John 5:15-25 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. (16) And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. (17) But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." (18) This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (19) So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (20) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. (21) For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. (22) The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, (23) that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. (24) Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (25) "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
Simply said, God’s Word is our source of life. It is appointed as His voice to His people in the present day. Scripture is the primary expression of the heart of God to mankind- it is both the foundation & final litmus test for all teaching & ministry in the church today.
But it is oftentimes difficult to hear. His thoughts & ways are not our thoughts & ways, so deafness to God’s tractate becomes self-evident in the soul of the natural man. We easily hear the Word with our ears but it hits an impenetrable fortress at the door of our heart. This is why the “decision” for Christ truly cannot lie in the self-determination of man, for our hearts are feloniously fallow & infertile in their fallen state. The soul of the natural man is naturally unreceptive to the seeds of spiritual life strewn along the path.
Luke 8:5-15 "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. (6) And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. (7) And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. (8) And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (9) And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, (10) he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.' (11) Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. (12) The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. (13) And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. (14) And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. (15) As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
Now we know from Scripture that all men’s hearts are depraved as God declared in Noah‘s day:
Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
We may say: “But surely that changed after the flood, for God started over, so to speak, with the righteous Noah.” But God reveals the depth of man’s depravity as He says post-flood:
Genesis 8:20-21 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (21) And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
God wiped out the worst of mankind, sparing none but these righteous eight; yet the first thing righteous Noah does upon disembarking is build an altar & sacrifice to the Lord. Noah was well aware that he was just spared the judgment of the truly righteous God. He knew he was righteous only in terms of comparison to other, greatly wicked men, not in terms of comparison to God, & thus still worthy of His wrath. Despite this washing away of the most sinful of men, God’s first post-flood thesis on the nature of man’s heart was the very same as His last pre-flood thesis: that man’s heart was fallen & evil.
Romans 3:9-12 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, (10) as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; (11) no one understands; no one seeks for God. (12) All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.
Galatians 3:22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
We must understand, the “honest & good heart” (Luke 8:15) where the seed of Scripture finds root is not the natural state of that heart. For the source of such an anomaly, we should look back to verse 10: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God”. God’s workers rightly labor at the sowing & watering of the soil, but unless that infertile soil of the soul is made rockless, robust, & rich by the gift of God’s implements, no good thing can ever take solid root. We often think of poverty as a bad thing, but to the farmer, a poverty of thorns is pure joy. Those cares, riches & pleasures of life look good until God’s Spirit rips the roots to reveal the rocky ground that lies below.
The tractates of God, blessed as they are, can find no firm root in the human heart apart from the tractor of God working over the soil of our soul.
1 Corinthians 3:4-7 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human? (5) What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. (6) I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. (7) So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Can I Get an Amen?
John 5:15-25 "The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. (16) And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. (17) But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." (18) This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (19) So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (20) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. (21) For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. (22) The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, (23) that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. (24) Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (25) "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." (ESV)
I believe every jot & tittle of Scripture is both inspired & purposed. There is a reason for every seeming difficulty in diction therein. One such difficulty is posed by the translation of the original words for Jesus’ oft-quoted introduction “truly, truly” (also “verily, verily” in some versions). In fact, no translation is necessary; only a transliteration, for the word is the same in English as it is in Hebrew & Greek - the word is “amen”. “Amen” is used throughout the Bible, the Church, & even greater society as an affirmation or an exclamatory witness of a prior statement.
The normative usage of “amen” is dictated by it’s most common definition- “so be it”. Such usage is founded upon & characterized by such passages as Deuteronomy 27:15ff. God, or God’s witness (a priest or prophet) makes a statement & the hearers accept & verify it as true by responding with “amen”. All the Gospels & most other NT writings close with this word as well, using it likewise- as an agreement, a confirmation, or a witness to the truth of a testimony.
But the primary usage of “amen” by Jesus in the Gospels is an Scriptural & cultural oddity; it is introductory & lacks any backward reference to a previous proclamation. This is why our Bibles use other words as a substitute. “Amen” does not seem to fit Jesus’ application of it. The problem is that we fail to see His purpose. Jesus used the word in prefatory fashion to affirm His own utterances, not those of someone else. He founds the veracity of His words upon the strength of His own witness. And that further drives home the point of John 5- He speaks as One who has the authority in Himself to speak things into being. Jesus retains all the full sovereignty of God- for He Himself is a prime mover, a creative cause.
Unlike mere men, Jesus, being God, is able to witness His statements as true Himself, before they are even uttered. Anything God speaks is either already a reality beforehand, or becomes a reality as it is spoken (regardless of whether or not the evidence is immediately manifest to our senses). Genesis 1 attests to the power of God’s spoken word. Ten times God spoke, & ten times tremendous things became manifest. Mankind has a ready witness to that time & God’s existence by the order & splendor of the universe. The pagan’s perfunctory proposal of a “big bang” without prior causation defies reason. All things, from the micro to the macroscopic, have come into order, & this is in opposition to the second law of thermodynamics, given the atheistic view of the universe as an entropically closed system.
Likewise, by prefacing His most pivotal statements with a word defined as “so be it”, Jesus rests our hope of what He says following- on the assuredness of what He has done previously. As God incarnate, He needs no further witness to corroborate His testimony, save for His past demonstrations of utterly comprehensive Godliness- His miraculous power merged with His magnificent character. For example, consider His healing of the paralytic paired with His righteous rebuke of that man’s sinfulness in the first half of John 5; this was foundational to His children’s acceptance of His challenging claims in the second half of the chapter. The OT paints a portrait of God as a Person who hates sin, but simultaneously loves His sinful children. Jesus' actions bear out a testimony that He is that God.
Though He does go to on speak of other witnesses to the truthfulness of what He says. He mentions John the Baptist in verse 33. But then in 36, He returns to founding His word upon His best & most faithful witness- God Himself. In John 8, Jesus speaks further on the strength of the Father’s testimony. Then in John 16, He speaks of the Holy Spirit’s confirmation:
John 16:13-15 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. (14) He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. (15) All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you." (ESV)
Jesus says the Father & the Holy Spirit are the Ones who will add the “amen” postscript to His word & deed. God empowers us with a mighty faith as all three Persons of the Trinity of God bear testimony to our hearts, bookending His promises with amens front & back, saying "so be it” to our very soul.
2Corinthians 1:20 "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (KJV)
Rev 3:14 "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation...' " (ESV)
I believe every jot & tittle of Scripture is both inspired & purposed. There is a reason for every seeming difficulty in diction therein. One such difficulty is posed by the translation of the original words for Jesus’ oft-quoted introduction “truly, truly” (also “verily, verily” in some versions). In fact, no translation is necessary; only a transliteration, for the word is the same in English as it is in Hebrew & Greek - the word is “amen”. “Amen” is used throughout the Bible, the Church, & even greater society as an affirmation or an exclamatory witness of a prior statement.
The normative usage of “amen” is dictated by it’s most common definition- “so be it”. Such usage is founded upon & characterized by such passages as Deuteronomy 27:15ff. God, or God’s witness (a priest or prophet) makes a statement & the hearers accept & verify it as true by responding with “amen”. All the Gospels & most other NT writings close with this word as well, using it likewise- as an agreement, a confirmation, or a witness to the truth of a testimony.
But the primary usage of “amen” by Jesus in the Gospels is an Scriptural & cultural oddity; it is introductory & lacks any backward reference to a previous proclamation. This is why our Bibles use other words as a substitute. “Amen” does not seem to fit Jesus’ application of it. The problem is that we fail to see His purpose. Jesus used the word in prefatory fashion to affirm His own utterances, not those of someone else. He founds the veracity of His words upon the strength of His own witness. And that further drives home the point of John 5- He speaks as One who has the authority in Himself to speak things into being. Jesus retains all the full sovereignty of God- for He Himself is a prime mover, a creative cause.
Unlike mere men, Jesus, being God, is able to witness His statements as true Himself, before they are even uttered. Anything God speaks is either already a reality beforehand, or becomes a reality as it is spoken (regardless of whether or not the evidence is immediately manifest to our senses). Genesis 1 attests to the power of God’s spoken word. Ten times God spoke, & ten times tremendous things became manifest. Mankind has a ready witness to that time & God’s existence by the order & splendor of the universe. The pagan’s perfunctory proposal of a “big bang” without prior causation defies reason. All things, from the micro to the macroscopic, have come into order, & this is in opposition to the second law of thermodynamics, given the atheistic view of the universe as an entropically closed system.
Likewise, by prefacing His most pivotal statements with a word defined as “so be it”, Jesus rests our hope of what He says following- on the assuredness of what He has done previously. As God incarnate, He needs no further witness to corroborate His testimony, save for His past demonstrations of utterly comprehensive Godliness- His miraculous power merged with His magnificent character. For example, consider His healing of the paralytic paired with His righteous rebuke of that man’s sinfulness in the first half of John 5; this was foundational to His children’s acceptance of His challenging claims in the second half of the chapter. The OT paints a portrait of God as a Person who hates sin, but simultaneously loves His sinful children. Jesus' actions bear out a testimony that He is that God.
Though He does go to on speak of other witnesses to the truthfulness of what He says. He mentions John the Baptist in verse 33. But then in 36, He returns to founding His word upon His best & most faithful witness- God Himself. In John 8, Jesus speaks further on the strength of the Father’s testimony. Then in John 16, He speaks of the Holy Spirit’s confirmation:
John 16:13-15 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. (14) He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. (15) All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you." (ESV)
Jesus says the Father & the Holy Spirit are the Ones who will add the “amen” postscript to His word & deed. God empowers us with a mighty faith as all three Persons of the Trinity of God bear testimony to our hearts, bookending His promises with amens front & back, saying "so be it” to our very soul.
2Corinthians 1:20 "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (KJV)
Rev 3:14 "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation...' " (ESV)
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Learning Love through Submission
"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Eph. 5:31-33
The heart of the command to submit is to learn obedience & discover the nature of Christ. That is why Paul prefaces the teaching of specific forms of submission with a call for submissiveness in general (Eph 5:21).
Submission is defined as “a willingness to yield or surrender to somebody, or the act of doing so”. This takes its most evident manifestation in the willingness of the wife to yield her authority to her husband, but Paul points to another form also- the husband’s deeding over his desires to compassionately care for the wants & needs of his wife. The husband surrenders his own desire to take a nap after a long day to do the laundry so his beloved can rest instead. He yields to his wife’s desire to go to dinner instead of his desire to go the big game. He defends his wife against peril & danger with his own life when necessary. Paul assigns the husband the task of proactively leading in love.
