our complacency towards Scripture is solved by...

"In the beginning was the Word..."

Christ, the magnificent word of God.

The complacency towards Scripture in the church is unsettling to me (actually, it is frightening) and that small snippet of the Word (about the Word) makes my case.

The Bible is the written word of God, recorded for us so that we can know God to the fullest extent possible on this side of eternity. And yet, we spend so little time with it. We spend so little time reading and meditating and praying through it that our vision of Christ cannot be a very big one.

I lump myself in this mess. It scares me how little I cherish my time in the Scriptures. And it makes me nervous that the Word doesn't make me tremble in awe more often.

When people saw a vision of God, as recorded in the Bible, they were terrified. They were awestruck. And yet, here we sit with a perfect portrait of Christ in our little, sinful hands and we barely even glimpse at it.

What is the solution? What is the answer to our dilemma?

The most obvious is to read and study and pray the Word more often. But me saying that doesn't do as much as me quoting this:

The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the LORD are firm,
and all of them are righteous.

They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

The answer is more than simply telling ourselves (and others) to read more. Much of the answer lies in our speaking the Word into each others lives. So, this week, make it a goal to speak Scripture to each other.

It doesn't even matter how much you know. You might only know a tiny part of John 3:16 or the 23rd Psalm. You know what? Those are part of the definition of God. Speak them. Speak them often.

And, hopefully, our speaking the Word, which pierces to the soul and spirit, will do more for us than any amount of do-better-ism that we can muster.

And so, I urge you to consider how you can urge one another on toward love and good deeds by speaking the living and active Word (which is Christ in written form) to one another.

In Christ who sustains,

-joe

a briefing on Jesus and the hypostatic union

Hebrews 2 makes clear two things: Jesus is God and Jesus is man. He is both. And he must be both.

The hypostatic union is a fancy way of declaring those truths. The term, taken from Greek, means "personal" and the phrase means the combination of the two natures of Christ in his person.

The writer of Hebrews, in the midst of declaring the human nature of Jesus, keeps pounding home his divine nature, as well. Below I've copied the text of most of the second chapter and I've bolded the phrases that declare his divinity and italicized his humanity. Behold, the God-man:

Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere,

"What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,
putting everything in subjection under his feet."

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,

"I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise."

And again,

"I will put my trust in him."

And again,

"Behold, I and the children God has given me."

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.


This is our God. This is our brother. Hallelujah.

-joe

zacchaeus

If you've ever wanted to hear me sing a lame children's song...then your wish has come true.

I preached on Luke 19 this past Sunday.

It came down to two things that depend on a proper understanding of Christ.

We should receive Christ joyfully because we are in need of saving.

We should not grumble against those who are not saved because Christ came to save them.

You can listen via this link.

-joe

prophet, priest and king

From Grudem's Systematic, Chapter 29:

Christ fulfills these three offices [prophet, priest and king] in the following ways: as prophet he reveals God to us and speaks God's words to us; as priest he both offers a sacrifice to God on our behalf and is himself the sacrifice that is offered; and as king he rules over the church and over the universe as well.

Christ as Prophet
He is the one about whom the prophecies in the Old Testament were made...The Old Testament prophets looked forward to Christ in what they wrote, and the New Testament apostles looked back to Christ and interpreted his life for the benefit of the church.

Jesus was...the source of revelation from God. Rather than saying, as all the Old Testament prophets did, "Thus says the LORD," Jesus could begin divinely authoritative teaching with the amazing statement, "But I say unto you.

Christ as Priest
In the Old Testament, the priests were appointed by God to offer sacrifices..."But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrificing of himself(Heb. 9:26) This was a completed and final sacrifice, never to be repeated, a theme frequently emphasized in the book of Hebrews.

The Old Testament priest not only offered sacrifices, but also in a representative way they came into the presence of God from time to time on behalf of the people. But Jesus does much more than that. Jesus has opened for us the way of access to God so that we can continually "draw near" into God's very presence without fear but with "confidence" and in "full assurance of faith."

One other priestly function in the Old Testament was to pray on behalf of the people. The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus also fulfills this function:"He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always live to make intercession for them"

Christ as King
After his resurrection, Jesus was given by God the Father far greater authority over the church and over the universe. God raised him up and "made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; and he has put all things under his fee and has made him the head over all things for the church" (Eph. 1:20-22; Matt. 28:18; 1 Cor. 15:15)

That is awesome.

-joe

the rule and reign of Jesus

"...there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist." 1 Corinthians 8:6b

The ruling and reigning of Jesus should be constantly monitoring our thoughts and actions. We should be seeking to understand how "all things were created through him and for him." It is that last bit, "for him" that we seem to somehow forget.

Tonight, at senior high, I gave a rough outline of what this doctrine practically means in our lives.

One, it means that things that happen to us (or others) that are bad, such as: death, sickness, famine, disaster..., are ultimately for Jesus. There is nothing that happens that does not finally make him look amazing.

I talked about Job as the prime example and that Job asked those questions of God. The why questions...which are natural and not a sin to ask. It is, I believe, good to ask these questions of God. It is not good to assume things of God.

