The Work of Christ

That we may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. - Ephesians 3:18-19

In my studies, I have found that there are many different views of what the atonement is. Many of these views focus on specific aspects of the atonement, but do not necessarily do justice the full width and length and depth and height of the atonement. As I studied, what struck me was just how big a thing the atonement really is. So, if you will allow me, I would like to offer you just a little slice of a big, big picture.

The are many different aspects of the atonement we could look at, but I chose five. They are the aspects of Christ’s work as sacrifice, as a propitiation, as paying the just penalty for sin, as renewing our relationship with God, and as victory.

Christ’s work on the cross was a sacrifice. Scripture makes it clear that without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sins. The Old Testament blood offerings, as we know, foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. The sacrificial system was also God’s way of renewing the covenant. Christ’s sacrifice, however, was the final sacrifice; the ultimate atonement and the seal of the New Covenant. Christs says in Mark 14, as He instituted the Lord’s Supper, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” Eph. 5 tells us that Christ “gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” So, the atonement is Christ’s sacrifice for us on our behalf. He shed his blood for us. Now, most of us here are probably not that familiar with the sight, the smell, and the feel of blood. I’m not going to try to gross anyone out by offering a vivid picture of what Christ went through, but let us just not forget that Christ shed his blood for us. He was whipped with leather and bits of bone, he had thorns pressed down into his skull, spikes driven through his hands and feet, and his side pierced with a spear. Christ bled for you. The Atonement is a sacrifice.

The atonement is also a propitiation. In 1 John 4:10 we learn that, because of the Father’s love for us, He sent His Son to be “the propitiation for our sins.” The term “propitiation” means the “appeasing of God’s just wrath.” God, because of his nature, has a calculated, settled opposition to all things that oppose him, and he is righteously angry with our sin. Christ, we are told, bore the full brunt of that anger, and appeased God’s wrath on our behalf. Some modern scholars have attempted to downplay this concept, claiming that wrath is not a valid attribute of God. However, this is to do Christ’s work a disservice, for no mere creature can sustain the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin, and redeem others from it. Think about this for just a moment; that God’s wrath against sin is so great, that it is completely and totally impossible for any mere creature to sustain its burden. I tried here offering an analogy of what I thought it might be like to sustain the burden of God’s wrath, but I am sorry my mind simply cannot fathom the totality of God’s burning opposition to sin resting on me, and in fact, it is so terrible a thought that it makes me physically ill, and leads me to cry out to God “Lord have mercy on me a sinner.” Only Christ could have done that, and he did do it, for you, and for me. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. The atonement is a propitiation.

The atonement also pays the just penalty for sin. Now, the wages of sin is death. What we are owed by God for our sin is death. Christ’s death on our behalf provided the just payment for that sin. In Romans 5, Paul explains that Christ died for the ungodly and that we are justified by His blood so that God might be both “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” You see, it would be unjust of God NOT to punish sin. But He is justified in not punishing our sin because He punished Christ on our behalf. For the unregenerate, God punishes sin with eternal death and separation from God in hell. For the redeemed, God punished Christ.

We have this terminology of Christ bearing the just punishment for our sins, and while that is true, I think that can make what Christ really did a little abstract or impersonal in our minds.

Christ. Was. Punished. For. You.

As his physical body was perishing on the cross, Christ cried out with a loud voice “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Christ was separated from God the Father, the Father whom he loved, on your behalf. Any view of the atonement that does not take this seriously makes light of our sin, and makes light of what Christ really did for us. Christ payed the just penalty.

Because Christ did so, we are now redeemed, restored, to God. 1 Peter tells us that “Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” Christ’s work is not only a sacrifice, it not only appeases God’s wrath, it not only pays the just penalty for our sin and justifies us before God; it also reconciles us to God, and makes possible a right relationship with Him. The prophet Isaiah says this “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” Praise God that now, through faith in Christ, when God our Father looks upon us, he no longer sees our iniquities; He sees Christ’s righteousness.

Ephesians says “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”

Finally, in His work of atonement, Christ’s death and resurrection served as a victory blow against Satan, sin, and death itself. Christ triumphed over sin and death in the resurrection, so that all who trust in him are raised to new life. Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension reminds us that this present world is not all there is; soon we will live with and enjoy God forever in the new heaven and the new earth, where we will be forever freed from all sin. Praise God.

