The True Jesus: Uncovering the Divinity of Christ in the Gospels (2017) by David Limbaugh, Book Review

 The True Jesus: Uncovering the Divinity of Christ in the Gospels (2017) by David Limbaugh

This is a sequel to Limbaugh's previous book, Finding Jesus In the Old Testament (I've read it but I didn't write a review. Sad). I bought both books from the BookXcess bookstore.* As of writing, our Bible study group is studying the Gospel of Luke, and this week we are going to look at Luke 9:18-20 when Jesus asked His disciples two questions, "Who do the crowds say I am?" (v.18) and most importantly, "Who do you say I am?" (v.20). The first question is an opinion, a survey, or a general inquiry. But the last question is more personal, direct, and life-changing because the answer to the question is not neutral. Everyone must go through C.S. Lewis's famous trilemma: either Jesus is a 'lunatic, liar or Lord' or a 'mad, bad or God' man. No in-between.

Lewis wrote in his classic book Mere Christianity: "You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to... I have to accept the view that He was and is God." Lewis, the most reluctant convert (but intellectually honest), had made the verdict: Jesus is the Son of God. But, for you (yes, you!), who do you say Jesus is? This book can help you on your faith journey to answer this question for yourself. Here Limbaugh combines the four Gospel records (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) into a chronological account of the deeds, words, and life of Jesus Christ. You'll see His humanity and divinity perfectly blended in One Person jump off every page into our hearts.

This book is good for skeptics who want to know the big picture of the Gospel accounts in one volume (although, impatient skeptics might not like it because it's a long book, 353 pages in total). It is also helpful for students of the Word like me to recall and be reminded again about how cool, awesome, and epic our Lord Jesus is (although, this book or any book is pale in comparison to the Gospel accounts themselves). Limbaugh's comments, sound exegesis, and references to other respectable Bible scholars and authors are the best features of this book. "The ultimate goal is not to perfectly reconcile the four accounts," said Limbaugh in his interview with Sean McDowell, "but to inspire people to read the Gospels for themselves, where they will encounter for themselves the living Son of God." Amen.

 *currently out of stock
**btw, there is only one Gospel (not "Gospels") but four accounts

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I Believe In The Holy Spirit (1965) by Maynard James, Book Review

 I Believe In The Holy Spirit (1965) by Maynard James

A good and sound Biblical book on the Holy Spirit is very hard to find. There are chapters on the subject in my systematic theology textbooks but it is either too technical or too Western-minded to appreciate the personality and work of the Holy Spirit in all phases of human life. And most of the popular modern-day books on the subject are very shallow and too self-centered (and sometimes heretics!) for me to take their words seriously. I agree with Norman P. Grubb in his foreword when he writes: "The range and aptness of [Maynard James'] Biblical references, the breadth and scope of his quotations from theological authors through the centuries, and the pungency of his facts and illustrations collected from all kinds of courses, grip my attention." Yes, it sure did grip my attention too! I opened my Bible as much as I turned the pages of this book as I read it.

In my observation, there is a good steady development in the interest of honoring the most neglected person in the Trinity, namely, the Holy Spirit today - even this year. For example, in October 2021, The Reformed Seminary of Latin America have organized a 6-day virtual conference The Person & Ministry of the Holy Spirit (I've watched most of the sermons on YouTube). Also, there was a 2-day Holy Spirit: Mantles conference held on January 2021 organized by Project ETV by well-known Charismatic preachers. Again, since last year, a popular pastor, Philip Mantofa, has made "Holy Spirit, My Best Friend" tagline known in both Indonesian and Malaysian churches through his book, song, and sermon series. For all of this exposure to bring awareness to God the Spirit (although we must acknowledge there are weird and false teachings out there), we should be deeply thankful. But overall, to the church worldwide, the reality of the person of the Holy Spirit remains neglected down the centuries until today. This is, as the author would call it, "The sin of neglect." I'm guilty of this sin too.

