.
Far more important than Christians knowing how and what will happen at the end of the world is them knowing the truths of Christ's Lordship, their sin, and their need for repentance.
That brings us finally to His teaching in John 16: v8 has Jesus saying that He's going to send His Holy Spirit into the world to "convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment"; then 13-14 has Jesus saying the Spirit will only speak what Jesus tells Him to speak. The convicting will come by the Spirit, but it will originate with Jesus.
This is why every letter in Rev. 2-3 (all 7 of them!) has Jesus starting each one off with some sort of variation of "the words of Him who..." and then something about Jesus' character, and closes with some variation of "he with ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Staggering! The Spirit speaks because Jesus speaks! And when Jesus speaks, He speaks to His Church! He reveals Himself in His authority, reveals the churches in their sin, and then powerfully calls them to repentance, where His Word is powerful enough to bring it about in them. This is because Jesus loves His Church enough to convict it when it needs convicted, and in this He builds it into Himself.
What if this was our attitude every time we came to the Scriptures?--if we understood that this Word being spoken to us was the Word of Him who died and rose again and is Lord of all; Him who doesn't owe anything to anyone alive on earth, and yet has graciously loved us His Church enough to convict us about the delusion of sin and the truth of Himself.
Would that change how you read the Bible? My prayer is that you will understand every word of Scripture in light of Christ's authority as the One who is God in all his holiness and fullness. To Him be glory forever and ever amen!
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