Food for Thought

Before I actually get into typing up this blog post, I wanted to say "Thank you" to my dear brother, Cody Kelton.  He gave me permission to use a question he posted on Facebook in this post.  There are not enough kind words in the English language to express my feelings for him, so I want to simply say, "Thank you, Cody.  I love you."

And now, on to the post:

Cody wrote:  "It appears that God says [the Hebrews] can eat any animal they want, and then later He appears to change His mind and tells them they cannot, in fact, eat all of those animals... So what does this mean?"

 Cody wrote a much longer post than this, and I have removed these two sentences from the concluding section of a passage that was several paragraphs in length, so there is some material missing from the overall thought that went into this point.  In way of paraphrasing, the actual point was that at the flood you have eight people and a bunch of animals in an ark.  God tells Noah how many of each animal to save, the Bible making clear that this is a distinction between the clean and the unclean (God tells Noah save seven pairs of everything clean but only one pair of everything unclean).  After the flood God changes the food law, allowing men to eat animals as well as plants (prior to that God said man could eat every green thing) and thus sets us a system where all food is permitted.  But, then later, God restricts what the Hebrew people could eat.  So from this comes the above question.

I already wrote a brief response to Cody (so if you are one of his or my Facebook friends and have already read that post, you have my apologies, some of this will be repetitious), but I would like to write a more developed response because his question got me thinking about the whole issue of the food laws and how modern Christians should regard to those laws.  My views on the matter are not cutting edge or new, and I'm not going to tell people to empty all the bacon out of the fridge, but I think there are some theological and Christological implications in the food laws that are worth considering.  On the whole I think that the food laws point to the greatness of God's grace, they set up a system whereby men might understand their uncleanness before God, and they served as a very real divider between the people of God and those outside of his covenants.  If all of these points are understood, and if we can see that Scripture indicates these points are correct, then we are drawn to the redemption offered by Christ as he is the door by which we enter into the grace of God, the one who cleanses us from all unrighteousness, and the one who joins us as a people and reconciles us to God.

I think the following passages of Scripture are relevant to this study: Genesis 9:3-6, Leviticus 1:3, 10; 11 (focusing on verses 24, 27, 36, 39, 43, 44-47), Numbers 23:19, Malachi 3:6, Mark 7:19, Acts 10, Romans 7:7-10 (8-25 is good also, but 7-10 is the focus), Galatians 2:11-21; 3:19-26, 1 Timothy 1:8-11, and James 1:17.  There are probably other verses that we could include in this list, but the argument I want to follow touches on all of these verses, and so with these I hope I can lay out my point sufficiently.  Some of these verses I use only to illustrate the same point from multiple writers, so as to make that point (hopefully) clearer.  (We could, along with these verses bring in 1 Corinthians 8 and go even further in examining how the Christian should react to food in general.)

Where do we begin then?  Well, we can begin with what Cody stated he already knew at the intro to his letter: God does not change his mind.  We see this in Numbers 23:19, Malachi 3:6, and James 1:17.  Each of these verses is clear, God does not change his mind.  What he has stated is true, and will be true.  We could add to this other verses, such as Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."  The point being that while Scripture says that God is grieved over a thing, or that God relents, or we see an instance where God says one thing, but then says because of an act of faith he will not actually do what he has said, we are also told, in no uncertain terms, that God does not change his mind.  Thus, if all of Scripture is true, we are left with situations that require us to exercise some additional thought, so that we can see how it can be that God has remained consistent when he gives changing requirements or does not bring about a promised judgment.  So then, how can it be that God has not changed his mind in regards to the human diet, but we see at least 3 different dietary commands in the Bible?  And what does all of this have to do with Christ?

Here we need to begin with understanding the purpose of the law.  We see in Leviticus 11:44-47 that the purpose of the food laws is to mark the Israelites as holy.  Holiness means that which is separate, that which is set apart.  In terms of human holiness we understand this as meaning that we are set apart to and for God.  When we speak of God's holiness it is an expression of his uniqueness, his transcendence over all of creation.  He is more holy than anything else, better, above, separate in a good way.  Because God is holy, his people are also to be holy, and one of their marks of separation was to be their food.

Thus we read in Leviticus 11:24, 27, 36, 39, and 43 that to touch the carcass of an unclean animal would render the one who touched it unclean.  Not only were the Israelites forbidden to eat the unclean, they were forbidden to have contact with the unclean.  To be separate, to be holy, meant to have no contact with that which was considered unclean.  So the food law given to the Israelites showed them how they were to be uniquely holy before God by telling them what they could and could not eat.  No other nation could claim to have this law, to have this knowledge; holiness was given to those in covenant with God, not to those outside the covenant.

This unique covenant relationship was established not through Noah or Adam, but through Abraham.  Abraham was the first Hebrew, and he was originally an Aramean.  God did not establish a special covenant relationship with Noah and his sons, instead he gave them a general command as regards the food they ate: do not eat meat with the blood in it, everything else is fine. (Genesis 9:3-6)  But, when it came to Abraham, God established a special relationship, giving rules for that covenant so that Abraham and his children would be able to always say that they were called by God to a special relationship that no one else could have.  But, if God had given the dietary restrictions to Abraham, then Ishmael could have passed those laws down to his children (just as God did bless Ishmael because of Abraham, even if Ishmael was not the son of the promise).  If God had given the dietary restrictions to Noah, then what would have set Israel apart in their diet?  In setting up a covenant with Israel, God made clear that he wanted a holy people who would be set apart from any other people, and so he did not give dietary restrictions to others because then the point of the restriction would have been lost: those who did not belong to the covenant would have had the same dietary restrictions as those who did belong to the covenant thus weakening a unique covenant sign that would set God's people apart from others.

But, at the same time, the purpose of the dietary law was to enforce the clean/unclean standard that God had already applied to himself upon his people.  If this seems an odd statement, then consider that Noah was told to save seven pairs of clean animals and one pair of unclean animals.  What would clean and unclean have meant to Noah?  Prior to his receiving the command that he could eat of the flesh of animals, it would have been unclean for Noah to eat any flesh at all, so the clean animals could not have indicated a dietary restriction for Noah.  However, considering what we see early on in Genesis, where Able is offering God a sacrifice from his flock, and reading that men began to call upon the name of the Lord, it is reasonable to assume that some form of ritualistic worship was common (or at least known) on earth during the time of Noah.  This assumption is further buttressed by the fact that Noah built an altar and made an offering to God of some of every clean animal when he and his family exited the ark.  Thus, for Noah, clean and unclean would have simply indicated those animals that were acceptable to use for offerings and sacrifices.  Now that same understanding, that there are some animals acceptable and some unacceptable, applies not only to sacrificial and religious events, but to the every day events of having dinner or burying a carcass from the fields.

Here we have our first, and I would argue incomplete, answer of why God gave Noah and Moses different food laws.  The food laws were part of the larger body of the Mosaic Law given to the Israelites.  This body of laws was given so that the Israelites would know what it meant  to be holy.  Only by following this law perfectly could anyone be holy.  Ergo, it did not make sense to give this law to all humans at the time of Noah because God was not establishing a special covenant relationship with all humans wherein he would show them how to be holy.  God, in his mercy, chose to reveal the requirements of holiness to the Israelites, in order to accomplish his purposes.

But, what purpose would God have in revealing the requirements of holiness to the Israelites?  In examination of this question I argue that we must now turn to the New Testament, where we find not only this answered, but also a more complete answer to the first question as to why God would give different food laws at different times.

The first section I want to look at is Acts 10, where we see Peter visiting a Gentile and we get a resolution to the differences brought about by the dietary laws as given above.  In Acts 10 Peter sees a vision from God in which he is told to take and eat from the unclean things set before him.  Peter gets this vision three times, and then end up visiting Cornelius and realizing that God is speaking about the Jews and Gentiles, calling the Gentiles clean.  Here we have some indication of the distinction that God set up by giving the dietary law in the first place.  The Gentiles were unclean not only because they were outside of the covenant of God and his people, but also because of what they ate (granted what they ate was directly related to the fact they had no relationship to God).  But, God, through Christ, was so merciful that not only could he draw back the covenant people to himself, he could go even further and draw those to himself who had no covenant relationship with him at all.  Cornelius was a God fearer, but he was not Jewish and does not seem to have taken any of the steps necessary to become a Jew, so he had no claim to a covenant relationship with God, but, through Christ, God set aside the limitations of the old covenant and its legal obligations and established a new covenant in which all men could come to God through faith.  The old laws of clean and unclean animals no longer served to divide people, but now showed the immeasurable power of God's grace.