"It has been pointed out that the Holy Spirit is directly mentioned not less than 86 times in the Old Testament and at least 261 times in the New Testament," explained Maynard. "Some Christians would be quite surprised if told that 25 different names or titles are given to the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures." Here are just ten names: The Spirit of Holiness (Romans 1:4), The Eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), The Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9), The Spirit of Life (Romans 8:2), The Spirit of Truth (John 14:1, 17), The Spirit of Grace (Hebrews 10:29), The Spirit of Adoption (Romans 8:15), The Promise of the Father (Acts 1:4), The Comforter (John 14:26), and The Spirit of Glory (1 Peter 4:14). Needless to say, the Holy Spirit is a prominent character in the Scriptures and just because He is called the Third Person of the Trinity, it doesn't mean that He is the third in terms of importance. The Holy Spirit is coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Son. Maynard has done a good job explaining in each chapter the matchless operations of the Holy Spirit in the creation, the written Word, the incarnate Word, and the human experience. He also discusses the sanctifying power, the gracious regeneration miracle, the three baptisms*, the emblems or symbols, and the gifts of the Spirit. I find that anecdotes that he used to illustrate his points are very helpful and not as annoying as some books that always make themselves the heroes of the story!

I can sense that the author was trying his best to be as balanced in his judgment and theology as possible. But a book on this subject - often gets the critical treatments by the Reformed, often misrepresented by the Charismatic, often treated mystically by the Catholic - will always arouse internal debate among the well-meaning Christians. For sure, I have some disagreements with the author who (but not mentioned directly) comes from the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement background and is thus biased especially in his assessments involving the gifts of the Spirit and his understanding of Spirit baptism(s). I believe in both but differ from some of his interpretations. Let's say, I have my own biases. Other than that, I'm very pleased and edified by the book. Surely, both of us would agree with Charles H. Spurgeon: “Without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing. We are as ships without wind. We are useless.” Amen!

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Romans 1:3-4 Jesus Is Truly Man, Truly God (#LetterToTheRomans​)

[The Gospel] "concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 1:3-4) There are six (6) things that we need to know about Jesus in these verses ���️‍♀️���✍ #ServeToLead #PreachTheWord #TrulyManTrulyGod  

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Timothy, This Is the Great Mystery of Our Faith (Six-Fold Descriptions about Christ in 1 Timothy 3:16)

"Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith:

Christ was revealed in a human body

and vindicated by the Spirit.

He was seen by angels

and announced to the nations.

He was believed in throughout the world

and taken to heaven in glory"

(1 Timothy 3:16, NLT)

After Paul wrote about "how people must conduct themselves in the household of God" (v.15), he now focuses on what is at stake and why it is important to do so (v.16). He begins by saying "without question" or contradiction. It gives the thought of something that cannot be denied, "…this is the great mystery of our faith." Mystery? This is not like a mystery novel, unknown or secret truth. Rather, as H. A. Ironside, a Bible teacher, and preacher, said that it is "a secret revealed only to initiates." He continues, "This mystery is that of the incarnation – that God came down to earth, taking into union with His Deity a human body, a human spirit, and a human soul so that He was both God and Man in one blessed, adorable Person." This is the great mystery of our faith; this is the foundation on which our faith stands; this is the foundation of the truth (v.15) – Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Saviour! He is the One in whom is centered the "mystery of our faith." Here are six-fold descriptions about Christ:

#1 Jesus is Fully Human: "Christ was revealed in a human body..." If anyone wants to know what God is like, they can look at Jesus. "No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us" (John 1:18). Again, in John 1:14, "[The Word] became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son." And so, "God was in Christ" revealed in a human body.

#2 Jesus is Fully God: "…and vindicated by the Spirit." Jesus was God manifest in the flesh or revealed in a human body by the revelations of the Holy Spirit on several occasions in His earthly life such as during His baptism, transfiguration, and so forth. During His baptism, for example, God the Father opened the heavens above Him, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and the Father's voice was heard declaring, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy" (Matthew 3:17). Thus, Jesus was vindicated by the Spirit. As you read the gospel stories, you can see that behind His humanity there lies His divinity. He healed, He preached, and He forgives sin all by "the Holy Spirit's power" (Luke 4:14).

#3 Jesus is Greater than Angels: "He was seen by angels…" Do you know that angels – these mighty creatures – were present at the very high points of Jesus' early life and ministries such as His birth, temptation, agony in the garden, resurrection, and ascension? If you read Hebrews 1-2, the angels were there when God the Son was with the Father and the Holy Spirit in heaven. H. A. Ironside puts it this way, "Before God became incarnate in Jesus Christ He was invisible to created eyes. God the Father was invisible; God the Son was invisible; God the Holy Spirit was invisible. Angels could look only upon the glory of God but could not see the invisible One. But when the Lord Jesus Christ came down to earth… they knew they were looking into the face of the God who had created them. As He walked on earth angels were beholding the wondrous works wrought by God manifest in flesh." Angels are created beings, God is the Creator. Therefore, Jesus is greater!