The wife primarily yields to her husband in spirit & the husband primarily yields to his wife in action.
This is all really designed to mirror the mind of Christ to mankind.
1 John 4:10 states that we did not first love God, but God- in & through the Person of Jesus Christ- first loved us. Just like a truly righteous husband, Christ leads in love, by example, into perceiving the depths of real love. But it is only when we, like the truly righteous wife, are completely surrendered to His will that we are in the place to both perceive & receive His love.
Facing the cross, Jesus displayed both qualities. He was submitted to the Father as He said “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). And He was yielding in love to the needs of mankind as He also said to His Father “For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth” (John 17:19).
Husbands should keep their eyes on Christ, the author & perfecter of their faith, so as to pursue the goal of giving up their desires to serve their wife’s needs. Wives should take up the cross of humble submission with eyes set on the joy set before them- a closer walk with the One who learned obedience Himself- by humble submission.
Hebrews 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
Psalms 85:4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!
The point is even Christ Himself learned obedience through swallowing His righteous indignation, submitting not only to His perfect & righteous Father, but also imperfect & unrighteous sinners, all for the sake of love. Following in His steps, we learn of Him. We model Christ to our spouses & thus teach the character of Christ by displaying His nature for all to see.
Ephesians 5 makes clear that submission has, as its end goal, the purpose of all being made into the likeness of Christ. It is easy to get caught up arguing the minutiae of the individual commands therein, but the goal should be clearly evident- it is just another way for us to follow in His steps, picturing the nature of Christ to our souls, our mates, & others as well.
The heart of the command to submit is to learn obedience & discover the nature of Christ. That is why Paul prefaces the teaching of specific forms of submission with a call for submissiveness in general (Eph 5:21).
Submission is defined as “a willingness to yield or surrender to somebody, or the act of doing so”. This takes its most evident manifestation in the willingness of the wife to yield her authority to her husband, but Paul points to another form also- the husband’s deeding over his desires to compassionately care for the wants & needs of his wife. The husband surrenders his own desire to take a nap after a long day to do the laundry so his beloved can rest instead. He yields to his wife’s desire to go to dinner instead of his desire to go the big game. He defends his wife against peril & danger with his own life when necessary. Paul assigns the husband the task of proactively leading in love.
The wife primarily yields to her husband in spirit & the husband primarily yields to his wife in action.
This is all really designed to mirror the mind of Christ to mankind.
1 John 4:10 states that we did not first love God, but God- in & through the Person of Jesus Christ- first loved us. Just like a truly righteous husband, Christ leads in love, by example, into perceiving the depths of real love. But it is only when we, like the truly righteous wife, are completely surrendered to His will that we are in the place to both perceive & receive His love.
Facing the cross, Jesus displayed both qualities. He was submitted to the Father as He said “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). And He was yielding in love to the needs of mankind as He also said to His Father “For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth” (John 17:19).
Husbands should keep their eyes on Christ, the author & perfecter of their faith, so as to pursue the goal of giving up their desires to serve their wife’s needs. Wives should take up the cross of humble submission with eyes set on the joy set before them- a closer walk with the One who learned obedience Himself- by humble submission.
Hebrews 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
Psalms 85:4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!
The point is even Christ Himself learned obedience through swallowing His righteous indignation, submitting not only to His perfect & righteous Father, but also imperfect & unrighteous sinners, all for the sake of love. Following in His steps, we learn of Him. We model Christ to our spouses & thus teach the character of Christ by displaying His nature for all to see.
Ephesians 5 makes clear that submission has, as its end goal, the purpose of all being made into the likeness of Christ. It is easy to get caught up arguing the minutiae of the individual commands therein, but the goal should be clearly evident- it is just another way for us to follow in His steps, picturing the nature of Christ to our souls, our mates, & others as well.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Fixing Your Eyes
Luke 9:51-56 "When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. (52) And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. (53) But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. (54) And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, 'Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?' (55) But he turned and rebuked them. (56) And they went on to another village."
Jesus didn’t turn & rebuke the Samaritans, these half-breeds of the Jews who were against Him. Instead, His rebuke was reserved for the ones who were claiming to be His disciples, yet had no mercy for their enemies. James & John were desirous to be quick to avenge the wrongs of the Samaritans, while Jesus only desired an avenue of mercy for His antagonists.
Sin besets man; it mendaciously ensnares him in scrupulous study of others’ wrongs. The endless trappings of judging others distracts the mind & heart from healthy self-inspection. The normal proclivities of the natural man & lying spirits is to lead man to judge another rather than himself. One of the most popular staples of television today are the “court TV” shows. We like to sit in judgment of another & think “I would never do that” or “I would never go that far”. Judging another’s seemingly greater sin makes us feel better about ourselves.
James & John deserved rebuke because their indictment of another went beyond their indictment of themselves. The only reason they had not rejected Jesus as well is because He chose them-
John 15:16-17 “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, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (17) These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
Jesus, in union with the Father & Spirit, chose James, John, & every other true believer in Christ out of the mire of their own degradation. We cannot rightly bring a conviction to bear on another for rejecting Christ; for we would be in that place ourselves were it not for God’s merciful election.
We must remember that we are not better than they on the basis of our acceptance of Christ, for our acceptance of Him is not our doing.
More so, He chose you & appointed you towards a goal- to bear fruit. Among the riches of Christ’s fruit is the ability to love the unlovable. As the believer expresses love towards the unbeliever, he is mirroring what Christ has done for him. The Spirit takes this expression of true Godly love & rains conviction down on mind & soul…
Romans 12:9-21 “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.(10) Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (11) Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. (12) Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (13) Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (14) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. (15) Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (16) Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. (17) Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. (18) If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (19) Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." (20) To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." (21) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Again, the purpose of God’s love within us is to bear fruit. We manifest Godly love by doing as He does- loving the unlovable. The Spirit joins with us in our time of “weakness” (as the world would consider such actions to be) to open the eyes of the unbeliever to a genuine display of Christ’s love. In such times, we truly demonstrate Christian love.
God does abhor evil, but all the while genuine love pours forth from Him for the worst degenerates. His kind of love within the believer does not pull up stakes when evil rolls into town; it stands firm, looking forward towards Christ-like love, instead of forlornly back at man’s selfish & shallow form of love.
Let us return to finish our opening text-
Luke 9:57-62 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." (58) And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." (59) To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." (60) And Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." (61) Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." (62) Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Always looking ahead to Christ’s measure of mercy & grace, instead of backwards at our own, is the goal.
Following Jesus means loving the unlovable…
Jesus indeed saw the Samaritans’ sin, but pressed on ever the more towards Jerusalem. He pressed on in love for the Samaritans’ sake, for the cross would be awaiting Him in in that place (though at a later date). Our opening verse (Luke 9:51) makes clear the cause for His fixation on Jerusalem- preparation for His appointed time to be "taken up". His greatest expression of love was waiting for Him there; from His first miracle (John 2) onward, the cross was never secondary, it was always His primary focus & goal (John 12:27). For the cross was His primary act of benevolent love for the Samaritans, & all us as well.
Philippians 3:7-14 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (8) Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- (10) that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (11) that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (12) Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (13) Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, (14) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus didn’t turn & rebuke the Samaritans, these half-breeds of the Jews who were against Him. Instead, His rebuke was reserved for the ones who were claiming to be His disciples, yet had no mercy for their enemies. James & John were desirous to be quick to avenge the wrongs of the Samaritans, while Jesus only desired an avenue of mercy for His antagonists.
Sin besets man; it mendaciously ensnares him in scrupulous study of others’ wrongs. The endless trappings of judging others distracts the mind & heart from healthy self-inspection. The normal proclivities of the natural man & lying spirits is to lead man to judge another rather than himself. One of the most popular staples of television today are the “court TV” shows. We like to sit in judgment of another & think “I would never do that” or “I would never go that far”. Judging another’s seemingly greater sin makes us feel better about ourselves.
James & John deserved rebuke because their indictment of another went beyond their indictment of themselves. The only reason they had not rejected Jesus as well is because He chose them-
John 15:16-17 “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, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (17) These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
Jesus, in union with the Father & Spirit, chose James, John, & every other true believer in Christ out of the mire of their own degradation. We cannot rightly bring a conviction to bear on another for rejecting Christ; for we would be in that place ourselves were it not for God’s merciful election.
We must remember that we are not better than they on the basis of our acceptance of Christ, for our acceptance of Him is not our doing.
More so, He chose you & appointed you towards a goal- to bear fruit. Among the riches of Christ’s fruit is the ability to love the unlovable. As the believer expresses love towards the unbeliever, he is mirroring what Christ has done for him. The Spirit takes this expression of true Godly love & rains conviction down on mind & soul…
Romans 12:9-21 “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.(10) Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (11) Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. (12) Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (13) Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (14) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. (15) Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (16) Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. (17) Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. (18) If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (19) Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." (20) To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." (21) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Again, the purpose of God’s love within us is to bear fruit. We manifest Godly love by doing as He does- loving the unlovable. The Spirit joins with us in our time of “weakness” (as the world would consider such actions to be) to open the eyes of the unbeliever to a genuine display of Christ’s love. In such times, we truly demonstrate Christian love.
God does abhor evil, but all the while genuine love pours forth from Him for the worst degenerates. His kind of love within the believer does not pull up stakes when evil rolls into town; it stands firm, looking forward towards Christ-like love, instead of forlornly back at man’s selfish & shallow form of love.
Let us return to finish our opening text-
Luke 9:57-62 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." (58) And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." (59) To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." (60) And Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." (61) Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." (62) Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
Always looking ahead to Christ’s measure of mercy & grace, instead of backwards at our own, is the goal.
Following Jesus means loving the unlovable…
Jesus indeed saw the Samaritans’ sin, but pressed on ever the more towards Jerusalem. He pressed on in love for the Samaritans’ sake, for the cross would be awaiting Him in in that place (though at a later date). Our opening verse (Luke 9:51) makes clear the cause for His fixation on Jerusalem- preparation for His appointed time to be "taken up". His greatest expression of love was waiting for Him there; from His first miracle (John 2) onward, the cross was never secondary, it was always His primary focus & goal (John 12:27). For the cross was His primary act of benevolent love for the Samaritans, & all us as well.
