Good News of Great Joy

With all the business that surrounds us during the Christmas season, it's often easy to fall into the current of the world and neglect remembering exactly what Christmas is truly about. With a bit of intentionality, you can swim against the world's current and find a greater satisfaction in savoring the coming King at Christmas.

To help you do that, Desiring God has published a free eBook to help you remember Christ this Christmas season. It can be downloaded here.

"What I want most for Christmas this year is to join you (and many others) in seeing Christ in all his fullness and that we together be able to love what we see with a love far beyond our own half-hearted human capacities"

 


All Our Objective Good

From Jonathan Edwards:

The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their life, their dwelling place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honor and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. The Lord God, he is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem; and is the ‘river of the water of life’ that runs, and the tree of life that grows, ‘in the midst of the paradise of God’. The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will forever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another: but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them.

Jonathan Edwards, “God Glorified in the Work of Redemption, by the Greatness of Man’s Dependence upon Him, in the Whole of It (1731)” [sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:29-31] in:Wilson H. Kimnach, Kenneth P. Minkema, and Douglas A. Sweeney, ed., The Sermons of Jonathan Edwards: A Reader (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), 74–75.


11/25 - Pastoral Prayer

God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, we praise you for all your perfections. Father, we praise you that you are the grand designer of all things; that you have elected a people for yourself that they might display your glory. Jesus, we praise you that you are the agent that carries out the Father’s plans. You created all things. All things are created by you and exist for you. Oh that we might see and savor your glory. Holy Spirit, we praise you that you apply the work of the Son to the hearts of rebellious wicked sinners that they might taste and see and feast upon the glories of Jesus. Yes, Triune God we praise you for your majesty, splendor, and goodness. Help us to continually feast upon your goodness.

Father that’s my prayer for David and Melinda as they look to their wedding next weekend. Oh that they would feast upon the glorious gospel that their marriage will point to. Cause David to sacrificially lead Melinda; cause Melinda to sacrificially submit to David. Cause them both to sacrificially serve one another that they might display the love Christ has for the church. I pray for Kathryn Strasle, that she would persevere in the gospel and lead others to faith in Christ during the next several years at GW. Lord, cause Matt Lozada to feast upon Christ and be satisfied by the richness found in him alone. Fill Matt with your Spirit that he might actively repent from sin and trust and treasure the person, work and worth of Jesus in all things.

Lord God, may that be the tune of all our hearts – that we would repent of our sins. Reveal those to us we pray. Show us our greed. Root out the bitterness in our hearts. Expose our selfish actions and attitudes. Forgive us where we compare and think ourselves better than others. Forgive us where we use you; where we come to you only to get something else; where we treasure our jobs, our comfort, our boyfriend or girlfriend, our desire to be married, our desire to be employed – whatever the case may be, grant us repentance that we might treasure Christ alone and be satisfied in him.

Open the eyes of our hearts that we might behold Christ and become like him. Give us ears of faith that we might hear the Words of Christ and be transformed into his likeness. Soften the hardness of our hearts that we might love you, the Lord our God, with all our being. Oh that our lives would scream the sufficiency of Christ – so much so that those around us would begin to ask, where our hope is found.

Yes, Lord make use zealous to tell others about Jesus – bring our friends, family, co-workers, fellow students, neighbors into our lives and help us develop relationship with them that we might serve them sacrificially and impart the gospel to them humbly. Use our church we pray to see many come to faith in Jesus. Save students. Save our co-workers and neighbors. Save those that live right here in this neighborhood and draw them to be a part of our church. Do this all, not for the sake of Restoration Church, but for the sake of your holy name. Oh that you would do such a great work in and through us, that the only explanation is You, the one, true, living, holy, Triune God working for the sake of your own glory. Do this in the name of Christ Jesus we pray.

We pray that we would be one of many gospel-centered, Christ-exalting churches here in DC. We pray for Wright Wall as he pastors All Nations DC – give him endurance in these early days, and surround him with encouragers that All Nations might permeate the gospel in word and deed. We pray for Capitol Hill Baptist – give them much grace to steward the platform you have given them that they might point people to Christ Jesus. Lord God, we pray for National Community Church – as they have thousands that come to their campuses each week. May they be faithful to your word; may they preach Christ crucified and resurrected as the greatest hope.

And tonight as we turn to your word, send your Spirit to feed our souls. Don’t let us nibble at the table of the world, and miss feasting upon the glories of Jesus. Where we are hungry, fill us. Where we are thirsty, quench us. Do this for the sake of your steadfast love in Christ Jesus, Amen.


A Prayer of Praise and Thanksgiving

From Valley of Vision:

O My God,
You fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
My heart admires, adores, loves You,
For my little vessel is as full as it can be,
And I would pour out all that fullness before You in ceaseless flow.
When I think upon and converse with You
Ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
Ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
Ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
Crowding into every moment of happiness.
I bless You for the soul You have created,
For adorning it, for sanctifying it,
Though it is fixed in barren soil;
For the body You have given me,
For preserving its strength and vigor,
For providing senses to enjoy delights,
For the ease and freedom of limbs,
For hands, eyes, ears that do Your bidding;
For Your royal bounty providing my daily support,
For a full table and overflowing cup,
For appetite, taste, sweetness,
For social joys of relatives and friends,
For ability to serve others,
For a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
For a mind to care for my fellow-men,
For opportunities of spreading happiness around,
For loved ones in the joys of heaven,
For my own expectation of seeing You clearly.
I love You above the powers of language to express,
For what You are to Your creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity.