So, I hope I have left you with a slightly fuller picture of what the atonement is. There are other aspects, but in these last few minutes we have seen that the atonement is a Sacrifice, it is the Propitiation of God’s wrath, it has payed the just penalty for sin, has renewed our relationship with God, and has won the victory over sin and death. Let us glory in the width, and the length, and the depth, and the height of Christs work for us, that we may know the love of Christ that passes knowledge, and that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. Amen.

The Gospel Call

“And those He predestined, He also called; those He called; He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” Romans 8:30

All men need the Gospel. Our only hope in life and death is to belong to God. In our current climate, as we are seeing the disastrous effects of the rejection of the gospel in our nation, the ever present need is for the people of our nation to repent of their sin and turn to God. As such, I would like to take the opportunity to speak to you all a little bit about the gospel call. Specifically, the two calls of the gospel. The general call, and what is known as the effectual call. There are important distinctions between the two that should both motivate and encourage us in our evangelistic efforts.

Scripture describes two different kinds of calls to the unbeliever. First, there is the general, outward call of the gospel, addressed to all men. That call is to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This is the general call to all men to turn from their wickedness and turn to God. God declares in Isaiah 45 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” This is God’s message, and it must be our message as well.

Scripture also describes a specific, inward call that is addressed only to the elect and only at the point of conversion. This is the effectual call and is the point at which, by an act of God, the unregenerate are called out of the world, given a new birth, and made able to respond to God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Again, the general call of the gospel is a call to all men to repent and believe. It is the message of Jesus Christ crucified, dead, buried, and raised. This message is extended to all freely. It is the call for all sinners to repent of their wickedness and turn if faith to Christ. As Christ says “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). The promise of God is that, for any who repent and believe, they will be forgiven and receive everlasting life: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

The general gospel call is the ordinary means by which God has appointed to bring unbelievers to himself, and it is the example we are given by the prophets, the apostles, and Jesus Christ. However, the general call can be rejected by men, and it is rejected by everyone who hears but does not believe.

The effectual call, in contrast, cannot be rejected, for it is the call of the Holy Spirit whereby those chosen by God are enabled and convinced to embrace Christ as Lord and Savior. All who are effectually called are saved: I point you back to the text I opened with “And those He predestined, He also called; those He called; He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:30). Whom God has predestined, he will call, justify, and glorify.

The general call is our responsibility. Christ says in the high priestly prayer “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” The effectual call is the God’s responsibility. Christ says in John 6 that “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.” Again Christ says “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. . . . Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father” (John 6:63-65).

It is the effectual call that produces in us new life. Scripture teaches us that we were once dead in our trespasses and sins. The dead cannot respond to anything, internal or external. The dead cannot come back to life unless God raise him.  Ephesians 2 states that: “God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” It is the Spirit, then, that makes our hearts and minds alive to the gospel, convinces us of our sin and misery, and enables us who were once dead to respond in faith to Christ.

So, there is the general call, given to all men, which is our responsibility, and there is the effectual call, given only to the elect, which is God’s responsibility.

At this point, I would like to give you some concrete examples of the two calls of which I am speaking, so I want to look at two separate events out of the book of Acts: the saving of the three thousand at Pentecost found in Acts 2, and the martyrdom of Stephen found in Acts 7. I just want us to notice three things out of both passages: first, the same gospel messaged is proclaimed in each; second, the gospel message has the same temporal affect in each; but, third, the gospel message two very different eternal affects.

Both Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 and Stephen’s testimony Acts 7 are quite long and I am not going to replicate them here. I encourage you to read and compare both passages when you have the time, but for now, just take me at my word that both Peter and Stephen preach Christ Crucified, Dead, Buried, and Raised. Same message in each passage. Looking at Pentecost, what was the temporal effect of the Gospel message? Acts says “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart.” What was the eternal effect: the men who heard said ‘what shall we do.’ They repented, and three thousand souls were added to the church.

