Lately, I have been listening to podcasts from the Reformed Theological Seminary mobile app as I travel to and from work each day. Currently, I am wrapping up a course on hermeneutics - a topic I have dabbled in, but it was definitely beneficial to me to receive lectures in a more structured and formal setting. At the end of the day, I am still a layman, but I hope to mature in my abilities to approach the Scriptures with reverence and wisdom.
Anyway, this morning I was listening to Dr. Belcher discuss the idea of sensus plenior and how it is applied in a number of examples throughout the bible. One such example was the topic of the temple - the place where God's holiness dwelt. This topic is constantly touched on throughout the Old and New Testaments. In fact, I believe it to be one of the most pervasive topics throughout the entire biblical narrative. We begin with Adam and Eve in the garden temple. Many would not initially think of the Garden of Eden as a temple, but the Hebrew language would have us think otherwise. Adam is told to "work [the garden] and keep it" (Genesis 2:15). In the English, it seems as if Adam is simply playing the role of a gardener, but the original Hebrew actually reads "to serve" (abad) and "guard" (shamar), as the Levitical priests were called to do in the temple. Extending this command then to Adam allows us to see how God saw Adam's service in the garden resembling that of a priest in the temple. And this is further validated in God being pleased to walk and dwell in the midst of the garden. Genesis 3:8 shows God walking in the garden in the "wind of the day," with "wind" given by the word ruach, which in other contexts means the Spirit of judgment very similar to the anger kindled when Aaron's sons were destroyed in an instant in Leviticus 10:1-2. On a side note, we see that it was pure mercy that our original parents were not consumed by this "Spirit of the day" ready to bring judgment for their sin. Instead, they were spared and expelled from the garden temple.
To move on, the temple is then established among the people of Israel as they moved throughout the wilderness to the Promise Land. God dwelt within the camp of his people, albeit only within the Most Holy Place - a small, symmetrical, confined area which required the utmost ritualistic cleansing and reverence by the High Priest to enter just one time a year. Moving forward, Jesus then declares that in his person we can find the temple of God (Matthew 12:7; see also John 1:14) - the place in time and space where man can be reconciled to God and be forgiven of our sin. In his body is where the full ruach of God was pleased to dwell (Colossians 1:19). Upon his death and resurrection, Christ then dispenses his Spirit to his people so that we are now all temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), being built into an even greater temple structure that we might offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God (1 Peter 2:5). Looking even further towards the Eschaton, the old heavens and earth have passed away, making way for the new Jerusalem where God makes his permanent dwelling place with man (Revelation 21:3).
Seeing this progression made it even clearer to me the pervasive nature of the kingdom of Christ in this world. The temple of God has such deeply-threaded connections with the concept of Christ's kingdom. As history has progressed, the nature of the temple has continued to expand to ever-greater extents, starting first in a garden and then expanding to the entire cosmos, with humble beginnings like that of a mustard seed and reaching a grand crescendo as a towering tree. The expansive nature of the temple points us to the reality that the kingdom grows by day, so that the one God and Father of all might be over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:6).
SDG
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Monday, November 2, 2015
The Growing Conflict: Tares amongst the Wheat
There is a waging war taking place all around us. This growing conflict is spiritual in nature and takes place on a battlefield that is invisible and unimaginably extensive. It is ever-increasing in its intensity. Its casualties are the souls of all men and women, without exception. It is a war in which we all must partake - there is no escaping or dodging recruitment. And it finds its origins in an ancient garden thousands of years ago between the rivers, where the Sovereign King declared to the fallen prince and princess and to the sinister serpent that led them to sin against their benevolent Creator that there would be enmity placed between the woman's offspring and the serpent's offspring - between those citizens who are recast in the image of righteousness and peace and the seditious army of rebels set on perverting all that the King had created and continues to govern. This declaration would promise a growing hostility between the two groups of offspring that would set the course of history. It would be filled with not only rancor, hate, and blood shed on the corporeal plane, but it would reveal the eternal outcomes of all involved.
Jesus speaks of this mysterious conflict in Matthew 13 as he discusses the nature of his advancing kingdom. First, he compares the wheat that a man grows in a field to the injurious tares that an enemy subversively plants amongst his crop. The weed in its earliest stages of growth looks very similar to the wheat, resembling many of its qualities. The conflict of interest between the two plants, however, begins to come to fruition as the weed's growth is quite malevolent and antipathetic towards the wheat's own survival. And yet, the reality sinks in: the two will continue to grow alongside one another until the end, because an attempt at ridding the field of the malicious weeds would inevitably cause damage to the surrounding wheat. The wheat is said to be the sons of the kingdom, while the weeds signify the sons of the evil one. Again, Jesus points us to another parable - this time a mustard seed and a measure of leaven in bread. Both the mustard seed and the leaven are small and of little consequence in the beginning, but as time continues, the mustard seed grows into a grand tree with extensive branches while the leaven continues to grow as it is cooked, eventually pervading throughout the whole lump of bread.
