Blog https://www.cbu.org Tue, 19 Mar 2024 07:02:32 -0400 http://churchplantmedia.com/ Biblical Hope Part 1: Promises & Oaths https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/biblical-hope-part-1-promises---oaths https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/biblical-hope-part-1-promises---oaths#comments Sun, 12 Sep 2021 09:00:00 -0400 https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/biblical-hope-part-1-promises---oaths In I Corinthians 13:13, the apostle Paul writes that “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 
 
We know that we are saved by God’s grace, through faith, and so faith holds a perpetually prominent place in the Christian life. And we know that faith works through love – that love is the fruit of genuine faith and reflects God’s gracious character, and it's the greatest.  
 
What about hope? Compared with the big brothers of faith and love, it seems that hope is easily passed over. But hope is one of “these three,” and we want to give it an appropriate place in our lives. 
 
The centrality of hope in the Christian life can be understood like this: if faith is what we do to enter the family, and love is the action we give ourselves to in the family, then hope is the attitude of the family. That is, New Testament Christianity is marked by the attitude or emotion of hope. 

Natural Hope vs. Biblical Hope 

But the hope we encounter in Scripture is different from the natural hope that is customary in our lives. 
 
Natural hope goes like this: we want something to happen or to be true, and we usually have a good reason to think that it might. Natural hope means that we want something to happen and we think that it is possible. Natural hope is to wish for a particular event that is within the realm of possibility; it is to cherish a desire with anticipation. 
 
That’s natural hope. 
 
But biblical hope is the joyful, confident anticipation and expectation of something that is certain; specifically, the joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation. In other words, God wants us to live with confident certainty that He is going to keep his promise to us. 
 
We’re going to look at a key scripture – Hebrews 6:13-20 -- that describes the source, content, and outcome of this hope. To help us understand it, we’re going to frame this text around four keywords: promises, oaths, anchors, and priests. 

Promises: The God who makes promises 

Hebrews 6:13-15 states, “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you.’ And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” 
 
There are three things that stand out in this text: First, God made a promise and swore by himself that he would do it, saying, “Surely, I will bless you…”. Second, Abraham is an example of appropriately responding to God’s promise: Abraham believed the promise, Abraham lived in the promise, and Abraham received the promise. Third, we can borrow from this example and say this: being a Christian is about believing God’s promises and living like it. 
 
Everything we are going to say about hope comes from receiving God’s promises and believing them.  

Oaths: The God who guarantees promises 

Hebrews 6:16-17 states, “For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath.” 
 
These verses describe why God made an oath – He desired to show his promise more convincingly. Two key lessons stand out in this passage. First, God swears by His own greatness so that we will be fully convinced. Swearing, as the author of Hebrews points out, is done by something greater than yourself. God’s dilemma is that He has no one greater than Himself, and so He swears by Himself by saying, “Surely I will do this.” And the reason for this swearing is so that we will be fully convinced. But convinced of what? This is the second lesson. 
 
God is going to fulfill His [unchangeable] purpose. This is what we need to be convinced of: God swears so that there will be no wavering in our hearts about whether or not He will keep his word. 
 
Let's look at the Greek word for purpose, boulḗ, which means God’s resolved, unchangeable plan for which he purposefully arranges all circumstances so that His will is accomplished. This is simple but profound: God knows what he wants to do, and God does what he wants to do. Our purposes are different: we make a plan, and it may or may not be done; sometimes we rely on outside circumstances going just right for our plans to come together. Not so with God – he has the ability to do exactly what he intends without relying on anything or anyone else. And more than having the ability, this is what he does. Consider Isaiah 46:9-10: 
 
“For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’” 
 
Notice that God doesn’t say I might accomplish my purpose or I will accomplish some of my purposes. NO – God will accomplish all of his purposes. 

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In I Corinthians 13:13, the apostle Paul writes that “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 
 
We know that we are saved by God’s grace, through faith, and so faith holds a perpetually prominent place in the Christian life. And we know that faith works through love – that love is the fruit of genuine faith and reflects God’s gracious character, and it's the greatest.  
 
What about hope? Compared with the big brothers of faith and love, it seems that hope is easily passed over. But hope is one of “these three,” and we want to give it an appropriate place in our lives. 
 
The centrality of hope in the Christian life can be understood like this: if faith is what we do to enter the family, and love is the action we give ourselves to in the family, then hope is the attitude of the family. That is, New Testament Christianity is marked by the attitude or emotion of hope. 

Natural Hope vs. Biblical Hope 

But the hope we encounter in Scripture is different from the natural hope that is customary in our lives. 
 
Natural hope goes like this: we want something to happen or to be true, and we usually have a good reason to think that it might. Natural hope means that we want something to happen and we think that it is possible. Natural hope is to wish for a particular event that is within the realm of possibility; it is to cherish a desire with anticipation. 
 
That’s natural hope. 
 
But biblical hope is the joyful, confident anticipation and expectation of something that is certain; specifically, the joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation. In other words, God wants us to live with confident certainty that He is going to keep his promise to us. 
 
We’re going to look at a key scripture – Hebrews 6:13-20 -- that describes the source, content, and outcome of this hope. To help us understand it, we’re going to frame this text around four keywords: promises, oaths, anchors, and priests. 

Promises: The God who makes promises 

Hebrews 6:13-15 states, “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you.’ And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” 
 
There are three things that stand out in this text: First, God made a promise and swore by himself that he would do it, saying, “Surely, I will bless you…”. Second, Abraham is an example of appropriately responding to God’s promise: Abraham believed the promise, Abraham lived in the promise, and Abraham received the promise. Third, we can borrow from this example and say this: being a Christian is about believing God’s promises and living like it. 
 
Everything we are going to say about hope comes from receiving God’s promises and believing them.  

Oaths: The God who guarantees promises 

Hebrews 6:16-17 states, “For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath.” 
 
These verses describe why God made an oath – He desired to show his promise more convincingly. Two key lessons stand out in this passage. First, God swears by His own greatness so that we will be fully convinced. Swearing, as the author of Hebrews points out, is done by something greater than yourself. God’s dilemma is that He has no one greater than Himself, and so He swears by Himself by saying, “Surely I will do this.” And the reason for this swearing is so that we will be fully convinced. But convinced of what? This is the second lesson. 
 
God is going to fulfill His [unchangeable] purpose. This is what we need to be convinced of: God swears so that there will be no wavering in our hearts about whether or not He will keep his word. 
 
Let's look at the Greek word for purpose, boulḗ, which means God’s resolved, unchangeable plan for which he purposefully arranges all circumstances so that His will is accomplished. This is simple but profound: God knows what he wants to do, and God does what he wants to do. Our purposes are different: we make a plan, and it may or may not be done; sometimes we rely on outside circumstances going just right for our plans to come together. Not so with God – he has the ability to do exactly what he intends without relying on anything or anyone else. And more than having the ability, this is what he does. Consider Isaiah 46:9-10: 
 
“For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’” 
 
Notice that God doesn’t say I might accomplish my purpose or I will accomplish some of my purposes. NO – God will accomplish all of his purposes. 

]]>
Biblical Hope Part 2: An Anchor & a Priest https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/biblical-hope-part-2-an-anchor---apriest https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/biblical-hope-part-2-an-anchor---apriest#comments Sun, 12 Sep 2021 09:00:00 -0400 https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/biblical-hope-part-2-an-anchor---apriest Certainty: The God who keeps His promises 

To lay a foundation for our study of an anchor and a priest, the author of Hebrews points to God’s character. Hebrews 6:18 states, “so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” 
 
The two unchangeable things are from the previous verse: God’s promise and God’s purpose. The promise is that we will be with Him forever; that is, His presence. This is the final outworking of our salvation – we will be with Him. The purpose, the boulḗ - the thing God is going to accomplish is that God is going to bring us home to be with Himself. And so we have His purpose and His promise, which is the point of these verses. We can trust God to do both. 
 
And so, he points to God’s character – it is impossible for God to lie. That is, we can trust Him completely to do what He has said. And more than that, on the basis of God’s power, we know He can do what He wills. Thus, God is completely trustworthy. 

Hope Chart 1

Next, the author of Hebrews reminds us of his audience: we who have fled for refuge. This is who is writing to, this is who he is writing about. And this is “us”. Who are we? Those who have fled for refuge. There are two sides of our fleeing – fleeing from and fleeing to. We have fled from God’s judgment against sin. We have fled to God’s salvation in Christ. 
 
With all this in mind, we are given one remarkable result: all of this is so that we might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. First, we should feel strong encouragement to hang on because God is trustworthy. 
 
Second, we should hold fast. That means to hang on tightly. This is the opposite of the song lyrics ‘just hold on loosely’ by the group 38 Special. That might be good advice for how to drive a motorcycle, but not for our relationship with God. But the good news for us is that our salvation is not based on our ability to hang on to God, but God’s ability to hang on to us. Like a small child in their parent’s arms, hanging on is the right thing to do. But their safety, like ours with God, is found in their parent’s strength in holding on to them. 
 
This hanging on to hope is summarized for us in Hebrews 10:23: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” We have a hope confession – God will complete our salvation and bring us home, and we have an action – hang on to the promise without wavering. Finally, we have a rationale – God who promises is faithful. 

Anchor: The God who Gives Hope 

Hope Chart 2

Finally, having laid this foundation of confident trust in God’s promises, we come to the description of our hope as an anchor: 
 
“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain” (Hebrews 6:19). 
 
First, notice that the “this” in verse 19 is the hope set before us from verse 18. Thus, the hope that is set before us – God’s promise of being united with Him in His presence forever (explained below) – it is this hope that is an anchor. 
 
The picture of an anchor points to something that gives stability in times of shaking or trouble. To anchor the soul means that our souls – our heart, our minds, our emotions – have a source of stability. And that source of stability is the hope we have. And this is where we get into the content of that hope: it is a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain. 
 
In ancient Israel, every year, on the day of atonement, both in the tabernacle and later in the temple, the high priest would take blood from a sacrificial bull into the holy place, through the curtain, into the holiest place, and sprinkle it on the ark of the covenant. God’s presence dwelt in the holiest place, and so the symbolism is clear: sins are atoned for by blood sacrifice, and it is by this blood that we gain access to God’s presence. 

Hope Chart 3

Remember that this picture points to Christ: that is, Jesus accomplished for real what the priests symbolized on the day of atonement. The real inner place is heaven, the very presence of God. Jesus took his own blood, the blood he shed on the cross on our behalf. This act of opening access is described in Hebrews 10:20: 
 
“… by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” 
 
In the same way that the flesh of Jesus was "opened” by being pierced, the curtain that kept people from God’s presence was torn in two, demonstrating that through Jesus’s sacrifice, we have access to God. 
 
Hebrews 6:20 continues with this description: “where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.” The where is heaven – the very presence of God. To be a forerunner means to go before. That is, Jesus has blazed the trail; He has gone before so that where Jesus is, we’re going to be. This is our hope: God is going to bring us into his very presence through Jesus. 
 
We can say it like this: Jesus has gone into the inner place behind the curtain as a forerunner and priest on our behalf. And this action leads on to the next keyword: 

Priest: The God Who Gives Hope 

Not only is Jesus a forerunner, but He is also our high priest: having become a high priest forever. That is, like the high priests in ancient Israel, but better, Jesus has accomplished atonement for us. 
 
A priest is an intermediary, someone who represents people to God. As our priest, Jesus has opened AND guaranteed access to God through his blood. That is, Jesus has opened the door and has guaranteed the access. 

Hope Chart 4

Imagine that a friend invites you to a really exclusive club; the cover charge to get in is £100,000, and everyone there is wearing uber-expensive designer clothes. You think, “No way! I’ll never get in!” And your friend says, “I’ve got you covered." You go along, and you discover that not only has your friend paid the cover charge for you, but your friend has also given you a new set of clothes. 
 
This is what Jesus has done for us: He paid the cover charge for our access to heaven through the blood He shed on the cross, and He clothes us with the gift of His righteousness. In other words, through Jesus, we have access to the very presence of God. It’s covered. 

Confident Hope in God 

God wants us to live in confident hope, the hope that He will keep his word, the hope that He will save us to the uttermost and eventually bring us home to be with Him forever in his presence. I’ve tried to make this as clear as possible, but in case you missed the point, here are the two key takeaways: 
 
We have hope because GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES. 
* We have hope because JESUS GUARANTEES ACCESS TO GOD’S PRESENCE. 
 
This is good news: live in your confident hope in Christ this week! 

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Certainty: The God who keeps His promises 

To lay a foundation for our study of an anchor and a priest, the author of Hebrews points to God’s character. Hebrews 6:18 states, “so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” 
 
The two unchangeable things are from the previous verse: God’s promise and God’s purpose. The promise is that we will be with Him forever; that is, His presence. This is the final outworking of our salvation – we will be with Him. The purpose, the boulḗ - the thing God is going to accomplish is that God is going to bring us home to be with Himself. And so we have His purpose and His promise, which is the point of these verses. We can trust God to do both. 
 
And so, he points to God’s character – it is impossible for God to lie. That is, we can trust Him completely to do what He has said. And more than that, on the basis of God’s power, we know He can do what He wills. Thus, God is completely trustworthy. 

Hope Chart 1

Next, the author of Hebrews reminds us of his audience: we who have fled for refuge. This is who is writing to, this is who he is writing about. And this is “us”. Who are we? Those who have fled for refuge. There are two sides of our fleeing – fleeing from and fleeing to. We have fled from God’s judgment against sin. We have fled to God’s salvation in Christ. 
 
With all this in mind, we are given one remarkable result: all of this is so that we might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. First, we should feel strong encouragement to hang on because God is trustworthy. 
 
Second, we should hold fast. That means to hang on tightly. This is the opposite of the song lyrics ‘just hold on loosely’ by the group 38 Special. That might be good advice for how to drive a motorcycle, but not for our relationship with God. But the good news for us is that our salvation is not based on our ability to hang on to God, but God’s ability to hang on to us. Like a small child in their parent’s arms, hanging on is the right thing to do. But their safety, like ours with God, is found in their parent’s strength in holding on to them. 
 
This hanging on to hope is summarized for us in Hebrews 10:23: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” We have a hope confession – God will complete our salvation and bring us home, and we have an action – hang on to the promise without wavering. Finally, we have a rationale – God who promises is faithful. 