Looking at the martyrdom of Stephen in Acts 7 we see that Stephen shares the same Gospel message. What was the temporal effect on Stephen’s listeners? Acts 7:54 says “When they heard these things they were cut to the heart.” Same temporal effect. But what was the eternal effect? They gnashed at Stephen with their teeth, stopped up their ears, drug Stephen out of the city, and beat him with rocks until he died. Same message, same temporal effect, two different eternal effects. What made the difference? The Holy Spirit made the difference. The gospel call went to both groups. But the effectual calling of the Holy Spirit was given to the first, and not the second.

So, then, how does this distinction between the general call and the effectual motivate and encourage us as Christians to press forward in faith with evangelism? I have three things for you:

First, we have the message. It is the same message to all people, all times. If you want to know how to share the Gospel, then tell people about Christ crucified, dead, buried, and raised. Be encouraged that all of you are equipped to share that message.

Second, ours is the duty, but the power is Gods. Romans 1:16 says “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew fist and also the Greek.” If we believe the promise that the unlimited power of God is in this message that we have, ought it not to motivate us to share it?

Finally, knowing that you have the message, the general call that you can be bring to others, and that the power of the effectual call is in God’s hands, do not fear rejection. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel out of fear of rejection. Bring the message, and trust in God. For all those whom God predestines, He will call, justify, and glorify. Let us press on in faith, sharing the gospel message to a dying culture around us.

A Picture of Christ

Before reading the Scripture passage below, I would like to ask you to prime your imaginations. The Apostle John is about to describe for you a picture of the risen and glorified Christ. My purpose today is to give you the opportunity to allow that picture to resonate in your minds eye, so that the affections of your heart may be more greatly turned towards our Lord.

Rev. 1:12-18

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

The passage you have just read in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ—that is, the book of revealing or making known—is the first picture of the Glorified Christ offered to us in the New Testament. Yes, before John’s vision, others saw the Glorified Christ, and we can read about those people. Stephen, for instance, saw Christ before he was stoned. Paul, or rather Saul, saw the light of Christ’s glory, and was blinded by it. However, this is the first time that we see the glorified Christ. This is the first description, the first picture that we have of him. Now, a picture, in this sense of the word, is a description so vivid or graphic as to suggest a mental image or give an accurate idea of someone or something. It is an image, or representation of something. Now, I do not think that we can infer from this passage that if we were caught up into heaven this very moment, that this picture is exactly what Christ would look like. But this is a word picture available to us non-the-less. So then, what does this word picture accurately depict?

There is a lot that could be said about the description of Christ given here: his robe, his eyes, his feet, his voice, etc. However, I don’t have the space here to say those things, and I don’t want to get lost in all the details. What I primarily wish to do is to highlight the awesome power of Christ’s majesty. Look with me at the end of verse 16: “His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.” If we were all outside, I would invite each of you to spend just a brief moment looking into the sun. It would be blinding, wouldn’t it. Dazzling. Now consider the fact that the sun is 93 million miles away, and its light, as we see it, must travel through cosmic debris, through atmosphere, through clouds and dust before it reaches us. The sun’s light is obstructed. For the sun to be shining in its full strength is to be shining completely unobstructed. And here John is, standing in the very midst of a light like that. What do you think that would be like? Well, I’m not sure. But to get an idea, we can look at how John reacts: John says in verse 17 that “when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.”

To really appreciate this, consider for a moment who John is. He is the most beloved disciple. He is the one who knew Jesus the best during his earthly ministry. He is the one who was held in Jesus’ bosom as they reclined at the table. Jesus, as he hung dying from the tree, asked John to take care of his mom. You have to know someone pretty well to be able to say, “your mom, now she’s my mom.” And yet what is the first thing John does when he sees the glorified Christ? He falls on his face in terror, as if dead.

When is the last time you have ever done a cartwheel? Probably not since you were a little child. Have you ever stopped to think what you will do when you finally meet your maker face to face? The first thing that will happen, I think, is that you will fall on your face. But I don’t think you are going to stay there. Because the next thing that will happen, I think, is that Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who, 1st Timothy tells us, “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see,” will stoop down to you, lay his hand on you, and say “it is I: do not be afraid. I am the one who lives. I am the one who died for you, and behold, I am alive forevermore.” And at that moment you will dance before your king like a little child.

