I've taken it on myself to start reading pop-Christian literature. I usually don't because, well, there's a lot of really good Bible teaching stuff out there.
Take that as you will.
Anyway, I watched Driscoll on "The Shack" last night, and was pleasantly encouraged to see his analysis was very similar to my own. One verse he drew on that I forgot about was this:
God has said in Romans 1:22-23, "Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things."
Whoops.
Whoops seems a light word when that 'mistake' results in the wrath of God, actually (from 1:18 and 2:1-11).
So I've started reading Blue Like Jazz. First impressions:
1) Miller has an amazing ability to write conversationally.
2) These conversations, so far, have done a great job pointing out the sin of man. He's done an excellent job showing how universal it is. He's done a great job showing how it's rooted in the self - in self-pleasure. He's done a great job showing that infects even the good things we do. He's done a great job in showing that everyone is sinful. Awesome.
3) He does a lot of needless ripping on nameless, descriptionless 'fundamentalists.' I'm not sure that's edifying or loving to certain people in the Church.
4) He makes a big deal out of being a political liberal. Eh, frustrating. I'd never say that being a Christian means you have to vote Republican (at least without some argument from Scripture), but at the same time, I don't like it. I think ALL Christians should have some sort of biblical political ethic - a biblical basis for what they think government should be and how we should interact with it - before engaging in such speech. Both Republicans and Democrats. Let's elevate God's words, not our unfounded opinions. Again, that goes for you all on both sides. Knock it off.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Legalism and "The Shack"
I love the Gospel. I love safeguarding the Gospel. And so when it comes to Gospel-attacking doctrines – those of Rome, some New Perspective on Paul ideas, the replacing of the Gospel with an experience of ‘personal relationship’ without doctrine in some of the emergent or seeker-oriented movements – I get mad.
And I think there’re two good reasons to get mad about that. First, those things are assaults on who the God of all glory has revealed himself to be. They’re attacks on God himself. Second, get the Gospel wrong, and you send people to hell. (Galatians 1:8, 9; Galatians 5:4; Romans 9:30-10:4; 1 John 4:1-3, etc.)
They just go a little more comfortably. And with a few more ‘spiritual experiences’ under their belt.
That said, people like me, including me, can often get really legalistic about doctrine. What I mean by that is this: we have a situation in which God has spoken into the world. We are to believe what he says. To refuse to believe what he has said is rebellion.
So wrong doctrine isn’t merely the result of poor exegesis – it’s the result of sin.
That said, some of us doctrine hounds expect the intensity and soundness of our arguments to change people . We want to shake their shoulders and shout, “Why don’t you GET it???”
We forget two things. 1) Assuming the person’s a Christian, they stand forgiven before God. 2) Again, assuming the person’s a Christian, we’re forgetting that the Holy Spirit is working on their hearts in varied degrees in different areas.
And so we can get legalistic. Expect perfection out of people, etc. That’s bad. We need to treat people in light of Jesus’ sovereignty. Sometimes I forget that.
So when I picked up the new book “The Shack,” having heard about it, I was ready to give it the benefit of the doubt. I was ready to find Scripturally sound, edifying ideas expressed in it. Did I?
If you don’t know the story, a man’s kid dies, and he gets an invitation from God to have a chat. And the first thing that we see is that this guy had gone to seminary, where he learned that God had stopped speaking with the Scriptures - which is CLEARLY wrong according to what the book says.
Now, I don’t know why that mention is even there. Why the need to rip on people who are trying to learn and teach God's word? Why is there a need to tear down those who know more about the Bible than we do?
And then why the need to take a pot-shot at people who believe the canon of Scripture is closed - and that it alone is authoritative and sufficient for Christian life? It’s not necessary in the plot. I’m confused.
Well, and mad. I do think the Bible is sufficient (2 Timothy 3:16-17). So does God, by the way.
So the dude goes to the shack and meets the Trinity. All three persons of which are manifested physically. God the Father’s a black woman, and the Holy Spirit is an Asian woman who reminds me of Lucy Liu.
So here’s the beginning of the big problem with the book – it’s an attack on the nature of God. John 1:18 and 1 John 4:12 both say “No one has ever seen God.” 1 Timothy 6:16 says that no one has ever seen – nor can they see – God the Father. That’s because, as Jesus said in John 4:24 – ‘God is Spirit.’
So first, The Shack represents God in a way that Scripture does not represent him. Not only does this strongly imply that the picture of God that Scripture gives isn’t good enough, it also paints a picture of God that isn’t Scriptural.
The second commandment of the ten is that there should be no images of God (Ex. 20:4). Paul preaches in Acts 17:29 that we should not think of God as something we could fashion or imagine. Remember: the ancient Israelites were punished in the desert not because they worshiped some random calf god – it was because they made an image and called it God – the LORD (Ex. 32:5). And God had not represented himself that way.
There were consequences from the hand of God the Almighty. How is creating a picture of God that Scripture does not give us not idolatry? This is serious business. Read Deuteronomy 4-5. Deuteronomy 9:12-14. Psalm 106:19-20 tells us why this is so significant – God has showed us how glorious he is by what he has spoken in his word (see also Deut 4) – to make an image is to rob him of his glory.
That’s kind of a ‘duh’ statement. Images exist to show off the things of which they are images!
So a false image results in false glory. And false glory is a false god, results in false worship, and is altogether a different religion.
And if God is physical, then we’re talking Mormonism - or a very similar heresy. Well, except for the Mormons’ (recently recanted) racism. And at least the Mormons get it right and refer to God as masculine since, well, the Bible does.
So yeah, there’s that. So then there was a discussion in the book of how limited human freedom really is – by circumstances, environment, experiences. Good insight. I was ready for good at this point...
And then – THEN – there was an orthodox definition of the Trinity in these pages! I was surprised! So pleasantly. I think I praised God.
And then the author proceeded to mock that definition as useless. I don’t know if he’s ignorant of the fact that my brothers and sisters in Christ of old died for that definition. I don’t know if he’s ignorant of the fact that that definition comes out of Scripture. And so he’s calling something Scripture teaches about who God is – useless.
I do hope this isn’t intentional.
Somewhere along the line, Jesus clumsily drops and ruins dinner. Whoops. Then the ‘Father’ and ‘Spirit’ make fun of him.
“And let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb. 10:28, 29)
Hm.
There’s something that’s really insidious that this book implies, though. Consider these Scriptures: John 1:14; John 1:18; John 14:1-11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:1-3.
Jesus himself is the image of the Father. He is the full revelation of all of the glory of God. The New Testament is the record of his words and activities on earth, and as Hebrews says, the consummation of God revealing himself to humanity (until the end – 1 John 3:1-2).
To commend to us – to even suggest – another image of the Father – is an affront to the sufficiency of Jesus, an insult to the incarnation – and at the very least, a misunderstanding of who Jesus even is – and thus what knowing God is.
I’m sure the author didn’t intend this; but this book is destructive. It replaces the Father with an idol, true worship with false, and the sufficiency of Jesus with – the book "The Shack" itself. It is at best dangerous for our knowledge of God and true worship, and at worst, heresy.
I haven’t yet finished the book. My wife’s a little ahead of me in it. She tells me the author assaults the idea of hierarchy in the Trinity. No big surprise. Not heresy, but wrong.
I haven’t yet got to the author explaining the problem of evil, which is the purpose of the book. If his explanation is anything like his picture of God, then I fear it. Perhaps at a later date I’ll throw out there the Bible’s answers to the problem of evil.
This book raises the question – is Christian fiction okay? What about Pilgrim’s Progress? What about The Chronicles of Narnia?
There’s a big difference. Those two works are allegories. They do not purport to represent God as he actually is; but rather, give analogies for understanding things expressed explicitly in Scripture. They do not presume to speak for God.
Please, do not waste your time with this book. Spend your time with Scripture – and see how God reveals himself – and reveals himself fully – in the person, the man Jesus Christ. Know him thus, and worship him.
And I think there’re two good reasons to get mad about that. First, those things are assaults on who the God of all glory has revealed himself to be. They’re attacks on God himself. Second, get the Gospel wrong, and you send people to hell. (Galatians 1:8, 9; Galatians 5:4; Romans 9:30-10:4; 1 John 4:1-3, etc.)
They just go a little more comfortably. And with a few more ‘spiritual experiences’ under their belt.
That said, people like me, including me, can often get really legalistic about doctrine. What I mean by that is this: we have a situation in which God has spoken into the world. We are to believe what he says. To refuse to believe what he has said is rebellion.
So wrong doctrine isn’t merely the result of poor exegesis – it’s the result of sin.
That said, some of us doctrine hounds expect the intensity and soundness of our arguments to change people . We want to shake their shoulders and shout, “Why don’t you GET it???”
We forget two things. 1) Assuming the person’s a Christian, they stand forgiven before God. 2) Again, assuming the person’s a Christian, we’re forgetting that the Holy Spirit is working on their hearts in varied degrees in different areas.
And so we can get legalistic. Expect perfection out of people, etc. That’s bad. We need to treat people in light of Jesus’ sovereignty. Sometimes I forget that.
So when I picked up the new book “The Shack,” having heard about it, I was ready to give it the benefit of the doubt. I was ready to find Scripturally sound, edifying ideas expressed in it. Did I?
If you don’t know the story, a man’s kid dies, and he gets an invitation from God to have a chat. And the first thing that we see is that this guy had gone to seminary, where he learned that God had stopped speaking with the Scriptures - which is CLEARLY wrong according to what the book says.
Now, I don’t know why that mention is even there. Why the need to rip on people who are trying to learn and teach God's word? Why is there a need to tear down those who know more about the Bible than we do?
And then why the need to take a pot-shot at people who believe the canon of Scripture is closed - and that it alone is authoritative and sufficient for Christian life? It’s not necessary in the plot. I’m confused.
Well, and mad. I do think the Bible is sufficient (2 Timothy 3:16-17). So does God, by the way.
So the dude goes to the shack and meets the Trinity. All three persons of which are manifested physically. God the Father’s a black woman, and the Holy Spirit is an Asian woman who reminds me of Lucy Liu.
So here’s the beginning of the big problem with the book – it’s an attack on the nature of God. John 1:18 and 1 John 4:12 both say “No one has ever seen God.” 1 Timothy 6:16 says that no one has ever seen – nor can they see – God the Father. That’s because, as Jesus said in John 4:24 – ‘God is Spirit.’
So first, The Shack represents God in a way that Scripture does not represent him. Not only does this strongly imply that the picture of God that Scripture gives isn’t good enough, it also paints a picture of God that isn’t Scriptural.
The second commandment of the ten is that there should be no images of God (Ex. 20:4). Paul preaches in Acts 17:29 that we should not think of God as something we could fashion or imagine. Remember: the ancient Israelites were punished in the desert not because they worshiped some random calf god – it was because they made an image and called it God – the LORD (Ex. 32:5). And God had not represented himself that way.
There were consequences from the hand of God the Almighty. How is creating a picture of God that Scripture does not give us not idolatry? This is serious business. Read Deuteronomy 4-5. Deuteronomy 9:12-14. Psalm 106:19-20 tells us why this is so significant – God has showed us how glorious he is by what he has spoken in his word (see also Deut 4) – to make an image is to rob him of his glory.
That’s kind of a ‘duh’ statement. Images exist to show off the things of which they are images!
So a false image results in false glory. And false glory is a false god, results in false worship, and is altogether a different religion.
And if God is physical, then we’re talking Mormonism - or a very similar heresy. Well, except for the Mormons’ (recently recanted) racism. And at least the Mormons get it right and refer to God as masculine since, well, the Bible does.
So yeah, there’s that. So then there was a discussion in the book of how limited human freedom really is – by circumstances, environment, experiences. Good insight. I was ready for good at this point...
And then – THEN – there was an orthodox definition of the Trinity in these pages! I was surprised! So pleasantly. I think I praised God.
And then the author proceeded to mock that definition as useless. I don’t know if he’s ignorant of the fact that my brothers and sisters in Christ of old died for that definition. I don’t know if he’s ignorant of the fact that that definition comes out of Scripture. And so he’s calling something Scripture teaches about who God is – useless.
I do hope this isn’t intentional.
Somewhere along the line, Jesus clumsily drops and ruins dinner. Whoops. Then the ‘Father’ and ‘Spirit’ make fun of him.
“And let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb. 10:28, 29)
Hm.
There’s something that’s really insidious that this book implies, though. Consider these Scriptures: John 1:14; John 1:18; John 14:1-11; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:1-3.
Jesus himself is the image of the Father. He is the full revelation of all of the glory of God. The New Testament is the record of his words and activities on earth, and as Hebrews says, the consummation of God revealing himself to humanity (until the end – 1 John 3:1-2).
To commend to us – to even suggest – another image of the Father – is an affront to the sufficiency of Jesus, an insult to the incarnation – and at the very least, a misunderstanding of who Jesus even is – and thus what knowing God is.
I’m sure the author didn’t intend this; but this book is destructive. It replaces the Father with an idol, true worship with false, and the sufficiency of Jesus with – the book "The Shack" itself. It is at best dangerous for our knowledge of God and true worship, and at worst, heresy.
I haven’t yet finished the book. My wife’s a little ahead of me in it. She tells me the author assaults the idea of hierarchy in the Trinity. No big surprise. Not heresy, but wrong.
I haven’t yet got to the author explaining the problem of evil, which is the purpose of the book. If his explanation is anything like his picture of God, then I fear it. Perhaps at a later date I’ll throw out there the Bible’s answers to the problem of evil.
This book raises the question – is Christian fiction okay? What about Pilgrim’s Progress? What about The Chronicles of Narnia?
There’s a big difference. Those two works are allegories. They do not purport to represent God as he actually is; but rather, give analogies for understanding things expressed explicitly in Scripture. They do not presume to speak for God.
