KEEPING THE FAITH--Week 16
According to Jesus, Christian spirituality is the belief that as Jesus says in John 10.38--the Father is in Me and I in the Father.
In this same passage Jesus says--If I do not do the works of the Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father, John 10. 37,38.
Jesus is indicating that for those Jews who might have stoned Him, if they would believe the works He does, they can believe that He is in the Father and the Father in Him. So what work has He done?
Just before John 10, in chapter 9 Jesus heals a blind man. Let's look at this account. In John 9 a blind man had been healed by Jesus. The Pharisees did not believe the blind man when he said Jesus healed him. So they put the blind man out of their presence.
The blind man had told them Jesus healed him. He then tells them the great insight--If this man were not from God, He could do nothing, John 9.33. With that in mind, the Pharisees don't think the Father would speak to Jesus, whom they call a sinner. The blind man retorts--if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.
Before that the Pharisees had said--we do not know where He is from, John 9.29. This brings us to the point that the Pharisees do not believe that Jesus could be from the Father.
We can conclude that the Jews did not believe Jesus was from the Father. Since they didn't believe that, they could not accept Jesus doing anything which could only come from the Father.
Therefore, in the next chapter, Jesus calls Himself, The Door, 10.7. He calls Himself, the Good Shepherd, John 10.14. The door is the entrance to a belief that He and the Father are one; the shepherd is the one who keep the sheep in the belief that He and the Father are one. Jesus says this in John 10.27, 28--My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me and I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish..
This section of John 10 is the bridge from unbelief with the Pharisees into belief with the blind man.
The Jews continue in unbelief, making the accusation--You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God, John 10.33. But the man who was born blind had already turned away from them, he has turned to Jesus in belief. When Jesus comes to him afterward He asks the man--Do you believe in the Son of Man?
The man said--Lord I believe, John 9.38.
For us in this day and age, Christian spirituality begins with the blind man's expression--if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. God-fearing is belief, doing His will is acting on belief. There is no nationality here, no gender, no race...only belief.
To be God-fearing is to take pleasure in pleasing God. It is the pleasure which God brings to a soul that inspires one to do His will. That is the beginning which this passage brings out in chapter 9.
Chapter 10 takes us further into God. Speaking of a good shepherd, He says in John 10.4--When he puts forth his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow hhim because they know his voice. In Christian spirituality that voice is the Holy Spirit, that shepherd is Jesus Christ.
We enter into Christian spirituality when we know that to have a relationship with the Father, we must realize He is in the Son and the Son is in Him. This understanding is by the Holy Spirit.
We can conclude that Christian spirituality is the Trinity.
Jesus asks the blind man--Do you believe in the Son of Man?' He is asking the blind man, do you recognize Me as the God in whom you believe? The blind man sees Jesus and sees that He is God--'Lord I believe.' And he worshiped Him.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
KEEPING THE FAITH--Week 16
According to Jesus, Christian spirituality is the belief that as Jesus says in John 10.38--the Father is in Me and I in the Father.
In this same passage Jesus says--If I do not do the works of the Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father, John 10. 37,38.
Jesus is indicating that for those Jews who might have stoned Him, if they would believe the works He does, they can believe that He is in the Father and the Father in Him. So what work has He done?
Just before John 10, in chapter 9 Jesus heals a blind man. Let's look at this account. In John 9 a blind man had been healed by Jesus. The Pharisees did not believe the blind man when he said Jesus healed him. So they put the blind man out of their presence.
The blind man had told them Jesus healed him. He then tells them the great insight--If this man were not from God, He could do nothing, John 9.33. With that in mind, the Pharisees don't think the Father would speak to Jesus, whom they call a sinner. The blind man retorts--if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.
Before that the Pharisees had said--we do not know where He is from, John 9.29. This brings us to the point that the Pharisees do not believe that Jesus could be from the Father.
We can conclude that the Jews did not believe Jesus was from the Father. Since they didn't believe that, they could not accept Jesus doing anything which could only come from the Father.
Therefore, in the next chapter, Jesus calls Himself, The Door, 10.7. He calls Himself, the Good Shepherd, John 10.14. The door is the entrance to a belief that He and the Father are one; the shepherd is the one who keep the sheep in the belief that He and the Father are one. Jesus says this in John 10.27, 28--My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me and I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish..
This section of John 10 is the bridge from unbelief with the Pharisees into belief with the blind man.
The Jews continue in unbelief, making the accusation--You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God, John 10.33. But the man who was born blind had already turned away from them, he has turned to Jesus in belief. When Jesus comes to him afterward He asks the man--Do you believe in the Son of Man?
The man said--Lord I believe, John 9.38.
For us in this day and age, Christian spirituality begins with the blind man's expression--if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. God-fearing is belief, doing His will is acting on belief. There is no nationality here, no gender, no race...only belief.
To be God-fearing is to take pleasure in pleasing God. It is the pleasure which God brings to a soul that inspires one to do His will. That is the beginning which this passage brings out in chapter 9.
Chapter 10 takes us further into God. Speaking of a good shepherd, He says in John 10.4--When he puts forth his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow hhim because they know his voice. In Christian spirituality that voice is the Holy Spirit, that shepherd is Jesus Christ.
We enter into Christian spirituality when we know that to have a relationship with the Father, we must realize He is in the Son and the Son is in Him. This understanding is by the Holy Spirit.
We can conclude that Christian spirituality is the Trinity.
Jesus asks the blind man--Do you believe in the Son of Man?' He is asking the blind man, do you recognize Me as the God in whom you believe? The blind man sees Jesus and sees that He is God--'Lord I believe.' And he worshiped Him.
According to Jesus, Christian spirituality is the belief that as Jesus says in John 10.38--the Father is in Me and I in the Father.
In this same passage Jesus says--If I do not do the works of the Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father, John 10. 37,38.
Jesus is indicating that for those Jews who might have stoned Him, if they would believe the works He does, they can believe that He is in the Father and the Father in Him. So what work has He done?
Just before John 10, in chapter 9 Jesus heals a blind man. Let's look at this account. In John 9 a blind man had been healed by Jesus. The Pharisees did not believe the blind man when he said Jesus healed him. So they put the blind man out of their presence.
The blind man had told them Jesus healed him. He then tells them the great insight--If this man were not from God, He could do nothing, John 9.33. With that in mind, the Pharisees don't think the Father would speak to Jesus, whom they call a sinner. The blind man retorts--if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.
Before that the Pharisees had said--we do not know where He is from, John 9.29. This brings us to the point that the Pharisees do not believe that Jesus could be from the Father.
We can conclude that the Jews did not believe Jesus was from the Father. Since they didn't believe that, they could not accept Jesus doing anything which could only come from the Father.
Therefore, in the next chapter, Jesus calls Himself, The Door, 10.7. He calls Himself, the Good Shepherd, John 10.14. The door is the entrance to a belief that He and the Father are one; the shepherd is the one who keep the sheep in the belief that He and the Father are one. Jesus says this in John 10.27, 28--My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me and I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish..
This section of John 10 is the bridge from unbelief with the Pharisees into belief with the blind man.
The Jews continue in unbelief, making the accusation--You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God, John 10.33. But the man who was born blind had already turned away from them, he has turned to Jesus in belief. When Jesus comes to him afterward He asks the man--Do you believe in the Son of Man?
The man said--Lord I believe, John 9.38.
For us in this day and age, Christian spirituality begins with the blind man's expression--if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. God-fearing is belief, doing His will is acting on belief. There is no nationality here, no gender, no race...only belief.
To be God-fearing is to take pleasure in pleasing God. It is the pleasure which God brings to a soul that inspires one to do His will. That is the beginning which this passage brings out in chapter 9.
Chapter 10 takes us further into God. Speaking of a good shepherd, He says in John 10.4--When he puts forth his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow hhim because they know his voice. In Christian spirituality that voice is the Holy Spirit, that shepherd is Jesus Christ.
We enter into Christian spirituality when we know that to have a relationship with the Father, we must realize He is in the Son and the Son is in Him. This understanding is by the Holy Spirit.
We can conclude that Christian spirituality is the Trinity.
Jesus asks the blind man--Do you believe in the Son of Man?' He is asking the blind man, do you recognize Me as the God in whom you believe? The blind man sees Jesus and sees that He is God--'Lord I believe.' And he worshiped Him.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
WHY DIE?--Week 15
In Luke 23, the account of the crucifixion of Christ is narrated. Luke describes the soldiers, Pilate, Herod and Jesus in their actions and decisions. We know that historically all their actions did occur, that history records the crucifixion of Jesus.
Now, 20 centuries later, in a culture which is not religious--as ours--how can we see this?
Most people around the world can imagine a man bringing an animal to a place to be sacrificed as a religious rite. We identify that as religion, as sacrifice, as an oblation. We might not ever know what it accomplished, but we accept it as religion.
Jesus had said in John 15.13--Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend. And we know that in war, men often have taken the spear for their fellow soldier, dying in his place.
But to see a man die so that all men and women can go to heaven, is that understandible?
Pilate said he found no fault with Jesus, acknowledging this trial is about guilt and innocence. So Pilate has him punished and released, implying innocence in Roman law. Later Jesus is put on a cross, a crucifixion--an instrument of death for traitors and criminals. Soldiers take him, like a war prisoner rather than an animal to be burned. He is put with two criminals, having been sentenced.
But He doesn't talk about some crime He might have committed--the other criminals do. He does mention Paradise to one of the criminals. So Jesus is called King of the Jews, as if He threatens the crown of Rome. He is killed with criminals, sacrificed like a war criminal by the Romans.
Does He yell at the Romans, like a convicted prisoner? No, He forgives those who had Him killed--Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing, Luke 23.34.
Hamlet, Othello and MacBeth died for their country, Sidney Carton dies for old Dr. Manette in A Tale of Two Cities and Achilleus dies in the Iliad. So we can see that the ancient cultures around Jerusalem could conceive of a man dying for another man or a country. In the case of Hamlet, Othello, MacBeth and Achilleus, their death cleansed the country. But all of them were fictitious characters who couldn't forgive their enemies.
What would it take to change the world from darkness to light?
To forgive takes power over the soul. If Jesus does not have power over our soul, He can be a martyr--but not a savior.
Hamlet, MacBeth, Achilleus, they are all fictitious characters who never lived. Religious men like Mohammed, Confucious, Luther have all died. One could go find their graves and remains. But if you tried to go to the tomb in which Jesus was buried, you would not find Him there. He is not dead, having been resurrected from the dead.
If you want to find the body of Christ, you must go to a Christian church, as it is His body. You will find Him there.
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all, Ephesians, 1.22, 23.
In Luke 23, the account of the crucifixion of Christ is narrated. Luke describes the soldiers, Pilate, Herod and Jesus in their actions and decisions. We know that historically all their actions did occur, that history records the crucifixion of Jesus.
Now, 20 centuries later, in a culture which is not religious--as ours--how can we see this?
Most people around the world can imagine a man bringing an animal to a place to be sacrificed as a religious rite. We identify that as religion, as sacrifice, as an oblation. We might not ever know what it accomplished, but we accept it as religion.
Jesus had said in John 15.13--Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend. And we know that in war, men often have taken the spear for their fellow soldier, dying in his place.
But to see a man die so that all men and women can go to heaven, is that understandible?
Pilate said he found no fault with Jesus, acknowledging this trial is about guilt and innocence. So Pilate has him punished and released, implying innocence in Roman law. Later Jesus is put on a cross, a crucifixion--an instrument of death for traitors and criminals. Soldiers take him, like a war prisoner rather than an animal to be burned. He is put with two criminals, having been sentenced.
