Tag: Jesus

Approaching a Fearsome God — through Christ

~ fundyreformed ~ 3 Comments

Sunday Mediations — posts encouraging us all to meditate on the things of our Savior, on His day.

I don’t have a healthy enough view of God. I’ll be the first to admit that. I don’t comprehend his ultimate greatness, his “otherness” and transcendence. His awful holiness. Yes “awe-ful” and terrifying, holiness.

The Bible repeatedly calls on us to fear God. Yet fearing God is foreign to our nature. We live and breathe as if God isn’t. No wonder we don’t fear him.

And for those raised in Christianity (like me), we assume that we can approach God. We assume that we shouldn’t have to fear Him. And isn’t Christianity all happy-go-lucky anyway? What’s this about fear? Why should we tremble before God, don’t we have our ticket to heaven already?

With these thoughts in mind, lets approach a text this morning:

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Pet. 1:17-21)

I’ve been teaching through 1 Peter in our small group class every other Sunday night. This passage was a bit perplexing.

“Conduct yoursleves with fear” is one of four commands in this passage (“set your hope”–v. 13; “be holy”–v. 15; and “love one another”–v. 22 are the others). And I knew that the passage beautifully illustrates the relationship between Biblical imperatives and indicatives. Each command is expressly connected with facts that are true because of who we are in Christ.

So I was puzzled by the connection between vs. 17 and the verses that follow. In light of the preciousness of your redemption, fear God? That didn’t seem to follow, unless we are talking a debtor’s ethic where because of Christ’s sacrifice we should go on and labor in fearing God out of debt.

In looking at the text, it also seems to be disconnected. Fear God, knowing you were ransomed, not with perishable silver and gold, but with Christ. And Christ is like a lamb without blemish, foreknown and manifest for you, who believe in God. The main point of all this is still “fear God” so how does it all fit?

As I scanned through Calvin’s comments on this passage, his discussion of vs. 21 grabbed me. Here’s an excerpt:

…as faith unites us to God, we shun and dread every access to him, except a Mediator comes who can deliver us from fear. For sin, which reigns in us, renders us hateful to God and him to us. Hence, as soon as mention is made of God, we must necessarily be filled with dread; and if we approach him, his justice is like fire, which will wholly consume us.

It is hence evident that we cannot believe in God except through Christ, in whom God in a manner makes himself little, that he might accommodate himself to our comprehension; and it is Christ alone who can tranquillize consciences, so that we may dare to come in confidence to God.

As I really grasped the glory of what was being said in vs. 21, everything clicked. We are to fear God, and this is impossible in ourselves. So we are reminded that we’ve been ransomed from our futile ways. And not just ransomed with a fool’s gift of gold, we’ve been ransomed by the precious blood of Christ. The very Christ who like the Paschal Lamb of old, was foreknown and chosen to suffer wrath in our place. This Jesus came and died “for [our] sake”. And thus through him we believe in God. And God’s resurrection of Jesus was all designed “so that [our] faith and hope [would be] in God”.

We can fear God, and reverence him, not as a vanquished foe trembles before Him. Rather because of the sacrifice accomplished for us, and because God himself has worked so that our faith and hope are in Him, we reverently fear God with Christ at our side. Because of our mediator we can approach this fearful God. And from Jesus, we can learn the true extent of God’s wrath which should cause us to tremble, while we also learn that all of that wrath was taken away for us in Jesus.

Oh how happy we are to have such a glorious mediator! Let us respect and reverence, yea fear, our Holy God more. Yet we need never shudder at this command, because we remember that God is accepting us, yea welcoming us to come boldly before His throne (which for us is a throne of grace) by the new and living way of Christ our crucified and Risen Savior! (Heb. 4:16, 10:19-21).

We Believe (#14): Death, Resurrection, and the Coming of the Lord

~ fundyreformed ~ 2 Comments

Part 14 in a series of Sunday posts celebrating the glorious Truth we believe as Christians. The readings are quoted from the Elder Affirmation of Faith, of my church, Bethlehem Baptist (Pastor John Piper). I’m doing this because every few weeks our congregational reading is an excerpt from this document, and every time we all read aloud the truths we confess, my soul rejoices. I pray these posts will aid you in worshiping our Lord on His day.

Death, Resurrection, and the Coming of the Lord

We believe that when Christians die they are made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise, and are taken consciously into the presence of Christ, which is more glorious and more satisfying than any experience on earth.

We believe in the blessed hope that at the end of the age Jesus Christ will return to this earth personally, visibly, physically, and suddenly in power and great glory; and that He will gather His elect, raise the dead, judge the nations, and establish His kingdom. We believe that the righteous will enter into the everlasting joy of their Master, and those who suppressed the truth in unrighteousness will be consigned to everlasting conscious misery.