The distinction between Jew and Gentile is made even clearer when we consider Paul's testimony in Galatians 2:11-14.  Here Paul recalls a time when he stood up to Peter because Peter was being a hypocrite.  Peter withdrew from Gentile believers because a group of men who came from James in Jerusalem.  Thus even in the early church the distinction between Jew and Gentile persisted, and it seems that this remained an issue of the clean versus the unclean.  Paul's complaint against Peter was that Peter was denying the gospel, living like a Gentile and telling the Gentiles that they had to live like Jews.  Thus unless they engaged in the steps necessary to become ritually clean, living like Jews, Gentiles were considered unclean by some Jewish Christians in Paul's time.  So the Law, as it became a part of Jewish culture, did exactly what it was supposed to in drawing a clear distinction between those who followed it and were considered clean, and those who did not and remained unclean.  Yet, as we complete the story by reading through to verse 21 we see that Christ set aside the law, because in and through Christ we have all died to the law, even if we did not know it originally, so that we can live in the righteousness of God.  So Christ set aside the distinction between Jew and Gentile, and part of the Gospel is that God has one people, all joined to him through Christ.

We can say then that God gave the Law to the Israelites in order to draw a distinction between them and those around them, but he also gave the Law in order to show the power of his mercy and grace in Christ.  The Israelites strained to reach perfection by punctiliously following a set of written rules and obligations, even going so far as to add to them to create barriers so they would not accidentally cross any forbidden lines.  But Gentiles were alienated from God, having no conception of God's holiness and no access to the law by which they might have been made aware of the righteousness of God.  Yet, in Christ, neither the Jew nor the Gentile can claim any advantage, for Christ made all equal, bringing the righteousness of God to those of us who could not attain it on our own, and were not aware of what righteousness really looked like in the first place.  The law makes the grace of God all the more amazing.

But there is more yet.  In order to understand God's purpose for the law, we must understand the law.  In order to understand the law, in general, we can turn to Galatians 3, Romans 7:7-25, or 1 Timothy 1:8-11.  What we see in Galatians 3:19-26 is that the law was given in order to imprison all things under sin, in order that we might believe in Christ.  Paul makes clear that the goal of the law was not to cause sin, but the law showed sin, and thereby gave sin power, but also pointed us to Christ.  This point is also demonstrated in Romans 7:7-10, in which we read that the law is not sin and is not evil, but that sin uses the law to condemn us and kill us, making our sins all the worse because now we sin not ignorantly, but knowing that what we do is wrong.  And, in case we missed it the first couple of times, Paul makes clear to Timothy that the law is laid down not for the righteous but for the unrighteous; the law is good because it applies to those who are law breakers, not the just.  So then, the law is there to reveal the sinfulness of humanity, so that in seeing our sinfulness we might be made fully aware of our need for a savior, and so we might come to place our faith in Christ for salvation.

What we see in understanding what Paul says about the Law is that the Law convicts us all.  And since we are all convicted under the Law, if we understood it rightly, we would understand what a need we have for a savior.  Consider what we read in Leviticus 1:3 and 10.  We see that God requires the burnt sacrifices brought to him to be without blemish.  God does not accept a sacrifice with blemish or defect.

When we think of this in relation to the food laws we see that anything that is unclean is automatically not fit for sacrifice.  God will not accept a perfect and unblemished pig as part of a burnt offering any more than he would accept a blind and lame goat.  And if God will not accept that which is unclean, then how can we ever be perfect offerings to him?  If the food law shows us how to distinguish between the clean and unclean animals, not only to know what we can eat but also to know what we can offer as part of our sacrifice, then we should know that anything that would be unclean as a matter of diet cannot be an acceptable offering to God.  And, if we read the law thoroughly and understand it rightly, we see that we are in need of perpetual cleansing.  If we are in need of perpetual cleaning, recognizing as Hebrews says that the blood of animals cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, then we know that we cannot procure righteousness on our own.  Thus understood the food laws served as a part of the greater Law in reminding those who attempted to be righteous that they could not achieve righteousness on their own, ultimately men would have to rely on some grace from God to perfect us because we could not perfect ourselves.  This then points us back to Christ, for God would have to provide a perfect sacrifice, an unblemished sacrifice, for the sins of humanity if we were to be made righteous and holy as God is, and as God calls us to be.

The Israelites should have understood through the food laws how uncleanness does not come from outside, but from inside.  Jesus in Mark 7:19 declares all food to be clean, saying that it is not what goes into the mouth that makes one unclean, but what comes out of the mouth.  The Jews were given the food laws so that they could understand how unclean they were internally, no so that they would hold that as unclean which is external.  If the food laws were given so as to set up a distinction between the Jews and Gentiles, shouldn't that have caused the Jews to reflect on how much more of a chasm existed between them and God?  Because we tend to focus on simply following rules we miss the fact that the Law of God exists also to challenge us to consider how his rules reveal our own unrighteousness.  Again, this makes the grace of God amazing, because we who are unclean internally can be called clean, not because of following laws, but because of faith.

The food laws served to distinguish God's people from those around them.  The food laws served to show the holiness of God so that his people would be reminded of what they were called to be.  But, understood through Christ, the food law shows the magnitude of God's mercy, that those who were unclean could be called clean through the blood of Christ.  Those who strived to be clean, knowing they were always unclean, always falling short of the Law, could find redemption in a perfect sacrifice.  God did not change his mind in changing what food should be eaten, but he wanted to reveal to us how wondrous his grace his, how holy he himself is, how unclean we are, and how we can draw near to him and be made righteous through his Son.

Merry Christmas!

A thousand people have said it better, and there are a thousand other articles worth reading on the meaning of Christmas and why we should be celebrating, so I'll say only one thing: Merry Christmas!  May the meaning of this day, that God was born, a child in the manger was the incarnate Lord himself, and that he lived, walked, died, and rose again for the glory of God and the forgiveness of sins, live in your heart now and forever.  Though the holiday feelings may pass, may the truth remain, firmly established in your mind, that he alone is worthy of worship, and whoever has faith in him will be forgiven their sins.  May the time with family and friends, if you are so blessed, be joyous and fill your heart with compassion and prayers for those who cannot be with those they love at this time of year, and always.  May the Lord bless you, as you have a very, merry Christmas!

Why International Missions isn't Foreign

Recently I had the privilege of teaching a lesson on international missions at my church here in Carrollton, Georgia.  The lesson itself was on missions going on in Thailand.  In many of the international missions lessons in local churches congregations learn about the demographics of the country, they hear about a few specific missionaries, and then they are told how they can pray for those missionaries specifically.  While there is nothing wrong with this method, and in fact there is a lot of very useful information to be learned from this method of teaching, I decided to take the lesson in a different direction.  My goal in the lesson was not simply that the congregation would learn facts about Thailand, but that they would understand that Thailand is not that different from Carrollton, and that international missions is not just something "over there," but that it affects us here at home, and what we do here at home affects international missions.

This post is a follow up to that lesson.  The fact is international missions ought not be some foreign concept or idea.  International missions should flow directly from home missions, from local missions, and from every Christian's personal mission in the world.  International missions is the spread of Christianity to every tribe, people, tongue, and nation, fulfilling the command of Christ to go and make disciples of all nations.  (Matthew 28:18-20)  Therefore, the mindset of international missions should be part of every Christian, as we strive to be faithful to what our Lord has called us to do.

There are two specific reasons I want to address as to what International missions is not foreign: people, and Scripture.  If we understand the reality of who we are serving, and who we have a mission to reach, we will understand that these are not just people who live thousands of miles away, but they are brothers and sisters, and no matter how far away family may be, family is not foreign.  Likewise, if we understand Scripture, then we will understand how what we are to minister is never foreign, it is the wonderful Good News of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that all men might be reconciled to God, redeemed from sin and free to live to the glory of God.  The message is not foreign, and the people are not foreign, even if the culture is totally alien to us.

It may seem like a bit of a contradiction to say that the people are not foreign if the culture is foreign, but people are not just their culture.  Specifically, in terms of international missions, every person is exactly the same.  What I mean is that what Paul says about humans, he says about all of us, he makes no distinction between Jew and Gentile, Greek and barbarian.  Paul says, "As it is written:

'None is righteous, no, not one;
   no one understands;
   no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
   no one does good,
   not even one.'
'Their throat is an open grave;
   they use their tongues to deceive.'
'The venom of asps is under their lips.'
   'Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.'
'Their feet are swift to shed blood;
   in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.'
   'There is no fear of God before their eyes.'