You see, Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus Christ, in all his splendor and majesty, “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Isaiah 52 says that at the cross, “his appearance was marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.” Imagine, the king of creation, arrayed in glory and splendor, suffering that for you. Because that is what it took, so that you could stand before God without fear.

That, I think, is the picture of Christ that this passage points us to. This same Jesus, the Ancient of Days, Very God of Very God, who was born a man, lived a sinless life, suffered on the cross for our sins, who was dead, and lived again, and who is alive forevermore, and sits at the right hand of the Father, this same Jesus invites us to come to him and commune with him. This passage points us back to Jesus Crucified, and reminds us of the price that was paid on our behalf. And this passage points us forward to Jesus Glorified. Philippians 2 continues, and says, speaking of Jesus, “therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This passage points us to the day when we will no longer need to imagine Christ, when we will no longer need pictures: for we will see our king face to face and sing his praises for eternity. Amen.

A Corporate Prayer of Confession

Isaiah 59:12; Ephesians 1:4-6; 4:1, 31; 2 Corinthians 5:21

For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And as for our iniquities, we know them:

Holy Father,

We come before you naked, and ashamed. For all our sins are laid bare before you; all our transgressions we have committed in your sight. We have both openly violated your law, and hidden sin within our hearts, thinking no one knows of them, or making excuses for them, thinking them insignificant.

But you know them Father, and no man can make excuse to you. There is none such rebellion against you as to count as insignificant, for all rebellion against you is to strike you in the face with the hands that you created Lord, that were made to embrace you.

Forgive us, Lord, I ask, for our open rebellion. Forgive us Lord, I ask, for our so-called secret, or insignificant sins. And forgive us Lord, I ask, for when we, like our first parents, attempt to hide ourselves from you, covering ourselves with the fig leaves of our own self-righteousness.

Yet, Lord, you have not left us without grace. Our hatred, malice, ill-will, vain-glory, licentiousness, covetousness, rebellions, lies; Lord, our many temptations and falls – all these things we lay at the foot of the cross, for you made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Father, we can do nothing but claim the blood of Christ.

Remember not our transgressions Lord, and empower us now by your Spirit to walk worthy of the calling to which we have been called that we should be holy and without blame before You in love, You having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Yourself, according to the good pleasure of Your will,to the praise of the glory of Your grace, by which You made us accepted in the Beloved.

It is in Christ’s Name I pray,

Amen.


Three Short Applications of the Doctrine of Total Depravity

Briefly, the Doctrine of Total Depravity defines the condition in which man finds himself in. From conception, the effects of sin are totally pervasive over man’s entire being. The whole person of man has been affected by the fall.

This does not mean that every person is as evil as they possibly could be, or that no person is able to recognize the will of God or do any good towards their fellow man. It simply means that there is no part of man that is not tainted by sin. The totality of our being, and every faculty along with it, is inherently sinful.

This is what it means to have a sin nature: because we are sinful in our totality, every part of us naturally sins. Because of Total Depravity, the very first presupposition we should hold before making application is that we must expect man to sin. The second presupposition we should hold is that we must expect man to sin in every area of life. Therefore, the most fundamental application of the Doctrine of Total depravity is that man’s totally pervasive sin nature is something that must be guarded against, in every area of life.

The specifics of how sin nature must be guarded against will very depending on the specific area of life.  One thing, however, will remain constant—God knows what is right, and he has revealed what is right in his Word. The Word of God is both the final authority and the sufficient standard for every area of life, and is therefore the chief instrument by which we are to apply the doctrine of total depravity.

The doctrine being sufficiently stated, here are three short applications of the doctrine of total depravity.

Civics

Government’s chief purpose is to restrain violence and disorder, and to facilitate righteous living. But the government itself cannot be trusted with inordinate power and so it itself must be carefully restrained.

God has not granted civil government unlimited authority to pursue its purpose without restraint. Government itself is under the rule of God’s law.

Until Christ’s coming, man will always be wicked. Therefore, the purpose of government is NOT to achieve utopian ideal, nor is it to perfect mankind through human institutions. Not only is it not the place of government to do so, but it is futile to even attempt. The doctrine of total depravity therefore rejects the idol of human perfection and instead sees God alone on the throne.