Please, do not waste your time with this book. Spend your time with Scripture – and see how God reveals himself – and reveals himself fully – in the person, the man Jesus Christ. Know him thus, and worship him.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Whole of History - Part II
Romans 1:3, 4
We’ve seen that God plucked Paul out of his own rebellion to appoint him to be a deliverer of God’s good news – even to us!
In these verses we begin to see the contents of that good news: The gospel is “concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord…”
First we see that the Gospel is about the Son of God – Jesus. The good news is good because of Jesus, who has a unique relationship with the Father: he is THE Son of God. Isn’t it easy to lose focus on Jesus? Even in spiritual things? Think about your own spiritual life. Do you sometimes forget him? When you sing, do you always remember Jesus? When you read? When you talk about spiritual things with other Christians?
But to forget Christ is certainly not Christian. This good news is about him, after all!
This Jesus was the Son of God – but he was also the son of David. He was a human, born into the world. And more – born into David’s kingly line. That’s important, because if you look at 2 Samuel chapter 7, you’ll see that God promised David that his kingly line would last forever. And David’s kingdom was characterized by peace, prosperity, and the pursuit of obedience to God!
But it was not perfect. It was certainly better than the political and natural strife that existed in the day, but it was just a little taste of something good.
Jesus is descended from David. He was born – a real human – into a broken world - with a promise that his Kingdom would last forever...
But what’s this ‘according to the flesh’ thing mean? And what does it mean that Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection”?
Consider Isaiah 31:3 - The Egyptians are man, and not God,
and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the LORD stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
And consider the Lord’s own words in John 3:6 and 6:63 - "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
And
"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."
And Romans 8:9 says this: "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him."
There are countless verses about the flesh-Spirit contrast. But the key is this: The “Flesh” is the old world. It’s unsaved, unredeemed, and bears the curse of sin. It’s controlled by it.
THAT’S the world the Son of God was physically born into as the heir to David’s throne.
It’s good news that Jesus, very God(!), entered our evil, suffering world. But he didn’t just do that. He died and rose again in the ‘Spirit of holiness.’ Well, the Spirit in this whole contrast is the new world. It’s the world in which Jesus bears authority – or ‘power’ in this verse. It’s the world in which he’s acting as Lord. (The Holy Spirit - very God - came and marked out the beginning of this new world 2,000 years ago!)
And what does Jesus do with his authority? “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” (Mark 2:10)
Jesus, by rising from the dead, became King of a new world in the midst of an old world controlled by death. He is the acquitter of our many rebellions and the giver of eternal life. And if we’ve believed, he is indeed our Lord; he has given us entry into his new world.
Sometimes life sucks, doesn’t it? We’re still in this old world. But Jesus entered into it, and he began a new world by rising from the dead – a new world where he is King, forgiver of sins, and granter of eternal life with him.
Praise Him!
We’ve seen that God plucked Paul out of his own rebellion to appoint him to be a deliverer of God’s good news – even to us!
In these verses we begin to see the contents of that good news: The gospel is “concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord…”
First we see that the Gospel is about the Son of God – Jesus. The good news is good because of Jesus, who has a unique relationship with the Father: he is THE Son of God. Isn’t it easy to lose focus on Jesus? Even in spiritual things? Think about your own spiritual life. Do you sometimes forget him? When you sing, do you always remember Jesus? When you read? When you talk about spiritual things with other Christians?
But to forget Christ is certainly not Christian. This good news is about him, after all!
This Jesus was the Son of God – but he was also the son of David. He was a human, born into the world. And more – born into David’s kingly line. That’s important, because if you look at 2 Samuel chapter 7, you’ll see that God promised David that his kingly line would last forever. And David’s kingdom was characterized by peace, prosperity, and the pursuit of obedience to God!
But it was not perfect. It was certainly better than the political and natural strife that existed in the day, but it was just a little taste of something good.
Jesus is descended from David. He was born – a real human – into a broken world - with a promise that his Kingdom would last forever...
But what’s this ‘according to the flesh’ thing mean? And what does it mean that Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection”?
Consider Isaiah 31:3 - The Egyptians are man, and not God,
and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the LORD stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
And consider the Lord’s own words in John 3:6 and 6:63 - "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
And
"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."
And Romans 8:9 says this: "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him."
There are countless verses about the flesh-Spirit contrast. But the key is this: The “Flesh” is the old world. It’s unsaved, unredeemed, and bears the curse of sin. It’s controlled by it.
THAT’S the world the Son of God was physically born into as the heir to David’s throne.
It’s good news that Jesus, very God(!), entered our evil, suffering world. But he didn’t just do that. He died and rose again in the ‘Spirit of holiness.’ Well, the Spirit in this whole contrast is the new world. It’s the world in which Jesus bears authority – or ‘power’ in this verse. It’s the world in which he’s acting as Lord. (The Holy Spirit - very God - came and marked out the beginning of this new world 2,000 years ago!)
And what does Jesus do with his authority? “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” (Mark 2:10)
Jesus, by rising from the dead, became King of a new world in the midst of an old world controlled by death. He is the acquitter of our many rebellions and the giver of eternal life. And if we’ve believed, he is indeed our Lord; he has given us entry into his new world.
Sometimes life sucks, doesn’t it? We’re still in this old world. But Jesus entered into it, and he began a new world by rising from the dead – a new world where he is King, forgiver of sins, and granter of eternal life with him.
Praise Him!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The Sabbath's for YOU, Christian!
Here are some observations about what the Scripture says about the Sabbath – the holy day of rest during the week. This isn’t a full out proof, per se, but is meant for a starting place for us to look at the Scriptures. I think the combined force of what follows shows us that the Sabbath is indeed for Christians. That said, some observations:
1) Jesus in talking about the Sabbath never canceled it.
2) The 10 commandments are viewed as a distinct unit and the unit that governs the rest of the Laws in the OT.
3) The 10 commandments are binding on our activity as believers, though we’re not judged by them.
4) The 10 commandments are what is written on the hearts of believers.
5) Keeping a day as separate for the Lord started with creation – not with the nation of Israel.
6) Sabbath worship is for worship of God (it’s holy), but it is also for the good of the people of God.
7) That’s because Sabbath worship is to entail communion with God through the means he’s established (preaching, worship, prayer, the sacraments, fellowship in the Church).
8) The Sabbath points to resting in Jesus. Though it’s true that this rest has entered history, it is a grave error to believe that it is fulfilled now in our world or experience. We look forward to a future rest, just as the Israelites did; we just view it as having begun in history.
9) The NT Church continued to meet together regularly on the first day of the week, putting worldly pursuits aside.
10) Though our whole lives are to be about worship, certain things are instituted so that we will worship apart from normal, daily activity – with all of who we are focused on God.
11) Nowhere in Scripture is the (weird!) notion that God removed the old commandments and completely put new commandments into effect. Jesus exposited the Law (itself an exposition of the first command ever given in Genesis 1) – he didn’t replace it!
1) Jesus in talking about the Sabbath never canceled it.
2) The 10 commandments are viewed as a distinct unit and the unit that governs the rest of the Laws in the OT.
3) The 10 commandments are binding on our activity as believers, though we’re not judged by them.
4) The 10 commandments are what is written on the hearts of believers.
5) Keeping a day as separate for the Lord started with creation – not with the nation of Israel.
6) Sabbath worship is for worship of God (it’s holy), but it is also for the good of the people of God.
7) That’s because Sabbath worship is to entail communion with God through the means he’s established (preaching, worship, prayer, the sacraments, fellowship in the Church).
8) The Sabbath points to resting in Jesus. Though it’s true that this rest has entered history, it is a grave error to believe that it is fulfilled now in our world or experience. We look forward to a future rest, just as the Israelites did; we just view it as having begun in history.
9) The NT Church continued to meet together regularly on the first day of the week, putting worldly pursuits aside.
10) Though our whole lives are to be about worship, certain things are instituted so that we will worship apart from normal, daily activity – with all of who we are focused on God.
11) Nowhere in Scripture is the (weird!) notion that God removed the old commandments and completely put new commandments into effect. Jesus exposited the Law (itself an exposition of the first command ever given in Genesis 1) – he didn’t replace it!
Devotional - The Whole of History (Part I)
Devotional – The Whole of History - Romans 1:1-2
Paul's introduction in the book of Romans is not really about Paul; it's about God, and all that God has done and will do in the history of his creation.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
It’s so interesting that in the introductory part of the letter, Paul immediately takes the attention off of himself – and puts it squarely on God. And he does so as an apostle – one speaking God’s words; so we can conclude this: God is a very God-centered God. God cares most about God. Paul’s identity is as a bearer of God’s good news – not in boasting about what he’s done or who he is. And God has communicated to people through Paul. God chose to speak to us!
which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
And this identity isn’t totally even unique to Paul. Paul’s merely the bearer of God’s message. To us, that begs two questions. 1) Am I in submission to this message as I read God’s word? Really? 2) How do I think of myself? Do I make much of me? Do I seek good things outside of the gospel? Or do I celebrate what was promised –
“Thus says the LORD:
‘Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed.” (Isaiah 56:1)
And this promise – the promise of the gospel that happened through the prophets before Jesus – this does a couple things. First, it confirms the message we now hear. The good news about salvation, forgiveness, and the Kingdom because of Jesus’ death and resurrection – is true. Oh let it sink into our hearts that this is reality!
Second, it shows us that the promise that had not been realized – but NOW, God has begun to fulfill his promises. We live in the era of world history in which God has revealed himself: Jesus has showed us the only God – our Creator – since he is our Creator – the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). This is cause for celebration!
Consider all the good news in these verses – God is about God. God has chosen to communicate his words to people. God brings us good news. God verifies this good news. God has revealed to us the fullness of the good news – in the person and work of Jesus the Messiah, the one who died, who lives, who reigns, and who is coming to judge and to gather his people to himself. Praise be to God!
Paul's introduction in the book of Romans is not really about Paul; it's about God, and all that God has done and will do in the history of his creation.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
It’s so interesting that in the introductory part of the letter, Paul immediately takes the attention off of himself – and puts it squarely on God. And he does so as an apostle – one speaking God’s words; so we can conclude this: God is a very God-centered God. God cares most about God. Paul’s identity is as a bearer of God’s good news – not in boasting about what he’s done or who he is. And God has communicated to people through Paul. God chose to speak to us!
which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
And this identity isn’t totally even unique to Paul. Paul’s merely the bearer of God’s message. To us, that begs two questions. 1) Am I in submission to this message as I read God’s word? Really? 2) How do I think of myself? Do I make much of me? Do I seek good things outside of the gospel? Or do I celebrate what was promised –
“Thus says the LORD:
‘Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed.” (Isaiah 56:1)
And this promise – the promise of the gospel that happened through the prophets before Jesus – this does a couple things. First, it confirms the message we now hear. The good news about salvation, forgiveness, and the Kingdom because of Jesus’ death and resurrection – is true. Oh let it sink into our hearts that this is reality!
Second, it shows us that the promise that had not been realized – but NOW, God has begun to fulfill his promises. We live in the era of world history in which God has revealed himself: Jesus has showed us the only God – our Creator – since he is our Creator – the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). This is cause for celebration!
Consider all the good news in these verses – God is about God. God has chosen to communicate his words to people. God brings us good news. God verifies this good news. God has revealed to us the fullness of the good news – in the person and work of Jesus the Messiah, the one who died, who lives, who reigns, and who is coming to judge and to gather his people to himself. Praise be to God!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Devotionals
What's right below this post is the first in a series of devotionals I hope to write daily. It's helpful for me - and I hope it's helpful for you! May God's grace, through his word and Spirit, show us his glory in Jesus for our good!
Let me know if this is helpful or not.
Also - I just found out you can subscribe to not only this blog - but to notes on Facebook. So if you're reading this on Facebook, just hit that little 'subscribe' button if you want.
Let me know if this is helpful or not.
Also - I just found out you can subscribe to not only this blog - but to notes on Facebook. So if you're reading this on Facebook, just hit that little 'subscribe' button if you want.
Devotional - The End of Acts
I just finished reading Acts – the apostle Paul was shipwrecked at Malta and imprisoned at Rome for several years, waiting to appear before Caesar – the most powerful man in the world at the time. Paul – a former persecutor of God’s people, whom God converted at the right time (Galatians 1) in the same way that he created the world - by divine decree (2 Corinthians 4, Romans 4).
How does this apply to me, exactly?
1) God deserves the glory for Paul’s conversion and ministry from me. My response must be praising God for his actions.
2) Paul frequently, as in Colossians 2 and 3, uses his chains as a defense of his apostleship – for the sake of the faith of the people he wrote to – for their faith. Paul’s imprisonment, and the writings about it, therefore, are for increasing my faith.
3) Paul’s shipwreck, ministry, miracles, and imprisonment – and opportunities to preach the gospel – were by God’s divine decree. God said through Jeremiah, “Who has spoken and it came to pass unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?” (Lamentations 3:37, 38) And so is the spread of the gospel by divine decree – by the work of the Spirit, not some silly notion of human free will. God brings his children into his kingdom – and has done so through Paul. I should Praise God for how he has spread the gospel through the world.
4) Paul’s ministry is characterized by two activities – preaching about God’s kingdom and doing miracles. The response to those things is either acceptance of the gospel – of Jesus as King – or persecution. This should sound remarkably familiar – because it mirrors Jesus’ ministry. Paul, as an apostle, was showing off Jesus to the world in Jesus’ stead. These writings, then, to us, are a picture of Jesus. They’re a re-confirmation of Jesus’ work. Jesus has saved us who believe by his death and life – and the transmission of his message through the apostles, and thus through the Scriptures and those who preach them. This is all by his divine authority and decree. Thanks be to God!