The war is real and violent and carries with it cataclysmic implications for all who are involved. The seditious offspring of the serpent will continue to grow in number, influence, hatred, and severity of tactics to try to ensure their ultimate victory. But we can be assured as those citizens of the King, recast in his Son's image, that his kingdom is present now in the world, that it will continue to grow and quietly pervade like the growing mustard seed and the leavened bread despite all the evil powers that come to battle against it. In fact, all the powers of Hell cannot stand against this ever-expanding kingdom.
SDG
Jesus speaks of this mysterious conflict in Matthew 13 as he discusses the nature of his advancing kingdom. First, he compares the wheat that a man grows in a field to the injurious tares that an enemy subversively plants amongst his crop. The weed in its earliest stages of growth looks very similar to the wheat, resembling many of its qualities. The conflict of interest between the two plants, however, begins to come to fruition as the weed's growth is quite malevolent and antipathetic towards the wheat's own survival. And yet, the reality sinks in: the two will continue to grow alongside one another until the end, because an attempt at ridding the field of the malicious weeds would inevitably cause damage to the surrounding wheat. The wheat is said to be the sons of the kingdom, while the weeds signify the sons of the evil one. Again, Jesus points us to another parable - this time a mustard seed and a measure of leaven in bread. Both the mustard seed and the leaven are small and of little consequence in the beginning, but as time continues, the mustard seed grows into a grand tree with extensive branches while the leaven continues to grow as it is cooked, eventually pervading throughout the whole lump of bread.
The war is real and violent and carries with it cataclysmic implications for all who are involved. The seditious offspring of the serpent will continue to grow in number, influence, hatred, and severity of tactics to try to ensure their ultimate victory. But we can be assured as those citizens of the King, recast in his Son's image, that his kingdom is present now in the world, that it will continue to grow and quietly pervade like the growing mustard seed and the leavened bread despite all the evil powers that come to battle against it. In fact, all the powers of Hell cannot stand against this ever-expanding kingdom.
SDG
Monday, May 18, 2015
The God who enables
I think one of the greatest shortfalls we as Christians face on an hourly basis is that we think far too little of God. We underestimate all that he has done throughout history, what he continues to do in our lives today, and what he promises he will certainly do in the future. We undervalue his greatness, grandeur, and glory. And we do all that we can to lessen, impair, and degrade the extent of his power, sovereignty, and wisdom - no doubt attributing many of the things that happen around us to our own hard work, wisdom, and ingenuity. We love to make much of ourselves. We cannot conceive of a God who would accept those who do not merit or earn his love. And yet, this is the God we read of in the scriptures.
SDG
- "And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone." - 1 Corinthians 12:6
- "For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me." - Colossians 1:29
- "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and work for his good pleasure." - Philippians 2:12-13
- "Now may the God of peace...equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." - Hebrews 13:20a, 21
- "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." - 1 Corinthians 15:10
SDG
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
The Preeminence and Superiority of the Son
I get easily discouraged in worship services sometimes. Our songs and services seem to be ordered around us making much of ourselves - how we are going to worship the Lord, how we are going to obey him, and how great it is that we are redeemed. Now, you may object, how are any of these things bad? Well, they aren't bad at all in and of themselves and seen in the correct light, but they are most definitely by-products of the ultimate reason for creation and our existence. Does the Father love us? Certainly. Did he go through great pains and make unfathomable sacrifices in order to reconcile us sinners to himself? Unquestionably. But why? Is it because we have some inherent goodness that he is after? Is it because he needs us? Is it because his joy would be incomplete without us? I would have to answer "no" to each of those questions. Listen to me very carefully - God did not create the world and all of its inhabitants that we might be made much of. The Father made the world and everything in it that his beloved Son (and ultimately he) might be made much of. See from Scripture what I am talking about:
Paul says in Colossians 1 that all things was created "through [the Son] and for [the Son]" (v. 16). There is an unquestionable preeminence God has placed on the Son above all other things. He clearly has created the universe for his Son, not for us.