John Owen's Final Words

Justin Taylor, posted John Owen's final words. On August 22, 1683, at his home in Ealing (a suburb west of London), the great theologian John Owen dictated his last surviving letter. Here is an excerpt:

I am going to him whom my soul hath loved, or rather hath love me with an everlasting love; which is the whole ground of all my consolation...Live and pray and hope and waite patiently and doe not despair; the promise stands invincible that he will never leave thee nor forsake thee.

May these words give us comfort in these days.


Is the crucifixion cosmic child abuse?

Isn't the crucifixion of Jesus cosmic child abuse carried out by an angry Father?

This is perhaps the most attention-grabbing objection – propitiation equates to “cosmic child abuse.”  And this is the very objection we heard that in some of the quotes I read at the beginning.  The jaw dropping language of this accusation no doubt draws attention. There few things more disgusting than abusing an innocent child.  But before giving any credence to this notion, the nature of abuse must be understood. Let’s start with a definition.

Abuse can be defined as an act in which a person, filled with hate, seeks to bring gratification to himself by inflicting harm against an unwilling victim. In relation to the cross, this definition fails on numerous counts.  Let me briefly highlight three.

First, Jesus was not unwilling.  Scripture is emphatically clear that Jesus went to the cross by his own volition, and laid down his life by his own accord (Mark 10:45; John 10:17-18; 19:30) – in fact in Isaiah 53:11 it said he was satisfied.

Second, Jesus is not a victim.  Portraying Jesus as a “victim” is a gross misunderstanding of the doctrine of the Trinity – that God is one in essence, three in person.  This Christian doctrine shows that although the Father and Son are separate persons they share the same being and substance.  So when Jesus was on the cross it was not as though a third party was being victimized; it was God himself.  As John Stott has so clearly said, ““God took his own loving initiative to appease his own righteous anger by bearing it his own self in his own Son when he took our place and died for us.”[1]

Third, using the nomenclature of “cosmic child abuse” is equating the crucifixion to a hate-filled, vengeful act.  However, the cross is the pinnacle and showcase of God’s loving goodness; it is the polar opposite a vindictive, malicious act.  The New Testament insists the atonement flows from God’s holy love, not some mean-spirited, personalized hate ( John 15:13; Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16; 4:10).  Calling the work on the cross “hateful” is a distortion of Scripture and an inaccurate portrayal of God’s goodness.



[1] Stott, The Cross of Christ, 172.


How is it just for an innocent man, even if he is willing, to pay the price for the guilty?

Critics claim that punishing an innocent person, even if they are willing, is unjust.  On the surface this objection seems to have some credibility.  For one of the pillars of Christianity is the sinless life of Jesus Christ.  In the Scriptures, Jesus, assured of his perfection, invites anyone to point out anything in his life that was sinful – the response was silence (John 8:46).  Given that Jesus lived a perfect life, “how can it be just to punish a righteous man for the sins of many unrighteous people?”[1]

It should be noted that Scripture confirms that “acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent” (Proverbs 17:5) is repugnant to the Lord.  The concern of the critics is valid.  The willingness of Jesus alone is not enough to justify him going to the cross in our place.  Knowing that Scripture does not contradict Scripture and affirming the biblical teaching of penal substitutionary requires that a deeper explanation must exist if this objection is going to be refuted.

The answer that silences the critics is found in the biblical understanding of union with Christ.  “Union with Christ,” Jerry Bridges explains, “is that in a spiritual but nevertheless real way we [those who have saving faith] are united to Christ both legally and vitally.”[2] Based on this biblical truth Christ is not simply a third party mediating an exchange between God and sinners.  Instead there is a real union between Christ and those who have faith in Christ.  The magnitude of this truth can be seen as it is central in Johannine and Pauline literature.[3]

This union explains how Christ could be punished justly.  He is not judged for his own sins because he has no sins.  Instead, “he is judged for other’s sins, which, by virtue of their union with him, become his.”[4] This doctrine is in no way pronouncing that Jesus himself sinned.  Instead it is saying Christ is legally united with the sinner’s sins, thus he can justly be punished.  Therefore, the sinner’s union with Christ, which happens by grace alone through faith alone, explains how it is just for Christ to pay the price for sins he did not commit.  Justification is not merely legal fiction:

“[God] reckons righteousness to them, not because he accounts them to have kept his law personally (which would be a false judgment), but because he accounts them to be united to one who kept it representatively (and that is a true judgment)”[5]

On the flip side, union with Christ explains how sinners can be made righteous – by faith, sinners are one with Christ and his righteousness becomes their righteousness.  In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul sums up this dual sided exchange: “For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  The doctrine of the union with Christ boils down to this:  Christ rightfully takes what is the sinner’s (sin); the sinner rightfully receives what is Christ’s (righteousness).  The doctrine of union with Christ eliminates all “injustice” on the cross.


[1] Tom Smail, Once for All: A Confession of the Cross (London, England: Darton, Longman, & Todd, 1998),  97; quoted in Steve Jeffery, Mike Ovey, and Andrew Sach, Pierced for Our Transgressions, 241.

[2] Jerry Bridges, The Gospel for Real Life (Colorado Springs, Co: NavPress, 2003, c2002), 37.

[3] John 15:1-7; 1 John 2:5-6; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:5-6; Colossians 3:1, among numerous other passages; John uses the term “in him” or “abiding” nearly 90 times and Paul uses the terms “in Christ”, “in Christ Jesus”, “in him”, “in the Lord” and similar expressions no less than 370 times according to Paige Patterson in A Theology for the Church, 688.

[4] Jeffery, Ovey and Sach, Pierced for Our Transgressions, 244.

[5] J. I. Packer, “Justification,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, ed. Walter A. Elwell (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1984), 596.