"... when you were dead in your sins... God made you alive..." - Colossians 2:13 "...present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life..." - Romans 6:13
How were the people in the Old Testament made right with God?
Before I thought it was through faith in God in general, and perhaps sacrifices. Then I listened to Mark Driscoll preaching over Genesis. He said that all the Old Testament people who were faithful also believed in Jesus.
The only things I have found that seem to support the idea that the Old Testament patriarchs had faith in Christ is 1 Peter 1:10-12. Also, I found several predictions and prophecies about Jesus, the Messiah. Maybe the Old Testament prophets knew Jesus would come, and it was their job to tell other people.
Also, Luke 24:25-26 says that the whole Bible is about Jesus. But, did the people in the Old Testament know that?
About Abraham: it is clear that he was made right with dad by faith… but faith in who/what?
-Galatians 3:8 says that God told Abraham the gospel by telling him that the nations would be blessed through him. - Did Abraham know this was because of his offspring (Jesus)? - Romans 4 seems to suggest that Abraham's faith was in God and his promise. - John 8:56 says that Abraham rejoiced that he would see Jesus’ day.
Please let me know what you think and also if there are other helpful Scripture passages to read about this.
Answers:
Thank you for your questions - you’re thinking and working through some really deep stuff, and I’m both excited and impressed by the way you’re looking to God to teach you what he has told his children.
To answer your question, our ancient ancestors were made right with God because of Jesus. They knew him (not necessarily by name, but they knew him nonetheless) and had an assurance – though they didn’t see him - [see Hebrews 11] in who he was going to be. So folks were made right with dad because of our big brother and what he did. It’s that assurance of things unseen that let them be right with dad.
This topic is discussed in Romans 3:21-26 and Hebrews 11. It says that Moses chose to trust Christ and endure the shame of being one of God’s people rather than be rich in his comfortable palace as an Egyptian (Hebrews 11:26). But remember, Jesus (although he existed eternally past) hadn’t been born as a man yet. So something else was going on. Which leads me to Romans 3:21-26. It says Jesus died so that he could save us from our sins and make us right with God, but also to prove that God was a just judge. What I’m getting at is that Jesus died not only so we could know God, but also to show that God was a righteous God. Because if what we know about God from Romans 3:25 is true, and if Jesus didn’t die, then God wouldn’t be just – he would allow sin and disobedience to go on without punishing them, which isn’t justice. There are lots of other places where this concept is, but it’s mostly in Romans, especially chapter 5. Look into Ephesians 2 also.
I think Driscoll is right – our Christian forefathers have always believed in Jesus. If you look at Genesis 3:15 it’s the first time Jesus is mentioned (the seminary word for this is “proto-evangelion”). It says that Eve would have ‘seed’ which is a reference to a single male child... But it’s weird because women don’t have seed – men do. And this seed would grow up and kill the serpent (the devil) but it would hurt Jesus too (i.e. ‘bruise his heel’). So when Jesus died, that was the bruising – it was a seeming victory for the serpent, but ultimately it killed him because Jesus crushed him in the same act. The rest of the stories leading up to the New Testament and Jesus talk about him being a king, a servant, etc. - like in Isaiah 53 and 2 Samuel 7:12. There are many stories about Jesus in all of those books, and it’s really cool to read about him. Jesus even says so himself – John 5:39, and Luke 24:27 among others.
I believe Abraham did believe in God’s promise, which was Christ Jesus, the Messiah. When you mentioned Galatians 3:8 you’re exactly right. Those Old Testament prophets all speak of Jesus coming to earth – God in the flesh. So you’re right on the mark there.
The biggest thing to keep in mind is that dad says (in Romans 3.21-26) that Jesus died for all of the sins that God had overlooked from previous generations. He withheld his judgment because he knew Jesus was coming and would absorb that wrath and punishment. So God knew that even though they weren’t punished for disobeying, the punishment would fall on the shoulders of Christ.
1) You said that the wicked are people who directly oppose God at every point of their lives and are hardened against him. Don't all people act like this unless dad intervenes?
2) Sometimes like in Romans 9 the Bible says that God hardens people's hearts. So is everyone who will never belong to dad "wicked,” or is it just certain people that the Bible says God especially hates? (For example, false teachers and people who stir up dissension among Christians)
So are you saying that dad loves everyone, but chooses only to adopt some people?