Anchor: The God who Gives Hope 

Hope Chart 2

Finally, having laid this foundation of confident trust in God’s promises, we come to the description of our hope as an anchor: 
 
“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain” (Hebrews 6:19). 
 
First, notice that the “this” in verse 19 is the hope set before us from verse 18. Thus, the hope that is set before us – God’s promise of being united with Him in His presence forever (explained below) – it is this hope that is an anchor. 
 
The picture of an anchor points to something that gives stability in times of shaking or trouble. To anchor the soul means that our souls – our heart, our minds, our emotions – have a source of stability. And that source of stability is the hope we have. And this is where we get into the content of that hope: it is a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain. 
 
In ancient Israel, every year, on the day of atonement, both in the tabernacle and later in the temple, the high priest would take blood from a sacrificial bull into the holy place, through the curtain, into the holiest place, and sprinkle it on the ark of the covenant. God’s presence dwelt in the holiest place, and so the symbolism is clear: sins are atoned for by blood sacrifice, and it is by this blood that we gain access to God’s presence. 

Hope Chart 3

Remember that this picture points to Christ: that is, Jesus accomplished for real what the priests symbolized on the day of atonement. The real inner place is heaven, the very presence of God. Jesus took his own blood, the blood he shed on the cross on our behalf. This act of opening access is described in Hebrews 10:20: 
 
“… by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” 
 
In the same way that the flesh of Jesus was "opened” by being pierced, the curtain that kept people from God’s presence was torn in two, demonstrating that through Jesus’s sacrifice, we have access to God. 
 
Hebrews 6:20 continues with this description: “where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.” The where is heaven – the very presence of God. To be a forerunner means to go before. That is, Jesus has blazed the trail; He has gone before so that where Jesus is, we’re going to be. This is our hope: God is going to bring us into his very presence through Jesus. 
 
We can say it like this: Jesus has gone into the inner place behind the curtain as a forerunner and priest on our behalf. And this action leads on to the next keyword: 

Priest: The God Who Gives Hope 

Not only is Jesus a forerunner, but He is also our high priest: having become a high priest forever. That is, like the high priests in ancient Israel, but better, Jesus has accomplished atonement for us. 
 
A priest is an intermediary, someone who represents people to God. As our priest, Jesus has opened AND guaranteed access to God through his blood. That is, Jesus has opened the door and has guaranteed the access. 

Hope Chart 4

Imagine that a friend invites you to a really exclusive club; the cover charge to get in is £100,000, and everyone there is wearing uber-expensive designer clothes. You think, “No way! I’ll never get in!” And your friend says, “I’ve got you covered." You go along, and you discover that not only has your friend paid the cover charge for you, but your friend has also given you a new set of clothes. 
 
This is what Jesus has done for us: He paid the cover charge for our access to heaven through the blood He shed on the cross, and He clothes us with the gift of His righteousness. In other words, through Jesus, we have access to the very presence of God. It’s covered. 

Confident Hope in God 

God wants us to live in confident hope, the hope that He will keep his word, the hope that He will save us to the uttermost and eventually bring us home to be with Him forever in his presence. I’ve tried to make this as clear as possible, but in case you missed the point, here are the two key takeaways: 
 
We have hope because GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES. 
* We have hope because JESUS GUARANTEES ACCESS TO GOD’S PRESENCE. 
 
This is good news: live in your confident hope in Christ this week! 

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Living Hope Part 3: Joyful Hope https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/living-hope-part-3-joyful-hope https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/living-hope-part-3-joyful-hope#comments Sun, 12 Sep 2021 09:00:00 -0400 https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/living-hope-part-3-joyful-hope A Rejoicing Present 

The practical application of all of this is that we can live with HOPE and JOY now. This is what we see in verses 6-9. Let’s begin with verse 6: 
 
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. 
 
First, this is the inheritance that God has promised, that he is keeping, that is certain. 
 
Second, in that inheritance, you rejoice. For Peter, normal Christianity is MARKED BY REJOICING because we have such DEEP, profound revelation of what is coming. It’s like kids who know their parents are very, very rich. They’re not glad to see mum and dad die, BUT – they know what’s coming – a mega-sized inheritance. 
 
Third, this rejoicing is in the face of for a little while you have been grieved by various trials. This phrase - for a little while - speaks to the totality of our earthly lives before inheriting future salvation; it also means it is temporary and reminds us about how short this life is in the context of eternity. "Various trials" speaks to the challenging nature of this; there is resistance, challenge, difficulty, friction, and fog. 
 
Imagine a really rich parent who dies and leaves a MASSIVE fortune to their child. While they were living, they only gave the child a regular stipend to sustain them in a certain level of lifestyle, but this was just a fraction of their total wealth. And so, although the child is sad because their parent has died, yet they are rejoicing because FINALLY, they are receiving this inheritance.  

On the way to the reading of the will where they will finally, legally, inherit all this wealth, they go over a pothole, and their tire gets punctured and goes flat. When they step out of the car to change the tire, they slip on loose gravel and fall down and scrape their knee, and tear their trousers. Because of the delay, they are running late, and so they hurry, but they are caught by the traffic camera and get a speeding fine. THIS DAY IS NOT STARTING WELL! It seems like everything that can go wrong is going wrong.  

However, through it all, they are smiling and laughing and filled with joy. Why? Is this unbridled optimism? Is this denial of the circumstances? Is this irrational exuberance? NO – they have their eye on the prize. Even though they are experiencing some momentary, light affliction, even though – to use Peter’s words – they are grieved by various trials – they are still walking in joy. Because they know what is waiting for them; they know what their inheritance is, and in the context of the enormity of that inheritance, flat tires and scraped knees and traffic fines are NOTHING. This is what the Christian life should look like: we are SO DIALED into the inheritance waiting for us, that we stay in HIGH REJOICING MODE because the challenges of this life are inconsequential: real, but temporary; sharp, but transient. 

A Genuine Faith 

Verse 7 states, “So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 
 
Again, the contrast here is between the temporary and the eternal, the earthly and the heavenly. Tested faith that is genuine has an inestimable value. The value of tested faith is only fully appreciated when Christ returns. But the contrast is with gold. Pure gold is both very heavy and very valuable; a kilogram of gold is worth more than $43,000. 
 
The point he is making is that it is only genuine gold that has value. If someone gave you a kilogram gold bar – you might be thrilled, but you might be suspicious. To find out if the gold is real, you test it by fire. That is, you put it in a crucible and subject it to extreme heat; the impurities separate, you ladle them off, turn up the heat, other impurities rise, you ladle them off. Eventually, you have PURE GOLD. 
 
And pure gold – gold tested by fire – is incredibly valuable. BUT – it’s also temporary. One day, gold will perish. BUT YOUR GENUINE FAITH WILL NOT!  Peter is saying that genuine faith is incredibly valuable – and this faith is demonstrated as being genuine by our capacity to live in joy in the face of these trials. In other words, the ability to keep your eye on the prize and live in JOY through the midst of trials is an indicator of the purity and the quality of your faith. 

The outcome: The Salvation of Your Souls 

Finally, we come to verses 8 and 9, which state, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 
 
The point is that we can live in joy now; joy is not reserved only for the future when Jesus will be clearly seen at his revelation. 
 
For me, one of the encouraging things about verse 8 is that we share this same experience with these New Testament believers. Because the characters that populate the New Testament are those who had personal encounters with Jesus, it’s easy for us to think that this was the normal pattern – people who knew Jesus personally, and it is only later that people believed in Jesus whom they had not met. But this is not true: most people who responded to the gospel did so on the basis of the reports of these eyewitnesses. 
 
Peter says that even though they have not seen him, they love and they believe in him. And this is us, isn’t it? We love someone we have not seen; we believe in someone we have not touched. HOW? Because God has caused us to be born again to a living hope. 
 
But even though we have not seen him, as these believers – we rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.  In other words, the HOPE that we have is so profound, it’s very difficult to put into words. Even though I have used LOTS of words to try to describe what Peter is teaching in this text, words seem to fall short in capturing the glory of the inheritance we have in Christ. 
 
The basis of our rejoicing with an inexpressible joy is our salvation – what Peter describes here as the end result - eternal salvation – the completion of God’s saving work. 

CONCLUSION: It’s the HOPE that enlivens us as we remember the future. 

Remember that it’s the hope that kills you? No – actually, it’s the hope that enlivens you. That’s because hope is about remembering the future that God has for us. Remember the football supporter unwilling to be hopeful about the new season. But if you ask him about the glory years, he’s willing to talk forever with a big smile on his face. 
 
That’s the point: we can talk about our glory years with hope because they lie in the future and they are guaranteed in and by God. Christian hope is not optimism about a possibility but confidence in something certain. 
 
What now? If you have noticed, so far in these seven verses, there are no ‘imperatives’; there are no ‘therefore, DO THIS’. Often in the epistles, we have indicative and imperative statements: indicative statements are about identity – THIS IS WHO YOU ARE! Imperative statements are action statements: THIS IS WHAT TO DO, THIS IS HOW TO LIVE. 
 
The way it works is that our identity is the foundation for our action; our being comes out of our doing. We often learn WHO WE ARE before we get to WHAT TO DO. And this passage, located at the beginning of the letter, does not address what to do, it addresses identity – WHO YOU ARE. 
 
The big point is relatively simple: IF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF YOUR SALVATION, you will live in hope. IF you can understand the nature of the LIVING HOPE into which you have been born again, your life WILL BE marked by joy. 
 
In other words – joy – or rejoicing – functions as an indicator of the degree to which you are dialed into eternity. WE LIVE NOW in the context of ETERNAL INHERITANCE. That’s why our lives are marked by joy. But if you are NOT marked by joy, it may be that you’ve forgotten about your inheritance. 
 
REMEMBER the guy who was on his way to receive an inheritance? He had a flat tire, got a scraped knee, tore his trousers, got a speeding fine … but it didn’t bother him. IF YOU ARE GETTING BOTHERED, it may be that you’ve gotten your eyes off THE MAIN EVENT and are looking at the "temporary light affliction", the various temporary trials that cause us grief. 
 
It’s time to take a little JOY test: is the song in your heart dialed into the KINGDOM radio station of your eternal salvation, or is it dialed into the fluctuating nature of this life? This doesn’t mean we ignore the human pain and suffering of this life, but that we view it and experience it, and minister to it FROM the context of our eternal reward. 
 
JOY is the appropriate expression of remembering the future God has for you. This is why one way of understanding hope is very simply remembering the future. GOD has secured an AMAZING guaranteed future for you in Christ. Live like it. 

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A Rejoicing Present 

The practical application of all of this is that we can live with HOPE and JOY now. This is what we see in verses 6-9. Let’s begin with verse 6: 
 
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. 
 
First, this is the inheritance that God has promised, that he is keeping, that is certain. 
 
Second, in that inheritance, you rejoice. For Peter, normal Christianity is MARKED BY REJOICING because we have such DEEP, profound revelation of what is coming. It’s like kids who know their parents are very, very rich. They’re not glad to see mum and dad die, BUT – they know what’s coming – a mega-sized inheritance. 
 
Third, this rejoicing is in the face of for a little while you have been grieved by various trials. This phrase - for a little while - speaks to the totality of our earthly lives before inheriting future salvation; it also means it is temporary and reminds us about how short this life is in the context of eternity. "Various trials" speaks to the challenging nature of this; there is resistance, challenge, difficulty, friction, and fog. 
 
Imagine a really rich parent who dies and leaves a MASSIVE fortune to their child. While they were living, they only gave the child a regular stipend to sustain them in a certain level of lifestyle, but this was just a fraction of their total wealth. And so, although the child is sad because their parent has died, yet they are rejoicing because FINALLY, they are receiving this inheritance.  

On the way to the reading of the will where they will finally, legally, inherit all this wealth, they go over a pothole, and their tire gets punctured and goes flat. When they step out of the car to change the tire, they slip on loose gravel and fall down and scrape their knee, and tear their trousers. Because of the delay, they are running late, and so they hurry, but they are caught by the traffic camera and get a speeding fine. THIS DAY IS NOT STARTING WELL! It seems like everything that can go wrong is going wrong.  

However, through it all, they are smiling and laughing and filled with joy. Why? Is this unbridled optimism? Is this denial of the circumstances? Is this irrational exuberance? NO – they have their eye on the prize. Even though they are experiencing some momentary, light affliction, even though – to use Peter’s words – they are grieved by various trials – they are still walking in joy. Because they know what is waiting for them; they know what their inheritance is, and in the context of the enormity of that inheritance, flat tires and scraped knees and traffic fines are NOTHING. This is what the Christian life should look like: we are SO DIALED into the inheritance waiting for us, that we stay in HIGH REJOICING MODE because the challenges of this life are inconsequential: real, but temporary; sharp, but transient. 

A Genuine Faith 

Verse 7 states, “So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 
 
Again, the contrast here is between the temporary and the eternal, the earthly and the heavenly. Tested faith that is genuine has an inestimable value. The value of tested faith is only fully appreciated when Christ returns. But the contrast is with gold. Pure gold is both very heavy and very valuable; a kilogram of gold is worth more than $43,000. 
 
The point he is making is that it is only genuine gold that has value. If someone gave you a kilogram gold bar – you might be thrilled, but you might be suspicious. To find out if the gold is real, you test it by fire. That is, you put it in a crucible and subject it to extreme heat; the impurities separate, you ladle them off, turn up the heat, other impurities rise, you ladle them off. Eventually, you have PURE GOLD. 
 
And pure gold – gold tested by fire – is incredibly valuable. BUT – it’s also temporary. One day, gold will perish. BUT YOUR GENUINE FAITH WILL NOT!  Peter is saying that genuine faith is incredibly valuable – and this faith is demonstrated as being genuine by our capacity to live in joy in the face of these trials. In other words, the ability to keep your eye on the prize and live in JOY through the midst of trials is an indicator of the purity and the quality of your faith. 

The outcome: The Salvation of Your Souls 

Finally, we come to verses 8 and 9, which state, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 
 
The point is that we can live in joy now; joy is not reserved only for the future when Jesus will be clearly seen at his revelation. 
 
For me, one of the encouraging things about verse 8 is that we share this same experience with these New Testament believers. Because the characters that populate the New Testament are those who had personal encounters with Jesus, it’s easy for us to think that this was the normal pattern – people who knew Jesus personally, and it is only later that people believed in Jesus whom they had not met. But this is not true: most people who responded to the gospel did so on the basis of the reports of these eyewitnesses. 
 
