Without the resurrection of Jesus, life would be cruel because sin and death would reign. More to the point, without the resurrection of Jesus we would still be in our sin and life with all its cruelty would repeatedly, crushingly hit against us like a wrecking ball hits a doomed building.
Dostoevsky brings this point out poignantly in, The Idiot. One of the characters, the sick and depressed Ippolit gives a sort of suicide speech at Myshkin’s birthday party. He called it An Essential Explanation. In it he describes a painting he had seen of Jesus just after he had been taken down from the cross. He is puzzled because the painting is so brutally honest, and it makes him reflect on death. Most paintings, he says, “Strive to preserve that beauty (the beauty of Jesus), even in His most terrible agonies.” But it was not so in this one. Ippolit says this about the painting.
“It’s true it’s the face of a man only just taken from the cross – that is to say, still bearing traces of warmth and life. Nothing is rigid in it yet, so that there’s still a look of suffering in the face of the dead man, as though he were still feeling it. Yet the face has not been spared in the least. It is simply nature, and the corpse of a man, whoever he might be, must really look like that after such suffering. I know that the Christian Church laid it down, even in the early ages, that Christ’s suffering was not symbolical but actual and that his body was therefore fully and completely subject to the laws of nature on the cross. In the picture the face is fearfully crushed by blows, swollen, covered with fearful, swollen and blood-stained bruises, the eyes are open and squinting: the great wide-open whites of the eyes glitter with a sort of deathly, glassy light.”
From this entry we see Dostoevsky held a strong incarnational theology. Jesus was God and really man. He suffered for men as a man in cruelty, all the cruelty of violence and death – in our place. However, would this cruelty remain embedded in that face? How could hope and life come from a pulverized human being? Ipploit goes on…
“But, strange to say as one looks at this corpse of a tortured man, a peculiar and curious question arises: if just such a corpse (and it must have been just like that) was seen by all His disciples, by those who were to become his chief apostles, by the women that followed him and stood by the cross, by all who believed in Him and worshipped Him, how could they believe that that martyr would rise again? The question instinctively arises: if death is so awful and the laws of nature so mighty, how can they be overcome? How can they be overcome when even He did not conquer them, He who vanquished nature in His lifetime, who exclaimed, ‘Maiden, arise!’ and the maiden arose – ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ and the dead man came forth? Looking at such a picture, one conceives of nature in the shape of an immense, merciless, dumb beast, or more correctly, much more correctly, speaking, though it sounds strange, in the form of a huge machine of the most modern construction which, dull and insensible, has aimlessly clutched, crushed and swallowed up a great priceless Being, a Being worth all nature and its laws, worth the whole earth, which was created perhaps solely for the sake of the advent of that Being.”
Ipploit went on to say that "the disciples must have experienced the most terrible anguish and consternation on that evening, which had crushed all their hopes, and almost their convictions.” Another came to Ipploit’s mind, “And of the Teacher could have seen Himself on the eve of the crucifixion, would He have gone up to the cross and have died as he did? That question too rises involuntarily, as one looks at the picture.” I have felt this way when looking at Matthias Grunwald’s, The Crucifixion.
Dostoevsky forces the reader to look at the power of sin and death in many places in his novels, but this is to get us to look at Jesus and remind us that he overcame death. The reader asserts in his mind, “Yes, Jesus suffered, but he did not stay dead!” Even in what I have quoted above the reader is reminded of the resurrection. Yes, death, and the sin which caused it is an immense, merciless, dumb beast crushing, crushing, crushing. But it tried to crush Jesus into oblivion but Jesus broke its jaw! He conquered it with the young girl and Lazarus, and it was finally conquered, when on the third day he rose from the dead.
Hope is not now shattered into pieces. Jesus understood the great suffering he was to endure and prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done.” The word of forgiveness was even uttered from bruised and bloody lips, perhaps with teeth knocked out. Jesus had the hope of the resurrection. Life is not an immense, merciless, dumb beast crushing itself out. God never intended it for that so he sent his Son and killed death in and through him.