5) Paul awaited his appearance before Caesar - the world's most powerful king - while in prison and proclaiming a different King - whose Kingdom was of a different realm - in which there is forgiveness for sins. The Kingdom we inherit is other worldly - thank God!
How does this apply to me, exactly?
1) God deserves the glory for Paul’s conversion and ministry from me. My response must be praising God for his actions.
2) Paul frequently, as in Colossians 2 and 3, uses his chains as a defense of his apostleship – for the sake of the faith of the people he wrote to – for their faith. Paul’s imprisonment, and the writings about it, therefore, are for increasing my faith.
3) Paul’s shipwreck, ministry, miracles, and imprisonment – and opportunities to preach the gospel – were by God’s divine decree. God said through Jeremiah, “Who has spoken and it came to pass unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?” (Lamentations 3:37, 38) And so is the spread of the gospel by divine decree – by the work of the Spirit, not some silly notion of human free will. God brings his children into his kingdom – and has done so through Paul. I should Praise God for how he has spread the gospel through the world.
4) Paul’s ministry is characterized by two activities – preaching about God’s kingdom and doing miracles. The response to those things is either acceptance of the gospel – of Jesus as King – or persecution. This should sound remarkably familiar – because it mirrors Jesus’ ministry. Paul, as an apostle, was showing off Jesus to the world in Jesus’ stead. These writings, then, to us, are a picture of Jesus. They’re a re-confirmation of Jesus’ work. Jesus has saved us who believe by his death and life – and the transmission of his message through the apostles, and thus through the Scriptures and those who preach them. This is all by his divine authority and decree. Thanks be to God!
5) Paul awaited his appearance before Caesar - the world's most powerful king - while in prison and proclaiming a different King - whose Kingdom was of a different realm - in which there is forgiveness for sins. The Kingdom we inherit is other worldly - thank God!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Wisdom from the world of sin… and how I fell prey to it
It’s amazing how things are bandied around among Christians as if they’re wise, even though they have no root in Scripture. Well, not really amazing. It happened in the Old Testament Church (Matt 15:1-9) and the New Testament Church (Col. 2:16-23).
One such thing – and since I’m in parachurch ministry I hear this all the time – is the need for multi-generational fellowship in the Church. The belief that we need the experience of people older than us to point us to wise living.
I’m willing to be proven wrong on this, but I don’t think the Bible teaches such a thing. What the Bible does teach is that the knowledge it imparts is sufficient for every good work – “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
So knowing the Bible is the key to right living…
The Bible also teaches that wisdom flows from fearing the Lord: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” (Prov. 1:7)
Now, I admit that over time our knowledge of God’s word should grow – and so those with more time in God’s word should be wiser. But that’s not something that always happens. Our reliance must not be on the age or experience of one seeking to impart knowledge; but rather on this question: are they speaking and explaining God’s holy and sufficient word?
I am certainly not immune to the temptation to doubt the sufficiency of God’s word. I’d always heard that the big failure that people have in marriage is their failure to communicate. Now certainly, communication within a marriage is vital. But let me suggest something: what I’ve seen in my age old marriage (of 3 weeks) is that my big failure in our marriage (so far) is not my lack of communication – it’s my sin. It’s my idolatry. It’s my failure to worship God. It’s my refusal to consider my wife more significant than me. It’s my love of myself. (I hope you can see here that I’ve been paraphrasing Scripture! See Romans 1:18-32, Philippians 2, 2 Timothy 3 for starters.)
And the reality is this: my communication with my amazing wife is sometimes controlled by my sin. So sometimes when I communicate, I am sinning by communicating!
Whoops.
I have to return to what God has said – and God hasn’t given me a 10 step program to a healthy marriage. He’s given me his word, which is sufficient to please him, and he’s given me his Spirit, which is his power to accomplish all godly things (2 Peter 1:3, 4).
There’s no magic bullet for obedience. There’s not a secret in the success of others. There’s God word – his commandments – his Law telling me what I need to do to honor God. And there’s the Holy Spirit, present in me, conforming me to greater obedience to God’s Law.
You wanna help me? Don't tell me a story. Don't tell me what experience has taught you. Tell me what you've learned from God's word. And tell me that that I can only please God by the Spirit's working.
One such thing – and since I’m in parachurch ministry I hear this all the time – is the need for multi-generational fellowship in the Church. The belief that we need the experience of people older than us to point us to wise living.
I’m willing to be proven wrong on this, but I don’t think the Bible teaches such a thing. What the Bible does teach is that the knowledge it imparts is sufficient for every good work – “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
So knowing the Bible is the key to right living…
The Bible also teaches that wisdom flows from fearing the Lord: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” (Prov. 1:7)
Now, I admit that over time our knowledge of God’s word should grow – and so those with more time in God’s word should be wiser. But that’s not something that always happens. Our reliance must not be on the age or experience of one seeking to impart knowledge; but rather on this question: are they speaking and explaining God’s holy and sufficient word?
I am certainly not immune to the temptation to doubt the sufficiency of God’s word. I’d always heard that the big failure that people have in marriage is their failure to communicate. Now certainly, communication within a marriage is vital. But let me suggest something: what I’ve seen in my age old marriage (of 3 weeks) is that my big failure in our marriage (so far) is not my lack of communication – it’s my sin. It’s my idolatry. It’s my failure to worship God. It’s my refusal to consider my wife more significant than me. It’s my love of myself. (I hope you can see here that I’ve been paraphrasing Scripture! See Romans 1:18-32, Philippians 2, 2 Timothy 3 for starters.)
And the reality is this: my communication with my amazing wife is sometimes controlled by my sin. So sometimes when I communicate, I am sinning by communicating!
Whoops.
I have to return to what God has said – and God hasn’t given me a 10 step program to a healthy marriage. He’s given me his word, which is sufficient to please him, and he’s given me his Spirit, which is his power to accomplish all godly things (2 Peter 1:3, 4).
There’s no magic bullet for obedience. There’s not a secret in the success of others. There’s God word – his commandments – his Law telling me what I need to do to honor God. And there’s the Holy Spirit, present in me, conforming me to greater obedience to God’s Law.
You wanna help me? Don't tell me a story. Don't tell me what experience has taught you. Tell me what you've learned from God's word. And tell me that that I can only please God by the Spirit's working.
Friday, August 29, 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
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
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
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Wives submit; husbands love
This is a summary of the three ways that men and women might sin; from that last talk on Colossians.
Three ways women may usurp authority
1) Taking over in a situation. This would be what Eve did in the garden: rather than looking to her husband for direction, she simply made a call. This can be expressed in an attitude of "I'll submit if he leads well."
2) Overt usurpation. This is a wife who is overbearing, usually with words. She doesn't exhibit a quiet and gentle spirit (1 Peter 3:1-6), and her husband is happier on a corner of the roof (Proverbs 25:17) or in front of the tv or buried in the newspaper.
3) Covert usurpation. This is manipulation: using sex, affection, respect, love or emotions to get what you want. Like Delilah saying that Samson didn't really love her.
Three ways men abuse their authority
1) Abuse. Harshness. Men will get irritated with their wives - even angry. We have a tendency to respond in anger, in a domineering, non-gentle fashion.
2) Believing love is merely commitment. I think this comes from the wrong-headed notion that agape and philos in koine Greek mean different things. They (usually) don't. The fact is that God commands the emotions here. Yes, it is commitment - but it is so much more than that. It is affectionate, adoring, desirous emotion.
3) Believing that love means we seek our wives' happiness in general - as opposed to their happiness in God. In other words, we're to seek our wives' holiness, as Jesus did for his Bride (see Eph. 5). Sometimes, that might make her temporarily upset. We'll have to deal with that.
So there're a list of sins. We will sin in those ways, men. You will sin in those ways, women.
But there is a way out. Can you find it in the context of Colossians 3?
Three ways women may usurp authority
1) Taking over in a situation. This would be what Eve did in the garden: rather than looking to her husband for direction, she simply made a call. This can be expressed in an attitude of "I'll submit if he leads well."
2) Overt usurpation. This is a wife who is overbearing, usually with words. She doesn't exhibit a quiet and gentle spirit (1 Peter 3:1-6), and her husband is happier on a corner of the roof (Proverbs 25:17) or in front of the tv or buried in the newspaper.
3) Covert usurpation. This is manipulation: using sex, affection, respect, love or emotions to get what you want. Like Delilah saying that Samson didn't really love her.
Three ways men abuse their authority
1) Abuse. Harshness. Men will get irritated with their wives - even angry. We have a tendency to respond in anger, in a domineering, non-gentle fashion.
2) Believing love is merely commitment. I think this comes from the wrong-headed notion that agape and philos in koine Greek mean different things. They (usually) don't. The fact is that God commands the emotions here. Yes, it is commitment - but it is so much more than that. It is affectionate, adoring, desirous emotion.
3) Believing that love means we seek our wives' happiness in general - as opposed to their happiness in God. In other words, we're to seek our wives' holiness, as Jesus did for his Bride (see Eph. 5). Sometimes, that might make her temporarily upset. We'll have to deal with that.
So there're a list of sins. We will sin in those ways, men. You will sin in those ways, women.
But there is a way out. Can you find it in the context of Colossians 3?
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Jesus Recreates Our Relationships
This is my final talk from Colossians on summer project. Notes. Here ya go.
-Theme – The Gospel changes all our human relationships. (repeat)
-What’s the Gospel?
-So what we’re to see tonight is that Jesus as King and Savior recreates all our human relationships.
-3 Types of Relationships – Family, (quick side about prayer), non-Christians, Christians
-Pray
Jesus Recreates Our Family Relationships
-Read 3:18-4:1
-Some of this might rub the wrong way. Might bear some explanation, but this being God’s word doesn’t depend on us liking it.
-that said – a word about slaves…
-We have a problem with authority in our age. Maybe because of abuses of authority. But God has established it. (Bumper sticker example)
-Going to talk about wives, then husbands, then those in authority positions, then children and those under authority.
-Not all of you are wives/husbands – but you probably will be. Maybe rather than trying to find the perfect spouse, you should seek to be a God-honoring one.
-Wives
-explain command (live in submission – not just ‘the buck stops with…’; not just ‘spiritual leadership’; as to the Lord – eph 5)
-sins - usurping authority
- taking over: only submitting if he ‘leads well’ and really just taking things into your own hands – Eve;
-overt usurpation – being overbearing vs. quiet, gentle spirit (1 Peter 3); -covert usurpation – manipulation – Delilah)
-how the gospel answers our sin problem
-‘fitting in the Lord’ (explain)
-New Kingdom has begun! Old world typified by the curse, new world reverses it
-Husbands (3:19)
-explain command – love! (seeking her greatest happiness in God. Enjoying her. Liking her. Being attracted to her/standard for beauty)
-sins
-harshness/abuse – getting irritated and responding with anger
-thinking it’s mere commitment – Jesus commands our emotions
-believing that love means seeking her earthly happiness vs. happiness in God (budget example) – so passivity in loving her and taking her to Jesus as King – even if she doesn’t like it at the time
-Jesus’ solution in a minute…
-Those in authority (3:21, 4:1) – many of us will be parents – get ready
-Commands (rephrase) – boils down to this: treat those under you with justice and love.
-sins: issuing commands as a dictator.
-Believing that you are the ultimate master/standard of right/wrong – as opposed to Jesus.
-Not rewarding obedience. Not punishing disobedience.
-Command boils down to: model Jesus’ authority – both hard on sin and gentle/loving –both serving, and commanding
-Your household should be a model of how Jesus treats the world
-Stiff command? YES – but remember that (4:1b) (expound)
-Those under authority – all of us are (family, government, Church eldership)
-(3:20, 22-25)
-Summarize commands – (obey, serving the Lord)
-Sins: disobedience, people-pleasing, trying to see how much we can get away with
-How the gospel answers our sin problem: (3:20, 24, 25) (inheritance/loved, vs. getting what we deserve – so love God/please him)
(Repeat point)
Aside
-(4:2)
-Explain command
-What gets in your way of dedicated times of prayer? (unbelief that God uses it, lack of desire to honor God in it, seeking things here, whether fun or because you’re stressed)
-for me in college: probably combo of all of them –
-Gospel solution: ‘being watchful’ – Jesus is coming back to establish his Kingdom –
(repeat point)
Jesus Recreates Our Relationships with Non-Christians
-4:3-6
-Two ways – missions and evangelism. Difference. (Rom. 15:18-21)
-Goal? Is. 43:6, 7
-Missions (3:3, 4)
-Prayer
-Going to announce the word to the unreached!
-why not you?
-Sin – don’t care enough to work for the goal…
-Answer – Jesus died and you’re life is with him – live for that!
-Evangelism (3:5, 6)
-define
-Commands
-wisdom in time use - organized around reaching the lost sheep
-manner of speaking should be… (explain the verse)
-note: knowing how to answer means you’ve said enough that they have questions
-Problems –
-evangelism -> event, not a lifestyle.
-Not loving people/treating them as individuals
-But it’s true – Jesus lives and so we will with him forever – live like it! Invite people with you!
(repeat point)
Jesus Recreates our relationships with Christians
-4:7-18
-Let’s look at all that Jesus has given us – just exemplified here
-Easy to forget what we’ve been given
-be critical of the whole Church/judge
-think that Christianity is an individual thing
-Godly examples – people showing us Jesus in action (4:7-8, 18)
-Real loving relationships (4:10, 11, 14-15)
-Prayer (4:12, 18)
-Ministry to each other in various forms (comforting, preaching, hospitality…)
-The Scriptures (4:16)
-All because Jesus…
-So we’ve seen in this passage that the Gospel recreates our relationships.
-What’s the Gospel?
-And it recreates Our relationships with family, our relationships with non Christians, and our relationships with Christians.
-We’ve been looking at this concept of looking at the world through Jesus colored glasses…
-Jesus really is everything. And he is our everything.