But He doesn't talk about some crime He might have committed--the other criminals do. He does mention Paradise to one of the criminals. So Jesus is called King of the Jews, as if He threatens the crown of Rome. He is killed with criminals, sacrificed like a war criminal by the Romans.
Does He yell at the Romans, like a convicted prisoner? No, He forgives those who had Him killed--Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing, Luke 23.34.
Hamlet, Othello and MacBeth died for their country, Sidney Carton dies for old Dr. Manette in A Tale of Two Cities and Achilleus dies in the Iliad. So we can see that the ancient cultures around Jerusalem could conceive of a man dying for another man or a country. In the case of Hamlet, Othello, MacBeth and Achilleus, their death cleansed the country. But all of them were fictitious characters who couldn't forgive their enemies.
What would it take to change the world from darkness to light?
To forgive takes power over the soul. If Jesus does not have power over our soul, He can be a martyr--but not a savior.
Hamlet, MacBeth, Achilleus, they are all fictitious characters who never lived. Religious men like Mohammed, Confucious, Luther have all died. One could go find their graves and remains. But if you tried to go to the tomb in which Jesus was buried, you would not find Him there. He is not dead, having been resurrected from the dead.
If you want to find the body of Christ, you must go to a Christian church, as it is His body. You will find Him there.
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all, Ephesians, 1.22, 23.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
HOW DO YOU KNOW--Week 14
In Philippians 2.6 Paul wrote--althought He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped...
How do we understand this?
If someone from another planet came to one of us, and we said, 'Jesus forgives you your sins', how would they understand it? Would they say, what is sin? Would they say, so what? Would they say, what advantage is it that some man died for me? Why should I care?
This brings up the question we have posed, how do we understand even the simplest statement about God?
Some of us will want knowledge. We will want God to come to us through propositions and creeds, but does God come to us that way? Some of us will have a religious imagination, trying to imagine how it must have been centuries ago, when a man is crucified. But what of those of us who do not have a religious imagination? Are we being left out? Some of us will want to go to church because we think it's a good thing to do, it's good behavior.
So we will have to come asking, how do we understand God? Is there anything in us that enables us to understand Him? We might not be very religious, we might not have any interior qualities, we might be just a bystander in life.
Is there an answer in this particular passage in Philippians 2? When Jesus humbled Himself--becoming obedient to the point of death...he was highly exalted by God the Father. In Phil. 2.12 Paul then makes his application to all of us when he says--just as you have always obeyed...work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Notice that the word 'obey' is in both passages.
This seems to indicate that Paul does not say go back into the OT to try to relate to Passover, but go on to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. That requires the Holy Spirirt in someone's life.
I think any soul would benefit by reading the OT about Passover and the sacrifices of the Law, but evidently it is the Holy Spirit by which we understand God in our lives. Paul does say--it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure, Phil. 2.13.
This means it is about how we listen to God the Spirit.
Normally an author will say, listening to God is prayer.
But then Paul says three things. First--do all things without grumbling or disputing, 2.14. Second--hold fast to the Word of Life, 2.16. Third--rejoice, 2.18.
Paul says to do all things without grumbling so that we would prove ourselves to be blameless in the midst of our own generation. That might indicate God wants His Holy Spirit to be seen in us by others. We hold fast to the Word of Life so that when Christ returns we might glory in His appearing since we did not fail Him. We can study to show ourselves approved. His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path. That means it lights the way God has us go. And we should rejoice even if we are being--poured out--as a drink offering. God will use us for His purposes, we are to rejoice in that, whatever His purposes come to be.
Paul has not mentioned the Holy Spirit specifically but he has shown us how to exhibit the Spirit in our life.
In Philippians 2.6 Paul wrote--althought He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped...
How do we understand this?
If someone from another planet came to one of us, and we said, 'Jesus forgives you your sins', how would they understand it? Would they say, what is sin? Would they say, so what? Would they say, what advantage is it that some man died for me? Why should I care?
This brings up the question we have posed, how do we understand even the simplest statement about God?
Some of us will want knowledge. We will want God to come to us through propositions and creeds, but does God come to us that way? Some of us will have a religious imagination, trying to imagine how it must have been centuries ago, when a man is crucified. But what of those of us who do not have a religious imagination? Are we being left out? Some of us will want to go to church because we think it's a good thing to do, it's good behavior.
So we will have to come asking, how do we understand God? Is there anything in us that enables us to understand Him? We might not be very religious, we might not have any interior qualities, we might be just a bystander in life.
Is there an answer in this particular passage in Philippians 2? When Jesus humbled Himself--becoming obedient to the point of death...he was highly exalted by God the Father. In Phil. 2.12 Paul then makes his application to all of us when he says--just as you have always obeyed...work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Notice that the word 'obey' is in both passages.
This seems to indicate that Paul does not say go back into the OT to try to relate to Passover, but go on to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. That requires the Holy Spirirt in someone's life.
I think any soul would benefit by reading the OT about Passover and the sacrifices of the Law, but evidently it is the Holy Spirit by which we understand God in our lives. Paul does say--it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure, Phil. 2.13.
This means it is about how we listen to God the Spirit.
Normally an author will say, listening to God is prayer.
But then Paul says three things. First--do all things without grumbling or disputing, 2.14. Second--hold fast to the Word of Life, 2.16. Third--rejoice, 2.18.
Paul says to do all things without grumbling so that we would prove ourselves to be blameless in the midst of our own generation. That might indicate God wants His Holy Spirit to be seen in us by others. We hold fast to the Word of Life so that when Christ returns we might glory in His appearing since we did not fail Him. We can study to show ourselves approved. His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path. That means it lights the way God has us go. And we should rejoice even if we are being--poured out--as a drink offering. God will use us for His purposes, we are to rejoice in that, whatever His purposes come to be.
Paul has not mentioned the Holy Spirit specifically but he has shown us how to exhibit the Spirit in our life.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
WHERE YOU SIT--Week 13
In Revelation 2.20 Jesus says that Jezebel led His bond-servants astray. Now this is a threatening statement. Can God's bond-servants really be led astray? Doesn't that contradict eternal security?
Let's look into that.
Jezebel, a prophetess, is operating in Thyatira against the followers of God. Some have gone slightly astray so Jesus says--I place no other burden on you. To those who have embraced the deep things of Satan, Jesus says He will visit sickness and great tribuation, Rev. 2.22.
To those who have not embraced Jezebel at all, Jesus commands them--hold fast until I come. Then he says--He who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. These are commands---hold fast..he who overcomes...he who keeps...I will give authority...
We know that Paul had said in Romans 3.28 that--a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Works of the Law do not justify a man, so why does Revelation 2 speak of heaven being given to those who overcome, as if it were their own work?
We know that Paul had said in Romans 2.6 God will--render to every man according to his deeds. To render is to draw in. Does this mean that every man can draw in his deeds and rewards?
Paul goes on to say in Romans 2 that--to those who by perseverance in doing to seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but those those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation... We see in this that the message of Revelation was given to Paul for the--day of wrath, Rom. 2.5.
The connection between the gospel of grace and the reward for overcoming and rendering according to a man's deeds is in Philippians 2.13. This is the connection between ourselves and Christ. Jesus overcame when he--humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even deaht on a cross, Phil. 2.8. The result was that--God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name...
Because--it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure, Phil. 2.13, so we have our overcoming to do. That is described in Phil. 2.12 as--work out your salvation with fear and trembling. We have our overcoming to do, our deeds and faith, our zeal and repentance.
We are given a hint of this when Matthew 10.24 says--A disciple is not above his master. Jesus speaks in Matt. 10.20-28 about persecution which awaits the disciples. Then He says--Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
In other words, persecution awaits the disciple, but if we fear God as Jesus was obedient to the point of death even death on a cross, we will have the fear of God which keeps us from sin, Exodus 20.20.
When Paul wrote Timothy, he tells Timothy to keep faith and a good conscience, because some have--suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith, 1 Timothy 1.19. He then finishes his first letter to the young Timothy by saying--Fight the good fight of faith, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses, 1 Tim. 6.12
In Revelation 2.20 Jesus says that Jezebel led His bond-servants astray. Now this is a threatening statement. Can God's bond-servants really be led astray? Doesn't that contradict eternal security?
Let's look into that.
Jezebel, a prophetess, is operating in Thyatira against the followers of God. Some have gone slightly astray so Jesus says--I place no other burden on you. To those who have embraced the deep things of Satan, Jesus says He will visit sickness and great tribuation, Rev. 2.22.
To those who have not embraced Jezebel at all, Jesus commands them--hold fast until I come. Then he says--He who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. These are commands---hold fast..he who overcomes...he who keeps...I will give authority...
We know that Paul had said in Romans 3.28 that--a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Works of the Law do not justify a man, so why does Revelation 2 speak of heaven being given to those who overcome, as if it were their own work?
We know that Paul had said in Romans 2.6 God will--render to every man according to his deeds. To render is to draw in. Does this mean that every man can draw in his deeds and rewards?
Paul goes on to say in Romans 2 that--to those who by perseverance in doing to seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but those those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation... We see in this that the message of Revelation was given to Paul for the--day of wrath, Rom. 2.5.
The connection between the gospel of grace and the reward for overcoming and rendering according to a man's deeds is in Philippians 2.13. This is the connection between ourselves and Christ. Jesus overcame when he--humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even deaht on a cross, Phil. 2.8. The result was that--God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name...
Because--it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure, Phil. 2.13, so we have our overcoming to do. That is described in Phil. 2.12 as--work out your salvation with fear and trembling. We have our overcoming to do, our deeds and faith, our zeal and repentance.
We are given a hint of this when Matthew 10.24 says--A disciple is not above his master. Jesus speaks in Matt. 10.20-28 about persecution which awaits the disciples. Then He says--Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
In other words, persecution awaits the disciple, but if we fear God as Jesus was obedient to the point of death even death on a cross, we will have the fear of God which keeps us from sin, Exodus 20.20.
When Paul wrote Timothy, he tells Timothy to keep faith and a good conscience, because some have--suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith, 1 Timothy 1.19. He then finishes his first letter to the young Timothy by saying--Fight the good fight of faith, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses, 1 Tim. 6.12
Thursday, August 29, 2013
PLEASING TO GOD Week 12
When Paul wrote the Corinthians, he said in 1 Cor. 10.5--with most of them God was not well-pleased. He was referring to the generation who came out of Egypt but did not enter the Promised Land. He said they were idolaters, acting immorally, trying the Lord and grumbling.
These are stern accusations considering that the generation which came out of Egypt saw the Red Sea part, they saw God do miracles, defeat enemies and give them a beautiful land.
Still they idolized stone and clay gods rather than worship the Lord God who was in their midst.
What is God's answer?
In Romans 15.1 Paul encourages the Romans in this way--we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.
The idea is that--what was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverence and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
So-------perseverance
+
encouragement in the Scriptures =
hope
How does this work?
We are to be like Christ in pleasing God.
Paul says in Rom. 15.5 that we should be of the same mind that was in Christ Jesus, with one accord, one voice to glorify God.
That probably refers to Philippians 2.3-5. In Philippians Paul says--let each one of you regard one another as more important than himself. In Romans 15.1 Paul says--let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.
In Philippians 2.5 Paul says--Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus... In Romans 15.5,6 Paul says--be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice gloriy the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The result of this is Romans 15.13--Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we are of the same mind, filled with the same Spirit, we will abound in the hope which comes through Jesus.
Paul can boast about his preaching, about what Christ has accomplished through him, Rom. 15.18. What about us?
