Where do you go to see God's glory?

In church on Sunday mornings I’m preaching through the book of Ephesians, and so far I’ve found it absolutely fantastic. Not my sermons necessarily, but the things I’ve discovered about the glorious plan of God in this universe.

My original plan when I took up the pastorate in Ingleton was to preach through the Gospel of Luke. However, just a couple of weeks before starting I changed my mind. I decided I’d hold off on starting on Luke until Christmas and find another book to preach through in the meantime. I had no idea which book to go for, but plumped for Ephesians. My only reason for doing this was that I already had a sermon that I knew I could use on the first Sunday (Ephesians 1:1-14), and that I should be able to get through the rest of the book by mid December. What I hadn’t realised was just how incredibly appropriate Ephesians would be for a new chapter in the life of the church here.

From the middle of Ephesians 2 to the middle of Ephesians 4 the church, the bringing into existence of the church, the nature of the church, the definition of the church, the role of the church, the importance of the church, the centrality of the church in God’s plans and purposes, the body of Christ, shines out in Paul’s letter. I confess that I had never understood just how much the church matters until God began speaking to me through these chapters.

Think about this statement:

The church, God’s people made one in Christ, is the place in which God primarily chooses to display his wisdom and glory (Ephesians 3:10, 21).

I’m inclined to look at the stars, or the mountains and lakes and use that as a springboard for meditating on God’s glory displayed. I’m convinced that there’s nothing wrong with doing that, Psalm 8 springs to mind. But the fact is that if we really want to enlarge our vision of the glory of God through considering his works that he has done, then we need to think more deeply on what he has done in redeeming and uniting a people of all temperaments, abilities, and nationalities in Jesus Christ his son.

The church is God’s primary means of displaying his glory. Think carefully about that, because it means that the church really matters.


Tweet

Busy Days

You'd be forgiven for thinking that "thoughtfromtheday" had died a quiet death recently, or at least gone into an interminable hibernation. Well, it has been hibernating, but it hasn't died!

The last few months just happen to have been incredibly busy for myself as I wrote a dissertation in July, moved house in August, started work as a Pastor in September, and then to top it all off got married in October. Blogging has been somewhat relegated down the list of priorities!

Hopefully though thoughts will once again begin flowing from God's Word, into my mind, down to my heart, out through my fingers, and onto the web.


Tweet

Incarnational Living - What's that about then?

I need your help. I have to write a dissertation. By the end of July. Do you know something, even going through my first year Greek textbook has proved more appealing during the last week than seriously knuckling down to writing 10,000 words in order to finish my theology degree. But write a dissertation I must!

So then you ask, what will this dissertation be upon? Well, I'm glad you asked. It's on incarnational mission, incarnational living. What is this incarnational living, and more precisely, what sort of theological foundation, if any, has it got? These thoughts will occupy my mind for the next eight or nine weeks. They will also occupy any blogs that I may happen to write.

Here's a question to get the ball rolling though: What was the purpose of the incarnation? Why did it happen? Why did the eternal Son of God take human flesh? Why did he become a man?

I don't know how many people visit this blog, but I'd like to hear your answers, whoever you are, so please leave them in the comments box and we'll see if we can come to some sort of consensus. Hopefully a biblical one!

Why did God become a human being?


Tweet

Grace is not a "thing"

Spotted this Q&A on the Gospel Coalition website today. It highlights a right and a wrong way of thinking about grace - you can't separate it from Jesus Christ. Very helpful stuff.

"Christ Clothed in the Gospel"

The current issue of TableTalk magazine has a brief interview with Sinclair Ferguson inspired by the forthcoming release of his new book, By Grace Alone. The third Q&A just may revolutionize the way you understand grace:

In the preface to the book, you write that grace is not a “thing.” What do you mean by this statement?

It is legitimate to speak of “receiving grace,” and sometimes (although I am somewhat cautious about the possibility of misusing language) we speak of the preaching of the Word, prayer, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper as “means of grace.” That is fine, so long as we remember that there isn’t a thing, a substance, or a “quasi-substance” called “grace.” All there is is the person of the Lord Jesus — “Christ clothed in the gospel,” as Calvin loved to put it. Grace is the grace of Jesus. If I can highlight the thought here: there is no “thing” that Jesus takes from Himself and then, as it were, hands over to me. There is only Jesus Himself.

