The Christification of Suffering

In many ways I am unqualified to write such a post as this for the amount of suffering I have endured is virtually nonexistent in comparison to so many others. Yet, I write this post aware of this, and also aware that my intentions are not to write from experience--for again I haven't the qualifications to do so--but rather from the perspective of the what the Scriptures have to say--a perspective which I am a bit more qualified to write from.

I have found myself coming back to this theme again and again as I consider what our relationship as Christians is to be to the unbelieving world around us and I must admit that I am convinced that the vast majority--notice not just the majority but the vast majority--of professing Christians have an unbiblical idea of, and hence allergy to, suffering.

To put it simply, most likely due to the painfulness of suffering, in whatever form we consider it, many Christians conclude that suffering is just not what God "wants for them." Maybe this stems from the all-to-popular catchphrase "God/Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." - a phrase which is presumptuous and ultimately amounts to false prophecy as I have recently argued in part of a sermon found here.

Where have we gleaned this idea that God doesn't want us to suffer? I can tell you most certianly it hasn't been from the Scriptures. Allow me to just kind of utilize the "shotgun approach" here and blast us with an array of pellets concerning the Bible's view on Christian suffering:

Philippians 1:29 (ESV)
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.

Observe with me here the Apostle Paul notes two things we have been "granted" or "given" (KJV).

One is to believe...

it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should...believe

...the second is to suffer.

it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should...suffer for his sake.

God, through the Apostle Paul, informs us that not only is our faith in Christ a gift from God... but so also is our suffering!

Now if this were the only instance of this kind of language we might be prone to think that we need to dig a little deeper for surely that isn't what he is saying. Surely God isn't saying that he gifts Christians with suffering. But the fact is, this is far from the only instance of such language.

2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV)
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

John 15:20 (ESV)
20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

To be persecuted is "to be subject[ed] to prolonged hostility and ill-treatment." (Oxford)

Sounds like suffering to me.

The apostles seemed to get this, for in Acts we find them, after having been beaten for preaching the gospel...

Acts 5:41b (ESV)
...rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

Rejoicing they they were counted worthy to suffer... worthy to suffer!

And on and on we could go, literally. You don't believe me? Check out these Scriptures just to name a few: Romans 5:3; 8:17; 2 Corinthians 1:5; Philippians 3:10; Colossians 1:24; 1 Thessalonians 3:4... and on and on it goes.

So what? What's my point.

Well, hopefully my point is Jesus' point when He says, "A servant is not greater than his master." If Jesus suffered--and who will deny that he did on so many levels--then we will suffer. It's inevitable. It's ordained. It's granted to us.

And my friends let me suggest to you that when we suffer, when we suffer rightly, when we endure suffering patiently, and understand that it is God's will for us, then--especially then-- we begin to look like Christ, the One whose image we are being conformed into.

This is the Christification of suffering. We look at suffering as something which Christ endured more of than any man ever has; we look at suffering as something which God, in Christ, used to bring redemption to His people; we look at suffering as something which God has ordained for us, that we might, through our patient endurance of it, put on display Christ to the world around us. And thus, we get over our allergy to it and rather embrace it as what it is: namely, God's work of conforming us into the image of His Son (Romans 8:28).

May he be pleased to grant us such grace, for only by his grace will we ever have such a mind as this... the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5).

Solus Christus,
Matt

Christifying the Ten Commandments

Well, I've re-read my 4 previous blog entries (that's right... all four of them) and have again realized how true my statement in the introduction to my blog was where I said it would "no doubt be updated very sporadically."

Sporadically is a bit of an understatement I think when my last post was in January of this year!

So I won't make any promises of blogging again soon for the likelihood of me being able to keep such a promise is extremely slim.

So... on to the title of this post.

I have been preaching on the Ten Commandments for 4 weeks now (we will consider #5 this coming Lord's Day) and one of my main purposes - if fact the main purpose - is to show how they point us to Christ (as indeed all the Scriptures do - John 5:39; Luke 24:27, 44-45; etc.).

For many in our day, quite unfortunately, this may sound a bit strange. A friend of mine attends a church were the pastor recently preached a series on the Ten Commandments and so, knowing I was going to be preaching on them myself soon, I asked him, "So... is he showing how each of them are utterly impossible for us to keep and thus how they point us to Christ?" And his initial response - a puzzled look - was illustrative of the epidemic plaguing especially the church in the United States; what one author has called "Christless Christianity".