#4 Jesus is the Message of Salvation for All: "…and announced to the nations." Because of Jesus the Son, God was no longer to have one people (the Jews) separated from the rest of the nations (the Gentiles) but His love could go out to all mankind. "Call him [Jesus] Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us'" (Matthew 1:23). This is the message to the nations, "In Jesus Christ, God is with us! Not against us!" All may be saved who turn to Him in faith.

#5 Jesus is the Saviour of the World: "He was believed in throughout the world…" This is a missionary statement. Soon and very soon, the whole world will believe Him. I don't mean that all will believe in Him and be saved. What I mean is that the world will know that Jesus is the Saviour of the world. Jesus prayed for His disciples to the Father that "they will all be one, just as you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me" (John 17:21). Either the world will believe in Him in faith or rebellion, the Bible is clear all will: "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11).

#6 Jesus Came to Be Rejected but He Returned in Glory: "…and taken to heaven in glory." Jesus Christ, the Man-God is now in heaven or as Paul says "in glory." What Paul wanted to emphasize here is not so much about where He went but how He went "…in glory." For about 30 years, Jesus walked humbly on earth like one of His own creations. He never did anything but good. He healed people, raised the dead, and loved the sinners. Yet He was despised and rejected. Finally, He bore the ultimate rejection through suffering, pain, and death. But as you and I know that was not the end of the story. This is the redemption story: Jesus was raised back to life! He has risen! He appeared in splendor and glorious body! He was lifted in glory!

It took me about 2 hours to finished writing this article. Every description of Christ in this one verse in 1 Timothy 3:16 is precious and worth to consider and meditate upon. Take your time today to praise and thank Him for who He is and for what He had done for you and me. Amen.

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Young Men and Women, Christ Is All that Matters

“Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us”

(Colossians 3:11, NLT)

Paul compresses his comprehensive creed into these 12 words: “Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” Each word brings to light all the excellences and glories of Jesus Christ our Lord. I love how New King James Version simplified it: “Christ is all and in all.” Letter to the Colossian church aims primarily at the exaltation of Christ in His glory and splendor. Of the 95 verses in this letter, Christ is mentioned more than half! Christ, Christ, Christ. “Christ is all and in all.” The Colossian Christian were being taught and lured away by the false teachings of Gnosticism (you're required to have ‘special knowledge’ to get to know God, to put it simply).  Paul here directs their attention toward Jesus alone as the source of wisdom and knowledge – Christ is all that matters.

Paul tells them that in Christ, “dwells all the completeness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). A hymn by an unknown author puts it wonderfully,

In Him most perfectly expressed,

The Father’s glories shine,

Of the full Deity possessed

Eternally divine.

Jesus is the complete embodiment of all there is in God. Jesus Himself declared: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father… I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:9, 11). Paul here demolished the Docetic* heresy which maintained that Jesus has no real body and the Cerinthian* heresy which separated the man Jesus from the divine attribute.

Christ is the all in all of creation. “Everything was created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). “Everything” here means the whole universe. This is the Christ-centred universe – a Christocentric universe! He is its nerve center. Paul is underlining the central activity of Christ in creation. The whole creation is designed to reveal Him. The natural points us to the spiritual.

Christ is the all in all of the providence. “He existed before anything else” (Colossian 1:17). J. Oswald Sanders writes, “Christ occupies the whole sphere of human life and permeates all its developments. Nature is not a machine. Its laws are formulated and administered by the risen Christ.” It is by Him that all things unified, hold together and “in him, we live and move and exist” (Acts 17:28).

Christ is the all in all of the redemption. He “purchased our freedom and forgave our sins” (Colossians 1:14). Through His blood we have redemption! He alone has redeemed us. He paid the debt of our sin not with silver or gold but by His own precious blood. Jesus nailed our sin to the cross thus “ canceled the record of the charges against us” (Colossians 2:14). At the same time, He gloriously defeated “the [evil] spiritual rulers and authorities” and held them up to public shame and disgrace (read Colossians 2:15).