-Pray
-Theme – The Gospel changes all our human relationships. (repeat)
-What’s the Gospel?
-So what we’re to see tonight is that Jesus as King and Savior recreates all our human relationships.
-3 Types of Relationships – Family, (quick side about prayer), non-Christians, Christians
-Pray
Jesus Recreates Our Family Relationships
-Read 3:18-4:1
-Some of this might rub the wrong way. Might bear some explanation, but this being God’s word doesn’t depend on us liking it.
-that said – a word about slaves…
-We have a problem with authority in our age. Maybe because of abuses of authority. But God has established it. (Bumper sticker example)
-Going to talk about wives, then husbands, then those in authority positions, then children and those under authority.
-Not all of you are wives/husbands – but you probably will be. Maybe rather than trying to find the perfect spouse, you should seek to be a God-honoring one.
-Wives
-explain command (live in submission – not just ‘the buck stops with…’; not just ‘spiritual leadership’; as to the Lord – eph 5)
-sins - usurping authority
- taking over: only submitting if he ‘leads well’ and really just taking things into your own hands – Eve;
-overt usurpation – being overbearing vs. quiet, gentle spirit (1 Peter 3); -covert usurpation – manipulation – Delilah)
-how the gospel answers our sin problem
-‘fitting in the Lord’ (explain)
-New Kingdom has begun! Old world typified by the curse, new world reverses it
-Husbands (3:19)
-explain command – love! (seeking her greatest happiness in God. Enjoying her. Liking her. Being attracted to her/standard for beauty)
-sins
-harshness/abuse – getting irritated and responding with anger
-thinking it’s mere commitment – Jesus commands our emotions
-believing that love means seeking her earthly happiness vs. happiness in God (budget example) – so passivity in loving her and taking her to Jesus as King – even if she doesn’t like it at the time
-Jesus’ solution in a minute…
-Those in authority (3:21, 4:1) – many of us will be parents – get ready
-Commands (rephrase) – boils down to this: treat those under you with justice and love.
-sins: issuing commands as a dictator.
-Believing that you are the ultimate master/standard of right/wrong – as opposed to Jesus.
-Not rewarding obedience. Not punishing disobedience.
-Command boils down to: model Jesus’ authority – both hard on sin and gentle/loving –both serving, and commanding
-Your household should be a model of how Jesus treats the world
-Stiff command? YES – but remember that (4:1b) (expound)
-Those under authority – all of us are (family, government, Church eldership)
-(3:20, 22-25)
-Summarize commands – (obey, serving the Lord)
-Sins: disobedience, people-pleasing, trying to see how much we can get away with
-How the gospel answers our sin problem: (3:20, 24, 25) (inheritance/loved, vs. getting what we deserve – so love God/please him)
(Repeat point)
Aside
-(4:2)
-Explain command
-What gets in your way of dedicated times of prayer? (unbelief that God uses it, lack of desire to honor God in it, seeking things here, whether fun or because you’re stressed)
-for me in college: probably combo of all of them –
-Gospel solution: ‘being watchful’ – Jesus is coming back to establish his Kingdom –
(repeat point)
Jesus Recreates Our Relationships with Non-Christians
-4:3-6
-Two ways – missions and evangelism. Difference. (Rom. 15:18-21)
-Goal? Is. 43:6, 7
-Missions (3:3, 4)
-Prayer
-Going to announce the word to the unreached!
-why not you?
-Sin – don’t care enough to work for the goal…
-Answer – Jesus died and you’re life is with him – live for that!
-Evangelism (3:5, 6)
-define
-Commands
-wisdom in time use - organized around reaching the lost sheep
-manner of speaking should be… (explain the verse)
-note: knowing how to answer means you’ve said enough that they have questions
-Problems –
-evangelism -> event, not a lifestyle.
-Not loving people/treating them as individuals
-But it’s true – Jesus lives and so we will with him forever – live like it! Invite people with you!
(repeat point)
Jesus Recreates our relationships with Christians
-4:7-18
-Let’s look at all that Jesus has given us – just exemplified here
-Easy to forget what we’ve been given
-be critical of the whole Church/judge
-think that Christianity is an individual thing
-Godly examples – people showing us Jesus in action (4:7-8, 18)
-Real loving relationships (4:10, 11, 14-15)
-Prayer (4:12, 18)
-Ministry to each other in various forms (comforting, preaching, hospitality…)
-The Scriptures (4:16)
-All because Jesus…
-So we’ve seen in this passage that the Gospel recreates our relationships.
-What’s the Gospel?
-And it recreates Our relationships with family, our relationships with non Christians, and our relationships with Christians.
-We’ve been looking at this concept of looking at the world through Jesus colored glasses…
-Jesus really is everything. And he is our everything.
-Pray
Friday, July 25, 2008
Ethics through Jesus-Colored Glasses
These are the notes from the talk I gave during the fifth week of summer project in New Zealand. The text is Colossians 2:20-3:17
Intro – Misconception re: Christianity – lifestyle that is about rules.
-it’s not, it’s about how Jesus brings every believer in him to his Kingdom!
-but sometimes even for us that believe that, we express a bunch of lifestyle stuff as if that’s Christianity – sometimes in preaching, in Bible studies, even in conversations, in how we try to live like Jesus wants. And being saved is almost an afterthought.
-That is subChristian thinking. In God’s word, any lifestyle stuff that Christians are commanded to do is always in light of and caused by The HS, through what Jesus’ cross purchased for us.
Series:
Our problem – we see commands in the Scriptures and try really hard to obey. And we fail.
MBI – What God wants us to see tonight is this: if you have trusted Jesus, he’s bringing you into his Kingdom – and nothing will stop him. Our lifestyle should – and by his power, will, reflect that. In other words: Jesus’ saving us results in change in our behavior.
4 Commands we break, and how Jesus fixes our sin problem:
Pray
-Don’t use man-made ways of trying to reach God - 2:20-33
-What was going on in Colassae?
-Command – don’t try to grow in spirituality or holiness like non-Christians!
-Examples of ways the world pursues spirituality:
-nature. Music. Books which teach things other than Scripture. Psychology. Obeying laws created by our feelings, candles, art, reason (atheism), prayer ‘creativity’, humanitarianism
-how we do similar things!
-ex: me and logic, as opposed to trusting the Spirit and the word
-Certainly nothing listed is all bad; but must be seen thru lens of SCRIPTURE
in dependence on Scripture and prayer – and nothing else!
-Result if not: a new law. Certain experiences ID-ed as godliness. Practices mandated and others get judged. God and his word cease being our authority, and experience is God – not Jesus.
-Example: music fight against the old school music people. Now, attack on old school music!
-Solution: We died with Jesus to the elemental spirits
-elemental spirits?
-God will judge the world for its rebellion
-we’ve been judged in Christ and are forgiven
-and so the old ways that humanity tries – and fails – to connect with God (even if they ‘feel’ stuff) don’t apply
-Therefore, know that because of Jesus death, we are no longer governed by the world’s futile philosophies. So trust that Jesus has reconciled you and stop making up stuff he didn’t command! And don’t tolerate it when other people are making stuff up either! (Duet 12:32!)
-Ever try to make a dead person do something?
3:1-4 – Seek Jesus’ Kingdom.
-Command – Seek what’s above! (3:1)
-What’s above? Christ’s Kingdom! Where what he wants goes. Everything that’s of value (Christ is our life) (3:1)
-How we fail – Failing to treat Jesus like King, worthy of obedience and honor. Failing to treat him as valuable. Questions to think about on your own: areas of your life you don’t treat Jesus like King in. Things you value more than Jesus – where do you seek pleasure? Maybe good to go home pray and journal about.
-Ex: The other night, I valued a burger more than Jesus.
-4 Solutions:
-Believe in the resurrection! (3:1)
-Believe that we’re in the new world in Christ (3:1) (Neo)
-Believe that you’re dead in this world (3:3)
-Believe that in the future, the reality of this new world in you will be revealed (3:4) (1 John 3:2)
3:5-11 – Kill what’s dead.
-Kill the things in you that belong to the old world
-sin list 1 – (3:5) – a bunch of stuff that we’d seek for pleasure
-what do you seek for pleasure? - functional savior. What do you think about? Spend time on? Money on? (Me and food!) (Calvin and waking up and falling asleep)
-sin list 2 – (3:8, 9) – a bunch of ways that we use words to hurt each other
-We do these things because we either are hurting or because we want to make ourselves feel better about ourselves. Words! (Jas. 1:19)
-Ex: my cheating ex
-4 Solutions
-We belong to the next world (v. 5 – the therefore) and will be glorified with Jesus
-v. 6 – the wrath of God falls on such things
-no fear of wrath
-hate what God hates – then you’ll kill it
-vv. 7, 9, 10 – we have a new self which God is renewing in knowledge
-v. 11 – Jesus is our prize and our power and our highest value
3:12-17 – Act like who God’s remade you to be.
-4 Commands
1-Love! (12-15)
-seeking others’ happiness
-what prevents us? Trying to get happiness here (rather than above)
-Ex. Of helping dudes with stuff after their church service vs. me sleeping/getting groceries
2-Let Christ’s peace rule in our hearts
-contra anxiety
-comes from trust in his being King and loving us, through prayer
-Phil. 4:6, 7
3-Let Christ’s word dwell among us richly (explain)
-results in…
-what prevents us? Lack of attentiveness. Like entertaining teaching/books. Not believing that the word is powerful. Not wanting to do the work of paying attention or serious study. Not enjoying God as he’s revealed in it, but enjoying other things…
-ex: my 5 minutes a day in high school
4-Always act for Jesus’ glory (part of which is giving thanks)
-what prevents us from doing that?
-not seeing Jesus’ glory (from Scripture)!
-not loving him; rather, loving our lives here
-ex: faith healers
-other ex: doing ministry stuff to impress opposite sex
-just apathy towards Jesus(!) - maybe humanitarianism?
-4 Ways God solves our problems
1 -v. 12 – ‘then’
-conclusion – we’re totally new because of Jesus – being renewed(!)
-stop beating the crap out of yourself! You are new and God is working if you have believed! Rather, trust and obey!
2 -v. 12 – ‘chosen, holy, and loved’
-You’re in Christ and guaranteed heaven because God loved you, not because of what you did. God started bringing you to heaven, he’s working in you – believe!
-Certain future = freedom to love because nothing here to gain!
3 -v. 13 – forgiven!
-forgiveness guarantees your eternity – free to forgive!
-Remember Christ’s Kingdom is guaranteed for you!
-persecutions, etc. – mean nothing!
-ex: Stephen
4 -v. 16 – the word of Christ given to us!
-2 Cor. 3:18
-seeing his glory is through the word!!!
-transforms us to glorify Christ!
-letters from a loved one (if Lace and I didn’t have phone calls – and even with them – those letters are a little bit of who she is – shows me her. Makes me enjoy and love her.)
So we’ve seen 4 commands…
And we as Christians obey them as a result of the gospel, through faith! (The POINT!)
The gospel is…
As we believe in the gospel, God works in us and causes us to obey for the sake of his glory.
Pray
Intro – Misconception re: Christianity – lifestyle that is about rules.
-it’s not, it’s about how Jesus brings every believer in him to his Kingdom!
-but sometimes even for us that believe that, we express a bunch of lifestyle stuff as if that’s Christianity – sometimes in preaching, in Bible studies, even in conversations, in how we try to live like Jesus wants. And being saved is almost an afterthought.
-That is subChristian thinking. In God’s word, any lifestyle stuff that Christians are commanded to do is always in light of and caused by The HS, through what Jesus’ cross purchased for us.
Series:
Our problem – we see commands in the Scriptures and try really hard to obey. And we fail.
MBI – What God wants us to see tonight is this: if you have trusted Jesus, he’s bringing you into his Kingdom – and nothing will stop him. Our lifestyle should – and by his power, will, reflect that. In other words: Jesus’ saving us results in change in our behavior.
4 Commands we break, and how Jesus fixes our sin problem:
Pray
-Don’t use man-made ways of trying to reach God - 2:20-33
-What was going on in Colassae?
-Command – don’t try to grow in spirituality or holiness like non-Christians!
-Examples of ways the world pursues spirituality:
-nature. Music. Books which teach things other than Scripture. Psychology. Obeying laws created by our feelings, candles, art, reason (atheism), prayer ‘creativity’, humanitarianism
-how we do similar things!
-ex: me and logic, as opposed to trusting the Spirit and the word
-Certainly nothing listed is all bad; but must be seen thru lens of SCRIPTURE
in dependence on Scripture and prayer – and nothing else!
-Result if not: a new law. Certain experiences ID-ed as godliness. Practices mandated and others get judged. God and his word cease being our authority, and experience is God – not Jesus.
-Example: music fight against the old school music people. Now, attack on old school music!
-Solution: We died with Jesus to the elemental spirits
-elemental spirits?
-God will judge the world for its rebellion
-we’ve been judged in Christ and are forgiven
-and so the old ways that humanity tries – and fails – to connect with God (even if they ‘feel’ stuff) don’t apply
-Therefore, know that because of Jesus death, we are no longer governed by the world’s futile philosophies. So trust that Jesus has reconciled you and stop making up stuff he didn’t command! And don’t tolerate it when other people are making stuff up either! (Duet 12:32!)
-Ever try to make a dead person do something?
3:1-4 – Seek Jesus’ Kingdom.
-Command – Seek what’s above! (3:1)
-What’s above? Christ’s Kingdom! Where what he wants goes. Everything that’s of value (Christ is our life) (3:1)
-How we fail – Failing to treat Jesus like King, worthy of obedience and honor. Failing to treat him as valuable. Questions to think about on your own: areas of your life you don’t treat Jesus like King in. Things you value more than Jesus – where do you seek pleasure? Maybe good to go home pray and journal about.
-Ex: The other night, I valued a burger more than Jesus.