Peter says that even though they have not seen him, they love and they believe in him. And this is us, isn’t it? We love someone we have not seen; we believe in someone we have not touched. HOW? Because God has caused us to be born again to a living hope. 
 
But even though we have not seen him, as these believers – we rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.  In other words, the HOPE that we have is so profound, it’s very difficult to put into words. Even though I have used LOTS of words to try to describe what Peter is teaching in this text, words seem to fall short in capturing the glory of the inheritance we have in Christ. 
 
The basis of our rejoicing with an inexpressible joy is our salvation – what Peter describes here as the end result - eternal salvation – the completion of God’s saving work. 

CONCLUSION: It’s the HOPE that enlivens us as we remember the future. 

Remember that it’s the hope that kills you? No – actually, it’s the hope that enlivens you. That’s because hope is about remembering the future that God has for us. Remember the football supporter unwilling to be hopeful about the new season. But if you ask him about the glory years, he’s willing to talk forever with a big smile on his face. 
 
That’s the point: we can talk about our glory years with hope because they lie in the future and they are guaranteed in and by God. Christian hope is not optimism about a possibility but confidence in something certain. 
 
What now? If you have noticed, so far in these seven verses, there are no ‘imperatives’; there are no ‘therefore, DO THIS’. Often in the epistles, we have indicative and imperative statements: indicative statements are about identity – THIS IS WHO YOU ARE! Imperative statements are action statements: THIS IS WHAT TO DO, THIS IS HOW TO LIVE. 
 
The way it works is that our identity is the foundation for our action; our being comes out of our doing. We often learn WHO WE ARE before we get to WHAT TO DO. And this passage, located at the beginning of the letter, does not address what to do, it addresses identity – WHO YOU ARE. 
 
The big point is relatively simple: IF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF YOUR SALVATION, you will live in hope. IF you can understand the nature of the LIVING HOPE into which you have been born again, your life WILL BE marked by joy. 
 
In other words – joy – or rejoicing – functions as an indicator of the degree to which you are dialed into eternity. WE LIVE NOW in the context of ETERNAL INHERITANCE. That’s why our lives are marked by joy. But if you are NOT marked by joy, it may be that you’ve forgotten about your inheritance. 
 
REMEMBER the guy who was on his way to receive an inheritance? He had a flat tire, got a scraped knee, tore his trousers, got a speeding fine … but it didn’t bother him. IF YOU ARE GETTING BOTHERED, it may be that you’ve gotten your eyes off THE MAIN EVENT and are looking at the "temporary light affliction", the various temporary trials that cause us grief. 
 
It’s time to take a little JOY test: is the song in your heart dialed into the KINGDOM radio station of your eternal salvation, or is it dialed into the fluctuating nature of this life? This doesn’t mean we ignore the human pain and suffering of this life, but that we view it and experience it, and minister to it FROM the context of our eternal reward. 
 
JOY is the appropriate expression of remembering the future God has for you. This is why one way of understanding hope is very simply remembering the future. GOD has secured an AMAZING guaranteed future for you in Christ. Live like it. 

]]>
Living Hope Part 1: Salvation https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/living-hope-part-1-salvation https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/living-hope-part-1-salvation#comments Sun, 12 Sep 2021 09:00:00 -0400 https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/living-hope-part-1-salvation It's the hope that kills you. 

When we lived in Ukraine, part of the difficulty was the lack of predictability, especially around shopping. We simply did not know when what might be available. Something like a grocery list became an exercise in guesswork, a wish list that had little bearing on what we actually came home with. We discovered that it was futile to get our hopes up that our plans had much influence on results. One of the missionaries developed a strategy called, “Expect nothing, and be pleasantly surprised”. 
 
Supporters of Scottish football have a similar coping mechanism. It’s easier to survive by embracing the art of low expectations. It’s better for your emotional and mental health to have NO HOPE than it is to set yourself up for your dreams to be destroyed in a cruel manner. 
 
Before an important match, supporters are hoping that their team does well: they want them to win, to qualify for the Champions League or UEFA, or simply to stay up and avoid relegation. However, people know that their team may not be good enough or that they need to rely on another team or sometimes a bit of luck to help them. This gives fans hope and allows them to dream. However, this optimistic feeling can be destroyed by a bad decision, poor play, or bad luck, leaving the fans’ dreams in tatters. To avoid the PAIN of hope being dashed, we develop the coping mechanism of having NO HOPE. Because people’s experience in football is it’s the hope that kills you and because we want to live, we kill hope. 
 
We often take this kind of attitude – not just about football – but into the rest of life. To cope with the vicissitudes of life – life’s ups and downs – we set aside hope. But in 1 Peter 1:3-9, we see a different kind of hope on offer – strong hope, persistent hope, confident hope - hope that is so strong, it produces joy. 

Born Again 

3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

First of all, Peter erupts in great praise – he is blessing God – the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus. And then, he explains why he is so full of praise. His first reason for praise is SALVATION. He says here that according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again. 
 
Now, that phrase born again refers to regeneration – being born spiritually. This is the instantaneous work of God when he makes us spiritually alive. Being born again is the work of God; Eph. 2:5 says God made us alive. It’s also described in John 3:3-7. 
 
Peter clarifies that God causes this in our lives on the basis of His mercy. Mercy is kindness or goodwill toward the miserable and afflicted, joined with a desire to relieve them. When it is used about God, it is often used, as it is here, in relationship to salvation. Therefore, our salvation is the WORK of God. He causes it, and it is on the basis of God's mercy. His motivation is his own kindness. 
 
Then he says that this is “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” meaning that the resurrection of Jesus is both the MEANS and the DESTINATION. In other words, we can be saved because Jesus was raised from the dead, and the resurrection of Jesus is the DESTINATION OF OUR SALVATION. We will inherit glorified bodies like Jesus. 
 
But notice the God dimension of salvation – it’s God’s mercy, God’s causality or action, and God’s raising Jesus from the dead. Now, our focus is hope, but the same thing is going to be true of hope. Our salvation is not "manufactured by man" but by God. And the same thing is true of the hope we’re talking about. I’m not encouraging you to start thinking optimistic thoughts; I’m inviting you to step into something GOD has created. 
 
Living Hope 

The key phrase in this entire passage is that “we have been born again into a living hope.” This living hope is what Peter unpacks for us in this text. What I want you to see is that the FACT that we are born again into this hope means that there is a transition. 
 
We used to be without or outside of this hope, then we are born again and have this hope, which is like a room, a place, or a zone in which we are standing and into which we come THROUGH being born again. We used to be outside of this hope, now we have it. 
 
The hope Peter is describing is a kind of spiritual or uniquely Christian hope. It is quite different from normal hope or human hope or natural hope. Let's briefly unpack the difference between biblical hope vs natural hope. 
 
Natural hope goes like this: we want something to happen or to be true, and we usually have a good reason to think that it might. Natural hope means that we want something to happen and we think that it is possible. Natural hope is to wish for a particular event that is within the realm of possibility; it is to cherish a desire with anticipation. That’s natural hope. 
 
But biblical hope is the joyful, confident anticipation and expectation of something that is certain; specifically, the joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation. 
 
Notice the key difference: natural hope plays in the arena of the possible; biblical hope lives in the arena of the certain. In other words, with natural hope, we feel good about something that might happen or that we want to happen. With biblical hope, we feel joyful because of something that is ABSOLUTELY, COMPLETELY, DEFINITELY going to happen. Peter calls this biblical hope, or Christian hope, a living hope. 
 
For this hope to be alive, means that it is living. It is an active force in our lives, and we continue to live in this arena, this zone of hope. 
 
Dead hope is when we stop having hope; this is the amount of hope that a Livingstone football supporter has that his team will win the Scottish Premiership league. That’s a dead hope. If he were honest, he’d admit that that’s not even within the realm of possibility. 
 
But we have living hope – it lives because JESUS was raised from the dead, demonstrating God’s intention to raise us from the DEAD, AND we have been given the Holy Spirit as a down payment on our future redemption.

]]>
It's the hope that kills you. 

When we lived in Ukraine, part of the difficulty was the lack of predictability, especially around shopping. We simply did not know when what might be available. Something like a grocery list became an exercise in guesswork, a wish list that had little bearing on what we actually came home with. We discovered that it was futile to get our hopes up that our plans had much influence on results. One of the missionaries developed a strategy called, “Expect nothing, and be pleasantly surprised”. 
 
Supporters of Scottish football have a similar coping mechanism. It’s easier to survive by embracing the art of low expectations. It’s better for your emotional and mental health to have NO HOPE than it is to set yourself up for your dreams to be destroyed in a cruel manner. 
 
Before an important match, supporters are hoping that their team does well: they want them to win, to qualify for the Champions League or UEFA, or simply to stay up and avoid relegation. However, people know that their team may not be good enough or that they need to rely on another team or sometimes a bit of luck to help them. This gives fans hope and allows them to dream. However, this optimistic feeling can be destroyed by a bad decision, poor play, or bad luck, leaving the fans’ dreams in tatters. To avoid the PAIN of hope being dashed, we develop the coping mechanism of having NO HOPE. Because people’s experience in football is it’s the hope that kills you and because we want to live, we kill hope. 
 
We often take this kind of attitude – not just about football – but into the rest of life. To cope with the vicissitudes of life – life’s ups and downs – we set aside hope. But in 1 Peter 1:3-9, we see a different kind of hope on offer – strong hope, persistent hope, confident hope - hope that is so strong, it produces joy. 

Born Again 

3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

First of all, Peter erupts in great praise – he is blessing God – the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus. And then, he explains why he is so full of praise. His first reason for praise is SALVATION. He says here that according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again. 
 
Now, that phrase born again refers to regeneration – being born spiritually. This is the instantaneous work of God when he makes us spiritually alive. Being born again is the work of God; Eph. 2:5 says God made us alive. It’s also described in John 3:3-7. 
 
Peter clarifies that God causes this in our lives on the basis of His mercy. Mercy is kindness or goodwill toward the miserable and afflicted, joined with a desire to relieve them. When it is used about God, it is often used, as it is here, in relationship to salvation. Therefore, our salvation is the WORK of God. He causes it, and it is on the basis of God's mercy. His motivation is his own kindness. 
 
Then he says that this is “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” meaning that the resurrection of Jesus is both the MEANS and the DESTINATION. In other words, we can be saved because Jesus was raised from the dead, and the resurrection of Jesus is the DESTINATION OF OUR SALVATION. We will inherit glorified bodies like Jesus. 
 
But notice the God dimension of salvation – it’s God’s mercy, God’s causality or action, and God’s raising Jesus from the dead. Now, our focus is hope, but the same thing is going to be true of hope. Our salvation is not "manufactured by man" but by God. And the same thing is true of the hope we’re talking about. I’m not encouraging you to start thinking optimistic thoughts; I’m inviting you to step into something GOD has created. 
 
Living Hope 

The key phrase in this entire passage is that “we have been born again into a living hope.” This living hope is what Peter unpacks for us in this text. What I want you to see is that the FACT that we are born again into this hope means that there is a transition. 
 
We used to be without or outside of this hope, then we are born again and have this hope, which is like a room, a place, or a zone in which we are standing and into which we come THROUGH being born again. We used to be outside of this hope, now we have it. 
 
The hope Peter is describing is a kind of spiritual or uniquely Christian hope. It is quite different from normal hope or human hope or natural hope. Let's briefly unpack the difference between biblical hope vs natural hope. 
 
Natural hope goes like this: we want something to happen or to be true, and we usually have a good reason to think that it might. Natural hope means that we want something to happen and we think that it is possible. Natural hope is to wish for a particular event that is within the realm of possibility; it is to cherish a desire with anticipation. That’s natural hope. 
 
But biblical hope is the joyful, confident anticipation and expectation of something that is certain; specifically, the joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation. 
 
Notice the key difference: natural hope plays in the arena of the possible; biblical hope lives in the arena of the certain. In other words, with natural hope, we feel good about something that might happen or that we want to happen. With biblical hope, we feel joyful because of something that is ABSOLUTELY, COMPLETELY, DEFINITELY going to happen. Peter calls this biblical hope, or Christian hope, a living hope. 
 
For this hope to be alive, means that it is living. It is an active force in our lives, and we continue to live in this arena, this zone of hope. 
 
Dead hope is when we stop having hope; this is the amount of hope that a Livingstone football supporter has that his team will win the Scottish Premiership league. That’s a dead hope. If he were honest, he’d admit that that’s not even within the realm of possibility. 
 
But we have living hope – it lives because JESUS was raised from the dead, demonstrating God’s intention to raise us from the DEAD, AND we have been given the Holy Spirit as a down payment on our future redemption.

]]>
Living Hope Part 2: Guaranteed Future https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/living-hope-part-2-guaranteed-future https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/living-hope-part-2-guaranteed-future#comments Sun, 12 Sep 2021 09:00:00 -0400 https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/living-hope-part-2-guaranteed-future A Guaranteed Future: Inheritance and Inheritors 

Another way living hope is described is as a guaranteed future. He points to two dimensions of the guarantee – He keeps an inheritance safe for us, and He protects us so that we can receive the inheritance He has for us. 
 
Verse 4 states that it is an “inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” 
 
We have been born again – to a living hope, to an inheritance. The phrase “to an inheritance” parallels with "a living hope.” It further unpacks the "living hope” described in verse three. Peter gives a further explanation of living hope in verse 4. In other words, living hope is equivalent to what he describes here: 
 
Living hope equals an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” Now, notice that this living hope has three characteristics: It is an inheritance, permanent (imperishable, undefiled, and unfading), and preserved (kept in heaven for you). 
 
In verse 4, our hope is described as a certain inheritance. The certainty of the inheritance is found in the phrase "kept in heaven for you.” That means GOD is the keeper, or the preserver, of our inheritance. The certainty of the inheritance is rooted in the question of God’s capacity to keep it, which really boils down to this: CAN GOD DO WHAT HE HAS PROMISED? 
 
Look at the words Paul uses to describe this inheritance: imperishable – it cannot die; undefiled – it does not get messed up; unfading – it is permanent, and its glory does not diminish over time. Now, more than just a description of our inheritance, this is also an indicator that Peter is pointing forward – not only to eternity – but also to the resurrection body we will inhabit in eternity. 
 