Christ is all that matters

And you know what? He lives in all of us. Wow!

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Jesus Revealed the Distant and Mysterious God

“[Jesus said] “If you had known who I am, then you would have known who my Father is. From now on you know him – and have seen him!’ Philip said, ‘Sir, show us the Father and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus replied, ‘Don’t you even yet know who I am, Philip, even after all this time I have been with you? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking to see him? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say are not my own but are from my Father who lives in me. And he does his work through me. Just believe it – that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or else believe it because of the mighty miracles you have seen me do’”
(John 14:7-11, The Living Bible)

The disciples’ response to Jesus’ statement about Himself reveals that they didn’t understand fully His divinity (I understand if the world also don’t get it yet). In this chapter 14 alone, Jesus describes three important aspects of His unique identity: 1) He and the Father share characteristics in such a way that if you has seen one has also seen the other; 2) He and the Father are united in such a way that when Jesus speaks the Father speaks; and 3) He claimed that any Christ-centred requests to God made in His Name will be answered.

To know Jesus is to know the Father. “No one has ever actually seen God, but, of course, his only Son has, for he is the companion of the Father and has told us all about him” (John 1:18). “Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God” (Colossians 1:15). “God’s Son shines out with God’s glory, and all that God’s Son is and does marks him as God” (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus insisted that because the disciples knew Him, they knew the Father already. It’s good to note that to the Jews, God was sovereign Creator, holy and separate from them. God loved and chose them, of course, but He was distant and mysterious (different but similar from Allah of Islam). In the Incarnation, however, God “became a human being and lived here on earth among us” (John 1:14). If you want to know what God is like, look to Jesus!

I’ve been thinking and praying about this statement from Jesus: “From now on you know [the Father]” What does it mean? I think, from that time forward – the moment Jesus said it – people could know the Father personally and intimately through the Son. Jesus is “the way” to God (14:6). This is strikingly amazing! God has revealed Himself generally in nature and specifically in the Scripture. But now – in the New Testament period – God has revealed Himself perfectly in His Son. If you want to know what God is like, you need only look at Jesus.

When you struggle with doubts about God and His love for you, look at Jesus.

When you need to get your values and priories straight, look at Jesus.

When you desire hope for the future, look at Jesus.

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Young Men and Women, Consider the Mind of Jesus

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus”

(Philippians 2:5, NIV)

In this great Christological passage, Paul throws out a starling challenge: Reflect in your own mind the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ was more than His thinking processes; it was His entire inner disposition. It included His thoughts and motives and desires. Because we reflect the mind of Christ so imperfectly, we make a very slight impression on the cynical world around us. J. Stuart Holden writes: “The world does not believe in Him whom it has not seen, because it has cause not to believe in us whom it has seen.”

The mind of Christ is seen operating on two levels in this passage. On the level of deity, Christ did not count equality with God and its attendant majesty something to retained and grasped at all costs. He did not greedily cling to His rights as God’s equal. Instead, He emptied Himself. He resigned all His outward glory, veiled His majesty, and accepted the limitations involved in assuming human form. He could never be less than God, but He renounced the outward display of His majesty and glory. Yielding up the independent exercise of His divine attributes, He became a servant. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (KJV).

The mind of Christ displayed on the level of humanity. “He humbled himself” (v.8). We have every season to humble ourselves, but it was not so with Him. He did not demand, as He might well have done, such a standard of treatment as befitted His dignity. Instead of a palace, He chose a manger. His throne was a carpenter’s bench, and His sceptre a hammer. His university was a village school. So low did He stoop in His self-humiliation that He accepted the lowest step – death on the cross.

This display of His mind was progressive. It began in His thinking, led to self-abasement, and culminated in self-oblation. Sacrificial love led Him to take these downward steps, and we are to follow His example. His mind was the exact reverse of the worldly mind that revels in position and power; that considers wealth and possessions the greatest good; that delights in being served rather than in serving others; that shrinks from suffering and shame. “Have the same mindset.” “Let this mind be in you.”

[Edited, modified and modernized from Consider Him (1976) by J. Oswald Sanders]

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Young Men, Consider the Head of Jesus

“On his head are many crowns”
(Revelation 19:12, NIV)

The head is the control tower of the body. From it, impulses and messages are transmitted to the farthest limb. It is the dominant part of the body. Our Lord’s head is mentioned several times in Scriptures, sometimes in its humiliation, sometimes in its exaltation.