Philippians 3:7-14 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (8) Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- (10) that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (11) that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (12) Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (13) Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, (14) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
One God, One Honor
John 5:15-23 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. (16) And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. (17) But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." (18) This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (19) So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (20) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. (21) For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. (22) The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, (23) that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
What does Jesus refer to as He requires “all” to “honor” Him? We should consider every way we honor the Father, & not withhold that honor from the Son either. One thing the Father is clearly due is worship for His benevolence, mercy, forgiveness, & love. We should bless His name for being that guiding light of goodness for the slacking sojourner. We should be thankful and full of praise for the One who holds the scales of justice, the one who sees every injustice done by every soul & is a vanguard for the wrongly oppressed.
But that’s the point; all these qualities of God we see mysteriously manifested in the ages before Christ, we see expressly manifested in the age of Christ.
In the Old Testament, God showed the glory of His righteous nature from on High- there was a physical disconnect between the dwelling place of God & that of mankind. God was clearly higher, better, & stronger than man; He demonstrated that as He set His kingdom up & ruled the observable physical dimension from the unseen spiritual dimension. Though He did do so, Christ did not need to make the verbal claim to be that God, the One whose sovereignty rules over all creation- both Heaven & Earth- for Jesus demonstrated His Godliness by His nature.
Because God was set apart from man, accordingly we may have thought “He’s never felt physical pain, the pangs of hunger, or the distress of human temptations- because He‘s God. He can‘t know my pain until He‘s walked a mile in my shoes.” But through Christ, God did walk- not a mile in man’s shoes- but a lifetime. For thirty years before He was to initiate His ministry, God labored & toiled for His daily sustenance just as we do, yet because of His higher nature, He knew no sin. As He began His ministry, He went without for longer than most any man has ever gone without food, yet He was without sin. In this greatly emasculated, enfeebled condition, He spurned grand temptations to grasp something more than was due Him at that time. In no less a place than in tremendous poverty, in a place of unfathomable suffering, this God in man’s shoes rejected the allure of sinfulness. Conversely, mankind had dominion, comfort, & riches beyond belief in the Garden of Eden, yet demonstrated his lesser nature by craving still more. For man, enough is never enough, yet Jesus demonstrated His Godliness by embracing a dearth of dominion, comfort, & riches for the sake of another- namely, His elect children.
John 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Every one of us is that aforementioned “slacking sojourner” in need of a light for his path. Part of the manner we worship Christ is by following in His steps. We truly worship Him “in Spirit & in truth” by endeavoring ever more to walk a mile in His shoes- to feel but a moment of His pain- & therefore more so perceive His magnificence. As we fight the good fight to do good instead of evil- to live out the commands of the Sermon on the Mount, we grasp the enormity of what is true goodness. It is there, in that place, that we begin to truly comprehend breadth and length and height and depth of God’s unique nature…
Ephesians 3:13-21 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. (14) For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, (15) from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, (16) that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, (17) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, (19) and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (20) Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, (21) to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
He is to us firstly God, & we should worship Him for that foremost- for even if He were what the Deists claim Him to be- a God unconcerned with our needs- He is still due worship for the mere fact that He is God & we are not. Even in such a minimalist’s view of God’s goodness, He is still Creator & we are still the created.
But our view of God goes beyond that of that of the Deists’ sect, for we believe that He indeed has demonstrated Himself beyond reason alone. He has clearly revealed His nature to us through Christ.
God has revealed his nature to us through the manifestation & ministry of His beloved Son
Sadly, many today dishonor the Son of God in order to increase their own self-image. They desire to discredit Christ so as to credit themselves. This motive is not often readily apparent at first glance, but as we know, human nature naggingly portends prodigious pride more as the rule than the exception. No different than when Adam & Eve first partook of the forbidden fruit, we always desire more than we have. No matter the extent of our abundance, we want more. More power, influence, fame, knowledge, & wealth. The riches of Christ simply don’t fulfill the natural man’s appetite for self indulgence. But they were never meant to; for darkness & light cannot cohabitate- that fact is a witness of Christ’s glory & requisite honor.
What does Jesus refer to as He requires “all” to “honor” Him? We should consider every way we honor the Father, & not withhold that honor from the Son either. One thing the Father is clearly due is worship for His benevolence, mercy, forgiveness, & love. We should bless His name for being that guiding light of goodness for the slacking sojourner. We should be thankful and full of praise for the One who holds the scales of justice, the one who sees every injustice done by every soul & is a vanguard for the wrongly oppressed.
But that’s the point; all these qualities of God we see mysteriously manifested in the ages before Christ, we see expressly manifested in the age of Christ.
In the Old Testament, God showed the glory of His righteous nature from on High- there was a physical disconnect between the dwelling place of God & that of mankind. God was clearly higher, better, & stronger than man; He demonstrated that as He set His kingdom up & ruled the observable physical dimension from the unseen spiritual dimension. Though He did do so, Christ did not need to make the verbal claim to be that God, the One whose sovereignty rules over all creation- both Heaven & Earth- for Jesus demonstrated His Godliness by His nature.
Because God was set apart from man, accordingly we may have thought “He’s never felt physical pain, the pangs of hunger, or the distress of human temptations- because He‘s God. He can‘t know my pain until He‘s walked a mile in my shoes.” But through Christ, God did walk- not a mile in man’s shoes- but a lifetime. For thirty years before He was to initiate His ministry, God labored & toiled for His daily sustenance just as we do, yet because of His higher nature, He knew no sin. As He began His ministry, He went without for longer than most any man has ever gone without food, yet He was without sin. In this greatly emasculated, enfeebled condition, He spurned grand temptations to grasp something more than was due Him at that time. In no less a place than in tremendous poverty, in a place of unfathomable suffering, this God in man’s shoes rejected the allure of sinfulness. Conversely, mankind had dominion, comfort, & riches beyond belief in the Garden of Eden, yet demonstrated his lesser nature by craving still more. For man, enough is never enough, yet Jesus demonstrated His Godliness by embracing a dearth of dominion, comfort, & riches for the sake of another- namely, His elect children.
John 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Every one of us is that aforementioned “slacking sojourner” in need of a light for his path. Part of the manner we worship Christ is by following in His steps. We truly worship Him “in Spirit & in truth” by endeavoring ever more to walk a mile in His shoes- to feel but a moment of His pain- & therefore more so perceive His magnificence. As we fight the good fight to do good instead of evil- to live out the commands of the Sermon on the Mount, we grasp the enormity of what is true goodness. It is there, in that place, that we begin to truly comprehend breadth and length and height and depth of God’s unique nature…
Ephesians 3:13-21 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. (14) For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, (15) from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, (16) that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, (17) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, (19) and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (20) Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, (21) to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
He is to us firstly God, & we should worship Him for that foremost- for even if He were what the Deists claim Him to be- a God unconcerned with our needs- He is still due worship for the mere fact that He is God & we are not. Even in such a minimalist’s view of God’s goodness, He is still Creator & we are still the created.
But our view of God goes beyond that of that of the Deists’ sect, for we believe that He indeed has demonstrated Himself beyond reason alone. He has clearly revealed His nature to us through Christ.
God has revealed his nature to us through the manifestation & ministry of His beloved Son
Sadly, many today dishonor the Son of God in order to increase their own self-image. They desire to discredit Christ so as to credit themselves. This motive is not often readily apparent at first glance, but as we know, human nature naggingly portends prodigious pride more as the rule than the exception. No different than when Adam & Eve first partook of the forbidden fruit, we always desire more than we have. No matter the extent of our abundance, we want more. More power, influence, fame, knowledge, & wealth. The riches of Christ simply don’t fulfill the natural man’s appetite for self indulgence. But they were never meant to; for darkness & light cannot cohabitate- that fact is a witness of Christ’s glory & requisite honor.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Attaining a Degree in Me
Lately, I’ve been dwelling on John 5 a lot, in which Jesus delves into His nature & His co-existence with the Father. But my last piece was a departure from this; for it was intended solely as a sermon separate from this line of study. “The Existence of Evil” was written with the intention of informing the mind & stirring the soul to accept “the hard fact that we are not so good”. To me, this is a theologically shallow concept; it is primitive in comparison to understanding the nature of Jesus Christ as taught in places like John 5.
So I would say that I was a little dismayed by the measure of affirmation for the piece among mature Christians. I thought “This is kindergarten Christian teaching.” Nothing is more rudimentary to salvation in Christ than the egregious nature of our personal sin in the face of God’s holiness. I thought “I’ve taught much more profound pieces on this. Why is this so well received?”
As a church body, we recently went to see the movie “Fireproof,” wherein the protagonist is having marital issues. He is told to press on in studying his wife to know her beyond the level he knew her when they were dating. The line went something like “If you had a high school diploma in “Catherine” when you were married, you need to keep going- on to a bachelor’s, master’s, & a Ph.D.”
You don’t stop trying to understand more of the ones you love.
So it is with Christ. We press on to know Him better through His Word, illuminated to our mind through teachers inspired by His Spirit. But in thinking about this movie’s protagonist, in his wider experience of saving his marriage, I realized he needed something more than a degree in “Catherine”. He also needed a fundamental understanding of himself- a degree in “me”. Regardless of how well he understood his wife, the relationship would go nowhere until he perceived & started to come to terms with his own nature- particularly the evils that lurked within & expressed something other than love to his beloved. He knew & carried out all manner of works that should have pleased his wife, but they would in fact would not please her. All that effort was for naught as long as he coldly & unrepentantly persisted in doing the things that offended her.
So I am again made to understand that no matter what measure my understanding of Christ’s nature rises towards, I must continue to pair that understanding with the understanding that I was a sinner worthy of nothing but Hell’s fire before He saved me. What’s more, I continue in sin today. My only prayer is that God would grant me ability towards ever greater repentance- for as Luther said “To do it no more is truest repentance.”
It is a dual major we are studying for; the degree in “Jesus Christ” is but worthless parchment apart from the degree in “me”.
So I would say that I was a little dismayed by the measure of affirmation for the piece among mature Christians. I thought “This is kindergarten Christian teaching.” Nothing is more rudimentary to salvation in Christ than the egregious nature of our personal sin in the face of God’s holiness. I thought “I’ve taught much more profound pieces on this. Why is this so well received?”
As a church body, we recently went to see the movie “Fireproof,” wherein the protagonist is having marital issues. He is told to press on in studying his wife to know her beyond the level he knew her when they were dating. The line went something like “If you had a high school diploma in “Catherine” when you were married, you need to keep going- on to a bachelor’s, master’s, & a Ph.D.”
You don’t stop trying to understand more of the ones you love.