Paul said in Romans 5.3-5 that--we also exullt in our tribulationss, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
This is what has happened to us, this is pleasing to God.
And yet, this is not enough. Paul mentions what Christ accomplished through him which has brought about faith in the Gentiles is the--obedience of the Gentiles in word and deed. It is word and deed which shows that Paul has--fully preached the gospel of Christ.
To believe the Word and to do the deeds of faith is the full gospel of Christ, which is pleasing to God
When Paul wrote the Corinthians, he said in 1 Cor. 10.5--with most of them God was not well-pleased. He was referring to the generation who came out of Egypt but did not enter the Promised Land. He said they were idolaters, acting immorally, trying the Lord and grumbling.
These are stern accusations considering that the generation which came out of Egypt saw the Red Sea part, they saw God do miracles, defeat enemies and give them a beautiful land.
Still they idolized stone and clay gods rather than worship the Lord God who was in their midst.
What is God's answer?
In Romans 15.1 Paul encourages the Romans in this way--we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.
The idea is that--what was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverence and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
So-------perseverance
+
encouragement in the Scriptures =
hope
How does this work?
We are to be like Christ in pleasing God.
Paul says in Rom. 15.5 that we should be of the same mind that was in Christ Jesus, with one accord, one voice to glorify God.
That probably refers to Philippians 2.3-5. In Philippians Paul says--let each one of you regard one another as more important than himself. In Romans 15.1 Paul says--let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.
In Philippians 2.5 Paul says--Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus... In Romans 15.5,6 Paul says--be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice gloriy the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The result of this is Romans 15.13--Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we are of the same mind, filled with the same Spirit, we will abound in the hope which comes through Jesus.
Paul can boast about his preaching, about what Christ has accomplished through him, Rom. 15.18. What about us?
Paul said in Romans 5.3-5 that--we also exullt in our tribulationss, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
This is what has happened to us, this is pleasing to God.
And yet, this is not enough. Paul mentions what Christ accomplished through him which has brought about faith in the Gentiles is the--obedience of the Gentiles in word and deed. It is word and deed which shows that Paul has--fully preached the gospel of Christ.
To believe the Word and to do the deeds of faith is the full gospel of Christ, which is pleasing to God
Thursday, August 22, 2013
EMPTY SELF Week 11
One of the deep passages of the NT is Philippians 2.5,6--
having this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
who although He existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant
and being made in the likeness of men.
The passage has an overall point which is not difficult to understand but monumentally difficult to experience. Paul's point here is that, as he has experienced Christ on the road to Damascus, he wishes all of us to have that same experience.
So he writes Phil. 2.5-12 in a way to convey that experience and then understand it.
Paul begins in verse 5 by saying--Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus... What he means is what Jesus experienced, we will also; the attitude which was in Him should be in us as what was given to Him will be given to us. Pretty incredible, isn't it?
So Paul begins.
He says Jesus did not grasp the things of God, keeping them to Himself. Because He did not, these things can be given to us--did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 2.6.
Now this verse in Greek is difficult. It is 12 words, and 3 of the words are key while they are obscure.
The word for 'equality' doesn't mean equality; it means, 'possessions.' The word is uparcw, to be at one's disposal, possessions, means. You might even translate it, 'things of God,' rather than equality.
The word for 'a thing to be grasped,' is arpagmon, which means to take by force. It is used in Heb. 10.34--seizure of your property.
But the real obscure word is hghsato, which means to consider, regard, think. It is used only in Acts 14.12--chief speaker. It refers to a leader or ruler doing the decision-making.
So these four words--uparxwn oux arpagmon ngnsato--is translated, he did not regard possessions (equality) a thing to be grasped.
Then for, equality with God, we have--to evai isa theu--meaning, the things to exist as God.
What Paul is doing here is taking 12 words, really 3 key words, to load them up with such spiritual intensity they become difficult to translate. He is compressing the sentence to intensify it because he wants to convey an experience of Christ, not merely an understanding of Him. That's what this passage is about.
Having done that, in v. 8-12 he will elaborate on this to make an incredible point. His point is that the spirit which infilled Jesus is for us.
First, he says Jesus came down from heaven (emptied Himself) to become a man (made in the likeness of men). What Jesus did was He--became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross, v. 8. As a result, God bestowed upon Him the name above every name.
Then Paul makes his monumental application, v.12. He says--So then...work out your salvation with fear and trembling. This is our version of v. 8--becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. We are to work out our salvation, our death to self so that we, too, might be resurrected by the Father. We are to be filled so that we would be saved and exalted and resurrected.
One of the deep passages of the NT is Philippians 2.5,6--
having this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
who although He existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant
and being made in the likeness of men.
The passage has an overall point which is not difficult to understand but monumentally difficult to experience. Paul's point here is that, as he has experienced Christ on the road to Damascus, he wishes all of us to have that same experience.
So he writes Phil. 2.5-12 in a way to convey that experience and then understand it.
Paul begins in verse 5 by saying--Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus... What he means is what Jesus experienced, we will also; the attitude which was in Him should be in us as what was given to Him will be given to us. Pretty incredible, isn't it?
So Paul begins.
He says Jesus did not grasp the things of God, keeping them to Himself. Because He did not, these things can be given to us--did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 2.6.
Now this verse in Greek is difficult. It is 12 words, and 3 of the words are key while they are obscure.
The word for 'equality' doesn't mean equality; it means, 'possessions.' The word is uparcw, to be at one's disposal, possessions, means. You might even translate it, 'things of God,' rather than equality.
The word for 'a thing to be grasped,' is arpagmon, which means to take by force. It is used in Heb. 10.34--seizure of your property.
But the real obscure word is hghsato, which means to consider, regard, think. It is used only in Acts 14.12--chief speaker. It refers to a leader or ruler doing the decision-making.
So these four words--uparxwn oux arpagmon ngnsato--is translated, he did not regard possessions (equality) a thing to be grasped.
Then for, equality with God, we have--to evai isa theu--meaning, the things to exist as God.
What Paul is doing here is taking 12 words, really 3 key words, to load them up with such spiritual intensity they become difficult to translate. He is compressing the sentence to intensify it because he wants to convey an experience of Christ, not merely an understanding of Him. That's what this passage is about.
Having done that, in v. 8-12 he will elaborate on this to make an incredible point. His point is that the spirit which infilled Jesus is for us.
First, he says Jesus came down from heaven (emptied Himself) to become a man (made in the likeness of men). What Jesus did was He--became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross, v. 8. As a result, God bestowed upon Him the name above every name.
Then Paul makes his monumental application, v.12. He says--So then...work out your salvation with fear and trembling. This is our version of v. 8--becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. We are to work out our salvation, our death to self so that we, too, might be resurrected by the Father. We are to be filled so that we would be saved and exalted and resurrected.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
FRIEND Week 10
It's a simple word, one we use often and yet in the NT it is used to mean so much. If Jesus were to speak about the ultimate idea of love, the ultimate sacrifice, if He were to speak of the greatest thing He could give from His Father, would you think of the word, 'Friend'?
I don't think I would. I might think of a tragic word to convey some ultimate truth, but not friend.
And yet Jesus uses that simple word in John 15.
First He says that the greatest expression of love is to lay down your life for a friend--You are My friend if you do what I command you, John 15.14. He does not say lay down your life for your parent, your spiritual guide or a famous person, but for your friend.
Then Jesus says what makes someone His friend is to obey His commandments. He does not limit that to the Jews, to the religious, to his close friends, or even His followers. Whoever obeys is one of His friends.
In Luke 14 Jesus tells a parable of a king who invited many to a feast, but they would not come, they would not obey the invitation. So he had his servants compel anyone--even the lame, the poor, the crippled, and the blind--who would come to come. Those who obeyed were the friends of the king.
Friendship in the Lord is a special thing.
Jesus says--Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father, who is in heaven, Matt. 7.21.
Once, His mother and brothers came wishing to speak to Jesus. He said--For whoever shall do the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother, Matt. 12.50.
While we might notice the exclusive tone here, we might also notice the family element. Whoever does the will of the Father is the family of Jesus, His mother, brother or sister. This means that anyone, of any tribe, kindred, nation, ethnic group, gender, anyone can be in the family of God.
When Paul wrote the Corinthians the second time, he thought of them as his family. He begins chapter 7 by calling them, 'beloved.' The Greek word is , loved ones. He asks them to make room for him in their hearts, almost as if he were saying, 'make room for me in your house.' He says the Corinthians are in his heart--to die together and to live together, 2 Cor. 7.3.
He says that toward the people at that church, he is filled with comfort and overflowing with joy. And when Titus came, Paul was comforted not only by Titus but also by how the Corinthians treated Titus. He is glad his first letter led the Corinthians from sorrow to repentance to the will of God (there's that obedience again) unto salvation, 2 Cor. 7.9,10.
They are friends.
We don't often think of the apostle Paul as so endearing. We might think of him as the doctrinal giant he was, but he had been brough through doctrine to love. He knew no one could relate to God except through love, which comes in a family.
It's a simple word, one we use often and yet in the NT it is used to mean so much. If Jesus were to speak about the ultimate idea of love, the ultimate sacrifice, if He were to speak of the greatest thing He could give from His Father, would you think of the word, 'Friend'?
I don't think I would. I might think of a tragic word to convey some ultimate truth, but not friend.
And yet Jesus uses that simple word in John 15.
First He says that the greatest expression of love is to lay down your life for a friend--You are My friend if you do what I command you, John 15.14. He does not say lay down your life for your parent, your spiritual guide or a famous person, but for your friend.
Then Jesus says what makes someone His friend is to obey His commandments. He does not limit that to the Jews, to the religious, to his close friends, or even His followers. Whoever obeys is one of His friends.
In Luke 14 Jesus tells a parable of a king who invited many to a feast, but they would not come, they would not obey the invitation. So he had his servants compel anyone--even the lame, the poor, the crippled, and the blind--who would come to come. Those who obeyed were the friends of the king.
Friendship in the Lord is a special thing.
Jesus says--Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father, who is in heaven, Matt. 7.21.
Once, His mother and brothers came wishing to speak to Jesus. He said--For whoever shall do the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother, Matt. 12.50.
While we might notice the exclusive tone here, we might also notice the family element. Whoever does the will of the Father is the family of Jesus, His mother, brother or sister. This means that anyone, of any tribe, kindred, nation, ethnic group, gender, anyone can be in the family of God.
When Paul wrote the Corinthians the second time, he thought of them as his family. He begins chapter 7 by calling them, 'beloved.' The Greek word is , loved ones. He asks them to make room for him in their hearts, almost as if he were saying, 'make room for me in your house.' He says the Corinthians are in his heart--to die together and to live together, 2 Cor. 7.3.
He says that toward the people at that church, he is filled with comfort and overflowing with joy. And when Titus came, Paul was comforted not only by Titus but also by how the Corinthians treated Titus. He is glad his first letter led the Corinthians from sorrow to repentance to the will of God (there's that obedience again) unto salvation, 2 Cor. 7.9,10.
They are friends.
We don't often think of the apostle Paul as so endearing. We might think of him as the doctrinal giant he was, but he had been brough through doctrine to love. He knew no one could relate to God except through love, which comes in a family.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
BEGENDINGS Week 9
I just made up that word, 'begendings' to relate beginnings with endings. Since I have been quite sick--and I'm nnot completely free of my sickness--I have been thinking of how life is more about beginnings and endings than the long middle years in between.
So I've been wondering what that means. The two famous beginnings in the Bible are of Adam and Paul. Adam was born of God's breadth, Paul was born again of Jesus' word.
