Who Alone Has Immortality

"I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen." 1 Tim 6:13-16

Too often, I think, we get confused (or at least I get confused) over the immensity of who God is and what He provides. Take immortality. It seems to be a fairly clear reading of Scripture that we all are eternal beings and that when we die we will live forever either in the presence of God or eternally separated from Him. This, of course is the urgency and importance of the gospel.

But pause for a moment and consider the eternalness itself. What keeps it going? What keeps our eternal hearts beating? What keeps the eternal cities functioning? Even more pressing, what keeps us from falling through the floor of heaven? What keeps the chasm fixed between heaven and hell?

The answer, I submit, is Jesus. We do not posses immortality in ourselves. We do not posses righteousness in ourselves. We do not posses anything in ourselves. Everything we have, here or in eternity, is a gracious gift from God. And Jesus is its source, eternally. This, of course, why Paul calls for us to worship the One "who dwells in unapproachable light"

To God Alone be the Glory

Grace is not a Thing

Thanks to Josh Etter for the post at the Desiring God blog.  Read the full entry here.

In reviewing the "I am" sayings of Jesus in the gospel of John, it becomes clear that Jesus is not just a means to an end (e.g. Jesus saves us from the wrath of God, or Jesus gives us eternal life, etc). Instead, He both the means and the end. Think of John 6.  Jesus is not just the source of bread, although He clearly is that. He is also the bread itself. The same holds true for His being the Shepherd, the Resurrection, the Way, the Vine and the Door. It seems our fractured, fallen psyches can't get over somehow being autonomous both now and in heaven. But Jesus won't have any of it.

So, it was with great interest that I read the following excerpt from an interview with Sinclair Ferguson:

If I can highlight the thought here: there is no "thing" that Jesus takes from Himself and then, as it were, hands over to me. There is only Jesus Himself. Grasping that thought can make a significant difference to a Christian's life. So while some people might think this is just splitting hairs about different ways of saying the same thing, it can make a vital difference. It is not a thing that was crucified to give us a thing called grace. It was the person of the Lord Jesus that was crucified in order that He might give Himself to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Each time I take enough effort to look intently at Jesus, the more I realize the scope and the breadth of what He accomplished on the cross.

To God Alone be the Glory

Immerse Yourself

"Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress." 1 Tim 4:15

It never ceases to amaze me that I continue to pick up new insights in God's Word, especially after going through it year after year for more than a decade. Sometimes, this new insight comes in the form of God expressing himself in way I hadn't seen or perceived. But sometimes it comes in words and phrases that simply hadn't registered in my mind.

Such was the case this morning as I read through 1 Tim 4. This is a somewhat familiar passage where Paul is directing Timothy to remain true to his calling, to exercise his gifts and to put into practice all that he had learned, especially the things Paul had written to him about. Paul's extension of all of this is that Timothy (and us) are living examples of the grace and the power of the gospel.

But the phrase that was new to me, what I had read dozens of times and never really recorded in my heart and mind was the phrase from v15, "immerse yourself in them". In fact the original Greek says to "be in them". Wow! What a reminder to me that this faith, this life, this grace is not an add on, not a coat to wear over a suit which is over a shirt which is over my heart. No, this gospel, this love, this mercy, this submission of my will to God's goes all the way to the core. By the power of the Spirit, we need to dive into this gospel, into the grace Jesus freely provides. Being a disciple of Christ is not a tweak on our already pretty good lives. It is not even a remodel of a totally messed up life. It is a full fledged reconstruction of a life destroyed by sin but purchased and redeemed by the blood shed on the cross. We must be immersed in these things!

Can you rejoice with me today over the small phrases in God's Word that have big impacts on how we see Christ, how we perceive his grace and mercy, how we embrace the cross and the gospel and how we live our lives as examples to the Church and as spotlights to a lost and dying world?

To God Alone be the Glory

Meaningless Vanity

"I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind." Ecc 1:14

"By the end of the book (Ecclesiastes), after scraping away the detritus of life, he (the Preacher) hits bedrock—God himself. And here and there along the way he allows us glimpses of a divine perspective that transcends meaninglessness. But he takes his time getting there, for we must feel the depressing weight of all questing visions that do not begin with God." D. A. Carson - For The Love of God, Vol 2

Whenever I read Ecclesiastes, I am captured by the stark reality that the author portrays. All of Scripture is brutally honest, but it seems the book of Ecclesiastes is the poster child for this forthright candidness. And, because it is so blunt, it easy to see ourselves and our situations in the midst of the text.

 I have just a few thoughts as I begin another read-through of this God-given gem.

1) This is not my thought, but comes from D.A. Carson.  Context and genre are always important when reading the Bible, but they are especially important when the author's argument is from the negative. The Preacher is on a quest to find meaning and purpose on earth (i.e. under the sun) but is continually frustrated. That is the point. Everything else is written to support the argument: Without God, everything is meaningless. So single verses from Ecclesiastes, out of context, may not say what we want them to say.

2)  Everything, under the sun, is meaningless. Apart from Christ, this is the sad, brutal truth. Even as I write I'm thinking marriage? career? thinking ability? communication skills? And the list could go on. The fact is that each of the things I've listed and the items that may pop up on your list can, in fact be good and beneficial things.  The Preacher is not saying they are bad, just that in and of themselves they have no value. In a way it is like having $1 million in Confederate currency.  There is no value. The reminder here, of course, is that, in Christ all things are redeemed and even the smallest part of our lives become extremely valuable.