Notice how PAUL describes that body in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44: 
 
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. 
 
Notice these words – imperishable, glory, power, spiritual. This is the kind of body we will inherit for eternity. It’s like going on a trip to a hot and humid place, or visiting the arctic tundra – you have to get clothed for the place you’re going to be. We’re going to be living in a land called eternity, and so we have to be clothed in a body that is suitable for that environment. The inheritance that we are going to receive is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. We need a body that matches these characteristics. 
 
Now, to help us understand this, think about a human inheritance. This is like reading your parent’s will before they die. The will is already written, and in that sense, it is certain. But you have NOT inherited anything yet because they haven’t died yet. This inheritance falls into a unique category that we might call certain but not yet experienced. 
 
This is the nature of our inheritance from God: it is certain but not yet experienced. Now, this is what makes this difficult for humans, because we only experience the future as contingent. In other words, for us, we don’t know the future, and the future feels very uncertain. But it is not uncertain for God, and so He can speak with certainty about it. 
 
This is the NATURE of biblical hope: we live now with joyful confidence in a certain future rooted in eternity. 
 
This doesn’t mean that we are immune to the ups and downs of life; this doesn’t mean that we don’t feel, that we don’t cry, that we don’t weep, that we don’t mourn, that loss doesn’t touch us deeply. But it means that all of those things are temporary; when we experience pain in this life, we do it in the context of this LIVING HOPE because our eternity with GOD is CERTAIN. 
 
ETERNITY is like a rock; this life is like a vapor. This life is REAL BUT TRANSIENT; eternity is MORE REAL but permanent. This life is like shadows; eternity is like the object that causes the shadows. Shadows are real, but ephemeral – marked by a very brief lifespan. This text invites us to LIVE NOW in the LIGHT OF ETERNITY. 
 
The big point of all this is that OUR FUTURE WITH GOD IN ETERNITY IS GUARANTEED. 
 
In verse 5, Peter gives us a FURTHER DESCRIPTION of the LIVING HOPE he is calling us to embrace. 
 
who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 
 
Here, he describes the other part of the guarantee – he guards us – and he also points again to the nature of the inheritance he has for us: Notice that verse four, ends with you and verse 5 begins with who. The who and you are the same person; or YOU are the WHO and the WHO is those who have been born again (from verse 3). 
 
In verse four, the YOU WHO people are described as those for whom God is keeping an inheritance in heaven. In verse 5, the YOU WHO are those who By God’s power are being guarded through faith: God is not only keeping our inheritance, he’s keeping us. Imagine a person who worked all their lives to build an inheritance for their child, but then, their child dies before them. There is an inheritance, but no one to inherit it. That’s really sad. What a waste! 
 
So there are two potential problems: first, imagine inheritors but no inheritance – this would be someone whose parents die, but their parents didn’t save anything, and so there’s no inheritance. The other problem is an Inheritance but no inheritors. In this case, the parents saved a lot to pass on to their children, but their children died before them, and so there is no one to receive the inheritance. 
 
Now, here’s the point: God is not going to let either one of these things happen. Regarding the inheritance – the Bible clearly teaches us that there is one – that’s what verse four is about – we KNOW that God has an inheritance for his children. But equally, God is not going to let us die before we inherit. He is going to ensure that we make it to the end so that we can receive the inheritance he has for us. 
 
Remember – who is us? Us is you, us is who, us is those who have been born again. The point is that it would do God no good to keep an inheritance for us, and then we’re not there to inherit it. In the same way, that God can keep our inheritance safe, he can keep us safe. 
 
Now, the power phrase here is ‘who are being guarded’: GOD is guarding us, and he does that through faith. That is, even God is working in and through our faith; he sustains our faith by his power – this is how he guards us. 
 
Notice the phrase for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Now, you might be thinking – I thought I already was saved. If I’m already saved, how can salvation be revealed? 
 
It’s important to understand that salvation occurs in three time zones – past, present, and future (See Romans 8.29-30). In the past, I have been saved, in the present, I am being saved, and in the future, I will be saved. In the past, we have been justified; in the present, we are being sanctified, and in the future, we are being glorified. That is, even though we are LEGALLY as saved now as we will ever be, we have not experienced the totality of the salvation that God has for us. That salvation includes glorification when Jesus returns and clothes the righteous with immortal, glorious bodies. This dimension of our salvation – our inheritance of glorified bodies suitable for inhabiting eternity – is going to be revealed in the last time.  

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A Guaranteed Future: Inheritance and Inheritors 

Another way living hope is described is as a guaranteed future. He points to two dimensions of the guarantee – He keeps an inheritance safe for us, and He protects us so that we can receive the inheritance He has for us. 
 
Verse 4 states that it is an “inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” 
 
We have been born again – to a living hope, to an inheritance. The phrase “to an inheritance” parallels with "a living hope.” It further unpacks the "living hope” described in verse three. Peter gives a further explanation of living hope in verse 4. In other words, living hope is equivalent to what he describes here: 
 
Living hope equals an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” Now, notice that this living hope has three characteristics: It is an inheritance, permanent (imperishable, undefiled, and unfading), and preserved (kept in heaven for you). 
 
In verse 4, our hope is described as a certain inheritance. The certainty of the inheritance is found in the phrase "kept in heaven for you.” That means GOD is the keeper, or the preserver, of our inheritance. The certainty of the inheritance is rooted in the question of God’s capacity to keep it, which really boils down to this: CAN GOD DO WHAT HE HAS PROMISED? 
 
Look at the words Paul uses to describe this inheritance: imperishable – it cannot die; undefiled – it does not get messed up; unfading – it is permanent, and its glory does not diminish over time. Now, more than just a description of our inheritance, this is also an indicator that Peter is pointing forward – not only to eternity – but also to the resurrection body we will inhabit in eternity. 
 
Notice how PAUL describes that body in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44: 
 
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. 
 
Notice these words – imperishable, glory, power, spiritual. This is the kind of body we will inherit for eternity. It’s like going on a trip to a hot and humid place, or visiting the arctic tundra – you have to get clothed for the place you’re going to be. We’re going to be living in a land called eternity, and so we have to be clothed in a body that is suitable for that environment. The inheritance that we are going to receive is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. We need a body that matches these characteristics. 
 
Now, to help us understand this, think about a human inheritance. This is like reading your parent’s will before they die. The will is already written, and in that sense, it is certain. But you have NOT inherited anything yet because they haven’t died yet. This inheritance falls into a unique category that we might call certain but not yet experienced. 
 
This is the nature of our inheritance from God: it is certain but not yet experienced. Now, this is what makes this difficult for humans, because we only experience the future as contingent. In other words, for us, we don’t know the future, and the future feels very uncertain. But it is not uncertain for God, and so He can speak with certainty about it. 
 
This is the NATURE of biblical hope: we live now with joyful confidence in a certain future rooted in eternity. 
 
This doesn’t mean that we are immune to the ups and downs of life; this doesn’t mean that we don’t feel, that we don’t cry, that we don’t weep, that we don’t mourn, that loss doesn’t touch us deeply. But it means that all of those things are temporary; when we experience pain in this life, we do it in the context of this LIVING HOPE because our eternity with GOD is CERTAIN. 
 
ETERNITY is like a rock; this life is like a vapor. This life is REAL BUT TRANSIENT; eternity is MORE REAL but permanent. This life is like shadows; eternity is like the object that causes the shadows. Shadows are real, but ephemeral – marked by a very brief lifespan. This text invites us to LIVE NOW in the LIGHT OF ETERNITY. 
 
The big point of all this is that OUR FUTURE WITH GOD IN ETERNITY IS GUARANTEED. 
 
In verse 5, Peter gives us a FURTHER DESCRIPTION of the LIVING HOPE he is calling us to embrace. 
 
who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 
 
Here, he describes the other part of the guarantee – he guards us – and he also points again to the nature of the inheritance he has for us: Notice that verse four, ends with you and verse 5 begins with who. The who and you are the same person; or YOU are the WHO and the WHO is those who have been born again (from verse 3). 
 
In verse four, the YOU WHO people are described as those for whom God is keeping an inheritance in heaven. In verse 5, the YOU WHO are those who By God’s power are being guarded through faith: God is not only keeping our inheritance, he’s keeping us. Imagine a person who worked all their lives to build an inheritance for their child, but then, their child dies before them. There is an inheritance, but no one to inherit it. That’s really sad. What a waste! 
 
So there are two potential problems: first, imagine inheritors but no inheritance – this would be someone whose parents die, but their parents didn’t save anything, and so there’s no inheritance. The other problem is an Inheritance but no inheritors. In this case, the parents saved a lot to pass on to their children, but their children died before them, and so there is no one to receive the inheritance. 
 
Now, here’s the point: God is not going to let either one of these things happen. Regarding the inheritance – the Bible clearly teaches us that there is one – that’s what verse four is about – we KNOW that God has an inheritance for his children. But equally, God is not going to let us die before we inherit. He is going to ensure that we make it to the end so that we can receive the inheritance he has for us. 
 
Remember – who is us? Us is you, us is who, us is those who have been born again. The point is that it would do God no good to keep an inheritance for us, and then we’re not there to inherit it. In the same way, that God can keep our inheritance safe, he can keep us safe. 
 
Now, the power phrase here is ‘who are being guarded’: GOD is guarding us, and he does that through faith. That is, even God is working in and through our faith; he sustains our faith by his power – this is how he guards us. 
 
Notice the phrase for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Now, you might be thinking – I thought I already was saved. If I’m already saved, how can salvation be revealed? 
 
It’s important to understand that salvation occurs in three time zones – past, present, and future (See Romans 8.29-30). In the past, I have been saved, in the present, I am being saved, and in the future, I will be saved. In the past, we have been justified; in the present, we are being sanctified, and in the future, we are being glorified. That is, even though we are LEGALLY as saved now as we will ever be, we have not experienced the totality of the salvation that God has for us. That salvation includes glorification when Jesus returns and clothes the righteous with immortal, glorious bodies. This dimension of our salvation – our inheritance of glorified bodies suitable for inhabiting eternity – is going to be revealed in the last time.  

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Not that, but this: Preparing for 2021 https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/not-that-but-this https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/not-that-but-this#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2021 09:00:00 -0500 https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/not-that-but-this I have to be honest – it feels good to type 2021 rather than 2020. What a year! Every year brings change – good things and bad, challenges and blessings, victories and defeats, but wow … 2020 selfishly packed more challenge into it than any year should do in a lifetime!

But what I find most important is that we learn how to interpret our circumstances through the lens of God’s character rather than interpreting God through the lens of our circumstances. That is, God is faithful – all the time, and He is good. When we go through these difficult periods – or years – we are often tempted to question God – Lord! Where are you? Rather, we should question our circumstances.

Remember, Corrie Ten Boon reminded us that we can entrust an unknown future to a known God. In truth, we don’t know what will happen in 2021, but we do know that our God is good.

Not that, but this.

As we kiss this past year goodbye, I’ve been thinking about what we should be thinking. That is - what should we be thinking as we say ‘good riddance’ to 2020, and what should we thinking as we say ‘hello’ to 2021? As we come to the end of this year, and as we stand on the threshold of the new year, what thoughts should be going through our minds? How should we interpret the past? How should we prepare for the future?

Thankfully, scripture does not leave us guessing but provides good guidance for processing that which has been and preparing for what is coming.

In Isaiah 43.18, God told his people, ‘Do not call to mind …’. And in Lamentations 3.21, Jeremiah says, ‘But this I call to mind …’. So there are some things we should not think about, and others that we should think about. As we approach 2021, what should we be thinking and not thinking? Let’s take a closer look at the context to see what we learn.

 Don't think like that

Isaiah 43 is a great chapter of testimony to God’s faithfulness. More than beautiful words, these are covenantal promises of protection (vs. 3-4).; God is reminding his people about his perpetual faithfulness to them, especially when through judgment he sends them into exile in Babylon, though he promises to bring them back (vs. 5, 14).

But then, to top it all off, to highlight his present power, the Lord reminds his people of his greatest act of deliverance in the Old Testament – the exodus from Egypt:

This is what the Lord says— he who made a way through the sea, the path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick (vv16-17).

It is in this context – in light of God’s GREAT deliverance from Egypt, that the Lord says:

Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.  Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? (vv. 18-19).

The point is that God is going to bring about a deliverance GREATER than the one He accomplished in Egypt. And for his people, especially once they were carried into captivity in Babylon, this is really encouraging. There are many places in scripture where God tells his people to remember his deliverance, but here he is reminding his people that He can do greater things than what he’s done. And he eventually does – through Jesus.

And this is a word that God’s people need to hear today. Many charismatic Christians look back on the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, thinking of these as the glory days, doubting that God will ever do anything so great again, at least in their lifetimes. And that’s when the Lord says – don’t call these former things to mind. God’s point is simply this: Don’t limit him by what he’s done in the past. There are new things God is going to bring to pass. Trust him.

 Think like this

And this brings us to the thing that we should be thinking, the instruction God gives us of what to proactively bring into our minds. Lamentations is a dark book, filled with pain and lament at the destruction of Jerusalem when God judged Judah because of their incessant idolatry, eventually sending them into exile. For example, Jeremiah says, ‘My eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people’ (3.48). 

In 3.17-20, Jeremiah describes the dark condition of his soul: ‘my soul is bereft of peace’; ‘I have forgotten what happiness is’; ‘My endurance has perished’. Upon remembering all his pain, he finally says But this I call to mind. And what does he call to mind?

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness (Lam. 3.22-23).

In the midst of his darkest darkness, Jeremiah trained his mind to gaze upon God’s goodness and to remember the Lord’s faithfulness. God’s mercies are new every morning: ‘The Lord’, says Jeremiah, ‘is my portion; therefore I will hope in him’. And the good news for us is that, like the manna perpetually available in the wilderness, God as our portion is a feast daily spread before us.

Circumstances may cloud our perception, but they don’t change God’s character: The Lord’s steadfast love is a banquet to which we are invited every morning; his mercies never cease being available for us to enjoy. Our challenge is to turn our gaze beyond the dark clouds in our soul to the brilliant rays of God’s faithfulness, waiting to break in with hear-warming encouragement.

What should we do?

So what do we do this? Very simply, as we enter a new year, we learn what not to think, and what to think. We learn not to think that God is finished being great in our lives; we learn to think that God is perpetually showering us with his love and mercy.

