Tag Archives: glory of God

This is My Story

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I went to church. I was known in church. I spoke up to pray. I spoke up in conversation. The older people liked me. Mothers liked me. I was the nice kid. I could quote Bible verses. I came from a good family. I did not drink alcohol. I did not party. I tried in school. I joked in school. I once cheated in class, but I felt bad about it. I told the teacher. She gave me a C. I played sports. I played baseball. I was okay at baseball. I was polite to adults. I called them sir and maim. Did I say that mothers liked me? I had lots of friends. I had some good friends. I had some girlfriends. Never more than one at a time, though. I was committed. I was a loyalty guy. Well, I lied to my parents some. But I went to church. I listened to Christian music. Did I say that I had memorized some Bible verses? I even wore one of those bracelets. I had a couple of T-shirts. I wanted to go to a Christian school for college. I prayed a lot, you know? Aloud in groups. And they were good prayers. I crashed my car. I almost died. I should have died. I did not die. But I was already dead.

Something happened in those months that followed. Nothing overnight. It took some time. For all that I did, in all the ways that I acted– the person who was most deceived was me. I had fooled myself into thinking that I was good enough. I coated my sin in the words of ‘struggle’ and reminded myself that nobody is perfect. I was a dead man who bought his own lie. It was like Bruce Willis in the Sixth Sense. I was a dead man who played the part of one who lived. I played it so well, so freaking well, that I actually believed I was the fictional character I pretended to be. Guilt for my sin was not what I needed. I felt that often. I felt bad many times and it seemed to promise some moral change only to end in bankruptcy time and time again.

I needed to be made alive. I didn’t need a boost to accomplish spiritual duties, I needed a spiritual appetite. I needed a new heart. And I am not sure how it happened. I may have even felt a desire for ministry before I was born again. But somewhere in my first year of college, somewhere during that time, God made me alive. He saved me. I really trusted in Jesus. I really embraced His work on the cross for me and my salvation. I was full of busted morality, fickle desires, deep confusion of who I was and what this thing called life was all about. I would not have said that then but I felt all those things. And Jesus stepped in. He came and He saved me. I don’t know why (I could give you some biblical and theological explanations about His unconditional election and about His own purposes and grace. Those are amazing and they are good news to me). But for now, can I just leave it there?– “I don’t know why.” I don’t know why He saved me. I don’t know why.

I don’t know why, but I am amazed that He did. He saved me. Jesus saved me. I am alive. Jesus saved me and made me alive. Jesus, come and save your people. Save your people from among all the nations. Gather your church and come. Finish this thing. Please, come!

Theõsis and the glory of God in Christ

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Theõsis came up in class recently. I was largely unfamiliar with the term and  suspected it to be of Mormon error. Deification is not a definition that sits well with Christians, especially those from Protestant roots, especially within the Reformed tradition. It is an awkward explanation. The deification of Christians? Parktakers of the divine nature in some mystical sense where we ourselves become gods? That is weird and rightly so. It is Eastern and odd for me.

However, there is something amazing and perhaps inexplicable in Western categories when it comes to union with Christ. Paul said, “I don’t live anymore, Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). Peter wrote about us becoming “partakers of the divine nature” (2Pet 1:4). I brought the issue up in Table Talk today. Pastor John was right on to leverage the subject by emphasizing that our role is primarily beholding, not becoming. Glorification, the Western term, does involve the transformation of the corruptible man. But it is unto the end that we can become inhabitants of the New Jerusalem, it is for us to become fitting to behold the glory of God forever, completely free from sin’s inhibitions.

The transformation that we undergo should not distract us from the One of Whom and By Whom we are being transformed. Conformity to the image of Christ is less about our conformity and more about Christ. The point is the glory of God manifested in a dead man becoming the workmanship of God, all by and for God (Eph 2:1-10). And it is now that we can take seriously what it means that we are changing from one degree of glory to the next (2 Cor 3:18)…

It is now that we can really feel our identity. It is now that we actually get who we are. It is here that we come to the end of ourselves. The Heidelberg is not mechanical. Really, our only comfort in life and in death is that we are not our own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death, to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

Hand-Over-Your-Mouth Humility: Job and the Judgement that God is Not So Much Glorified by a Faith that is Perfect, but by a Faith that is Real.

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In verses 1-6 of chapter 42, Job answers the LORD and he says the right things. The narrator is clear that we get this (v. 7, 8). But the reader has seen that Job hasn’t always been right. Elihu nails Job from chapters 32-37, and then the LORD concludes the rebuke in 38-42. Job needs to be and is dramatically called out and corrected.

So, then, does Satan’s proposal in 1:8 stand? Does Satan prove that Job’s faith–his “fear of God”– is superficial?

No. The narrative goes on to demonstrate that Satan is very wrong. But, as we see, the faith of Job that debunks Satan’s accusation is a faith laden with errors. And yet this imperfect, cracked up faith is what God references and rebukes in order to manifest His glory and Satan’s defeat.

What does this mean? What follows is a judgment, not a summary or simplification: Upon the reality of this narrative, I judge that God is not so much glorified by a faith that is perfect, but by a faith that is real. A faith that He Himself has born, and one that He Himself will perfect.

Philippians 1:6 is true and we’d better base our lives on it.

What is a ‘Relationship With Jesus?’