We believe that the end of all things in this age will be the beginning of a never-ending, ever-increasing happiness in the hearts of the redeemed, as God displays more and more of His infinite and inexhaustible greatness and glory for the enjoyment of His people.

*Taken from the Bethlehem Baptist Church Elder Affirmation of Faith, paragraphs 14.1-14.3. You are free to download the entire affirmation [pdf] complete with Scriptural proofs for the above statements.

We Believe (#13): Christ’s Commission to Make Disciples of All Nations

~ fundyreformed

Part 13 in a series of Sunday posts celebrating the glorious Truth we believe as Christians. The readings are quoted from the Elder Affirmation of Faith, of my church, Bethlehem Baptist (Pastor John Piper). I’m doing this because every few weeks our congregational reading is an excerpt from this document, and every time we all read aloud the truths we confess, my soul rejoices. I pray these posts will aid you in worshiping our Lord on His day.

Christ’s Commission to Make Disciples of All Nations

We believe that the commission given by the Lord Jesus to make disciples of all nations is binding on His Church to the end of the age. This task is to proclaim the Gospel to every tribe and tongue and people and nation, baptizing them, teaching them the words and ways of the Lord, and gathering them into churches able to fulfill their Christian calling among their own people. The ultimate aim of world missions is that God would create, by His Word, worshippers who glorify His name through glad-hearted faith and obedience. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. When the time of ingathering is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever. Worship, therefore, is the fuel and the goal of missions.

*Taken from the Bethlehem Baptist Church Elder Affirmation of Faith, paragraphs 13. You are free to download the entire affirmation [pdf] complete with Scriptural proofs for the above statements.

Reasons for Christmas

~ fundyreformed ~ 7 Comments

Today during the Sunday sermon, I was reminded of some of the explicit reasons given for Christmas in 1 John. Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus’ birth. So reasons given for Jesus coming into the world, are reasons for Christmas.

As we all celebrate Christmas, and I hope you really celebrate Jesus this Christmas. The reasons given below for Jesus’ incarnation (his taking on human flesh and being born in the manger), should help us reflect on the wonder that Jesus did come. And they should help us to prize the Cross and Resurrection as we rejoice over the babe in the manger.

…[Jesus] appeared to take away sins… (1 John 3:5)

…The Reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (3:8)

In this the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (4:9-10)

…the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. (4:14)

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true… (5:20)

Jesus, The Devil and Suffering

~ fundyreformed ~ 3 Comments

Christians, like everyone else suffer pain and sorrow in this world. Many blame such suffering on the devil, from a praiseworthy desire not to blame God. Other Christians do blame God and doubt his provision and love for them. How could God let this happen to me? She was such a good person, it just doesn’t seem fair!

Worldly-wise secularists take a more intelligent position, they think. God isn’t there; or if He is, He isn’t concerned enough or able to interact in such a way to help prevent us from suffering. They grin and bear suffering, and encourage those friends and family who are suffering. And really, most Christians do this as well. But they won’t say God can’t intervene, rather they will credit God for helping them through the suffering.

With the recent tragedy of the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, my pastor John Piper gave an explanation of the Reformed view of suffering. God controls all things and has a purpose in everything that happens. He wasn’t surprised by the bridge collapse, and He is at work helping the grieving and suffering, as well as working out many other hidden designs in and through this single tragic event. Most Christians generally agree, although they might hesitate to affirm that God plans and causes such tragedies to happen.

On the opposite spectrum, Greg Boyd, also a Minneapolis area pastor, spoke out against Piper’s view. Boyd, representing the open theist position, claimed that God was surprised by the event as well, and in no way planned or caused it to happen. As I said above, in some respects Boyd’s position is noble. He doesn’t want anyone to blame God for the evil suffering caused by the bridge collapse. But as Denny Burk has shown, in his response to Boyd’s post, Boyd’s position doesn’t stack up with Scripture. Most of evangelicalism would also agree that God certainly knew of the event before it happened (the traditional view of God’s omniscience). [For several Reformed responses to open theism click here.]

But even for those of us who affirm God’s exhaustive foreknowledge and omniscience, we still struggle with how God can let evil happen to Christians. Isn’t the devil to blame too?

I bring up all of this as background to an excellent new article by John Piper which is available online. He discussed the roles of Jesus and the Devil in suffering with his daughter, and shared his conversation with us. The verse in question is Revelation 2:10 “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

I encourage you to check out the article and ponder this issue now, before suffering comes your way. “When Satan Hurts Christ’s People: Reflections on Why Christians Suffer Losses” by John Piper.

And if you would like, you can subscribe to these weekly devotional articles [feed here] by John Piper or sign up for a free email subscription.