Whatever else may or may not happen in this year of 2021, we can take solace in God’s promise that through Christ, He is our portion – the good portion, the best portion – perpetually available as a daily feast to nourish and strengthen and encourage us. More than that, we move forward with faith in the God who promises to do new things, daring to believe that He has more, he has better, he has new for us this year.

New Things

One of the BIG new things for which we are extending faith in 2021 is to redeem St. David’s church in Bathgate, Scotland to serve as a launchpad for gospel advance through Europe. We are appreciative to everyone who has given so far; we’ve raised about $15,000, but we have a long way to get to $690,000.

This is going to take not just more giving, but substantial giving. And this is what I love about our CBU partners. We have a track record of doing great things together. And as we face this mountain of financial need, we can approach this with faith and confidence in God’s provision.

Thank you for your continued partnership of earnest prayer and generous giving as we walk forward in God’s mission to faithfully steward the good news of Jesus. Together, we continue to touch the nations with the light of the gospel.

GIVE TO REDEEM ST. DAVIDS

 

 

]]>
I have to be honest – it feels good to type 2021 rather than 2020. What a year! Every year brings change – good things and bad, challenges and blessings, victories and defeats, but wow … 2020 selfishly packed more challenge into it than any year should do in a lifetime!

But what I find most important is that we learn how to interpret our circumstances through the lens of God’s character rather than interpreting God through the lens of our circumstances. That is, God is faithful – all the time, and He is good. When we go through these difficult periods – or years – we are often tempted to question God – Lord! Where are you? Rather, we should question our circumstances.

Remember, Corrie Ten Boon reminded us that we can entrust an unknown future to a known God. In truth, we don’t know what will happen in 2021, but we do know that our God is good.

Not that, but this.

As we kiss this past year goodbye, I’ve been thinking about what we should be thinking. That is - what should we be thinking as we say ‘good riddance’ to 2020, and what should we thinking as we say ‘hello’ to 2021? As we come to the end of this year, and as we stand on the threshold of the new year, what thoughts should be going through our minds? How should we interpret the past? How should we prepare for the future?

Thankfully, scripture does not leave us guessing but provides good guidance for processing that which has been and preparing for what is coming.

In Isaiah 43.18, God told his people, ‘Do not call to mind …’. And in Lamentations 3.21, Jeremiah says, ‘But this I call to mind …’. So there are some things we should not think about, and others that we should think about. As we approach 2021, what should we be thinking and not thinking? Let’s take a closer look at the context to see what we learn.

 Don't think like that

Isaiah 43 is a great chapter of testimony to God’s faithfulness. More than beautiful words, these are covenantal promises of protection (vs. 3-4).; God is reminding his people about his perpetual faithfulness to them, especially when through judgment he sends them into exile in Babylon, though he promises to bring them back (vs. 5, 14).

But then, to top it all off, to highlight his present power, the Lord reminds his people of his greatest act of deliverance in the Old Testament – the exodus from Egypt:

This is what the Lord says— he who made a way through the sea, the path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick (vv16-17).

It is in this context – in light of God’s GREAT deliverance from Egypt, that the Lord says:

Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.  Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? (vv. 18-19).

The point is that God is going to bring about a deliverance GREATER than the one He accomplished in Egypt. And for his people, especially once they were carried into captivity in Babylon, this is really encouraging. There are many places in scripture where God tells his people to remember his deliverance, but here he is reminding his people that He can do greater things than what he’s done. And he eventually does – through Jesus.

And this is a word that God’s people need to hear today. Many charismatic Christians look back on the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, thinking of these as the glory days, doubting that God will ever do anything so great again, at least in their lifetimes. And that’s when the Lord says – don’t call these former things to mind. God’s point is simply this: Don’t limit him by what he’s done in the past. There are new things God is going to bring to pass. Trust him.

 Think like this

And this brings us to the thing that we should be thinking, the instruction God gives us of what to proactively bring into our minds. Lamentations is a dark book, filled with pain and lament at the destruction of Jerusalem when God judged Judah because of their incessant idolatry, eventually sending them into exile. For example, Jeremiah says, ‘My eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people’ (3.48). 

In 3.17-20, Jeremiah describes the dark condition of his soul: ‘my soul is bereft of peace’; ‘I have forgotten what happiness is’; ‘My endurance has perished’. Upon remembering all his pain, he finally says But this I call to mind. And what does he call to mind?

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness (Lam. 3.22-23).

In the midst of his darkest darkness, Jeremiah trained his mind to gaze upon God’s goodness and to remember the Lord’s faithfulness. God’s mercies are new every morning: ‘The Lord’, says Jeremiah, ‘is my portion; therefore I will hope in him’. And the good news for us is that, like the manna perpetually available in the wilderness, God as our portion is a feast daily spread before us.

Circumstances may cloud our perception, but they don’t change God’s character: The Lord’s steadfast love is a banquet to which we are invited every morning; his mercies never cease being available for us to enjoy. Our challenge is to turn our gaze beyond the dark clouds in our soul to the brilliant rays of God’s faithfulness, waiting to break in with hear-warming encouragement.

What should we do?

So what do we do this? Very simply, as we enter a new year, we learn what not to think, and what to think. We learn not to think that God is finished being great in our lives; we learn to think that God is perpetually showering us with his love and mercy.

Whatever else may or may not happen in this year of 2021, we can take solace in God’s promise that through Christ, He is our portion – the good portion, the best portion – perpetually available as a daily feast to nourish and strengthen and encourage us. More than that, we move forward with faith in the God who promises to do new things, daring to believe that He has more, he has better, he has new for us this year.

New Things

One of the BIG new things for which we are extending faith in 2021 is to redeem St. David’s church in Bathgate, Scotland to serve as a launchpad for gospel advance through Europe. We are appreciative to everyone who has given so far; we’ve raised about $15,000, but we have a long way to get to $690,000.

This is going to take not just more giving, but substantial giving. And this is what I love about our CBU partners. We have a track record of doing great things together. And as we face this mountain of financial need, we can approach this with faith and confidence in God’s provision.

Thank you for your continued partnership of earnest prayer and generous giving as we walk forward in God’s mission to faithfully steward the good news of Jesus. Together, we continue to touch the nations with the light of the gospel.

GIVE TO REDEEM ST. DAVIDS

 

 

]]>
The Blessing of God's Provision https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/the-blessing-of-gods-provision https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/the-blessing-of-gods-provision#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2020 10:00:00 -0400 https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/the-blessing-of-gods-provision In Psalm 144, David points us to God’s bountiful provision. We experience this provision in God’s equipping, God’s rescue, and God’s resources. Before looking at these three dimensions of blessing, we begin with the end of the Psalm: 

Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord! Psalm 144:15

By starting with the end, we see the destination. And the end, the destination, the telos towards which we are moving, is God’s blessing. The word blessing here is used in two ways: first, it references the provision God gives (such blessings) – the equipping, rescue, and provision described in this Psalm. Second, it references the state of being blessed, the deep sense of satisfaction and well-being that experienced in a covenant relationship with God.

The point: If we make room in our lives for the provisions described in this Psalm, we will enjoy the blessing of God. 

  1. The Blessing of God’s Equipping 

I played a sport called American Football, a violent game with head-on collision and powerful tackling occurring on every play. At the beginning of every season we would be given our equipment – helmets, shoulder pads, knee, thigh, and hip pad. All of this was designed to reduce – not remove – the chance of injury. The idea of going into a game without equipment was silly; no one would do that.

Life is rough, and according to Ephesians 6:10-12, we are in a spiritual battle. The good news for us is that God has given what we need to win:

Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1

Here, David points to God’s important and powerful provision of equipping. God trains hands for war and he trains fingers for battle. God gives us what we need to get the job done.

Now, it might be that you think, ‘That’s great for David, but I’m not in a battle; I’m not fighting Saul’s army or the Philistines or the Midianites!’. Not so fast, my friend! As mentioned, Paul writes this to the Ephesians: ‘we wrestle against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places’.

You have been born into a battle you didn’t ask for; you have be dropped into a war you didn’t seek. But the good news is that God provides us whatever we need to win, to thrive, to stand, to prevail. This is not the place for a full unpacking of the spiritual armor made available to us in Christ, but I encourage you to read Ephesians 6:13-18

  1. The Blessing of God’s Rescue

Have you ever been in a life situation and thought, ‘I need God’s help! There’s no way out unless God intervenes’. The good news is that God is a God who breaks in to rescue us in times of need.

Look at these verses:

Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from the many waters, from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. (Psalm 144:7-8, 11)

There is one thought repeated in two different verses: the request is the God deliver from the hand of foreigners. In verse 7, this is accompanied by an acknowledgement of God’s activity: stretch out your hand. Obviously, God doesn’t have a hand, but God’s outstretched hand is a phrase used many times in the Old Testament to indicate God’s proactive posture towards his people. God’s outstretched arm refers both to his power and his love.

In Exodus 6:6, the focus is on God’s rescue:

Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.

God’s outstretched hand means first, He is ABLE to DELIVER, and He is ACTIVE to deliver, to rescue, to save. Psalm 32:7: You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Notice that the deliverance that God gives is from foreigners whose mouths speak lies and falsehood. The context here is that Israel worshipped the one true God, but they were surrounded by nations who worshipped false gods. Those nations would often attack Israel, and sometimes Israel would get themselves in trouble by intermarrying with those nations.

There was something attractive about the physicality, the immediacy, the sensuality of these other gods. Of course, they were idols that had no real power, but often people worship something, not because it is worthy of worship, but because worshipping that thing helps them feel better.

So, Israel was always susceptible to the lies that were being told about their own God, and the lies the other nations were telling about their gods.

We live in much the same way: the world we live in lies about our God, the God, by saying ‘He’s not really all that!’. And the world lies about its gods by saying, ‘Unless you experience this, you’re missing out!’. Unless you worship at the altar of pleasure, of money, of reputation – you’re missing out! We are always tempted to trade the truth for lies. 

This is how Paul describes the mechanics of sin in Romans chapter 1 – exchanging the truth for a lie. And so the Psalmist is reminding us that God rescues us from lines through the power of his truth.

The way that God proactively protects us from the lies of the nations, the lies of this world, is through the truth of his word. In Psalm 119.160, the Psalmist writes, ‘The sum of your word is truth’. In John 17:17, Jesus prays to the Father for us, saying ‘Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth’. 

And so it is by the Word of God that we are sanctified, or set apart – or protected; it is the truth of God’s word that keeps us safe from the lies about God, about ourselves, and about reality, being propagated by this age.

  1. The Provision of Resources

David was a military man, and he understood the power of provision; without the necessary resources, even the best army could be defeated in the field. As Napoleon said, ‘An army marches on its stomach’. If it is hungry and malnourished, it’s not doing much marching.

Towards the end of this Psalm, David reflects on some of the practical provision God gives his people.

May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace; may our granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce; may our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields; may our cattle be heavy with young, suffering no mishap or failure in bearing; may there be no cry of distress in our streets! (Psalm 144:12-14).

This is a prayer, asking God, may these things happen. Here’s a key point:

Praying for blessing is not bad; rather, it’s good because it demonstrates that we know the character of God – he loves to bless his children.  

The author of Hebrews describes the nature of faith that – in addition to believing that GOD IS, we believe God rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

So, the presupposition of this section is that these are the kinds of blessings that God loves to give: provision for our children, provision of physical needs; the provision of peace. This is the nature of God: He will provide.

In Genesis 22:14, God provided remarkably for Abraham, and he called that place Jehovah Jireh – Jehovah is Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God, and the word Yireh – it will be provided, or it will be seen. God is the God of more than enough: God provides!

In Psalm 23, David wrote that my cup overflows. In other words, God gave him more than enough. God is the God who provides, and he provides more than enough. 

Jesus taught the same thing:

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. Luke 6:38.

And Paul, in writing to the Philippians, reminds them that

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

And to the Corinthians:

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

There are good works God has called us to do, and God will bless us sufficiently in whatever area of need so that we are well-resourced to do what he has called us to do. Our job is to pray and ask; God’s job is to provide and resource.

So, it’s good to pray for your children to be blessed, for your family to be blessed, for your needs to be met, and it’s good to expect God to give you more than enough. WHY? Why not JUST ENOUGH?

If all you have is just enough, you won’t be able to share with anyone, and part of following Jesus is cultivating a heart of generosity.  We want more than enough so we have an overflow to share with others.

God told Abraham, I’m going to bless you so that you can be a blessing. The blessing of God is not just for our benefit; the blessing of God is so that we can be a blessing. That’s why the Psalmist ends by saying something that seems repetitive , but it’s good to notice:

Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord! (Psalm 144:15).

In other words, it’s a blessing to be blessed. It’s not selfish, it’s not somehow less spiritual, it’s not bad – to be blessed by God is a blessing. God loves to provide for his children. He invites us to lean into him, to trust him.

It's blessed to be blessed by God. 

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In Psalm 144, David points us to God’s bountiful provision. We experience this provision in God’s equipping, God’s rescue, and God’s resources. Before looking at these three dimensions of blessing, we begin with the end of the Psalm: 

Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord! Psalm 144:15

By starting with the end, we see the destination. And the end, the destination, the telos towards which we are moving, is God’s blessing. The word blessing here is used in two ways: first, it references the provision God gives (such blessings) – the equipping, rescue, and provision described in this Psalm. Second, it references the state of being blessed, the deep sense of satisfaction and well-being that experienced in a covenant relationship with God.

The point: If we make room in our lives for the provisions described in this Psalm, we will enjoy the blessing of God. 

  1. The Blessing of God’s Equipping 

I played a sport called American Football, a violent game with head-on collision and powerful tackling occurring on every play. At the beginning of every season we would be given our equipment – helmets, shoulder pads, knee, thigh, and hip pad. All of this was designed to reduce – not remove – the chance of injury. The idea of going into a game without equipment was silly; no one would do that.

Life is rough, and according to Ephesians 6:10-12, we are in a spiritual battle. The good news for us is that God has given what we need to win:

Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1

Here, David points to God’s important and powerful provision of equipping. God trains hands for war and he trains fingers for battle. God gives us what we need to get the job done.

Now, it might be that you think, ‘That’s great for David, but I’m not in a battle; I’m not fighting Saul’s army or the Philistines or the Midianites!’. Not so fast, my friend! As mentioned, Paul writes this to the Ephesians: ‘we wrestle against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places’.