Answers:
As far as your questions, I think you’re definitely thinking and praying hard through some really deep topics, and that’s awesome. I think as far as the Romans 9 part, you’re right on – Romans 1 and 8 talk about the same topics. I think God uses us like clay and uses us for his glory, whether we show his mercy or his justice. To answer your first question, I do believe that people are bad until God steps in and changes their heart (see Ephesians 1-2). That said, there are places where certain people will have a worse time than others – like people who lead children astray (Jesus speaks about this in Matthew 18:6), people who teach wrong things, etc. (see 2 Peter 2:1).
I definitely think that God has a love for everyone because they are part of what he made and they bear his image. But when we (meaning humanity in the Garden of Eden) rebelled against God and rejected him we were broken, dead, and separated from him (Romans 5). Then we were all rejected because of that rebellion and pride in exalting our own wants and reasoning above God’s revelation. And then when God showed us his grace and mercy, he chose some to come back to him as an example of his grace in our lives. That’s why we live everyday for him – because without him helping us on a constant basis, we wouldn’t be anything other than broken, sinful people without hope, rescue, or faith in anything. And that’s also why every part of our lives that is great and glorious is a result of his grace, because it’s all due to him ultimately. So when we see awesome successes, it’s all for him. And when we mess things up, we can still thank him and rest in Christ because our failure doesn’t mean he doesn’t love us – quite the opposite... He loves us more and loves us in spite of ourselves because Christ Jesus stepped in on our behalf and took our punishment on when he went to the cross to bear our sins and give us his obedience and righteousness.
Recently one of my friends who is doing mission work in a closed country sent me some really great questions and I gave it my best shot at answering them. I thought it might be interesting and maybe beneficial to post them here to get some discussion going. So over the next few days I’ll be posting a distillation of those conversations in a new series called “Big Questions, Round 2.”
Please feel free to comment, submit questions of your own, and/or just entertain your curiosity.
Questions:
1) In the Bible, sometimes it says that God loves the world, but other times it says that he hates the wicked. Isn't everyone wicked? So does that mean that he hates everyone?
2) Also, why does God give so much common grace to the people he hates?
3) Ezekiel 33:11 says that God does not delight in the death of the wicked. And Genesis 6:5-8 says that he was grieved that he had made men. After it says this, then he destroyed nearly everyone. But, this seems to show that he didn't want to destroy them out of hate, but he did destroy them out of justice.
Answers:
1) The ‘world’ you’re referring to needs to be viewed in context in the book and passage it appears in. It usually means a more global understanding of salvation given to God’s people – that is, Gentiles or people from every nation… folks he wouldn’t normally love. The ‘wicked’ are people who directly oppose God, who sin without remorse at every point of their lives and who are hardened against him. Since God is jealous for his own glory and his own fame, he hates those who don’t love him because they are worshiping idols or false gods. Pretty much every time God says he hates someone it’s in connection with idols and misplaced love and affections that should go to him. Ultimately God does love his creation because it reflects his glory. But when, like in Romans 1, we see people worshiping the creation rather than the Creator to whom it all points, God’s wrath is poured out on those people – and rightfully so.
2) The reason God lets even the worst people have common grace is that he is a loving and merciful God who is showing his glory and mercy to the world. But that doesn’t mean he won’t punish those who oppose him… he is just as well as merciful. Read Exodus 34:5-9 where God reveals his own nature… it’s right after the Israelites built the golden calf and God forgives them for what they’ve done. Then he makes another promise to them and reminds them of his love. But he also talks about his justice and exercising his right to judge. Therefore, when we see people cursing God and not falling dead on the spot, that is an example of God’s immense grace and patience (see Romans 9:22-24).
3) As far as God not delighting in the death of the wicked, it does grieve him to punish those he desires love from, but his character is such that he will be himself rather than go back on who he is in order to gain their love. He is ultimately about his glory and his purposes, which are hard for us to delve into because God has chosen to not reveal his purposes to us. In addition to that, God does not need to justify himself – see Job 38-42 and Romans 9… they testify to God’s absolute sovereignty.
Also read Romans 3:21-26 where it talks about God’s mercy – he looked over (or postponed judgment of) the disobedience of his children early on because he had decided to punish Jesus for what they did. Therefore when his Jesus was crucified on the cross, it established not only peace between elect sinners and God, but also established God as a just justifier… it upheld his character as well as made certain that we are his people and in his love. Without Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, God would be unjust (because he would have let the patriarchs’ – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. – disobedience be forgiven without punishment). This is the main reason why the cross of Christ is such a big deal – it does secure our salvation and hope, but it also is an integral part of God’s very nature.
“What He Must Be… if he wants to marry my daughter”
by Voddie Baucham
Rating: 4.5/5
The Short Review:
This is an excellent book that I highly recommend; pretty much everyone should read it. Seriously.
