Advent: Of the Father’s Love Begotten

“Jesus is born!”

Every December we raise our voices in song proclaiming this event. We sing together carols written in the last few centuries; we rightly compose and sing new songs of praise.

But what songs did our brothers and sisters in Christ sing 1500 years ago?

In his introduction to a 1946 translation of Athanasius’ On the Incarnation of the Word of God,  C.S. Lewis writes:

Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books.

As with books, so with carols. We do well to interact with hymn texts not only from our century, not only from the previous three centuries, but also from the early years of the church. Such texts may state biblical truths in a different form from what we are used to; they may emphasize truths that we ignore; they may err in ways that are obvious to us – and so remind us that we most likely err in ways that would be obvious to believers of that era.

In our Advent services this year we have sung a carol written in Greek in the fourth century, “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.”  Here is another text of that era that is well worth your contemplation: “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” written by the poet Aurelius Prudentius and translated in the 19th century by John Mason Neale and Henry Baker. Emphasizing the eternal nature of God’s plan of redemption through His Son, each verse ends with the line, “Evermore and evermore” (saeculorum saeculis in Latin). Let’s consider the nine verses one by one, highlighting how each spurs our praise.

Stanza 1:

Of the Father’s love begotten,
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore!

The second person of the Trinity is begotten of the Father’s love. While we today do not often speak in those terms, consider that first line in light of Luke 3:22 and John 3:16. The author goes on to call Jesus both the source of all creation and the end for which all exists, including all humanity (Colossians 1:16).

Stanza 2:

At His Word the worlds were framèd;
He commanded; it was done:
Heaven and earth and depths of ocean
In their threefold order one;
All that grows beneath the shining
Of the moon and burning sun,
Evermore and evermore!

He speaks – and, as at the tomb of Lazarus, His word has instant life-giving power. Furthermore, He gives not only life but order, with all parts of creation harmoniously working to praise Him, as pictured in Psalm 104.

Stanza 3:

He is found in human fashion,
Death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam’s children
Doomed by law to endless woe,
May not henceforth die and perish
In the dreadful gulf below,
Evermore and evermore!

The author of life becomes man to know death experientially so that we the redeemed might not face death evermore and evermore! See Hebrews 2:14-15 as well as – once again – John 3:16.

Stanza 4:

O that birth forever blessèd,
When the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bore the Saviour of our race;
And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face,
evermore and evermore!

The birth of Jesus – “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary” as stated in the Apostles’ Creed – is both a historical event, indeed, the hinge of history, and the eternal truth through which we must understand and interpret all that we see.

Stanza 5:

O ye heights of heaven adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him,
and extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert sing,
Evermore and evermore!

Given what we have seen, all must praise Him – heavens, angels, powers, and all humans. Understand “concert” not as a performance, but rather as every voice perfectly harmonizing with every other. We all must praise “in concert” for Jesus to receive the praise He deserves.

Stanza 6:

This is He Whom seers in old time
Chanted of with one accord;
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word;
Now He shines, the long expected,
Let creation praise its Lord,
Evermore and evermore!

Just as in the previous stanza we sing His praises differently yet harmoniously, just so the prophets foretold His coming differently yet “with one accord.” The promise to Abraham, the promise to David, the promise “unto you a child is born, unto you a son is given,” the promise “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” – each brings out a different facet of the person and work of Jesus, yet all are in accord, and together they describe in significant detail the coming Messiah. And now, says the poet, He shines with glory, as He fulfills all those prophecies.

Stanza 7:

Righteous Judge of souls departed,
Righteous King of them that live,
On the Father’s throne exalted
None in might with Thee may strive;
Who at last in vengeance coming
Sinners from Thy face shalt drive,
Evermore and evermore!

The Creator of all things, the Baby in the manger, the dying Redeemer on the cross, will return as the almighty King and Judge, against Whom no power can stand. He will overwhelm and rightly condemn all who oppose Him. See Revelation 11:15, 19:11-21, and 20:7-10.

Stanza 8:

Thee let old men, Thee let young men,
Thee let boys in chorus sing;
Matrons, virgins, little maidens,
With glad voices answering:
Let their guileless songs re-echo,
And the heart its music bring,
Evermore and evermore!

The poet here expands on Stanza 5: Every person of whatever earthly status has a role to play in praising Jesus from the heart, so that He gets all the glory He deserves. Consider Mark 11:14, John 4:23-24, and Revelation 7:9-12 in this regard.

Stanza 9:

Christ, to Thee with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving,
And unwearied praises be:
Honour, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory,
Evermore and evermore!

The hymn closes with “unwearied” praise to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Why “unwearied”? The four living creatures in Revelation 4:8 “day and night … never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy!’” We too in the eternal state will never weary of worshiping our God in spirit and truth – and thus will fulfill the purpose of our creation, the purpose of our redemption.

Thank you, Father God, for preserving such ancient texts to help us worship You this Christmas season. May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to you this season – then evermore and evermore.

(The Latin text and a second English translation of this hymn are available here. I encourage you to listen to a lovely a cappella recording of five of these verses here.)

Advent: Jesus Came to Be Your Curse and Your Cleansing

And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons… As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.  And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” (Mark 11:15, 20)

 

Why did Jesus, the Son of God, come to earth over two-thousand years ago, his first advent? And what awaits us at his return, his second advent? As we’ve seen in this series, these are questions we should always ask, but they are especially fresh on our minds in the Advent season. And there are a myriad of ways to answer these questions from Scripture. We saw last week that according to Mark 10:46–11:11, Jesus came in order to reign as your king. He reigns now on the throne in heaven and on the throne of our hearts. And at his return, he will reign on earth, and we will reign with him forever. We saw in that passage, that Jesus’ path to the throne was through the cross. And because of the cross, he is a king who gives boundless mercy. This is because, at the cross Jesus reversed the curse and cleansed his sinful people. Here, then, we arrive at another answer to the question of why Jesus came: Jesus came to be your curse and your cleansing.

 

A Curse and A Cleansing in Mark 11:12–25

In Mark 10:46–52, Jesus proves to be the promised Son of David who gives his people mercy in the healing of blind Bartimaeus. Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, complete with him riding a donkey (see Zechariah 9:9) and the people singing a song of God’s salvation (see Psalm 118:25–26) caps off the miracle, pointing to Jesus as the promised king who brings salvation to God’s people through mercy. Right after all of this, we see Jesus’ “first act as king” if you will: he cleanses the temple (Mark 11:15–19). However, Mark sandwiches Jesus’ temple cleansing in between Jesus’ cursing of a fig tree (Mark 11:12–14, 20–25). Taken together, this reveals Jesus purpose to take the curse from and cleanse his people.

 

Of Figs, Fig Trees, and God’s People

A few times in the Old Testament, God compares his people to figs or fig trees (Hosea 9:10; Jeremiah 8:13; 24:1–5). Jesus himself will use agrarian imagery to describe Israel in Mark 12:1–12 where he uses a vineyard to symbolize them in his parable of the unfaithful tenants. And here in Mark 11:12–25, Mark parallels a fruitless fig tree with Israel, the house of God, and the temple, which is in need of cleansing. Israel has failed to bear fruit. They have not loved God with all of their heart, soul, and might (Deuteronomy 6:4–5). They have not loved their neighbor as themselves (Leviticus 19:18). They have not kept covenant with God and have not been his treasured possession out of all peoples on the earth (Exodus 6:7; 19:5). Moreover, not only have they not borne good fruit, they have actually borne bad fruit.

