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