So it is with Christ. We press on to know Him better through His Word, illuminated to our mind through teachers inspired by His Spirit. But in thinking about this movie’s protagonist, in his wider experience of saving his marriage, I realized he needed something more than a degree in “Catherine”. He also needed a fundamental understanding of himself- a degree in “me”. Regardless of how well he understood his wife, the relationship would go nowhere until he perceived & started to come to terms with his own nature- particularly the evils that lurked within & expressed something other than love to his beloved. He knew & carried out all manner of works that should have pleased his wife, but they would in fact would not please her. All that effort was for naught as long as he coldly & unrepentantly persisted in doing the things that offended her.
So I am again made to understand that no matter what measure my understanding of Christ’s nature rises towards, I must continue to pair that understanding with the understanding that I was a sinner worthy of nothing but Hell’s fire before He saved me. What’s more, I continue in sin today. My only prayer is that God would grant me ability towards ever greater repentance- for as Luther said “To do it no more is truest repentance.”
It is a dual major we are studying for; the degree in “Jesus Christ” is but worthless parchment apart from the degree in “me”.
Monday, September 15, 2008
The Existence of Evil
The atheist poses many a query concerning the nature & existence of God. Most commonly, they center on the basic concern “Why does a good God allow evil to exist?” But as they endeavor to challenge the existence of God, or at least indict God as being less than good, they pass over the much more poignant & personal probe “Why does a good God allow mankind to exist, when man commits so much evil?”
The response the first question is simplistic- obviously, evil exists because man exists & perpetrates it. The atrocities of Auschwitz occurred because men consciously perpetrated them. The Cambodian genocide of the 1970s’ was not committed by an unseen force; it clearly had direct human causes. Even today, colossal evils go unchecked in many places- most notably Darfur. It’s man’s inhumanity to man, as the textbooks call it, but as it can be attested that there have been major events such as these across the entire span of man’s recorded existence, it should be seen as more typical than atypical behavior. As such activity would appear to be normative for humans, maybe it should be re-termed “man’s humanity to man”.
And the fact that the Darfurian tragedy continues to play out makes the rest of the world complicit in its evil. If we see a crime taking place & just obliviously carry on with our day, we give our consent to the deed & are therefore guilty of collusion. Most of us are appalled at the evils of Auschwitz in retrospect, but at the time it apparently didn’t bring great conviction- for Allied forces had intelligence on the death camps, but chose to allow them to continue operating unfettered. At the very least, they could have disrupted their ghastly operations by bombing the rail lines leading to them. This speaks to the evil lurking within even the hearts of the (comparatively) “good guys”. We see “bad” even in the hearts of the “good”. We may say that we were good because we chose to fight against the agreeably evil regimes of the Axis powers, but truly, no Allied power arose to fight the demonstrably evil Axis powers until they themselves were threatened. We, as a populace, were largely oblivious to the plight of suffering Asians, Africans, & Europeans until Pearl Harbor. It was much more self-preservation than altruism. As an ancillary to the mindset that would pose “Why does a good God allow evil to exist?”, we should in turn ask “If man is so good, why does he allow evil to exist?”
The hard fact is that man is not so good. We truly are not anywhere near as good as we think we are. When atheists, agnostics, or even Christians are befuddled by the supposed riddle of “Why does a good God allow evil to exist?”, they demonstrate an inherent proclivity to judge others without judging themselves, in violation of Matthew 7:1-5. The point of Jesus’ words here is that our ability to rightly judge the measure of another’s wrongs is constrained by our inability to judge evil at its closest proximity- within our very own soul. In other words, how can we rightly judge from afar (the heart of another), if we are incapable of rightly judging that which is very near?
The prisons are filled with people who have little, if any, conviction concerning their crimes. The petty thief thinks himself to be good for not being an armed robber, the armed robber thinks himself good for not hurting anyone, the murderer thinks himself good because he only killed one person, the rapist thinks himself good because, “you know, she was really asking for it”… the problem is the convicted have so little conviction concerning their crimes against humanity. But this attitude is not constrained to prison populations. How many of us have overlooked our own sin in the mad rush to judge another? I know I have been passed by the guy doing 90 MPH in a 70 MPH zone & indignantly thought “What a nut.” Sometimes I would be pleased to come upon him pulled over by a police officer a few miles later & would be contented as I thought “He got what he deserved”. But, thankfully, God would bring conviction to me as His Spirit asked my heart “But when will you get what you deserve?” God reminded that I was in fact doing 80 MPH when he passed doing 90 MPH. I had to slow down when I saw the officer too. While his sin was clearly greater than mine, I was most certainly a transgressor, worthy of punishment, as well. This is what Jesus meant when He said “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” A man blind to his own depravity cannot rightly decry the depravity of another.
Psalms 7 “A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite. O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, (2) lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. (3) O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, (4) if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, (5) let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah (6) Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. (7) Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. (8) The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. (9) Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous-- you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! (10) My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. (11) God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. (12) If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; (13) he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. (14) Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. (15) He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. (16) His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends. (17) I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.”
David responds to evil intent of his pursuers by asking for God to be involved. He wants God to intervene & cease the evil being perpetrated against him. But in verses 3-5, David is well aware of the possibility of evil within his own actions as well; for that reason he seems to have the understanding he would also be caught up in the very judgment he desires for others. He clearly has judged his own actions in regards to this situation, & considers his own integrity first. But just as clearly, David’s sins are easily witnessed in the larger scope of his life. He was not confidently calling for God’s final judgment of His life overall, for he knows he has no integrity in that larger scope. He simply desires a righteous Judge to intervene & make a judgment as to the improper persecution he feels he is suffering. He is not asking any obtuse philosophical questions about why evil generally exists; he knows it exists, & first of all wants to repent of it within himself.
The atheist wags his finger at God for His supposed delay in judging evil, but is ignorant of the truth of the matter. This riddler enjoys his mock trial of God, so ignorant of the only thing staying the Lord of all from calling the real trial into order- the one where the riddler is the defendant- is God's awesome mercy. Man always has a ready indictment for the evil of others instead of himself, & the atheist is only taking this blind, hypocritical insolence a step further when he accuses God.
God’s desire for mercy all that restrains His “whetted sword” & His “readied bow” of fearsome judgment.
The atheist desires to judge God, but two things are required to make a right judgment concerning another- having understanding concerning the nature of sin that only comes by contrasting the standard of God’s Word with the deplorable inner reality & a repentant attitude concerning said reality. While there are many who hesitate at the doorway of repentance, most in the world never accept the validity of step 1: accepting God’s standard as the standard for judging what evil actually is. We lie to our bosses, cheat (& speed) if we think we won’t get caught, fornicate, & abide passively while all manner of evil goes on around us, yet moan about a God who allows evil. What hypocrites we are! If God ever decided put a stop to evil, Jesus would be returning to completely barren world, for no one would survive past the age of two!
The Lord declares to all “lower courts” of judgment:
Job 40:8 "Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?
If the riddler’s convictions regarding evil began with an honest scrutiny of the evil actively lurking within himself, his question would morph into the most poignant & personal probe: "Why does God allow me to exist, given that I have done wrong?" Try as we might, we cannot divorce the question of evil’s existence from the question of our own existence. Again, it is quite simply apparent that evil exists because we exist. All have sinned & fallen short of God’s standard of sinlessness, so that begs the real question: “Why does a good God allow me to live after my first evil thought or deed?”
Mercy.
Our focus would thereafter not be entranced upon the alleged inactivity of God regarding evil, but upon our own inactivity regarding our own evil.
I say “alleged inactivity” because God in fact has been very active. Those that think God to be inactive in regards to evil show that they have never accepted the splendor of the Person nor the cross of Christ.
John 3:14-21 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, (15) that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. (16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (18) Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (19) And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (20) For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (21) But 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."
Two thousand years ago, God was so deeply concerned about the problem of evil in the world that He Himself came down to deal with it face to face- literally. He confronted evil Himself time and again, yet, unlike us, it never was able to enter into His nature. This proved that Jesus alone was worthy to take on the punishment for our every evil deed.
Romans 8:24-28 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? (25) But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (26) Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (27) And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (28) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Note the present tense language here, praise God, He did not cease interceding in man’s affairs with Jesus’ departure; no, God gives us His Spirit as a daily intercession against the influence of evil in our midst.
The response the first question is simplistic- obviously, evil exists because man exists & perpetrates it. The atrocities of Auschwitz occurred because men consciously perpetrated them. The Cambodian genocide of the 1970s’ was not committed by an unseen force; it clearly had direct human causes. Even today, colossal evils go unchecked in many places- most notably Darfur. It’s man’s inhumanity to man, as the textbooks call it, but as it can be attested that there have been major events such as these across the entire span of man’s recorded existence, it should be seen as more typical than atypical behavior. As such activity would appear to be normative for humans, maybe it should be re-termed “man’s humanity to man”.
And the fact that the Darfurian tragedy continues to play out makes the rest of the world complicit in its evil. If we see a crime taking place & just obliviously carry on with our day, we give our consent to the deed & are therefore guilty of collusion. Most of us are appalled at the evils of Auschwitz in retrospect, but at the time it apparently didn’t bring great conviction- for Allied forces had intelligence on the death camps, but chose to allow them to continue operating unfettered. At the very least, they could have disrupted their ghastly operations by bombing the rail lines leading to them. This speaks to the evil lurking within even the hearts of the (comparatively) “good guys”. We see “bad” even in the hearts of the “good”. We may say that we were good because we chose to fight against the agreeably evil regimes of the Axis powers, but truly, no Allied power arose to fight the demonstrably evil Axis powers until they themselves were threatened. We, as a populace, were largely oblivious to the plight of suffering Asians, Africans, & Europeans until Pearl Harbor. It was much more self-preservation than altruism. As an ancillary to the mindset that would pose “Why does a good God allow evil to exist?”, we should in turn ask “If man is so good, why does he allow evil to exist?”
The hard fact is that man is not so good. We truly are not anywhere near as good as we think we are. When atheists, agnostics, or even Christians are befuddled by the supposed riddle of “Why does a good God allow evil to exist?”, they demonstrate an inherent proclivity to judge others without judging themselves, in violation of Matthew 7:1-5. The point of Jesus’ words here is that our ability to rightly judge the measure of another’s wrongs is constrained by our inability to judge evil at its closest proximity- within our very own soul. In other words, how can we rightly judge from afar (the heart of another), if we are incapable of rightly judging that which is very near?