 

God’s People and His Temple: Cleansed

In the OT, Israel was distinct from all other peoples. Their distinct identity was rooted in the reality that God dwelled in their midst in the temple (Exodus 29:45; 33:14–16; Leviticus 26:12). God’s people and the place of their identity, the temple where God dwelled, should have been a house for all peoples (Mark 11:17; see Isaiah 56:7) no matter their social status or ethnicity. If foreigners “join themselves to the LORD, to love the name of the LORD” they are welcomed by God (Isaiah 56:6–7). And God “gathers the outcasts” to himself (Isaiah 56:8). But, as Jesus’ actions and words make clear in Mark 11:15–19, the people by their sin have turned the house of Israel and the temple “into a den of robbers” (Mark 11:17; see Jeremiah 7:10). This is a sweeping condemnation that speaks to more than extortion. In context, the term for “robbers” in Jeremiah 7:10, which Jesus quotes, speaks of sinful violence and evil of all manner directed not only at neighbor but at God and his covenant (Jeremiah 7:8–12). Israel has borne the fruit of sin and evil. And now their king has come and, in an act of authoritative judgment, cleaned house. The parallel is clear, Israel has failed to bear good fruit, and just like the fruitless fig tree, they receive judgment. However, they receive a judgment that results in a cleansing.

 

Curse and Forgiveness

We see in Mark 11:20–21, when Jesus and his disciples pass by the fig tree again the next morning after Jesus’ temple cleansing, that the fig tree Jesus cursed has withered away. The consequence of breaking covenant with God is covenant curse resulting in death and destruction (Deuteronomy 28:45). But surprisingly, when the disciples point out the fig tree, Jesus does not begin to teach them about the breaking of covenants and the curse and death that results nor how all of this with the tree is meant to illustrate what Jesus did in the temple the day before. Rather, Jesus begins to teach them about faith. He responds with, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). And then Jesus goes on to teach that the prayer of faith can do miraculous, earth-moving things. He teaches that if one prays with faith devoid of doubt, they will receive what they ask. This can seem disconnected until we see Jesus begin to speak about praying for forgiveness in verse 25. The greatest miracle that the prayer of faith brings about is the miracle of forgiveness from sins. This is the gospel thread that binds these two episodes, the cursed fig tree and the temple cleansing, together.

 

Gospel: Jesus Becomes Your Curse and Your Cleansing

The sins of God’s people demand judgment, curse, and destruction of the offenders. However, Jesus makes clear in his temple actions that with this judgment will come a cleansing away of the sin. Here is the twist. The gospel tells us that this judgment, the curse of sin and the destruction of death, did not ultimately fall on God’s people. Rather, the judgment fell on their representative, their rightful, sinless king, Jesus, at the cross. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). Through becoming our curse, the king “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his possession” once again (Titus 2:14). Jesus purifies us, that is he “cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). The prayer of faith will take hold of Jesus and this gospel—trusting that God has cast into the sea the mountain of sin and violence that we’ve committed against others and against him—, and the one who prays it will receive not curse but forgiveness. Jesus came to become our curse and our cleansing. All other prayers of faith will flow from this reality.

 

Jesus’ Second Advent

Because Jesus became our curse and our cleansing, our identity is restored. We truly are God’s treasured possession (Titus 2:14; cf. Exodus 6:7; 19:5). God in Christ dwells with us now and we with him through the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:20; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 13:14; cf. Exodus 29:45; 33:14–16; Leviticus 26:12). However, we still long for our heavenly dwelling in the new heavens and new earth (2 Corinthians 5:2). At that time, all the clinging remnants of sin and death will perish forever (1 Corinthians 15:53–54). In that place, it will be said “ ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3–4).

 

Remembering Jesus’ First Advent, Looking to Jesus’ Second Advent

Jesus came to be your curse and your cleansing so that God dwells with us again right now by the Holy Spirit. And Jesus will come again so that we may dwell with God forever in the new heavens and new earth, where sin, sadness, pain, and death shall never tread again. This is why Jesus came. This is what we remember and this is what we look forward to this Advent season.

 

Advent: Jesus Came To Reign as Your King

And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:46–47).

 

Why did Jesus, the Son of God, come to earth over two-thousand years ago—his first advent? And what awaits us at his return—his second advent? As we noted last week, these are the questions we should always ask, but they are especially fresh on our minds in the Advent season. And there are a myriad of ways to answer this question from Scripture. We saw last week that according to Mark 10:45, Jesus came to serve and to give his life as a ransom. And at his return, he will welcome us home into the kingdom of God. This reality of Jesus bringing the kingdom of God to us and bringing us into the kingdom of God dovetails with this week’s devotion that looks at another answer to the same question of why Jesus came. That answer: Jesus came in order to reign as your king.

 

Blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46–52

Immediately following Jesus’ proclamation that the Son of Man came to serve and give his life as a ransom, we see Jesus pass through Jericho. And as he is leaving a blind beggar named Bartimaeus called out to Jesus, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (10:46). He immediately faced stiff rebuke from many people who told him to be silent, but Mark tells us, “he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (Mark 10:47). We can learn something from Bartimaeus both regarding our human condition and our faith. And we learn something about the object of our faith as well.

 

Condition: Blind Beggar

Nothing is coincidence in God’s redemptive narrative. Bartimaeus’s condition, then, is not merely circumstantial. It is rather a gracious picture that God gives us for our instruction. We are all Bartimaeus. Apart from Christ, in our sin we are all blind. We are blind to our depravity and blind to our need for God’s mercy. And we are all wretched beggars. However, in our blindness we actually think that we are rich as we hold close the sinful treasures we’ve collected not realizing that those sinful treasures are sucking the very life and wealth that God promises to give us from his repository of riches in glory. In our sinfulness, we are like the Laodiceans, over whom Jesus makes this pronouncement, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). We are blind beggars in need of God’s mercy. But here’s where we learn about something else from Bartimaeus. We learn about saving faith.

 

Saving Faith

Bartimaeus may be blind, but he has eyes to not only see his condition but to see the cure, or rather ears to hear his cure pass by. And true to his description, Bartimaeus begs. And what does he beg for? He begs for mercy to receive his sight. This is a picture of saving faith. Saving faith recognizes one’s helpless, wretched condition. Thus, saving faith recognizes the need for mercy and begs for it. And saving faith finds the object of their faith in Jesus, who happens to be the Son of David.

 

The Object of Our Faith: The Son of David

Why did Bartimaeus call Jesus the Son of David? What do we learn from that title? Bartimaeus called Jesus the Son of David because he recognized Jesus as the promised King, the promised Messiah. Jesus is the promised Son of David who would reign on God’s throne over God’s kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:12–13; 1 Chronicles 17:11–14). He is the promised just and righteous Davidic king of Isaiah 9:6–7:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.

His is the promised son of David who is also the Son of God, whom God will establish as king on his holy mountain, over all the nations (Psalm 2:6–8). When Bartimaeus cries out to Jesus calling him the Son of David, this is who he cries out to, God’s promised king—even if he doesn’t realize all the implications of that title. He is the servant king who opens blind eyes and sets the captive free (Isaiah 42:1–7). And Bartimaeus receives the blessing of this king, restored sight, and he runs after him (Mark 10:52).