-4 Solutions:
-Believe in the resurrection! (3:1)
-Believe that we’re in the new world in Christ (3:1) (Neo)
-Believe that you’re dead in this world (3:3)
-Believe that in the future, the reality of this new world in you will be revealed (3:4) (1 John 3:2)
3:5-11 – Kill what’s dead.
-Kill the things in you that belong to the old world
-sin list 1 – (3:5) – a bunch of stuff that we’d seek for pleasure
-what do you seek for pleasure? - functional savior. What do you think about? Spend time on? Money on? (Me and food!) (Calvin and waking up and falling asleep)
-sin list 2 – (3:8, 9) – a bunch of ways that we use words to hurt each other
-We do these things because we either are hurting or because we want to make ourselves feel better about ourselves. Words! (Jas. 1:19)
-Ex: my cheating ex
-4 Solutions
-We belong to the next world (v. 5 – the therefore) and will be glorified with Jesus
-v. 6 – the wrath of God falls on such things
-no fear of wrath
-hate what God hates – then you’ll kill it
-vv. 7, 9, 10 – we have a new self which God is renewing in knowledge
-v. 11 – Jesus is our prize and our power and our highest value
3:12-17 – Act like who God’s remade you to be.
-4 Commands
1-Love! (12-15)
-seeking others’ happiness
-what prevents us? Trying to get happiness here (rather than above)
-Ex. Of helping dudes with stuff after their church service vs. me sleeping/getting groceries
2-Let Christ’s peace rule in our hearts
-contra anxiety
-comes from trust in his being King and loving us, through prayer
-Phil. 4:6, 7
3-Let Christ’s word dwell among us richly (explain)
-results in…
-what prevents us? Lack of attentiveness. Like entertaining teaching/books. Not believing that the word is powerful. Not wanting to do the work of paying attention or serious study. Not enjoying God as he’s revealed in it, but enjoying other things…
-ex: my 5 minutes a day in high school
4-Always act for Jesus’ glory (part of which is giving thanks)
-what prevents us from doing that?
-not seeing Jesus’ glory (from Scripture)!
-not loving him; rather, loving our lives here
-ex: faith healers
-other ex: doing ministry stuff to impress opposite sex
-just apathy towards Jesus(!) - maybe humanitarianism?
-4 Ways God solves our problems
1 -v. 12 – ‘then’
-conclusion – we’re totally new because of Jesus – being renewed(!)
-stop beating the crap out of yourself! You are new and God is working if you have believed! Rather, trust and obey!
2 -v. 12 – ‘chosen, holy, and loved’
-You’re in Christ and guaranteed heaven because God loved you, not because of what you did. God started bringing you to heaven, he’s working in you – believe!
-Certain future = freedom to love because nothing here to gain!
3 -v. 13 – forgiven!
-forgiveness guarantees your eternity – free to forgive!
-Remember Christ’s Kingdom is guaranteed for you!
-persecutions, etc. – mean nothing!
-ex: Stephen
4 -v. 16 – the word of Christ given to us!
-2 Cor. 3:18
-seeing his glory is through the word!!!
-transforms us to glorify Christ!
-letters from a loved one (if Lace and I didn’t have phone calls – and even with them – those letters are a little bit of who she is – shows me her. Makes me enjoy and love her.)
So we’ve seen 4 commands…
And we as Christians obey them as a result of the gospel, through faith! (The POINT!)
The gospel is…
As we believe in the gospel, God works in us and causes us to obey for the sake of his glory.
Pray
Monday, July 21, 2008
A Morning Prayer
God, I praise you because you are sovereign God. You are creator and sustainer and lover and redeemer and telos.
And I am creature, stuck in sin, in foolishness, in rebellion, in stubbornness, in deadness.
I am worth your wrath, my God. I am worthy of your hatred; being called your enemy; hell. I am worth your enmity. What have I done but earn it? I have not loved you, delighted in you, sought you or obeyed you – but as it pleased me. O God, I am a careless, spiteful, hateful, hostile rebel. I deserve hell.
But O God, you are loving towards poor sinners, knowing our wretchedness; our helplessness. And you have rightly desired to glorify yourself by loving rebels. So you saw fit to crush your own Son for me, to vindicate him by raising him from the dead, to honor him by giving him the universe for a Kingdom, to honor yourself in the future of his reign over the new creation, including the people whom you have chosen, redeemed, and will glorify.
You have given faith to those you loved, granted them Jesus’ righteousness, lavished on them the Holy Spirit, and guaranteed them glory and happiness in your presence forever.
And so I thank you for all of salvation: regeneration, justification, and glorification. Let me not rejoice that the spirits are subject to me, but that your sovereign hand has written my name in your book of life. And not only these, but in this life you have given me love, friends, food, clothing, and shelter – none of which I’ve earned – but which are all because of your grace.
I ask this: that you glorify yourself in me. Cause my mind, emotions, and will to be governed by you for your glory. Cause me to depend in prayer, to kill my flesh in faith, and to pursue the things of your Kingdom in hope.
Cause me to love as I ought, to speak as I ought, to make decisions for your sake - that whatever I do, in word or deed, might be in the name of Jesus Christ.
Cause me to first love you, second love Lacey, third love your Church, and fourth love my neighbor. Keep me in holiness all this day for your name’s sake.
In the blood and obedience of Jesus I pray, and for his glory’s sake, amen.
And I am creature, stuck in sin, in foolishness, in rebellion, in stubbornness, in deadness.
I am worth your wrath, my God. I am worthy of your hatred; being called your enemy; hell. I am worth your enmity. What have I done but earn it? I have not loved you, delighted in you, sought you or obeyed you – but as it pleased me. O God, I am a careless, spiteful, hateful, hostile rebel. I deserve hell.
But O God, you are loving towards poor sinners, knowing our wretchedness; our helplessness. And you have rightly desired to glorify yourself by loving rebels. So you saw fit to crush your own Son for me, to vindicate him by raising him from the dead, to honor him by giving him the universe for a Kingdom, to honor yourself in the future of his reign over the new creation, including the people whom you have chosen, redeemed, and will glorify.
You have given faith to those you loved, granted them Jesus’ righteousness, lavished on them the Holy Spirit, and guaranteed them glory and happiness in your presence forever.
And so I thank you for all of salvation: regeneration, justification, and glorification. Let me not rejoice that the spirits are subject to me, but that your sovereign hand has written my name in your book of life. And not only these, but in this life you have given me love, friends, food, clothing, and shelter – none of which I’ve earned – but which are all because of your grace.
I ask this: that you glorify yourself in me. Cause my mind, emotions, and will to be governed by you for your glory. Cause me to depend in prayer, to kill my flesh in faith, and to pursue the things of your Kingdom in hope.
Cause me to love as I ought, to speak as I ought, to make decisions for your sake - that whatever I do, in word or deed, might be in the name of Jesus Christ.
Cause me to first love you, second love Lacey, third love your Church, and fourth love my neighbor. Keep me in holiness all this day for your name’s sake.
In the blood and obedience of Jesus I pray, and for his glory’s sake, amen.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Talk Notes - Colossians 1:24-2:19
-What we believes -> what we do. What we do has consequences
-ex. Jumping off a building cuz I think I can fly
-The same affects our spiritual lives – but much more insidiously –
-our experiences
-our feelings
-our preferences
-the seemingly wise thoughts of Christian teachers/authors
-Series
-MBI – Jesus must be Lord over all we think.
-To do – Cling to the Scriptures as true, and be skeptical of spiritual ‘truths’ not defended by Scripture.
-3 points
-Pray
-Knowing about Paul’s suffering shows us what to think (1:24, 2:1)
-examples of suffering – 2 Cor. 11:23-28
-weird! What’d you think if someone was telling you about how much they -suffered for you. Like your mom talking about labor?
-2 Purposes:
1) to show off Jesus’ suffering
-filling up what is lacking (1:24)
-redemption not lacking. (see 1:13, 14)
-actual physical presence lacking (Phil. 2:30)
-we lack Paul, but have his writing!
-Harry Potter knew of his mom’s suffering for him by word and by the suffering of others for him
-The example of Paul shows us reality of Jesus
-it supplements Paul’s service of the church, which is preaching the word (1:24- 27)
-Service always has the word in it!
-word is about this thing humanity has waited for – Jesus bringing us to glory (1:26, 27)
-example? None – there is nothing as great as this news – Jesus bringing us to God to enjoy him forever
2) to cause them to not be deceived by other worldviews (2:1-5)
-His struggle’s goal is their knowing Jesus, and perseverance of the saints (2:2, 3, 5; 1:23)
-He says he struggles for this so that other arguments lose force (2:4).
-Struggle is proclamation (1:28) and resulting suffering he’d endure
-You only suffer for something you believe.
-Suicide bombers
-Paul’s saying that his suffering indicates his sincerity – he was commissioned by God as an apostle!
-Thus, his message, vs. other reasonings/thoughts/feelings/traditions, is authoritative.
-(repeat point)
-To persevere in faith, Jesus must govern our thinking
-In treating Jesus like Lord in how we live (2:6, 7)
-You accepted the gospel (received) (v. 6)
-You need to continue living with Jesus as Lord
-passives – him causing the growth (incl. doctrine) (2:7)
-active – giving thanks (vs. being grateful) (2:7)
-Ex: Getting married because of love. Keep loving your spouse.
-In not being taken captive by worldly philosophy
-which is from human tradition (2:8) (define)
-(examples from books (virgin birth, God as a risk taker))
-demonic(!) (2:8)
4 reasons to not be taken by worldly philosophy – (repeat point throughout)
-1) Christ is God (2:9) (all of God! Treat him like it! Source of truth!)
-2) Christians have been filled ‘in him’ – the head of all things
-2:10
-i.e. – we don’t lack. Salvation is ours!
-we try to get happiness because we believe we lack
-sex, money, showing off, ministry, thru worship
-we forget that Jesus is giving us all happiness in him
-belief often comes from desire. We’ve been filled in Christ. Don’t desire other things
-3) Christians have been forgiven through him (2:11-14) – explain
-we’ve been cut out of the old world (v. 11)
-this is by dying and rising with Christ through faith (v. 12)
-not baptism (but a picture and confirmation it is)
-without hands
-not main verb – made alive thru faith is
-justification is thru faith alone (rom. 4, etc.)
-that life is by Jesus’ dying in our place (vv. 13, 14)
-4) This forgiveness thru the cross is God’s triumph over philosophy
-human philosophies are demonic (rulers, authorities – table of demons – Satan being a liar)
-God glorified himself in the shame of philosophies –
-salvation was always around
-Satan’s goal – destroying God’s glory by killing his image
-but now salvation is sealed by the cross!
-the cross and resurrection
-answers the problem of evil
-shows infinite love
-shows infinite justice
-gives meaning (forgiveness, death to this world, glory)
-is a historical event – not mere philosophy
-repeat point
-Jesus must be Lord over our spiritual lives
-What were the false teachers teaching?
-v. 16, 17 – explain
-v. 18 – explain
-Sounds foreign a bit – but why did they teach these things?
-experience
-growth (v. 19)
-Big mistake - advocating things Scripture doesn’t command to experience God/grow
-2nd Commandment (explain)
-doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy God’s creation (1 tim 4:1-5 - explain)
-does mean we seek to experience God and grow by what he’s commanded alone
-Scriptures (God communicates savingly)
-Prayer – we respond verbally
-Fellowship – we talk about what he’s revealed
-The Lord’s supper/Baptism
-So Jesus must be Lord over how we seek him. As we cling to him, he will cause us, corporately, to grow. (v. 19)
-To conclude, we’ve seen that Jesus must be Lord over all we think and do.
-3 points…
-Our response must be to cling to the Scriptures as true – and be skeptical of any spiritual ‘truth’ not taught in Scripture.
-Remember 1:21-23. (explain) (Christ’s cross work renews our minds, so we’ll be presented before God as blameless – if we persevere in the faith.)
-Pray
-ex. Jumping off a building cuz I think I can fly
-The same affects our spiritual lives – but much more insidiously –
-our experiences
-our feelings
-our preferences
-the seemingly wise thoughts of Christian teachers/authors
-Series
-MBI – Jesus must be Lord over all we think.
-To do – Cling to the Scriptures as true, and be skeptical of spiritual ‘truths’ not defended by Scripture.
-3 points
-Pray
-Knowing about Paul’s suffering shows us what to think (1:24, 2:1)
-examples of suffering – 2 Cor. 11:23-28
-weird! What’d you think if someone was telling you about how much they -suffered for you. Like your mom talking about labor?
-2 Purposes:
1) to show off Jesus’ suffering
-filling up what is lacking (1:24)
-redemption not lacking. (see 1:13, 14)
-actual physical presence lacking (Phil. 2:30)
-we lack Paul, but have his writing!
-Harry Potter knew of his mom’s suffering for him by word and by the suffering of others for him
-The example of Paul shows us reality of Jesus
-it supplements Paul’s service of the church, which is preaching the word (1:24- 27)
-Service always has the word in it!
-word is about this thing humanity has waited for – Jesus bringing us to glory (1:26, 27)
-example? None – there is nothing as great as this news – Jesus bringing us to God to enjoy him forever
2) to cause them to not be deceived by other worldviews (2:1-5)
-His struggle’s goal is their knowing Jesus, and perseverance of the saints (2:2, 3, 5; 1:23)
-He says he struggles for this so that other arguments lose force (2:4).
-Struggle is proclamation (1:28) and resulting suffering he’d endure
-You only suffer for something you believe.
-Suicide bombers
-Paul’s saying that his suffering indicates his sincerity – he was commissioned by God as an apostle!
-Thus, his message, vs. other reasonings/thoughts/feelings/traditions, is authoritative.