God's answer, in essence, to Job is "Why not? How do you know the finality of all things if you don't even know the beginning of all things?"

God is an infinite being and we are finite. We want to make this world about us (ourselves and other people) when in reality it is about God. Trouble brews when we turn the tables on God and count him as guilty for calamity. He is in control and sovereignly let it happen...but he is not guilty of a criminal act. All things are pointing towards him because all things were made to do just that.

Two, in this coming election (and all elections) we make a mistake to get riled up for what a particular candidate can do for us. The question must always be "Who do I think God can best use to call us to repentance and to make Him look awesome?"

(That doesn't mean you vote for a person who claims to be a christian all the time.)

Instead of focusing on the issues that affect us we should focus on those that dismay God. This world and its leaders are not here for our pleasure, they are here for God's glory. Vote accordingly.

Three, respect for those in authority rests on respect of God's authority. If God is ultimately in control and places people in places of authority...then we must respect them. A prime example would those folks in 1 Samuel 10 who despise Saul. They are called "worthless men" (which sounds nicer than it is) for despising a terrible king. We must never despise those in authority over us. Only if they deny us our right to proclaim the good news of Jesus do we have the right to usurp their authority.

There are more examples that come from a worldview that is founded on the truth that everything here is for Jesus and his glory. He is ruling and reigning in an active way by "holding the world together by the power of his word."

Let us live in light of it.

-joe

life and ministry of Jesus

Last week at Senior High I discussed the life and ministry of Jesus. We looked at several things including his parables, his healings, other miracles he performed and his sinlessness.

The main message of the evening (hopefully) was this: Jesus came to tell about himself and to die.

His purpose during his 33 years (and more specifically his last 3 1/2) was to tell the world the good news about himself and then die to fulfill what he had said. Here are a few of the "purpose" statements that Jesus said during his life.

Luke 4:43 "but he said to them, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose."

John 10:10b "I came that they might have life and have it abundantly."

John 12:27 "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour."(in reference to his coming death)

John 18:37b "For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world--to bear witness to the truth."

Jesus didn't come to be a hip, trendsetting, peaceful dude. He came to seek and save that which was lost by dying on a cross. That was his purpose, his mission and his life.

Let us never lose sight of that as we read the Gospels.

-joe

Israel is our example; Christ is our Rock

Yesterday I had the great joy to preach on 1 Corinthians 10:1-22 in an ongoing series in our church in 1 Corinthians titled "The church that didn't have it all together."

The basics of the sermon are this: Israel screwed up, a lot, and God got mad, a lot. But, thankfully, God was also merciful because of His love, through Christ.

So, I work through several of the old testament stories mentioned in the text and then I sum it up with a warning against idolatry and an encouragement that Christ can be our victory.

The sermon is about 35 minutes long.


-joe

the incarnation

The basic outline for my sermon last night at Senior High youth group was this:
The Incarnation: prophecy, its fulfillment and the purpose

I used several birth prophecies of Christ from the Old Testament.
The genealogies of Jesus:
Of Shem Genesis 9:26-27
Of Abraham Genesis 22:18
Of Isaac Genesis 17:21
Of Jacob Genesis 35:10-12
Of Judah Genesis 49:8-12
Of Jesse Isaiah 11:1-5
Of David 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Jeremiah 23:5; Psalm 89:3-4

All fulfilled in the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3

Born of a virgin

Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign, “Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel."

Fulfilled in Matthew 1:18

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way, when his mother, Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit…All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: (quote Isaiah 7:14)

Luke 1:34

And Mary said to the angel “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

I stayed for awhile on this point, which is under constant attack from many fronts, because if you toss out that Mary was a virgin you have to toss out Matthew, Mark, and Luke as reliable witnesses. That means that Acts is gone as well. It creates a snowball affect that destroys any attempts to validate the New Testament. Jesus was born of a virgin, a girl who'd never had sex, and conceived in the Holy Spirit.

I also talked about the complicatedness of the following prophecies all having to hit at the same time:
Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
Star to appear (Numbers 24:17)
Gifts from Kings (Psalm 72:10)
Slaughter of children (Jeremiah 31:15)
Flight to Egypt (Hosea 11:1)
Date of birth and death (Daniel 9)
Before Judah loses its right to rule (Genesis 49:10)

Then I talked of the significance of all these being true, that, indeed, Jesus was fully human, but that he also was the son of God (Psalm 2:7...fulfilled throughout the NT but especially Matthew 3:17; Luke 1:35; John 3:16; 1 John 5:20.)

Finally, the purpose of teaching the humanity of Jesus is found in Galatians 4:4 and a portion of Hebrews 2.

The basics of it are these:
To destroy the work of the devil
To deliver us from the fear of death
To be merciful to us when we are tempted
To receive adoption as sons
To become the propitiation of our sins.

Hebrews makes it very clear that it was necessary for Jesus to become like us, flesh and blood, so that his death would mean our guilt removed. If God were to have sacrificed his "eternal" nature (by somehow killing himself in the heavenly realms) then he would cease to exist and therefore our salvation and our world would be lost. Instead, he humbled himself to the point of death on the cross so that he could assume our punishment in bodily form without sacrificing his eternal nature to express his love in our salvation and joy.