 

Jesus Came to Reign as Your King

Just to confirm everything we’ve just seen, the biblical narrative in Mark immediately moves to one of the most iconic scenes in all of Scripture. Jesus enters into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey’s colt as the people sing for joy. The picture clearly fulfills Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The people’s song of choice is Psalm 118:25–26, which speaks of God’s salvation. The scene is clear: Jesus is the promised, long awaited Son of David who has come to save his people and reign over them as king. And reign Jesus does. However, the path was not what we’d expect.

Remarkably, such fanfare would not mark Jesus’ final path to the throne. Rather, it is through the cross that Jesus worked the salvation Zechariah 9:9 and Psalm 118 prophesy. And it is through the cross that Jesus the Son of David ascended to the throne of heaven to reign forever (Acts 1:6–11; 2:22–36; Hebrews 1:3). Indeed, Jesus came to reign as king and he does reign as king right now on the throne at the right hand of God. But Jesus also came to reign as your king on the throne of your heart. The cross, salvation, and Jesus’ kingdom is for you.

 

Jesus’ Second Advent: Jesus Reigns as King, the Root and the Descendant of David

Jesus is the promised, long-awaited Son of David who came to reign as king. And Jesus is the promised, long-awaited for Son of David who came to reign as your king. We see ourselves in blind, begging Bartimaeus. And we see that King Jesus, the promised Son of David, came to save those who cry out to him for mercy. We also see ourselves in the people of Jerusalem, rejoicing at the arrival of this promised Son of David, the long-awaited king. And we see that through the cross, King Jesus, the promised Son of David does indeed reign on the throne right now in heaven. But he will come again to reign on earth as well. Is it any wonder why the last time Jesus ever describes himself in Scripture, he chooses to say, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star…Surely I am coming soon.” (Revelation 22:16, 20). Jesus will come again to earth to reign on David’s throne forever.

 

Remembering Jesus’ First Advent, Looking to Jesus’ Second Advent

Jesus came to reign as King. Jesus reigns on the throne in heaven now and on the throne of our hearts now. And Jesus will come again to reign on earth with his people forever. This is why Jesus came. This is what we remember and this is what we look forward to this Advent season.

 

 

Advent: Jesus Came to Ransom You

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

 

Why did Jesus, the Son of God, come to earth over two-thousand years ago? That is the question we should always ask, but it is especially fresh on our minds in the Advent season. And we also can’t ask about Jesus’ first advent without also looking ahead to his second advent. Nevertheless, we must first ask, “Why did Jesus come, the first time? What did he come to do?” According Mark 10:45, Jesus came to serve and to give his life as a ransom. That answer should shock us and move us to worship.

 

What Jesus Did Not Come To Do

In this Mark 10:45, Jesus first notes what he did not come to do. Jesus says he did not come “to be served,” or we could translate it, “to be ministered to.” His ultimate purpose in coming was not for himself. It was not for his receiving of anything—any act of service, any act of generosity, any meeting of a particular need, any honor—from us. This is shocking considering who he is.

 

The Shock Factor

In this verse, Jesus’ self-proclaimed identity makes his not being served all the more jarring. Jesus identifies himself as the Son of Man. Jesus’ chosen moniker refers to the “one like a son of man” who comes to YHWH, the Ancient of Days, and receives from him all “dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples should serve him” (Daniel 7:13–14). Jesus is the promised divine king. And yet, according to the king himself, Jesus, he did not come to us in his first advent to be served. Why then did he come? What did he come to do?

 

What Jesus Did Come To Do: Serve and Die

Jesus says he did not come to be served. Rather, he came to do just the opposite. He came to serve, to minister, to give. Notice Jesus does not separate his serving from his giving. His giving is what defines the nature of his serving. What does he give? He gives his life. He came to die. Again, given who he is, this too should shock us. And it should shock us even more than his not serving.

 

The Greater Shock Factor

Jesus the divine king of Daniel 7:13–14 will have an everlasting kingdom—“his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” How can the kingdom be everlasting if the king himself is not everlasting? How can the kingdom not be destroyed if the king himself is seemingly destroyed in death? Nevertheless, Jesus, the supposed everlasting divine king of an everlasting kingdom, says that he came to die. More specifically, he came to die as a ransom for many. The nature of this ransom should move us to worship and will ultimately culminate in our worship.

 

Jesus Came to Ransom You

Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many. If Jesus is the divine king, then he must have a kingdom made up of people—“And to him was given…a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.” What is it that holds his people captive that Jesus the king would need to give his life as a ransom? Exodus 30:11–16 notes that every individual in God’s kingdom of Israel had to give a ransom to make atonement for his life. They did this so “that there be no plague among them” (Exodus 30:12). God’s people are enslaved to and under the curse of sin and death and the object of God’s just wrath. The only way God’s people can be in his kingdom with him is if a ransom is paid so that their sin is atoned. Jesus says that he, the divine king, came to pay this ransom. And he came to pay it not with coin or animal offering, but with the inestimable value of his infinitely, perfectly righteous life. Jesus became the curse of sin, wore the plague fully on the cross, and died his peoples’ death to satisfy God’s wrath completely—to pay the ransom of your life in order to deliver you from the curse of sin. And then Jesus by virtue of his perfect sinless life, rose from the grave, defeating death and thereby purchasing his people not only from sin but also snatching them from the jaws of death. He is the divine king who is everlasting, who is not destroyed by death but is rather the destroyer of death. He lives forever, and his people will live forever in his presence worshiping and enjoying him in all his beauty and glory.

 

Jesus’ Second Advent

Jesus came to serve by giving his life as a ransom for many, including you. He traded his perfectly righteous life for your completely sinful life. He paid the price of your debt and subsequently becomes your only viable asset. He is your ransom. This is why Jesus came the first time. So if this is the reason for Jesus’ first advent, what does his second advent look like? I think it looks something like what we see in Isaiah 35 and Revelation 22.

“They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God…Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the reward of God. He will come and save you…And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away…They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their lights, and they will reign forever and ever” (Isaiah 35:2, 4, 10; Revelation 22:4–5).

 

Remembering Jesus’ First Advent, Looking to Jesus’ Second Advent

Jesus the divine king came the first time to ransom you by giving his life. Jesus the divine king will come again to reign with you as your king forever. This is why Jesus came. This is what we remember and this is what we look forward to this Advent season.

A Method to Remain Unstained from the World – Ephesians 1:15-23

How are you with cleaning or replacing filters? I do not mean so much your personal skillset to do it, but more your consistent initiative to get it done. When you think about it, cleaning or replacing filters has some place in all of our lives, whether we are the ones directly doing it or not.

Filters are everywhere. You have oil filters and air cabin filters for our cars, water filters, home air filters, even lint filters for our dryers. You have vacuum filters, coffee filters, and furnace filters. Even for those tea drinkers among us, the tea bag itself is a filter. Depending on the type of filter and its use, filters need cleaning or replacing often because they capture dust and debris, used grounds or leaves, chemicals and compounds, gunk and grease harmful for engines, lungs, or stomachs.