The resurrected Jesus is the hope for people crushed by sin. All who are in him by faith were crushed with him in his death, only to be raised again with him unto everlasting life. Bless God for the gospel.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
My two youngest daughters
Here are Selina (6) and Monica (2). Our Selina was named after Selina Countess of Huntington (1707-1791), a Methodist Calvinist who gave and gave to the cause of Jesus Christ. Our Monica was named after Augustine's mother who prayed and prayed for her son to follow Jesus. Our hope is that these girls and all our children will give to any in need, pray for many to follow Jesus, and yes go where ever God leads them.
To be for God
I have been thinking about holiness a lot. What is it to be called a child of God if we are not ready to serve our Father or our brothers and sisters? What is faith without obedience? What is the new creation in Christ if there is not a new life of Christ-likeness? The questions could go on.
Holiness usually conjures up the moralist monster image, or a ton of guilt. I know people who hear the word holiness and almost immediately become depressed, or angry, or impassive. This is because they always think of Christian holiness in terms of what they do, or don’t do…and then comes the inner turmoil.
A big part of the problem is that the church is Schleiermachian on this point as well as many others! Schleiermacher was a German pietist preacher who lived from 1768 to 1834. To him holiness is a beauty a man should and can attain too. The evangelical church thinks this to. Holiness has become something for us; not God or our neighbour. People have their “comfort zones,” their “ways to relax.” For many evangelicals the “comfort zone” is personal holiness, and they can’t relax until they think they’ve got it. Of course what that personal holiness, that “comfort zone” is differs from person to person; an indicator that holiness has become an idol. They maintain, “Life will be better for me, for my kids, for my friends when they get this holiness, I like.” All of this thinking takes us away from God, even though we use his name when we say, “We should be holy because God is holy.” The fact is in the feverish exhausting pursuit of our holiness, not to mention the holiness we want to see in others, we are unholy. Why? At this point we are for man, and not for God. The phrase in 1 Peter, “You shall be holy for I am holy,” has no meaning when we take the “I am” out of it. “You shall be holy,” stands by itself in our churches today.
What do we do? Start by bringing God back into our lives; and that starts with Jesus Christ and his gospel. That means we are already holy, sanctified by God for God. God is already holy, he is already for himself, and by his grace he changes us to be for him too. We could change the 1 Peter passage to say, “You shall be for me, because I am for me.” Thomas Goodwin wrote Christian holiness is, “A disposition to be for God, even as God is for himself.”
This can be the beginning point for understanding true holiness. To be for God, rather than “holiness” is always a better place to start.
Holiness usually conjures up the moralist monster image, or a ton of guilt. I know people who hear the word holiness and almost immediately become depressed, or angry, or impassive. This is because they always think of Christian holiness in terms of what they do, or don’t do…and then comes the inner turmoil.
A big part of the problem is that the church is Schleiermachian on this point as well as many others! Schleiermacher was a German pietist preacher who lived from 1768 to 1834. To him holiness is a beauty a man should and can attain too. The evangelical church thinks this to. Holiness has become something for us; not God or our neighbour. People have their “comfort zones,” their “ways to relax.” For many evangelicals the “comfort zone” is personal holiness, and they can’t relax until they think they’ve got it. Of course what that personal holiness, that “comfort zone” is differs from person to person; an indicator that holiness has become an idol. They maintain, “Life will be better for me, for my kids, for my friends when they get this holiness, I like.” All of this thinking takes us away from God, even though we use his name when we say, “We should be holy because God is holy.” The fact is in the feverish exhausting pursuit of our holiness, not to mention the holiness we want to see in others, we are unholy. Why? At this point we are for man, and not for God. The phrase in 1 Peter, “You shall be holy for I am holy,” has no meaning when we take the “I am” out of it. “You shall be holy,” stands by itself in our churches today.
What do we do? Start by bringing God back into our lives; and that starts with Jesus Christ and his gospel. That means we are already holy, sanctified by God for God. God is already holy, he is already for himself, and by his grace he changes us to be for him too. We could change the 1 Peter passage to say, “You shall be for me, because I am for me.” Thomas Goodwin wrote Christian holiness is, “A disposition to be for God, even as God is for himself.”