Every human has sinned.  No one fears God naturally.  Not one of us is innocent, and all of us are condemned before God, according to what Paul says here.  Therefore, when we go to minister to humans in any place, any time, and any culture, we are ministering to sinners.  Just as you, if you are a Christian, were a sinner who received the Gospel from someone who ministered to you, so they are sinners in need of ministers who will bring the gospel to them.  There is nothing foreign in sin, we who walk in the light know the ways of sin, because we walked in sin ourselves.

But, not only are people the same, Scripture is the same.  Yes, translation is an art and a science.  And yes, there may be challenges in bringing Scripture to different cultures.  Due to linguistic barriers and the lack of a written language, it may be very hard to explain Scripture or make it widely accessible to certain peoples.  But, despite these challenges, Scripture itself does not change.

The reason Scripture does not change is because God does not change.  Scripture is the personal revelation of a personal God.  Unless God changes, his revelation will not change, and God has said of himself that he does not change. (Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29, Malachi 3:6, James 1:17)  Therefore, in every culture we minister the same Scripture, the same message, and the same God, that all men may know of the Lord who made them and desires that they should come and fellowship with him.  This Gospel does not change, because it is the same to everyone, no matter who they are or where they are.

There are a lot of things that can be foreign in international missions, from language and culture, to location and climate.  But, the things that really matter, the needs of people and means of addressing those needs, do not change.  Every person needs to be reconciled to the God who made them, who requires worship from them.  And the only means of reconciliation is faith in Jesus Christ.  Therefore, international missions may involve going to foreign places, eating foreign food, learning foreign languages, and living under foreign shelters, but there should be nothing closer to home than the ministering of the gospel to those who desperately need to know of the hope that is found only in Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 6:1-8

Recently (a couple of weeks ago) my pastor asked me to read this section of Scripture and lead the congregation in prayer as part of our worship service.  Reading this passage, and the sermon of that day, both changed the way I have looked at sin since.  I wanted to address this passage of Scripture and share a few of the things that really impacted me.  A couple of the points come from the Hebrew in this passage, so I beg your leave to discuss those, and I ask that you trust what I'm going to say.  Alternatively, I hope that my reading of this passage might encourage you to do some research on the passage yourself, that you may be challenged and transformed by the Word of God.

First, the English of this passage:

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him stood the seraphim.  Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  And one called to another and said:

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.  And I said: "Woe is me!  For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.  And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for."

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"  Then I said, "Here am I!  Send me."


The first thing that struck me was the declaration made by the Seraphim: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!"  (A better rendition might note that he is called the Lord of armies, but that's a secondary point.)  The reason this declaration struck me is because of the triple repeated, "Holy!"  In the original Hebrew and Greek there was no punctuation.  No exclamation marks, no periods, no commas, no way to separate or accentuate a word other than either its placement in the idea, or a play on its form, or a repetition of the word itself.  Thus, when we see a repeated word or term it is there for one specific reason: emphasis.

For the Seraphim to call God "holy" three times indicates a serious emphatic statement.  It would be like standing in the midst of a courtroom and suddenly the bailiff picks up a bull horn and screams as loud as he can that the judge is honorable and just.  If you miss the implication, it is because you choose to ignore that which has been screamed at you.

God is holy!  He is utterly, indescribably holy!  His holiness is to be shouted, it is declared by those beings which are in his presence day and night.  This is the first and most important descriptor of God.  His holiness defines his other attributes, because it puts them in proper perspective.

God's holiness is his transcendence above and beyond this world.  He is like nothing in this world, utterly distinct and incomparable.  It is for this reason that Scripture says of God, "Who is like the Lord?" (Psalm 40:5; Psalm 89:6; Isaiah 40:18, 25; 46:5)  And here, you have heavenly beings, flying above the throne of God, which is itself a high and loft throne, and they are declaring this holiness, over and over again, yelling it loudly to one another.  That's how important it is that we get that God is holy, the seraphim yell not to creation, but to one another, even though they dwell in the presence of God.

This point only began to really come home to me when I began to consider the rest of God's attributes in relation to this holiness.  Think about it this way: God demonstrates his power so that we can understand that his power is beyond what we can comprehend, it is holy.  God works great and wondrous miracles so that we can understand that if God is able to do things which amaze us, how much greater are his works which we can not fathom!  His holiness, his indescribable nature, is declared by comparison with that which we can understand.  Likewise of any of God's attributes, his anger, his patience, his justice, and particularly his love.  We cannot really comprehend any of these attributes of God, because his holiness puts them beyond our grasp.  We can witness a declaration of his love or justice, but that only gives us a glimpse into the reality that we cannot fully grasp, because God is beyond us.

But, here's what blows me away more than anything else, what made me really begin to consider the beauty of God's holiness: he does not do his great works for himself!  What I mean is that God is holy, by his very nature, and there is nothing that adds to or takes away from this holiness.  Thus, when God shows his glory through his great works, he does not add anything to himself, but simply shows us, mere humans, how wonderful he is, out of a great love for us.  Remember, God has seraphim declaring his holiness, he already knows his holiness, he does not need us to praise him, but he gives us the opportunity to praise him for our good, because he loves us.

God is the only being who deserves this praise, because his beauty is perfect.  So, for us to be able to praise God is a gift to us, because being able to praise God means that we are getting some glimpse of perfection, some participation in the amazing glory of the one who defines everything good and beautiful.  It's like getting an invite into the most amazing art gallery ever.  God is not changed or made more amazing by our worship, but we who witness his holiness are changed, because we experience that which is truly beautiful.  This is the situation Isaiah found himself in: ushered into the presence of glory, confronted with that which left him dumbfounded (literally) because of how wondrous it was.

God is holy, he is awesome, and he shows his holiness to us because of his love for us, but this is only the beginning of this passage.  Add to that the very beings who are declaring this: seraphim.  (In the Hebrew the "im" ending is simply a plural ending, hence some translations read "seraphs" as a valid plural form of the term, since the Hebrew "seraph" is the singular form.)  The word itself means "burning ones".  Thus, here are "burning ones," or beings whose own glory makes them appear to be on fire (or who really are made of fire), who are declaring how holy God is.  His glory is made manifest through comparison with their glory, because they are declaring his holiness, and not their own.

Then, Isaiah gives utterance to words that simply do not translate into the English with the same nuance which they have in Hebrew.  Isaiah looks to the Lord and says, "Woe is me! For I am [compelled to be silent, brought to silence, made silent, or undone, ruined, destroyed]."  (Everything within the brackets could be viable interpretations of this passage.)  Thus, when we read from Isaiah, "I am undone" what he is saying is, "I am brought to silence."  Here the idiom of silence represents the idea of death or total destruction.  This ties the statement in with the rest of what Isaiah says, "For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips."

The idea of unclean lips goes far and beyond simply the words of the people, it goes to their lives, their very being.  Thus, as Christ declared, "For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." (Matthew 12:34)  For Isaiah, for his mouth to be silenced was a condemnation of his very life.  So, likewise, when Isaiah complains of the uncleanness of the lips of the people, he is condemning the way they live.  They are unclean in word and deed.  And he is one of those people, he is not innocent, he is not holy, he is not good.  I realized as I read those words what a condemnation that should be to me: though I might know how to say the right things, though I might appear to be a "good Christian" to the world, my heart ought to be condemned before God because of my sinfulness.  I am in the position of Isaiah, and I need to declare, "Woe is me!  I am compelled to be silent, I should be destroyed before my holy God!"

Yet Isaiah was not left there.  Here the Hebrew again plays on words and imagery: one of the burning ones takes a "glowing coal" and touches Isaiah's mouth with it.  One of those who is on fire takes a coal of fire and touches that which symbolizes Isaiah's wickedness, his lips, and declared Isaiah to be clean.  Imagine that scene for a minute, a flying being of fire holding a burning coal in his hand reaches out to you and touches your lips with a searing fire, and declares you to be clean.

Here the full imagery of the situation is brought out: Isaiah is not simply standing in the temple, he is standing in the middle of a sacrifice.  Remember, the temple was filled with smoke after God's holiness was declared.  Why would the temple be filled with smoke?  Because a sacrifice was taking place.  We know this because the smoke is not merely from the altar of incense, but there is a burning coal, which came from the altar, which means that a sacrifice was burning on the altar of God.