But, in addition to physical filters, there are also spiritual filters. If James expresses that alongside visiting orphans and widows in their affliction, part of a pure and undefiled religion before God is to keep oneself unstained from the world, then there is certainly a need of a clean spiritual filter. The LORD has given us what we need in this by uniting us by grace through faith to Jesus and declaring us forgiven and cleansed in Him. He has also given us His Holy Spirit. But there is a relational sense of walking in step with the Spirit, of growing in the likeness of Christ, of walking in a manner worthy of the calling to which we’ve been called by God. In light of this, how do we keep our spiritual filters cleansed and renewed from the worldly, toxic grime?

First, let’s identify a few deadly ways the world can infect us without utilizing God’s means of keeping us spiritually filtered and clean.

  • Fatalism- Focusing on the world as the hopeless mess it is and us as hopeless sinners, and believing no good or change will ever come to it or us.
  • Cynicism- Thinking that everyone is in it for themselves and motivated by greed and power. No one can be trusted.
  • Overtly focusing on entertainment and distraction, consuming and wasting our lives with things that are eternally worthless.
  • Idolatry in all forms, but especially to self, tribe, and sex.

How do we resemble Christ more and more, and this present form of the world that is passing away less and less?

This, and the question before, are big questions of sanctification and perseverance that the Bible speaks to in many places. I believe Paul has a helpful part of the answer for us today in Ephesians 1, starting in verse 15.

To give some brief background, Ephesians was written to the group of believers in the major city of Ephesus and likely other groups of believers in nearby towns and cities as well. Ephesus was a port city on the western coast of what is now modern-day Turkey. Paul wrote this letter while in prison for Christ in Rome towards the end of his life (likely AD 60-62), and sent it by his faithful minister and brother-in-Christ Tychicus. So far in the letter, he has briefly greeted believers and then pens an astounding section of praise to God for His sovereign election and adoption of His people in Christ and the sealing by the Spirit- all to the praise of His glory. This is where our section begins in verse 15.

So getting back to the issue at hand, what does Paul model for us as he’s locked up in prison that would help us keep our spiritual filters unstained from the world’s toxic grime? Not surprisingly for us in this prayer-themed year, the answer Paul models is a prayer. And this prayer starts, fittingly for this time of year, as a prayer of thanksgiving.

“15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might 20 that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Notice, Paul’s thanksgiving is not over his imminent release from imprisonment or worldly comforts. His prayer of thanksgiving from prison for the Ephesian people is for two specific reasons:

    1. Their faith in the LORD Jesus
    2. Their love toward all the saints

Two quick observations.

  1. In the midst of Paul’s personal suffering, he is thankful to God for evidence of Christ’s saving work in other’s lives. He is Christ and kingdom-centered and others-focused.
  2. He’s not ceasing in prayers of thanks to God for them, continually remembering them. Most of us know seasons of prayer for others, but sometimes people in my own life people fall off my radar. I’m not suggesting we have a prayer list that only grows and involves every person on it getting daily prayers. I do gently ask though- who are those people (specifically believers) we know God has placed personally in our lives and called us to pray consistently for whom we haven’t prayed for in quite a while? I’d encourage you to pause even now, or as you finish reading this, to lift that person up to God and consciously bring them back into your regular time of prayer.

At this point, in verse 17, Paul gets specific in what prayer for those for whom he is so thankful looks like. He asks 3 things. Now, I don’t know about you, but the content of these prayers are much different than the healing, comfort, safety I’m used to running through for people. These things aren’t wrong to pray, but consider the 3 prayer points Paul mentions:

  1. That God the Father would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in their knowledge of Him.
  2. So that with their hearts now enlightened they would know 3 things:
    1. The hope to which He has called them
    2. The riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints
    3. The immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe
  3. A focus on the Gospel and who God has made Christ Jesus to be.
    1. Jesus is the One the Father has raised from the dead and seated alone at His right hand.
    2. Christ Jesus is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named in this present age, and the age to come.
    3. All things have been put under Jesus’ feet and He has been made the Head over all the Church, His body, and He fills all things everywhere.

So what is Paul’s help for us to keep our spiritual filters unstained from the world?

  • To put your focus on Christ and give thanks to God for how you’re clearly seeing the Spirit of Jesus at work in believer’s lives.
  • To continually lift up believers like this in prayer and share openly with them the way you’re encouraged by God’s work in them and work in others.
  • To pray specifically that God would grant believers to experience a spirit of wisdom and revelation of their knowledge of God
  • That through this greater understanding they’d experience hope and they’d ponder more with joy the inheritance we’re running to that nothing in this world can touch or compare
  • To have a better understanding and knowledge of God’s great power- the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, seating Him above all others for all-time, who is now directing His church to expand

This is a model of prayer by Paul that we can use as a filter to remain unstained from the world. Prayer like this transforms our perspective from worldly to eternal.

When we were in Turkey, just before seeing Matthew, Kailie, and the boys, we stayed a night in Istanbul and visited the Hagia Sophia. This building was built in 537 AD. At the time it was not only the largest cathedral in the world, but the largest building as well. It became one of the centers for the Christian faith for hundreds of years. Great sadness welled up in me going inside the building with Katie and the boys though. In the 1400s, Istanbul was taken over by the Ottoman Turks. So for the better part of the last 500 years, Hagia Sophia has served as a mosque. Within 15 minutes of entering the building, everyone was quickly forced to exit and the Muslim cry for prayer soon followed. With all the building had symbolized, it just felt like such a loss. There was a thought of “this is what it is to be conquered”.

Though I was there to be an encouragement for Matthew, I shared what I’d felt being in that place with him the next day. Not only does God use prayer and his Word to clean and replace our world-contaminated filters, He uses His people as well. Matthew reminded me that night that we’re not to the end of the story yet. He also said, if you’d told Christians who worshipped the LORD in that great building long ago that another religion would spring up and overtake the church for hundreds of years. And then you explained the Gospel would go out to the ends of the earth. It would even go out to a New World they didn’t even know existed. Then you explained believers from there would return with the same unconquerable message of Jesus in order to share it back in this city–they’d be in disbelief and wonder. Thinking about it now, hopefully they’d say, “take the city and the building, we have Christ, the conquering King, who is returning to set up a city, Church, and temple of God not made with hands, that will never end.”

That’s where our focus and hope must remain. That’s the filter through which we keep the world’s lies at bay, and also through which we also see the world around us and where it’s all headed.

Peace and Holiness

My previous blog post reflected on love and humility as the distinguishing marks of a Christian and on how Jesus displays those qualities perfectly in the gospel. Indeed, it was Jesus’ love and humility that saved us. A sentence in a letter that John Newton wrote to his friend and fellow minister the Reverend Mr. Whitford proved to be the jumping off point for that post. Newton wrote to Whitford, “I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ, and the brightest evidences that He is indeed our Master.”[1] Christians are marked by love and humility because they are being conformed into the image of their loving, humble savior, Jesus, the Son of God.

“I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ, and the brightest evidences that He is indeed our Master.”—John Newton

Well, as it turns out, Newton has grabbed me again with another sentence—well two sentences actually. It looks like at least a two-part series inspired by John Newton is in order. Who knows, it could run longer.