He was a homeless head. “The Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). In these graphic words, Jesus indicated His rejection by His people. There was no bed for Him in the inn. Many were the night His head never touched a pillow. During His ministry, He had no home and was dependent on the hospitality of others.

But it was also an anointed head. In the extravagance of her love, Mary broke the priceless box of the fragrant anointing oil and poured it over His head (see Mark 14:3). Her act of love was to Him a green oasis in the dreary desert of rejection, a refreshing drought on the desolate road to the cross. Not everyone rejected Him.

His head was callously struck by His tormentors. “[They] twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head… They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again” (Matthew 27:29-30). The staff, mock royal scepter, was used to bruise and degrade the head of the Son of God. “He was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). And those who struck Him were representative of us all.

His head was crowned in mockery (see Matthew 27:29). Thorns, a symbol of curse, adorned the brow of the Lord of glory, every thorn a point of fire.

“Is their diadem, as monarch,

That His brow adorns?

Yea, a crown, in very surety,

But of thorns”

(Author unknown)

“He bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30). All through the ghastly ordeal of crucifixion, His head had remained erect. The curse broke His heart but did not bow His head. Now His work was finished.

Again we see His head in dazzling majesty. “His head was white like wool, as white as snow” (Revelation 1:14). It is again erect and radiant. Never again will He bow it before His creations. In His hand, there is no longer a mocking staff, but the scepter of universal dominion.

Our final view of His head is crowned with many crowns (Revelation 19:12). He is crowned with glory and honor, the reward of His obedience unto death.

[Edited, modified and modernized from considering Him (1976) by J. Oswald Sanders]

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Jesus Is the Son of God: Three Witnesses, Come Forth! (1 John 5:6-8)

“[Jesus] Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross – not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. So we have these three witnesses – the Spirit, the water, and the blood – and all three agree”

(1 John 5:6-8, NLT)

Not only we can “achieve victory through our faith” (1 John 5:4), but we can know for sure that our faith is correct and based on facts! The Apostle John has mentioned that we need to believe that Jesus “is the Son of God” (5:5), God became flesh and lived among us (John 1:14). But how can we know for sure that this is true? You know how important it is to have more than one witness when there has been an accident or a crime. This has been true in courts for many centuries. As in Deuteronomy 19:15, “…The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses”. Well, John realizes that we would be surer about our faith if there was more than one witness to verify these faith-beliefs. So he mentions three key witnesses to our beliefs about Jesus:

Witness #1: The (Holy) Spirit. Again and again, in the New Testament, we read that “the Spirit” opens our eyes to the truth, that the Spirit will help us realize that Jesus is “God’s Son”. The Spirit is an inner witness to what we hear and see. For example, in John 15:26, Lord Jesus says that the Spirit “will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me”; the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit” (see also John 16:13-14; Romans 8:14-16). In other words, we do not just come to the conclusion in our heads that Jesus is God’s Son; we also have an inner witness, a divine Person that helps us know that this is true.

Witness #2: The water. There is some disagreement over what John meant here. Since John says that Jesus came “not by water only,” some people, in fact I think that he is referring to the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist (read Matthew 3:13-17). A voice came from heaven as Jesus was being baptized by water at the Jordan River and said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy” (Matthew 3:17). That experience certainly would have been a witness to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. Soon after this event Jesus began His ministry. Others suggest that the reference to “water” is really to Christians being baptized, which is also a witness to the work of Jesus in our lives. This again would be a witness that we make as we are baptized. Some others suggest that “water” refers to Jesus’ birth, but I doubt it.

Note: You could probably build a case for either position. But it seems to me that the first interpretation – that the baptism of Jesus was a witness to His being God’s Son – makes the most sense, for this was an outward, obvious witness to all who saw Jesus being baptized. They saw Him baptized; they saw the Spirit come in the form of a dove; and they heard God’s voice announcing that Jesus was truly “God’s Son.” This idea, in the context of this passage, makes the most sense to me.

Witness #3: The blood. This witness was the death of Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our sins [In theological terms this is called substitutionary atonement]. Jesus not only told us that He loved us; He showed that He meant what He said by giving His very life for us (see His love actions in Matthew 27:50-54). A phony or liar would stop short of that action, saying, “Uhhh… I really love you, but dying is just too much…” No, Jesus went to His death, and later even came back to life – resurrection – so that we would know that what He had said and promised was really true!

