Archive for December, 2009
Immanuel God with us
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
“It is necessary that the self-same Person who is to make this satisfaction (for humanity’s sin) be perfect God and perfect man, since He cannot make it unless He be really God, and He ought not to make it unless He be really man” – Anselm 1033-1109 A.D.
Why is this “the most wonderful time of the year?” Yes presents are awesome, yes spending time with our family is priceless, but Christians celebrate because now is when we acknowledge the birth of our Savior. We know the songs, we know the traditions, and today we are going to look at the doctrine that makes Christmas a time for worshiping in Spirit and Truth. This doctrine is called the “Incarnation.” It may be difficult to understand at first, but is essential to our worship of God.
When we look into Christmas and see images of the baby in the manger what we see (or who we see) needs to turn our affections towards Christ and the salvation He provides in His life, death, and resurrection.
One of the distinct messages of Christianity is that Jesus is God! Many other religions may look good on paper and even have the ability to provide life-change, but true Christianity gives a clear definition of God’s Self-revelation. Even though Christmas focuses on the pregnancy of the virgin Mary and the birth of her son Jesus, for the purpose of this blog we are going to focus on how the Apostles describe who Jesus is.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The opening of John’s gospel gives us a clear explanation that whoever this “Word” is, this “Word” is God. Our attention should be grabbed and the first question that should come to mind is, “who is the Word?” John quickly comes to the answer our inquiry in verse 14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Since we know that John’s gospel is a brief biography on the life and teachings of Jesus, John is saying Jesus is the Word, and the Word is God in the flesh.
John isn’t the only one of Jesus’ followers who said that Jesus was God in the flesh.
Paul says while writing to Titus -
Titus 2:13 “while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” The context of this passage is how the followers of Christ are waiting for the second coming of Jesus, their “great God and Savior”.
There are many other passages in the Epistles that point to Jesus being very God of very God (Romans 9:5, Hebrews 1:3,8,10, and 2Peter 1:1 just to name a few), but let’s look at a passage where Jesus claims that He is God in flesh and His listeners understand this claim.
John 10:25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
33 “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
Jesus responds to a dispute by saying His sheep know His voice and that they shall never perish. Then in verse 30 Jesus drops the bomb “I and the Father are one.” This means to believe in Jesus (be one of His sheep) we have to accept His claim that He is God. The Jews in this passage obviously did not believe in Him because their intention was to stone Jesus for “blasphemy.” If we call ourselves Christians we need to accept Christ’s claim that He is God, and worship Him as God (John 20:28 the disciple Thomas worships Jesus as God).
This is not where the doctrine of the Incarnation ends. The Incarnation deals with God coming in the flesh. Now that we’ve seen that Jesus claims to be God and the necessity to believe His claim in order to a follower of Him, we also need to address that Jesus is a man. We know from the biblical narrative that Jesus was born of a woman (the virgin Mary). We also know that Jesus is a man because He got hungry (Matthew 4:2), thirsty (John 19:28), fatigued (John 4:6), and He died.
Although this doctrine can be difficult to grasp we do see biblical passages that show the apostles clearly expressing their belief the Jesus was God in the flesh.
Romans 1:3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul without hesitating speaks of Jesus’ human nature as well as gives him the title Son of God. The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines the tile Son of God as simply “Term used to express the deity of Jesus of Nazareth as the one, unique Son of God.”
We read the same clear expression in Galatians 4:4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law
The Apostle John in his first epistle writes to let us know that Jesus’ body was not a figment of his imagination or some kind of immaterial illusion.
1John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
Even if we are still finding this doctrine hard to wrap our minds around, we can take heart and know that the Apostle John touched Jesus and knew him intimately.
The Biblical implications that Jesus is God in the flesh should be very reassuring.
1. John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
When we look at Jesus we can know truth, we can experience grace, and can understand who God is because He chose to reveal Himself bodily. The Incarnation shows God’s love and His intentionality in our salvation.
2. Hebrews 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
The verse above also states that Jesus was like us in everyway! The implications in this passage alone are threefold. 1. He was able to destroy the power of the devil. 2. He can be a merciful and faithful high priest. 3. Jesus can empathize with us in our temptations. As we live our daily lives we can know that Jesus knows what it’s like to live in our shoes and is able to minister to us in all situations.