This can be the beginning point for understanding true holiness. To be for God, rather than “holiness” is always a better place to start.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
An eight letter word
Our lives, whether we are young or old are before us. But wait, when I say, "our lives" I haven’t got it quite right have I? Wonderfully, and to God’s eternal praise, all in his Son through faith and baptism are his congregation for he has called them to be his. They are designated as the Father’s children, and King Jesus’ servants. They are also are the Holy Spirit’s people. As Israel was chosen and claimed out of Egypt, so are they.
What is the name of our God? I am who I am. “I am the Lord God who brought you up out of the Land of Egypt out of the house of slavery.” As this changed everything for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all Israel so it changes everything for those who are now God's people. Why? In one word election!
In this eight letter word election, which is work of the grace of God, the course of the Christian's life has been set! Yes thier lives are before their own eyes, but it is a life claimed by God, a life in reference to God, a life that must constantly remember and recall, “I am your God and you are my people.”
What is the name of our God? I am who I am. “I am the Lord God who brought you up out of the Land of Egypt out of the house of slavery.” As this changed everything for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all Israel so it changes everything for those who are now God's people. Why? In one word election!
In this eight letter word election, which is work of the grace of God, the course of the Christian's life has been set! Yes thier lives are before their own eyes, but it is a life claimed by God, a life in reference to God, a life that must constantly remember and recall, “I am your God and you are my people.”
Monday, December 1, 2008
God's justice and mercy; no need to reconcile friends
At times it has been very vogue to say, "I can't fit God's justice, severity, and wrath with his everlasting mercy and grace." Trying to figure this out has driven people either away from the true God or driven them to create a new "god" with whom they can be comfortable.
Doug Wilson, over at his blog had this to say about this. See it here.
BLOG and MABLOG
Doug Wilson, over at his blog had this to say about this. See it here.
BLOG and MABLOG
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Don't judge yourself...hope in Jesus
We know we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ (1 Cor 3:13; Rom 14:10). Paul said saints will judge the world (1 Cor 6:2). This obviously includes judging situations in the church (1 Cor 5:12; 6:3-4). Also, ministers will be judged for their work (1 Cor 3;12ff). Obviously we will be judged by our King.
Our danger is we want to judges our service for God to make sure our service is successful and right. How often does the church hang on to statistics and trust in demographics? How many Christian parents are at the edge of their seats waiting to assess whether they have been good parents or not by how their kids turn out? How many preachers judge using preaching as a marker for their personal happiness? How many Christians think they are either good or bad Christians because of the good or bad they do? To judge ourselves is an attempt to save ourselves.
Paul said, "I will not judge myself. It is the Lord who judges me" (1 Cor 4:3-4). In context he is referring to his ministry as an apostle, but all Christians should take his theme to their lives. It is dangerous to judge our service for God because we can rely on it rather than Jesus Christ. Karl Barth had it right when dealing with this subject. He calls Christians to remember that Jesus Christ is the judge. He is our hope. He calls us to again remember God's grace and our limits. Let me quote him.