Newton’s Sentence(s)

In another letter written to Mr. Whitford, Newton continues to encourage him to be a beacon of gospel cooperation in divisive times within the church. Newton addresses “seeking after peace and holiness” and the “Vanity of religious disputation.”[2] The sentences that grabbed my attention this time were these: “The two great points we are called to pursue in this sinful divided world, are peace and holiness…These are the peculiar characteristics of a disciple of Jesus; they are the richest parts of the enjoyments of heaven; and so far as they are received into the heart, they bring down heaven upon earth; and they are more inseparably connected between themselves than some of us are aware of.”[3]

“The two great points we are called to pursue in this sinful divided world, are peace and holiness…These are the peculiar characteristics of a disciple of Jesus; they are the richest parts of the enjoyments of heaven; and so far as they are received into the heart, they bring down heaven upon earth; and they are more inseparably connected between themselves than some of us are aware of.”—John Newton

According to Newton, when the climate of the day, even in the church, is that of divisiveness, the most “peculiar characteristics” that mark a disciple, the marks they should seek to pursue are peace and holiness. Like love and humility, peace and holiness go hand-in-hand, as Newton observes. Let’s consider how.

 

Peace and Holiness

After heralding the gospel in the first eleven chapters of Romans, including what many consider the greatest stretch of Scripture in the Bible in Romans 8–11, Paul sets his sights on his audience in Romans 12 to exhort them to live in light of the gospel reality. (This is Paul’s typical pattern for his epistles and a good framework to utilize when reading Paul. He outlines gospel indicatives and then issues gospel imperatives. Essentially Paul says, “This is the gospel…Therefore, you who are in Christ, live like this!”). First, consider the gospel indicative. It answers the question: What does the gospel of Jesus mean? Answer: the gospel of Jesus means our holiness before and our peace with God. And God is the “richest parts of the enjoyments of heaven.”

Paul touches on this in Romans 5. Through faith in Jesus we have peace with God: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). By trusting in Jesus’ perfectly holy life and perfect sin atoning sacrifice, we are justified. That is, through the cross, God declares us righteous. And through the cross by the Holy Spirit, God imputes the righteousness of Jesus to us. So then, we are ones who are called to be holy (1 Peter 1:14). In one sense, we have been perfected in this holiness through Jesus’ sacrifice (Hebrews 10:14). His holiness is ours, and we are made saints, that is, holy ones (Romans 1:7; 8:27; 12:13, etc.).  Likewise, just as we have holiness through the gospel, we also have peace through the gospel. Our justification means our holiness, and because of our holiness, we have perfect peace with God through Jesus. God himself—”The richest parts of the enjoyments of heaven”—is ours because through Jesus we have peace and holiness. In another sense, though, we are still being made holy (Hebrews 10:14), and we must still strive for peace and holiness with one another. Thus, Paul moves on to the gospel imperatives in Romans 12 and exhorts the Roman Christians to live in light of both of these gospel-won realities, peace and holiness.  When we bear these marks, we bear witness to the world that Jesus saves, and bearing these marks “bring[s] down heaven upon earth.”

In Romans 12, Paul begins exhorting the Roman Christians with an umbrella command that subsumes much of what follows: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). We seek to be holy because in Christ God has made us and is making us holy, which yields our peace with God. And, in light of our peace with God, we strive to live in peace with one another: “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding” (Romans 14:19). The gospel of Jesus means our holiness before God and our peace with God. Therefore, the gospel of Jesus means our pursuit of holiness and our pursuit of peace with one another: “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). This is how we “bring down heaven upon earth.”

 

Heaven on Earth and Wisdom for the Church

This pursuit of peace and holiness hits at a very practical level in the church. There are many important theological issues that are not essential to our salvation. And there are many faithful Christians, who hold biblically informed yet different views on these theological issues. Some of these differences will lead to natural separation in local church fellowship for the sake of conscience (For example, different viewpoints regarding non-salvific baptism—credobaptism v. pedobaptism—though, there are churches that are made up of brothers and sisters who disagree on this issue yet worship together in happy unity). But these doctrinally distinct churches still love each other across those lines of disagreement and partner together as they rally around the essentials of the gospel. This has been the hallmark of organizations such as The Gospel Coalition and conferences like Together for the Gospel. Yet, sadly these secondary or tertiary theological issues can sometimes be elevated to the place of primary, essential doctrinal issues, thus leading to sinful tribalism in the local church. However, many of these disagreements need not lead to division in fellowship (For example the different conclusions regarding divorce and remarriage, which we will be considering at DGCC this weekend). Rather, than let different, biblically informed conclusions regarding these secondary and tertiary theological issues divide us, we should allow them to foster a spirit of humility, love, and, yes, peace and holiness. Some of us will be wrong regarding these secondary and tertiary issues like baptism and divorce and remarriage. But thank God that our conclusions regarding those issues will not determine our salvation. Our salvation comes through faith in Christ alone by grace alone. So let us then, proceed with humility, caution, and robust biblical faithfulness with an eye to the gospel and our own present imperfection as we engage these sensitive, important, but non-essential—with regard to salvation—theological issues. Again, let us take our cue from John Newton.

“I allow that every branch of gospel truth is precious, that errors are abounding, and that it is our duty to bear an honest testimony to what the Lord has enabled us to find comfort in, and to instruct with meekness such as are willing to be instructed; but I cannot see it my duty, nay, I believe it would be my sin, to attempt to beat my notions into other people’s heads.” [4]

Let us likewise pursue peace and holiness in divisive times. For Jesus won us peace with and holiness before God, who is “the richest parts of the enjoyments of heaven.” And our peace and holiness as with one another diverse Christians is most “peculiar” in the eyes of the world. Indeed, through the peace and holiness of the church we “bring down heaven upon earth.”

 

[1] John Newton, Letters of John Newton, ed. Josiah Bull (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2018), 39.

[2] Newton, Letters of John Newton, 41.

[3] Newton, Letters of John Newton, 41–42.

[4] Newton, Letters of John Newton, 42.

Humility and Love

Some of you probably know by now of my affinity for John Newton.

One of the reasons I appreciate him so much is because of his letters. He was prolific in his letter writing. He wrote to all sorts and all comers. What I find so wonderful about his letters is that in them you truly see how his rich theology and experiential knowledge of God’s love in the gospel both come to bear in his pastoral care. His letters exquisitely exhibit theology applied. He truly was a shepherd to admire.

Recently, I was reading one of Newton’s letters to the Reverend Mr. Whitford, his friend and a fellow minister. In this letter, Newton was encouraging Mr. Whitford in his cooperative gospel ministry, and there was one sentence that stood out to me: “I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ, and the brightest evidences that He is indeed our Master.”[1]

I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ, and the brightest evidences that He is indeed our Master. — John Newton

What an assessment of the distinguishing marks of the Christian! Are these the characteristics that first come to mind when we think of what should mark a Christian? Perhaps we think of holiness or joy or one of the many other characteristics that distinguish the Christian life. But Newton hangs spiritual maturity on these two marks, humility and love. This sent me running to the Scriptures to find what humility and love for the Christian look like.

 

Christian Humility and Love

In Ephesians 4:1–3, Paul urges the Ephesians to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which [they] have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Here, humility and love go hand-in-hand with gentleness or meekness and patience. Let’s take a closer look at these fruits.