You have been born into a battle you didn’t ask for; you have be dropped into a war you didn’t seek. But the good news is that God provides us whatever we need to win, to thrive, to stand, to prevail. This is not the place for a full unpacking of the spiritual armor made available to us in Christ, but I encourage you to read Ephesians 6:13-18

  1. The Blessing of God’s Rescue

Have you ever been in a life situation and thought, ‘I need God’s help! There’s no way out unless God intervenes’. The good news is that God is a God who breaks in to rescue us in times of need.

Look at these verses:

Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from the many waters, from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. (Psalm 144:7-8, 11)

There is one thought repeated in two different verses: the request is the God deliver from the hand of foreigners. In verse 7, this is accompanied by an acknowledgement of God’s activity: stretch out your hand. Obviously, God doesn’t have a hand, but God’s outstretched hand is a phrase used many times in the Old Testament to indicate God’s proactive posture towards his people. God’s outstretched arm refers both to his power and his love.

In Exodus 6:6, the focus is on God’s rescue:

Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.

God’s outstretched hand means first, He is ABLE to DELIVER, and He is ACTIVE to deliver, to rescue, to save. Psalm 32:7: You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Notice that the deliverance that God gives is from foreigners whose mouths speak lies and falsehood. The context here is that Israel worshipped the one true God, but they were surrounded by nations who worshipped false gods. Those nations would often attack Israel, and sometimes Israel would get themselves in trouble by intermarrying with those nations.

There was something attractive about the physicality, the immediacy, the sensuality of these other gods. Of course, they were idols that had no real power, but often people worship something, not because it is worthy of worship, but because worshipping that thing helps them feel better.

So, Israel was always susceptible to the lies that were being told about their own God, and the lies the other nations were telling about their gods.

We live in much the same way: the world we live in lies about our God, the God, by saying ‘He’s not really all that!’. And the world lies about its gods by saying, ‘Unless you experience this, you’re missing out!’. Unless you worship at the altar of pleasure, of money, of reputation – you’re missing out! We are always tempted to trade the truth for lies. 

This is how Paul describes the mechanics of sin in Romans chapter 1 – exchanging the truth for a lie. And so the Psalmist is reminding us that God rescues us from lines through the power of his truth.

The way that God proactively protects us from the lies of the nations, the lies of this world, is through the truth of his word. In Psalm 119.160, the Psalmist writes, ‘The sum of your word is truth’. In John 17:17, Jesus prays to the Father for us, saying ‘Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth’. 

And so it is by the Word of God that we are sanctified, or set apart – or protected; it is the truth of God’s word that keeps us safe from the lies about God, about ourselves, and about reality, being propagated by this age.

  1. The Provision of Resources

David was a military man, and he understood the power of provision; without the necessary resources, even the best army could be defeated in the field. As Napoleon said, ‘An army marches on its stomach’. If it is hungry and malnourished, it’s not doing much marching.

Towards the end of this Psalm, David reflects on some of the practical provision God gives his people.

May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace; may our granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce; may our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields; may our cattle be heavy with young, suffering no mishap or failure in bearing; may there be no cry of distress in our streets! (Psalm 144:12-14).

This is a prayer, asking God, may these things happen. Here’s a key point:

Praying for blessing is not bad; rather, it’s good because it demonstrates that we know the character of God – he loves to bless his children.  

The author of Hebrews describes the nature of faith that – in addition to believing that GOD IS, we believe God rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

So, the presupposition of this section is that these are the kinds of blessings that God loves to give: provision for our children, provision of physical needs; the provision of peace. This is the nature of God: He will provide.

In Genesis 22:14, God provided remarkably for Abraham, and he called that place Jehovah Jireh – Jehovah is Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God, and the word Yireh – it will be provided, or it will be seen. God is the God of more than enough: God provides!

In Psalm 23, David wrote that my cup overflows. In other words, God gave him more than enough. God is the God who provides, and he provides more than enough. 

Jesus taught the same thing:

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. Luke 6:38.

And Paul, in writing to the Philippians, reminds them that

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

And to the Corinthians:

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

There are good works God has called us to do, and God will bless us sufficiently in whatever area of need so that we are well-resourced to do what he has called us to do. Our job is to pray and ask; God’s job is to provide and resource.

So, it’s good to pray for your children to be blessed, for your family to be blessed, for your needs to be met, and it’s good to expect God to give you more than enough. WHY? Why not JUST ENOUGH?

If all you have is just enough, you won’t be able to share with anyone, and part of following Jesus is cultivating a heart of generosity.  We want more than enough so we have an overflow to share with others.

God told Abraham, I’m going to bless you so that you can be a blessing. The blessing of God is not just for our benefit; the blessing of God is so that we can be a blessing. That’s why the Psalmist ends by saying something that seems repetitive , but it’s good to notice:

Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord! (Psalm 144:15).

In other words, it’s a blessing to be blessed. It’s not selfish, it’s not somehow less spiritual, it’s not bad – to be blessed by God is a blessing. God loves to provide for his children. He invites us to lean into him, to trust him.

It's blessed to be blessed by God. 

]]>
Great Faith for a Great Future https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/great-faith-for-a-great-future_2 https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/great-faith-for-a-great-future_2#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2020 10:00:00 -0400 https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/great-faith-for-a-great-future_2 What a strange year this has been. For me, it’s hard to believe it’s September! Although we are still in the midst of navigating the coronavirus pandemic, many of us are asking,  ‘What now?’ And God's 'What now' is not limited or constrained by who wins the upcoming election: God is playing the long game.

What now? Here's the 'what now': we’re going to say ‘YES’ to the mission that God has given us. We’re going to say ‘YES’ to the purpose of God.

We’re going say ‘YES’ to the command of Jesus to go everywhere and take the good news of who he is and what he has done and what it means. We’re going to make disciples here in Bathgate and West Lothian, and we’re going to extend our faith and reach beyond, into new places, new nations, new cities.

To get us ready for the mission God has for us, I want to reflect on the first few chapters of Joshua and identify some principles that will prepare us to the possess the promised land of God’s purpose for our lives and for our church.

1. THE SETTING: CHANGE

As we come to Joshua 1, it’s difficult to appreciate the degree of uncertainty filling the hearts and minds of God’s people. They had just traversed a wilderness, having been consigned to a pattern of wandering for forty years due to their lack of faith.

Finally, they were on the verge of inheriting the promises God had spoken to Abraham about 500 years before, but they were faced with a big problem:

Moses my servant is dead (Joshua 1:2)

How could Joshua ever hope to replace Moses? How could Joshua ever step into the leadership role of a legend?

Moses was the only pastor the people of Israel had every known; he wasn’t just a guy; he was the guy: he had led them out of Egypt, out of slavery, with signs and wonders; he had met with God face to face; he had delivered the law of God and through him God provided water and manna sustained the people for all these years. Now he was gone; how’s the new guy going to do?  

Note that the future builds on the past but it doesn’t replicate the past. It’s one thing to wander in the wilderness, but it’s another thing to possess God’s promises. The new situation will require new faith, new leadership, new strategies, and new provision. But first, God has to get Joshua into the right frame of mine. 

2. THE PROMISE: A PLACE AND GOD’S PRESENCE

The good news for Joshua – and Israel, is that meets his people with promises. We need to understand the difference between God’s promises and ours. If we make a promise that we’ll do something tomorrow – we can seriously mean it and have every intention to do it. But we can’t even guarantee that we’ll be alive tomorrow, or that a pandemic lock won’t interfere.

With God, however, it’s different: God has within himself all the power necessary to execute his promises. That means that when God makes a promises – this is what I will do – it’s not conditional, it’s a guarantee in the fullest sense of the Word.

Look at what he promises – his presence and a place:

PRESENCE: As I was with Moses, so I will be with you (Joshua 1:5)

PLACE: I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. (Joshua 1:3

This is good news: God will be with us and will give us all he has promised. 

3. THE PRIORITY: GODS WORD

Even though God has promised to do all of this, there is still a proactive posture to which God calls Joshua. First, the Lord gives Joshua a priority: 

Be careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you (Joshua 1:7).

To get the job done means to do it according to God’s word. We cannot pursue God’s promises through autonomous (self-law) means. Second, the Lord gives Joshua a process to ensure that he does things according to the word:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night (Joshua 1:8).

The process by which God will bring Joshua into his promises is to constantly meditate on God’s word. The word meditate means to moan, growl, utter, speak, muse. This is an active, verbal, expressive way of thinking about and chewing on the word of God, rolling it over in our minds.

This is why we prioritise meeting with God in his word every morning. The first thing we do before we go out into the day is to meditate in God’s word. 

4. THE PRODUCT: SUCCESS

Every one I know wants to be a success; nobody sets out in life – in their marriage, at work, in friendships – and says, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to be an absolute failure!’. This doesn’t mean that we don’t self-torpedo good opportunities; our capacity to mess things up is remarkably creative and resilient. But deep in our hearts, we want to be successful. And this is what God promises Joshua: If you do things my way – meditating on and obeying my word, you’ll be successful

Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go (Joshua 1:7)

For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Joshua 1:8). 

Success isn’t a bad word; God wants us to be successful. But He redefines what success is. Success does not mean getting done whatever we want; rather

SUCCESS is fulfilling the purpose of God; success is accomplishing his intention. 

5. The POSTURE: PROACTIVITY (STRONG AND COURAGEOUS)

In the Bible, whenever something is repeated, this is intentional and done for the effect of emphasis. And so when Jesus says, ‘Verily, verily …’ He’s saying, ‘Hey! Listen up! This is important!’.

In Joshua 1:1-9 – in just these nine verses – we have one instruction repeated three times:

  • Be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:6)
  • Only be strong and very courageous (Joshua 1:7)
  • Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:9)

Obviously, the Lord wanted Joshua – and wants us – to be strong and courageous. Why is strength and courage so important to the Lord? Simply because it demonstrates trust and confidence in Him – and thus, when we are truly reliant on him, we can be strong and courageous.

To be strong is to be firm and confident; to be courageous is to be stout, strong, bold, and alert. We can be strong and courageous because God is with us He will keep his promises. We remain strong and courageous through meditating on his word. 

Conclusion

We live in times of transition and change; we have never been in this kind of situation before. None of us have ever lived through a pandemic. This kind of transition causes uncertainty to emerge in our hearts. This is natural, but it should not be the final word. Rather, God calls us to a proactive posture of strength and courage because God is with us and He will keep his word. God is with us and He will keep his word. It is through meditating in and on his word that he affirms these promises to us. Remember:

God is with us and he will keep his promises. 

This is what God affirms to Joshua in the end of this section:

Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Remember where we started: Moses my servant is dead. For Joshua and the people of Israel, that meant a new leader and new way of living in a new land. Everything was different For us, in this pandemic era, many things are also different. But that’s OK because:

the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

So remember:

  1. GREAT FAITH is rooted in God’s Promise
  2. GREAT FAITH is built by meditating in God’s Word
  3. GREAT FAITH is activated through strength and courage

The future is securely in God's hands, and we can move forward with absolute confidence in him.

]]>
What a strange year this has been. For me, it’s hard to believe it’s September! Although we are still in the midst of navigating the coronavirus pandemic, many of us are asking,  ‘What now?’ And God's 'What now' is not limited or constrained by who wins the upcoming election: God is playing the long game.

What now? Here's the 'what now': we’re going to say ‘YES’ to the mission that God has given us. We’re going to say ‘YES’ to the purpose of God.

We’re going say ‘YES’ to the command of Jesus to go everywhere and take the good news of who he is and what he has done and what it means. We’re going to make disciples here in Bathgate and West Lothian, and we’re going to extend our faith and reach beyond, into new places, new nations, new cities.

To get us ready for the mission God has for us, I want to reflect on the first few chapters of Joshua and identify some principles that will prepare us to the possess the promised land of God’s purpose for our lives and for our church.

1. THE SETTING: CHANGE

As we come to Joshua 1, it’s difficult to appreciate the degree of uncertainty filling the hearts and minds of God’s people. They had just traversed a wilderness, having been consigned to a pattern of wandering for forty years due to their lack of faith.

Finally, they were on the verge of inheriting the promises God had spoken to Abraham about 500 years before, but they were faced with a big problem:

Moses my servant is dead (Joshua 1:2)

How could Joshua ever hope to replace Moses? How could Joshua ever step into the leadership role of a legend?

Moses was the only pastor the people of Israel had every known; he wasn’t just a guy; he was the guy: he had led them out of Egypt, out of slavery, with signs and wonders; he had met with God face to face; he had delivered the law of God and through him God provided water and manna sustained the people for all these years. Now he was gone; how’s the new guy going to do?  

Note that the future builds on the past but it doesn’t replicate the past. It’s one thing to wander in the wilderness, but it’s another thing to possess God’s promises. The new situation will require new faith, new leadership, new strategies, and new provision. But first, God has to get Joshua into the right frame of mine. 

2. THE PROMISE: A PLACE AND GOD’S PRESENCE

The good news for Joshua – and Israel, is that meets his people with promises. We need to understand the difference between God’s promises and ours. If we make a promise that we’ll do something tomorrow – we can seriously mean it and have every intention to do it. But we can’t even guarantee that we’ll be alive tomorrow, or that a pandemic lock won’t interfere.

With God, however, it’s different: God has within himself all the power necessary to execute his promises. That means that when God makes a promises – this is what I will do – it’s not conditional, it’s a guarantee in the fullest sense of the Word.

Look at what he promises – his presence and a place:

PRESENCE: As I was with Moses, so I will be with you (Joshua 1:5)

PLACE: I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. (Joshua 1:3

This is good news: God will be with us and will give us all he has promised. 

3. THE PRIORITY: GODS WORD

Even though God has promised to do all of this, there is still a proactive posture to which God calls Joshua. First, the Lord gives Joshua a priority: 

Be careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you (Joshua 1:7).

To get the job done means to do it according to God’s word. We cannot pursue God’s promises through autonomous (self-law) means. Second, the Lord gives Joshua a process to ensure that he does things according to the word:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night (Joshua 1:8).

The process by which God will bring Joshua into his promises is to constantly meditate on God’s word. The word meditate means to moan, growl, utter, speak, muse. This is an active, verbal, expressive way of thinking about and chewing on the word of God, rolling it over in our minds.

This is why we prioritise meeting with God in his word every morning. The first thing we do before we go out into the day is to meditate in God’s word. 