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In an evangelical culture where phrases like “personal relationship with Jesus” have become common lingo, it is refreshing and intensely edifying to realize that there is no such thing as a relationship with Jesus apart from the Holy Spirit. My seeing and knowing and loving Jesus Christ is the present and continual work of the Holy Spirit in my life. My relationship with Jesus and his residence “in my heart” are just different articulations of the glorious reality that the Spirit makes real! He engineers my present experience of Jesus that is solely rooted in the objective, historical work of Jesus on the cross. It is by the Spirit that the objective work of God outside of me, in election before the world began and in the crucifixion of Jesus, is brought to have its intimate effect inside of me. The Spirit is my feet, my eyes, my tongue—so that I would walk in Christ’s way, see Christ’s majesty, and taste Christ’s glory.

My Plea for You to Live, Part 1: ‘Living it Up’ is Actually ‘Wasting Your Life’

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Job 14:5 Since his days are determined,

and the number of his months is with you,

and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,

6 look away from him and leave him alone,

that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.

The days of mankind are numbered. Humans die. I will die. You will die. In the midst of his distress and on the basis of this reality, Job asked that God just leave him alone. “If life is so short,” he ponders, “why don’t you just let people go and enjoy what little time they have here.”

Have you ever thought that before? This is the doctrine of life for many people. You operate everything you do based upon this logic. The problem is that it misses something very important. Humans were created for eternity. However short our physical life on the earth may be, that is not the end. In fact, it must be just the start. The soul of man is nothing temporal. Just consider the depths of the emotions. Consider what it means to be moved by something–a sunset, the beach shore, a light snow fall when it isn’t below 0. We are beings who have been made for forever.

Made for forever and made for God.

To believe anything else is actually to cheapen what it means to be alive. It is the greatest irony invented by humans: “living it up” is actually wasting your life.

Calling Out the Junk to Be Transformed Into the Image of Jesus Christ

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“For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

(2Corinthians 6:16-7:1 ESV)

Based upon the reality that God has made us, the church, His dwelling place–because He has redeemed for Himself a people through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ: we are cleanse ourselves of every uncleanness. And in obedience to this imperative, we are bringing to completion the sanctifying work of God in our lives.

To say it more concretely: there are areas in our lives that are not in accordance with the gospel. They are defilements, uncleanness, inappropriate realities. What does it mean to cleanse ourselves of these things? They are only cleansed by the gospel. The gospel conquers them, puts them in their place, reigns over them victoriously.

We are never sanctified apart from the gospel. Paul is not commanding us to try harder and do better. He is telling us that because Jesus has saved us, we are to press in deeply, call out our junk, and let the wonder of Jesus rule in every corner and crevice of our being. And in so doing, we are being transformed into the image of Jesus. We are being sanctified. Holiness is being brought to completion. Jesus is glorified by His work.

Back in North Carolina

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We are back in North Carolina for a couple of weeks. It feels good to be here already. I like the air. And I like the green trees that make for a scenic route from the airport to Johnston County.

While we look forward to a sweet time with family and friends, we are also excited about visiting two churches where two friends of mine serve as pastors–Hannah’s Creek Baptist Church in Benson and 121 Church in Winston-Salem. I am grateful for the opportunity to preach the Word and worship with the brothers and sisters there.

My hope for these two weeks was articulated best in Marshall’s prayer for us this morning. He asked that God “deliver us to NC for His glory.” Let it be that God brings us back for a ‘summer vacation’ that is primarily about Him–we come as sent by Him for His purposes, whether expounding the biblical text, eating Bojangles, or rooting for the Mudcats. I pray for all our being and doing to proclaim that Christ is better than anything in the world.

Please pray for us. Grace to you all in Jesus Christ!

Have You Forgotten the LORD?

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Isaiah 51:12-13, 15

“I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day…

 “I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of hosts is his name.”

… Can’t a paraphrase go something like this:

Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, you’re afraid that man won’t think your humble, that they will say you are not smart, that they won’t approve of your ministry skills. Wait a minute, you have forgotten all about the LORD, your Maker, you are not thinking right about Me… the One who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. I am your God and you are afraid of all this stupid stuff like you are?! 

I am the LORD your God! 


 

 

Victimized By Coloring Books and Cute Moralism- No! Teach Your Children About God!

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It is dangerous to be a kid growing up in church. Most of them have heard about Noah and the flood, Moses and the Red Sea, David and Goliath.  

They have been taught about the animals and have colored pictures of them boarding the arc. But they were not told that this story is really about God–a God of righteousness who was raining judgment on the world. And a God of sovereign grace who was pleased to give salvation to Noah and his family.

They have done crossword puzzles on the plagues in Egypt and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea on dry ground. But they have not been told about the glory of God displayed in hardening the heart of Pharaoh, so that God would show Himself faithful to His promises thereby saving a people who did not deserve it.

They sang jingles about David and a sling and a giant falling down. But they were not told about the power of God to raise up an insignificant boy. Here is the wisdom and grace of God to defeat the enemy through one man and the whole nation of Israel benefits by this one man’s victory, like Jesus.

It is sad that many people spend their early years in the church and have never heard that the Bible is really all about God, not man.

(For helpful, Christ-exalting, God-centered children’s’ resources, check out Children Desiring God.)