Here we tie into the imagery of Christ, because he is the lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world. (1 Peter 1:19-21)  He is the sacrifice that God accepted to quench his anger, which allows a guilty people to approach a holy God.  Isaiah was standing in the presence of the God who makes redemption for his saints, offering up a sacrifice to himself which we could not offer up.  And Isaiah was made a participant of that sacrifice.  A coal from the fire of God's sacrifice was taken and placed upon Isaiah's lips, so that he became a participant in this symbolic sacrifice that would one day be fulfilled in the death and suffering of the Messiah.

And look what happens to Isaiah because of his exposure to the sacrifice of Christ: the man who was brought to silence, who was compelled to recognize the sinfulness of his life before the holy God of the universe, suddenly has the courage to speak up and say to God, "Here I am, send me!"  Because Isaiah saw the holiness of God, he was brought low, he considered himself already dead.  But, because Christ died on his behalf and he was able to participate in that sacrifice, his words, the actions of his life, were made acceptable before God.  Isaiah was given a boldness to go from laying on his face to standing before the awesome God of all creation, all because of the sacrifice that God prepared for himself.

The more I studied this passage, just in preparation to read it at church, the more I was faced with the reality that I had lost sight of the holiness of God.  I had forgotten his glory, and I had forgotten that when I sin I am transgressing that holiness, that glory, that awesome and amazing attribute of God that cannot be fully understood here on earth, because it is the reflection of how utterly incomprehensible and beyond us God really is.  But, in addition to that, my sins made light of the sacrifice God prepared for himself.  Instead of allowing the coal from the altar of God to touch my lips, I would draw near to it, I would feign to touch it, and then I would go back again into the secret realms of my heart, and I would not let myself be singed by the purifying fire of God.

For this reason, for the last two weeks, I have been continually thinking to myself, "Would it glorify God for me to do that?  Would it glorify God for me to go there?  Would it glorify God for me to watch that, think that, or listen to that?"  The seraphim constantly declare God is holy, so how could I, who have enjoyed the benefits of the death of Christ, do anything less in my own life?  Do I really think God is that holy?  In being confronted with these questions I was forced to reconsider how I was living, so that I could be like Isaiah, transformed by my experience of seeing the holiness of God.

To be honest, for those who have read this far, I can only apologize.  There is something about being exposed to an experience that cannot quite be captured by simply writing about it.  Particularly when it is the Word of God that we are confronted with, there is an intrinsic and personal challenge that is hard to express to others.  I can only hope that you will be challenged by this section of Scripture as I was.  I can only hope that as you have read of my experience of going through this passage, you will be able to appreciate the imagery, the nuances, and the power of this passage more.  I hope you are challenged to think about the awesome holiness of God a little bit more, so that you can too can live a life changed by meeting the God of Isaiah, the God of the universe.

A Perfect Inheritance (part 3)

This is the last post on the topic of our perfect inheritance, based off of the sermon I preached on Sunday, 9/19/10.  In the last two posts I have attempted to demonstrate that Ephesians 1:3-14 calls us to praise God for all he has done, and has called us to recognize that we are adopted as sons of God, and so we should live according to this truth.  In this post I want to talk about one final aspect of our perfect inheritance, and that is the work of the Holy Spirit.  There is so much more that can be said about Ephesians 1:3-14.  The fact is this is an incredibly rich section of Scripture, but lest I tire you too much, or myself, this will be final post on it for now.

This post really is to make two points, those points have to do with what we read in Ephesians 1:13-14.  Paul writes, "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."  The two points I want to address deal with the fact that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit.  This is not a future tense promise of sealing, it is a present reality: we have already been sealed.

In the first and second posts I continually made the point that we are saved according to God's will.  Our salvation is not dependent on us and our continued work.  This final section proves that point concretely.  We have been sealed, and that which is sealed, according to what Paul says, is guaranteed.  How can that guarantee be violated then unless God himself is a liar about what he has sealed?  Basically, either God must be a liar, or he must be weak.

Certainly we would be complete fools to argue that God is a liar.  If God were a liar (such a blasphemous idea ought to be repugnant to our thoughts) then there would be no point in believing anything in Scripture.  What would be the point of trying to do anything to please God?  If God were a liar then everything we know of his character in Scripture and everything he tells us to do as pleasing to him could potentially be a lie.  In such a situation we may as well throw the bible away, because it would be useless to us.

But, God is not a liar.  Therefore Scripture is trustworthy, because it comes from him.  So, if God says we are sealed, then we are sealed.  If God says that our salvation is guaranteed, then it is guaranteed, there is no need to doubt that.  But, is God strong enough to make good on his guarantee?  That is, what if God has guaranteed our salvation, but he can't really secure it against our strength, or the strength of sin or whatever else?

If that were the case then we would be back to the first point, believing that God is a liar.  If God has said we have a guarantee of salvation, and we say, "But I could walk away from God!  His guarantee could become void!" then we are arguing the idea that God is in fact wrong in saying that our salvation is guaranteed.  In such a situation, God is once again a liar.  Therefore, because God has said we are sealed, and our salvation is guaranteed, it must be so.

Therefore we are sealed, and there is no disputing this is what Scripture says.  We accept this by faith then, and we ask the question, "What does our sealing mean?"  It means that we will one day receive our inheritance.  All of creation will one day be given over to Christ, and we will reign over it with him.  We will have perfect relationship and harmony with God, even as we are already perfect before him.  This inheritance will be ours, unquestionably.

But, it also means that one day we will be given to God.  The fact is that we are God's possession.  1 Corinthians 6:20 says we were bought with a price.  That which is bought is owned by the one who bought it.  We are God's and one day God will take full possession of us.

It is hard to explain why this is such a wonderful fact, but I'll endeavor to do so.  Because we have been bought by God, we are not slaves to anyone or anything else.  According to what Paul commands us in 1 Corinthians 7:23, we are not to become slaves, which means that we are not slaves now.  We were redeemed, purchased by God for himself, and that means we were set free from all our sinful limitations that at one time held us down.

We are possessed by God, so we are free to hope, free to rejoice, free to give him the glory for all that he has done.  We are promised that he will have us, and that reassures us that we will also receive all that he has promised us.  The promises given us belong to us because we belong to God.  And because we know that God will assuredly take possession of us, we do not have to fear that somehow we will lose that which he has promised us.

We are sealed to receive and inheritance, and as an inheritance to be received by God.  Our God, the maker of the heavens and the earth will not lose that of which he has taken possession.  There is nothing stronger than God, nothing that can from his hand that which he has grasped.  There is no one who can stand before God or be victorious over God.  And that means that we do not have to fear that we will ever lose that which has been given to us, we can praise God in good times and bad, knowing that our hope is sure, because of the awesome might of our God who holds us, even if we should fail to hold to him.

Give God the glory, praise him for his might.  Realize that you have been sealed, and what has been promised will be accomplished.  Let this sink into your life and change you.  Do not be afraid that you are going to go the wrong way, but remember, God will accomplish what he wants for you, because you are his possession.  Do this, as Paul says, "to the praise of his glory."

A Perfect Inheritance (Part 2)

I noted yesterday that God has provided a perfect inheritance for us in Christ.  Today I'd like to develop that a little more.  Not only has God provided a perfect inheritance for us, he has provided us with a means to receive that inheritance.  God has given us Christ, he has provided us with a perfect savior, redeeming us from the curse of the fall.  He has also given us sonship through Christ, providing the means by which we are able to receive that which he has prepared for us from before the foundation of the world.

In Ephesians 1:5 we read, "He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."  Our position before God is not dependent on our prayers or our works or our thoughts, they are dependent on God's determination.

Yes, we who are sons will pray to God, because we will want to speak with our Father, and to tell him of our troubles and ask him for his help.  Yes, we who are sons will seek to do the will of our Father, not because of our great debt to God, which we can never repay, but because we desire to please our Father and show him our love for him.  And yes, our thoughts will be upon the mercy of God, the goodness of God, everything good and noble and worthy of the Lord, because it is only normal and natural to think about that which is most important to us, which ought to be, and will be, God.  But, none of these things makes us sons of God through Christ, instead it is the will of God that brings us to himself through Christ that makes us his sons.  The Lord is responsible for our position before him, so that we cannot take credit for that which he has done.