"Here again we have a limit which the Christian can neither overlook nor overleap. He cannot overlook it because not even he can conceal from himself the fact that even his most loyal concern and strenuous effort to maintain his existence as a witness of Jesus Christ is always a human work like that of his fellows, so that, although he is charged to fulfil it, it cannot be his business to decide whether this fulfilment is good or bad, valuable or worthless, meaningful or meaningless. Nor can he overleap it, because he could do so only by grasping at that which does not belong to him, seating himself on the throne of Lord, judging both himself and the servants of another (Rom. 14:4), and thus trying to anticipate what the Lord has reserved for Himself. Again, it is an intolerably bitter thing for him to be confronted by this limit. For what courage or confidence can he have in the execution of his service when, even though he has the best possible conscience, he can have no knowledge whether even that which he has done with the best intentions and in exercise of his finest powers will finally be approved as serviceable or rejected as worthless, whether he will be accepted or repudiated in that which makes him a Christian? The severity of the question is to be considered. For the issue is quite simply whether the Christian has any option but in his own most proper concern to be like the poor heathen who optimistically or pessimistically can proceed only with uncertainty into a neutral, ambivalent and therefore obscure future. If he could not hope as a Christian, it would be all up with him. But since he may, all is not lost but won. He must not hope in himself. He must not hope that as a worker in the Lord’s vineyard he will finally do enough at least to assure his promotion, not perhaps cum laude, but at any rate rite. He must not hope in a friendly or not too exacting world which might finally hold out the prospect of a magna or insigni or even summa cum laude. He must not be distracted by such illusory possibilities. The Christian hopes in Jesus Christ, in Him alone, but in Him confidently. For He alone, but dependably, is the origin, theme and content of his hope, as of his faith and love. Can it hope in Him as the coming Judge? Yes, in Him as such, since as Judge He is the same as the One who then came in His resurrection and who is now present in the enlightening power of His Spirit. Not an unknown judge of fable, but He who is well-known to the Christian comes as Judge of the quick and the dead and therefore as his Judge. Not the Christian himself, nor the contemporary world, nor posterity, but He will judge and decide concerning his Christian witness, whether it is good or bad, valuable or worthless, meaningful or meaningless, gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, stubble. He will judge and decide concerning the sincerity of heart and integrity of mind with which he has discharged it. There can be no doubt that His judgment is the future of the whole world and therefore of the Christian too."
Our danger is we want to judges our service for God to make sure our service is successful and right. How often does the church hang on to statistics and trust in demographics? How many Christian parents are at the edge of their seats waiting to assess whether they have been good parents or not by how their kids turn out? How many preachers judge using preaching as a marker for their personal happiness? How many Christians think they are either good or bad Christians because of the good or bad they do? To judge ourselves is an attempt to save ourselves.
Paul said, "I will not judge myself. It is the Lord who judges me" (1 Cor 4:3-4). In context he is referring to his ministry as an apostle, but all Christians should take his theme to their lives. It is dangerous to judge our service for God because we can rely on it rather than Jesus Christ. Karl Barth had it right when dealing with this subject. He calls Christians to remember that Jesus Christ is the judge. He is our hope. He calls us to again remember God's grace and our limits. Let me quote him.
"Here again we have a limit which the Christian can neither overlook nor overleap. He cannot overlook it because not even he can conceal from himself the fact that even his most loyal concern and strenuous effort to maintain his existence as a witness of Jesus Christ is always a human work like that of his fellows, so that, although he is charged to fulfil it, it cannot be his business to decide whether this fulfilment is good or bad, valuable or worthless, meaningful or meaningless. Nor can he overleap it, because he could do so only by grasping at that which does not belong to him, seating himself on the throne of Lord, judging both himself and the servants of another (Rom. 14:4), and thus trying to anticipate what the Lord has reserved for Himself. Again, it is an intolerably bitter thing for him to be confronted by this limit. For what courage or confidence can he have in the execution of his service when, even though he has the best possible conscience, he can have no knowledge whether even that which he has done with the best intentions and in exercise of his finest powers will finally be approved as serviceable or rejected as worthless, whether he will be accepted or repudiated in that which makes him a Christian? The severity of the question is to be considered. For the issue is quite simply whether the Christian has any option but in his own most proper concern to be like the poor heathen who optimistically or pessimistically can proceed only with uncertainty into a neutral, ambivalent and therefore obscure future. If he could not hope as a Christian, it would be all up with him. But since he may, all is not lost but won. He must not hope in himself. He must not hope that as a worker in the Lord’s vineyard he will finally do enough at least to assure his promotion, not perhaps cum laude, but at any rate rite. He must not hope in a friendly or not too exacting world which might finally hold out the prospect of a magna or insigni or even summa cum laude. He must not be distracted by such illusory possibilities. The Christian hopes in Jesus Christ, in Him alone, but in Him confidently. For He alone, but dependably, is the origin, theme and content of his hope, as of his faith and love. Can it hope in Him as the coming Judge? Yes, in Him as such, since as Judge He is the same as the One who then came in His resurrection and who is now present in the enlightening power of His Spirit. Not an unknown judge of fable, but He who is well-known to the Christian comes as Judge of the quick and the dead and therefore as his Judge. Not the Christian himself, nor the contemporary world, nor posterity, but He will judge and decide concerning his Christian witness, whether it is good or bad, valuable or worthless, meaningful or meaningless, gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, stubble. He will judge and decide concerning the sincerity of heart and integrity of mind with which he has discharged it. There can be no doubt that His judgment is the future of the whole world and therefore of the Christian too."
