Social justice is just alright.

There's been a lot of talk about social justice recently within Evangelical Christian circles. Notably, a lot of this talk has come from people who are - or lean - to being Reformed, theologically speaking.

I think that's in large part a good thing. If we just look at the commands of our Lord, we see an intensity in his commands regarding taking care of peoples' physical needs. And these folks - the ones who are often touting the need for social action on the behalf of Christians - are often talking about it in the context of seeing people hear about and submit to Jesus.

That's good.

Here's the bad - social justice is often talked about as if it is part of how the Kingdom of God is expanding. It's not. The Kingdom is in no way physical now. Look here.

The Kingdom is the reign of Jesus as sovereign Lord of the universe. And he reigns in souls. That reign affects the outside world - but homeless shelters will be destroyed when Jesus comes back. So will soup kitchens. So will houses you've built for the poor.

Those things are good. And they are some effects of the Kingdom. But they are not the Kingdom.

Now... is this just semantic, theological nit-picking? No. Here's why. The poor, oppressed people that you help do not enter the Kingdom without hearing and believing the Gospel. They get judged by it. The don't enter the Kingdom of Heaven; they enter hell.

Taking care of the poor is good. It's the effects of the Kingdom. Or in normal language, it's merely obeying the King's laws. But the Kingdom is only expanded by Jesus' actions, through the Holy Spirit's activity in the preaching of the gospel, in the unseen souls of people.

And one day that faith will be SIGHT! And those of us in Christ will have what we wait for.

Look here.

Sermon from Psalm 8 (Notes)

Psalm 8 Notes

INTRO
-me and the psalms
-the purpose of the psalms (didactic, worship, Jesus)
-In short, this psalm is about how God glorifies himself
-FCF – we don’t worship God like we should – but Scripture is here to help!
-worship – this psalm exists to glorify God for his creation, election, man’s authority over creation (3 points)
-Pray, 3 points, then worship God by reading this together


I God worshiped for creation (v. 1)
-Psalm 19:1-3
-suppression of truth (Rom. 1)
-lens of Scripture (?) (here!)

II God worshiped for election (v. 2)
-God has ordained praise from infants – and shames enemies
elect: (Deut 9:4-6; Deut. 7:7, 8; 1 sam 16; Matt. 11:25ff; 1 Cor. 1)
non-elect: (2 Chr. 34:25; Ps. 21:8-12; Rom. 8:7-8; Col. 1:21; John 8:42-44)

III God worshiped for man’s authority over creation (vv. 3-8)
-God has set us above all things (incl. angels)!
-in creation
-examples (art, architecture, agriculture, food)
-We don’t see us above all things now
-Heb. 2:8
-examples (sickness, animal attack, natural disaster, earthly decay, death)
-we see us as subjects!
-But we do see Christ above all things
-Heb. 2:9 (explain) (ATONEMENT!)
-Earned exaltation! (Heb. 1:1-3, Col. 3:1; Rev. 5:9, 10, etc.)
-Christ above all things -> those in Christ above all things (now and future)
now: Eph. 2:6, 7; Rom. 6:9-12;
future: -Eph. 2:6, 7; Rom. 5:17; 2 tim 2:12; Rev. 22:5

Conclusion – Everything exists for the glory of God! (v. 9!)
-3 points
-Therefore, glorify God!
-read