-(repeat point)
-To persevere in faith, Jesus must govern our thinking
-In treating Jesus like Lord in how we live (2:6, 7)
-You accepted the gospel (received) (v. 6)
-You need to continue living with Jesus as Lord
-passives – him causing the growth (incl. doctrine) (2:7)
-active – giving thanks (vs. being grateful) (2:7)
-Ex: Getting married because of love. Keep loving your spouse.
-In not being taken captive by worldly philosophy
-which is from human tradition (2:8) (define)
-(examples from books (virgin birth, God as a risk taker))
-demonic(!) (2:8)
4 reasons to not be taken by worldly philosophy – (repeat point throughout)
-1) Christ is God (2:9) (all of God! Treat him like it! Source of truth!)
-2) Christians have been filled ‘in him’ – the head of all things
-2:10
-i.e. – we don’t lack. Salvation is ours!
-we try to get happiness because we believe we lack
-sex, money, showing off, ministry, thru worship
-we forget that Jesus is giving us all happiness in him
-belief often comes from desire. We’ve been filled in Christ. Don’t desire other things
-3) Christians have been forgiven through him (2:11-14) – explain
-we’ve been cut out of the old world (v. 11)
-this is by dying and rising with Christ through faith (v. 12)
-not baptism (but a picture and confirmation it is)
-without hands
-not main verb – made alive thru faith is
-justification is thru faith alone (rom. 4, etc.)
-that life is by Jesus’ dying in our place (vv. 13, 14)
-4) This forgiveness thru the cross is God’s triumph over philosophy
-human philosophies are demonic (rulers, authorities – table of demons – Satan being a liar)
-God glorified himself in the shame of philosophies –
-salvation was always around
-Satan’s goal – destroying God’s glory by killing his image
-but now salvation is sealed by the cross!
-the cross and resurrection
-answers the problem of evil
-shows infinite love
-shows infinite justice
-gives meaning (forgiveness, death to this world, glory)
-is a historical event – not mere philosophy
-repeat point
-Jesus must be Lord over our spiritual lives
-What were the false teachers teaching?
-v. 16, 17 – explain
-v. 18 – explain
-Sounds foreign a bit – but why did they teach these things?
-experience
-growth (v. 19)
-Big mistake - advocating things Scripture doesn’t command to experience God/grow
-2nd Commandment (explain)
-doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy God’s creation (1 tim 4:1-5 - explain)
-does mean we seek to experience God and grow by what he’s commanded alone
-Scriptures (God communicates savingly)
-Prayer – we respond verbally
-Fellowship – we talk about what he’s revealed
-The Lord’s supper/Baptism
-So Jesus must be Lord over how we seek him. As we cling to him, he will cause us, corporately, to grow. (v. 19)
-To conclude, we’ve seen that Jesus must be Lord over all we think and do.
-3 points…
-Our response must be to cling to the Scriptures as true – and be skeptical of any spiritual ‘truth’ not taught in Scripture.
-Remember 1:21-23. (explain) (Christ’s cross work renews our minds, so we’ll be presented before God as blameless – if we persevere in the faith.)
-Pray
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Gospel Centered Conflict Resolution (Notes)
This is a talk I gave at our briefing for summer project.
Introduction
-Conflict ran from...
-Why didn’t I bring it up? (fear – but really, valuing a lack of tension over the glory of God.)
-What I want us to see this afternoon, is that conflict resolution is a gospel activity.
-We’re going to be looking at Matthew 18:15-20. (Remind, read, pray)
-We’re just going to go verse by verse and see what Jesus said here –
v. 15
-A brother is sinning against you.
-We’re to tell him his fault
-as opposed to holding it in
-as opposed to telling him all other faults/exploding
-as opposed to yelling to make them feel bad
-as opposed to acting to making them feel bad
-as opposed to trying to smooth over the relationship without ever addressing the wrong
-does one of these sound like you?
-It’s supposed to be in private
-not ‘sanctified gossip’
-not telling someone in authority first
-not complaining about it to others (to tear down!)
-if he listens, you’ve gained your brother
-gain – idea of winning over; being brought into possession of
-thus – restored relationship
-but also – we’ll see –sign of right standing before God (v. 18)
-Difference between justification/vindication – James 2(!)
-this is then our goal – restored relationship and vindication before God and man for God’s glory (2 Cor. 7:12)
v. 16
-This is the situation for if he doesn’t listen to the first reproof
-Take 1 or 2 others with (Jesus is applying Deut. 19:15 here!)
-The purpose is so that if it needs to be brought to the church’s attention, it’s not gossip – it’s a formal charge being brought
-purpose: restorative
-person being confronted is helped – realizes it’s a gospel issue
-temptation to not take it to this level (it won’t work! It’s mean!) – but Jesus commands it! And the purpose is fellowship and vindication
-v. 17
-This is again if the person doesn’t repent, then the church is brought in.
-The church is the elders first, since they have authority
-The elders had authority in the synagogue.
-Let him be as a Gentile/tax collector means not welcomed in fellowship (1 Cor. 5:9-11)
-v. 18
-This is a repetition of 16:16-19
-Those verses are about Peter being able to let people in/out of heaven
-But this is on the basis of the confession in v. 16 – Jesus as Christ – Savior- King(!)
-So here that authority is given to the church as a unit; and thus the elders as rulers
-The authority is that of vindication or removal from God’s people
-That doesn’t mean (we know from 2 Cor.) that the person isn’t a Christian; it means there’s not a good reason to believe they are
-But this also means that if they respond – their confession of Jesus as Messiah- Christ-Savior-King is valid and vindicated(!) – and their future in heaven is demonstrated
-Example - of a man who divorced his wife as a Christian trying to remarry
-what’s he valuing over Jesus as King? (companionship, sex…)
-over Jesus as savior? (pleasure now)
-So the church is supposed to step in and judge – does his life reflect responsiveness to God’s word – valuing salvation in Jesus over life – valuing the Kingship of Jesus over his own will?
-If not…
-But if he does…
-v. 19
-This verse is really the continuation of the previous
-Thus, ‘the asking’ is the binding and casting out; it refers to it being done before God – and God is the one doing it
-v. 20
-The reason that God is the one doing it, is because Jesus is so sovereign that he operates among people if they are gathered to represent him –
-Representing Jesus means they’re gathered to operate for his glory
-Ex: ?
-Being gathered for Jesus’ glory means being gathered for the salvation of his people on the basis of the confession of Jesus as Messiah.
Conclusion
-What should our actions be on summer project?
-motivated by a desire for Jesus to be honored in our obedience/love
-motivated by love for our brothers/sisters and vindication before God(!)
-actually – lovingly talking to people as they sin – so that they’ll know Jesus more – and make him known better
-Pray
Introduction
-Conflict ran from...
-Why didn’t I bring it up? (fear – but really, valuing a lack of tension over the glory of God.)
-What I want us to see this afternoon, is that conflict resolution is a gospel activity.
-We’re going to be looking at Matthew 18:15-20. (Remind, read, pray)
-We’re just going to go verse by verse and see what Jesus said here –
v. 15
-A brother is sinning against you.
-We’re to tell him his fault
-as opposed to holding it in
-as opposed to telling him all other faults/exploding
-as opposed to yelling to make them feel bad
-as opposed to acting to making them feel bad
-as opposed to trying to smooth over the relationship without ever addressing the wrong
-does one of these sound like you?
-It’s supposed to be in private
-not ‘sanctified gossip’
-not telling someone in authority first
-not complaining about it to others (to tear down!)
-if he listens, you’ve gained your brother
-gain – idea of winning over; being brought into possession of
-thus – restored relationship
-but also – we’ll see –sign of right standing before God (v. 18)
-Difference between justification/vindication – James 2(!)
-this is then our goal – restored relationship and vindication before God and man for God’s glory (2 Cor. 7:12)
v. 16
-This is the situation for if he doesn’t listen to the first reproof
-Take 1 or 2 others with (Jesus is applying Deut. 19:15 here!)
-The purpose is so that if it needs to be brought to the church’s attention, it’s not gossip – it’s a formal charge being brought
-purpose: restorative
-person being confronted is helped – realizes it’s a gospel issue
-temptation to not take it to this level (it won’t work! It’s mean!) – but Jesus commands it! And the purpose is fellowship and vindication
-v. 17
-This is again if the person doesn’t repent, then the church is brought in.
-The church is the elders first, since they have authority
-The elders had authority in the synagogue.
-Let him be as a Gentile/tax collector means not welcomed in fellowship (1 Cor. 5:9-11)
-v. 18
-This is a repetition of 16:16-19
-Those verses are about Peter being able to let people in/out of heaven
-But this is on the basis of the confession in v. 16 – Jesus as Christ – Savior- King(!)
-So here that authority is given to the church as a unit; and thus the elders as rulers
-The authority is that of vindication or removal from God’s people
-That doesn’t mean (we know from 2 Cor.) that the person isn’t a Christian; it means there’s not a good reason to believe they are
-But this also means that if they respond – their confession of Jesus as Messiah- Christ-Savior-King is valid and vindicated(!) – and their future in heaven is demonstrated
-Example - of a man who divorced his wife as a Christian trying to remarry
-what’s he valuing over Jesus as King? (companionship, sex…)
-over Jesus as savior? (pleasure now)
-So the church is supposed to step in and judge – does his life reflect responsiveness to God’s word – valuing salvation in Jesus over life – valuing the Kingship of Jesus over his own will?
-If not…
-But if he does…
-v. 19
-This verse is really the continuation of the previous
-Thus, ‘the asking’ is the binding and casting out; it refers to it being done before God – and God is the one doing it
-v. 20
-The reason that God is the one doing it, is because Jesus is so sovereign that he operates among people if they are gathered to represent him –
-Representing Jesus means they’re gathered to operate for his glory
-Ex: ?
-Being gathered for Jesus’ glory means being gathered for the salvation of his people on the basis of the confession of Jesus as Messiah.
Conclusion
-What should our actions be on summer project?
-motivated by a desire for Jesus to be honored in our obedience/love
-motivated by love for our brothers/sisters and vindication before God(!)
-actually – lovingly talking to people as they sin – so that they’ll know Jesus more – and make him known better
-Pray
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
What is the Gospel?
These are the notes from the first talk I gave to the students going to Wellington, New Zealand, for summer project. It's about the Gospel. Below.
Intro
-Project about the Gospel – because life is about the gospel
-specific examples of different activities (devotions, interacting, confrontation, playing games, doing ministry, worshiping God, eating, showering, sleeping)
-Col. 1:21-23
-looking at Col. This summer – ‘Jesus colored glasses’
-read – note: ‘if’
-note ‘the faith’ – and ‘hope of the gospel.’
-Where we’re going:
-The gospel in broad strokes
-3 problems that God had to solve
-The gospel defined
-2 enemies of living gospel-centered lives
The Gospel in Broad Strokes
-Not 4 Laws, etc. – GOOD NEWS!
-of what? - A King and his Kingdom (Matt. 4:23) (note it’s about realm AND ruler)
-Why is the King’s Kingdom good news?
-we desire safety; anxiety ridden about provision; desiring of relationships (romantic or otherwise), broken other relationships (parents, friends…), shame, suffering/AIDS/Katrina/earthquakes; lack of significance; injustice/poverty; lack of connection to God; and ultimately, we die –
-What’ll the King do? Joel 2:23-26 (provision – food, etc.); Is. 2:3, 4 (peace between nations, people obeying God’s laws); Dan. 12:2 (resurrection of the just and unjust); Jer 23:5 (KING who will do justice always); Is. 25:6-8 (joy, provision, resurrection, bringing all peoples together); Micah 2:1-3 (punishment of oppressors); Micah 2:12-13 (The LORD himself is King and shepherds his people); Is. 9:2-3 (joy in the experience of God);
-Why do you think Jesus did miracles?
-Summarize
-So think of the gospel as good news. Share the gospel as good news(!)
Problem 1
-Jesus fixing the world means judging it, which is bad news for anyone who has not obeyed him.
-day of the Lord = when God would fix stuff; problem – Is. 13:9
-God judges by works (not faith!!!! – answers the ‘what of those who haven’t heard’)
-everyone is a sinner
-God’s solution – justification through faith
-Justification is…
-Problem – Nah. 1:3
-Solution – a substitute.
-punished in our place (Is. 53:5, 6, 10)
-firing squad analogy
-implication – no judgment awaits those who believe in Jesus
-turn to each other and say ‘God will never punish you’
-‘Judgment day’ already begun
-obeyed in our place
-Matt. 3:13-17 – weird!
-identifies with us
-not unique as a ‘son’ – unique thing: God is pleased – fulfills righteousness
-again: judgment by works
-Rom. 4:6 – Let me talk about crediting – (tax analogy)
-2 Cor. 5:21
-God looks at us in Jesus – since Jesus obeyed…
-Turn to the person next to you and say, “God looks at you as worthy of reward because of Jesus’ obedience”
-no more trying to get continually ‘forgiven’!!!
-no more trying to seek to enter heaven thru anything else!!!
-So first problem….
-and God’s solution…
Problem 2
-So God justifies people through faith on the basis of Jesus’ justice; can we go on living in sin?
-God’s solution: Jesus begins to reign in his people by his Spirit
-more from Josh later – but a few facts
-Holy Spirit is God
-The Holy Spirit is not Jesus – but is from him and represents him
-What’s he do? Walk thru Rom. 8:1-9 – emphasizing the Spirit
-Summary: so God not only justifies; he brings about the obedience of his people(!) So the GOOD NEWS of the Kingdom has begun!
Problem 3
-yeah but – Christians still sin.
-God’s solution: the fullness of the Kingdom is a future reality.
-Look at 1 Cor. 15:21-28; explain
-Summary – still waiting for the King to fully reign! And that means that one day we will be rid of the presence and effects of sin (glorification)
The Gospel Defined
-What are the aspects of it?