Here's the point, or, to keep with the theme of this blog, here's why the Ten Commandments must be - and were intended to be- Christified:

You can't keep one of them!

I can't keep one of them!

It's amazing how many Christians develop, to use the words of my friend Jason, a "rich-young-ruler attitude" (see Matthew 19:16-22) toward the Ten Commandments. We foolishly decieve ourselves into thinking we have honored our father and mother (#5) or not committed adultery (#7) or been free from the sin of murder (#6) when all the while we are exceedingly abundantly guilty of all those and more, for at least two reasons:

For one, James tells us if we have broken one we have broken them all:

10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. James 2:10-11 (ESV)

Secondly, as Jesus makes clear in His "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5), sin is found not first in the outward action but, firstly, chiefly, in the inward motions of the heart.

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
Matthew 5:21-22 (ESV)

Or again...

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Matthew 5:27-28 (ESV)

Who of us has not gazed upon a member of the opposite sex, to whom we were not married, and had impure thoughts? Who of us has not been unrighteousnly angry with another member of the human race?

The point is - again - that the Ten Commandments, rightly understood, are impossible to keep and are therefore intended to, in the word of the Apostle Paul in Galatians, "lead us to Christ" (Galatians 3:24 NIV).

There is only One who ever kept the Law of God. There is only One who ever honored His Heavenly Father (and earthly mother) as He ought, who never hated his fellow man, who never gazed upon a woman lustfully, who never disobeyed one iota of the Law. In fact, as He clearly stated:

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Matthew 5:17-18 (ESV)

So then, the Ten Commandments ought to further aid us in our Christification for they not only show us our absolute insufficiency to keep the Law, but they furthermore point us to to the only One who did keep it. The One who kept it in the place of His people, so that His righteous keeping of the Law might be credited to them; and, the One who suffered on the cross for our transgression of it, bore the penalty we deserved for breaking it, so that the wrath of God against sin might be assuaged for all of those who place there only hope in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This my friends is gloriously good news. This, in large part, is the Gospel.

In summation, the Ten Commandments are not a guide to how we can gain acceptance before God, they are rather a guide to the only One who has gained for us acceptance before God: the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

May He receive the honor due His name...

Matt

Why Christify One's Life? (part 3)

As I have re-read the first two posts on this topic (found here and here) I'm aware that this has somehow begun to morph more into a series of posts on the nature of the new birth, rather than sticking to the question that is it's title.

(Hmm... isn't that interesting... a pastor meandering around in his conversation and wandering from topic to topic. That's unique.)

Although it is undoubtedly the case that in order for a person to see the need to Christify their life they must be born again, it was not my original intention to give a doctrinal dissertation on how that take place - therefore, I'll try to rein it back in.

With that in mind, in this post I will attempt to finish the thoughts I started last time in such a way as to conclude this little thread on "Why Christify..."

First, a few points of review to get the ball rolling:

1. In order to even give a rip about Christifying one's life, one must first be born again. In the natural condition into which all men are born, one simply will not care. The whole idea is foolish.
2. Being born again is not something you can control, it is a sovereign work of God. It is the first thing that happens in the order of events that take place in a persons salvation.
3. Although according to the Bible #2 is unassailably true the way in which man experiences salvation has the tendency to lead man to think the first thing that took place was his act of believing in Christ.

Here's where we get down to the "nitty gritty" so to speak. Whether or not one understands the Bible's teaching on the order in which the new birth takes place, the fact of the matter is that when the new birth takes place, some radical things happen.

Really, we should be tipped off to this by simply even hearing the term "new birth" or "born again." Anyone who has ever been around a birth (and it's pretty fresh on my mind being that my latest daughter was just born on the 7th of January) knows that that it is a pretty radical event - so too is this spiritual birth.

The Bible says that when one is born again they are a "new creation".

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

In order to explain allow me to continue drawing an analogy from physical birth. When a baby is born the old has passed away. No more hanging out inside of nice warm cozy momma, floating around virtually oblivious to the outside world in a sac filled with amniotic fluid. Oh no, not anymore. All of sudden there is a whole new reality to experience: bright lights, cold air (for that matter, air period!), loud noises...etc. you get the picture. Life is different. Really different. For the new born baby the new has come. And life is never going to be the same again.

In a similar way that's what happens spiritually when one is born again. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. There is a whole new reality to experience. No more meandering through life wondering what its all about, not really sure of the big picture. No, now the big picture is abundantly clear: the glory of God. God isn't just a possibility anymore and Jesus isn't just someone whose birth is celebrated in December. Oh no, God is an overwhelming reality and Jesus is, well...