Monday, November 17, 2008
The full and real work of Jesus
For a few hundred years now, Christians have had tunnel vision when it comes to the work of Jesus. We have learned the habit of thinking that truths such as Jesus’ cross and resurrection, reconciliation, being saved, the new birth, justification, and eternal life are something for personal salvation only. We are in the tunnel, we look to the end and all we see is Jesus’ gospel in connection with my individual salvation.
Does Jesus redeem us? Yes! Augustine told us to behold the incarnation of our Lord who became a personal man and understand his love for us personally. For who else can unravel the twisted and tangled knottiness of our foul sin which marred God’s image in us. It is your sin Jesus came to forgive. It is you he came to cleanse. Jesus our Lord came to save his people from their sins. And all of us as baptized members are personally members of his one body. Our personal salvation is part of Jesus’ real work. But if we think Jesus’ real work of redemption only includes our salvation from hell and flight to heaven we don’t have the whole story. What about life & creation?
Rather than having a tunnel-vision-gospel, we need to have a bible-vision-gospel. And that comes out in the Colossians 1:15-20 passage, particularly v.20. What brings Paul to make this astounding statement that changes our whole outlook about the end? He understands the real person and work of Jesus!
Read v.11-14. God our Father has qualified us to receive the inheritance of his kingdom and he has taken us from the Kingdom of darkness to put us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption the forgiveness of sins.
But who is Jesus. Read v.15-20. Jesus is God and man! Here, as in 1 Corinthians 8 and Philippians 2 the Shema contains Jesus. Here O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one! He is the very image of God, the revelation of JHWH himself. Jesus is...
Creator. He was the wisdom of God, the Father’s agent of creation. “For by him were all things created…” All things were created through him and for him! This perfectly fitted him to become human at his incarnation. And thus it perfectly fitted him to take the role of v.20 to be the Reconciler of his world.
Lord. Jesus is the first born of all creation. Meaning he is the first to rise from the dead as man in the new creation. He is first, now being the perfect human. Actually the risen body of Jesus is the one bit of this physical world that has already been put right. This why it is right and proper for him to be before all things, the sovereign ruler over creation, the head of the church, the supreme pre-eminent Lord, the judge of the world (Acts 17:30-31).
So Jesus as the God–man has become what he always was; the pre-existent Lord and Creator of the world (God). But he has also become the human Lord of the world. You can see why in him all the fullness of God dwells. So this world can now see God. Actually the times of ignorance is now over (Acts 17:30). Of course he is eminently, wonderfully perfectly fitted to be the Saviour of v.20.
Redeemer. This is the thrust of v.20. Jesus is the redeemer of his people and his creation. As Creator and Lord it was through him the Father reconciled all things whether on earth or in heaven to himself. Jesus has made peace through the blood of his cross. Through his sacrifice, healing, restoration, forgiveness, and peace between man and God, man and creation, man and man has been made and will be practiced forever.
So the real work of Jesus the Creator, Lord, and Redeemer is to reconcile his own creation and people back to the holy God. To reconcile means to restore to peace and harmony. Jesus real work is to restore sinners by rescuing them and forgiving them, and to restore our created world to its intended place of peace, justice, and harmony.