The Long Review:
As a single guy (an introverted one at that), I do a lot of thinking – especially about marriage, family, and dating. I’ve read quite a few books about dating and courtship, but none have challenged me as consistently, as thoroughly, or as deeply as “What He Must Be.” Dr. Baucham takes a gospel-centered view on preparing for marriage from a father’s perspective, and he does so in an engaging, widely applicable way.
Dr. Baucham’s primary audience is both young single men and fathers of daughters, but his understanding of what the Scriptures lay out for marriage is one of value for single ladies (especially those without a spiritually strong father), for couples without children (for laying a blueprint for intergenerational legacy), and pretty much anyone else who cares to delve into the countercultural biblical view of marriage.
The first chapter lays out an incredible vision for building and planning for multigenerational legacies in families, which stands in stark contrast to our culture’s ‘microwave mentality’ and lust for instant gratification at all costs. In chapter two, Baucham goes on to present a gospel-centered view of the ministry of marriage – that men have an obligation to be the spiritual leader in the home, which involves being a Christ-like husband and father. The third chapter goes more in-depth with the role of a father in his daughter’s life as her spiritual protector, provider, and primary male influence. The next five chapters deal with non-negotiable qualifications for men who are of marriage-quality. Baucham asserts that an aspiring husband must be: a Christ-follower; prepared to lead (and do so in a Christ-like way); committed to fathering children; and must be a protector, provider, and spiritual leader for his home. The last two chapters challenge fathers to step up and protect their daughters in very concrete, practical ways, and to do their part to ensure a spiritual legacy by discipling and sharpening their future sons-in-law for the sake of their grandchildren.
What He Must Be has left a deep imprint on me and has emboldened me to step up as an aspiring husband and father. Dr. Baucham’s understanding of the Scriptures as they address men in relation to marriage has challenged me, driven me to Scripture and prayer, and I pray has made me a better man. Though the effects are largely untested as of yet, I hope that time will tell that God has used What He Must Be to shape me into a man of multi-generational vision and excellent character who pastors his home well, honors his wife, and protects his daughters’ hearts – just the way God intended for daddies of little girls to be.
I recently watched an excellent sermon on Gospel-driven sanctfication from one of my favorite pastors, Matt Chandler of the Village Church in the Dallas area. During his address to the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference this year [see the full message here: http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/blog/pastors/?p=691], he quoted one of my favorite theologians, D.A. Carson:
“People do not drift towards holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate towards godliness, prayer, and obedience. They do not gravitate towards the Scriptures, towards faith, or delight in the Lord. We instead drift towards compromise and call it tolerance. We drift towards disobedience and call it freedom. We drift towards superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation. We slouch towards prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking that we have escaped legalism. We slide towards godlessness and convince ourselves that we have been liberated.”
-D.A. Carson (“For the Love of God” vol. 2)
This quote is haunting to me on a couple of levels – first, it is a scarily accurate depiction of my own heart; second, it is an indictment on the culture and faith that I celebrate and want to bring many others into.
What Carson is getting at, I believe, is the prideful anti-legalistic mindset of many in my own generation. Our parents and grandparents had Sunday School and strict Bible study guidelines, therefore we will abolish Sunday School and have ‘organic’ conversations about Scripture or our favorite podcast or Christian book rather than drive our minds to study Scripture itself. In doing so, we have lost the gumption and courage that it takes to continually war against our flesh and pursue heavenly goals.
To be sure, we have been liberated from sin, death, eternal judgment and suffering, and God’s wrath. But this doesn’t mean that we can traipse along without any care or affection for Christ or his Word. As a side note, merely professing a love for those things without following them up with action cannot and does not suffice – join me in repentance if you’ve seen that disconnect in your life. We have been liberated, which doesn’t mean that we can do whatever we want and God will still receive us because he has to. Rather, we have been redeemed and we now have the privilege of knowing the living God, worshiping him, communing with him, and spending our lives serving him. Our license is not to sin, but to worship a God who has received us into his family.
We must be careful, however, to not overreact to this for the sake of reaction itself. We must not slide into the legalistic mindset of “well if this is what I’m prone to not do, then I will set my every faculty to do it.” In other words, we must not become intolerant in order to avoid compromise or syncretism. We must not drive ourselves to heartless effort so as to combat laziness and/or a lack of discipline.