But, consider that our position before God, being dependent on God, will never falter if we fail or fall.  God has already ordained that we are his sons through Christ, if we are indeed in Christ, so that it does not matter if we stumble and fall, he still calls us sons.  This is what Ephesians 1:4 & 7 tells us: "he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him," and, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses."  We have this forgiveness now, not that we shall have it, but that already it is done.  Already we are holy and blameless before God, and continually so, because God's word does not change. We are not now holy only to be unholy tomorrow, we are not now forgiven so that tomorrow we will be condemned.  Our holiness and righteousness is not dependent on us, it is dependent on God alone, because it is what he has proclaimed.

Consider how this works in contrast with the choices of the Old Testament.  In Deuteronomy 11:26 we read Moses words to the People of Israel that he was setting before them blessing and curse.  In Deuteronomy 30 we can read how this blessing and curse would work out.  Deuteronomy 30:19 tells us that the blessing and curse can also be called life and death.  Moses tells the people to choose life that they and their children might live.  But, here, in Ephesians, notice that Paul does not call us to a choice, instead he tells us of the choice that God has made for us.

We are not a people who have to choose blessing or curse, our choice has been made for us.  If we are in Christ, if we are those whom God has called to him, predestining us to receive his Son, then blessing has been chosen for us.  It is not a matter of our will, so that our positions as sons before God depends on our continuous choosing.  God has spoken, he has declared what will be, so that our adoption is sure, our redemption is promised and is ours now, and will be ours eternally.  How wonderful it is to know that we can relax, we can trust in God, we can have faith in him, and we can enter into his rest, no longer striving but knowing that God holds us in his hands eternally.

Once we stop striving to save ourselves something more amazing comes into view.  We who have been adopted and have been forgiven also have been told what God wants.  We who have received the adoption of God through Christ have been told of God's amazing plan, to bring all things together in Christ at the end of all things.  This is a wonderful blessing because it means that we don't have to wonder at what God wants of us.  We don't have to worry about whether we will choose wrongly, because we know that our goal ought to be God's goal, and God will accomplish his goal, even if it seems we have butchered it.

What I mean is that we who have been redeemed and forgiven do not need to worry that we are not going to accomplish what God wants.  We ought not be lazy, because laziness is not pleasing to our Father.  We ought not be paralyzed by fear of making the wrong choice, because such a fear betrays a mistrust of the Lord.  We ought to be busy doing the work of him who sent us, even as he sent Christ, because it is wonderful and good work, and it is this work which provides us with fulfillment in life.  God's purpose for all of creation is to bring all things together under Christ, so what more meaningful lives can we live than lives that seek to bring everything we do under Christ today?

God has given us redemption through his Son, and he has given us purpose through Christ.  We know that what we do in this life, done with the purpose of bringing all things, our money, our thoughts, our work, our culture, and our friends and neighbors, all under Christ, will prove of eternal worth.  We may never see an ounce of movement, but we do not need to be discouraged, because the work is not ours, it is God's.  This is not the plan of men, it is the plan of God, and it will be accomplished.  The God we serve made the universe, saved us according to his will, and arranged all of history to his purposes; how then can history not end up where he has directed it, so that Christ is glorified and the Father receives all glory through him?

Because of all this there is one more thing we are able to rejoice in, and that is spoken of throughout this passage: we have an inheritance.  If all things will eventually be united in Christ, and we are now in Christ, then eventually all things will be united with us in him as well.  That means we who are in Christ will eventually receive all things.  I'm not speaking out of line here, I assure you.

Consider the promises made to the churches of Philadelphia and Laodicea.  We will be made pillars in the temple of God, in the new Jerusalem.  And we will sit down with Christ on his throne, even as he sat down with his Father on his throne.  When you consider that there is no temple in the new Jerusalem, for God himself will be our temple, then the promise takes on its full import.  We will be joined to God in a way that will be like being pillars in the midst of him, we will never leave from him or go out from him.  And we will reign with Christ over all creation.

Paul says that we will judge angels!  What is there left that is outside of our authority if we are in Christ then?  We will reign with him, we will dwell in the presence of God eternally, and even angels will be under our authority and judgment.  We who are in Christ, who stand forgiven and redeemed before God, who know the will of our Father, also have a great and wonderful (consider the real meaning of this word: full of wonder) inheritance in that we shall receive everything through Christ.

What do we have left that we should need then?  You do not have a place to rest your head tonight?  Don't worry, the whole of creation will be given to you, if you are faithful in Christ.  Do you hunger, are you thirsty?  Do what you can to eat what you need and drink so that you can be healthy, but remember, the point of life is not fine dining and expensive wine, it is to bring all things together under Christ, so that one day all things will be yours in Christ.  Look forward to your inheritance, not for your physical appetites and the satisfying of your lusts, but because God has given you his own presence, he has given you Christ, he has given you a perfect inheritance, and this is your hope.

Live a life worthy of this, seek wisdom now that you will know how to rightly administer the inheritance that is to come.  Give God the glory, praise him for all he has done.  And share the good news of what you have, so that your rejoicing may cause others to rejoice and add again to your joy in Christ.  What do you lack dear Christian?  This world is not your home, do not fall in love with it, because you have a better home coming, a better inheritance than you can even imagine.

A Perfect Inheritance (part 1)

From the time of the fall, as Adam and Eve were learning of their punishment from God, there was also a promise of hope set forth by the Word of the Lord.  Of course, this is no new exegesis of Genesis 3.  God, in speaking to Eve, told her that he would set enmity between her seed and that of the serpent, and that her seed would crush the head of the serpent and the serpent would bruise his heal.  This first promise set forth all the expectations that built throughout Scripture for a messiah, an anointed one who would crush Satan under his heel.  But, this promise also became an inheritance, because Eve did not bear the anointed child, instead the promise would be passed on, so that Mary would be the one to actually give birth to the Messiah, fulfilling the promise of God.

Likewise, with every promise of the Old Testament, Christ was the one to which they were pointing.  The promise of land, the promise of peace, the promise of fellowship with God, and every other promise that God made was fulfilled in Christ.  Not only were the promises fulfilled, they continue to be fulfilled in Christ.  This is the beauty of the inheritance that God has provided for us in Christ.  God has not only given us a promise of inheritance, he himself has perfected that inheritance by doing in Christ what we had no hope of doing for ourselves.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but this is the premise for why I call what we have in Christ our perfect inheritance.  It is the basis of our praise for God, the reason for why we bless God and proclaim his glory.  Some note that even if we did not have this inheritance, God's glory would not be diminished and we should still give him all the praise we do now, but that isn't a question Scripture addresses.  As C.S. Lewis notes so often in the Narnia series, no one is ever told "What if?" what we have is what is, and that is what God has spoken to us about.  So, instead of deliberating on theological "What ifs?" let us praise God for what he has done, let us always be reminded of our perfect inheritance.

This is where Paul begins in Ephesians.  Ephesians 1:3-10 reads, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth."

Notice the consistent present and past tense terms used by Paul here.  God has blessed us, he chose us, he predestined us, he blessed us.  We have redemption and forgiveness.  He lavished his grace upon us.  He has made known his will to us.  Even the plans for the uniting all things in Christ happened in the past tense, so that while all things are not yet joined together, the process has begun, and the fulfillment is guaranteed.

God deserves all praise, and he is worth of our blessings, because he has done great and wondrous things on our behalf.  Consider what it means that we have been predestined us for adoption, and that he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.  God knew us before the world was formed.  The same God who loved Christ before the foundation of the world, according to what John quotes from Jesus' own lips, loved us in Christ.  God's love for us is not bound with time and space, but before there was time, as God exists (existed?) outside of time itself, God already (whatever that means in non-temporal conception) loved us in Christ, for his love for Christ is the limit of his love for us.

But, since the creation of the world, God has continued to love us.  Even when we were at war with him, God knew there would be a time where we would be in Christ.  Somehow, in a way we cannot comprehend, God loved us even while he was at war with us and his wrath remained on us because we had not yet accepted the love and sacrifice of his Son for us.  God's amazing choice, his making us holy and blameless is not dependent on present, past, or future actions we have taken, but it is according to his wisdom and insight, for his will.  Yes, when we come to Christ we choose God, but it is a choice that was predestined, it was a faith given to us, it was a gift that we might come to Christ and love him as he chose us and loved us while we were yet sinners.