Furthermore, the author of Hebrews says that the Father appointed the Son to be "the heir of all things" (Heb. 1:2) After his atoning sacrifice on the cross, the Father raised him from the grave and gave him a name that is more excellent and superior than all other names (v. 2-4). The author of Hebrews goes on to quote several Scripture from the OT about how the Father declared that Jesus was his son, that he would be a father to him, that he would establish his throne forever, and that he would sit him at his right hand and make all of his enemies his footstool. Peter in his speech at Pentecost quotes this Messianic Scripture from Psalm 110 and says that God made this Jesus whom David spoke of both Lord and Christ over all the universe.
Do we then still hold a special place in God's heart as his creation? Of course! We are his treasured possession, his beloved people chosen from out of all the nations throughout history (Deut. 7:6, Jn. 15:16, etc.). But this does not change the fact that we were created and chosen in order to worship the preeminent and superior Son. This was the reason we were made - to worship, enjoy, and glorify God forever, foremost in our exaltation of the Son.
SDG
Paul says in Colossians 1 that all things was created "through [the Son] and for [the Son]" (v. 16). There is an unquestionable preeminence God has placed on the Son above all other things. He clearly has created the universe for his Son, not for us.
Furthermore, the author of Hebrews says that the Father appointed the Son to be "the heir of all things" (Heb. 1:2) After his atoning sacrifice on the cross, the Father raised him from the grave and gave him a name that is more excellent and superior than all other names (v. 2-4). The author of Hebrews goes on to quote several Scripture from the OT about how the Father declared that Jesus was his son, that he would be a father to him, that he would establish his throne forever, and that he would sit him at his right hand and make all of his enemies his footstool. Peter in his speech at Pentecost quotes this Messianic Scripture from Psalm 110 and says that God made this Jesus whom David spoke of both Lord and Christ over all the universe.
Do we then still hold a special place in God's heart as his creation? Of course! We are his treasured possession, his beloved people chosen from out of all the nations throughout history (Deut. 7:6, Jn. 15:16, etc.). But this does not change the fact that we were created and chosen in order to worship the preeminent and superior Son. This was the reason we were made - to worship, enjoy, and glorify God forever, foremost in our exaltation of the Son.
SDG
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Discipleship and the Priesthood of all Believers
Nowadays, we hear a lot about Christians being called to discipleship. And rightly so! The Great Commission recorded in the gospels sees our risen, triumphant Lord telling us to go and make disciples of the world. While we are still image-bearers of God, our images have been tainted by the pervasive effects of sin. We are dim reflections of the kings and queens we used to be (Gen. 1:26-28). There is a dyer need for our images to be transformed and renewed in accordance with the perfect, prototypical Image - the same Image through which the Father created the world - Jesus Christ, the beloved Son. Our call to be disciples of Christ means we wholeheartedly submit to his authority as Lord of the universe, we realize we are being consecrated to a life devoted to holiness, we proclaim the message of the gospel to others, we teach them all the Lord commanded, we defend the truth when we are called to, and we offer up praise each day for all that God has done and will continue to do.
The point of my post today is to draw a link between the ideas of discipleship and the priesthood of all believers. Consider with me for a moment the remarkable similarities between this idea of discipleship and this Old Testament idea of priesthood. For example, check out some of these points I have listed below:
SDG
The point of my post today is to draw a link between the ideas of discipleship and the priesthood of all believers. Consider with me for a moment the remarkable similarities between this idea of discipleship and this Old Testament idea of priesthood. For example, check out some of these points I have listed below:
- Priests are consecrated to a life of holy living - this is the original intent from the beginning. While Adam may not seem like your typical "priest," I believe as the first man on the earth, his calling does not differ so much from our own. He was called to a life of obedience and submission to the precepts of the Lord. This idea is explicitly unraveled later in Exodus when God calls his people to "be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." (Leviticus 19:2). And while the priestly tribe of Levi is set apart within the theocracy of Israel, God calls the entire nation of Israel to be a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6). Peter would later say in his first letter that believers are called to be a holy and royal priesthood that should abstain from the passions of the flesh and move on to honorable living that glorifies God in the sight of others (1 Pet. 2:9, 11-12).
- Priests are protectors of the sanctity of the Temple and the truth it embodies - again, this was Adam's original calling, but instead of a temple, Adam was to protect the sanctity of the Garden sanctuary. Eden was a sanctuary where God met with man, not to forgive sins, but to commune with his creation. It was Adam's job to "keep and cultivate" the garden. This does not mean that Adam was a gardener. To keep and cultivate in the Hebrew meant that he was to watch over the garden, to preserve it, and to serve or "minister" within it. This was the role of the temple priest - to keep (Num. 3:38, 4:16) and minister (e.g., Ex. 29:38-42). And we too, as a royal priesthood, are to be protectors of the sanctity of our bodily temples (1 Cor. 6:19-20), our physical gathering place of worship (1 Cor. 5:4, 13), and the foundational truths forming the cornerstone of the church (1 Pet. 3:15, Jude 1:3).