Rather, the appropriate response to this penetrating insight is to first acknowledge the truth of our hearts, to repent to our Lord, and to see that our desire to know him is a grace in and of itself. Not only has God paid our sin debt and redeemed us for himself, but he has also given us the grace to desire to know him. Let us then put our minds to studying our own affections and rhythms, and how they affect our relationship with God. Where are you weak? Where are you strong? What cultivates your affections for God and puts your mind on heavenly things? What distracts you from thinking about eternity and spiritual things? With what does your heart resonate, and what leads you to spontaneous worship? Then let us finally turn our minds to those things which drive us Christ-ward and either redeem or leave those things which pull our hearts away from him. These will be different for each person, and we must not be legalistic in our pursuit of them, but we must exert ourselves under the banner of God’s grace.
For me, this will look like experiencing nature (seeing mountains, watching animals, etc.), early mornings with strong coffee and deep Scriptures (Ecclesiastes, Hebrews, Romans), and mutually sharpening Gospel-centered conversations. For you it may look very different, or somewhat similar. Whatever the case may be, study yourself and pursue your God.
Respond with me and let us follow our King with this grace-driven effort – the passionate pursuit of God by the power of the Holy Spirit through the grace of Christ Jesus according to the Scriptures.
One of the things we strive for at CityView Church (where I am currently the Pastor for Spiritual Formation) is to live authentic Christ-focused lives that emanate the gospel in every way possible. One way that we’ve decided to equip our people with is through implementing Fight Clubs – a type of gospel-centered accountability and discipleship group that we borrowed from some guys down at Austin City Life in Austin. Take the time to check out www.gospelcentereddiscipleship.com for more details and to stay up to speed on what these guys are doing. It’s a tremendous ministry and it’s been huge for me personally.
What are Fight Clubs?
The basic idea of a Fight Club is that you have a group of two or three same-gender Christians who are committed to growing in Christ in accordance with Scripture. These folks will meet regularly (at least once ever couple of weeks) and study the Bible with a direct focus on sharpening each other and living out God’s Word.
There are three rules for Fight Clubs:
- Know your sin (Where are you inclined to sin, what form does that sin take, and what is ultimately the source of that sin?)
- Fight your sin (How do you go about living in obedience/victory/redemption rather than just treating the symptoms of your sin?)
- Trust your Savior (What does the Bible say about you, your sin, and Jesus?)
The format for a Fight Club is “Text-Theology-Life” - in other words, studying God’s word in such a way as to put it directly into our lives. To begin the meeting time there is a focused Bible study (I recommend about a chapter’s worth of reading or less with a few discussion questions) and from that content the group deduces some theological concepts about God, Jesus, and themselves. The group then discusses actionable items to put into their lives before the next meeting or for a longer-term set of goals. From then on, they keep each other accountable to those items and pray for each other throughout the week. The next meeting is another section of Scripture and the same process of gleaning theological understanding that the group can put into their lives.
Where Do I Start?
The best thing you can do to get oriented to the topic of accountability/discipleship groups is to pick up a copy of Jonathan Dodson’s book “Fight Clubs.” You can only find it here for $8.50 plus shipping. If that doesn’t work for you or if you’re not in the mood to read 60 pages, download a copy of this "fight clubs overview" document.
The next thing you should do is take a look at this document "Fight Clubs orientation" that consists of bullet-point take-aways from the book, my heart for this ministry, some practical how-to tips for making sure Fight Clubs are done well, and finally some potential road blocks and benefits of doing Fight Clubs.
What’s Next?
Now that you’ve gotten a (hopefully) decent understanding of what we’re after, it’s time for you to get into your own Fight Club if you’re up for it. Talk with people that are in your life group or other close friends at CityView about starting up a Fight Club and contact us if you have any questions. If you don’t have anyone in particular that you’d like to start a Fight Club with, let us know and we'll do our best to introduce you to other people who are in the market for a Fight Club.
[A note of introduction: I am indebted to Pastor James Noriega of Mars Hill Church for quite a bit of the material in this post. It is a distillation of the notes that I took during his session at the Redemption Groups Immersion I attended in Seattle a couple of months ago.]
This past weekend I had the opportunity to teach our Redemption Groups session on the Golden Calf – Volunteering for Slavery. Now, most people in the United States don’t bow down to crafted pieces of metal or wood and burn offerings on an alter to them on any kind of regular basis. But idolatry is very much alive and well in our culture – much more so than we would like to admit. And here I would also like to distinguish the kind of idolatry I’ll be addressing from ‘crackberry’ addictions and being a slave to your email inbox. I’d like to go deeper and cut more to the heart of the issue of idolatry rather than saying that certain behaviors or creations are bad.
So, for the purposes of this post, I’ll consider an idol to be:
-Anything that is more important to you than God.
oWhat do you do to the exclusion of loving and following Christ?
oWhat comes between you and developing your relationship with God?
-Anything that absorbs your heart and mind more than God.
oWhat do you think about or have a love for more than Jesus?