And yet, the love of God goes one step further to really leave us wondering at his grace.  Consider this: God chose you in Christ (if you are in Christ) before the foundation of the world.  That means that before creation began, God had already willed to save you.  But think of what that really means!  God created the world and organized all of history so that you would be born, you would live the life you have lived, and you would hear the gospel of Christ.  This is perhaps one of the most amazing things to me about the whole matter: God not only balanced all of the world and the whole of creation in his mind, he also arranged all of history so that he could save us who were his enemies!

What are we left to do with this then?  Praise God.  Live a life that praises God.  Worship the God of creation, the God who knows all things and ordained all things according to his will and for his glory.  Be found in Christ so that all the blessings that Paul discusses in Ephesians, "every spiritual blessing" can be yours.  Long to know God more completely so that you can know the vast and amazing reach of his love, so it can transform your life as you worship him who is worthy of all blessing and gives all blessing.

Your inheritance is perfect.  It is completed, not wanting.  Be found in Christ so that every promise declared as yours can be enjoyed by you both now and eternally in the future.  You know that God has given Christ for us, you know the work that God has done.  Why now, with all that God has done on your behalf, would you remain unchanged and unaffected by the glory of him who loves you, and have loved you, since before the world was formed?

What Really Matters?

One of my favorite books in the Bible is the book of Job.  There is something about the way that Job suffered despite his righteousness that appeals to me.  The sovereignty of God, the antagonism of Satan, the desperation of a man attacked by forces he cannot control or understand, the misery of that man as he finds himself forsaken by friends and family, and the confusion of that man as he isn't even sure whether his God still cares for him or not, all wrapped up in the beauty of poetry.  The book of Job talks about the events of life that all of us face, just as the other wisdom books in Scripture, Proverbs, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes, but with one major difference.  The difference in the wisdom of Job is that it is not just songs or sayings or a thought out dissertation on the importance of wisdom, it is the story of a man's life and the wisdom gleaned from that life as it was lived in history.

One of the lessons I have been thinking about lately from the book of Job comes from an old insight that was brought to my attention.  I honestly cannot remember who brought this particular point to my attention.  Most likely it was my father.  While he did not teach me everything I know about theology and Scripture, he certainly taught me a great deal.  The insight was simply this: Job was never told why all of his misfortunes came upon him.

Often people make this point as they seek to illustrate that Scripture does not apologize for what God does.  They are right about that, of course.  Scripture never seeks to defend God from the charge that he allows evil or does evil.  Scripture simply presents the reality that God does what he wants to do and is sovereign over all things.  Thus, while the writers of Scripture are certainly aware of the problem of evil, that seemingly wicked things happen to seemingly righteous individuals, their answer is only that God is control of all things.  Job definitely agrees with this perspective, as God's final interaction with Job reminds Job that he is but a man, and should not question the sovereign will and authority of the one who made him.

But, this point, that Scripture does not seek to defend God against the charge of evil, and the way that Job's problem is eventually resolved, simply by God's choosing to bless him at the end of the story, brings another point to mind.  That point is best addressed by the question, "What really matters?"  Was it Job's possessions, his health, his friendships or his family that really mattered at the end of the book?  Yes, Job got all of those things back, and in the case of his possessions he received double, but was that the point of the book?

The real point of the book is not Job's suffering.  It is not Job's loss or his righteousness.  All that Job suffers and endures is but the backdrop for the conversation, which builds to one specific point: the glory of God.  What really matters in Job, the crucial point that we must grasp, is that no matter what happens, God is worthy of worship and praise.

Consider why Elihu was angry with Job.  Job sought to defend his own righteousness instead of God's.  Elihu was not concerned that Job might have sinned in some way, Elihu was not concerned that Job might be accusing God of some wickedness or misbehavior.  Elihu was concerned that the righteousness of God was not being proclaimed by a suffering Job.

Think of that.  Elihu wanted Job to put aside his own pain and suffering and give God glory for who he is.  Elihu waited patiently before saying anything because of the wisdom of his elders, but finally his patience gave way as the older men became silent.  Consider how the text introduces Elihu to us: But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. (Job 32:2)  Elihu understood that what was really important was not that Job's integrity should be defended, but that God's character should be declared.

What is really important is not that any of us are ever vindicated in this life.  We may be persecuted, rightly or wrongly.  We may be poor, or we may be rich.  We may suffer, or we may seem to pass through life with ease and comfort our consistent friends, but what does any of that matter?  Our lives, if we live one hundred years or one thousand years, are still brief, and not worth comparing to the history of the world.  What really matters is that we proclaim the goodness of God, the glory of God, and the character of God, so that he may be made known throughout all the world.

We are not seeking to defend God, he is not in need of our weak protestations.  We are seeking to justify God in our lives, to give him the glory of his work on our behalf.  We seek to vindicate God before those who would question his justice or his integrity, not by mere arguments, but by acknowledging that all that is done is done according to his wisdom.  Job failed to do this in his arguments.

Job argued that he was righteous, he argued that if he could bring his argument before God, then maybe he could convince God to let him alone.  But that mode of thought fails to realize that God knows full well what he is doing, and does not need to be counseled or advised in any way.

Does God not know our predicament?  Is he ignorant of our plight?  Is our suffering somehow lost on the God who created us and who acts with all righteousness?  Why then would we think that we could bring argument against him to make him change his mind?  Instead of thinking we can advise God, we ought to tell everyone of how good God is, even in the midst of our pain and suffering.

Perhaps Job began with some understanding of this reality.  When Job lost his children and his possessions he tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground and worshiped God.  Even when Job lost his health and his wife turned on him advising him to curse God and die, Job said to her, "Should we accept good from God and not evil?" (Job 2:9)  And though Job never sinned against God or accused God of anything improper, in the midst of the accusations from his friends, Job seems to have forgotten the goodness of God and that he is worthy of worship, no matter what happens in our lives.

Is it enough to be righteous?  No matter how good we may be, we will never be pure and holy as God is pure and holy.  No matter how just and righteous we may be, we will always be filthy compared to the spotless person of our God.  Because of this, ought we not give God the glory in every situation?  No matter what we suffer, it cannot diminish the wonder of God, so do not be overcome with evil, but overcome every evil situation with good, remembering the God we serve will vindicate us at the coming of Christ, so we do not need to vindicate ourselves, especially not before him.

Confident Insufficiency

I'm reading through Dr. Bryan Chapell's book Christ Centered Preaching again.  I haven't read the book in probably a year or so, since going through seminary.  Even in seminary I read the book because I had to for a book review, and while it was good, I have a feeling that I didn't get out of it what I could have, so now I'm going to read it again, so I can be reminded of the great truths that Dr. Chapell has distilled in this wonderful volume.  If you haven't read it, and you want to preach, I entreat you, read it.

One of the earliest truths that Dr. Chapell discusses is the fact that preachers are insufficient to the task of preaching.  But, it's okay that we be insufficient to the task, because the real task of preaching is the winning of souls to God.  The presentation of the Word of God with power to the goal of converting sinners to Christ, and empowering Christians to live their lives, in every way, in deeper relationship with God.  What mortal man could be sufficient to this task?  All of us are too sinful, too imperfect, too limited to accomplish the goals we should have with every sermon.

But, that's okay.  In fact, that's a good thing.  Because we are insufficient we are able to do exactly what we need to do.  Because we are imperfect, we are able to call upon God, who perfects his power in our weakness, that he might do that which we cannot, and glorify himself through the foolishness of preaching.  I told my wife one of the first lines in that book that made me chuckle is that Dr. Chapell notes that Paul commends the foolishness of preaching, but not foolish preaching.

A good preacher, a good pastor, is not called to stand up and be foolish in what he says, but he is called to be wise and give forth the Word of God.  This is foolish precisely because we expect somehow that mere words will have effective power to change the lives of those that hear them.  But, this is the means by which God has determined that his power should be shared.  He works through his Word.  The same Word that created the world holds all things together now, it raised Christ from the dead, sent the Spirit into timid fishermen and rejects from society, and even now is working powerfully in the world to accomplish the will of God.  This Word no man is worthy to proclaim, but we are called to go forth and do that which we are not worthy of, because God is powerful enough to redeem the fallen.

Isn't this the same thing that applies to all of us?  What are you sufficient to do on your own?  Banking, physics, driving, shoveling, what is any of that in the eternal scheme of things?  Yet, in Christ when we are obedient, those things which are nothing in the eternal scheme become important, because God does amazing things with insufficient people.

