"You can only keep the rottenness of sin and the kindness of God in mind if you fix your eyes on the cross. What shows Gods hatred of sin more than the cross? what shows God's love to you more than the cross? if you want to know exactly what sin deserves, you have to understand the cross. if you want to know how infinitely deep the rot of sin reaches, you have to think through all the implications of the cross. If you want to know how far God was willing to go to rescue you from sin, you have to see his precious Son hanging on the cross for you. " -Kris Lundgaard (paraphrasing John Owen), The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin
"Would I know how exceedingly sinful and abominable sin is in the sight of God? Where shall I see that most fully brought out? Shall I turn to the history of the flood, and read how sin drowned the world? Shall I go to the shore of the Dead Sea, and mark what sin brought on Sodom and Gomorrah? Shall I turn to the wandering Jews, and observe how sin has scattered them over the face of the earth? No: I can find a clearer proof still, I look at what happened on Calvary. There I see that sin is so black and damnable that nothing but the blood of God's own Son can wash it away; there I see that sin has so separated me from my holy Maker that all the angels in heaven could never have made peace between us: nothing could reconcile us, short of the death of Christ. Ah, if I listened to the wretched talk of proud men I might sometimes fancy sin was not so very sinful; but I cannot think little of sin when I look at Calvary." -JC Ryle, Sermon entitled "Calvary"
Showing posts with label The Cross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Cross. Show all posts
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The Cross, Tornadoes, and Other Evils
Last night my home state of Alabama was deeply affected by a record outbreak of tornadoes across the northern part of the state. Countless people were impacted by the loss of loved ones and material things. Of course, this testimony is echoed across numerous states, including the Commonwealth of Kentucky. I grieve for the victims. Things are not the way they are supposed to be. How do we make sense of this from a Christian worldview?
In his helpful study of this issue, Evil and the Cross, Henri Blocher asserts that there are 3 fundamental affirmations that we must hold together in wrestling with the problem of evil (whether moral evil or in this case natural evil):
1st, the utter "evilness" of evil (Isa 5:20).
2nd, the utter "goodness" of God (Hab 1;13; Deut 32:4).
3rd, the utter "sovereignty" of God (Amos 3:6; Is 45:7; Lam 3:31-39).
As we struggle with the problem of evil (and all of us do), we are tempted to compromise on one or another of these 3 absolute biblical convictions. We could, for example, minimize the severity of the Bible's diagnosis of evil (e.g. "it's not really as bad as it seems"). Or we may compromise God's goodness by making God complicit in some way with evil. But God is “not a God who takes pleasure in evil” (Ps 5:4) & whose “eyes are too pure to look on evil” (Hab 1:13). Or we may try to get God off the hook limiting his sovereignty (e.g. "there are some things that even God can't control").
Against these 3 tendencies, Scripture affirms: that evil is evil, that the Lord is sovereign, and that the Lord is good. These 3 truths must stand (as I write this I just received word that a football teammate of mine from the Alabama days lost his young daughter in a tornado).
In my estimation, the key issue in this discussion is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. In light of this most evil of evils (the crucifixion of the blameless Son of God), it is reasonable to believe that God has good purposes in all evils even though humans may be blind to these reasons.
That is, God decreed the cross, the most heinous evil in the history of the world. Yet, God redeemed this evil to procure the greatest good in the history of the world. The state of pardon and renewal procured by Christ’s cross is one of greater worth or blessedness than the faultless original position that God deemed “good.”
Thus, as God has redeemed the worst evil, He is capable of redeeming the lesser evils that presently occur.
So, if the worst moral evil is warranted, then even more so lesser evils.
Furthermore, if one can fail to identify the highest goods achieved through the most heinous evil (the divine reasons for the cross were not clear to anyone until God revealed them), then even more so one may fail to recognize lesser goods attained through lesser evils.
Thus, in my view, God's glorious purposes achieved through the evil communicated to His Son are the key to dealing with God's sovereignty and the presence of evil.
John Frame offers some helpful reminders in this regard (The Doctrine of God, 171-72.).
1st, it is important to define “greater good” theistically; that is, this idea should not be seen, necessarily, as greater pleasure or comfort for humankind, but as greater glory for God in Christ, which by extension, benefits the people of God (Rom 8:28-39).
2nd, unless God’s standards govern the concept of goodness, there can be no viable discussion of good or evil.
3rd, to evaluate God’s actions appropriately, one must evaluate them over the full extent of human history.
4th, God’s ways of bringing good out of evil often surprises (c.f. Gen 36-50). In this regard, O felix culpa (happy fall).
Of course, the ultimate good God achieves out of the cross of Christ concerns the magnification of God's glory in a renewed cosmos, which includes God's triumph over evil. When God comes to establish the kingdom of Christ and has made all things new (Rev 21:5), evil in all its forms will have been completely eradicated. Consider:
There will be no more sea (Rev 21:1), which represents chaotic, restless evil in Old Testament symbolism.