We have these three witnesses:

The Spirit, the water, and the blood – and all three agree.

Agree about what? That Jesus is really the Son of God. Amen!

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Jesus the Coming King

His Majesty. The emperor of Judah. The soaring eagle of eternity. The noble admiral of the Kingdom. All the splendour of heaven revealed in a human body. For a period ever so brief, the doors to the throne room were open and God came near. His Majesty was seen. Heaven touched the earth and, as a result, earth can know heaven. In astounding tandem a human body housed divinity. Holiness and earthliness intertwined.

This is no run-of-the-mill messiah. His story was extraordinary. He called Himself divine, yet allowed a minimum-wage Roman soldier to drive a nail into His wrist. He demanded purity, yet stood for the rights of a repentant whore. He called men to march, yet refused to allow them to call him King. He sent men into all the world, yet equipped them with only bended knees and memories of a resurrected carpenter…

Let’s follow His sandalprints. Let’s sit on the cold, hard floor of the cave in which He was born. Let’s smell the sawdust of the carpentry shop. Let’s hear His sandals slap the hard trails of Galilee. Let’s sigh as we touch the healed sores of the leper. Let’s smile as we see His compassion with the woman at the well. Let’s cringe as we hear the hissing of hell’s Satan. Let’s let our voices soar with the praises of the multitudes. Let’s try to see Him.

One warning. Something happens to a person who has witnessed His Majesty. He became addicted. One glimpse of the King and you are consumed by a desire to see more of Him and say more about Him. Pew-warning is no longer an option. Junk religion will no longer suffice. Sensation-seeking is needless. Once you have seen His face you will forever long to see it again.

[From God Came Near by Max Lucado]

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Jesus might Gives You Lessons Today as Preparatory for Tomorrow

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,

‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’” (Matthew 16:13, NIV).

Back in Jesus’ time, Caesarea Philippi and its surrounding area were known as a centre of pagan worship. Both Philip, the brother of Herod Antipas (ruled Caesarea Philippi on behalf of the Romans), and his father Herod the Great, sponsored the construction of pagan temples and public works. The population of the area was mostly Gentile, so the trip took Jesus and twelve disciples out of their usual circumstances. Shrines and other reminders of pagan practices would have been all around them [There was an altar dedicated to Greek god Pan who claimed to be god (100% god) living among men; and a statue of Roman Emperor (100% man) who claimed himself to be god. But Jesus claimed to be both born of a virgin (100% man) and the Son of God (100% God). Which one is true?]. This was the setting for Jesus’ crucial question for the disciples.

The trip to a new region took place at the height of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus at this time had become the focal point of a religious/political power struggle in Israel. The structure of power presented by the Sadducees and Pharisees had rejected Jesus as Messiah. They all want to remove Jesus from the scene. But throughout these days, Jesus seemed to remain deliberate but never desperate. He was not campaigning for popularity but desires to practice compassion. Previously he fed four thousand (see Matthew 15:32-38), not to increase his following or ‘likes’, but because, Jesus “had compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way” (v. 32). He never asked for approval but to reveal his authority!

Jesus asked his question when he was alone with his disciples. The answer to this question were instances in which Jesus communicated with his intimate followers certain truth they wouldn’t understand until later. Jesus was preparing them for his eventual departure long before they were ready to consider the fact that Jesus had to die and rise again in order to accomplish God’s plan. He was about to give them the treasure – Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God – that included all the facets of his life and ministry. He would ask them to hold this treasure in confidence until the time was right to share it with the world.

Think about this: Not every principle we read or story we study in Scripture has an immediate personal application. Some lessons are preparatory like the reality of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God to his disciples in this text. We may understand, for example, a concept like God’s ownership of the church but not recognize the personal important of God’s sovereign work through his church until we have been Christ followers for years. I urge you now to thank God for his constant presence with you that make it possible for you to have times apart from distractions to be alone with him. Praise God for the teaching of his Word, which can bear fruit in your life immediately and also in years to come. Amen.

Today’s lessons maybe a preparation for tomorrow’s journey

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus Washes Our Feet

“[Jesus] rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, are You washing my feet?’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.’”
(John 13:4-8, NKJV).