Does Jesus redeem us? Yes! Augustine told us to behold the incarnation of our Lord who became a personal man and understand his love for us personally. For who else can unravel the twisted and tangled knottiness of our foul sin which marred God’s image in us. It is your sin Jesus came to forgive. It is you he came to cleanse. Jesus our Lord came to save his people from their sins. And all of us as baptized members are personally members of his one body. Our personal salvation is part of Jesus’ real work. But if we think Jesus’ real work of redemption only includes our salvation from hell and flight to heaven we don’t have the whole story. What about life & creation?
Rather than having a tunnel-vision-gospel, we need to have a bible-vision-gospel. And that comes out in the Colossians 1:15-20 passage, particularly v.20. What brings Paul to make this astounding statement that changes our whole outlook about the end? He understands the real person and work of Jesus!
Read v.11-14. God our Father has qualified us to receive the inheritance of his kingdom and he has taken us from the Kingdom of darkness to put us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption the forgiveness of sins.
But who is Jesus. Read v.15-20. Jesus is God and man! Here, as in 1 Corinthians 8 and Philippians 2 the Shema contains Jesus. Here O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one! He is the very image of God, the revelation of JHWH himself. Jesus is...
Creator. He was the wisdom of God, the Father’s agent of creation. “For by him were all things created…” All things were created through him and for him! This perfectly fitted him to become human at his incarnation. And thus it perfectly fitted him to take the role of v.20 to be the Reconciler of his world.
Lord. Jesus is the first born of all creation. Meaning he is the first to rise from the dead as man in the new creation. He is first, now being the perfect human. Actually the risen body of Jesus is the one bit of this physical world that has already been put right. This why it is right and proper for him to be before all things, the sovereign ruler over creation, the head of the church, the supreme pre-eminent Lord, the judge of the world (Acts 17:30-31).
So Jesus as the God–man has become what he always was; the pre-existent Lord and Creator of the world (God). But he has also become the human Lord of the world. You can see why in him all the fullness of God dwells. So this world can now see God. Actually the times of ignorance is now over (Acts 17:30). Of course he is eminently, wonderfully perfectly fitted to be the Saviour of v.20.
Redeemer. This is the thrust of v.20. Jesus is the redeemer of his people and his creation. As Creator and Lord it was through him the Father reconciled all things whether on earth or in heaven to himself. Jesus has made peace through the blood of his cross. Through his sacrifice, healing, restoration, forgiveness, and peace between man and God, man and creation, man and man has been made and will be practiced forever.
So the real work of Jesus the Creator, Lord, and Redeemer is to reconcile his own creation and people back to the holy God. To reconcile means to restore to peace and harmony. Jesus real work is to restore sinners by rescuing them and forgiving them, and to restore our created world to its intended place of peace, justice, and harmony.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Understanding and love go hand in hand
Augustine wrote this about hermeneutics in his, On Christian Doctrine. “It is to be understood that the plenitude and the end of the Law and of all the sacred Scriptures is the love of a Being which is to be enjoyed and of a being that can share that enjoyment with us…Whoever, therefore, thinks that he understands the divine Scriptures or any part of them so that it does not build the double love of God and of our neighbour does not understand it at all.”
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
God, and lying to ourselves.
Somewhere in his brilliant writtings Dostoyevsky said, "Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others.” What can break this aweful sin of turning away from God and ourselves? Only God's grace. He by his revelation in Jesus Christ turns us around to face the truth about him and then we learn the truth about ourselves.
We often say the truth hurts so we hide hurt from ourselves. But can we say knowing God and ourselves hurts? Yes and no. Yes, when God loves us in his Son and turns us around to face him we realize how captured to evil we have really been. Real regret sinks in, and this hurts. But no, in that we are glad to be found out, and be turned around. I think we know even while we are lying to ourselves about our accomplishments and our sins themselves that we need to be turned around by God. When this happens by his grace we are glad.
We often say the truth hurts so we hide hurt from ourselves. But can we say knowing God and ourselves hurts? Yes and no. Yes, when God loves us in his Son and turns us around to face him we realize how captured to evil we have really been. Real regret sinks in, and this hurts. But no, in that we are glad to be found out, and be turned around. I think we know even while we are lying to ourselves about our accomplishments and our sins themselves that we need to be turned around by God. When this happens by his grace we are glad.
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