Grasping that thought can make a significant difference to a Christian’s life. So while some people might think this is just splitting hairs about different ways of saying the same thing, it can make a vital difference. It is not a thing that was crucified to give us a thing called grace. It was the person of the Lord Jesus that was crucified in order that He might give Himself to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

 Tweet

Belonging

Does a sense of belonging matter to you? I suspect it does. Even though we live in a very mobile culture in the UK most of us have somewhere that we identify as home – you only have to look at my “A Bit About Me” profile on this page to know that I do! So then, where do you belong? Where’s home?

I’m reading through Luke’s gospel at the moment and the other day I reached chapter 9 verses 57-62. My ESV entitles these verses “The Cost of Following Jesus”. I think my ESV may have missed something though. I’m not sure these verses are only, or even primarily, about cost, they’re about home. They’re about belonging.

The verses begin with someone saying to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus then starts talking about foxes and birds. Not an obvious response to the man’s declaration, so why this reference to the local wildlife? He’s contrasting them with himself – they have a home in this world, their holes and nests, Jesus does not. They belong here, he doesn’t.

Jesus then asks someone else to follow him. Jesus, no doubt knowingly, has made this request of a man whose father has just died. Given the circumstances therefore the man’s response seems perfectly reasonable, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus replies, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Why on earth would Jesus say that to this man? Does Jesus really expect us not to bury our dead parents and instead follow him? One answer to this question is no, Jesus doesn’t really expect us to neglect a parent’s burial, what he’s doing is using hyperbole (exaggeration) to make a point. Following Jesus is more important than anything else.

There is another way of explaining this reply of Jesus though. This second encounter has to be read in the light of the first one. This is a passage about where you belong. In the first encounter this world is described as a place where Jesus has no home, in the second we discover that it’s a world characterised by death. Jesus actually says to this man “Leave the dead to bury their own dead.” How can a dead person bury another dead person? The point Jesus is making is not so much to do with the cost of leaving this world behind, but rather that this world is a place of death, even those who are physically living are in a real sense dead – do you want to belong to a world characterised by death? Is that what you want to call home? Jesus then tells the man that he should “proclaim the kingdom of God.” The inference is that though this world of death is not Jesus’ home, there is a different place Jesus calls home, and it is characterised by life – it’s the kingdom of God. Be a part of that kingdom.

Finally we come to the third encounter and, as in the first encounter, we have a man approaching Jesus and saying that he will follow him. Notice though the condition he places on following Jesus, “let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Again Jesus’ reply is often explained in terms of counting the cost of following him. Fair enough, there is cost involved, but is that what Jesus is primarily talking about when he says, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” The problem for this third man is that he thinks he can follow Jesus while calling this world (a world of death remember) home. If this world is home, you’re dead, and if you’re dead you’re not fit for the kingdom of God.

I think that an unhelpful way to apply this last verse in particular would be to say that if you fail or struggle in any way in carrying out the work of God’s Kingdom, if you don’t plow in a perfectly straight line, then you’re not fit for the kingdom and God won’t accept you into it. No, what Jesus is saying in these verses is that where you consider your home to be matters. It matters a lot. If it’s this world then you’re dead, and if you’re dead you’re not fit for God’s Kingdom. But if you’ve been given life, a gift of God’s grace, then God’s Kingdom is your home, and you should consider it to be such.

If you’re a Christian look forward to where you belong, don’t look back longingly at a world of death as if it were your home.


Tweet

Help from the Aged

I head back down to Wales and my final semester at WEST on Monday, but I was reminded that before I went I needed to visit an old lady in her 90’s from my home church who is now confined to a care home. She can no longer get out to church, her mobility is greatly reduced, she has to live with many of the problems and difficulties that come with old age. You might argue that she would have every reason to be pretty downbeat about life. She’s not. She’s easily one of the most encouraging Christians I know. She wanted to know all my latest news, and when she said she’d pray concerning each and every thing I told her about I have absolutely no doubt that she will. She then proceeded to give me a whole list of reasons why she’s thankful to God. Thankful for the health she has, thankful for her carers in the home, thankful for everyone who ever makes time to visit her, thankful for her Saviour, and for whatever small opportunities she has to serve him still.