I don’t understand how God can be so kind to us, but He is. He knells before us, takes our feet in His hands, and washes them. Please understand that in washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus is washing ours. You and I are in this story. We are at the table. That’s us being cleansed, not from our dirt, but from our sins…

Don’t miss the meaning here. To place our feet in the basin of Jesus is to place the filthiest parts of our lives into His hands. In the ancient East, people’s feet were caked with mud and dirt. The servant of the feast saw to it that the feet were cleaned. Jesus is assuming the role of the servant. He will wash the grimiest part of your life. If you let Him. The water of the Servant comes only when we confess that we are dirty. Only when we confess that we are caked with filth, that we have walked forbidden trails and followed the wrong paths.

We tend to be proud like Peter and resist. “I’m not that dirty, Jesus. Just sprinkle a few drops on me and I’ll be fine.” What a lie! “If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). We will never be cleansed until we confess we are dirty. We will never be pure until we admit we are filthy. And we will never be able to wash the feet of those who have hurt us until we allow Jesus, the one we have hurt, to wash ours.

You see, that is the secret of forgiveness. You will never forgive anyone more than God has already forgiven you. Only by letting Him wash your feet can you have strength to wash those of another.

[From A Gentle Thunder by Max Lucado. Scripture quote above, mine.]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus: the One Who Gave Himself for Us

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, NKJV).

A twenty-five-word parade of hope: beginning with God, ending with life, and urging us to do the same. Brief enough to write on a napkin or memorize in a moment, yet solid enough to weather two thousand years of storms and questions. If you know nothing of the Bible, start here. If you know everything in the Bible, return here. We all need the reminder. The heart of the human problem is the heart of the human. And God’s treatment is prescribed in John 3:16.

He loves. He gave. We believe. We live.

The words are to Scripture what the Mississippi River to America – an entryway into the heartland. Believe or dismiss them, embrace of reject them, any serious consideration of Christ must include them. Would a British historian dismiss the Magna Carta? Egyptologists overlook the Rosetta stone? Could you ponder the words of Christ and never immerse yourself into John 3:16?

The verse is an alphabet of grace, a table of contents to the Christian hope, each word a safe-deposit box of jewels. Read it again, slowly and aloud, and note the word that snatches your attention. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

“God so loved the world…” We’d expect an anger-fuelled God. One who punishes the world, recycles the world, forsakes the world… but loves the world?

The world? This world? Heartbreakers, hope-snatchers, and dream-dousers prowl this orb. Dictators rage. Abusers inflict. Reverends think they deserve the title. But God loves. And He loves the world so much He gave His:
Declarations? Rules? Dicta? Edicts?

No. the heart-stilling, mind-bending, deal-making-or-breaking claim of John 3:16 is this: God gave His Son… His only Son. No abstract ideas but a flesh-wrapped divinity. Scripture equates Jesus with God. God, then, gave Himself. Why? So that “whoever believes in His should not perish.”

[From 3:16 by Max Lucado]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

So You Often Quote Him? Augustine of Hippo on the Divine Election

“Has the potter no right over the clay,
to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?”
(Romans 9:21, ESV)

Augustine here argues that all humanity are contaminated by sin, with the result that salvation is a human impossibility. In his grace, God chose to save some from this “mass of perdition.” [A doctrine that I’m still struggling with and of course this (and many other statements by Augustine) contributed to The Augustine & the Pelagian Controversy]. Note the appeal below to the analogy of the potter and the clay (Romans 9:21), which becomes a frequent element in Augustinian and Reformed discussions of election and predestination. He said,

“There are lump of perdition (massa perditionis) out of Adam to which only punishment was due; from this same lump, vessels were made which are destined for honour. For the potter has authority over the same lump of clay (Romans 9:21). What lump? The lump that had already perished, and whose just damnation was already assured. So be thankful that you have escaped! You have escaped the death certainly due to you, and found life, which was not due to you. The potter has authority over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honour and another for contempt. But, you say, why has He made me to honour and another to contempt? What shall I answer? Will you listen to Augustine, if you will not listen to the Apostle [Paul] when he says, ‘O man, who art you who argues with God’? (Romans 11:33). Two little children are born. If you ask what is due to them, the answer is that they both belong to the lump of perdition. But why does its mother carry the one to grace, while the other is suffocated by its mother in her sleep? Will you tell me what was deserved by the one whom its sleeping mother suffocated? Both have deserved nothing good; but the potter has authority over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel for honour, and the other for contempt.”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

References:

1) Sermo 26, xii, 13; in J. P. Migne, Patrologia Latina, 38.177A-B.