-Anything that you look to provide only what God can give.
oWhere/what/who do you seek approval, affection, love, atonement, satisfaction, peace, security from?
-Anything that gives you meaning and significance other than God.
oHow do you introduce or describe yourself?
oWhat do you base your identity in?
-Anything that gives you happiness other than God.
oWhere are you most happy?
oWhat defines what happiness and joy are in your life?
And we sign ourselves up for voluntary slavery to these idols by:
-Trading the Truth for a lie (Romans 1:25)
oKnowing what Truth (theologically and biblically correct worldview) is and still choosing something that is contrary to it.
-Being seduced by a lie
oKnowing Truth but listening to and being wooed by something else.
-Choosing to be a victim by your slavery
oExplaining away or justifying a victim mentality (“I’m so abused and hurt that I don’t think I’ll ever get out of this sin”)
oBeing victimized, though it is horrid and awful, is no excuse to continue making the situation worse.
-Allowing something else to give you identity
oYour sin does not determine who you are (divorcee, rapist, addict, pornographer, rape victim, etc.)
oGod determines who you are, not someone who has either sinned against you or who has endured your sin against them.
Several questions to get at your heart:
- Is your sin defining you?
- Are you allowing sin to happen in your life?
- Are you in voluntary slavery?
A story about Abraham Lincoln before the Civil War holds that he bought a slave woman at an auction and then immediately set her free. She asked if she was free to go wherever she wanted and do whatever she pleased, and he said that she indeed was. She then said that she would follow him wherever he went, because she wanted to be with the person who set her free rather than anyone else. [1]
This illustrates the principle that we find in Romans 6:17-18:
“But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (emphasis added)
So for our situations – no matter what they are – where else would we rather be than with the one who has freed us from our slavery to sin? What more desirable set of circumstances could we find ourselves in than to be with the one who exercised his authority and power to release us from our pitiable situation?
Repent, be reconciled to God because his grace is immense, his love is pure, and his desire is for us to live in joy-filled freedom.
This repentance process should look something like this:
-turn your heart away from your sin and toward God
-understand the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the weight of your sin against an almighty and holy God
-confess your sin to God, your community of believers, and anyone affected by it
-restore any damages or losses that have been incurred because of your sin (this is NOT atonement, but rather only repairing what you’ve damaged)
-rejoice in your forgiveness and freedom, and praise God for giving you the gift of repentance
1) This story occurs in many places, but I found a pretty good rendition of it here: http://www.leaderu.com/common/porn.html
Today is a big day for me as an (amateur) historian, a Texas Aggie (whoop!), and as an American.
One of the most iconic moments in United States history occurred 66 years ago today: the amphibious assault on the Bayeux region in Normandy, France which began the Allied invasion of Europe (‘Operation Overlord’) in World War II.
Late the night before on June 5th, several airborne divisions landed behind enemy lines and got into position for the main assault the following morning. Early in the morning on June 6, 1944, 5,000 vessels carrying over 160,000 Allied soldiers (nearly 75,000 Americans) landed at various beachheads along the northern French coast. Though it was by no means the beginning of American involvement in World War II (we’d already fought in the Pacific and North African theaters), it did represent the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.
A whole host of factors came together in a perfect storm to make the D-Day landing a success, including: Hitler sleeping late because he was coming down from the moral equivalent of a crystal meth high, a brilliant fake-out involving General George S. Patton and a cardboard army in southern England (‘Operation Quicksilver’), and a daring assault involving a 100 ft. climb up a rocky cliffs under enemy fire.
Though there are many cool stories surrounding the D-Day invasion, I’d like to tell you of one in particular that struck me as extra awesome. Pointe du Hoc lay directly between the American-assigned Omaha and Utah beaches on the western edge of the Allied assault. There, on a ridge overlooking the sea was a large fortified battery of German artillery with a commanding view of the entire invasion force. After a bit of pre-invasion bombing, Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder (a Texan) led a force of Army Rangers up a100 foot steep, rocky climb under fire to directly attack the enemy artillery position. Rudder lost half of his men in the initial assault, but after capturing their objective held off enemy counterattacks for two days until American soldiers from the Utah beachhead fought their way to the point. ‘Rudder’s Rangers’ ultimately suffered 70% casualties (Rudder himself wounded twice), but accomplished a pivotal objective in the Normandy invasion which helped the largest amphibious assault in history to succeed.
Rudder went on to become one of the most decorated soldiers of World War II, and also served as the president of Texas A&M University – my alma mater – from 1959-1970 (the main auditorium and meeting room complex at A&M bear his name).