The Incarnation is not just a doctrine for theologians to fight over. Like all biblical doctrines, a firm understanding of the Incarnation will allow us to respond to God’s Self-revelation with worship and give us a clearer picture of the gospel.
Philippians 2:5
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
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Worldliness
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
“Today, the greatest challenge facing American evangelicals is not persecution from the world, but seduction by the world” – C.J. Mahaney
1John 2: 15Do not love the world or anything in the world…”
The verse above is a verse I find difficult to make applicable to my life. What does John mean by ANYTHING? Why is this verse all encompassing? What is meant by love? Why do I find this verse difficult to apply to my life?
Before moving any further I hope that this blog is not read through the lenses of legalism or is applied as someone trying to tell you how to live out your Christian life. My hope for my brothers and sisters (as well as myself) is that through the study of Biblical texts we are further conformed to the image of Christ.
I also want you to know that I personally enjoy playing video games, I enjoy watching a good football game, I enjoy a good beer, and I love the company of my wife. So what did John mean when he said, “Do not love the world or anything in the world.”? Is there need for me to repent of the enjoyment I find while watching a Packer game (as long as they’re winning) or kissing my wife?
To begin, let’s go back to creation. Genesis chapter 1 concludes with “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good…” We can see that prior to Adam’s rebellion against God (Genesis 3:6-7) ALL was not only good, but VERY good. As Christians we have the God-given ability to look at the created order and know we are meant to enjoy it. What stains our ability to truly enjoy creation in a God-ordained way? We are born in sin. From the cradle to the grave we are living in a fallen world. Here is where we need to examine ourselves and find a way to apply 1John 2:15 to our Christian walk.
In Romans 8 Paul explains that “20…the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 20that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Mankind’s fall into sin was not the only effect of Adam’s rebellion. All of the created order was subjected to sin. Now instead of the ability to enjoy food we have gluttony, instead of being able to enjoy a day in the sun, many of us need sunscreen or we’ll cook like an egg on a skillet.
But Romans 8:20 also states that God was “the one who subjected it, in hope..”. Here is where I’d like to take the opportunity to take C.J. Mahaney’s definition of the “world” in 1John 2:15. “The world we’re not to love is the organized system of human civilization that is actively hostile to God and alienated from God.” Armed with C.J.’s definition we should be able to turn our focus from a view of “Are you telling me I can’t do (fill in the blank); to “When I’m doing (fill in the blank) am I able take hope that one day Christ’s Kingdom will empirically reign over all things”. Now we need to find ways to enjoy creation in a way that is Christ-centered and glorifying to Him.
Our Pastor as well as the Apostle Paul (2Corinthians 13:5) has commanded us to take opportunities to “examine yourselves”. Take the passages quoted in this blog and examine yourselves. Right now walk through your daily, weekly, and monthly practices and examine them. Ask yourself “what can I do to make the best of my time, finances, relationships, etc.” Ask yourself if you are using God’s creation as a means to reflect the One who saved us, or are you falling in love with the “world”. As you are going through your daily lives are your practices helping you progress in holiness, or furthering your love for the world?
I want to end this blog with one warning as well as how we can take hope amidst the seduction of the world.
The warning comes from the Biblical character Demas. As you read through Colossians and Philemon you’ll see Demas mentioned among Paul’s friends. We can assume that Demas was a minister of the gospel and possibly even endured persecution while defending the gospel. Yet in Paul’s last epistle he writes 2Timothy 4:9 Do your best to come to me quickly, 10for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me…”. Demas deserted Paul because he lost focus of Christ’s mission and fell in love with the world.
Our hope comes from our Savior. Jesus says in John 10 “27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.” Although we need to be aware of the world’s seduction, we need not fear that we will be overtaken. We are safely held in the hand of Jesus; the One who effortlessly holds the everything together and died so we may be pure despite of our depravity (Hebrew 1:1-3). Jesus also said on the night he was betrayed “…In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).
As we pray on how to apply 1John 2:15, look unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, and know that he didn’t come make us live a miserable life, but he came for the joy set before Him. He came to provide eternal life to His Bride the church, and Epikos is a local expression of Christ’s bride and kingdom.
Hebrews 12:1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Posted in Theology | 7 Comments »