Adam was brough down from the Garden by way of sin to a world into which he was not born. It must have been a frightening thought to have to livee where he was not born, to be an alien in a strange land because of what he did in another world
And Paul was jealous for the Lord within traditional Judaism, yet the God whom he thought he served asked him--Why are you persecuting Me, Acts 9.4. This upset Paul's thinking about God and Judaism. Paul had to start all over again, to begin again.
In the endings of our lives, Adam's life ended in the hope of a messiah who was promised. Paul's life ended after the messiah had come, in the summation of God's will. It was his death in Rome that culminated his life as the follower and preacher of Christ.
For Adam, he was given a great deal in the Garden, and had a great deal taken away in the Fall. So he lived in hope that one of his ancestors would be the messiah, the one who would bruise the serpent's head.
Paul living centuries later was misguided until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Then, having encountered Jesus, he lived the rest of his life on the basis and understanding of that moment. His preaching and teaching was the understanding of what Jesus did on the road to begin his life again. As the writer to the Hebrews said--in these last days He has spoken to us in His Son, Heb. 1.2.
In between the beginning and ending is the plateau each of us has for a few years or many more.
Paul is aware of this level time and place. In one of his famous phrases, he says--I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ, Philippians 3.14. Paul knows he's on a plateau, although he sees it as an upward call. He may have been thinking of the pilgrimmage to Jerusalem in which the last few miles are upward in altitude until the pilgrim reaches the city gates. Paul says we are headed to Zion, we are on our upward pilgrimmage to the heavenly Jerusalem.
We have had our salvation procured by Jesus; we are on the walk of sanctification which secures our safety from the enemy until we come to the consummation devoutly to be wished, our glorification.
The Holy Spirit is our protection along the way. Joel 2.28 had said the Spirit of the Lord would be upon all mankind. John said we would be baptized by the Spirit, John 3.5. David said Thy word is a lamp unto Thy feet, and a light unto Thy path, Ps. 109.105. David also said God would--make known to me the path of life, Ps. 16.11.
Along the way Paul tells Timothy to--Guard, through the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, the treasure which has been enturusted to you, 2 Tim. 1.14. Paul hopes the Colossians will--walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, Col. 1.10.
We persevere as we have been called to do so. In Mark 4.35 Jesus told the disciples to get into a boat--Let us go to the other side. A fierce gale had come up, but Jesus had said they were going to the other side. No matter what comes up, we are going to the other side. Jesus rebuked the winds, saying to the sea--Hush, be still, Mark 4.39. So Matt. 8.28 finishes it off by saying--He had come to the other side...
I just made up that word, 'begendings' to relate beginnings with endings. Since I have been quite sick--and I'm nnot completely free of my sickness--I have been thinking of how life is more about beginnings and endings than the long middle years in between.
So I've been wondering what that means. The two famous beginnings in the Bible are of Adam and Paul. Adam was born of God's breadth, Paul was born again of Jesus' word.
Adam was brough down from the Garden by way of sin to a world into which he was not born. It must have been a frightening thought to have to livee where he was not born, to be an alien in a strange land because of what he did in another world
And Paul was jealous for the Lord within traditional Judaism, yet the God whom he thought he served asked him--Why are you persecuting Me, Acts 9.4. This upset Paul's thinking about God and Judaism. Paul had to start all over again, to begin again.
In the endings of our lives, Adam's life ended in the hope of a messiah who was promised. Paul's life ended after the messiah had come, in the summation of God's will. It was his death in Rome that culminated his life as the follower and preacher of Christ.
For Adam, he was given a great deal in the Garden, and had a great deal taken away in the Fall. So he lived in hope that one of his ancestors would be the messiah, the one who would bruise the serpent's head.
Paul living centuries later was misguided until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Then, having encountered Jesus, he lived the rest of his life on the basis and understanding of that moment. His preaching and teaching was the understanding of what Jesus did on the road to begin his life again. As the writer to the Hebrews said--in these last days He has spoken to us in His Son, Heb. 1.2.
In between the beginning and ending is the plateau each of us has for a few years or many more.
Paul is aware of this level time and place. In one of his famous phrases, he says--I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ, Philippians 3.14. Paul knows he's on a plateau, although he sees it as an upward call. He may have been thinking of the pilgrimmage to Jerusalem in which the last few miles are upward in altitude until the pilgrim reaches the city gates. Paul says we are headed to Zion, we are on our upward pilgrimmage to the heavenly Jerusalem.
We have had our salvation procured by Jesus; we are on the walk of sanctification which secures our safety from the enemy until we come to the consummation devoutly to be wished, our glorification.
The Holy Spirit is our protection along the way. Joel 2.28 had said the Spirit of the Lord would be upon all mankind. John said we would be baptized by the Spirit, John 3.5. David said Thy word is a lamp unto Thy feet, and a light unto Thy path, Ps. 109.105. David also said God would--make known to me the path of life, Ps. 16.11.
Along the way Paul tells Timothy to--Guard, through the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, the treasure which has been enturusted to you, 2 Tim. 1.14. Paul hopes the Colossians will--walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, Col. 1.10.
We persevere as we have been called to do so. In Mark 4.35 Jesus told the disciples to get into a boat--Let us go to the other side. A fierce gale had come up, but Jesus had said they were going to the other side. No matter what comes up, we are going to the other side. Jesus rebuked the winds, saying to the sea--Hush, be still, Mark 4.39. So Matt. 8.28 finishes it off by saying--He had come to the other side...
Thursday, August 1, 2013
CHURCH Week 8
In the western culture we often think of the church as a building, an institution or a sort-of club to join.
David in Psalm 65.4 sung--
How blessed is the one in whom Thou does choose
and bring near to Thee,
to dwell in Thy courts;
we will be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house,
thy holy temple.
In Isaiah 56.7 God says--
for My house shall be a house of prayer.
In Ephesians 2.21 Paul calls the church--
a holy temple in the Lord.
These quotes bring the church from a courtyard to a house to a temple. The building is there but it is a house for a family, that is, God and His children. And more than that, it is a temple in which He is worshiped, a place of reverence and awe and spirit. When you stand there and inhale, more than air enters you; it is the spirit of divinity of which you are aware; it is as if you'd rather not touch anything but you adore the place as it glows within you.
The church has a beautiful strangeness. It is not like learning about someone's life, it is entering into someone's life, that of Jesus Christ. Just think what it would be like to enter into Christ when He heals a leper, or raises Lazarus from the dead or touches children or speaks to a woman caught in adultery. What would it be like to enter into Jesus when He speaks to His Father, sees His Father, is with His Father?
To hear those whisperings, to feel that surge of power, to see that horizon.
That would be a complicated environment, would it not? And yet, that is Christ. That is the church.
It is the place in which we experience healing, wholeness, forgiveness, blessing and love.
It is the place where the knot of sin is untied so that our souls can relax.
We can lay ourselves down, to rest in Him. We rest because we are in Him. Have you ever sat on the banks of a leisurely stream, the glowing reflection of a momentary sun off the network of trickling water, easing by? That is rest.
But it is also the place in which we learn who God is.
The blessed man delights in the Law, meditates on the Law day and night in the assembly of the righteous, Psalm 1 We have the eyes of our heart enlightened to know the hope of our calling, the riches of the glory of the inheritance in the saints, Eph. 1.18. John Donne called church the college of God. The church is the pillar of the truth.
We hear the Scriptures read and expounded in the church. We hear and obey the Scriptures in the church. When Jesus read the scroll from Isaiah, He said--Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing, Luke 4.21. It is in the church that proclaiming becomes hearing to be evangelizing.
Is there a NT church in which these things happened?
It may have been the church at Thessalonica. Paul uses the phrase in Ephesians 5.1--be imitators of God, as beloved children. But how do we do this?
In 1 Thessalonians 1. 3-10 Paul was always thanking God for the saints at Thessalonica because of the--word of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ...
He says they became--imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the Word in much tribulation and with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
He says they--became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
He says--the Word of the Lord sounded forth from you...in every place the word of your faith has gone forth.
That is the Word of God.
What did they have, to make all of that possible?
Paul says in 1 Thes. 5.11--encourage one another and build up one another, just as you are doing...appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instructions, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work.
The second time Paul wrote to this church, he completed his instructions to them by saying--stand firm and hold to the tradition which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us, 1 Thes. 2.15. Now we can only imagine what letters or what sermon or teaching came to the Thessalonians, but they believed it. They believed it as a church, as a group of believers with one mind, spirit, soul, so that they became one church under God.
In the western culture we often think of the church as a building, an institution or a sort-of club to join.
David in Psalm 65.4 sung--
How blessed is the one in whom Thou does choose
and bring near to Thee,
to dwell in Thy courts;
we will be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house,
thy holy temple.
In Isaiah 56.7 God says--
for My house shall be a house of prayer.
In Ephesians 2.21 Paul calls the church--
a holy temple in the Lord.
These quotes bring the church from a courtyard to a house to a temple. The building is there but it is a house for a family, that is, God and His children. And more than that, it is a temple in which He is worshiped, a place of reverence and awe and spirit. When you stand there and inhale, more than air enters you; it is the spirit of divinity of which you are aware; it is as if you'd rather not touch anything but you adore the place as it glows within you.
The church has a beautiful strangeness. It is not like learning about someone's life, it is entering into someone's life, that of Jesus Christ. Just think what it would be like to enter into Christ when He heals a leper, or raises Lazarus from the dead or touches children or speaks to a woman caught in adultery. What would it be like to enter into Jesus when He speaks to His Father, sees His Father, is with His Father?
To hear those whisperings, to feel that surge of power, to see that horizon.
That would be a complicated environment, would it not? And yet, that is Christ. That is the church.
It is the place in which we experience healing, wholeness, forgiveness, blessing and love.
It is the place where the knot of sin is untied so that our souls can relax.
We can lay ourselves down, to rest in Him. We rest because we are in Him. Have you ever sat on the banks of a leisurely stream, the glowing reflection of a momentary sun off the network of trickling water, easing by? That is rest.
But it is also the place in which we learn who God is.
The blessed man delights in the Law, meditates on the Law day and night in the assembly of the righteous, Psalm 1 We have the eyes of our heart enlightened to know the hope of our calling, the riches of the glory of the inheritance in the saints, Eph. 1.18. John Donne called church the college of God. The church is the pillar of the truth.
We hear the Scriptures read and expounded in the church. We hear and obey the Scriptures in the church. When Jesus read the scroll from Isaiah, He said--Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing, Luke 4.21. It is in the church that proclaiming becomes hearing to be evangelizing.
Is there a NT church in which these things happened?
It may have been the church at Thessalonica. Paul uses the phrase in Ephesians 5.1--be imitators of God, as beloved children. But how do we do this?
In 1 Thessalonians 1. 3-10 Paul was always thanking God for the saints at Thessalonica because of the--word of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ...
He says they became--imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the Word in much tribulation and with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
He says they--became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
He says--the Word of the Lord sounded forth from you...in every place the word of your faith has gone forth.
That is the Word of God.
What did they have, to make all of that possible?
Paul says in 1 Thes. 5.11--encourage one another and build up one another, just as you are doing...appreciate those who diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instructions, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work.
The second time Paul wrote to this church, he completed his instructions to them by saying--stand firm and hold to the tradition which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us, 1 Thes. 2.15. Now we can only imagine what letters or what sermon or teaching came to the Thessalonians, but they believed it. They believed it as a church, as a group of believers with one mind, spirit, soul, so that they became one church under God.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE Week 7
Often preachers like to say that people do not worship publicly like they should. That may mean we don't respond to public worship as generations in the past have. My father's generation had the same history through which to live--the Depression and World War II and the post-war boom. They had so much of the same experience and history.