 

Gentleness

Paul makes clear in 2 Corinthians 10:1 that gentleness and meekness are distinguishing marks of Jesus himself writing, “I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ…”. These are Christlike characteristics. To get an idea of what a gentle and meek person looks like, it’s helpful to consider what Scripture sets gentleness and meekness over against. Paul encourages Titus to remind the flock “to be gentle and to show perfect courtesy toward all people” (Titus 3:2), as opposed to not being submissive to authorities, speaking evil of others, and being quarrelsome. Likewise, in 1 Timothy 3:3, Paul calls for gentleness rather than violence. Indeed, it is this type of gentleness and meekness that marks reasonableness as opposed to divisiveness (Philippians 4:1–5).

So, gentleness and meekness do not look like: speaking evil of others, a quarrelsome spirit, a lack of appropriate submissiveness, violence, and/or divisiveness—the distinguishing marks of sinful man. Rather, Scripture tells us that gentleness and meekness are the hallmarks of godly wisdom (James 3:13, 17).

 

Patience

Humility and love also go hand-in-hand with patience. The patience referred to here does not speak to the type of perishable patience we typically exercise when we are waiting for our food order to come to the table or when we are standing in a long line. Rather, it speaks to the enduring, unwavering patience that God exercised toward us in order to save us (Romans 2:4; 2 Peter 3:15).

 

Gentleness and Patience Mark Christian Humility and Love

So, if you are seeking the fruits of Christian humility and love, they can be found in the same garden row as their closely related counterparts of gentleness and patience. Christian humility and love run counter to divisiveness, quarreling, and violence. And Christian humility and love exercise the same long-suffering that God graciously showed and shows toward us. Indeed, Christian humility and love fight for the very unity that human sinfulness would undo (Ephesians 4:3). Let’s look more closely at both humility and love.

 

Humility

Paul sets humility over against selfish ambition when he addresses the Philippians, writing, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). Selfish ambition is not an internal, victimless characteristic. Rather, selfish ambition by nature works itself out externally in hostility and contentiousness toward others, inflicting harm on others (2 Corinthians 12:20; Galatians 5:20; Philippians 1:17; James 3:16). Christian humility, on the other hand, considers others more significant—of a surpassing worth—when compared to self (Philippians 2:3). Moreover, Christian humility is not kept to oneself but has natural outward effects. Taking into account the gentleness and patience that mark humility, Christian humility, like a rock thrown into water, sends out ripples of gentleness and patience toward others that promote fellowship and unity (Ephesians 4:3).

Christian humility, like a rock thrown into water, sends out ripples of gentleness and patience toward others that promote fellowship and unity.

 

Love

In like manner, Christian love bears with others in a spirit of gentleness and patience. This love “is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:1). This is the very bearing with love that binds together all godly qualities that foster a culture of forgiveness. Christian love is love that bears with others, loving and forgiving them in the same way that God loved and forgave us in Christ. (Colossians 3:12–13). This forgiving love, then, fans the flames of fellowship and unity (Ephesians 4:3).

Christian love is love that bears with others, forgiving them in the same way that God loved and forgave us in Christ.

 

The Gospel: Jesus’ Humility and Love Saves Us

Surely, we can begin to see that John Newton was very much on the right track. Indeed, it was these very qualities, humility and love, that, as Paul notes, mean salvation for you and me. Jesus exercised perfect humility and perfect love toward us in order to save us when we were unsubmissive, speakers of evil, divisive, violent, quarrelsome—completely arrogant and completely hateful. Yet Jesus counted us as more significant than himself in humility and extended the comfort of his forgiving love toward us by dying in our place on the cross (Philippians 2:1–8).

If the Christian life is to look like Jesus, then Newton’s assessment is beautifully accurate. It is the humility and love of Christ that saves us, and it is our Christlike humility and love coupled with our gospel proclamation that God will continue to use to save and unite his people. So, in the spirit of John Newton, we must ask ourselves: Do Christlike humility and love mark our lives? Let’s strive in God’s power to ensure they do.

[1] John Newton, Letters of John Newton, ed. Josiah Bull (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2018), 39.

As the Mountains Surround Jerusalem So the Lord Surrounds His People

Consider three texts:

  • Psalm 125:1-2: Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.
  • Jude 24: [God] is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy
  • Luke 22:32 (Jesus is speaking to Peter after prophesying his denial): “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”

To whom do these texts refer? Who can count on such promises?

We 21st-century Americans tend to see in these texts promises to ourselves and other individuals:

  • “Since I trust in the Lord, He surrounds me and protects me.”
  • “God will keep me from stumbling and present me blameless before Him.”
  • “Jesus prays for me, strengthening and securing my faith.”

Praise God – these precious promises do indeed apply to us as individuals who trust in Jesus.

But Psalm 125:2 closes with the phrase, “from this time forth and forevermore.” When is “this time”? Well, the psalm was written more than 2500 years ago.

For all these years, God has been surrounding His people, advancing His purposes, building His church, keeping her from stumbling, seeing to it that the faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) does not fail. We today stand at the end of a long line of faithful believers, all witnesses to God’s surrounding love. Through the dangers of persecution and the dangers of acceptance, despite indwelling sin and the enticements of the world, through times of renewal and times of apostasy, God has preserved, established, and spread His church century after century, continent after continent, culture after culture.

These promises apply not only to believers as individuals but also to God’s people as a whole.

Beth and I glimpsed this truth last month while in Turkey with Matthew and Kailie. We visited Cappadocia, a region of great importance in the history of the church. Three hundred years after the resurrection, theologians from this area known as the “Cappadocian Fathers” were instrumental in combatting heresy by clarifying the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. In subsequent centuries, believers created amazing churches and homes by digging through the volcanic rock. We were able to visit a number 1200-year-old cave-churches, some complete with frescoes of biblical characters. The most well-preserved of these churches are in the Goreme Open Air Museum. The Dark Church is particularly striking, with frescoes of Jesus and John the Baptist, among others.

But most stirring for us was a church far away from the tourists. We hiked down steep slopes into an ancient valley, past old grape vines and apple trees, approaching a rock face pocketed with holes – were they windows? We climbed through an opening, up some stairs carved into the rock – and came out into a massive interior space, with large columns from floor to ceiling.

No one else was there – just our family and the seeming presence of these believers from ages ago. I felt such a sense of oneness, of shared family with those who for the glory of the name of Jesus chipped away at the rock centuries ago, hour after hour, day after day, year after year.

There was a continued Christian presence in this area for centuries – until 1923 when many Christians were expelled from Turkey to Greece, and Muslims expelled from Greece to Turkey. So for the last century there has been no worship of Jesus in these rock churches.

Since our return home, I have learned more about the genuine faith of many in this era through reading The Reformation as Renewal by Matthew Barrett, who argues that the Reformation built on much of the theology and piety of the medieval church, including the writings of Anselm, Thomas, and Lombard – even when the Reformers themselves did not perceive their influence –  and that the Reformers’ arguments were focused much more against the positions taken by later Scholastics such as Ockham and Duns Scotus.

Be that as it may, as we celebrate twenty years of God’s faithfulness through Desiring God Community Church, let us also look back over twenty decades, over twenty centuries, and praise God that as empires rise and fall, as economies thrive and crash, as Christians are exiled and welcomed, God is always building His Church, spurring His people on to acts of devotion and witness, showing in Cappadocia and in Charlotte, in cave churches and in modern buildings, that Jesus is worthy of all our efforts and the source of all our joy. God’s Church is like Mt Zion – the Lord surrounds that Church, and He will present Her blameless before His presence with great joy – all of us, those who carved the Cave Churches, we who are part of Desiring God Community Church, followers of Jesus from every tribe and tongue and people and nation – and century.