I had the opportunity to visit the Bayeux and Caen area on a long weekend during a study abroad trip in the summer of 2004 (I missed the 60th anniversary ceremony by just a couple of days), and it is a beautiful area. The rich history of a united Allied effort against a tyrannical dictator and an oppressive fascist permeated the beautiful rural region, which still bears the scars of naval and aerial bombardment.
So whether you love history or Texas Aggies, or don't care about either, please join me in remembering and honoring the heroism that 66 years ago today helped establish the freedom in which we as Americans now live.
Yesterday I completed a journey that has taken me four years to complete – I graduated with a Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
It has been a long road and I am overwhelmed with emotion when I think back over the past four years and God’s sustaining grace through it all. One of the biggest evidences of that grace has been my friends, family, mentors, community, and church family who have helped me in countless ways. I believe with all of my heart that I could not have done this without you. Therefore, this post is a letter of gratitude, of rejoicing, and of praise to you all – I hope you’ll indulge me for the next few paragraphs as I put my thoughts into words as best I can.
First, to my family:
I honestly do not know where to begin thanking you. This seminary journey could not have begun without the patient correction, biblical instruction, wisdom-filled encouragement, and steadfast prayers along the way. I am only partially aware of the financial burden that you have taken upon your shoulders, and I am truly grateful for God giving you the means to bless me and provide for me in that very specific and absolutely essential way. Thank you also for you kind words through email, phone calls, texts, and letters, and thank you for loving me through the good years as well as the bad. God has been most gracious to let me do life with all of you, and I am blessed beyond compare to know that he has given us the added grace of knowing, loving, and following Christ together. I pray that our fervor and sanctification to God’s glory continues, and I am excited to pray with you for the future generations of our family. I love you, I thank you, and I am praying for you.
To my dear friends:
I don’t believe that I have a sufficient vocabulary or eloquence to express to you how much you have meant to me these past few years. Each and every one of you has blessed me in countless ways, from the late-night conversations to the dinners, movies, sunburns, inside jokes, road trips, and literally thousands of cups of coffee that we have shared. Know that I love you all and that God has worked through you in so many incredible ways that I am overwhelmed when I try to think through all of them. You have seen me at my best, have endured me at my worst, have slogged through the depths and have rejoiced with me on the heights. You know who I am and you stick with me anyway. I am honored to be called ‘friend’ by you, and if God gives us the grace to spend many more years together, I pray they are as fruit-filled and memorable as these have been. I hope I have been as much of an encouragement and sharpening iron as you have been on me. I love you all, I thank you for this season, and know that I am praying for you.
To my church family:
God affords us many joys in this life, but there are precious few that can compare with the blessing I have received through worshiping our Lord with you, praying with you, and living out this Christ-life with you. It has been quite the journey, and I am grateful for a body of believers who are dedicated to Christ our King above all, and to knowing him more deeply in spirit and in truth. I am honored to have done life with you these past four years, and though God has blessed me with a tremendous biological family, you have been my adopted family during this season in my life and I cannot thank you enough for that. We have been through many joy-filled seasons, as well as times of grief and tragedy together. Through it all, you have been a delight to lead and serve, and I count it equally a blessing and a privilege to be called one of your pastors. I pray that I have stewarded this season with you well, and I look forward to watching how God moves in an amongst our expression of his Bride. I love you all, I thank you for making this season a joy, and I pray for you constantly.
To my fellow pastors, mentors, and ministry leaders:
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your wisdom, advice, encouragement, rebuke, perspective, direction, and examples – all of these I have needed, and God has blessed me with more than I could have hoped for in you. I’ve seen the bar set very high by all of you, and I aim to follow your example and serve faithfully with you until the Lord calls us home. Thank you for showing me that our calling is not a job or vocation, but a burden, a weight, a joy, a burning in our hearts to lead. Thank you for sharpening me and serving God faithfully during our time together as we fulfill his will for our lives. You challenge me to be the man that God has called me to be, and the man I aspire to be. I am indebted to all of you, and I look forward to seeing how God will shape our ministries and use us to further the gospel to his glory. Thank you for your time, your insights, and your patience with me. I am by no means a polished finished product, but you have helped chip away and sand down my rough edges. I love you men dearly, I thank God for you daily, and I am praying that God puts men in your life who are to you what you have been to me. May our work continue until our Lord calls us home.