There will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain (Rev 21:4).
There will be no more sin, for there will be no more sinners (Rev 21:7-8).
There will be no more darkness and night (Rev 21:25; 22:5).
There will be more more international strife (Rev 22:2), for the nations will find healing through the tree of life and the river of life.
There will be no more curse (Rev 22:3).
Think about this. Yes, we grieve over the presence of evil and suffering. Jesus was deeply troubled and wept over these very issues (John 11). However, we do not grieve without hope (1 Thess 4:13). Our great hope and joyful expectation is that all these aforementioned evils in Revelation 21 will not be there in the new heaven and new earth because of the victory of the cross of Christ through which they have been destroyed.
Until then, thank you Lord for the cross! "Deliver us from evil" (Matt 6:13). "Our Lord, come!" (Maranatha). Amen.
In his helpful study of this issue, Evil and the Cross, Henri Blocher asserts that there are 3 fundamental affirmations that we must hold together in wrestling with the problem of evil (whether moral evil or in this case natural evil):
1st, the utter "evilness" of evil (Isa 5:20).
2nd, the utter "goodness" of God (Hab 1;13; Deut 32:4).
3rd, the utter "sovereignty" of God (Amos 3:6; Is 45:7; Lam 3:31-39).
As we struggle with the problem of evil (and all of us do), we are tempted to compromise on one or another of these 3 absolute biblical convictions. We could, for example, minimize the severity of the Bible's diagnosis of evil (e.g. "it's not really as bad as it seems"). Or we may compromise God's goodness by making God complicit in some way with evil. But God is “not a God who takes pleasure in evil” (Ps 5:4) & whose “eyes are too pure to look on evil” (Hab 1:13). Or we may try to get God off the hook limiting his sovereignty (e.g. "there are some things that even God can't control").
Against these 3 tendencies, Scripture affirms: that evil is evil, that the Lord is sovereign, and that the Lord is good. These 3 truths must stand (as I write this I just received word that a football teammate of mine from the Alabama days lost his young daughter in a tornado).
In my estimation, the key issue in this discussion is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. In light of this most evil of evils (the crucifixion of the blameless Son of God), it is reasonable to believe that God has good purposes in all evils even though humans may be blind to these reasons.
That is, God decreed the cross, the most heinous evil in the history of the world. Yet, God redeemed this evil to procure the greatest good in the history of the world. The state of pardon and renewal procured by Christ’s cross is one of greater worth or blessedness than the faultless original position that God deemed “good.”
Thus, as God has redeemed the worst evil, He is capable of redeeming the lesser evils that presently occur.
So, if the worst moral evil is warranted, then even more so lesser evils.
Furthermore, if one can fail to identify the highest goods achieved through the most heinous evil (the divine reasons for the cross were not clear to anyone until God revealed them), then even more so one may fail to recognize lesser goods attained through lesser evils.
Thus, in my view, God's glorious purposes achieved through the evil communicated to His Son are the key to dealing with God's sovereignty and the presence of evil.
John Frame offers some helpful reminders in this regard (The Doctrine of God, 171-72.).
1st, it is important to define “greater good” theistically; that is, this idea should not be seen, necessarily, as greater pleasure or comfort for humankind, but as greater glory for God in Christ, which by extension, benefits the people of God (Rom 8:28-39).
2nd, unless God’s standards govern the concept of goodness, there can be no viable discussion of good or evil.
3rd, to evaluate God’s actions appropriately, one must evaluate them over the full extent of human history.
4th, God’s ways of bringing good out of evil often surprises (c.f. Gen 36-50). In this regard, O felix culpa (happy fall).
Of course, the ultimate good God achieves out of the cross of Christ concerns the magnification of God's glory in a renewed cosmos, which includes God's triumph over evil. When God comes to establish the kingdom of Christ and has made all things new (Rev 21:5), evil in all its forms will have been completely eradicated. Consider:
There will be no more sea (Rev 21:1), which represents chaotic, restless evil in Old Testament symbolism.
There will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain (Rev 21:4).
There will be no more sin, for there will be no more sinners (Rev 21:7-8).
There will be no more darkness and night (Rev 21:25; 22:5).
There will be more more international strife (Rev 22:2), for the nations will find healing through the tree of life and the river of life.
There will be no more curse (Rev 22:3).
Think about this. Yes, we grieve over the presence of evil and suffering. Jesus was deeply troubled and wept over these very issues (John 11). However, we do not grieve without hope (1 Thess 4:13). Our great hope and joyful expectation is that all these aforementioned evils in Revelation 21 will not be there in the new heaven and new earth because of the victory of the cross of Christ through which they have been destroyed.