None of us is sufficient to fulfill the task to which we were called, because we were called to conform to the image of Christ.  I don't know about you, but I have found that no matter how much I may try and force my heart to be more faithful, I don't seem to have a lot of power to change my very nature.  I can control my actions, I can choose not to dwell on the sinful thoughts that enter into my mind, but I seem to have a nature that keeps on wanting to go back to sin.  I am insufficient to change myself, to conform myself, to the image of Christ.  But God is sufficient, and he will do that which I am incapable of doing, I just have to be faithful to him.

Likewise, Christ called upon us to go out into all nations and proclaim the gospel, making disciples of every people, tribe, tongue and nation.  We were told to do this not because of the great power that was given unto us, but because all power in heaven and earth has been given unto him.  Our commission does not rely upon our sufficiency, but upon the sufficiency of our God.  He alone is able to do all things, without him, we can do nothing.

Take comfort in your insufficiency.  Be confident that whatever God has called you to do, you are incapable of doing.  And that is to his glory, because what you cannot do, he can.  Where you are insufficient, God, my God, is more than sufficient.  When you are faithful to God, and you work with all the strength which he gives you, then you can do great things, because you are not sufficient to do it on your own.

But, that means that you don't need to worry about whether you will save your best friend.  You don't need to worry about whether your life will be perfect enough to stand against those who would test you and examine every aspect of you.  You have sinned, and though you have (hopefully) put that sin behind you, you will never attain perfection in this life.  You don't need to worry about those things, because the reality is that this is who you are, imperfect, insufficient to achieve the great tasks which God will set before you.

But, because God's Word is sufficient, because his power is able to do all things, when he commands you, if you are faithful to do what he says, then he will accomplish his purposes.  Your life will never save anyone, only his word will.  You will never have the power to save any man, only Christ can do that.  You can take comfort in knowing that God is not relying upon your insufficiency, he is giving you the chance to join with his power to accomplish his purposes.  This same God who made all things, who raised Christ from the dead, is able to raise the dead people we speak to, but we are not.

Praise God for our insufficiency, that he may be glorified.  I will never save any man with my preaching, and that's perfectly fine with me.  I may stumble, I may fall, I may make a fool of myself in the pulpit, and that's okay.  As long as God's Word is proclaimed, that is all that matters.  I may be a stuttering fool, I may lack all eloquence, I may be monotone and forget my outline, but if I am obedient to what God has called me to do, if I proclaim his Word, then he will be faithful to himself, and he will use his Word to accomplish his purposes.  It is God who gives a man ears to hear and a mouth to speak.  If he gives me an eloquent tongue, then so much more to his praise, but if not, I do not need to worry, I may be insufficient, but that's just the kind of person God wants me to be.

Have you thanked God for your insufficiency today?  Have you praised God that you do not have the burden to accomplish what you cannot accomplish?  Have you thanked him that he chose to let you join him in accomplishing his will?  Our God is awesome, his power is beyond description.  If you do not know this God, please, write me that I can share his Word with you.  Seek him while he may still be found, for all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

A Promised Inheritance (part 3)

In the last two posts I began typing up a series of posts based off of the sermon I preached on the 12th.  This will be the last of those entries.  The first part basically examined Number 36:1-4, the second 5-9, this part will examine 10-12.  Verse 13 I did not preach on as it is a summation of the whole book, and basically a sermon in and of itself.

In Numbers 36:10-12 we see the results of the complaint of the sons of Manasseh, and Moses response to them.  The sons of Manasseh came to Moses to have their needs addressed as it concerned the inheritance of their brother, Zelophehad.  Moses then responded according to the word of the Lord, and told them what should be done in this case.  The issue developed due to the inheritance of Zelophehad which passed on to his daughters, as he had no sons.  The concern was that the inheritance that God had promised to the clan of Manasseh would be lost due to the marriage of their daughters to another tribe.  God responded by giving a command to the people of Israel that would ensure the inheritance of every tribe, eternally.

So, we have been challenged to be a people of faith, and a people of hope, what shall we do with this last section of Scripture?  What we see here is how a people of faith and love live.  Those who have faith in the promises, the victory, and the commands of God must live in accordance with those promises, victories, and commands.  And that is what the 5 daughters of Zelophehad do.  These are women of faith, just as those who brought the complaint were men of faith.

The obedience of these women is according to the faith they had in the word of God.  God had given these women permission to marry anyone they wanted, so long as they married in the clan of their father.  Remember, these women had not yet received the land they were anticipating as an inheritance.  Just as the men of the clan believed that God would grant this land, so also these women trusted that God would do what he had said.  These women were not just obedient due to social pressures, they were obedient because of their faith.

Faith requires obedience.  Another way of looking at this would be that obedience is a result of faith.  We see this idea discussed explicitly in James as he notes that Abraham was saved by his works and not just his faith.  James here seems to be contradicting Paul, but the reality is that Paul and James are in agreement.  James notes that Abraham acted in response to what he believed, this was the proof of his faith.  Without works, faith is dead, so if we claim to have faith, but have no works, what good is that faith to us?

Just as obedience is a result of faith, obedience also anticipates the result of faith, an inheritance given by God.  Consider that this passage does not tell us that the daughters of Zelophehad waited until after they received their inheritance to marry, but rather that they did as they were commanded, and married within their clan.  These women anticipated that they would receive the inheritance promised, their faith was active in the fact that they were not passively waiting, but actively anticipating the inheritance to come.  Our faith must also lead to an obedience that anticipates the inheritance that is to come.

But, it is also our obedience to the word of God that secures our inheritance.  Once again we are brought back to James and we see that he tells us that if we are not living lives in obedience to the word of God, then our faith is dead, and of no use to us.  If our faith is dead, if it is of no use to us, then it cannot save us and give us reason to expect the inheritance that has been prepared for us.  So, while we cannot earn our salvation by work, we secure it by our works, understanding that our faith is demonstrated in our works.  Hence why Paul says that we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, as this is our spiritual worship.

We walk a fine line here.  It is a fine line because some might say that they are saved by their works, meaning what Paul means by salvation.  These people think that because they do good works, God will look on them with mercy and allow them into heaven.  That position is simply false, and is not condoned in Scripture at all.  Rather, what we see is that those who seek to earn their way to salvation are challenged with their imperfections, called hypocrites, and rejected.

However, those who come to God humbly, having faith in Jesus Christ, they are saved.  James notes this as he says to us that we must come to God in humility, that we must love God and not the world.  Our love of God requires us to have faith in Christ, and thereby we are saved.  But, this is also informative for us because we see that if we love the world we are enemies of God.  That means that James is reminding us of our inheritance.  He is reminding us that we who love God and draw near to him are securing our inheritance through works done as a confirmation of the faith that lives within us.

Obedience is necessary in order to be called the children of God.  We are not being obedient to the law though, but to the love of God, and for God, that has been placed within us.  Our obedience is not what causes faith, but is in response to the faith we have.  Obedience anticipates the inheritance we will have, in that we are always reminded that we are obedient expecting God to reward us who seek him.  Our obedience also secures our inheritance though, as we demonstrate our faith and are assured of our salvation by the things we do.

Where have you been disobedient in this last week, day, or even hour?  Have you known what is good and right to do, and not done it?  Have you resisted the law of love in any way?  Have you refused to trust in God, holding on to your own problems and trying to fix things yourself?  Consider these things and be challenged today to be more obedient to what you know you should be doing.

For the non-Christian, the act of obedience is simple: believe in Christ.  This is what God has commanded for all people.  Believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, and was raised again on the third day.  Believe in the gospel as it has been handed down faithfully to us.

For the Christian, obedience is equally simple: take up your cross daily and follow Christ.  Have this same mind in you as was in Christ, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)  To not be ashamed of Christ, and do not despise the discipline of the Lord.  Rejoice, anticipate your inheritance that is coming, be obedient and look forward, hopeful because you have faith in Christ, you who are a child of God, who Christ is not ashamed to call his own.

A Promised Inheritance (Part 1)

Today I have the blessed opportunity to preach at the church my wife and I are attending here in Carrollton.  (That's why I set this to come up later in the day than normal, so as not to ruin the surprise of the sermon for her since she will be hearing it today.)  The text I have chosen for this sermon is Numbers 36:1-12.  This sermon is the first in a two part series dealing with inheritance.  Next week I will be preaching on Ephesians 1:3-14.  Because my sermon will be approximately 40 minutes in length I have broken it into 3 parts for the sake of posting it here.  Parts 2 and 3 will follow in the next couple of days.