However, my 1960s and 1970s generation didn't have that same history and culture and experiences to bind us together. We were not bound together, and that is one of the losses of the church. Without believing in the church as the center of our life and neighborhood, we no longer have a center. We have been slung out to the edges by our own introversion.
We have all seen this in the self-help books, the empowerment books, the motivational speakers selling tapes, the sale of cds and other things.
So at this point we might ask, what did Jesus do?
He went off by Himself to pray all night and then He went into the temple--But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. And early in the morning He came again into the temple and all the people were coming to Hiim and He sat down to teach them, John 8. 1-2.
The Pharisees accuse Him being a lone wolf, a solitary rebel who only came to upset people. But if coming to the temple was His way of sharing His great faith, what was His time on the Mount like? He tells us something of this when He says--
But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and He who sent Me...I am He who bears witness of Myself and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me, John 8. 18.19.
His communion was with His Father. This communion did not leave Him on the Mount of Olives to hold onto what He had with the Father. The Father even sent Him. He came down from the Mount to the temple, to teach the people.
What did He teach them, which He had learned on the Mount? He said--He who sent Me is true and the things which I heard from Him, these things I speak to the world.
Those around Him didn't believe that. So He says--I speak these things as the Father has taught Me, John 8.28.
Jesus is taking what the Father taught Him in private, to teach it in public and in the temple. At this time the temple was the most public of arenas in Jerusalem. He had said in 8.26--I speak to the world. Certainly this meant the Jewish world and in the Roman empire as well as for all time through John's gospel. And John said that at that time--many came to believe in Him, John 8.30.
We don't often realize how many people did believe in Jesus. We are aware of the opposition of the traditional church leaders in the temple and the Sanhedrin, yet when Jesus spoke openly in the temple here in John 8 many did realize the truth of what He said.
We might imagine that a spiritual time has to be private. We think of quietness and contemplation and maybe even hymns or chants or canticles. And yet here He was in the temple in front of the religious leaders, in public, amid the crowd under the guidance of the process of teaching. His words probably echoed off the temple tiles, resounding through the columns and porticoes, for everyone to hear.
How could we respond to this, to have such privacy with the Father in church? One way is to create in our public order of worship a time and place for contemplation. Any service might benefit by silence, at least in small moments. We might think of worship as our coming to hear Him. This is our time with Him.
We prepare with His word, the Bible. We anticipate with prayer. We open our souls with forgiveness and love. And we receive Him in our worship.
In a way, not easy. And yet if we concentrate on this, God responds. As in so many things, to put God first is all.
To give God the place before us as we go is the place of blessing.
Often preachers like to say that people do not worship publicly like they should. That may mean we don't respond to public worship as generations in the past have. My father's generation had the same history through which to live--the Depression and World War II and the post-war boom. They had so much of the same experience and history.
However, my 1960s and 1970s generation didn't have that same history and culture and experiences to bind us together. We were not bound together, and that is one of the losses of the church. Without believing in the church as the center of our life and neighborhood, we no longer have a center. We have been slung out to the edges by our own introversion.
We have all seen this in the self-help books, the empowerment books, the motivational speakers selling tapes, the sale of cds and other things.
So at this point we might ask, what did Jesus do?
He went off by Himself to pray all night and then He went into the temple--But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. And early in the morning He came again into the temple and all the people were coming to Hiim and He sat down to teach them, John 8. 1-2.
The Pharisees accuse Him being a lone wolf, a solitary rebel who only came to upset people. But if coming to the temple was His way of sharing His great faith, what was His time on the Mount like? He tells us something of this when He says--
But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and He who sent Me...I am He who bears witness of Myself and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me, John 8. 18.19.
His communion was with His Father. This communion did not leave Him on the Mount of Olives to hold onto what He had with the Father. The Father even sent Him. He came down from the Mount to the temple, to teach the people.
What did He teach them, which He had learned on the Mount? He said--He who sent Me is true and the things which I heard from Him, these things I speak to the world.
Those around Him didn't believe that. So He says--I speak these things as the Father has taught Me, John 8.28.
Jesus is taking what the Father taught Him in private, to teach it in public and in the temple. At this time the temple was the most public of arenas in Jerusalem. He had said in 8.26--I speak to the world. Certainly this meant the Jewish world and in the Roman empire as well as for all time through John's gospel. And John said that at that time--many came to believe in Him, John 8.30.
We don't often realize how many people did believe in Jesus. We are aware of the opposition of the traditional church leaders in the temple and the Sanhedrin, yet when Jesus spoke openly in the temple here in John 8 many did realize the truth of what He said.
We might imagine that a spiritual time has to be private. We think of quietness and contemplation and maybe even hymns or chants or canticles. And yet here He was in the temple in front of the religious leaders, in public, amid the crowd under the guidance of the process of teaching. His words probably echoed off the temple tiles, resounding through the columns and porticoes, for everyone to hear.
How could we respond to this, to have such privacy with the Father in church? One way is to create in our public order of worship a time and place for contemplation. Any service might benefit by silence, at least in small moments. We might think of worship as our coming to hear Him. This is our time with Him.
We prepare with His word, the Bible. We anticipate with prayer. We open our souls with forgiveness and love. And we receive Him in our worship.
In a way, not easy. And yet if we concentrate on this, God responds. As in so many things, to put God first is all.
To give God the place before us as we go is the place of blessing.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
CROSSROADS Week 6
When I think of what would be the one essential idea of Christianity, it is in the word, crossroads. Jesus as the crossroads of God and man, Christian marriage as the crossroads of man and woman, the church as the crossroads of heaven and earth.
I've read that Jerusalem is the crossroads of east and west, of north and south. It was never the economic center of the world, but the Jewish prophets always called the City of Peace as the heart of God's people and His footstool.
But to be a crossroads, a place or person has to be filled by opposites and contrasting qualities. The Pharisees often say Jesus is just a carpenter's son, yet the people say Jesus is the Son of God. He is both heaven sent and earthly bound. He was the Angel of the Lord from the OT and the Son of Man in the NT.
His life is the only one lived on this planet worth knowing. He shows us heaven and He shows us how heaven could be here on earth. When He heals someone, He shows us God's power, yet it is God's power in us. When He speaks the wisdom of God it comes from ages past, yet it is spoken to and for someone right there in front of Him.
Jesus is the far and the near, He is reach and circumstance. By that I mean He is God reaching us in our circumstance. He spent His ministry bringing God to earth, and when He was resurrected He took us to heaven. It is this crossroads which makes Him so fascinating.
What was it like for Jesus to see into your eyes?
I have searched this question for years. We certainly don't see ourselves or some better version of ourselves. We see God. But He was not a God of abstract concepts, He is more like the God who reveals His voice, He appears as an angel, He comes to a room, He takes upon Himself a human form.
As the God of creation, He intimates Himself in enclosed places like a garden, a stream disappearing into a forest, a cave within a cliff or the light glittered by dust in a vacant church.
We become aware of Him in bread, in still water at a well, in sheep, in light, in stars. He enters us so that we can become aware of His presence on His own. We see this when Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at a well. Jesus asks for a drink. When the woman tells Him the truth about herself, He rewards her by saying--God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth, John 4.24. Truth results in revelation, confession results in worship, living water is God the Son.
So how did the woman see Him in her eyes? John provides no simple answer except to say that she dropped her water bucket, ran into her own city to tell the men about this man Jesus. This is her John 3.8 moment--the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but do not knowwhereit comes from and where it is going; so is every one who is born of the Spirit.
The men she spoke to must have seen Jesus in her eyes, as they--went out of the city and were coming to Him, John 4.30. He was more important than the well, or her bucket, or their day's duties. He was to them beyond their daily life, even to the point of being worth everything. What they seemed to see when we see Jesus is that He is all, He is the only One who matters.
When I think of what would be the one essential idea of Christianity, it is in the word, crossroads. Jesus as the crossroads of God and man, Christian marriage as the crossroads of man and woman, the church as the crossroads of heaven and earth.
I've read that Jerusalem is the crossroads of east and west, of north and south. It was never the economic center of the world, but the Jewish prophets always called the City of Peace as the heart of God's people and His footstool.
But to be a crossroads, a place or person has to be filled by opposites and contrasting qualities. The Pharisees often say Jesus is just a carpenter's son, yet the people say Jesus is the Son of God. He is both heaven sent and earthly bound. He was the Angel of the Lord from the OT and the Son of Man in the NT.
His life is the only one lived on this planet worth knowing. He shows us heaven and He shows us how heaven could be here on earth. When He heals someone, He shows us God's power, yet it is God's power in us. When He speaks the wisdom of God it comes from ages past, yet it is spoken to and for someone right there in front of Him.
Jesus is the far and the near, He is reach and circumstance. By that I mean He is God reaching us in our circumstance. He spent His ministry bringing God to earth, and when He was resurrected He took us to heaven. It is this crossroads which makes Him so fascinating.
What was it like for Jesus to see into your eyes?
I have searched this question for years. We certainly don't see ourselves or some better version of ourselves. We see God. But He was not a God of abstract concepts, He is more like the God who reveals His voice, He appears as an angel, He comes to a room, He takes upon Himself a human form.
As the God of creation, He intimates Himself in enclosed places like a garden, a stream disappearing into a forest, a cave within a cliff or the light glittered by dust in a vacant church.
We become aware of Him in bread, in still water at a well, in sheep, in light, in stars. He enters us so that we can become aware of His presence on His own. We see this when Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at a well. Jesus asks for a drink. When the woman tells Him the truth about herself, He rewards her by saying--God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth, John 4.24. Truth results in revelation, confession results in worship, living water is God the Son.
So how did the woman see Him in her eyes? John provides no simple answer except to say that she dropped her water bucket, ran into her own city to tell the men about this man Jesus. This is her John 3.8 moment--the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but do not knowwhereit comes from and where it is going; so is every one who is born of the Spirit.
The men she spoke to must have seen Jesus in her eyes, as they--went out of the city and were coming to Him, John 4.30. He was more important than the well, or her bucket, or their day's duties. He was to them beyond their daily life, even to the point of being worth everything. What they seemed to see when we see Jesus is that He is all, He is the only One who matters.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
JOURNEY--2 Week 5
We have disagreed with Bonaventure about journeying toward God. Yet, his little book has remained with us all these years when other books have not been reprinted. Why would that be?
While we cannot journey into God as if He were a sea of mist into which an ancient sailing ship might travel, still He has come to us. This means, if we look at those saints in the Bible to whom Jesus came, we might see God in us. We might be able to see within ourselves the trace of God's approach and entrance, like the trail of bubbles when we drop a pebble into water.
First, let's look into the Scriptures to see what we can find.
Of all the men in the NT, there are more verses mentioning Peter than anyone. John the Baptist has been preaching about a coming king, words Peter easily could have heard. In Luke 4.33 when Jesus is in the synogogue He rebukes a demon, so a few verses later He rebukes the sickness of Peter's mother-in-law, Luke 4.41.
Jesus leaves for Judea and when He returns, Peter is in his boat, fishing. Jesus joins Peter saying--Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. Peter begins to refuse in sarcasm, but he remembers Jesus healed his mother-in-law, so he backs down when he says--(refusal) we worked hard all night and caught nothing, (yielding) but at Your bidding I will let down the nets.
When the load of fish jump into Peter's net, his reaction is--Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Peter has gone from watching Jesus heal his mother-in-law to seeing himself as a sinful man. The holiness of Christ's presence has stung the sinfulness of Peter's flesh. But it has not transformed Peter. He knows, he sees, he is struck down but he is not poured out.
Jesus then realizing Peter is afraid, says--Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.'