The prisons are filled with people who have little, if any, conviction concerning their crimes. The petty thief thinks himself to be good for not being an armed robber, the armed robber thinks himself good for not hurting anyone, the murderer thinks himself good because he only killed one person, the rapist thinks himself good because, “you know, she was really asking for it”… the problem is the convicted have so little conviction concerning their crimes against humanity. But this attitude is not constrained to prison populations. How many of us have overlooked our own sin in the mad rush to judge another? I know I have been passed by the guy doing 90 MPH in a 70 MPH zone & indignantly thought “What a nut.” Sometimes I would be pleased to come upon him pulled over by a police officer a few miles later & would be contented as I thought “He got what he deserved”. But, thankfully, God would bring conviction to me as His Spirit asked my heart “But when will you get what you deserve?” God reminded that I was in fact doing 80 MPH when he passed doing 90 MPH. I had to slow down when I saw the officer too. While his sin was clearly greater than mine, I was most certainly a transgressor, worthy of punishment, as well. This is what Jesus meant when He said “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” A man blind to his own depravity cannot rightly decry the depravity of another.
Psalms 7 “A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite. O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, (2) lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver. (3) O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, (4) if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, (5) let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah (6) Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. (7) Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. (8) The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. (9) Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous-- you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! (10) My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. (11) God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. (12) If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; (13) he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. (14) Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. (15) He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. (16) His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends. (17) I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.”
David responds to evil intent of his pursuers by asking for God to be involved. He wants God to intervene & cease the evil being perpetrated against him. But in verses 3-5, David is well aware of the possibility of evil within his own actions as well; for that reason he seems to have the understanding he would also be caught up in the very judgment he desires for others. He clearly has judged his own actions in regards to this situation, & considers his own integrity first. But just as clearly, David’s sins are easily witnessed in the larger scope of his life. He was not confidently calling for God’s final judgment of His life overall, for he knows he has no integrity in that larger scope. He simply desires a righteous Judge to intervene & make a judgment as to the improper persecution he feels he is suffering. He is not asking any obtuse philosophical questions about why evil generally exists; he knows it exists, & first of all wants to repent of it within himself.
The atheist wags his finger at God for His supposed delay in judging evil, but is ignorant of the truth of the matter. This riddler enjoys his mock trial of God, so ignorant of the only thing staying the Lord of all from calling the real trial into order- the one where the riddler is the defendant- is God's awesome mercy. Man always has a ready indictment for the evil of others instead of himself, & the atheist is only taking this blind, hypocritical insolence a step further when he accuses God.
God’s desire for mercy all that restrains His “whetted sword” & His “readied bow” of fearsome judgment.
The atheist desires to judge God, but two things are required to make a right judgment concerning another- having understanding concerning the nature of sin that only comes by contrasting the standard of God’s Word with the deplorable inner reality & a repentant attitude concerning said reality. While there are many who hesitate at the doorway of repentance, most in the world never accept the validity of step 1: accepting God’s standard as the standard for judging what evil actually is. We lie to our bosses, cheat (& speed) if we think we won’t get caught, fornicate, & abide passively while all manner of evil goes on around us, yet moan about a God who allows evil. What hypocrites we are! If God ever decided put a stop to evil, Jesus would be returning to completely barren world, for no one would survive past the age of two!
The Lord declares to all “lower courts” of judgment:
Job 40:8 "Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?
If the riddler’s convictions regarding evil began with an honest scrutiny of the evil actively lurking within himself, his question would morph into the most poignant & personal probe: "Why does God allow me to exist, given that I have done wrong?" Try as we might, we cannot divorce the question of evil’s existence from the question of our own existence. Again, it is quite simply apparent that evil exists because we exist. All have sinned & fallen short of God’s standard of sinlessness, so that begs the real question: “Why does a good God allow me to live after my first evil thought or deed?”
Mercy.
Our focus would thereafter not be entranced upon the alleged inactivity of God regarding evil, but upon our own inactivity regarding our own evil.
I say “alleged inactivity” because God in fact has been very active. Those that think God to be inactive in regards to evil show that they have never accepted the splendor of the Person nor the cross of Christ.
John 3:14-21 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, (15) that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. (16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (18) Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (19) And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (20) For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (21) But 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."
Two thousand years ago, God was so deeply concerned about the problem of evil in the world that He Himself came down to deal with it face to face- literally. He confronted evil Himself time and again, yet, unlike us, it never was able to enter into His nature. This proved that Jesus alone was worthy to take on the punishment for our every evil deed.
Romans 8:24-28 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? (25) But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (26) Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (27) And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (28) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Note the present tense language here, praise God, He did not cease interceding in man’s affairs with Jesus’ departure; no, God gives us His Spirit as a daily intercession against the influence of evil in our midst.
Friday, September 5, 2008
The Righteous Judge
John 5:15-23 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. (16) And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. (17) But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." (18) This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (19) So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (20) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. (21) For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. (22) The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, (23) that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
John 8:15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
Scripture alternately has Jesus stating that all judgment is His, but that He came not to judge. We accept the Word as fully true- never contradictory, but sometimes paradoxical to our spiritually myopic & sin-hardened mind. “Well, ‘We have the mind of Christ’ ” you say, & you are correct; but understanding must foundationally begin with the Bible, for there are many deceiving spirits in the world (firstly, our own natural man). Because He has stated “He will never leave us nor forsake us”, the treasure of God’s Word was given & passed down to us- so that we can understand the things we need to understand. God has not left His children as spiritual orphans- in His Word, He has given us all we need; if His children would just dwell there, His Spirit would open their minds to all they need to know.
All Scripture should be taken in its immediate context, as well as its larger context of being just one part of the composite teaching we call the Bible. Above, when I quoted John 8, I purposely did as many false teachers do & parceled it from its context- to illustrate the danger of listening to the “one verse” teacher. Many lies are taught by men such as these. Now read it in context:
John 8:2-26 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. (3) The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst (4) they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. (5) Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" (6) This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. (7) And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." (8) And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. (9) But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. (10) Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" (11) She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."
Jesus does not judge her to be “not guilty”- based on His next statement- “sin no more.” She was guilty, but He adjudicated a judgment of no condemnation upon her. This was foretelling the adjudication for sin He would be giving all the elect of God, for all their sin- the “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Adjudication is defined as “a judge making an official decision about a problem or dispute” & this speaks to Christ’s power as both Savior & Judge. The problem is God has pure holiness & righteousness- & we do not. We are in dispute with His nature with our every transgression. This is why the Father “has given all judgment to the Son”; for it is the Son who suffered for our transgressions. If the Father were to be our judge, every one of us would be destined for Hell, for His desire for mercy cannot simply trump His demand for purity. More than all else, God is a holy God. It is the Son alone who paid the price for our sin, who was the propitiation for our iniquity, so only He alone can bestow merciful forgiveness for said iniquity. If Christ did not retain both titles- Savior & Judge- He would lack the authority to commute sentences for sin. A judge who simply dismisses a case against the guilty, without a penalty being paid, could not be called a righteous judge. He would be derelict in duty as he disregarded criminal activity. But a merciful Judge blessed with ability to foresee the criminal activity of His friends could pay their penalty in advance; certainly this is what took place as Jesus foresaw “the joy that was set before Him”. He “endured the cross & despis(ed) the shame”, looking forward to that day when He would be “seated at the right hand of the throne of God”, rightly able to dispense mercy to all those entrusted to Him. “The joy that was set before Him” was the ability to truly put our sin “as far the east is from the west”.
The Judge will not lose any of God's children to Hell because the Judge Himself paid the price to save them from Hell.
(12) Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (13) So the Pharisees said to him, "You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true." (14) Jesus answered, "Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. (15) You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. (16) Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. (17) In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. (18) I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me." (19) They said to him therefore, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." (20) These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. (21) So he said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come." (22) So the Jews said, "Will he kill himself, since he says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?" (23) He said to them, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. (24) I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins." (25) So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. (26) I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him."
Note that when we take in more of His message, we see in verse 26 that Christ will judge (in the future). When Jesus says "I judge no one", He is speaking in the present tense. It reflected the nature of His current ministry at the time- a suffering servant dedicated to His future “joy” of granting mercy to those He loves. Jesus sums His mission on earth in John 3:
John 3:16-21 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (18) Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (19) And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (20) For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (21) But 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."
See, there is a judgment to come, & Christ’s primary mission was to have the authority to rightly adjudicate the case against the ones He loves.
John 8:15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
Scripture alternately has Jesus stating that all judgment is His, but that He came not to judge. We accept the Word as fully true- never contradictory, but sometimes paradoxical to our spiritually myopic & sin-hardened mind. “Well, ‘We have the mind of Christ’ ” you say, & you are correct; but understanding must foundationally begin with the Bible, for there are many deceiving spirits in the world (firstly, our own natural man). Because He has stated “He will never leave us nor forsake us”, the treasure of God’s Word was given & passed down to us- so that we can understand the things we need to understand. God has not left His children as spiritual orphans- in His Word, He has given us all we need; if His children would just dwell there, His Spirit would open their minds to all they need to know.
All Scripture should be taken in its immediate context, as well as its larger context of being just one part of the composite teaching we call the Bible. Above, when I quoted John 8, I purposely did as many false teachers do & parceled it from its context- to illustrate the danger of listening to the “one verse” teacher. Many lies are taught by men such as these. Now read it in context:
John 8:2-26 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. (3) The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst (4) they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. (5) Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" (6) This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. (7) And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." (8) And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. (9) But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. (10) Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" (11) She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."
Jesus does not judge her to be “not guilty”- based on His next statement- “sin no more.” She was guilty, but He adjudicated a judgment of no condemnation upon her. This was foretelling the adjudication for sin He would be giving all the elect of God, for all their sin- the “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Adjudication is defined as “a judge making an official decision about a problem or dispute” & this speaks to Christ’s power as both Savior & Judge. The problem is God has pure holiness & righteousness- & we do not. We are in dispute with His nature with our every transgression. This is why the Father “has given all judgment to the Son”; for it is the Son who suffered for our transgressions. If the Father were to be our judge, every one of us would be destined for Hell, for His desire for mercy cannot simply trump His demand for purity. More than all else, God is a holy God. It is the Son alone who paid the price for our sin, who was the propitiation for our iniquity, so only He alone can bestow merciful forgiveness for said iniquity. If Christ did not retain both titles- Savior & Judge- He would lack the authority to commute sentences for sin. A judge who simply dismisses a case against the guilty, without a penalty being paid, could not be called a righteous judge. He would be derelict in duty as he disregarded criminal activity. But a merciful Judge blessed with ability to foresee the criminal activity of His friends could pay their penalty in advance; certainly this is what took place as Jesus foresaw “the joy that was set before Him”. He “endured the cross & despis(ed) the shame”, looking forward to that day when He would be “seated at the right hand of the throne of God”, rightly able to dispense mercy to all those entrusted to Him. “The joy that was set before Him” was the ability to truly put our sin “as far the east is from the west”.