3)  There is nothing new under the sun. This is an on going theme in Ecclesiastes, and one I often identify with in my own life. Whether it be work or home or church or in the broader society, things seem to repeat themselves. One could ask why (failure to learn, failure to seek meaning from God, a grace given reminder that by itself this world is meaningless), but when I read Ecc 1:9 this morning, my mind went to Rev 5. (I know Rev 5 is not "under the sun", but bare with me.)

In Rev 5, when the lion-lamb who was slain is found worthy to open the scroll, there is a new song sung in heaven. One gets the sense that it is not just new words or a new melody, but it is a new focus. Now glory and honor are ascribed to the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.  So, if Christ can have such a profound affect on the perfections of heaven, what was His impact "under the sun"?

I will leave that thought for us each to reflect on and I will simply conclude with this. The natural world is bound and broken and cannot fix itself. From a street-level assessment, the Preacher got it right: everything is meaningless, a grasping after the wind. But praise be to God that He sent Christ to invade this meaningless life and fundamentally change things for those who would believe. And one day (I pray very soon!) Jesus will return and remove the word meaningless from our vocabulary.

To God Alone be the Glory

Tuesdays from Phil 1 - Deep and abiding relationship within the Church

It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. Phil 1:7-8

We can look at the Church, the Body of Christ, from two perspectives and I think each add to its beauty and its value. First is viewing the Church from Christ's perspective. He views us as his Bride, his Body and even as his very self. He takes our growth in holiness very seriously and does everything to protect us and provide for us, to sustain us and deliver us. In a word, Jesus is the ultimate, consummate Husband.

If the perspective above can be described as the vertical perspective, there is also a horizontal perspective. It would be how we, as members of the Church, view, relate and treat one another. This is where Paul's thoughts in Phil 1 kick in. Having the vertical dimension firmly in place, he expresses at least part of the horizontal dimension to his Philippian audience and to us. Clearly, Paul views the Church as a partnership in spreading the gospel, as we saw last week, but he is not simply utilitarian. Other people are not just a means to an end.  They are the end. "You are all partakers with me in grace"  For Paul, the cliche, the ground is level at the foot of the Cross, was true.

But there's more to this horizontal dimension. If we truly grasp the magnitude of the vertical dimension, if we truly realize that the Church is not simply a collection of people who share the same theology, but a dynamic, living entity that Jesus is creating for His glory and loves with the intensity of a husband for his wife, a parent for their child even as his own self, and if we begin to understand that we are partners in the gospel, then we will begin to comprehend the yearning that Paul had for the Philippians.

To be honest, I am nowhere near the perspective I just wrote. The Church to easily becomes a function or a facility or a few people that I know. Seriously, when is the last time I used (or even thought of using) the word "yearn" in connection with the Church? Maybe it will be today.

Father, we are too easily caught up in our own plans and agendas. We too easily forget that Christianity is not millions of people individually reaching out to you. Help us, help me, get a clearer vision of what you are doing  in and through the Church. And, by your grace, let us yearn for one another, that we may all grow more in love with Jesus and to be more humbly devoted to each other for His sake and for your glory.

To God Alone be the Glory

With the Breath of His Mouth

"And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming." 2 Th 2:8

Most movies & stories try to set themselves up so that the hero, while very brave and determined, usually will need to go against huge disadvantages, take huge risks with no certainty of the outcome. In fact, some of the best movies and stories leave the outcome in doubt almost to the last page. And, for three days 2,000 years ago, that is exactly how the disciples saw it. Their Messiah (a.k.a. the next David) was just crucified and buried. Now the Jewish leaders were after them. But, the Resurrection changed everything.

Now Jesus is alive. Now Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. Now Jesus is interceding for us. Now all authority on heaven and on earth have been given to Jesus. Now Jesus is opening the scroll of human history.

And one day soon Jesus will face His enemy and ours. The battle may be cosmic, but it won't be dramatic. In fact in sporting terms it will be a blow-out. Jesus' mere presence and his mere breath will defeat the singular evil that has held this universe in bondage ever since his temptation of Adam and Eve in the garden.

My point? Jesus is the ultimate hero of our faith, but He is unlike any other hero we have, real or imagined. He endured the greatest humiliation (no one will ever approach that) and defeat, but because of this and his perfectly righteous life, He is now undefeatable, unconquerable and inexorably moving history to His ultimate victory. And if we have put our faith in Him, if we take Him at His word, if we trust Him to do what He says, then His victory will be ours.  There is no fear in death. There is no fear in Satan. Both are toothless, venom-less snakes that hiss and lunge, but can no longer poison or kill.

To God Alone be the Glory

Edwards' Resolutions - week 15

My I intention, by God's grace, to post one of Jonathan Edward's 73 resolutions each Monday. As I read the list, it is convicting to me that I can only handle them in small doses, while Edwards reviewed the whole list each week The entire list of Edward's resolutions can be found here: the-resolutions-of-jonathan-edwards

To God Alone be the Glory

Preamble:

Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Resolution 15:

Resolved, Never to suffer the least motions of anger towards irrational beings.