Numbers 36 is the culmination of nearly 500 years of history.  470 years prior to the events taking place in the text God made a promise to a lone man, an 85 year old who had no children, Abraham, that his descendants would possess all the land in the area.  40 years earlier, God heard the cried of his people, and he sent a lone man, Moses, to deliver his people from Egypt, and to bring them into the land they were preparing to enter.  Yet, though God had been faithful to deliver his people from Egypt after 430 years, and though he had destroyed the army of Pharaoh, and had done amazing works in the sight of the children of Abraham, the Israelites, they saw the inhabitants of the land that had been promised to them, and they doubted.  For 40 years, those who rejected the promises of God, who doubted his faithfulness and had no faith in his word, wandered in the wilderness, until every member of that Generation, save Joshua and Caleb, died out.

Thus, the first thing we see as read this text, is that these men who have come to Moses with this legal dispute are men of faith.  These are men who believe in the promises of God, the victory of God, and the commands of God.  It is important that we note this because this idea is the foundation for the rest of the text, and what it teaches us today.  The faith of these men is what drives them to come to Moses to seek the word of the Lord in regards to what may seem to us a minor issue, at best.

I noted that these men had faith in three things in particular, the promises of God, the victory of God, and the commands of God.  I want to unpack that.  First, I want to show what I mean by saying that these are men who have faith in the promises of God.  These are men who believe that what God has said he will do, is exactly what he will do.  They believe that because God has promised them the land, he will deliver it to them.

You see, these men have not even crossed the Jordan yet.  Moses is going to die soon, God will not bring him into the promised land, and the fact that Moses stands to answer these men shows that, as of yet, these men have not entered into the land they are discussing.  Yet, God promised to Abraham 500 years before that the land would be given to his descendants.  These men, preparing to cross the Jordan and enter into the land promised them only have the promise of God to trust in that they will ever see the land they are concerned over.  These are men who have faith in the promises of God.

Likewise though, these are men who have faith in the victory of God.  40 years ago their fathers saw the vengeance of God on the Egyptians.  God worked 9 wonders in the land of Egypt, blotting out the sun and killing the first born of Egypt in order to deliver his people.  And, when that wasn't enough, God even destroyed the army of Pharaoh by drowning them in the Yom Suf.  God did all of this, yet their fathers feared to enter into the land, lest the people in the land should kill them and enslave them.

These men though, the ones who came to speak with Moses and the rest of the leaders of Israel, they have wandered 40 years in the wilderness.  They were not there to see the wonders God did in Egypt, or, if they were, they were small and it was a long time ago.  But, they have seen the mercy of God for 40 years, following after the cloud of dust by day, and the pillar of fire by night.  These men have walked in sandals that have not grown old, and worn clothes that have not fallen apart for 40 years.  And now, as they prepare to enter into the land of promise, they have faith that God will be victorious over those who live in the land, and will lead his people to victory.

But not only do these men have faith in God's promises, and his victory, they have faith in his command.  Their concern is that when the Jubilee comes, the land given to daughters of Zelophehad would transfer to another tribe.  The law of Jubilee said that on the 50th year all the land that had been sold and traded had to return to the possession of the family who had ancestral claim to that land.  In the case of these women though, when they married into another tribe, the land that belonged to them would pass into the hands of the sons of that tribe.  Thus, their sons would inherit a tribal identity (or a clan identity) from their fathers, but they would inherit the property of their mothers (and fathers).

This issue of inheritance presented a problem, because that would mean that on the year of jubilee, 50 years down the line, that land would permanently be joined to the new clan, because the sons of that union would now have right to claim that land.  If the Israelites lived according to the law this would create a situation where the inheritance promised to one clan would pass to another clan.  If you are wondering what that is a problem, it is because the land was promised to one clan, according to God's decree the inheritance had been allotted to the tribe of Manasseh.  To join that land then to the tribe of Judah, or Issachar, or Simeon, or any other tribe, would create a significant problem.  (Let's not even get into the multiple issues that would arise from one of the daughters marrying a man from the tribe of Levi, because the Levites weren't supposed to have any "land" possession beyond certain cities lying within the realm of each clan.)

The fact that the men were concerned about this though shows that these were men who had faith in God's commands.  They saw God's commands as being good, and they sought to obey the commands of God.  Think about this: the best biblical evidence we have indicates that the year of jubilee was never kept.  (2 Chronicles 36:20-21; Leviticus 26:34-35; Jeremiah 25:11-12)  Yet, despite the fact that perhaps they, and definitely their children, would go on to act faithlessly in regards to the law of the Lord, here they demonstrated that they really had faith that the commands of God would be fulfilled.  The tragic result of history says that the people of Israel were not faithful to God, yet those who appeared before Moses were men of faith, who sought to do what was right in their own generation, and whose concern was upon the command of God to them and their families.

What are we to make of this then?  What does any of that matter to us today?  Please, understand me when I tell you that these are the very same issues that face us today, and we would do well to learn from the example that these men set forth.  Let us be people who have faith in God's promises, God's victory, and God's commands.  If we have faith in these things, it will change how we live our lives.

If we were a people who had faith in the promises of God, we would recognize that this current economy should not be our primary concern.  Politics, poverty, possessions, none of these things are of tantamount importance to those who believe in the promises of God.  For God has said that he works all things for good, for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)  God has said he will never leave us nor forsake us, if we do what he has called us to do. (Deuteronomy 31:8)  As we hold to these promises, we are reminded also of God's victory.

But, God's victory is not just limited to this world, for we have the testimony of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ that even death has been defeated.  For this reason Scripture tells us, "Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians 15:54)  Yet, we do not see this victory completed yet, thus we must be those who have faith in God's victory.  We must trust that one day we will be set free, because death will be destroyed.  But, even now, we can celebrate that we are no longer enslaved to death, we are those who have been set free, because of the victory of Christ, and because of the victory we will one day experience through him. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

And, as we live in delight of the promises of God to us, celebrating the victory which we look forward to, we are able to live by his commands.  For, because we are free from the bonds of death, we are also free from that which divided us in life, we are able to come together as a family, obeying Christ's command to love one another. (John 13:34-35)  And not only can we love one another, but we can also put away the things which we used to love, we can live without sin hindering us any longer. (1 Peter 1:14)  Thus, we who have faith in the promises of God, and the victory of God, can also have faith in the command of God.  We can be sure that the one who has given us a command will be with us to complete that command, so that he will be glorified. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

This is what we should aspire to be:  A people of faith, who love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.  We must have faith in God's promises, trusting that he who has called us will do that which he has promised us he will do.  We must have faith in God's victory, for only he is strong enough to overcome our enemy, and he has done it, and will do it again, to the joy of we who wait on him.  And we must have faith in God's commands, knowing that they are good, seeking to be obedient to the one who called us, not because we under the Law of Moses, but because we are free to live by the law of faith.  Are you living up to that ideal?  I bet if you examine your heart you aren't, there are some things you just are trusting God with, whether it be his promises, his victory, or his commands, there is room for continued sanctification.  I pray you would go to God and seek to determine where he would change you, for his glory.

The Right Thing for the Wrong Reason?

By now, if you've been watching or reading the news, you should be aware that the pastor who was going to burn Qur'ans tomorrow has decided to call off the event.  Unfortunately his reasons for canceling the event were not due to concern for his fellow Christians who are serving as missionaries over seas.  Nor did he call of his plans because he saw the offense it would cause within the Muslim world and the way it would negatively impact the spreading of the gospel.  His reason, according to the news, was because he claims the Imam who is building the community center and mosque at Ground Zero promised him that the mosque would be moved.

In short it appears that the right thing is being done, but the reasoning behind these actions is all based on worldly concerns.  It ought to always be the goal of the Christian to glorify God and to spread the gospel.  This pastor seems to confuse American with Christian.

Too much has been made of this event by the media, so that a fringe lunatic became an international sensation.  But, one thing that has come out of this event is that we were able to be reminded that there is a stark differences between what concerns the world, and what concerns the church.  While the world was concerned about social and political unrest, and rightly so, what they missed was the profound spiritual impact of this event.  The cross of Christ truly is nonsense to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God to salvation.  Let us always remember that our focus needs to be different than the world's.