To anyone and everyone else who has impacted me during my seminary career:
You may not ever know how God has used you in my life, and this is such an inadequate means of thanking you, but I am grateful that God uses ‘chance’ acquaintances, ‘random’ meetings, and the most unassuming interactions to shape and mold the world to fit his kingdom and his will. Thank you for serving the Lord’s purposes, and even though you may not receive this note of gratitude, know that you are appreciated and that you have greatly impacted my life. I pray that God lets you see how he works in and through you, and I pray that you either know him already or come to know him at some point while you live. Live your life for Christ – he is the greatest treasure that’s ever been given to all of Creation, and he is worthy of our worship. You have stirred my heart in many ways to worship him more fully, and I pray that someday in some way God uses someone else to do the same for you. Grace and peace be with you in Christ Jesus.
So again, thank you all for supporting me and encouraging me through this season – I am very grateful that I am able to rejoice with you in God’s good grace. When I look at my diploma on the wall I am thinking not of the classes that I took and the papers that I wrote, but rather of the times that we spent together and how much you all mean to me. One of the most beautiful things that I’ve learned while at seminary has been that you and I cannot live this out on our own. We must have each other. We must know and love each other, and we absolutely must run toward Christ together. I would not and could not have done this without you, so in a way this diploma is also yours.
I am humbled by God's grace to me through you, and I am thankful for you.
In Christ,
- Nathan Johnson
“Now, to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21
Well, it has been a year since I first started this endeavor and I have to say it’s been an interesting one to say the least. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing my posts (check out the first one here), even though I honestly don’t know who reads what I have to say. Several people have outed themselves at various times with comments either on my posts or on Facebook/Twitter, or in person, and the feedback has been encouraging. I’m thankful for the opportunity to write and I appreciate all of you who take a look at what God is and has been doing in my life.
This being the one-year birthdiversary of the inaugural post, I’d like to take a look at how this whole thing has shaped up, and then I’ll lay out a few goals/ideas for the next year or so.
First, we’ll start off with a couple of stats: I have posted a total of 28 times in twelve months – the highest number of tags being random musings (15), theology (14), daily living (8), and questions that friends have asked me that I thought were interesting enough to put on here (8) – there is obviously some overlap. I have no idea how many visitors I get or how often they visit because I’ve had no way of obtaining that information, nor do I know what I would do with it. Second, I’ve enjoyed posting Lastly, I gave the blog a facelift a few days ago and I like the new look. There are still a few things that I’m trying to get used to and need to work out, but overall I think it’s a pretty solid improvement over what I had. It’s been a good year and I’m pleased with where I’m at – but I’m not satisfied… I think there’s a lot more to do this next year, which brings me to my next point.
Where I’d like to go with this over the next year, should God’s sense of humor persist and his patience with me prevail:
1)I would like to develop something of a regular posting schedule – whether that is once a month or once a week I won’t know until my seminary schedule is no longer existent (I’m definitely excited about graduating in a couple of weeks!).
2)I would also like to greatly expand the topics and types of posts to include: book, music, and movie reviews/discussions; this-day-in-history and related factoids; more series of postings; maybe a few more picture postings from my travels; possibly some interviews and/or conversations; and then a few other things that are to be determined.
3)I would like to make use of the Amazon widget on the right side of the page to help sell books and maybe make some cash – but that depends on your willingness to read my blog, take my recommendation seriously enough to make a purchase, and then make your purchase via my blog. That seems like a pretty tall order.
4)Somehow I’d like to tease out some more conversation and discussion on here, but we’ll see how that goes – that’s not exactly a clearly defined goal, but whatever.
5)I would also like to figure out how many of you there are and who the heck you are… I’m still working on that, and whether that goal is met with success or dismal failure, you probably won’t ever know.
6)Lastly, I get a fair amount of people who ask me questions about random theological and biblical topics, and I would love to incorporate that into my blog somehow – maybe start a page for question submissions or something like that. I’ll have to do some work to figure that whole thing out.
A few things that I do not want to change: I want my blog to continue being a place of open discussion and interaction. I also want to stay fiercely dedicated to being authentic, real, raw, and mostly unedited (I rarely, if ever, proofread or edit anything I write). I would love to continue growing as a writer and as a Christian, though I must say I am at the Lord’s mercy for both of those. I have done nothing to acquire either of those precious gifts, and I pray that I use them to God’s glory.
Thank you for indulging me once again – I appreciate your willingness to read what I write, and I look forward to hearing from you in one way or another on down the road.
The last two posts concerning Redemption Groups have – I hope – driven home the idea that God has been taking me through an intense time of rediscovering who I am and where my allegiance lies. The first post (Ashes) focused on God bringing me to the point of complete desperation and dependence on him alone, and the second (Discipline) highlighted the ever-present and active role that God plays in our suffering and trials – that they are not the backhanded disapproval of a vengeful god, but rather the merciful discipline of a loving Father who wants much more for us than we could possibly secure for ourselves. In this post I’ll set out to show that God not only wants our best and his glory, but accomplishes both in the cross of Christ.