Is fear what does not want to yield to Jesus?
Jesus has given Peter something to do. He has not verbally lacerated Peter for not having the kind of faith Mary had (Be it done unto me according to Your Word). He has drawn Peter from a place of only watching to a place of being sent. Has Peter come through fear? Well, not completely.
In Luke 6.14 Jesus names Peter as one of the apostles. Peter has left the boats and nets. Now Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount. We remember Peter calls Jesus, Lord, in Luke 5.18. Now in Luke 6.45 Jesus says a good man brings forth out of his good heart what is good, but then He says--why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? If Peter is right there, he might remember that he called Jesus, Lord. Then by what Jesus said, Peter must do what Jesus said to be His follower.
Now when the Pharisee accuses Jesus of touching a sinner in Luke 7.39, Jesus turns to Peter to say of two debtors, one who owes 500 denarii and one who owes 50, when the moneylender forgives both, who loves him more? Peter says--I supose the one whom he forgave more. Jesus then says--You have judged correctly. Notice that Jesus uses the word, judged. Peter has been brough from being a rude fisherman to being a follower, to calling Jesus his Lord, and now to being given the priviledge of judging.
But Jesus is not through with Peter. In this same conversation with Peter, Jesus says he entered Peter's house. Peter gave Him no water for His feet, he gave Jesus no kiss, he did not anoint Jesus with oil. Then Jesus says--he who is forgiven little, loves little.
Now this seems an understandable lesson as it is. But when we remember the last words of Jesus to Peter in John 21.15--
Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?
He said to Him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
He said to him, Tend My lambs.
But then Jesus repeats the same words two more times. What is He doing? He is taking Peter from merely knowing to being forgiven much to loving much.
This is the trail of God in a soul, from seeing to obeying to following, to believing to being forgiven much so that he could love much. Now this the journey into the soul by God.
We have disagreed with Bonaventure about journeying toward God. Yet, his little book has remained with us all these years when other books have not been reprinted. Why would that be?
While we cannot journey into God as if He were a sea of mist into which an ancient sailing ship might travel, still He has come to us. This means, if we look at those saints in the Bible to whom Jesus came, we might see God in us. We might be able to see within ourselves the trace of God's approach and entrance, like the trail of bubbles when we drop a pebble into water.
First, let's look into the Scriptures to see what we can find.
Of all the men in the NT, there are more verses mentioning Peter than anyone. John the Baptist has been preaching about a coming king, words Peter easily could have heard. In Luke 4.33 when Jesus is in the synogogue He rebukes a demon, so a few verses later He rebukes the sickness of Peter's mother-in-law, Luke 4.41.
Jesus leaves for Judea and when He returns, Peter is in his boat, fishing. Jesus joins Peter saying--Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. Peter begins to refuse in sarcasm, but he remembers Jesus healed his mother-in-law, so he backs down when he says--(refusal) we worked hard all night and caught nothing, (yielding) but at Your bidding I will let down the nets.
When the load of fish jump into Peter's net, his reaction is--Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. Peter has gone from watching Jesus heal his mother-in-law to seeing himself as a sinful man. The holiness of Christ's presence has stung the sinfulness of Peter's flesh. But it has not transformed Peter. He knows, he sees, he is struck down but he is not poured out.
Jesus then realizing Peter is afraid, says--Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.'
Is fear what does not want to yield to Jesus?
Jesus has given Peter something to do. He has not verbally lacerated Peter for not having the kind of faith Mary had (Be it done unto me according to Your Word). He has drawn Peter from a place of only watching to a place of being sent. Has Peter come through fear? Well, not completely.
In Luke 6.14 Jesus names Peter as one of the apostles. Peter has left the boats and nets. Now Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount. We remember Peter calls Jesus, Lord, in Luke 5.18. Now in Luke 6.45 Jesus says a good man brings forth out of his good heart what is good, but then He says--why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? If Peter is right there, he might remember that he called Jesus, Lord. Then by what Jesus said, Peter must do what Jesus said to be His follower.
Now when the Pharisee accuses Jesus of touching a sinner in Luke 7.39, Jesus turns to Peter to say of two debtors, one who owes 500 denarii and one who owes 50, when the moneylender forgives both, who loves him more? Peter says--I supose the one whom he forgave more. Jesus then says--You have judged correctly. Notice that Jesus uses the word, judged. Peter has been brough from being a rude fisherman to being a follower, to calling Jesus his Lord, and now to being given the priviledge of judging.
But Jesus is not through with Peter. In this same conversation with Peter, Jesus says he entered Peter's house. Peter gave Him no water for His feet, he gave Jesus no kiss, he did not anoint Jesus with oil. Then Jesus says--he who is forgiven little, loves little.
Now this seems an understandable lesson as it is. But when we remember the last words of Jesus to Peter in John 21.15--
Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?
He said to Him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
He said to him, Tend My lambs.
But then Jesus repeats the same words two more times. What is He doing? He is taking Peter from merely knowing to being forgiven much to loving much.
This is the trail of God in a soul, from seeing to obeying to following, to believing to being forgiven much so that he could love much. Now this the journey into the soul by God.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
JOURNEY--1 Week 4
Often when an era is ending, someone will come along to summarize that time and place in writing, as an act of holding on to what he knows is slipping away.
Before the 13th century, the great theologians were pastors and the great pastors were theologians. That would change as the universities became the feeding ground for the government, not the church. Governments and armies would rule, not the church and popes and the nobility. After the 13th century pastors went to the churches, theologians went to the universities.
The man in that time who tried to hold Christianity together was St. Bonaventure. He was born in a small town in central Italy, probably in 1217. Francis of Assisi had just founded his order. While Francis died in 1226, Bonaventure entered the Franciscan order in 1243. He wrote a great deal, mostly in response to controversies of his time.
In 1257 he wrote THE SOUL'S JOURNEY INTO GOD.
The title is misleading; it really is the soul's journey toward God. What Bonaventure wrote was a summary of thought up till his time concerning the development of our own faculties. The books consists of 7 chapters, each with several stanzas of poetry accompanied by comments. The poetry uses Scripture but it is not the result of Scripture. Rather it is the result of philosophical thought on the religious life.
An example is the very first statement in the prologue--
Since happiness is nothing other than
the enjoyment of the highest good,
and since the highest good is above,
no one can be made happy unless he rise above himself...
The writers of the Bible do not say happiness is the enjoyment of the highest good, rather they say of man--
He also is flesh...every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, Gen. 6.6.
Bonaventure says that, 'Whoever wishes to ascend to God must first avoid sin.' An obvious thing to say, but simply impossible. 1 John 1.8 says--
If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Bonaventure then says there are six stages in the ascent into God, represented in our soul by the senses, imagination, reason, understanding, intelligence and conscience. This order is from below to above, from lower to higher. But does God redeem by stages?
John says--For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace, John 1.16.
In chapter 4 Bonaventure says God must lift the soul to true contemplation.
We recall that Jesus had said,
I am the door; if anyone enters through Me,
he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture, John 10.9.
It is at this point that Bonaventure makes his contribution to religious thought. He says the soul which contemplates Christ is transformed. Now that is not such a radical statement. But how is the soul transformed?
Bonaventure says the soul resembles the heavenly Jerusalem, which is our mother, Galatians 4.26. When the soul which believes in Jesus is redeemed, it receives its spiritual sight and hearing. It can see the splendor of the light of God, it embraces the Word and delights in the love of Christ. When the inner senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell are restored the soul can love Christ in ecstasy.
+++
Let's step back and bring all of this together. Bonaventure is trying to tie medeival philosophy and the NT together. He is saying God is in nature, and that nature is to be respected as true. However, that is not enough for us to see God in Christ. We must be instructed by Sacred Scripture for the reception of the Holy Spirit for that to happen. When we are given the illumination of God in Christ, we see God in all things, that God may be all in all, 1 Cor. 15.28.
When we step back, we might not see 9 levels of movement by the soul. Jesus has this habit of bringing people directly into the presence of God.
He says to the criminal--
today you will be with Me in paradise, Luke 23.43.
He says to Philip--
If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father, John 14.9.
Any sort of fusion of the Bible with the ancient classical world cannot come about. One or both will be compromised, and the usual result is the loss of closeness to Jesus. He is not 'the good,' but the only One who was good. Fusion with anyone has never worked. God is separated, He is holy, there is no one like Him. Some of us have used this kind of fusion to hold God at a distance, to get away from Him.
We cannot swerve ourselves up into a vision of God, we can only receive God. But what about the Christian who does not always live up to the holiness of Christ? This is where Bonaventure might come in handy. We do grow in grace from light to light, from seeing darkly to being in the light. If we think of a good seed growing in bad soil, we might be closer to Bonaventure. We will take up the life of Peter in the gospels next week.
The great pilgrimmage is not the soul's graduation through any stages, rather it is the pilgrimmage of Christ from the heavenly courts to this life of dust and clay.
Often when an era is ending, someone will come along to summarize that time and place in writing, as an act of holding on to what he knows is slipping away.
Before the 13th century, the great theologians were pastors and the great pastors were theologians. That would change as the universities became the feeding ground for the government, not the church. Governments and armies would rule, not the church and popes and the nobility. After the 13th century pastors went to the churches, theologians went to the universities.
The man in that time who tried to hold Christianity together was St. Bonaventure. He was born in a small town in central Italy, probably in 1217. Francis of Assisi had just founded his order. While Francis died in 1226, Bonaventure entered the Franciscan order in 1243. He wrote a great deal, mostly in response to controversies of his time.
In 1257 he wrote THE SOUL'S JOURNEY INTO GOD.
The title is misleading; it really is the soul's journey toward God. What Bonaventure wrote was a summary of thought up till his time concerning the development of our own faculties. The books consists of 7 chapters, each with several stanzas of poetry accompanied by comments. The poetry uses Scripture but it is not the result of Scripture. Rather it is the result of philosophical thought on the religious life.
An example is the very first statement in the prologue--
Since happiness is nothing other than
the enjoyment of the highest good,
and since the highest good is above,
no one can be made happy unless he rise above himself...
The writers of the Bible do not say happiness is the enjoyment of the highest good, rather they say of man--
He also is flesh...every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, Gen. 6.6.
Bonaventure says that, 'Whoever wishes to ascend to God must first avoid sin.' An obvious thing to say, but simply impossible. 1 John 1.8 says--
If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Bonaventure then says there are six stages in the ascent into God, represented in our soul by the senses, imagination, reason, understanding, intelligence and conscience. This order is from below to above, from lower to higher. But does God redeem by stages?
John says--For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace, John 1.16.
In chapter 4 Bonaventure says God must lift the soul to true contemplation.
We recall that Jesus had said,
I am the door; if anyone enters through Me,
he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture, John 10.9.
It is at this point that Bonaventure makes his contribution to religious thought. He says the soul which contemplates Christ is transformed. Now that is not such a radical statement. But how is the soul transformed?
Bonaventure says the soul resembles the heavenly Jerusalem, which is our mother, Galatians 4.26. When the soul which believes in Jesus is redeemed, it receives its spiritual sight and hearing. It can see the splendor of the light of God, it embraces the Word and delights in the love of Christ. When the inner senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell are restored the soul can love Christ in ecstasy.
+++
Let's step back and bring all of this together. Bonaventure is trying to tie medeival philosophy and the NT together. He is saying God is in nature, and that nature is to be respected as true. However, that is not enough for us to see God in Christ. We must be instructed by Sacred Scripture for the reception of the Holy Spirit for that to happen. When we are given the illumination of God in Christ, we see God in all things, that God may be all in all, 1 Cor. 15.28.