He's the King; ultimately over all of creation and now, due to the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart, you rightfully acknowledge Him as so. He's the ultimate source of truth; so much so that He is actually called "the Truth" (John 14:6), and now you rightfully acknowledge that too. He's the one and only source of salvation from our sins. Sins that, if we had to get what we deserved for them, earn for us a first class ticket to Hell for they are infinitely heinous due to the fact that the One they are against is infinitely righteous - God. And He, this glorious King Jesus, willingly took upon Himself the punishment we deserved and suffered one of the most horrific and cruel deaths ever conceived of: crucifixion. And then, conquering King that He is, three days later He rose triumphantly over the grave displaying that even death, the foe that no man can take on and win, was no match for Him.

Much, much more could be said about the worthiness of Christ but we'll stop here.

This is "Why Christify...?" Because how on earth, having come to a knowledge of these things, could one do anything else? How could a person who truly believes that Jesus Christ did everything necessary to save them from an otherwise certain eternity in Hell do anything else but attempt to bring everything in their life under subjection to Him?!

I don't know of any other proper response.

In Christ,
Matt

Why Christify One's Life? (part 2)

In the last post I considered the fact that the whole subject of "Christifying" one's life (see this post for definition) is a subject that to the natural man is ridiculous, and so, really unworthy of consideration. I also briefly showed from the Scriptures that if anyone's ever going to see the need for "Christification" they must be first born again. That leads to the question of how does one get "born again"? Which is the question that I want to try to, as succinctly as possible, begin to answer in this post.

There are two perspectives from which we can look at this question: God's perspective and man's perspective. I am convinced that it is a failure to consider this differentiation of perspective that often leads to misunderstandings. In this post I will focus on what I am calling God's perspective.

If you've ever been a part of a church that has "altar calls" or "invitations" at the end of the service (note: if you are part of a church that sees that as an absolute necessity in any service just be advised that not all do, which is why I include the "if" - I am not here questioning their validity) where the pastor does something like have everyone bow their heads and close their eyes and then asks them to come up front if they want to receive Christ, then you may have heard something to the effect of "Come and place your faith in Christ today and be born again", or something along those lines. Now while from man's limited and finite perspective that may be a reasonable thing to say, from the Bible's perspective, and hence ultimately from God's perspective, the order of that statement is confused.

In other words, man doesn't place his faith in Jesus Christ (more about what that means later) and then get born again, man first gets born again and then he places his faith in Jesus Christ.

There are several places we could go to in order to find the Bible's teaching on this matter but let's just consider one: John 3:3.

In this text Nicodemus, a ruler of the religious leadership in his day, approaches Jesus presumably looking for some answers. As Nicodemus approaches Jesus he (Nicodemus) gives Him some accolades for the miracles he has been performing and Jesus responds by saying this:

...“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:3b (ESV)

A quick definition of the Kingdom of God may be helpful. For simplicity sake, we may define the Kingdom of God as "the spiritual realm over which God is rightfully and rightly acknowledged as King."

Part of what believing in Christ entails is acknowledging Him as King, becoming a subject in His Kingdom, bowing before Him as "King of kings and Lord of lords" (Rev. 19:16). But, according to Jesus here, unless one is born again they cannot even "see" the Kingdom of God. Now, to be clear, He's not speaking here about "entering" the Kingdom (more commonly referred to as getting "saved"), He does that later on in the passage in v.5, here Jesus is specifically speaking about one's ability to "see" the Kingdom.

You see, the natural person, the person who is still in the state into which they were born (i.e. the "of the flesh" of v.6), is unable to even "see" the things of the Kingdom, and therefore must first be born again. The natural person cannot place his faith in Christin order to be born again for they cannot even see their need for Him! To them, as we considered previously, the things of the Kingdom are "foolishness".

When viewed from God's perspective then, as opposed to finite man's limited perspective, the new birth is the first event that takes place in a person's coming to faith in Christ - which to keep with the main purpose of this blog is absolutely necessary for seeing the need to Christify one's life. It is not an event that man can in and of himself manufacture, nor is it one that he can control. Just like you couldn't control your natural birth, so too you can't control your spiritual birth. Jesus, later on in the conversation with Nicodemus puts it this way:

"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John 3:8 (ESV)

Simply put: You can't control the wind. You can't control the Spirit. Each moves as God ordains.