Because government is instituted to restrain human wickedness, and because all humans are wicked, including those in government, the government must be organized in such a way as to restrain the wickedness of those ruling. No man is exempt from the rule of law.

Child raising

The principle application of total depravity that we should make regarding child raising is to reject the Pelagian notion that a person is born with the same purity and moral abilities as Adam before the fall. We are by nature sinners from birth (Eph. 2:3; Psalm 51:5). Thus we must realize that, unless corrected, a child’s natural desire will be to live in sin and rebellion.

The primary means of correction in a child’s life is his parents. God commands parents to “but bring them [their children] up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). The two primary instruments by which parents must train and admonition their children are first, the rod of correction, and second, instruction in righteousness through the Word.

Again, the doctrine of total depravity teaches us that, unless corrected, a child will naturally live in sin and rebellion, which leads to death (both physically and spiritually). Proverbs 23:13 states “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.” Proverbs 24:11 states “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.” Hebrews 12:6 states that “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” Therefore, the rod of correction is an instrument of discipline instituted by God in order to soften a rebellious heart and hold back a child from the slaughter. We discipline because we love.

As the rod is used for correction, so to the Word of God is used for instruction. 1 Corinthians 3 tells us that “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness.’ And again, ‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.’” Matthew 15 teaches that “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.” Therefore, the doctrine of total depravity teaches us that, unless instructed in righteousness, the natural thoughts of the mind will be futile and the natural inclination of the heart will be wickedness. The means of instruction that God has given us is his word: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches us that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” As such, any instructional institution that is antithetical to God’s word, such as state sponsored education, ought to be rejected by the Christian.

Philosophy

The doctrine of total depravity teaches that sin has negatively impacted every part of our being, including the mind. Because of sin, we cannot think properly about things: we are hampered both in our ability to think well, that is, in our natural ability to use reason, and in our ability to think correctly, that is, in our ability to apprehend truth. As such, fallen man rejects the wisdom and truth of God.

The first and most obvious application of the doctrine of total depravity to philosophy is that we should be naturally suspicious of our ability to reason well apart from God’s help. We should not trust in ourselves. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and Proverbs 28 teaches us that “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.”

This is not to say that sinful man has no ability to apprehend any truth. Romans 2 states that “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts.”

However, Scripture teaches us that any truth, when separated from God and his direct revelation, will ultimately only lead to futility and darkness. Romans 1 teaches that God gives the reprobate up to a depraved mind “because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator. . . .” We will never be able to fully apprehend God’s truth if we worship creation, be it the physical laws of the universe, the laws of logic, or our own minds, rather than the Creator.

Scripture teaches that it is only by the Holy Spirit’s work that we may have a renewed heart and mind. It is by the Holy Spirit that we are given the mind of Christ and are given spiritual discernment, thereby able to think rightly and properly apprehend truth (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16). Because of our totally depraved nature, without this spiritual discernment and apart from God, all worldly wisdom leads to futility (Ecclesiastes 1).

I will end here for now. Many more applications could be made – I hope you are beginning to see the pervasiveness, the totality, of the doctrine of total depravity!

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Based on Psalms 95 and 136

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the LORD is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.

Oh Lord, we give thanks to you for your infinite greatness and goodness. For you have created all things by your great power and called them good; you sustain all things by your good hand; and you love to bless your people out of your goodness. Thank you, Father, for these many blessings. For sun and moon and stars; for the changing of the seasons; for fields beautifully arrayed. Thank you for many relationships you have given us; thank you that you that we are not alone. Thank you, Father, for our daily bread. Thank you for giving us safe places to live and work and worship you. And thank you for revealing yourself to us, for you yourself, Lord, are our ultimate good.

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!
For His mercy endures forever.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!
For His mercy endures forever:

Now to Him alone who does great and wondrous works, who made the heavens and earth in power and wisdom, who sustains his creation with goodness and mercy, and who bled and died on our behalf, we offer up our eternal thanks and gratitude.

It is in Christ’s name I pray,
Amen.