When we step back, we might not see 9 levels of movement by the soul. Jesus has this habit of bringing people directly into the presence of God.
He says to the criminal--
today you will be with Me in paradise, Luke 23.43.
He says to Philip--
If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father, John 14.9.
Any sort of fusion of the Bible with the ancient classical world cannot come about. One or both will be compromised, and the usual result is the loss of closeness to Jesus. He is not 'the good,' but the only One who was good. Fusion with anyone has never worked. God is separated, He is holy, there is no one like Him. Some of us have used this kind of fusion to hold God at a distance, to get away from Him.
We cannot swerve ourselves up into a vision of God, we can only receive God. But what about the Christian who does not always live up to the holiness of Christ? This is where Bonaventure might come in handy. We do grow in grace from light to light, from seeing darkly to being in the light. If we think of a good seed growing in bad soil, we might be closer to Bonaventure. We will take up the life of Peter in the gospels next week.
The great pilgrimmage is not the soul's graduation through any stages, rather it is the pilgrimmage of Christ from the heavenly courts to this life of dust and clay.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
IMAGE OF GOD Week 3
We often think of the passage in Gensis which first mentions the phrase, 'image of God,' Genesis 1.26,7 which says--Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.
God breathed His breath into Adam, creating the image of God. It was God in Adam as a likeness of God. It was not God Himself in Adam but a likeness, an image. Genesis 2.7 explains this as--man became a living being. To be a living being is to be in the likeness of God, yet separated.
If we look at the word 'separated' we might be reminded of Genesis 3. There, Adam and Eve are the image of God, but the Lord is not mentioned when Satan comes with the invitation to eat of the wrong tree. They are His image but separated from Him. Will they chose to be separated from God forever, or will they act to be united with Him and separated from Satan? We all know the choice they made, we are what we are because of that choice.
However in Genesis 5.3 Adam--
became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image and named him Seth.
So we see that the image was not lost when Adam fell and left the garden. A magnificent nearness to God was lost, but not our likeness.
Can that nearness return? In the NT Jesus is at Jacob's well, John 4.
There He meets a woman. He says--Give Me a drink.
Her answer is an external one. Seeing He is a Jew she says--How is it that you being a Jew ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?
Then Jesus takes her from an outward viewpoint to an inward one. He says--If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.'
I'd like to think that the image of God which was breathed into Adam was like that living water, from Jesus poured into her. Jesus does not breathe on her as God did Adam, He offers her living water so that she might drink.
Notice that Adam makes an excuse--the woman gave to me, Gen. 3.12. The woman tells Jesus the truth when she admits she's had husbands, John 4.16-18. As a result, Jesus sends the woman away from the well to her own people, to tell them about Jesus. With Adam, he is punished by being sent out of the garden, to a lower plain.
Because she told Jesus the truth, she receives living water, not pain in childbirth. This living water is not bread, which must be cut down and harvested. This is not the blood of goats and lambs and bulls. This is living water, which she can freely drink.
What this means is the image of God which we are can receive the living water. The body had to be covered with fig leaves and then animal skins, due to sin. With living water, the soul can go anywhere and still be with the Lord. Jesus say this in John 3.8 when He says--
The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
Living water is symbolic of our covenant freedom with God.
We often think of the passage in Gensis which first mentions the phrase, 'image of God,' Genesis 1.26,7 which says--Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.
God breathed His breath into Adam, creating the image of God. It was God in Adam as a likeness of God. It was not God Himself in Adam but a likeness, an image. Genesis 2.7 explains this as--man became a living being. To be a living being is to be in the likeness of God, yet separated.
If we look at the word 'separated' we might be reminded of Genesis 3. There, Adam and Eve are the image of God, but the Lord is not mentioned when Satan comes with the invitation to eat of the wrong tree. They are His image but separated from Him. Will they chose to be separated from God forever, or will they act to be united with Him and separated from Satan? We all know the choice they made, we are what we are because of that choice.
However in Genesis 5.3 Adam--
became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image and named him Seth.
So we see that the image was not lost when Adam fell and left the garden. A magnificent nearness to God was lost, but not our likeness.
Can that nearness return? In the NT Jesus is at Jacob's well, John 4.
There He meets a woman. He says--Give Me a drink.
Her answer is an external one. Seeing He is a Jew she says--How is it that you being a Jew ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?
Then Jesus takes her from an outward viewpoint to an inward one. He says--If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.'
I'd like to think that the image of God which was breathed into Adam was like that living water, from Jesus poured into her. Jesus does not breathe on her as God did Adam, He offers her living water so that she might drink.
Notice that Adam makes an excuse--the woman gave to me, Gen. 3.12. The woman tells Jesus the truth when she admits she's had husbands, John 4.16-18. As a result, Jesus sends the woman away from the well to her own people, to tell them about Jesus. With Adam, he is punished by being sent out of the garden, to a lower plain.
Because she told Jesus the truth, she receives living water, not pain in childbirth. This living water is not bread, which must be cut down and harvested. This is not the blood of goats and lambs and bulls. This is living water, which she can freely drink.
What this means is the image of God which we are can receive the living water. The body had to be covered with fig leaves and then animal skins, due to sin. With living water, the soul can go anywhere and still be with the Lord. Jesus say this in John 3.8 when He says--
The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
Living water is symbolic of our covenant freedom with God.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
RELIGION Week 2
Religions are made of debt. The gods require a code of subservience because they are supposed to have some power we humans want. They require our possessions in the form of money or animals or even human sacrifices. We are to pay a debt we owe the gods to get their power or permission.
Of course this never works because the gods we make are wood or stone.
In the ancient Greek tales, the Greek king Agamemnon must sacrifice his 14 year old virgin daughter Iphigenia to the gods so that the Greek ships would get favorable winds to get to Troy. The gods had said the Greek will win the Trojan War but without this human sacrifice they can't get their ships there. The gods have to be paid.
However Christianity does not operate on the basis of debt. It operates by a gift.
We have been given the gift of God's presence in our lives and in our souls when we were made in His image. Ephesians 1 tells us we were chosen to be in God's family even before we were born. This is the gift of eternal life which we already have. This gift is called an unspeakable gift, 2 Corinthian 9.15. Grace is a gift, Eph. 4.7. James says every good gift is from above, James 1.17. Romans 5.17 says righteousness is a gift. Acts 2.38 says the Holy Spirit is a gift to the Gentiles.
All of this means Christianity is about the gift of God in His Son. We do not pay the gods debts, we receive the gifts He pours into our souls and then give those gifts away.
Some religions say when you earn an insight, you keep it to yourself. Go off into the mountain caves, wear ugly robes, don't brush your teeth, and contemplate yourself and your own achievements. Christianity says when you are blessed by God from above, you give that blessing away to someone else so that you may be filled to the fulness of Christ. And then you brush your teeth.
This is why Christianity is about abundant life, generosity, blessing. The key is to receive what God has given us, but not to earn or struggle or take something which is not ours. Freely you have received, freely give, Matthew 10.8.
The image in the OT is of a vessel. But our soul as a vessel is open top and bottom. God pours into us, we pour into others.
John the Baptist uses water as a symbol for God's blessing, that He has included us in His family, John 1.26-28. Jesus uses water as an image of eternal life to the woman at Jacob's well, John 4.10---If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.
When the woman realizes what Jesus is saying, does she keep this to herself? Decisively not.
She goes and tells the people of her city, Sychar, that the messiah has come. What she received she gave away.
Religions are made of debt. The gods require a code of subservience because they are supposed to have some power we humans want. They require our possessions in the form of money or animals or even human sacrifices. We are to pay a debt we owe the gods to get their power or permission.
Of course this never works because the gods we make are wood or stone.
In the ancient Greek tales, the Greek king Agamemnon must sacrifice his 14 year old virgin daughter Iphigenia to the gods so that the Greek ships would get favorable winds to get to Troy. The gods had said the Greek will win the Trojan War but without this human sacrifice they can't get their ships there. The gods have to be paid.
However Christianity does not operate on the basis of debt. It operates by a gift.
We have been given the gift of God's presence in our lives and in our souls when we were made in His image. Ephesians 1 tells us we were chosen to be in God's family even before we were born. This is the gift of eternal life which we already have. This gift is called an unspeakable gift, 2 Corinthian 9.15. Grace is a gift, Eph. 4.7. James says every good gift is from above, James 1.17. Romans 5.17 says righteousness is a gift. Acts 2.38 says the Holy Spirit is a gift to the Gentiles.
All of this means Christianity is about the gift of God in His Son. We do not pay the gods debts, we receive the gifts He pours into our souls and then give those gifts away.
Some religions say when you earn an insight, you keep it to yourself. Go off into the mountain caves, wear ugly robes, don't brush your teeth, and contemplate yourself and your own achievements. Christianity says when you are blessed by God from above, you give that blessing away to someone else so that you may be filled to the fulness of Christ. And then you brush your teeth.
This is why Christianity is about abundant life, generosity, blessing. The key is to receive what God has given us, but not to earn or struggle or take something which is not ours. Freely you have received, freely give, Matthew 10.8.
The image in the OT is of a vessel. But our soul as a vessel is open top and bottom. God pours into us, we pour into others.
John the Baptist uses water as a symbol for God's blessing, that He has included us in His family, John 1.26-28. Jesus uses water as an image of eternal life to the woman at Jacob's well, John 4.10---If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.
When the woman realizes what Jesus is saying, does she keep this to herself? Decisively not.
She goes and tells the people of her city, Sychar, that the messiah has come. What she received she gave away.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
THE LAW
Theologians have said for many years that the Law, the Torah of the Hebrew Bible, is to show Israel that it cannot be holy before the Lord, it cannot keep the Law to fulfill it. This is meant to show that only the doctrines of grace can enable a man or woman to stand before God.
The idea is that the Law would show Israel how it failed.
I have always found this to be a strange way to run a country. I don't think any people would be encouraged to come before the God who does this. Can you imagine telling a child everyday he has failed? How do people gather together as a nation under this sentence?
They can't.
So what would be the purpose of the Law?
The purpose might have been to show Israel how to bring sin to God for forgiveness. This cleansing from sin would enable Israel to be with God.
The Law begins with Passover. Notice who will come over Israel and Egypt that night---I will go through the land of Egypt that night...I will execute judgment---I am the Lord, Exodus 12.12. So we have the Law beginning with the appearing of God the Lord. The Passover lamb is for Israel's sin, the Lord's appearing of the Lord is for every Israelite to see Him.
When Israel leaves Egypt, they will build the tabernacle. The outer court is for Israel's sin, the inner court known as the Holy of Holies is for the Lord to reside and appear.
The same Lord had appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18.1, to Lot in Gen. 19.1, to Hagar in Gen. 21.17, to Isaac in Gen. 26.24. Now in Exodus the Lord takes up residence in their midst. John Calvin said the Law was to bestow God's presence among the people of Israel.
As the Lord is in Israel's midst from Exodus onward, He gives His word to the nation through Moses and Joshua and eventually the prophets in the OT. The Law will strike down sin among the people because they are to stand before the Lord. As the sacrifices are there for cleansing from sin, His presence is there for blessing and holiness.
This is the Law of God.
So why does Jesus say He fulfills the Law in Matt. 5.17? If I obey the civil law to not steal, I have obeyed the law but it would not be said that I fulfilled it. So how does Jesus fulfill the Law, the Torah?
He does so because the Law was always to reveal Him as Lord and God. The sacrifices prepared Israel to stand before Him by cleansing them of sin, as if they were all priests ministering to Him. Then they can see Him as He bestows Himself before them.