She showed me a booklet that she’s been given by the manageress at the home. The booklet is full of blank pages with titles at the top such as “Childhood”, “Education”, “Marriage”, and “Religion”. The idea is that each of the residents fill in their booklet as fully as they can. New carers at the home are then given each resident’s self-completed booklet to read. It gives the new carers the opportunity to find out about the people they are caring for, I think it’s a fantastic idea. My friend was keen that I should look at what she’d written, particularly under “Religion”. In her shaky hand she’d written out her testimony to the fact that she’d come to know Jesus as her Lord and Saviour some fifty or so years earlier. Her greatest concern was that any employee at the home who picked up her booklet would read of what Jesus had done for her, and could do for them. She also knits various items for any carers who have baby children or grandchildren. All because she cares for those who care for her. What an example.

I guess most of you reading this are of the same generation as myself, the generation of facebook, twitter, blogs, youtube, of modern technology and the exciting worldwide online community. We can sometimes forget all about the older generation who know nothing much of any of these things. I’m all too guilty of it myself, but I’m so glad I went to that old people’s home this morning. I don’t think I’ll ever emulate my friends knitting prowess, but by God’s grace I hope I will emulate her radiant love for Jesus, now and in my old age.


Tweet

Zerubabbel son of who?

The Bible throws up all sorts of characters who might at first glance seem pretty insignificant. Take for example all those guys mentioned in Luke’s genealogy of Jesus. Half of the list mentions men who you've probably never heard of. The bit from Adam to David is full of well known Bible characters like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, even Boaz. But then after King David Luke takes us off, via one of David’s sons called Nathan, through a list of men that just don’t appear anywhere else on the pages of the Bible. This list goes on through the unknowns, over hundreds of years, all the way down to Jesus, great David’s greater son. As far as I’m aware, what I’ve just stated is entirely true. Apart that is from one notable exception - Zerubabbel. So who on earth was Zerubabbel, and why do I say that he is the exception in Luke’s post David list?

You can read about Zerubabbel in the Old Testament books written around the time of the Jews return from exile in Babylon/Persia. What you find out is that he was the governor of Judah at this time. Do a bit more digging and you discover that he was also descended from royalty. His grandfather was Jechoniah, and Jechoniah was the last king of Judah before the Babylonian invasion, the invasion and resulting exile that was God’s judgement on a people who had turned their back on him. So Zerubabbel was a direct descendant of King David. He wasn’t a king himself, but he was in the line of kings.

Another thing about Zerubabbel is that he’s given a wonderful promise by God. At the end of Haggai God promises Zerubabbel that a day is coming when he will overthrow his enemies, he will overthrow evil, he will show who’s really king. In other words God will show that he himself is King. And God also says that on that day he will make Zerubabbel like a signet ring.

Now what’s a signet ring got to do with anything?

Roughly seventy years earlier, just before Judah and their king Jechoniah (that’s Zerubabbel’s granddad remember) were taken off in to exile, God said this to Jechoniah, “As I live, declares the LORD, though Jechoniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off”,(Jer. 22:24). A signet ring was a symbol of a King’s authority and it was given to someone by the King to show that they had been entrusted with the King’s authority. Such was the case with the kings of Israel/Judah. They were to rule both under, and with, God’s authority. That rule and authority had been taken away though during the time of Jechoniah. God had ripped away the authority of the Jewish king, due to his misuse of that authority. He ripped it away by sending the Babylonian empire to crush the land and take the people and their monarch into exile. This was a huge blow to the Jewish people on many levels, but one particular way in which it was a blow was that it seemingly extinguished the possibility of God’s promise of a Messiah King being fulfilled.

The promise of the Messiah King was given way back during the reign of King David. God had promised that one of David’s offspring would reign over a Kingdom that would have no end (2 Sam. 7). He would be God’s ultimate King, the one, it could be said, from whom the signet ring would never be removed. With the exile that seemed like a dashed hope, no chance of a great Messiah King now. But then God says to Zerubabbel, “When I show who’s really King, when I decisively defeat my enemies, when I overthrow the powers of evil, I will make you like a signet ring. I will give you rule and authority.”

So what became of Zerubabbel? Did he become a glorious King? No, he never became a king, he was only ever governor of Judah. But God’s promise to him showed that God had not forgotten his earlier promise to King David. He would send a King who would establish an everlasting throne and Kingdom, who would defeat the powers of evil, and who would reign forevermore. God’s promise to King David and governor Zerubabbel is fulfilled in Jesus. By putting Zerubabbel in his list of Jesus’ ancestors, by putting him amongst that list of unknowns, Luke is showing us that God does not forget his promises.

The King did arrive as promised from the line of David and Zrubabbel. He defeated the powers of evil on the cross (Col. 2:15), he rose again, and now he reigns, having been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18). Christ is the longed for King!