The Judge will not lose any of God's children to Hell because the Judge Himself paid the price to save them from Hell.
(12) Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (13) So the Pharisees said to him, "You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true." (14) Jesus answered, "Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. (15) You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. (16) Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. (17) In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. (18) I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me." (19) They said to him therefore, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." (20) These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. (21) So he said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come." (22) So the Jews said, "Will he kill himself, since he says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?" (23) He said to them, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. (24) I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins." (25) So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. (26) I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him."
Note that when we take in more of His message, we see in verse 26 that Christ will judge (in the future). When Jesus says "I judge no one", He is speaking in the present tense. It reflected the nature of His current ministry at the time- a suffering servant dedicated to His future “joy” of granting mercy to those He loves. Jesus sums His mission on earth in John 3:
John 3:16-21 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (18) Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (19) And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (20) For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (21) But 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."
See, there is a judgment to come, & Christ’s primary mission was to have the authority to rightly adjudicate the case against the ones He loves.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
God Must Judge
John 5:15-23 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. (16) And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. (17) But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." (18) This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (19) So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (20) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. (21) For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. (22) The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, (23) that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
Before I address the specifics of verse 22, I need to address a more base issue. I’ve heard many say that they believe in a God of love rather than a God of judgment, as if they cannot be one in the same God. They consider their sin, but they also see the extended patience of Christ with sinners. They see Him dwelling on love, mercy, & forgiveness & mistake those to be the greater makeup of God’s nature.
The greatest makeup of God’s nature, what actually is His nature- is His complete holiness; which drives His complete righteousness. He is firstly, lastly, & everywhere in between- a completely holy Person- & so is driven towards the fullest extent of utter righteousness. Understand, His holiness is what demands that every trespass is accorded right judgment. For Him to overlook wrongdoing, for God to not accord a right sentence for even the least of sins, would blemish His perfect holiness. For God to allow any sin into His pure presence would cause Him to less than pure Himself. “If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches” demonstrates that the holiness of the greater drives the holiness of the lesser. We can only accede to the measure of holiness that God Himself maintains. The servant cannot rise above his master, so we who are in Christ should be pleased that God maintains the highest of standards, for it is to our benefit as well.
What’s more, God would be establishing precedent for an endless appeal process. All the rightly judged thereafter would counter- “Well you overlooked his sin, why not mine?” All the guilty would have cause to argue their case. He is a righteous judge, & we must admit that any earthly judge who would forgo passing judgment is not worthy of his robes. We would demand his resignation, based the dereliction of his appointed duty. Consider the plight of David as he runs from those who falsely accuse him. He only seeks God’s right judgment-
Psalms 7:6-17 Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. (7) Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. (8) The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. (9) Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous-- you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! (10) My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. (11) God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. (12) If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; (13) he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. (14) Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. (15) He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. (16) His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends. (17) I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.
Note in verse 8 that David asks for God to commence judgment; but what is critical to understand is that he realizes that God’s right judgment must include him as well. David knows that when God judges, His judgment must be a sweeping judgment. God will not judge only one party in a situation; no, His judgments are all-inclusive. Thus the meaning of Jesus’ warning: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” We must make judgments concerning others all the time; Jesus is simply warning us to walk circumspectly as we pass judgment, & especially as we pass sentence (as the stone throwing hypocrites of John 8 were want to do), lest we be found to be hypocrites & receive just recompense ourselves. Man also needs to acknowledge that bypassing judgment of others does not avert the day of the his own judgment; in fact, where he fails in his duty to judge, he only adds to the charges. If man judges in hypocrisy, then that only adds to the indictment against him; but if man fails in his God ordained duty to bring about justice in his sphere of influence, he has become derelict in His duty. Romans 13:1 says- “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” A governor who does not govern, a judge who does not judge, or a shepherd who shrinks back from shepherding will all be held accountable at the Bema Seat for the unjust suffering their weakness has caused. So, ironically, those in any measure of power who bypass a right judgment with the intent of receiving a lesser judgment themselves actually receive a greater judgment.
But focus on verse 11 too. “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.” Indignation is defined as follows by Noah Webster:
1. Anger or extreme anger, mingled with contempt, disgust or abhorrence.
2. The anger of a superior; extreme anger; particularly, the wrath of God against sinful men for their ingratitude and rebellion. 2 Kings 3.
3. The effects of anger; the dreadful effects of God's wrath; terrible judgments. Isa 26.
4. Holy displeasure at one's self for sin. 2 Cor 7.
Understand the measure of God’s love that He feels this every day, yet He restrains His final judgment. Even greater is the fact that the Father has this indignation, yet He has consigned all judgment to the Son. What a glorious love the Father has in that He denies Himself the satisfaction of recompensing mankind for the hardness of their heart, for the righteous indignation they have brought about within Him.
Romans 11:16-22 "If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. (17) But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, (18) do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. (19) Then you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." (20) That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. (21) For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. (22) Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off."
Those who see only the kindness of God while ignoring His severity make a fatal error. Their mistake comes as they narrowly judge the preeminent nature of God by the nature His Son expressed during the course of His three year ministry. Yes, the suffering Servant revealed the merciful side of God’s nature better than it had ever been seen before, but that is the point- up to the time of Christ’s appearance, God expressed His terrifying judgment more than His love. He delayed expressing the maximum kindness of God until the Son’s existence became evident, so that only in Christ is God’s immense measure of mercy seen in its fullest. That way, God helps us comprehend that His merciful salvation can only come through Christ alone. It is a confirmation that Jesus alone is the way, the truth, & the life; any attempt to do an end run around Christ to the Father is effectively bypassing the only avenue of mercy that the Father has allowed. What’s even more ironic is the fact that the Son will actually be the end runner’s final stop anyways. As John 5:22 states, Jesus has been given all judgment, so any attempt to run away from Christ is senseless futility- either we freely accept Him as our Savior, or we will be forced to accept Him as our final Judge. As Peter intuitively stated when Jesus asked him if he wanted to leave Him as so many others had done- “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."
Before I address the specifics of verse 22, I need to address a more base issue. I’ve heard many say that they believe in a God of love rather than a God of judgment, as if they cannot be one in the same God. They consider their sin, but they also see the extended patience of Christ with sinners. They see Him dwelling on love, mercy, & forgiveness & mistake those to be the greater makeup of God’s nature.
The greatest makeup of God’s nature, what actually is His nature- is His complete holiness; which drives His complete righteousness. He is firstly, lastly, & everywhere in between- a completely holy Person- & so is driven towards the fullest extent of utter righteousness. Understand, His holiness is what demands that every trespass is accorded right judgment. For Him to overlook wrongdoing, for God to not accord a right sentence for even the least of sins, would blemish His perfect holiness. For God to allow any sin into His pure presence would cause Him to less than pure Himself. “If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches” demonstrates that the holiness of the greater drives the holiness of the lesser. We can only accede to the measure of holiness that God Himself maintains. The servant cannot rise above his master, so we who are in Christ should be pleased that God maintains the highest of standards, for it is to our benefit as well.
What’s more, God would be establishing precedent for an endless appeal process. All the rightly judged thereafter would counter- “Well you overlooked his sin, why not mine?” All the guilty would have cause to argue their case. He is a righteous judge, & we must admit that any earthly judge who would forgo passing judgment is not worthy of his robes. We would demand his resignation, based the dereliction of his appointed duty. Consider the plight of David as he runs from those who falsely accuse him. He only seeks God’s right judgment-
Psalms 7:6-17 Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. (7) Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. (8) The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. (9) Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous-- you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! (10) My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. (11) God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. (12) If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; (13) he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts. (14) Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. (15) He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. (16) His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends. (17) I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.
Note in verse 8 that David asks for God to commence judgment; but what is critical to understand is that he realizes that God’s right judgment must include him as well. David knows that when God judges, His judgment must be a sweeping judgment. God will not judge only one party in a situation; no, His judgments are all-inclusive. Thus the meaning of Jesus’ warning: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” We must make judgments concerning others all the time; Jesus is simply warning us to walk circumspectly as we pass judgment, & especially as we pass sentence (as the stone throwing hypocrites of John 8 were want to do), lest we be found to be hypocrites & receive just recompense ourselves. Man also needs to acknowledge that bypassing judgment of others does not avert the day of the his own judgment; in fact, where he fails in his duty to judge, he only adds to the charges. If man judges in hypocrisy, then that only adds to the indictment against him; but if man fails in his God ordained duty to bring about justice in his sphere of influence, he has become derelict in His duty. Romans 13:1 says- “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” A governor who does not govern, a judge who does not judge, or a shepherd who shrinks back from shepherding will all be held accountable at the Bema Seat for the unjust suffering their weakness has caused. So, ironically, those in any measure of power who bypass a right judgment with the intent of receiving a lesser judgment themselves actually receive a greater judgment.
But focus on verse 11 too. “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.” Indignation is defined as follows by Noah Webster:
1. Anger or extreme anger, mingled with contempt, disgust or abhorrence.
2. The anger of a superior; extreme anger; particularly, the wrath of God against sinful men for their ingratitude and rebellion. 2 Kings 3.
3. The effects of anger; the dreadful effects of God's wrath; terrible judgments. Isa 26.
4. Holy displeasure at one's self for sin. 2 Cor 7.
Understand the measure of God’s love that He feels this every day, yet He restrains His final judgment. Even greater is the fact that the Father has this indignation, yet He has consigned all judgment to the Son. What a glorious love the Father has in that He denies Himself the satisfaction of recompensing mankind for the hardness of their heart, for the righteous indignation they have brought about within Him.
Romans 11:16-22 "If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. (17) But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, (18) do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. (19) Then you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." (20) That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. (21) For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. (22) Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off."