DGCC 20th Anniversary Celebration: Obeying God’s Command to Remember

As we have seen now over and over again in the book of Judges,  God’s people consistently rebel against him to serve other gods after he persistently shows them mercy by saving them from oppression. In Judges 3:7 we learn of one of the most surprising root causes of their idolatry; “the people did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.” They forgot God? That sounds really strange. Did they forget God like we forget the many passwords we use to access our accounts online? Did they forget God like we forget a person’s name just moments after they introduce themselves to us? No. In fact Romans 1:18 suggests that is impossible to forget God in this way since our world is filled with reminders of an eternally powerful creator God.

The things that God has given us that bring us joy and purpose are not inherently bad but when they become our ultimate focus we can forget God.

So how did they (and we) forget God? They forgot God like a adult child forgets to call their parents or loved ones. It’s not that they forget they exist but other things in life begin to occupy their focus and animate their hearts and desires. We can begin to be more interested in the things of this life and begin to believe the promises that they can give us more than the promises of God. Maybe it’s a fulfilling career, your identity, a mate, bodily pleasure and expression, or even your vision of ministry. The things that God has given us that bring us joy and purpose are not inherently bad but when they become our ultimate focus we can forget God. The people of Israel forgot God and served Baal and the other idols of their day. We too are prone to forget God, but, instead of serving physical idols, we often serve our own worldly hearts and desires. Have you forgotten God? Have you loved creation more than the Creator or wanted the gift more than the gift giver? We all have whether it was intentional or not. The solution to this problem is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 20-25, and it is as simple as the problem is surprising. We must remember God’s Law, his powerful work in our lives and then testify of his goodness.

We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers (Deuteronomy 6:21–23).

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates[…] “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5, 20–25).

Our personal testimonies of God’s work in our lives are just as miraculous and powerful as visual acts of God’s power.

One of the ways we remember God is by sharing our personal testimony of how he has delivered us. To the children of Israel their testimony was of a big and powerful act of God through the plagues and parting of the red sea to save them. Our personal testimonies of Gods work in our lives are just as miraculous and powerful as visual acts of Gods power. We were slaves to unforgiveness, but the LORD softened our hearts and repaired our relationship. We once lived a life that ignored God, and now God has become the primary source of our joy. Sharing our personal testimonies, especially with our children, in a way that highlights God’s power and doesn’t bring undue glory to our sin is not only God honoring but it also helps build faith. This weekend we have an exciting and joyous opportunity to fulfill this command as part of our celebration of 20 years of ministry at Desiring God Community Church. We will share our testimonies of God’s work in our lives through this ministry. We will sing songs of worship to God for his steadfast love shown to us through others. So think of the ways that this ministry and the people in it have blessed you and helped you draw closer God. Come and join us this weekend as we remember a God who cannot be forgotten.

We will be celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Desiring God Community Church on Saturday October 21st with dinner, testimony, and worship at 1821 Back Creek Church Rd, Charlotte, NC 28213 from 3pm-7pm. Please join us!

DGCC’s Vision Part VI: Showing Jesus to All Peoples as His Witnesses in Our Neighborhood, in Charlotte, and in the World

Preface

Why We Exist: Gospel Purpose

Our mission statement at DGCC says the following:

We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

This is why we exist. This has been DGCC’s identity from the time it was planted twenty years ago. This is our gospel purpose. And, by God’s grace, this will be DGCC’s gospel purpose for the next twenty years and beyond. The question is, though, what exactly do we aim to do in order to live out this gospel purpose.

 

What We Do: Gospel Pursuit

For the past several months the Vision Team here at DGCC has met regularly to pray and discern DGCC’s vision for the foreseeable future. Essentially, the Vision Team aimed to articulate what we do, that is, our gospel pursuit. And, by God’s grace, in our most recent members meeting, the Vision Team shared with our fellow members the vision we believe God has led us to. This statement below captures that vision.

We glorify God by joyfully treasuring Christ and prayerfully pursuing Christlikeness in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture birthed this statement. Specifically, Ephesians 3:14–21 became the foundational text that informed and shaped this vision statement. I unpacked that passage over three previous posts: DGCC’s Vision Part I, Part II, and Part III.

Here I outline how we accomplish our vision or our gospel pursuit. We do so through our gospel practice.

 

Gospel Practice: How we do it

So our mission statement and our vision statement make clear what our gospel purpose is and what our gospel pursuit is, respectively, at DGCC. Our gospel purpose is who we are and our gospel pursuit is what we do. But how do we aim to do this? Our Vision Team at DGCC felt it was necessary to answer this question as well. So to go along with our gospel purpose and gospel pursuit, we also articulated our gospel practice to answer the question, “How will we glorify God by joyfully treasuring Christ and prayerfully pursuing Christlikeness in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit”? We, DGCC, will do this

By seeing Jesus together as a family.[1]

By sharing Jesus with one another as his disciples.[2]

By showing Jesus to all peoples as his witnesses in our neighborhood, in Charlotte, and in the world.[3]

As you can hopefully see, to answer this question we aimed to not reinvent the wheel. The call of every Christian is twofold—(1) love the Lord God with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength, and (2) love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:34–40; Mark 12:29–31; Luke 10:25–28). These are the two most important tasks for us as Christians. We only know God and carry out this call through Jesus. The normative context for carrying out this call through Jesus is the local church.

The three-dimensional life of the local church of Jesus Christ is the natural ecosystem in which we live out the call to love God and love our neighbor. The church exists to joyfully love and worship God together in truth, to build itself up in love and in truth by ministering to one another within the body, and to spread the love of God and love for God in truth to the lost (John 4:23–24; Ephesians 3:10; 4:1–16; Matthew 28:18–20; 1 Timothy 3:15). Or, in short, the church exists to worship God, buildup one another within the body, and evangelize the lost.[4] In the past, we’ve expressed this three-dimensional purpose of the church here at DGCC as (1) expressing joy in Christ, (2) deepening joy in Christ, and (3) spreading joy in Christ. So this is what we aim to make our gospel practice. So you see, it’s nothing novel. It is the same, simple, reproducible gospel practice and rhythm that the local church has embraced since its founding.

We’ve considered the first two dimensions of our gospel practice, seeing Jesus together as a family and sharing Jesus with one another as his disciples. Here consider the third and final dimension of our gospel practice, showing Jesus to all peoples as his witnesses in our neighborhood, in Charlotte, and in the world.

 

By Showing Jesus to All Peoples As His Witnesses in Our Neighborhood, in Charlotte, and in the World

This gospel practice speaks to our outreach. That is, it speaks to our participation in the advance of God’s kingdom on earth through showing Jesus via the spread of the gospel of Jesus. The word choice of showing comes from the Greek φανερόω, which mean to make clear, visible, or manifest; to reveal; or to disclose, that is, to show. This is how Paul captures Christian gospel witness in 2 Corinthians 2:14–16:

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads (φανερόω; to make known) the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.

Paul says that we are the aroma of Christ to God among the world. That is, our very manner of life testifies to the world of Jesus. Jesus himself says as much:

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden… let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14, 16).

This means, for the Christian, our good works in the world are bound up with the gospel. Therefore, we do not separate our good works from our gospel witness. All of our good works point to and testify of and show Jesus. Our good works are done with a view to showing Jesus. So too, we are also always ready to show Jesus not through our works merely, but through gospel proclamation.