- Priests proclaim the excellencies of Christ, acting as a mediator between God and an unbelieving world - going back to Adam, implied within the mandate to "be fruitful and multiply" was to propagate the message of the lordship of the Creator and Sustainer of life as king of the ever-expanding garden sanctuary, so that all born of Adam and Eve would call upon the name of the Lord. Later, within the community of Israel, the priests were to both teach Israel of God's precepts (Lev. 10:11) and to act as mediators for them (Lev. 23). Again, Peter tells us that as a priesthood of believers, we are to tell the world of God's lavished grace in Christ as he calls people to himself (1 Pet. 2:9-10).
- Priests offer sacrifices to God - while Adam did not offer sacrifice originally because of the absence of sin, he surely offered up thanksgiving and praise to the one true God of the universe. This was markedly different than the Israelite priests, who did in fact offer physical sacrifices for the sins of the people (Lev. 23). This sacrificial system points forward to the ultimate offering of the blessed Lamb, who shed his blood for our sins once for all time at the altar of Calvary. And this is why our sacrifice as a priesthood of believers is very different than it looked during the OT - Peter again says that we are "to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:5). This means that through the definitive work of Christ on the cross, we now continually offer up a kind of "spiritual sacrifice" of praise that acknowledges him as the suffering substitute that atoned for our sin (Heb. 13:15).
SDG
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Let Him be your dread
One of my favorite books of all time is Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments, by Geerhardus Vos. I'm sure a few of you are rolling your eyes right now because I have mentioned it more than a couple times during discussions. I think he does a wonderful job of explaining the deeper meaning of things, whether it be a specific word, text, or a recurring theme in the Scriptures. Whether he is right or not (I'm sure in some instances, he's not!), he still makes a very compelling argument. And he never ceases to capture my adoration - not in his abilities but in the great and wonderfully extravagant God we love and serve and under whose dominion we live.
More specifically, for the purpose of this post, I was captured by his explanation of the meaning of the name ascribed to God, "Elohim." Vos says in his book, "Elohim is probably derived from a root 'alah,' no longer found in the Hebrew, but believed to exist in Arabic. It means 'to fear, to be perplexed, and so to seek refuge.' From that, there is but one step to the notion 'dread,' and this would be objectified in the sense of 'the One to be dreaded,' or 'the One to whom one comes in fear or dread.'"
I don't know why, but I just love that explanation! Probably because it reminds me so much of what is said in Scripture about God. Isaiah 8:13 says, "But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." So terrifying was the presence of this dreadful Destroyer at Mt. Sinai that Moses declared, "I tremble with fear" (Hebrews 12:21). His very voice is louder than a trumpet blast sent throughout the earth. He is shrouded in mysterious clouds and lightning (Exodus 19:6). We are warned to not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul - there is One greater than these that can destroy both body and soul in hell (Matthew 10:28). He is our fear and dread.
And yet, we still seek refuge in him, don't we? Psalm 27:1 says, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" If our God is the great Destroyer, Judge, and Terror of all of creation, and he is for us (Romans 8:31), what else can we possibly be afraid of? The apostle Peter asks this same question: to whom shall we go for shelter and sanctuary and life (John 6:68-69)? He is said to be both lawgiver and judge, who is able to both save and destroy (James 4:12) - and yet, in Christ, we are absolutely certain that we have nothing to fear (Romans 8:1). We seek refuge in the God of fear and dread because Christ has redeemed us from the sin that enslaved us, satisfied the wrath that inevitably awaited us, and in his perfect life, death, and resurrection, enabled us to become the righteousness of God.
Each day, we are confronted with the God of Terror, in whom even the demons believe...and shudder (James 2:19). And each day, we remember that long ago a Son of Man climbed the Calvary hill, willingly clothed himself in the sins of his brethren, and died in our stead. In an inconceivable act, he subjected himself to the winepress of His terrible fury. On the third day, he was raised for our justification, that we today might find the God of peace and comfort and grace.