It is in all of this that we rest. Jesus had to be human for all these reasons and with John we claim if you "deny that the Christ came in the flesh" then you have no part in salvation. Jesus was fully man. Let us never forget the love and humility it took to garner our salvation.

May our hearts burn within us just like the women in Luke 24.

-joe

eight weeks

Over the next eight weeks I'll be posting on eight different aspects of Christ. These are the lessons I've been preparing for the youth this semester. I'm pretty excited about it...I mean, it's about Jesus...so it has to be exciting.

The topics:
The pre-existence of Christ
The incarnation of Christ
The life and ministry of Christ
The death of Christ
The resurrection of Christ
The ascension of Christ
The rule and reign of Christ
The second coming of Christ

Right now I'm planning on posting several times per week on the topic so that I can straighten out my thoughts before I teach it at the beginning of next month.

peace

-joe

the end

As I have been studying 1 Thessalonians this week in preparation for Sunday School, I have been struck by how much Paul references the coming of Christ. Four out of the five chapters mention the idea. Chapters 4 and 5 are almost explicitly dealing with the idea.

Now, to be clear, it can negatively affect your life to live completely in the future; waiting for Christ to return and not living for him here and now. However, I think I fail in the other aspect.

I think to little of the great coming of Jesus. We are to encourage one another with the thought. And so, I encourage you to look to the great coming of Christ that will be the end of the age and the beginning of life in the presence of God for many. It is a great thing. It will happen. He is coming and his coming will be magnificent.

Brothers, God has destined us for salvation. Be reassured and invigorated to live righteous and holy lives because one day we will obtain an inheritance so great that we can scarcely conceive it.

Amen.

-joe

birthday

It is my younger sister's 17th birthday today. (Well, probably yesterday by the time I actually post this.) I was going to try to get her out of school for lunch today, but I was denied by the secretary at the school, and although I could have pretty easily persuaded her to let me do, I decided not to press the issue.

Birthdays (and holidays in general) have always been scattered and haphazard at my house. Today, for instance, there was really no formal celebration. We will be having lasagna together on Sunday but there isn't any formal celebration. Sometimes we try...and it usually is pretty uneventful.

I've found that I like this way of celebrating these things. I don't like lots of extravagance for a day out of the year when someone was born or something great happened. I don't mind acknowledging the fact and praying a special blessing on them...but the idea of celebration of birth has always been a little weird to me.

Call me crazy, but I kind of enjoyed it when I missed a couple of my own birthdays in college.

I wonder if anyone back in the day (meaning Jesus and earlier) celebrated birthdays...what about those who lived to be 900? Do you think they had some weird thing equivalent to us putting candles on a cake? Somehow, I doubt it.

May our lives be continually bent on this then: magnifying the grace of Christ displayed on the cross in all things. And instead of asking the questions "what's wrong with celebrating a birthday?" instead we should ask "how does this celebration magnify the one who redeemed me?"

(For the record, I'm not going Jehovah Witness and rejecting holidays.)

-joe

an encouragment

Today in Sunday School I taught of the necessity of Christian encouragement through the Gospel. So, tonight/today I'm giving you some encouragement. Here is where your hope lies:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created thorough him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Colossians 1:15-20

May the God of peace be with you and give you comfort and wisdom today.

-joe

night light

My light burns longer than everyone else in my family and tonight I needed to share two things.
One is that I have recently begun praying this psalm for the youth in Rochester:

12May our sons in their youth
be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars
cut for the structure of a palace;

Oh, that God would raise up the young men and women in my youth groups and use them to spark a great revival of hearts and minds in Rochester. I pray that the baby-boomers would see the great love of Christ dwelling richly in the youth and that their hearts would be quickened to that same joy and love.

The second is related to the first...it has to do with evangelism (which must occur to see our sons and daughters grow). Below is a quote found in The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever (which is a great easy read. no theological jargon. no hard to read statements...just down to earth writing in about 115 pages). The quote is by John Stott:

The invisibility of God is a great problem. It was already a problem to God's people in Old Testament days. Their pagan neighbors would taunt them, saying, "Where is now your God?" Their gods were visible and tangible, but Israel's God was neither. Today in our scientific culture young people are taught not to believe in anything which is not open to empirical investigation. How then has God solved the problem of his own invisibility? The first answer is of course "in Christ." Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. John 1:18: "no one has ever seen God, but Bod the only Son has made him known." "that's wonderful," people say, "but it was 2,000 years ago. Is there no way by which the invisible God makes himself visible today?" There is. We return to 1 John 4:12: "No one has ever seen God." It is precisely the same introductory statement. But instead of continuing with reference to the Son of God, it continues: "If we loves one another, God dwells in us." IN other words, the invisible God, who once made himself visible in Christ, now makes himself visible in Christians, if we love one another. It is a breathtaking claim. The local church cannot evangelize, proclaiming the gospel of love, if it is not itself a community of love.

So, let us take up the charge of evangelizing our youth by being a community of love so that God, the invisible, is displayed. And then, then...we will see the fulfillment of our prayer that God would make our sons and daughters like pillars and full-grown trees.

-joe