Those who see only the kindness of God while ignoring His severity make a fatal error. Their mistake comes as they narrowly judge the preeminent nature of God by the nature His Son expressed during the course of His three year ministry. Yes, the suffering Servant revealed the merciful side of God’s nature better than it had ever been seen before, but that is the point- up to the time of Christ’s appearance, God expressed His terrifying judgment more than His love. He delayed expressing the maximum kindness of God until the Son’s existence became evident, so that only in Christ is God’s immense measure of mercy seen in its fullest. That way, God helps us comprehend that His merciful salvation can only come through Christ alone. It is a confirmation that Jesus alone is the way, the truth, & the life; any attempt to do an end run around Christ to the Father is effectively bypassing the only avenue of mercy that the Father has allowed. What’s even more ironic is the fact that the Son will actually be the end runner’s final stop anyways. As John 5:22 states, Jesus has been given all judgment, so any attempt to run away from Christ is senseless futility- either we freely accept Him as our Savior, or we will be forced to accept Him as our final Judge. As Peter intuitively stated when Jesus asked him if he wanted to leave Him as so many others had done- “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."
Thursday, August 14, 2008
One Will
John 5:15-23 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. (16) And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. (17) But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." (18) This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (19) So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (20) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. (21) For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. (22) The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, (23) that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
Some say that a belief in the Trinity is polytheism. That would be the case if these three Persons held divergent desires. All polytheistic religions have their gods possessing separate wills. They operate unilaterally without regard to the others because they each possess a will of their own that is not often in accord with the others. Hercules opposed Apollo & Apollo opposed Dionysus because they all had different motivations & dissimilar desires.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” The Son can do nothing of His own accord because He has no accord that is distinct from His Father’s accord. So what do we make of the contextual statement “the Son gives life to whom he will”? Jesus confirms here that He does indeed have a will of His own, but that will is always precisely the same as the Father’s will. Man’s lowliness of nature makes the idea of any three of us always in full unanimity across the full scope of space & time seem impossible, but we must again remember that we are not God, therefore we are imperfect. Even when we agree to aspire to the same goal, we disagree on timetables & methods. We are a warring people because of self-centered motivations. When men created polytheistic religions, they naturally had them in constant conflict with one another, for they knew no other nature to attribute to their gods than their own. They flipped the truth of Genesis 1:27 on its head & created gods after fallen man’s “image & likeness” But the picture of God painted by Jesus in John 5 is like no religion contrived in the lowly heart of man. From everlasting to everlasting, for all of time, these glorious three Persons accomplish what man has difficulty even comprehending- complete unanimity of desire & purpose. But then again, we must remember that "what is impossible with men is possible with God." (Luke 18:27)
The teaching that God is One is conspicuous throughout the OT, & the Trinity becomes evident in the OT in the light of NT revelation. But what is interesting is despite the fact that the NT pulls away the veil that largely concealed the Triune identity of God, it still continues to insist that God is One. Jesus retorted to the scribe’s question of what is most important by first saying “the Lord our God, the Lord is one”. The wise scribe responded first by confirming this truth- “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him.” Paul establishes the equality of God’s faithful elect by comparing them to the oneness of God Himself- “Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one--who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.” (Romans 3:29-30).
As Paul discusses the value of the law in Galatians 3:19, he mentions the need for a go-between, a mediator, but nevertheless reinforces the image of God as One- “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.” As James repudiates those who place their hope in non-evident faith, he too makes the statement that “God is One” is so fundamental that even demons accept it as true- “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder!” (James 2:19)
Yet, throughout NT it is explicitly taught that the Son is God to same degree that His Father is God. Rightly confluencing these two expressly taught ideas leads us to no other conclusion than they must be so alike in every way that they become indiscernible as separate Persons to the spiritually uninitiated. Consider the 17th chapter of John as a conversation between equals-
John 17:1-26 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, (2) since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. (3) And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (4) I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. (5) And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (6) "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. (7) Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. (8) For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. (9) I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. (10) All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. (11) And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. (Mark 12:29) (12) While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. (13) But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. (14) I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (15) I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. (16) They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (17) Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (18) As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. (19) And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (20) "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, (21) that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (22) The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one (Rom. 3:29-30), (23) I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (24) Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. (25) O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. (26) I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."
Some say that a belief in the Trinity is polytheism. That would be the case if these three Persons held divergent desires. All polytheistic religions have their gods possessing separate wills. They operate unilaterally without regard to the others because they each possess a will of their own that is not often in accord with the others. Hercules opposed Apollo & Apollo opposed Dionysus because they all had different motivations & dissimilar desires.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” The Son can do nothing of His own accord because He has no accord that is distinct from His Father’s accord. So what do we make of the contextual statement “the Son gives life to whom he will”? Jesus confirms here that He does indeed have a will of His own, but that will is always precisely the same as the Father’s will. Man’s lowliness of nature makes the idea of any three of us always in full unanimity across the full scope of space & time seem impossible, but we must again remember that we are not God, therefore we are imperfect. Even when we agree to aspire to the same goal, we disagree on timetables & methods. We are a warring people because of self-centered motivations. When men created polytheistic religions, they naturally had them in constant conflict with one another, for they knew no other nature to attribute to their gods than their own. They flipped the truth of Genesis 1:27 on its head & created gods after fallen man’s “image & likeness” But the picture of God painted by Jesus in John 5 is like no religion contrived in the lowly heart of man. From everlasting to everlasting, for all of time, these glorious three Persons accomplish what man has difficulty even comprehending- complete unanimity of desire & purpose. But then again, we must remember that "what is impossible with men is possible with God." (Luke 18:27)
The teaching that God is One is conspicuous throughout the OT, & the Trinity becomes evident in the OT in the light of NT revelation. But what is interesting is despite the fact that the NT pulls away the veil that largely concealed the Triune identity of God, it still continues to insist that God is One. Jesus retorted to the scribe’s question of what is most important by first saying “the Lord our God, the Lord is one”. The wise scribe responded first by confirming this truth- “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him.” Paul establishes the equality of God’s faithful elect by comparing them to the oneness of God Himself- “Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one--who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.” (Romans 3:29-30).
As Paul discusses the value of the law in Galatians 3:19, he mentions the need for a go-between, a mediator, but nevertheless reinforces the image of God as One- “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.” As James repudiates those who place their hope in non-evident faith, he too makes the statement that “God is One” is so fundamental that even demons accept it as true- “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder!” (James 2:19)
Yet, throughout NT it is explicitly taught that the Son is God to same degree that His Father is God. Rightly confluencing these two expressly taught ideas leads us to no other conclusion than they must be so alike in every way that they become indiscernible as separate Persons to the spiritually uninitiated. Consider the 17th chapter of John as a conversation between equals-
John 17:1-26 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, (2) since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. (3) And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (4) I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. (5) And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (6) "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. (7) Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. (8) For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. (9) I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. (10) All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. (11) And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. (Mark 12:29) (12) While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. (13) But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. (14) I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (15) I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. (16) They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (17) Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (18) As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. (19) And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (20) "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, (21) that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (22) The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one (Rom. 3:29-30), (23) I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (24) Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. (25) O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. (26) I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Omnipotence Overlap
John 5:15-21 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. (16) And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. (17) But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." (18) This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (19) So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (20) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. (21) For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
The Gospels tell of three instances of Jesus raising the dead; in all three occasions Jesus simply commanded the dead to come alive. He didn’t pray to the Father for the power to raise them; rather He gave simple direct commands for the dead to return to life…
Luke 7:11-15 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. (12) As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. (13) And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." (14) Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." (15) And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Luke 8:41-56 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, (42) for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. (43) And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. (44) She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. (45) And Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" When all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!" (46) But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me." (47) And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. (48) And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."
Her faith made her well, but a faith in what? An amorphous concept of general faith in God to heal? If this was true, she could have formerly been healed apart from Christ. Notice two particulars in this passage that allowed the woman’s healing- her faith & His power. But this is more accurately stated as a singular concept- it was actually her faith in His power, which fundamentally points to her personal faith in Him.
Examine the goal of her effort- in Mark’s account, she said to herself- “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” Her faith in Jesus was such that her personal faith in Him told her that simply coming into physical contact with Him.would be sufficient to heal her body. Her firm faith in Him was such that she believed that even His prior cognizance of her condition was not required for His innate power to flow. All that was required was an personal & abiding faith in Jesus as Lord. As her Lord.
Unlike us, Jesus did not need to pray to source power from another for healing to occur, for Christ’s healing power poured forth from Christ Himself.
Continuing in Luke 8:
(49) While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, "Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more." (50) But Jesus on hearing this answered him, "Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well." (51) And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. (52) And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, "Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping." (53) And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.
(54) But taking her by the hand he called, saying, "Child, arise." (55) And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. (56) And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.
Just as with the story in Luke 7 of the young man’s resurrection unto new life, Jesus has no need to call on the Father for the power to raise the dead, for that very power rests within Him to same degree that it rests within His glorious Father. Here, the veracity of the statement “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will” is made explicitly evident.
The third & most famous substantiation of the Son’s claimed authority to give life to the dead comes in John 11...
John 11:21-45 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (22) But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." (23) Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." (24) Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." (25) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, (26) and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (27) She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." (28) When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." (29) And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. (30) Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. (31) When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.(32) Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (33) When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. (34) And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." (35) Jesus wept. (36) So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" (37) But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?" (38) Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. (39) Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." (40) Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" (41) So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. (42) I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." (43) When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." (44) The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." (45) Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, (46) but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
Jesus seemed more concerned with Martha’s measure of faith in Him than remedying Lazarus’ condition. He delayed going to the tomb to speak to her concerning the necessity of a personal faith in His power to resurrect the human soul from true death; the second death that follows a life never devoted to serving God’s only Son. He paused the working of His miracle once more to say to her “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" in reference to her spiritual vision of His full glory & dominion.
He is “the glory of God” He wants her (& us) to more fully perceive. Oh, she would eventually receive her brother’s physical company once more, but Jesus wants Martha & all the rest of His beloved to comprehend that this work shows His essence as their God & Savior.
“And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." -True, unlike His prior resurrections, Scripture has Him speaking to His Father before He calls the dead to arise to new life. But note this is not a prayer of petition, it is a prayer of thankfulness that His Father is ever abiding in Him (& He finds no greater pleasure than to dwell in His Father as well). Jesus makes a point of lifting up His eyes & speaking to the Father for the sake of a witness to all present that He performs this work in the Father’s name. Many hard of heart were there also, as v. 46 demonstrates; His words to the Father give them ready witness that He had done this by & in God’s power alone.
His command that restored breath to Lazarus’ lungs was simple one- just three words. He never had to labor at the actual raising of the physically dead; for because of His tremendous power, it was as simple a task for Him as breathing is for us.
No, the truly arduous task that He had to pour Himself into in this chapter & most especially at the cross was the resurrection of the spiritually dead unto new life.