All His creation was Very Good

Genesis 1:31

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. . . .

Q: What else did God Create?
A: God created all things by his powerful Word, and all his creation was very good; everything flourished under his loving rule.

In the beginning, God created the world in six days. After each of his acts of creation, God declares his work to be “good” (with the notable exceptions of when there was a heaven without an earth in Gen. 1:8, and when there was a man without a woman in Gen. 2:18). At the completed act of creation, God surveys all that he had made, and declares it to be “very good.” All the individual pieces of creation are good because God created them to be so, and because God declares them as such; creation inherits its goodness from God. Taken as a whole, as a completed act, God’s creation was very good.

The goodness of God’s character extends to his creation. And all of creation is very good in so far as it reflects God’s character. When God declares his creation to be very good, he is affirming creation’s original design and intent: to reflect and display God’s power, goodness, beauty, majesty, and love. To show his character. John Calvin writes that:

Correctly then is this world called the mirror of divinity; not that there is sufficient clearness for man to gain a full knowledge of God, by looking at the world, but that he has thus so far revealed himself, that the ignorance of the ungodly is without excuse. Now the faithful, to whom he has given eyes, see sparks of his glory, as it were, glittering in every created thing. The world was no doubt made, that it might be the theatre of the divine glory.
God’s creation points to him in such a way as to make it impossible NOT to see his handiwork. It demonstrates that God has created and that he is sustaining.

Further, God created by his powerful word: he spoke creation into existence. However, in the New Testament, we get a fuller picture of what is mean by God’s Word. In the first chapter of John, we read “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God, and without him was not anything made that was made.” So God’s powerful word, by which creation was made, is Jesus Christ himself.

So, Christ created all things very good: in the beginning everything was as God intended it to be. Creation was in perfect harmony with its creator: everything flourished under his loving rule. This is epitomized by the Old Testament concept of Shalom, often translated as “peace” in our English bible. In his book, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be, Cornelius Plantinga offers this definition of shalom:

The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight…Shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.… The full flourishing of human life in all aspects, as God intended it to be.
Shalom, therefore, is a much richer and deeper concept than the simple absence of conflict. It is the complete, perfect, and fruitful harmony between God, man, and the rest of creation. And when creation is in harmony with the creator, everything flourishes.

Obviously, this is not the case today. Sin has broken shalom and has brought death and decay into the world. Christ the creator is denied and openly rebelled against by we his creatures. Our harmonious relationship with God, with man, and with the rest of the created order is broken.

But it’s not going to stay that way. There is a redeemer, and his name is the Prince of Peace. He will restore all things, and it will be very good.

A Corporate Prayer of Confession

Based on Psalms 1, 30, and 130.

O LORD God,

If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? For we have sinned against you times without number.

We have walked in the counsel of the ungodly, trusting in the world’s wisdom, and in created things, rather than in You, the Creator, and in your truth.

We have stood with sinners, seeking fellowship with the world, and deliberately rejecting fellowship with you.

We have scorned and mocked others, oftentimes those who are the weakest among us. Lord, what we have done to the least of these, we have done to you. Forgive us Lord.

We have not taken delight in your instruction, but instead have seen it as a burden. Our minds and our hearts have wandered far from you. Lord, Forgive us.

Lord, it is your hands that have made us, and it is you who have planted us by streams of living water. Forgive us for being content with mere smatterings of rain, instead of drinking deeply of the river of your word. May we not be like the fig tree which, when you looked to it for fruit, found none.

Lord, as we confess our guilt to you, help us to feel it deeply, help us to have true godly self-despair. You have said in your word that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Lord, help us to understand that without Christ, we can do nothing.

Yet,

Help us to remember that our hope is in you, and in the Lamb that takes away sin. You have said in your word that a righteous man may fall seven times and stand again, and Lord, we have fallen seventy times seven. We cry out with Peter, as he saw the waves, “Lord, save me!”

So Lord, help us to stand up.

For, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.
Lord, You brought me up from Sheol;
You spared me from among those
going down to the Pit.
Sing to Yahweh, you His faithful ones,
and praise His holy name.
For His anger lasts only a moment,
but His favor, a lifetime.
Weeping may spend the night,
but there is joy in the morning.