Joseph and Mary take Jesus to Egypt so that when Herod dies they can return. Matthew says this was so that---what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled saying・\out of Egypt did I call My Son, Matt. 3.15 quoting Hosea 1.11. This is the first indication that Jesus will not just keep the Law perfectly but fulfill it. We might think of the Law as a lens through which to see Jesus as the Lord.
In Romans 3.19 Paul makes some insightful comments about the Law. He makes a statement that due to the Law---all the world may become accountable to God. What this means is every created being is dependent on God, no one human or angel or devil can come before God on the basis of their own perfection. Even an angel of light such as Lucifer sinned.
The Law puts every created being in its place under God. When Lucifer tried to exceed that place, he was thrown out of heaven to await judgment.
But when Jesus came, His baptism fulfilled all righteousness, Matt. 3.15. Jesus could be said to fulfill the Law because it was given to show Israel who He was and is. What this means for us is that we do not relate to the Lord through the Law as Israel did. We relate to God through the acknowledgment that Jesus is the Lord who was revealed in the Law and the prophets.
Paul says this in Rom. 3.20---But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus.
We stand before God as the priesthood of believers through our faith in the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth.
Theologians have said for many years that the Law, the Torah of the Hebrew Bible, is to show Israel that it cannot be holy before the Lord, it cannot keep the Law to fulfill it. This is meant to show that only the doctrines of grace can enable a man or woman to stand before God.
The idea is that the Law would show Israel how it failed.
I have always found this to be a strange way to run a country. I don't think any people would be encouraged to come before the God who does this. Can you imagine telling a child everyday he has failed? How do people gather together as a nation under this sentence?
They can't.
So what would be the purpose of the Law?
The purpose might have been to show Israel how to bring sin to God for forgiveness. This cleansing from sin would enable Israel to be with God.
The Law begins with Passover. Notice who will come over Israel and Egypt that night---I will go through the land of Egypt that night...I will execute judgment---I am the Lord, Exodus 12.12. So we have the Law beginning with the appearing of God the Lord. The Passover lamb is for Israel's sin, the Lord's appearing of the Lord is for every Israelite to see Him.
When Israel leaves Egypt, they will build the tabernacle. The outer court is for Israel's sin, the inner court known as the Holy of Holies is for the Lord to reside and appear.
The same Lord had appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18.1, to Lot in Gen. 19.1, to Hagar in Gen. 21.17, to Isaac in Gen. 26.24. Now in Exodus the Lord takes up residence in their midst. John Calvin said the Law was to bestow God's presence among the people of Israel.
As the Lord is in Israel's midst from Exodus onward, He gives His word to the nation through Moses and Joshua and eventually the prophets in the OT. The Law will strike down sin among the people because they are to stand before the Lord. As the sacrifices are there for cleansing from sin, His presence is there for blessing and holiness.
This is the Law of God.
So why does Jesus say He fulfills the Law in Matt. 5.17? If I obey the civil law to not steal, I have obeyed the law but it would not be said that I fulfilled it. So how does Jesus fulfill the Law, the Torah?
He does so because the Law was always to reveal Him as Lord and God. The sacrifices prepared Israel to stand before Him by cleansing them of sin, as if they were all priests ministering to Him. Then they can see Him as He bestows Himself before them.
Joseph and Mary take Jesus to Egypt so that when Herod dies they can return. Matthew says this was so that---what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled saying・\out of Egypt did I call My Son, Matt. 3.15 quoting Hosea 1.11. This is the first indication that Jesus will not just keep the Law perfectly but fulfill it. We might think of the Law as a lens through which to see Jesus as the Lord.
In Romans 3.19 Paul makes some insightful comments about the Law. He makes a statement that due to the Law---all the world may become accountable to God. What this means is every created being is dependent on God, no one human or angel or devil can come before God on the basis of their own perfection. Even an angel of light such as Lucifer sinned.
The Law puts every created being in its place under God. When Lucifer tried to exceed that place, he was thrown out of heaven to await judgment.
But when Jesus came, His baptism fulfilled all righteousness, Matt. 3.15. Jesus could be said to fulfill the Law because it was given to show Israel who He was and is. What this means for us is that we do not relate to the Lord through the Law as Israel did. We relate to God through the acknowledgment that Jesus is the Lord who was revealed in the Law and the prophets.
Paul says this in Rom. 3.20---But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus.
We stand before God as the priesthood of believers through our faith in the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
GOD AND MAN Week 51
In Proverbs 3.1 Solomon writes--
Do not let kindness and truth leave you
bind them around your neck
Write them on the tablet of your hear
So you will find favor and good repute
in the sight of God and man.
We have seen the expression, God and man in Luke 2.52 when--
Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature
and in favor with God and man.
This was said about Jesus as a boy. It's one thing to grow in stature with God. We know that John the Baptist did. In Matt. 11.9 Jesus calls John a prophet, that no one born of woman is greater than he, 11.11. John was a desert dweller, a man of fasting and prayer, a Nazarene, a flaming preacher. But he did not dwell in the company of men.
Someone who did was Nicodemus. He has a conversation with Jesus in John 3.1, he meets with the Sanhedrin in John 7. 50, and he provides the spices for the burial of Christ's body when Joseph of Aramithea brings it down from the cross., John 19.39. Nicodemus seems to be accepted by men of high stature and reputation in the Sanhedrin and of low reputation at the cross. But he is not known for his relationship to God, the way the Baptist was.
These two men represent the two sides of God's covenant. Jesus says in that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love your neighbor.
God and man, kindness to men and truth to God.
And yet Jesus as a boy is increasing in stature with God and men. How did He master kindness and truth at such an early age?
Could it be that His relationship with God was due to his father Joseph? And His kindness is what He saw in His mother Mary? If this is so, how did Joseph help His only son become the man He became?
Joseph and His son heard the Hebrew scrolls read in synogogue. They both could have noticed how Israel is God's son. This is first expressed as a saying in Exodus 12.27 when the Lord speaks to Moses about the first Passover--
It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the house of the sons of Israel...
Then in Deuteronomy 14.1 it becomes more than an expression. It is a description--
You are the sons of the Lord your God...
Joseph heard an angel tell him to take Mary and the baby Jesus out of Israel and into Egypt, thousands of miles away, Matt. 2.13. He simply did it. Joseph knew how to obey the leading of the Lord. So Jesus is led by that same Spirit out into the wilderness, He simply goes, Matt. 4.1.
Matthew gives us two quotes from the OT concerning the baby Jesus. One is Matt. 3.15—-
out of Egypt I called My Son,
and Matt. 2.18—
Rachel weeping for her children
and she refused to be comforted,
because they were no more.
Matthew associates the children of Rachel with the young boy babies who were killed by Herod when he was searching for the baby Jesus. Did Joseph know of these prophecies? He may have because the angel told Joseph to return from Egypt as--
those who sought the Child's life are no more.
This is some indication Joseph knew who his son was and would teach Him to enter into the life His heavenly Father had for him. Jesus expresses His unique relationships with His heavenly Father in John 17.4-8.
From Mary He may have learned of the kindnes of His heavenly Father. In Ephesians 2.7 Paul speaks of the kindness of God--in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Kindness in Chrsit Jesus. In 2 Cor. 6.6 Paul says he commends himself as a servant of God--in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love... And in Colossians 3.12 Paul says to--put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Such qualities were not promoted by the ancient classical world, but they are part of the foundation of the kingdom of God. He may have learned these qualities from Mary.
But now, is this growing in stature with God and man for us also?
The answer is yes.
When a lawyer came to Jesus, asking what is the greatest commandment, in Matt. 22.35, Jesus does not say which one—-He says two. The first is to love God and the second is to love one's neighbor. Jesus thrusts at the lawyer the significance of these two-—
upon all these hang the Law and Prophets, Matt. 22.40.
Paul summarizes our relationship with God and with man in Philippians For the God side, Paul says in Phil. 1.10--
so that you may approve the things which are excellent in order that you may be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ , having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of God.
And for the man side, Paul says in Phil. 2.15--
that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.
This is great stuff.
In Proverbs 3.1 Solomon writes--
Do not let kindness and truth leave you
bind them around your neck
Write them on the tablet of your hear
So you will find favor and good repute
in the sight of God and man.
We have seen the expression, God and man in Luke 2.52 when--
Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature
and in favor with God and man.
This was said about Jesus as a boy. It's one thing to grow in stature with God. We know that John the Baptist did. In Matt. 11.9 Jesus calls John a prophet, that no one born of woman is greater than he, 11.11. John was a desert dweller, a man of fasting and prayer, a Nazarene, a flaming preacher. But he did not dwell in the company of men.
Someone who did was Nicodemus. He has a conversation with Jesus in John 3.1, he meets with the Sanhedrin in John 7. 50, and he provides the spices for the burial of Christ's body when Joseph of Aramithea brings it down from the cross., John 19.39. Nicodemus seems to be accepted by men of high stature and reputation in the Sanhedrin and of low reputation at the cross. But he is not known for his relationship to God, the way the Baptist was.
These two men represent the two sides of God's covenant. Jesus says in that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love your neighbor.
God and man, kindness to men and truth to God.
And yet Jesus as a boy is increasing in stature with God and men. How did He master kindness and truth at such an early age?
Could it be that His relationship with God was due to his father Joseph? And His kindness is what He saw in His mother Mary? If this is so, how did Joseph help His only son become the man He became?
Joseph and His son heard the Hebrew scrolls read in synogogue. They both could have noticed how Israel is God's son. This is first expressed as a saying in Exodus 12.27 when the Lord speaks to Moses about the first Passover--
It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the house of the sons of Israel...
Then in Deuteronomy 14.1 it becomes more than an expression. It is a description--
You are the sons of the Lord your God...
Joseph heard an angel tell him to take Mary and the baby Jesus out of Israel and into Egypt, thousands of miles away, Matt. 2.13. He simply did it. Joseph knew how to obey the leading of the Lord. So Jesus is led by that same Spirit out into the wilderness, He simply goes, Matt. 4.1.
Matthew gives us two quotes from the OT concerning the baby Jesus. One is Matt. 3.15—-
out of Egypt I called My Son,
and Matt. 2.18—
Rachel weeping for her children
and she refused to be comforted,
because they were no more.
Matthew associates the children of Rachel with the young boy babies who were killed by Herod when he was searching for the baby Jesus. Did Joseph know of these prophecies? He may have because the angel told Joseph to return from Egypt as--
those who sought the Child's life are no more.
This is some indication Joseph knew who his son was and would teach Him to enter into the life His heavenly Father had for him. Jesus expresses His unique relationships with His heavenly Father in John 17.4-8.
From Mary He may have learned of the kindnes of His heavenly Father. In Ephesians 2.7 Paul speaks of the kindness of God--in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Kindness in Chrsit Jesus. In 2 Cor. 6.6 Paul says he commends himself as a servant of God--in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love... And in Colossians 3.12 Paul says to--put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Such qualities were not promoted by the ancient classical world, but they are part of the foundation of the kingdom of God. He may have learned these qualities from Mary.
But now, is this growing in stature with God and man for us also?
The answer is yes.
When a lawyer came to Jesus, asking what is the greatest commandment, in Matt. 22.35, Jesus does not say which one—-He says two. The first is to love God and the second is to love one's neighbor. Jesus thrusts at the lawyer the significance of these two-—
upon all these hang the Law and Prophets, Matt. 22.40.
Paul summarizes our relationship with God and with man in Philippians For the God side, Paul says in Phil. 1.10--
so that you may approve the things which are excellent in order that you may be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ , having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of God.
And for the man side, Paul says in Phil. 2.15--
that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.
This is great stuff.
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