The Gospels tell of three instances of Jesus raising the dead; in all three occasions Jesus simply commanded the dead to come alive. He didn’t pray to the Father for the power to raise them; rather He gave simple direct commands for the dead to return to life…
Luke 7:11-15 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. (12) As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. (13) And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." (14) Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." (15) And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Luke 8:41-56 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, (42) for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. (43) And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. (44) She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. (45) And Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" When all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!" (46) But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me." (47) And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. (48) And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."
Her faith made her well, but a faith in what? An amorphous concept of general faith in God to heal? If this was true, she could have formerly been healed apart from Christ. Notice two particulars in this passage that allowed the woman’s healing- her faith & His power. But this is more accurately stated as a singular concept- it was actually her faith in His power, which fundamentally points to her personal faith in Him.
Examine the goal of her effort- in Mark’s account, she said to herself- “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” Her faith in Jesus was such that her personal faith in Him told her that simply coming into physical contact with Him.would be sufficient to heal her body. Her firm faith in Him was such that she believed that even His prior cognizance of her condition was not required for His innate power to flow. All that was required was an personal & abiding faith in Jesus as Lord. As her Lord.
Unlike us, Jesus did not need to pray to source power from another for healing to occur, for Christ’s healing power poured forth from Christ Himself.
Continuing in Luke 8:
(49) While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, "Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more." (50) But Jesus on hearing this answered him, "Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well." (51) And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. (52) And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, "Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping." (53) And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.
(54) But taking her by the hand he called, saying, "Child, arise." (55) And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. (56) And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.
Just as with the story in Luke 7 of the young man’s resurrection unto new life, Jesus has no need to call on the Father for the power to raise the dead, for that very power rests within Him to same degree that it rests within His glorious Father. Here, the veracity of the statement “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will” is made explicitly evident.
The third & most famous substantiation of the Son’s claimed authority to give life to the dead comes in John 11...
John 11:21-45 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (22) But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." (23) Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." (24) Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." (25) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, (26) and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (27) She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." (28) When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." (29) And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. (30) Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. (31) When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.(32) Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (33) When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. (34) And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." (35) Jesus wept. (36) So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" (37) But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?" (38) Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. (39) Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." (40) Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" (41) So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. (42) I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." (43) When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." (44) The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." (45) Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, (46) but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
Jesus seemed more concerned with Martha’s measure of faith in Him than remedying Lazarus’ condition. He delayed going to the tomb to speak to her concerning the necessity of a personal faith in His power to resurrect the human soul from true death; the second death that follows a life never devoted to serving God’s only Son. He paused the working of His miracle once more to say to her “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" in reference to her spiritual vision of His full glory & dominion.
He is “the glory of God” He wants her (& us) to more fully perceive. Oh, she would eventually receive her brother’s physical company once more, but Jesus wants Martha & all the rest of His beloved to comprehend that this work shows His essence as their God & Savior.
“And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." -True, unlike His prior resurrections, Scripture has Him speaking to His Father before He calls the dead to arise to new life. But note this is not a prayer of petition, it is a prayer of thankfulness that His Father is ever abiding in Him (& He finds no greater pleasure than to dwell in His Father as well). Jesus makes a point of lifting up His eyes & speaking to the Father for the sake of a witness to all present that He performs this work in the Father’s name. Many hard of heart were there also, as v. 46 demonstrates; His words to the Father give them ready witness that He had done this by & in God’s power alone.
His command that restored breath to Lazarus’ lungs was simple one- just three words. He never had to labor at the actual raising of the physically dead; for because of His tremendous power, it was as simple a task for Him as breathing is for us.
No, the truly arduous task that He had to pour Himself into in this chapter & most especially at the cross was the resurrection of the spiritually dead unto new life.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Equal in Love
John 5:16-20 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. (17) But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." (18) This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (19) So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (20) For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
In our last piece in this series- “Workplace Equality”- we saw in verse 19 Jesus expressing the intimacy of the Son with the Father, while in verse 20, Jesus speaks of the Father’s intimate love for the Son.
But within the Godhead, love is utterly reciprocal, for all are equally God, therefore equally glorious in perfect love.
The Father’s love for His Son is exhibited here by His open revelation of “all that He Himself is doing.” For the Son to do likewise work, He must have likewise understanding.
“And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.” Upon considering this verse, our minds wander ahead to the works that we think to be greater than healing a paralytic- maybe the healing of a blind man in John 9, certainly the raising of Lazarus in John 11. But to stop there is to miss Our Lord’s greatest work of love- found in John 19. This chapter opens with “Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him” & closes with “since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.” In this chapter we see the most marvelous expression of love in the history of all time. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Especially so when that “someone” is the righteous Judge of those friends, but out of His inestimable love, He willingly abdicates to another Judge (the Father), laying down His royal robe & scepter so as to step in front of & absorb the just punishment due His friends. Oh, what a friend indeed!
Consider such a love. Daily.
The Father expresses His perfect love to His only Son by revealing all knowledge to Him. And the Father’s Son & Spirit likewise express Their faultless love for us by revealing the knowledge of God’s perfect propitiation to our hearts.
John 10:14-18 "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father."
God’s love for man, shown best by the cross, commonly goes unrequited (most certainly in like measure), because we are not God- we are weak & lowly. Even such an extreme expression of love as the perfect & just Creator submitting to sufferance for the salvation of the rebellious & unjust creation does not henceforth draw forth pure love from said creation. Most of mankind remains on the wide road towards their own destruction, remarkably blasé about expressing love to God despite the outstanding witness of God’s love to man in the cross of Christ. And though “we love because He first loved us” (1John 4:19), even we on the narrow road still fall short of perfect love. John ever presses us on towards Christ-like love in his first epistle, but the perfect love he highlights in chapter 4 is not our love for God, but God’s love for us- expressed by Christ; & in us- expressed by the abiding of His Spirit. The Apostle exalts Christ’s flawless love within our hearts as our source when the natural man desires something less.
1 John 4:7-21 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. (8) Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (9) In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (10) In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (11) Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (12) No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (13) By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. (14) And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. (15) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (16) So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (17) By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. (18) There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (19) We love because he first loved us. (20) If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (21) And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Truly, verse 9 states “(Jesus) was made manifest among us (in the world)… so that we might live through Him”, but this passage teaches as well that He was made manifest in our hearts so that we may love through Him as well. The “confidence for the day of judgment” comes not as a result of our perfect love, for that would justify us through our works. No, this confidence comes as we peer within our soul & perceive the perfect love of God alone dwelling there. This is our confident hope- that our salvation is real, based upon so great a love as that of Jesus Himself, so totally foreign to the natural man, abiding within the very depths of our soul.
We ourselves react with His marvelous love, & thereby prove out His presence with us today- greatly increasing our faith, & therefore our confidence that He will be with us on that day of judgment as well.
We should heed the voice of God within & be transformed daily by directing our mind’s eye to “marvel” at “Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame”. This was truly the “greater work” that we are called to continually marvel at.
Also, John’s epistle closes with a confident & expectant declaration of God’s love for us- in that He has chosen to give us the knowledge of the holy (with all due respect to AW Tozer).
1Jn 5:20-21 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Praise God, He blesses His elect with all the understanding they need to avert the day of God's wrath.
In our last piece in this series- “Workplace Equality”- we saw in verse 19 Jesus expressing the intimacy of the Son with the Father, while in verse 20, Jesus speaks of the Father’s intimate love for the Son.
But within the Godhead, love is utterly reciprocal, for all are equally God, therefore equally glorious in perfect love.
The Father’s love for His Son is exhibited here by His open revelation of “all that He Himself is doing.” For the Son to do likewise work, He must have likewise understanding.
“And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.” Upon considering this verse, our minds wander ahead to the works that we think to be greater than healing a paralytic- maybe the healing of a blind man in John 9, certainly the raising of Lazarus in John 11. But to stop there is to miss Our Lord’s greatest work of love- found in John 19. This chapter opens with “Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him” & closes with “since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.” In this chapter we see the most marvelous expression of love in the history of all time. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Especially so when that “someone” is the righteous Judge of those friends, but out of His inestimable love, He willingly abdicates to another Judge (the Father), laying down His royal robe & scepter so as to step in front of & absorb the just punishment due His friends. Oh, what a friend indeed!
Consider such a love. Daily.
The Father expresses His perfect love to His only Son by revealing all knowledge to Him. And the Father’s Son & Spirit likewise express Their faultless love for us by revealing the knowledge of God’s perfect propitiation to our hearts.
John 10:14-18 "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father."
God’s love for man, shown best by the cross, commonly goes unrequited (most certainly in like measure), because we are not God- we are weak & lowly. Even such an extreme expression of love as the perfect & just Creator submitting to sufferance for the salvation of the rebellious & unjust creation does not henceforth draw forth pure love from said creation. Most of mankind remains on the wide road towards their own destruction, remarkably blasé about expressing love to God despite the outstanding witness of God’s love to man in the cross of Christ. And though “we love because He first loved us” (1John 4:19), even we on the narrow road still fall short of perfect love. John ever presses us on towards Christ-like love in his first epistle, but the perfect love he highlights in chapter 4 is not our love for God, but God’s love for us- expressed by Christ; & in us- expressed by the abiding of His Spirit. The Apostle exalts Christ’s flawless love within our hearts as our source when the natural man desires something less.
1 John 4:7-21 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. (8) Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (9) In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (10) In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (11) Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (12) No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (13) By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. (14) And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. (15) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (16) So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (17) By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. (18) There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (19) We love because he first loved us. (20) If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (21) And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Truly, verse 9 states “(Jesus) was made manifest among us (in the world)… so that we might live through Him”, but this passage teaches as well that He was made manifest in our hearts so that we may love through Him as well. The “confidence for the day of judgment” comes not as a result of our perfect love, for that would justify us through our works. No, this confidence comes as we peer within our soul & perceive the perfect love of God alone dwelling there. This is our confident hope- that our salvation is real, based upon so great a love as that of Jesus Himself, so totally foreign to the natural man, abiding within the very depths of our soul.
We ourselves react with His marvelous love, & thereby prove out His presence with us today- greatly increasing our faith, & therefore our confidence that He will be with us on that day of judgment as well.
We should heed the voice of God within & be transformed daily by directing our mind’s eye to “marvel” at “Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame”. This was truly the “greater work” that we are called to continually marvel at.
Also, John’s epistle closes with a confident & expectant declaration of God’s love for us- in that He has chosen to give us the knowledge of the holy (with all due respect to AW Tozer).
1Jn 5:20-21 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Praise God, He blesses His elect with all the understanding they need to avert the day of God's wrath.
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