4. THE PRODUCT: SUCCESS

Every one I know wants to be a success; nobody sets out in life – in their marriage, at work, in friendships – and says, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to be an absolute failure!’. This doesn’t mean that we don’t self-torpedo good opportunities; our capacity to mess things up is remarkably creative and resilient. But deep in our hearts, we want to be successful. And this is what God promises Joshua: If you do things my way – meditating on and obeying my word, you’ll be successful

Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go (Joshua 1:7)

For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Joshua 1:8). 

Success isn’t a bad word; God wants us to be successful. But He redefines what success is. Success does not mean getting done whatever we want; rather

SUCCESS is fulfilling the purpose of God; success is accomplishing his intention. 

5. The POSTURE: PROACTIVITY (STRONG AND COURAGEOUS)

In the Bible, whenever something is repeated, this is intentional and done for the effect of emphasis. And so when Jesus says, ‘Verily, verily …’ He’s saying, ‘Hey! Listen up! This is important!’.

In Joshua 1:1-9 – in just these nine verses – we have one instruction repeated three times:

  • Be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:6)
  • Only be strong and very courageous (Joshua 1:7)
  • Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:9)

Obviously, the Lord wanted Joshua – and wants us – to be strong and courageous. Why is strength and courage so important to the Lord? Simply because it demonstrates trust and confidence in Him – and thus, when we are truly reliant on him, we can be strong and courageous.

To be strong is to be firm and confident; to be courageous is to be stout, strong, bold, and alert. We can be strong and courageous because God is with us He will keep his promises. We remain strong and courageous through meditating on his word. 

Conclusion

We live in times of transition and change; we have never been in this kind of situation before. None of us have ever lived through a pandemic. This kind of transition causes uncertainty to emerge in our hearts. This is natural, but it should not be the final word. Rather, God calls us to a proactive posture of strength and courage because God is with us and He will keep his word. God is with us and He will keep his word. It is through meditating in and on his word that he affirms these promises to us. Remember:

God is with us and he will keep his promises. 

This is what God affirms to Joshua in the end of this section:

Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Remember where we started: Moses my servant is dead. For Joshua and the people of Israel, that meant a new leader and new way of living in a new land. Everything was different For us, in this pandemic era, many things are also different. But that’s OK because:

the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

So remember:

  1. GREAT FAITH is rooted in God’s Promise
  2. GREAT FAITH is built by meditating in God’s Word
  3. GREAT FAITH is activated through strength and courage

The future is securely in God's hands, and we can move forward with absolute confidence in him.

]]>
The Priority of Listening to Jesus https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/the-priority-of-listening-to-jesus https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/the-priority-of-listening-to-jesus#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2020 09:00:00 -0400 https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/the-priority-of-listening-to-jesus What is that gets crowded out of your life when things get too busy? What is it you leave behind when you’re in a rush? Have you ever gotten to the end of a day and thought, ‘Oh no, I forgot to eat today!’ Have you ever been in such a rush in the morning that you forgot to brush your teeth – or put on your underwear?

Like a boat that is sinking, when time gets tight we start to throw things overboard until all that we are left with are the bare essentials.

In Luke 20:38-42, Jesus teaches us that what we think is essential isn’t, and what we don’t think essential is. 

  1. The Setting: 

v. 38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

New Testament scholars assume that Martha was the head of the house; perhaps she was widowed; perhaps she was never married, but as the one doing the welcoming, it seems that she was the older sibling, the one in charge.

What was the basis for her welcoming? Perhaps she had heard him teach; perhaps she had heard of his reputation. She knew it would be a good thing to have Jesus in her home; having Jesus in her house was a sign to the community that she was endorsed by Jesus. But as we’re going to see, it’s one thing to have Jesus in the house; it’s another thing to let the agenda of Jesus have it’s way in the house.

  1. Two Priorities

  • Mary’s Priority (v. 39): And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.

Martha had a younger sister named Mary. In this story, Mary is a silent witness: she speaks by what she does, not what she says. And what she is doing is counter-cultural: to sit at the fit of rabbi was the posture of a disciple, and rabbis only had male disciples. So this little statement is remarkable in that first, Mary felt sufficiently secure to sit at the feet of Jesus and second, that Jesus welcome Marry.

But notice the posture of a disciple: listening to his teaching. The foundation of the Christian life is listening to the word of God.

  • Martha’s priority (v. 40): But Martha was distracted with much serving.

Luke describes Martha as distracted (Gr. Perispaō), which means to be driven about mentally, to be over-occupied, too busy about a thing. To be distracted means to be pulled away by something, to being overburded with an affair 

Martha’s problem is found in the word distraction: she was preoccupied with doing rather than listening. She was pulled away from the feet of Jesus to do what she thought needed to be done.

Serving is great, but serving can distract us from the primary thing – hearing God’s word. Think about this: how many humans in history have had the chance to physically sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to him? Not many – Martha had the chance – and she blew it.

She was too worried about getting her canapes just right; she want Jesus to eat one of her voul-au-vents and say, ‘That was great!’. Jesus wanted her to hear the words of eternal life.

You may know someone who is GREAT at serving, BAD at listening. You may be that person. Or, it may not be serving that is your distraction; but whatever it is, it’s not worth missing out on what Jesus has to offer.

  1. Two Complaints: Jesus doesn’t care and Mary won’t serve

 (v. 40): And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 

Martha is incredibly clever – in one short sentence she accuses Jesus of not caring and Mary of being selfish. It’s not that Martha minded serving; she seems to thrive in doing stuff; it’s that she’s bothered Mary isn’t working as hard as she is. Not just that, Mary is sitting … and Jesus seems to be endorsing this behaviour, so first, Martha is bothered that Jesus doesn’t care, and second, that Mary isn’t helping.

Now, I think what’s really going on is that the year before Mary gave Martha a Jamie Olver cookbook for her birthday – you know, one of those Jamie Oliver cookbooks called 15 Minute meals … she’s discovered that 15 Minutes is a lie; it takes an hour and 15 minutes for mere mortals to make one of those meals.

Here’s the thing – we’re always going to see people who serve less than us; serving – serving well, serving lots – is important. Jesus is NOT anti-service. But Jesus is ANTI-DISTRACTION.

  1. Two Evalutions: Many things vs. the One Thing.

  • Jesus evaluates Martha: V. 41: But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things

Jesus describes Martha as ‘anxious and troubled’. The word anxious (Gr. Merimnaō) means to be troubled with cares; to feel uncertain and apprehensive about how things are going to turn out. The Greek word for troubled (Thorybeō) means to be disturbed, thrown into confusion, troubled in mind. This is Jesus’ evaluation of Martha – in short, she is overwhelmed in her mind because she has too much to do.

Being a Martha is NOT about serving too much, being a Martha is about the lack of proper prioritisation. This reminds me of most of us. Do you remember life before lockdown? What were you doing? You ran the kids to ballet, judo, violin, and underwater basket weaving, and … did Jesus get the best, or the leftovers? 

  • Jesus Praises Mary: v. 42: but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.

First, he clarifies what is most important: only one thing is necessary. We really don’t believe that do we? We immediately want to correct Jesus for being hyperbolic, for exaggerating, for going to an extreme to prove a point. BUT HE’S RIGHT: if you get this one thing right, everything else will fall into place.

In short, this is how Jesus evaluates Mary’s choice:

  • Necessary – it’s all you need
  • Good – it’s the right thing
  • Permanent – it will not be taken away from her.

And here’s the good news: we have access to what is necessary, good, and permanent if we, like Mary, will prioritise the word of God.

CONCLUSION

Like Martha, some of us receive Jesus on our own terms: Martha received the Person of Jesus; Mary submitted to the Word of Jesus. To receive the word of Jesus means to submit to his authority; to recognise – not only his fame and his power and his prestige, but his identity: Jesus is the Son of God. Like the Father said on the mount of transfiguration, LISTEN TO HIM

The most important thing you can do is sit at the feet of Jesus and eat the meal he serves. But we are susceptible to letting secondary things become primary. When can serving become a distraction? Here, Martha was neglecting the word of the Lord to serve the Lord the food of man.

Martha’s problem was not serving, it was priorities: serving is great – but serving comes second; the first step towards being rightly related to Jesus is to sit at his feet and listen to his word. Martha was serving a human meal and missing a divine meal; Mary was eating a meal served by Jesus knowing that she would have the rest of her life to serve the human meal.

Here’s the secret to life. Organise and execute around priorities. And that means you have to know what the priorities are. Our greatest priority is to sit at the feat of Jesus, listening to his word. The priority of partaking of God’s Word positions us for intimacy with God and powerful service in his church.

]]>
What is that gets crowded out of your life when things get too busy? What is it you leave behind when you’re in a rush? Have you ever gotten to the end of a day and thought, ‘Oh no, I forgot to eat today!’ Have you ever been in such a rush in the morning that you forgot to brush your teeth – or put on your underwear?

Like a boat that is sinking, when time gets tight we start to throw things overboard until all that we are left with are the bare essentials.

In Luke 20:38-42, Jesus teaches us that what we think is essential isn’t, and what we don’t think essential is. 

  1. The Setting: 

v. 38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

New Testament scholars assume that Martha was the head of the house; perhaps she was widowed; perhaps she was never married, but as the one doing the welcoming, it seems that she was the older sibling, the one in charge.

What was the basis for her welcoming? Perhaps she had heard him teach; perhaps she had heard of his reputation. She knew it would be a good thing to have Jesus in her home; having Jesus in her house was a sign to the community that she was endorsed by Jesus. But as we’re going to see, it’s one thing to have Jesus in the house; it’s another thing to let the agenda of Jesus have it’s way in the house.

  1. Two Priorities

  • Mary’s Priority (v. 39): And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.

Martha had a younger sister named Mary. In this story, Mary is a silent witness: she speaks by what she does, not what she says. And what she is doing is counter-cultural: to sit at the fit of rabbi was the posture of a disciple, and rabbis only had male disciples. So this little statement is remarkable in that first, Mary felt sufficiently secure to sit at the feet of Jesus and second, that Jesus welcome Marry.

But notice the posture of a disciple: listening to his teaching. The foundation of the Christian life is listening to the word of God.

  • Martha’s priority (v. 40): But Martha was distracted with much serving.

Luke describes Martha as distracted (Gr. Perispaō), which means to be driven about mentally, to be over-occupied, too busy about a thing. To be distracted means to be pulled away by something, to being overburded with an affair 

Martha’s problem is found in the word distraction: she was preoccupied with doing rather than listening. She was pulled away from the feet of Jesus to do what she thought needed to be done.

Serving is great, but serving can distract us from the primary thing – hearing God’s word. Think about this: how many humans in history have had the chance to physically sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to him? Not many – Martha had the chance – and she blew it.

She was too worried about getting her canapes just right; she want Jesus to eat one of her voul-au-vents and say, ‘That was great!’. Jesus wanted her to hear the words of eternal life.

You may know someone who is GREAT at serving, BAD at listening. You may be that person. Or, it may not be serving that is your distraction; but whatever it is, it’s not worth missing out on what Jesus has to offer.

  1. Two Complaints: Jesus doesn’t care and Mary won’t serve

 (v. 40): And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 

Martha is incredibly clever – in one short sentence she accuses Jesus of not caring and Mary of being selfish. It’s not that Martha minded serving; she seems to thrive in doing stuff; it’s that she’s bothered Mary isn’t working as hard as she is. Not just that, Mary is sitting … and Jesus seems to be endorsing this behaviour, so first, Martha is bothered that Jesus doesn’t care, and second, that Mary isn’t helping.

Now, I think what’s really going on is that the year before Mary gave Martha a Jamie Olver cookbook for her birthday – you know, one of those Jamie Oliver cookbooks called 15 Minute meals … she’s discovered that 15 Minutes is a lie; it takes an hour and 15 minutes for mere mortals to make one of those meals.

Here’s the thing – we’re always going to see people who serve less than us; serving – serving well, serving lots – is important. Jesus is NOT anti-service. But Jesus is ANTI-DISTRACTION.

  1. Two Evalutions: Many things vs. the One Thing.

  • Jesus evaluates Martha: V. 41: But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things

Jesus describes Martha as ‘anxious and troubled’. The word anxious (Gr. Merimnaō) means to be troubled with cares; to feel uncertain and apprehensive about how things are going to turn out. The Greek word for troubled (Thorybeō) means to be disturbed, thrown into confusion, troubled in mind. This is Jesus’ evaluation of Martha – in short, she is overwhelmed in her mind because she has too much to do.

Being a Martha is NOT about serving too much, being a Martha is about the lack of proper prioritisation. This reminds me of most of us. Do you remember life before lockdown? What were you doing? You ran the kids to ballet, judo, violin, and underwater basket weaving, and … did Jesus get the best, or the leftovers? 

  • Jesus Praises Mary: v. 42: but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.

First, he clarifies what is most important: only one thing is necessary. We really don’t believe that do we? We immediately want to correct Jesus for being hyperbolic, for exaggerating, for going to an extreme to prove a point. BUT HE’S RIGHT: if you get this one thing right, everything else will fall into place.

In short, this is how Jesus evaluates Mary’s choice:

  • Necessary – it’s all you need
  • Good – it’s the right thing
  • Permanent – it will not be taken away from her.

And here’s the good news: we have access to what is necessary, good, and permanent if we, like Mary, will prioritise the word of God.

CONCLUSION

Like Martha, some of us receive Jesus on our own terms: Martha received the Person of Jesus; Mary submitted to the Word of Jesus. To receive the word of Jesus means to submit to his authority; to recognise – not only his fame and his power and his prestige, but his identity: Jesus is the Son of God. Like the Father said on the mount of transfiguration, LISTEN TO HIM

The most important thing you can do is sit at the feet of Jesus and eat the meal he serves. But we are susceptible to letting secondary things become primary. When can serving become a distraction? Here, Martha was neglecting the word of the Lord to serve the Lord the food of man.

Martha’s problem was not serving, it was priorities: serving is great – but serving comes second; the first step towards being rightly related to Jesus is to sit at his feet and listen to his word. Martha was serving a human meal and missing a divine meal; Mary was eating a meal served by Jesus knowing that she would have the rest of her life to serve the human meal.

Here’s the secret to life. Organise and execute around priorities. And that means you have to know what the priorities are. Our greatest priority is to sit at the feat of Jesus, listening to his word. The priority of partaking of God’s Word positions us for intimacy with God and powerful service in his church.