SDG
More specifically, for the purpose of this post, I was captured by his explanation of the meaning of the name ascribed to God, "Elohim." Vos says in his book, "Elohim is probably derived from a root 'alah,' no longer found in the Hebrew, but believed to exist in Arabic. It means 'to fear, to be perplexed, and so to seek refuge.' From that, there is but one step to the notion 'dread,' and this would be objectified in the sense of 'the One to be dreaded,' or 'the One to whom one comes in fear or dread.'"
I don't know why, but I just love that explanation! Probably because it reminds me so much of what is said in Scripture about God. Isaiah 8:13 says, "But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." So terrifying was the presence of this dreadful Destroyer at Mt. Sinai that Moses declared, "I tremble with fear" (Hebrews 12:21). His very voice is louder than a trumpet blast sent throughout the earth. He is shrouded in mysterious clouds and lightning (Exodus 19:6). We are warned to not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul - there is One greater than these that can destroy both body and soul in hell (Matthew 10:28). He is our fear and dread.
And yet, we still seek refuge in him, don't we? Psalm 27:1 says, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" If our God is the great Destroyer, Judge, and Terror of all of creation, and he is for us (Romans 8:31), what else can we possibly be afraid of? The apostle Peter asks this same question: to whom shall we go for shelter and sanctuary and life (John 6:68-69)? He is said to be both lawgiver and judge, who is able to both save and destroy (James 4:12) - and yet, in Christ, we are absolutely certain that we have nothing to fear (Romans 8:1). We seek refuge in the God of fear and dread because Christ has redeemed us from the sin that enslaved us, satisfied the wrath that inevitably awaited us, and in his perfect life, death, and resurrection, enabled us to become the righteousness of God.
Each day, we are confronted with the God of Terror, in whom even the demons believe...and shudder (James 2:19). And each day, we remember that long ago a Son of Man climbed the Calvary hill, willingly clothed himself in the sins of his brethren, and died in our stead. In an inconceivable act, he subjected himself to the winepress of His terrible fury. On the third day, he was raised for our justification, that we today might find the God of peace and comfort and grace.
SDG
Thursday, November 13, 2014
The "Rest" of the Wicked
I just read through one of Zechariah's first visions in Zechariah 1 (v. 7-17), where a mysterious rider on a red horse comes to him. This divine messenger arrives with several other riders who have recently patrolled the whole earth and are ready to give their report. The report is this, "We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest [emphasis mine]." This angered the Lord, because the reconnaissance was to find out whether the world powers were helping or hindering the Israelites in their efforts to restore the great temple in Jerusalem where the Lord had previously established his name. What he finds is the world's scornful complacency and disregard for the All-Powerful King and his chosen people.
To further explain this idea of why God was infuriated by the earth being "at ease," Isaiah 57 likens the wicked to the tossing sea, "for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt...there is no peace for the wicked." In the ancient Near East, the sea represented chaos and disorder, continually turbulent and restless, never finding peace. If the wicked are likened to this agent of chaos, how then can they be at ease and find rest? Their ease was an arrogant display of their contempt for the honor of God's name and a blatant disregard for the plight of his people. And not only were they ignoring their obligations to Israel, they were doing it with apparent impunity.
So what was the Lord's response? He will return to Jerusalem - his cities will again overflow with prosperity, and he will comfort Zion and his chosen people. Compare this to Jesus' declaration after the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18. Jesus says, "will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily." We are like Asaph in Psalm 73, as we look upon the prosperity of the world - our solace and hope are only found when we dwell in the sanctuary of the Lord. He holds our right hand, guides us with his counsel, and then receives us to glory. The intent is that the wicked remain forever restless both in life and death, and God's people are at peace under his reign.
SDG
To further explain this idea of why God was infuriated by the earth being "at ease," Isaiah 57 likens the wicked to the tossing sea, "for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt...there is no peace for the wicked." In the ancient Near East, the sea represented chaos and disorder, continually turbulent and restless, never finding peace. If the wicked are likened to this agent of chaos, how then can they be at ease and find rest? Their ease was an arrogant display of their contempt for the honor of God's name and a blatant disregard for the plight of his people. And not only were they ignoring their obligations to Israel, they were doing it with apparent impunity.
So what was the Lord's response? He will return to Jerusalem - his cities will again overflow with prosperity, and he will comfort Zion and his chosen people. Compare this to Jesus' declaration after the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18. Jesus says, "will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily." We are like Asaph in Psalm 73, as we look upon the prosperity of the world - our solace and hope are only found when we dwell in the sanctuary of the Lord. He holds our right hand, guides us with his counsel, and then receives us to glory. The intent is that the wicked remain forever restless both in life and death, and God's people are at peace under his reign.
SDG
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