In conclusion, maybe it would be helpful to clarify what I mean by perspective. In fact, it may be a bit misleading to use the term perspective.

What I do not intend by that is that there are two different right ways of understanding the new birth, God's and man's. There is only one right way: God's. What I mean is simply man's experience of the new birth (i.e. his perspective) is often confused with the order in which the Scriptures tell us the new birth takes place.

In other words, if you have been born again, you most likely did not feel that happen first, before you believed in Christ. The first event that took place on your timeline was believing in Christ, and you were probably unaware that the Spirit of God had been already "blowing" in your heart, and hence it would just seem logical to you that the first act in the drama of your redemption was your belief. That is the normal experience, but it is a mistake to then confuse that experience with the order in which the Scriptures tell us that these events take place.

But I'm moving ahead. More next time...

In Christ,
Matt

Why Christify One's Life?

A question one may ask, after reading the first post, is just that: "Why?"

"Why try to see all of life as it relates to Jesus Christ?"

Let me attempt to lay some groundwork and give a relatively concise answer over the next few posts:

First of all, one will never even attempt such a thing if it is "foolishness to them." The Scriptures tell us:

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)

Some English versions render the word the ESV translates "folly" as "foolishness". To the natural person, that is the person who has not been "born again" (a phrase that comes from John 3:3 - more on that in a moment), the things of the Spirit of God, that is to say spiritual matters such as the one I am presenting, are foolishness... folly (senseless, silly, etc.).

Let me spend a moment differentiating between the "natural man" and what we might call the "spiritual man" (or woman, or child - let's not exclude anyone).

The state of "the natural man", again the one who would find this foolish to begin with, is the state into which all of us are born. Jesus said it this way:

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
John 3:6 (ESV)

The first birth, the fleshly birth, the birth every human being alive has experienced produces just that: a fleshly (natural) person. That isn't to say they don't have a soul/spirit. It's just that from birth that spirit is dead (see Ephesians 2:1, 5; 4:18). And so, this natural person, with a "dead" spirit (much could be said on that but it would make this post considerably longer than it's intention) finds spiritually matters "foolish".

Let me put it this way, if at this point you have either: (a) stopped reading and thought "this guy's a kook"; or (b) kept reading but still thought something like "this is ridiculous" then there is a good chance you fit into this category - physically alive but spiritually dead.

The point is, unless one is "born again" (John 3:3-8; 1 Peter 1:3, 23) they will never - I repeat never - see the need to "Christify one's life."

So, how does one get born again? Well, we'll save that for the next post but suffice it to say for now that while it is something you desperately need, it is also something that you are absolutely incapable of initiating or controlling.

Hmm... sounds like someOne's going to have to intervene...

In Christ,
Matt

...all things were created through him and for him.

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Colossians 1:15-20 (ESV)

My perception of time is awful, especially when it relates to my growth in understanding theological truths, and so I really can't tell you how long it's been but for some time now (maybe a year or two) I have been growing in my awareness - at least intellectually and thankfully somewhat experientially - of the reality that "all things were created through [Christ] and for [Christ]."

This God-revealed reality has far reaching implications for all of life. I thought about listing several facets here but really it is best summed up in the phrase all of life.

Specifically, for myself, one thing it has profoundly affected is my understanding of and the direction pursued in ministry. Even more particularly, in preaching and teaching and pastoral counseling.

Several years ago I read Bryan Chapell's Christ-Centered Preaching and though I would have told you that it was an excellent read and commended it to all, I really can say, looking back, that I didn't quite get it. More recently, the means God has used to "open my eyes" to the need for Christ-centeredness has been: reading the Puritans (especially Owen and Edwards), the preaching of Dr. Arturo Azurdia (especially his two part sermon The Ultimate Hermeneutic), the lectures of the late Dr. Edmund Clowney and the not so late (i.e. still living) Dr. Tim Keller on Preaching Christ in a Post-Modern World (available through RTS at iTunes U), Dr. Kim Riddlebarger's series entitled Amillenialism 101, and the book I am presently reading Him We Proclaim, authored by Dennis E. Johnson.

That said, this is the purpose of this blog. To share my mediations on christifying (a term I borrow from Bruce Waltke - oh yeah, add him to the list above) all of life. It will no doubt be updated very sporadically - especially when I get back to work (I work full time concrete construction when the season and economy permits). I have attempted to blog several times before and it never pans out - time really does not permit it for me it seems. But, Lord willing, I will keep this one alive and simply update it whenever I can.

In Christ,
Matt