-Jesus’ obedience, death, and resurrection
-his future Kingdom
-justification; new nature; glorification
-The Gospel is the good news that Jesus’ substitutionary obedience (why important?), substitutionary death, and resurrection, bring everyone who believes in him into his new, fixed world.
2 Enemies of Gospel-Centered Living
-moralism
-define.
-why is this contrary?
-1 – the SPIRIT produces obedience.
-2 - God doesn’t get the glory!
-apathy
-forget what we’re rescued from.
-forget that hell is real and real people are going there
-start believing we can’t obey God
-forget to put hope in what matters(!)
Conclusion
-Let’s conclude this: Jesus life, death, and resurrection do several things:
1) they cause us to be declared righteous in God’s judgment day.
2) They cause us to have a new nature and God’s Spirit which is producing life change.
3) They are bringing us into God’s presence in a fixed world forever.
-That is what our project must be about. What our lives must be about. What our prayers, our devotions, our interactions with each other – what everything must revolve around and give credence to.
-GOOD NEWS! Jesus is King, and is bringing you home.
-Pray
Direction for Quiet Time
-Going to give you until 11:15 to be back here to have quiet times
-Let me give you some basic direction for study of the word and for prayer
-Word
-What was the author telling the original audience? (list observations!)
-What sins are pointed out in the section? How do I do them?
-How does this passage point me to the gospel
-3 facets – what are they?
-Prayer – ACTS
-Also – settle in your heart that this is where God has you for this summer
-Break – return at 11:15
Intro
-Project about the Gospel – because life is about the gospel
-specific examples of different activities (devotions, interacting, confrontation, playing games, doing ministry, worshiping God, eating, showering, sleeping)
-Col. 1:21-23
-looking at Col. This summer – ‘Jesus colored glasses’
-read – note: ‘if’
-note ‘the faith’ – and ‘hope of the gospel.’
-Where we’re going:
-The gospel in broad strokes
-3 problems that God had to solve
-The gospel defined
-2 enemies of living gospel-centered lives
The Gospel in Broad Strokes
-Not 4 Laws, etc. – GOOD NEWS!
-of what? - A King and his Kingdom (Matt. 4:23) (note it’s about realm AND ruler)
-Why is the King’s Kingdom good news?
-we desire safety; anxiety ridden about provision; desiring of relationships (romantic or otherwise), broken other relationships (parents, friends…), shame, suffering/AIDS/Katrina/earthquakes; lack of significance; injustice/poverty; lack of connection to God; and ultimately, we die –
-What’ll the King do? Joel 2:23-26 (provision – food, etc.); Is. 2:3, 4 (peace between nations, people obeying God’s laws); Dan. 12:2 (resurrection of the just and unjust); Jer 23:5 (KING who will do justice always); Is. 25:6-8 (joy, provision, resurrection, bringing all peoples together); Micah 2:1-3 (punishment of oppressors); Micah 2:12-13 (The LORD himself is King and shepherds his people); Is. 9:2-3 (joy in the experience of God);
-Why do you think Jesus did miracles?
-Summarize
-So think of the gospel as good news. Share the gospel as good news(!)
Problem 1
-Jesus fixing the world means judging it, which is bad news for anyone who has not obeyed him.
-day of the Lord = when God would fix stuff; problem – Is. 13:9
-God judges by works (not faith!!!! – answers the ‘what of those who haven’t heard’)
-everyone is a sinner
-God’s solution – justification through faith
-Justification is…
-Problem – Nah. 1:3
-Solution – a substitute.
-punished in our place (Is. 53:5, 6, 10)
-firing squad analogy
-implication – no judgment awaits those who believe in Jesus
-turn to each other and say ‘God will never punish you’
-‘Judgment day’ already begun
-obeyed in our place
-Matt. 3:13-17 – weird!
-identifies with us
-not unique as a ‘son’ – unique thing: God is pleased – fulfills righteousness
-again: judgment by works
-Rom. 4:6 – Let me talk about crediting – (tax analogy)
-2 Cor. 5:21
-God looks at us in Jesus – since Jesus obeyed…
-Turn to the person next to you and say, “God looks at you as worthy of reward because of Jesus’ obedience”
-no more trying to get continually ‘forgiven’!!!
-no more trying to seek to enter heaven thru anything else!!!
-So first problem….
-and God’s solution…
Problem 2
-So God justifies people through faith on the basis of Jesus’ justice; can we go on living in sin?
-God’s solution: Jesus begins to reign in his people by his Spirit
-more from Josh later – but a few facts
-Holy Spirit is God
-The Holy Spirit is not Jesus – but is from him and represents him
-What’s he do? Walk thru Rom. 8:1-9 – emphasizing the Spirit
-Summary: so God not only justifies; he brings about the obedience of his people(!) So the GOOD NEWS of the Kingdom has begun!
Problem 3
-yeah but – Christians still sin.
-God’s solution: the fullness of the Kingdom is a future reality.
-Look at 1 Cor. 15:21-28; explain
-Summary – still waiting for the King to fully reign! And that means that one day we will be rid of the presence and effects of sin (glorification)
The Gospel Defined
-What are the aspects of it?
-Jesus’ obedience, death, and resurrection
-his future Kingdom
-justification; new nature; glorification
-The Gospel is the good news that Jesus’ substitutionary obedience (why important?), substitutionary death, and resurrection, bring everyone who believes in him into his new, fixed world.
2 Enemies of Gospel-Centered Living
-moralism
-define.
-why is this contrary?
-1 – the SPIRIT produces obedience.
-2 - God doesn’t get the glory!
-apathy
-forget what we’re rescued from.
-forget that hell is real and real people are going there
-start believing we can’t obey God
-forget to put hope in what matters(!)
Conclusion
-Let’s conclude this: Jesus life, death, and resurrection do several things:
1) they cause us to be declared righteous in God’s judgment day.
2) They cause us to have a new nature and God’s Spirit which is producing life change.
3) They are bringing us into God’s presence in a fixed world forever.
-That is what our project must be about. What our lives must be about. What our prayers, our devotions, our interactions with each other – what everything must revolve around and give credence to.
-GOOD NEWS! Jesus is King, and is bringing you home.
-Pray
Direction for Quiet Time
-Going to give you until 11:15 to be back here to have quiet times
-Let me give you some basic direction for study of the word and for prayer
-Word
-What was the author telling the original audience? (list observations!)
-What sins are pointed out in the section? How do I do them?
-How does this passage point me to the gospel
-3 facets – what are they?
-Prayer – ACTS
-Also – settle in your heart that this is where God has you for this summer
-Break – return at 11:15
Christian Joy
Current Christian experience of joy is a real, Spirit-produced happiness based on what the future holds. This contradicts current Christian practice at times, which often asks – how can I be happy now? And in asking that question, it asks for changes in circumstance or emotion or experience.
The problem is this: if you come to Christ, you will suffer. You will have to die. You will have to kill stuff in you that you like. You will have to choose to hate things you love. And God will cause that. But only if you want him more than you want self – which is a want only he can produce. And it’s a want that’s based on what is promised in the future – the very presence of God – secured by what was accomplished in the past – Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The problem is this: if you come to Christ, you will suffer. You will have to die. You will have to kill stuff in you that you like. You will have to choose to hate things you love. And God will cause that. But only if you want him more than you want self – which is a want only he can produce. And it’s a want that’s based on what is promised in the future – the very presence of God – secured by what was accomplished in the past – Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Monday, June 30, 2008
New Zealand and Wedding Homily
I'm on Summer Project in New Zealand right now. But hopefully I'll have time to post some of my teaching times. Maybe even thoughts at some point. We'll see. Here's the first teaching thing I've done as of late. The wedding homily of two of my best friends. Love 'em. Here it is.
Jay and Adrienne, today you’re making a commitment before God to love each other as husband and wife, and all of us are here to celebrate with you. The passage you’ve chosen for your wedding, though, indicates something that we all know: loving people with consistency is hard work.
We all know this, don’t we? There are times we ‘don’t feel it,’ we get our feelings hurt and strike back, we have desires that go unfulfilled and we fight. And we say things we know will be hurtful. And more than these things, when we make a commitment to love, we’re making a commitment to feel and act in certain ways with consistency. Let me say that again, when we make a commitment to love, we’re making a commitment to feel and act in certain ways with consistency. When we think about it that way, the task of love seems really difficult, doesn’t it? Maybe even impossible.
What this section from God’s book tells us is that God, through Jesus, is the only source of lasting love. Again, what we’re to see here is that God, in Jesus, is the only cause and support of lasting love. We’ll be looking at this text under three headings: the source of love, the example of love, and the completing of love.
The Source of Love
First, let’s look at the source of love. If you open your program, you’ll see the Scripture text printed in it. Please follow along with me as I read verses 7 and 8.
“Fellow disciples of Jesus, let us love each other, since love is from God, and each one who loves has been birthed by God and knows God. The one who does not love has not known God, since God is love.”
So the answer to the question: How can I truly love in a consistent way? What’s the source of this love? Is this – it’s God. Verse 7 says, “love is from God.”
You may have noticed something, though. This Scripture isn’t addressed to all people, but to disciples of Jesus. What’s a disciple? Well, it’s someone who is dedicated to a teacher – to believe all they teach and to obey what they command. The best example I can think of concerning this is Luke Skywalker. He was a disciple of Yoda. He had to believe what Yoda taught and do what he commanded. The scene where Luke tries to use the force to raise the X-Wing out of the swamp is a great example of discipleship. Yoda tells him what to think, how to act, what to believe, and then shows him by example how to do it.
Being a disciple of Jesus is similar. It involves seeking to obey what he commands. That involves seeking to be under his teaching.
There’s one other aspect of being a disciple that is vital to Jesus – and that is a complete reliance on him for eternal life. Like a drumbeat in Scripture, God teaches that our doing good things will not and cannot contribute to getting us eternal life. That’s because we have sinned against him. Either we can fully rely on what Jesus did, bank on that, and God will treat us as if we’d obeyed him; or, we can just partially rely on Jesus, or not rely on him at all. The problem only partially relying on what Jesus did is tthat in God’s economy, we’re guilty – and either Jesus’ death and resurrection will completely take care of our guilt – or we will still stand guilty before God.
So a disciple of Jesus is one who treats him as owner of this world, and who isn’t relying on themselves in whole or in part for eternal life – but is just relying on what Jesus has already done.
Now, this passage applies specifically to disciples of Jesus and isn’t particularly about marriage. But since Jay and Adrienne are both disciples of Jesus, this applies to them and their marriage in a heightened way. How does God being the source of love for them work? Like this: all disciples of Jesus have been birthed by God. Read verses 7 and 8 with me again:
“Fellow disciples of Jesus, let us love each other, since love is from God, and each one who loves has been birthed by God and knows God. The one who does not love has not known God, since God is love.”
So in other words, disciples of Jesus have a new nature. They have new ways of thinking, feeling, and acting than they used to – and God is the one who did that. This new nature now is a nature that loves as God intends people to love.
That’s kind of hard to understand, because Jay and Adrienne, when they made their decisions to become disciples of Jesus – they didn’t look physically different. But they did have new hearts and new minds.
Think of it this way. In Terminator 2, when Arnold comes to rescue Sarah Connor in the mental institution, she’s scared to death. Why? Because Arnold, in the previous movie, was a robot from the future sent to kill her. But in Terminator 2, the Arnold Terminator had been reprogrammed to do exactly the opposite of what it was originally programmed to do. Rather than terminating her, it was rescuing her.
That’s exactly what God does with his disciples. He reprograms them. They think, feel, and believe differently than they used to. How they view life becomes structured around the person of Jesus, their new King; and this verse tells us that they then, by nature, will have a consistent love for each other – from God.
So what Scripture says here is this: God is the source of love by being the creator of a new nature in those who trust Jesus. Or in other words, God is the source of love for all disciples of Jesus, because he’s reprogrammed how they think and feel about life. And that’s a comforting thing as we think about how hard it can sometimes be to really and truly love – God is the one who makes that love in Jesus’ disciples.
The example of love
So that’s the first point: God is the source of love. The second subject to tackle is this: the example of love in this passage. God commands love, and then tells us what it looks like.
Again, look at your program, and read verses 9 and 10 with me.
“The love of God has been made known among us in this: he sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him. In this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to punish him in our places for our sins.”
Or to paraphrase: God has shown us what love looks like: he sent Jesus into the world and punished him for the disobedience of all his disciples, so that they would live. Again, love looks like this: God sent Jesus into the world and punished him for the disobedience of all his disciples, so that they would live.
There are a few key components to understanding how God showed us his love: disobedience, punishment, Jesus, and life. We’ll tackle them one by one.
First, disobedience is a subject here. Why? Because God made us and owns us. And though we may be nice to other people, none of us really treat God like he’s God – like he’s owner of all things. He has commanded much, and we really only obey when we want to. We don’t treat God like God. We treat us like God. And so, we are disobedient.
Second, punishment is a subject in these verses. Why? Because God punishes people that disobey him. That’s all of us. And that’s really bad, because the punishment matches the crime, and since the person we’ve disobeyed is infinite, so is the punishment. If you rob a convenience store, you get some jail time. If you murder someone you either get life in prison or the death penalty. If you fail to treat an infinite being as an infinite being, the punishment will be infinite. So that’s the second theme here: we all have disobeyed God, and we all are in danger of punishment from him.
Third, Jesus is a subject in these verses. Jesus was very clear in teaching that he was actually God in human flesh. He’s significant in these verses, because God here says that God the Father punished Jesus instead of punishing his disciples. Or in other words, for all who trust and obey Jesus, Jesus voluntarily took the wrath of God that was due them. The Bible says God will not acquit people he considers guilty, and so, out of his love, he punished his Son Jesus instead of punishing those who would trust Jesus. Picture this: you’re part of a country and you have a good King who always does what’s right. But you rebel – you commit treason. What happens to traitors? They get executed. But this King and his Son make an agreement because of love for you– and they agree that the Son will be executed instead of and as a substitute for everyone who obeys him.