Our culture is replete with drivel masquerading as ‘self-help’ books and ‘fix this part of your life and everything else will fall into place’ literature. To our shame, many Christians have hijacked the gospel and turned Jesus into a guru of whatever topic the author chooses to twist Scripture to fit. Now, just so I am clear, there are surely times where we need to seek the wisdom and support of others in making decisions and living life and books are a great source of a lot of that wisdom, so don’t hear me saying that getting other peoples’ input is wrong or bad. I do, however, want to point out the insidious underlying motives behind much of this genre, and see how we can view it through a gospel-centered lens.
This world mimics the pattern of original sin in the Garden of Eden – that is, that rather than following what God has revealed and instructed us to do, we come up with our own plan and strike out on our own course. Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 both say that there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. In Eden man’s way resulted in banishment from the Garden, a curse for all of creation, and lots of other bad stuff. Today this looks like us forsaking the counsel of Scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit for logical conclusions, excusing sin for various reasons, and ultimately taking God’s rightful place as the ruler and sovereign lord over our lives. I would submit to you that there is a way that seems right to a man about how to use and apply Scripture, but in the end if it’s not anchored with the full counsel of Scripture, led by the Holy Spirit, and in accordance with historical orthodoxy, then it will most certainly lead to death.
So if we use Scripture as God’s instruction book, a list of good morals to live by, how to manage your money, how to rightly order your family and home, or how to eat healthier, then we’ve completely missed the point of Scripture. Of course the manifold wisdom of God is to be expressed in the way that Christians live life, handle their finances, love their spouses and parent their children, but the main point of Scripture is not what we do, but who God is and what he’s done. You see, when we start boiling down God’s self-revelation to a how-to or a list of helpful anecdotes we’ve forsaken God’s most precious gift – himself – for common grace gifts and an easier temporal existence (or at least what we think will be easier..).
Let’s take this a step further and delve into it a little further. How about using the Bible as a sin-eradication tool. Maybe you don’t want to have a ton of cash or have the best sex, life, job, etc. Maybe you don’t have that high and/or greedy of aspirations. Maybe you just want to be rid of some frustrating circumstance… maybe you’d like to stop driving around the same cul-de-sac of sin and finally live in true victory over it. I would say to you that even the desire to be free from sin can itself be sinful if you don't view the cross as the ultimate goal in your life.
If you’re only wanting to live in victory over sin or in some other state of existence without bowing at the foot of the cross and walking the hard, narrow pathway of true heartfelt confession, repentance, reconciliation, and restoration, then you’re short-circuiting the significance of the cross and the entire redemption process. In effect you’re forsaking God’s magnificent sacrifice of himself on our behalf for the gifts that he freely gives his children. The cross must not be some historical event that we at one time trusted in – rather, we must live our lives as an echo of Martin Luther’s first thesis: that ‘all of life is repentance.’ We must never move away from the cross – it must permeate everything about who we are and what we do and we must let our weakness and meekness and neediness be the place where God’s strength and grace shines through our lives.
I think this is the heart of Paul’s reaction to struggling with his ‘thorn in the flesh’ that he mentions in 2 Corinthians 12:7. Paul asks God three times to take away some kind of temptation or struggle (it’s not completely clear what he’s referring to specifically) in his life, but then realizes that God allowed that darkness (‘messenger from Satan’) to stick with him so that Paul would not grow conceited. See, Paul realized that being free from sin and struggle wasn’t the point – having more of Christ and a closer relationship with him is. So rather than shuffle past our sin and telling ourselves we’ll do better next time, let’s confess the full extent of our sin and throw ourselves upon the mercy of God who calls us to do so. Let’s realize that there is no way that we can out-sin God’s grace if he has called us into his family. Of course this doesn’t give us license to sin – Romans 6 deals with that very firmly. But it does mean that we who are redeemed live not in light of our constant sin, but in light of our constant need of the cross.
One day we will be sin-free and glorified in the presence of God for eternity (see Revelation 20-22 for a vision of this awesome future reality), and we yearn for that day like the rest of Creation (see Romans 8:18-25), but it is not a reality yet. So let us in the mean time struggle well in a redemptive way. Let us cling to the cross with all that we have and count this world as a temporary home. Let us lean not on our own understanding, but on the grace that God gives us freely as his children. And may we realize that our primary end in life is not to be free of sin and struggle, but rather to know Christ more deeply and live in light of our constant need of the cross.