Paul makes clear that making known the fragrance of Christ relates directly to the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus (2 Corinthians 2:17). Indeed, the task of Christian evangelism and outreach is to clearly show Jesus, or as Paul says, to make the mystery of Christ clear.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear (φανερόω), which is how I ought to speak (Colossians 4:3–4).

Christians show Jesus with their words both in bold gospel proclamation and in gospel-seasoned, wise speech that leaves outsiders thirsty for more. So Christians show Jesus through gospel good works that organically connects to gospel proclamation. Therefore, we at DGCC aim to show Jesus in our gospel good works and in our gospel proclamation. To whom do we show him? We show Jesus to all peoples.

We show Jesus to all peoples. Jesus commanded his people in his final commission to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (ἔθνος)” (Matthew 28:19). Nations can also be rendered peoples. Christians aim to take the gospel and make disciples of every people group. Jesus chose this word for a reason. By divine design, this great commission fits into the overarching redemptive narrative. God promised to bless all the families, that is, all the peoples of the earth through Abraham’s offspring (Genesis 12:1–2; 22:15–18). God fulfills this through Jesus. Therefore, we at DGCC have always sought to be a church of the nations, of peoples. It’s our prayer that our body would testify to this in a diverse makeup, and it is our aim to always carry the gospel to the nations. In this way, we participate in God’s unified, diverse kingdom on earth right now, while anticipating the coming heavenly reality when “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” stands before the throne of God giving glory to God in Christ (Revelation 7:9–10). In Jesus, God makes good on his ancient covenant promise of blessing for all peoples, and he has invited those of us who are in Christ to take part in carrying that blessing out as Jesus’ witnesses.

When we show Jesus to all peoples, we do so as his witnesses. Jesus called his disciples his witnesses (Luke 21:12–13; 24:45–48; John 15:26–27; Acts 1:8). Jesus says to his followers in Acts 1:8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8)

Amazingly, Jesus has fulfilled this declaration. Jesus bore witness of himself to the end of the earth through the Holy Spirit working in his original followers. That is, the original disciples, as witnesses of Jesus, have ultimately passed the gospel baton down to us, those at the end of the earth. Thus, we fall in line with past saints and bear gospel witness to those around us. At DGCC, we aim to show Jesus to all peoples as his witnesses both near and far. That is, we show Jesus to all peoples as his witnesses in our neighborhood, in Charlotte, and in the world.

God in his sovereignty has placed DGCC in a particular time and place. And, God in his providence has brought peoples from all nations close to us. Therefore, at DGCC, we want to lean into God’s providence regarding our place by showing Jesus in our neighborhood. We do this by bearing gospel witness as a unified body in our church neighborhood, and we do this by bearing gospel witness as individual members in our individual neighborhoods. We do not look past the neighborhood God has placed us in. But we do look beyond it by seeking to show Jesus to all peoples as his witnesses in Charlotte as well. We aim to bear gospel witness in all corners of this city by working cooperatively with other gospel-centered local bodies and by raising up and sending out mature believers to plant theologically robust, gospel-centered, Christ-treasuring, Holy Spirit empowered,  local churches. And finally, we strive to show Jesus to all peoples as his witnesses in the world. While we make every effort to bear gospel witness locally, we also look to global horizons by sending and supporting missionaries, especially those who labor among unreached peoples.

 

Showing Jesus to All Peoples as His Witnesses in Our Neighborhood, in Charlotte, and in the World

So taking this aspect of our gospel practice and adding it to our gospel pursuit, we at DGCC joyfully treasure Christ and prayerfully pursue Christlikeness in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit by showing Jesus to all peoples as his witnesses in our neighborhood, in Charlotte, and in the world.

 

Trinitarian Conclusion

I hope it has become clear by now that our vision at DGCC takes on a Trinitarian tincture. We glorify our triune God by knowing the Father’s love for us through the grace of the Son, Jesus, by the power and fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s final greeting to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 13:14 outlines our Trinitarian salvation:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14).

Regarding this passage, Bavinck notes “In the love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is contained the whole salvation of men.”[5] Thus, through the time-tested gospel practices of corporate worship, ministry and discipleship within the body, and local and global outreach—seeing Jesus, sharing Jesus, and showing Jesus—we at DGCC aim to know more of God the Father’s love through the power of the Holy Spirit so that we would be ever-treasuring Christ and ever-growing in Christlikeness for God’s glory. This is what God has created us for, and this is our destiny, his glory and our joy (Psalm 16:11).

 

[1] “seeing” Exod 33:18–19; 34:5–9; Isa 6:1–5; Ps 27:4; John 14:810; 2 Cor 3:18; 4:6; “family” Gen 12:3; 28:14; 2 Sam 7:12–13; 1 Chr 17:11–14; Ps 22:27; 87; Jer 32:39; Mark 3:31–35; 10:29–31; Acts 3:38–39; Rom 8:15–16, 29; Gal 3:28–4:7; 6:10; Eph 2:19–22; 1 Tim 5:8; Heb 3:6; 1 Pet 2:5

[2] The various Greek words that convey  “sharing” occur often in the context of the faith community. That is, Christians share in Christ with one another in the faith as disciples. And therefore, they share with one another Christ, his gospel, his good gifts, etc. For example 1 Thess 2:8—So, being affectionately desirous of you we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” Christians, then, as disciples share Christ through love, service, and building up one another. For examples of this concept see: John 13:34–35; 15:12, 17; Acts 2:42–47; Romans 12:3–13; 15:7, 14; 1 Corinthians 12:4–7, 25–26; 13; 14:1–3, 12; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Galatians 5:13; Eph 4:1–16; 5:19, 21; Colossians 3:1–4, 12–17, 18–25; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; 4:9, 18; 5:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:3; Titus 2:4–8 ; Hebrews 3:13; 10:25; James 5:16; 1 Peter 1:22; 4:8–10; 5:1–5, 19; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11, 12; 2 John 5

[3] “showing…as witnesses” particularly the Greek φανερόω (show, make known) often occurs outside the context of the faith community. That is, Christians “show” Christ and his gospel to those in the world, those outside the faith and outside the Church. For example, “But thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads/shows (φανερόω) the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Corinthians 2:14). Also, “all peoples”; and “witnesses”; Genesis 12:1–3; 22:15–18; Leviticus 19:18, 34; Psalms 22:27; 87; Isaiah 49:1–7; 52:7; 61:1–2; Joel 2:28–32; Matthew 5:16; 9:37–38; 10:18; 24:14; 28:16–20; Luke 21:12–13; 24:45–48; John 1:7–8, 15, 32, 34; 3:11; 13:35; 15:26–27; Acts 1:8; 2:22; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39, 41, 43; 13:31, 46–47 (cf. Isa 49:1–7); 26:16; Romans 1:16; 10:9–10, 14–15; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 1:6; 1 Peter 3:15–16; 2 Timothy 2:15; 4:5

[4] Time Challies offers simple, helpful, and thoughtful insight that cuts through the common misconceptions of the day regarding the local church. See “What’s the Purpose…of the Church?”.

[5] Herman Bavinck, The Wonderful Works of God: Instructions in the Christian Religion According to the Reformed Confession (Glenside, PA: Westminster Seminary Press, 2019), 143.