Fourth, life is a subject in these verses. Life is the result of Jesus being punished in the place of his disciples. And that life is life with Jesus in a future world with all the effects of sin removed: a world where God is seen and enjoyed, with no pain, and with only beauty and joy forever. Jay and Adrienne are about to go on a honeymoon. When they do so, they’ll be leaving a lot of hard things about life behind – work, finances, etc. And their purpose will be to just enjoy each other. That’s a little picture of the life that Jesus has accomplished for his disciples in his future Kingdom!
SO, this is how God showed his love – look at verses 9 and 10 again in your program: “The love of God has been made known among us in this: he sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him. In this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to punish him in our places for our sins.”
And so Jay and Adi and everyone here who is a disciple of Jesus, love is a hard command to follow. But remember, as we just saw, love comes from your new nature created by God, and on top of that, he’s shown you love – Jesus suffered and was executed voluntarily in your place!
There are probably many of you here who are not disciples of Jesus. You either aren’t actively seeking to obey what Jesus has commanded or you are partially banking on ‘being a good person’ for God to let you into heaven - you aren’t relying solely on what Jesus has done. And the problem with that is that none of us are good to God.
But God is making his love known to you right now. Think about it – he killed his Son for the lives of others. And in your case, you’ve not yet been judged. And Jesus, in his love, is tugging at your sleeve, saying, “Hey – I was already executed for treason I didn’t commit. Won’t you let that count for you – so you’ll live? Treat me as King and rely on what I did – and you won’t be judged, but rather, I’ll give you eternal life.”
There is love! In that opportunity – all you need to know is Jesus died for rebels, he rose again from the dead, he owns the world and is coming to judge it – and forgives everyone of everything they’ve done and will do – if they’ll turn to him as King and trust him for it. You may have questions about other things and that’s totally fine– but that is all you need to know to accept the love and eternal life that he offers right now.
And if that’s too much – he’s giving you a chance to explore what he’s said in the Bible – and you owe it to yourself to explore this love. And his hands are open wide to you for you to do so.
-So – God is the source of love. And he’s given us the example of love by killing his Son in the place of his disciples for their eternal life. Third, let’s look at the completing of love.
The Completing of Love
Look at your program again with me at verses 11 and 12. God says, “Fellow disciples of Jesus, if this is how God loved us, we also are obligated to love each other. No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God abides among us and his love is completed among us.”
Jay, Adrienne, and everyone in this room: God showing his love requires us to love each other, because God wants to show his love in this world. Again, look at verse 12, “No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God abides among us and his love is completed among us.”
God demonstrated his love in Jesus’ death – but that happened 2,000 years ago, and God is still love – so how will he show it? In you, Jay and Adrienne. In you all who have received Jesus as Lord. Verse 12 says that God’s love is completed by the actions of his people.
Say you were starting a charitable organization to help with the AIDS epidemic in Africa. You would go, and you’d pour yourself into helping suffering people. But Africa’s a big place; you’d never be able to help everyone. How would you do it? You’d show other people how to do what you were doing, and then have them complete your task.
That’s exactly what God has done. He’s shown us how to love in Jesus, and has put us in a world to finish what he started. We are here to finish what Jesus started, and as we do, it will be God showing his love to the world.
We’ve seen three things in this passage: 1) God is the source of love. He changes human nature so that disciples of Jesus will love. 2) God gives us an example of love: he punished Jesus instead of all his disciples, and thus gives them eternal life. 3) God’s disciples are the fulfillment of his love: we continue to show Jesus’ love off, even though Jesus is now in heaven.
Jay, Adrienne – sometimes love will not be easy. But remember at those times: God’s given you a nature that can love; he’s shown you how to love in Jesus; and he wants to show off his love through you.
Jay and Adrienne, today you’re making a commitment before God to love each other as husband and wife, and all of us are here to celebrate with you. The passage you’ve chosen for your wedding, though, indicates something that we all know: loving people with consistency is hard work.
We all know this, don’t we? There are times we ‘don’t feel it,’ we get our feelings hurt and strike back, we have desires that go unfulfilled and we fight. And we say things we know will be hurtful. And more than these things, when we make a commitment to love, we’re making a commitment to feel and act in certain ways with consistency. Let me say that again, when we make a commitment to love, we’re making a commitment to feel and act in certain ways with consistency. When we think about it that way, the task of love seems really difficult, doesn’t it? Maybe even impossible.
What this section from God’s book tells us is that God, through Jesus, is the only source of lasting love. Again, what we’re to see here is that God, in Jesus, is the only cause and support of lasting love. We’ll be looking at this text under three headings: the source of love, the example of love, and the completing of love.
The Source of Love
First, let’s look at the source of love. If you open your program, you’ll see the Scripture text printed in it. Please follow along with me as I read verses 7 and 8.
“Fellow disciples of Jesus, let us love each other, since love is from God, and each one who loves has been birthed by God and knows God. The one who does not love has not known God, since God is love.”
So the answer to the question: How can I truly love in a consistent way? What’s the source of this love? Is this – it’s God. Verse 7 says, “love is from God.”
You may have noticed something, though. This Scripture isn’t addressed to all people, but to disciples of Jesus. What’s a disciple? Well, it’s someone who is dedicated to a teacher – to believe all they teach and to obey what they command. The best example I can think of concerning this is Luke Skywalker. He was a disciple of Yoda. He had to believe what Yoda taught and do what he commanded. The scene where Luke tries to use the force to raise the X-Wing out of the swamp is a great example of discipleship. Yoda tells him what to think, how to act, what to believe, and then shows him by example how to do it.
Being a disciple of Jesus is similar. It involves seeking to obey what he commands. That involves seeking to be under his teaching.
There’s one other aspect of being a disciple that is vital to Jesus – and that is a complete reliance on him for eternal life. Like a drumbeat in Scripture, God teaches that our doing good things will not and cannot contribute to getting us eternal life. That’s because we have sinned against him. Either we can fully rely on what Jesus did, bank on that, and God will treat us as if we’d obeyed him; or, we can just partially rely on Jesus, or not rely on him at all. The problem only partially relying on what Jesus did is tthat in God’s economy, we’re guilty – and either Jesus’ death and resurrection will completely take care of our guilt – or we will still stand guilty before God.
So a disciple of Jesus is one who treats him as owner of this world, and who isn’t relying on themselves in whole or in part for eternal life – but is just relying on what Jesus has already done.
Now, this passage applies specifically to disciples of Jesus and isn’t particularly about marriage. But since Jay and Adrienne are both disciples of Jesus, this applies to them and their marriage in a heightened way. How does God being the source of love for them work? Like this: all disciples of Jesus have been birthed by God. Read verses 7 and 8 with me again:
“Fellow disciples of Jesus, let us love each other, since love is from God, and each one who loves has been birthed by God and knows God. The one who does not love has not known God, since God is love.”
So in other words, disciples of Jesus have a new nature. They have new ways of thinking, feeling, and acting than they used to – and God is the one who did that. This new nature now is a nature that loves as God intends people to love.
That’s kind of hard to understand, because Jay and Adrienne, when they made their decisions to become disciples of Jesus – they didn’t look physically different. But they did have new hearts and new minds.
Think of it this way. In Terminator 2, when Arnold comes to rescue Sarah Connor in the mental institution, she’s scared to death. Why? Because Arnold, in the previous movie, was a robot from the future sent to kill her. But in Terminator 2, the Arnold Terminator had been reprogrammed to do exactly the opposite of what it was originally programmed to do. Rather than terminating her, it was rescuing her.
That’s exactly what God does with his disciples. He reprograms them. They think, feel, and believe differently than they used to. How they view life becomes structured around the person of Jesus, their new King; and this verse tells us that they then, by nature, will have a consistent love for each other – from God.
So what Scripture says here is this: God is the source of love by being the creator of a new nature in those who trust Jesus. Or in other words, God is the source of love for all disciples of Jesus, because he’s reprogrammed how they think and feel about life. And that’s a comforting thing as we think about how hard it can sometimes be to really and truly love – God is the one who makes that love in Jesus’ disciples.
The example of love
So that’s the first point: God is the source of love. The second subject to tackle is this: the example of love in this passage. God commands love, and then tells us what it looks like.
Again, look at your program, and read verses 9 and 10 with me.
“The love of God has been made known among us in this: he sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him. In this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to punish him in our places for our sins.”
Or to paraphrase: God has shown us what love looks like: he sent Jesus into the world and punished him for the disobedience of all his disciples, so that they would live. Again, love looks like this: God sent Jesus into the world and punished him for the disobedience of all his disciples, so that they would live.
There are a few key components to understanding how God showed us his love: disobedience, punishment, Jesus, and life. We’ll tackle them one by one.
First, disobedience is a subject here. Why? Because God made us and owns us. And though we may be nice to other people, none of us really treat God like he’s God – like he’s owner of all things. He has commanded much, and we really only obey when we want to. We don’t treat God like God. We treat us like God. And so, we are disobedient.
Second, punishment is a subject in these verses. Why? Because God punishes people that disobey him. That’s all of us. And that’s really bad, because the punishment matches the crime, and since the person we’ve disobeyed is infinite, so is the punishment. If you rob a convenience store, you get some jail time. If you murder someone you either get life in prison or the death penalty. If you fail to treat an infinite being as an infinite being, the punishment will be infinite. So that’s the second theme here: we all have disobeyed God, and we all are in danger of punishment from him.
Third, Jesus is a subject in these verses. Jesus was very clear in teaching that he was actually God in human flesh. He’s significant in these verses, because God here says that God the Father punished Jesus instead of punishing his disciples. Or in other words, for all who trust and obey Jesus, Jesus voluntarily took the wrath of God that was due them. The Bible says God will not acquit people he considers guilty, and so, out of his love, he punished his Son Jesus instead of punishing those who would trust Jesus. Picture this: you’re part of a country and you have a good King who always does what’s right. But you rebel – you commit treason. What happens to traitors? They get executed. But this King and his Son make an agreement because of love for you– and they agree that the Son will be executed instead of and as a substitute for everyone who obeys him.
Fourth, life is a subject in these verses. Life is the result of Jesus being punished in the place of his disciples. And that life is life with Jesus in a future world with all the effects of sin removed: a world where God is seen and enjoyed, with no pain, and with only beauty and joy forever. Jay and Adrienne are about to go on a honeymoon. When they do so, they’ll be leaving a lot of hard things about life behind – work, finances, etc. And their purpose will be to just enjoy each other. That’s a little picture of the life that Jesus has accomplished for his disciples in his future Kingdom!
SO, this is how God showed his love – look at verses 9 and 10 again in your program: “The love of God has been made known among us in this: he sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him. In this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to punish him in our places for our sins.”
And so Jay and Adi and everyone here who is a disciple of Jesus, love is a hard command to follow. But remember, as we just saw, love comes from your new nature created by God, and on top of that, he’s shown you love – Jesus suffered and was executed voluntarily in your place!
There are probably many of you here who are not disciples of Jesus. You either aren’t actively seeking to obey what Jesus has commanded or you are partially banking on ‘being a good person’ for God to let you into heaven - you aren’t relying solely on what Jesus has done. And the problem with that is that none of us are good to God.
But God is making his love known to you right now. Think about it – he killed his Son for the lives of others. And in your case, you’ve not yet been judged. And Jesus, in his love, is tugging at your sleeve, saying, “Hey – I was already executed for treason I didn’t commit. Won’t you let that count for you – so you’ll live? Treat me as King and rely on what I did – and you won’t be judged, but rather, I’ll give you eternal life.”
There is love! In that opportunity – all you need to know is Jesus died for rebels, he rose again from the dead, he owns the world and is coming to judge it – and forgives everyone of everything they’ve done and will do – if they’ll turn to him as King and trust him for it. You may have questions about other things and that’s totally fine– but that is all you need to know to accept the love and eternal life that he offers right now.
And if that’s too much – he’s giving you a chance to explore what he’s said in the Bible – and you owe it to yourself to explore this love. And his hands are open wide to you for you to do so.
-So – God is the source of love. And he’s given us the example of love by killing his Son in the place of his disciples for their eternal life. Third, let’s look at the completing of love.
The Completing of Love
Look at your program again with me at verses 11 and 12. God says, “Fellow disciples of Jesus, if this is how God loved us, we also are obligated to love each other. No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God abides among us and his love is completed among us.”
Jay, Adrienne, and everyone in this room: God showing his love requires us to love each other, because God wants to show his love in this world. Again, look at verse 12, “No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God abides among us and his love is completed among us.”
God demonstrated his love in Jesus’ death – but that happened 2,000 years ago, and God is still love – so how will he show it? In you, Jay and Adrienne. In you all who have received Jesus as Lord. Verse 12 says that God’s love is completed by the actions of his people.
Say you were starting a charitable organization to help with the AIDS epidemic in Africa. You would go, and you’d pour yourself into helping suffering people. But Africa’s a big place; you’d never be able to help everyone. How would you do it? You’d show other people how to do what you were doing, and then have them complete your task.
That’s exactly what God has done. He’s shown us how to love in Jesus, and has put us in a world to finish what he started. We are here to finish what Jesus started, and as we do, it will be God showing his love to the world.
We’ve seen three things in this passage: 1) God is the source of love. He changes human nature so that disciples of Jesus will love. 2) God gives us an example of love: he punished Jesus instead of all his disciples, and thus gives them eternal life. 3) God’s disciples are the fulfillment of his love: we continue to show Jesus’ love off, even though Jesus is now in heaven.
Jay, Adrienne – sometimes love will not be easy. But remember at those times: God’s given you a nature that can love; he’s shown you how to love in Jesus; and he wants to show off his love through you.
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