It is in Christ’s holy name I pray,

Amen.

Incredible Promises in the book of Jude

The reader of Jude is confronted with a dire situation: false teachers have crept into the church, and have filled it with apostasy, sexual immorality, and idolatry. Reading point after point of perversion and sin within the church, it is easy to draw parallels between the church in Jude's time, and the state of our own Western church today. In doing so, the reader may be tempted to become despondent. Far from being discouraging, however, the book of Jude offers its reader many encouraging promises of God, even in the face of apostasy.

The book of Jude is written to "those who are called, sanctified by the God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ." God knows who are his own, and has called and sanctified them. To be sanctified carries with it the idea of being "set-apart." Be encouraged that Christ has won for himself a particular, set-apart church, and is actively preserving it. Jesus says in the book of John that "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand." Even in times of apostasy, we can trust that Christ is keeping his own.

Verse 3 of Jude states that we are to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." Saints, the faith has been "once for all" delivered to you. The victory has already been won in Christ, and His church will prevail. Because the victory has already been won, we have the hope, motivation, tools, and strength to contend for the faith. Indeed, Ephesians 1:3 states that we have been blessed with “every spiritual blessing.” We have the promise that Christ's church will prevail, and we have the promise that God will equip His church to prevail during its time here on earth.

Verse 4 turns its attention to the false teachers corrupting the church, and, interestingly, states that these teachers were "long ago marked out for this condemnation." Even the enemies of God are His tools to be used as He wishes. Even in the midst of apostasy, take heart that God has marked them out. He is in control.

Verses 5 - 10 paint a bleak picture of the judgment awaiting an apostate church, and here it may once again be tempting to become discouraged. However, take heart in the fact that it is God Himself who will enact judgment. An apostate church is in rebellion against God first and foremost, and God promises that He will take care of it as only he can. Verse 9 is instructive in this regard. It states that "Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you!'" We as the true church have the authority to speak out against evil in the name of God. We must do so in God's power, not our own.

Verse 11 highlights three major apostasies in the Old Testament: the sin of Cain, the first apostate; the prophet Balaam who attempted to curse God's people for profit; and the rebellion of the people of God at Korah. Even in these examples, however, we may find hope. Cain slew Able, but God provided another seed for his church in Seth: God always provides for his church. God did not allow Balaam to speak his curses: people may speak evil of the church, but God will never allow his church to be cursed. At Korah, even though the people rebelled against God, and God admonished them through the desert wanderings, still, God cared for and preserved His people through those desert wanderings. God always preserves His own. Further, the desert wanderings served the purpose of killing off the rebellious generation, so that a generation more fit to serve him would rise up and take Canaan. Take heart that during times of apostasy, God is at work “skimming off the dross” and purifying his church.

Verses 17 and 18 offer another incredible promise. They state, "But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts." Apostasy is no surprise to God, and God has in turn warned us about it. God has given us knowledge of the types of apostasy to expect in the church, and has given us the tools to deal with it. God takes care of his church. He has forewarned us. Further, verse 20 tells us to build ourselves up on our most holy faith. Take heart that we have a firm foundation on which to build. God is our rock. And God would not command us to build something without giving us the tools to do so.

So then, take these incredible promises to heart, even in the face of apostasy. Christ has won for himself a particular church, is actively preserving it, has promised that it will prevail, and has equipped us with every spiritual blessing. God is in control of all creation, even those who rebel against him. God is a just judge, and we can trust in his justice. Even in times of admonishment of the Lord, we can take heart in God's purifying work. Christ is our foundation, and we are therefore enabled to be "steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Cor. 15:58). What great promises indeed!

I will leave you as the book of Jude leaves you, with this final incredible promise:
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.

Why did God create us?

Genesis 1:27

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Q: How and why did God create us?
A: God created us male and female in his own image to know him, love him, live with him, and glorify him. And it is right that we who were created by God should live to his glory[1].

In the beginning, God created; he is the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything. But in the midst of all the rest of his creation, God also created something very particular, very unlike everything else: he created us, mankind. It is God who has made us, and he has made us in a very particular way for a very particular purpose. God has fashioned every one of us in his own image. This doctrine has many amazing implications—here are but a few of them. Briefly, I will discuss what it means to be God's image, how we are to act in light of God's image, and finally, why God created us in his image in the first place.