2) The Christian Theology Reader, edited by Alister E. McGrath (Oxford UK: Blackwell Publishers, Inc., 1995), p.217 

So You Want to Be a Calvinist? John Calvin on the Natural Knowledge of God

John Calvin opens the 1559 edition of his classic book, Institutes of the Christian Religion, with a discussion of how we know anything about God. According to Calvin, a true and full knowledge of God is only available through Scripture. However, Calvin insists that a natural knowledge of God is possible, which prepares the way for the full knowledge of God, and eliminates any human excuse for being ignorant of God’s existence or nature. Note especially Calvin’s argument for an implanted sense of divinity within human beings:

“There is within the human mind, and that by natural instinct, a sense of divinity (divinitatis sensus). This we take to be beyond controversy. So that no-one might take refuge in the pretext of ignorance, God frequently renews and sometimes increases this awareness, so that all people, recognizing that there is a God and that he is their Creator, are condemned by their own testimony because they have failed to worship him and to give their lives to his service. If ignorance of God is to be looked for anywhere, surely one is most likely to find an example of it amongst the more backward peoples and those who are really remote from civilization (ab humanitatis cultu remotiores). Yet, in fact (as a pagan has said) there is no nation so barbarous, no people so savage, that they do not have a pervasive belief that there is a God…

There has been no region since the beginning of the world, no city, no home, that could exist without religion; this fact in itself points to a sense of divinity inscribed in the hearts of all people…

There are innumerable witnesses in heaven and on earth that declare the wonders of his wisdom. Not only those more arcane matters for the closer observation of which astronomy, medicine, and all of natural science (tota physica scientia)  are intended, but also those which force themselves upon the sight of even the most unlearned and ignorant peoples, so that they cannot even open their eyes without being forced to see them.”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

References:

1) Institutes, I.iii.1,2; in Joannis Calvini: Opera Selecta, ed. P. Barth and W. Niesel, vol. 3 (Munich: Kaiser Verlag, 1928), 37.16-46.11.

2) The Christian Theology Reader, edited by Alister E. McGrath (Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1995), pp. 57

The Nicene Creed on the Divinity of Christ

The “Nicene Creed” is widely regarded as the basis of orthodox Christianity in both the eastern and western churches. Although its focus is Christological, its importance relates to its function as a “rule of faith” within the churches. As part of its polemic against the Arians, the Council of Nicea (June 325) formulated a short statement of faith, based on a baptismal creed used at Jerusalem. This Creed was intended to affirm the full divinity of Christ against the Arian understanding of his creaturely status, and includes four explicit condemnations of Arian views, as well as its three articles of faith.

As the full details of the proceeding of Nicea are now lost, we are obligated to rely on secondary sources (such as ecclesiastical historians, and writers such as Athanasius and Basil of Caesarea) for the text of this creed. Note that the translation provided here is of the Greek original, rather than of the Latin version of Hilary of Poitiers. Note also that the term “Nicene Creed” is often used as a shorter way of referring to the “Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed”, which has a significantly longer discussion of the person of Christ, and also makes statements concerning the church, forgiveness, and eternal life.

“We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty, the maker of all things seen and unseen.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God; begotten from the Father; only begotten – that is, from the substance of the Father; God from God; light from light; true God from true God; begotten not made; of one substance with the Father; through whom all things in heaven and on earth came into being; who on account of us human beings and our salvation came down and took flesh, becoming a human being; he suffered and rose again on the third day, ascended into the heavens; and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

And in the Holy Spirit.

As for those who say that ‘there was when he was not’, and ‘before being born he was not’, and ‘he came into existence out of nothing’ or who declare that the  Son of God is of different substance or nature, or is subject to alteration or change – the catholic and apostolic church condemns these.”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

References:

1) H. Denzinger (ed.), Enchiridion Symbolorum, 24-5 edn (Barcelona: Herder, 1948), pp. 29-30.

2) The Christian Theology Reader, edited by Alister E. McGrath (Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1995), pp. 7