Until then, thank you Lord for the cross! "Deliver us from evil" (Matt 6:13). "Our Lord, come!" (Maranatha). Amen.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
At the Cross, Jesus Says: "I Am Here Because of You."
At the cross, God gave himself in the person of his Son to suffer instead of us the death, punishment, and curse due to fallen humanity as the penalty for sin.
Therefore, every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size. John Stott, The Message of Galatians, 179.
Therefore, every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size. John Stott, The Message of Galatians, 179.
Friday, April 22, 2011
The Cross: God is Glorified in Salvation Through Judgment
The supreme display of God's judgment through which salvation comes, when the marvelous glory amazes all creation, is the remarkable moment when Jesus dies on the cross. God's commitment to his righteousness warrants the extreme measure of the death of his Son. What could more effectively communicate God's holiness? Simultaneously, God acts from unsearchable depths of love and mercy. Wrath and mercy come together in a paradoxical display of holiness and loving-kindness. The Father shows his love by sending Jesus to uphold justice. Jesus shows his righteousness by obeying the Father, by which also he loves his Father and his people to the end. God is glorified in salvation through judgment in Christ's death on the cross. Selah (Jim Hamilton, God's Glory in Salvation Through Judgment, 550).
What Happened Good Friday and Why It Matters
Justin Taylor has rendered us a service in laying out the chronology of what happened on Friday of Holy Week. I think it profitable to consider what happened that day and then to conclude with a thought on why it matters.
Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested by the authorities (perhaps after midnight, early Friday morning) Matthew 26:47-56
Jewish trial, phase 1: Jesus has a hearing before Annas (former high priest and Caiaphas’s father-in-law) John 18:13-14, 19-24
Jewish trial, phase 2: Jesus stands trial before Caiaphas and part of the Sanhedrin Matt 26:57-68
Peter denies Jesus Matthew 26:69-75
Perhaps after sunrise, phase 3 of Jesus’ Jewish trial: final consultation before the full Sanhedrin; sent to Pilate Matthew 27:1-2
Judas hangs himself Matthew 27:3-10
Phase 1 of Jesus’ Roman trial: first appearance before Pontius Pilate; sent to Herod Antipas Matt 27:11-14
Phase 2 of Jesus’ Roman trial: appears before Herod Antipas; sent back to Pontius Pilate Luke 23:6-12
Phase 3 of Jesus’ Roman trial: Jesus’ second appearance before Pilate; condemned to die Matt 27:15-26
Jesus is crucified (from approximately 9 AM until Noon) Matthew 27:27-54
Why does this matter? In short, without God's gracious judgment of sinners through his provided substitute, we are condemned in our sins before him. The cross above anything else reveals the glory of God as he saves sinners through the judgment of his provided substitutionary lamb. That is, the cross preserves the truthfulness and justice of God: it is the means by which he saves sinners for relationship with himself without going back on his word that sin must be punished
Hear the words of John Stott: The concept of substitution lies at the heart of both sin and salvation for the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives, which belong to God alone; while God accepts penalties that belong to man alone (Cross of Christ, 160).
Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested by the authorities (perhaps after midnight, early Friday morning) Matthew 26:47-56
Jewish trial, phase 1: Jesus has a hearing before Annas (former high priest and Caiaphas’s father-in-law) John 18:13-14, 19-24
Jewish trial, phase 2: Jesus stands trial before Caiaphas and part of the Sanhedrin Matt 26:57-68
Peter denies Jesus Matthew 26:69-75
Perhaps after sunrise, phase 3 of Jesus’ Jewish trial: final consultation before the full Sanhedrin; sent to Pilate Matthew 27:1-2
Judas hangs himself Matthew 27:3-10
Phase 1 of Jesus’ Roman trial: first appearance before Pontius Pilate; sent to Herod Antipas Matt 27:11-14
Phase 2 of Jesus’ Roman trial: appears before Herod Antipas; sent back to Pontius Pilate Luke 23:6-12
Phase 3 of Jesus’ Roman trial: Jesus’ second appearance before Pilate; condemned to die Matt 27:15-26
Jesus is crucified (from approximately 9 AM until Noon) Matthew 27:27-54
Why does this matter? In short, without God's gracious judgment of sinners through his provided substitute, we are condemned in our sins before him. The cross above anything else reveals the glory of God as he saves sinners through the judgment of his provided substitutionary lamb. That is, the cross preserves the truthfulness and justice of God: it is the means by which he saves sinners for relationship with himself without going back on his word that sin must be punished
Hear the words of John Stott: The concept of substitution lies at the heart of both sin and salvation for the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives, which belong to God alone; while God accepts penalties that belong to man alone (Cross of Christ, 160).
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