]]>
No Room for Racism https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/no-room-for-racism https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/no-room-for-racism#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2020 09:00:00 -0400 https://www.cbu.org/blog/post/no-room-for-racism My heart aches for the people of colour who daily bear a burden I've never felt. And it is frustrating that, in 2020, it remains necessary to affirm that that there is no room for racism. But in the wake of the George Floyd killing, it is obligatory to say something. We  should feel pain with those who have experienced pain; we should mourn with those who mourn; we should unite and work together to eradicate the vile virus of racism.

But we hesitate ...

Why is that everything gets politicized in the current cultural climate of the United States?  The quickness with which we jump to conclusions and filter people through a very polarised perspective works against honest conversation regarding substantive issues. Not that there are easy answers to the woes that grip this nation, but our inability to communicate outside the bounds of politcs makes our task more difficult.

Consider this statement: 'There is no room for racism in the kingdom of God'. This is non-negotiable, but simply affirming that gets miscontrued in political terms. It's true that there are mixed allegiances within the Black Lives Matter movement. Some people who are anti-racism are also pro-Marxism; some people who are anti-racism are also pro-LGBTQ. And these allegiances have made some Christians hesitant to make a clear affirmation regarding the sinfulness of racism lest they be perceived as endorsing an anti-God agenda.

And further, now is an easy moment to be anti-racist; this is the 'in' thing to be against.And this may provoke hesitation to enter the conversation and say something, lest we be accused of ‘me too-ism’. But the dangers of saying nothing are less than those of saying something: in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr: ‘In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends’. And so silence is not an option.

I also have no patience with people who protest racism in the United States and remain shut-mouthed regarding the egregious human rights violations against Christians in China and other totalitarian regimes around the world. By funding the Chinese regime through buying the 'stuff' they make, we all share complicity in their crimes. To quote Denzel Washington in the film Glory, 'Ain't none of us clean'. But let's deal with the issue at hand. 

On paper, the United States believes that 'we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal'. And while many do genuinely believe this, we cannot ignore the palpable pain being experienced by the black community; we cannot turn away from the lived experience of intimidation, segregation, and discrimination.

Racism

What happened to George Floyd is inexcusable, but let’s not kid ourselves: it’s not like there was suddenly more racism in the USA in May. These events have reminded us – not just about the worst cases, but that racism is often lingering underneath the surface of polite smiles and gracious hellos. The sinful human heart is a repository of fear, mistrust, and discrimination. Unfortunately, Christians are not immune to these kinds of attitudes, and so - while we should work to build a racism-free socity, we must absolutely and resolutely affirm – there is no room for racism in the church; there is no room for racism amongst God’s people.

The word racism is itself a loaded term with a cluster of meanings. Racism can refer to the belief that some races are superior and others inferior; it can refer to the belief that different races possess different behaviour traits; it can refer to prejudice or discrimination on the basis of race. It’s easy to look at the George Floyd episode and think, ‘I’m glad I’m not racist like that unhinged policeman!’. But rather than letting ourselves off the hook, this is a good moment to pause and reflect and listen.

My best friend at university was an African American. He was smarter than me, a better athlete than me, better looking than me; I had no room for the delusion that I possessed any superiority based on white-ness. But as an African-American, he experienced an ‘other-ness’ I couldn’t relate to as a member of the majority race. Once we were walking down the street, and we both commented how we both needed a haircut. I noticed a barber shop and said, ‘How about this place?’ He laughed at my naiveté; although I had never seen a black person in any of the barber shops I had ever been to, it never occurred to me that blacks got their hair cut in different places.

It’s true that the American version of racism, rooted in the 17th-century perspective propagated to justify the slave trade, is particularly painful. Slavery required presumed inferiority in an attempt to justify the unjustifiable. Unfortunately, after slavery has been abolished and racial discrimination made illegal, the influence of prejudicial perspective remains a perpetual problem.

For those of us living outwith the American context, it's important to remember that this isn't just an American issue. Yes, this is a British issue too. Even in nations where the American legacy of slavery does not shape race relations, sensitivity to the challenges faced by immigrants is appropriate. We need to realise that our brothers and sisters bear a burden of otherness: they may be graciously engaged and warmly welcomed while facing invisible barriers to a place at the table. As someone commented, it's not that white people don't have difficulty, it's simply that the colour of their skin doesn't contribute to it.

Racism manifests everywhere; the broken human need to feel superior finds someone to look down on. I grew up hearing ‘Polack’ jokes; I’m not sure what the Poles had ever done to the Americans to attract this racist humour, but somehow they became the stereotype of ignorance. Years later when I lived in eastern Europe I discovered that the Poles looked down on the Ukrainians, and the Ukrainians looked down on the Moldovans. Fallen and broken humanity tries to lift itself up by putting others down.

Healing

The very first Christians had to face this issue head on. In Acts chapter 6, the first conflict in the first church happened when food distribution occurred along ethnic lines. Social connections gave Jerusalem-based Jews an upper hand in receiving aid; Hellenistic Jews were missing out. Peter and the apostles acted proactively and solved the problem.

All the churches planted by Paul were mixed – not mixed like African and European – but mixed with Jew and Gentile. Some of the Jews wanted to keep ‘separate but equal’ churches; Paul says, absolutely not; he challenged the churches like the one in Ephesus to embrace a ‘no racism’ policy.

This is what he writes in Ephesians 2:

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility … that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. Ephesians 2:14-16

Christ bore in his body the sins of people from everywhere; not only are we united to God through him, but the hostility and alienation towards each other has been removed. Jesus is the one who brings healing where there has been division. In Christ, Jew and Gentile, Nigerian and Scottish, Pakistani and American – through his blood, we are brought into one body.

To be clear: there is no room for racism in the church; there is no room for racism amongst God’s people. Now, please don’t misunderstand me; I’m in no way suggesting that there is room for racism somewhere else. No; racism is a plague anywhere it exists and must be expunged. But as God’s people, we bear a special burden to get this right.

For whites, even though some struggle with what might seem superficial, we should make a concerted effort to understand what our brothers and sisters in Christ feel. As someone commented, it's not that white people don't have difficulty, it's simply that the colour of their skin doesn't contribute to it. That is, in addition to all the other challenges life presents us, African Americans face barriers whites don't. Admitting that is a good first step. This is a time to listen and emphathise, to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).

As the church of Jesus, we're not there yet, but our vision is motivated by the beautiful picture of what heaven is like. This is what we read in Revelation:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10

Yes, this is a beautiful picture, but to live it now requires focus, diligence, and effort. Our appropriate posture must be more than simply avoiding attitudes of superiority and actions of discrimination. Jeremiah 22:3 prompts us to a proactive action, commanding us to ‘Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed’. People have been robbed of justice, and God calls us to do justice and righteousness. This is an active, not passive, posture.

God has called his people to be a picture – a model – a testimony – of what it looks like when people from different nations gather under the banner of Christ’s name, setting aside racial, ethnic, and national origin differences, to love God, love each other, and to share that love with a hurt and lost world. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

We need to work to root out racism everywhere. But before pointing fingers, let's check our own hearts. Let's begin with us and make sure that our church is a racism-free zone. Our world needs us to get this right. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can walk in love and unity, affirmation and forgiveness, respect and understanding.

We are Christian Believers United. This is who we are; this is what we do.

]]>
My heart aches for the people of colour who daily bear a burden I've never felt. And it is frustrating that, in 2020, it remains necessary to affirm that that there is no room for racism. But in the wake of the George Floyd killing, it is obligatory to say something. We  should feel pain with those who have experienced pain; we should mourn with those who mourn; we should unite and work together to eradicate the vile virus of racism.

But we hesitate ...

Why is that everything gets politicized in the current cultural climate of the United States?  The quickness with which we jump to conclusions and filter people through a very polarised perspective works against honest conversation regarding substantive issues. Not that there are easy answers to the woes that grip this nation, but our inability to communicate outside the bounds of politcs makes our task more difficult.

Consider this statement: 'There is no room for racism in the kingdom of God'. This is non-negotiable, but simply affirming that gets miscontrued in political terms. It's true that there are mixed allegiances within the Black Lives Matter movement. Some people who are anti-racism are also pro-Marxism; some people who are anti-racism are also pro-LGBTQ. And these allegiances have made some Christians hesitant to make a clear affirmation regarding the sinfulness of racism lest they be perceived as endorsing an anti-God agenda.

And further, now is an easy moment to be anti-racist; this is the 'in' thing to be against.And this may provoke hesitation to enter the conversation and say something, lest we be accused of ‘me too-ism’. But the dangers of saying nothing are less than those of saying something: in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr: ‘In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends’. And so silence is not an option.

I also have no patience with people who protest racism in the United States and remain shut-mouthed regarding the egregious human rights violations against Christians in China and other totalitarian regimes around the world. By funding the Chinese regime through buying the 'stuff' they make, we all share complicity in their crimes. To quote Denzel Washington in the film Glory, 'Ain't none of us clean'. But let's deal with the issue at hand. 

On paper, the United States believes that 'we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal'. And while many do genuinely believe this, we cannot ignore the palpable pain being experienced by the black community; we cannot turn away from the lived experience of intimidation, segregation, and discrimination.

Racism

What happened to George Floyd is inexcusable, but let’s not kid ourselves: it’s not like there was suddenly more racism in the USA in May. These events have reminded us – not just about the worst cases, but that racism is often lingering underneath the surface of polite smiles and gracious hellos. The sinful human heart is a repository of fear, mistrust, and discrimination. Unfortunately, Christians are not immune to these kinds of attitudes, and so - while we should work to build a racism-free socity, we must absolutely and resolutely affirm – there is no room for racism in the church; there is no room for racism amongst God’s people.

The word racism is itself a loaded term with a cluster of meanings. Racism can refer to the belief that some races are superior and others inferior; it can refer to the belief that different races possess different behaviour traits; it can refer to prejudice or discrimination on the basis of race. It’s easy to look at the George Floyd episode and think, ‘I’m glad I’m not racist like that unhinged policeman!’. But rather than letting ourselves off the hook, this is a good moment to pause and reflect and listen.

My best friend at university was an African American. He was smarter than me, a better athlete than me, better looking than me; I had no room for the delusion that I possessed any superiority based on white-ness. But as an African-American, he experienced an ‘other-ness’ I couldn’t relate to as a member of the majority race. Once we were walking down the street, and we both commented how we both needed a haircut. I noticed a barber shop and said, ‘How about this place?’ He laughed at my naiveté; although I had never seen a black person in any of the barber shops I had ever been to, it never occurred to me that blacks got their hair cut in different places.

It’s true that the American version of racism, rooted in the 17th-century perspective propagated to justify the slave trade, is particularly painful. Slavery required presumed inferiority in an attempt to justify the unjustifiable. Unfortunately, after slavery has been abolished and racial discrimination made illegal, the influence of prejudicial perspective remains a perpetual problem.

For those of us living outwith the American context, it's important to remember that this isn't just an American issue. Yes, this is a British issue too. Even in nations where the American legacy of slavery does not shape race relations, sensitivity to the challenges faced by immigrants is appropriate. We need to realise that our brothers and sisters bear a burden of otherness: they may be graciously engaged and warmly welcomed while facing invisible barriers to a place at the table. As someone commented, it's not that white people don't have difficulty, it's simply that the colour of their skin doesn't contribute to it.

Racism manifests everywhere; the broken human need to feel superior finds someone to look down on. I grew up hearing ‘Polack’ jokes; I’m not sure what the Poles had ever done to the Americans to attract this racist humour, but somehow they became the stereotype of ignorance. Years later when I lived in eastern Europe I discovered that the Poles looked down on the Ukrainians, and the Ukrainians looked down on the Moldovans. Fallen and broken humanity tries to lift itself up by putting others down.

Healing

The very first Christians had to face this issue head on. In Acts chapter 6, the first conflict in the first church happened when food distribution occurred along ethnic lines. Social connections gave Jerusalem-based Jews an upper hand in receiving aid; Hellenistic Jews were missing out. Peter and the apostles acted proactively and solved the problem.

All the churches planted by Paul were mixed – not mixed like African and European – but mixed with Jew and Gentile. Some of the Jews wanted to keep ‘separate but equal’ churches; Paul says, absolutely not; he challenged the churches like the one in Ephesus to embrace a ‘no racism’ policy.

This is what he writes in Ephesians 2:

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility … that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. Ephesians 2:14-16

Christ bore in his body the sins of people from everywhere; not only are we united to God through him, but the hostility and alienation towards each other has been removed. Jesus is the one who brings healing where there has been division. In Christ, Jew and Gentile, Nigerian and Scottish, Pakistani and American – through his blood, we are brought into one body.

To be clear: there is no room for racism in the church; there is no room for racism amongst God’s people. Now, please don’t misunderstand me; I’m in no way suggesting that there is room for racism somewhere else. No; racism is a plague anywhere it exists and must be expunged. But as God’s people, we bear a special burden to get this right.

For whites, even though some struggle with what might seem superficial, we should make a concerted effort to understand what our brothers and sisters in Christ feel. As someone commented, it's not that white people don't have difficulty, it's simply that the colour of their skin doesn't contribute to it. That is, in addition to all the other challenges life presents us, African Americans face barriers whites don't. Admitting that is a good first step. This is a time to listen and emphathise, to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).

As the church of Jesus, we're not there yet, but our vision is motivated by the beautiful picture of what heaven is like. This is what we read in Revelation:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10

Yes, this is a beautiful picture, but to live it now requires focus, diligence, and effort. Our appropriate posture must be more than simply avoiding attitudes of superiority and actions of discrimination. Jeremiah 22:3 prompts us to a proactive action, commanding us to ‘Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed’. People have been robbed of justice, and God calls us to do justice and righteousness. This is an active, not passive, posture.

God has called his people to be a picture – a model – a testimony – of what it looks like when people from different nations gather under the banner of Christ’s name, setting aside racial, ethnic, and national origin differences, to love God, love each other, and to share that love with a hurt and lost world. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

We need to work to root out racism everywhere. But before pointing fingers, let's check our own hearts. Let's begin with us and make sure that our church is a racism-free zone. Our world needs us to get this right. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can walk in love and unity, affirmation and forgiveness, respect and understanding.

We are Christian Believers United. This is who we are; this is what we do.

]]>