What does it mean to be in the image of God? First, in means that the common humanity we bear as mankind is born by nature of our common image. The image of God is not so much something that man has as something that man is. God's image is essential to our nature, and is not something that can ever be taken away from us. Our common humanity by nature of being in the image of God is the most fundamental aspect of our being and is therefore the one thing that is certain to give common ground. We are able to relate to other human beings as human beings by virtue of our common image.

Being in the image of God is also what bestows the freedoms and moral obligations all of us share. The image of God is foundational to the belief that all men are created equal, and it is our unique position as beings created in God’s image that obligates us to behave morally towards one another. A wrong action taken against the image of God is ultimately a wrong action taken against God Himself (Genesis 9:5-6). The image of God is also what bestows what is commonly understood as "human dignity," that is, the recognition that human beings possess a special value intrinsic to their humanity and as such are worthy of respect simply because they are human beings. Crimes that violate the personhood of an individual, such as slavery, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, etc. are felt to be particularly heinous for this reason: they violate the intrinsic worth each of us share as image bearers.

So then, being created in the image of God defines our very nature, and informs how we are to relate to one another as fellow image bearers.

The image of God also informs how we are to relate to the rest of God's creation. In Genesis 1:28, God commands us to "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." God, as the creator of all things, rightly exercises his rule and authority over all things. Now, God has given mankind this same authority: to rule over creation. Not with the same power and perfection as God himself, as we are limited by our nature as creatures, but it is authority none-the-less. We rule creation as images of God. As we image God by taking dominion over creation, we are to do so in a way the images God's character: in wisdom, love, care, and creativity. When we have NOT imaged God's character in exercising rule, the results have been been famine, pestilence, genocide, land fires, droughts, pollution, the extinction of species, slavery, and much more.

Being the image of God, therefore, informs how we are to relate to, and rule over, the rest of creation. But why did God create us this way in the first place? John Piper writes that “he [God] makes humans in his image to image something, namely, himself. So our existence is about showing God’s existence or, specifically, it’s about showing God’s glory. . . . We want to think and live and act and speak in such a way that we draw attention to the manifold perfections of God.” We were made in the image of God so that we might draw attention to God. This is what it means to give God glory. When we acknowledge God’s good providence in our lives, we give him glory. When we sing hymns of praise to God, we give him glory. When we reflect on God’s awesome power in creation, we give him glory. When we live our lives in humble reliance on God, we give him glory. When we live in such a way as to display God’s character attributes, his goodness, kindness, mercy, justice, creativity, we give him glory.

And it is good and right that we should do so. J. C. Ryle writes:

Anything whereby we may glorify God is a talent, our gifts, our influence, our money, our knowledge, our health, our strength, our time, our senses, our reason, our intellect, our memory, our affections, our privileges as members of Christ’s Church, our advantages as possessors of the Bible—all, all are talents. Whence came these things? What hand bestowed them? Why are we what we are? Why are we not the worms that crawl on the earth? There is only one answer to these questions. All that we have is a loan from God. We are God’s stewards. We are God’s debtors. Let this thought sink deeply into our hearts.

We owe God everything; God needs us for nothing. In him we live and move and have our being. We need him for all, for without his sustaining hand, all things would cease to exist. God did not have to reveal himself to us, but in his wisdom he has, and has given us the ability to know him, to God be the glory. It is because God first loved us that we love him and are enabled to love others, to God be the glory. God has no need for our fellowship, but in his infinite goodness he has chosen to share himself with us so that we might live with him, to God be the Glory.

This, then, is a small picture of what it means to be made in the image of God. It means to live our entire lives pointing to God. The image of God is what defines our very nature. It is what defines our relationships with each other and the rest of creation. And, ultimately, it defines our purpose. God is our ultimate end. And because God created us for this purpose, we find the most fulfilment accomplishing this purpose. To enjoy God is to find fulfilment in doing that which God created us for: knowing, loving, living with, and glorifying Him.

“To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen!” – 1 Timothy 1:17