The wilderness temptation demonstrates the power of Christ. Even in the midst of his weakness. Though he refused Satan's request to make a spectacle of his ability yet this picture of his strength has endured for two thousand years. In the wilderness temptation we see that the greatest power, and the one which evades us so often is the power of self control.
Let us take note of the tempter. Satan is a cruel attacker. He came to Jesus when he was weakened. Satan used his chiefest allies: the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions (1 John 2:16).
First Satan attacked the physical hunger in a way beyond our comprehension. To have not eaten in 40 days and to resist the temptation for bread. The desire of the flesh must have been overwhelming.
In the second temptation every imaginable desire is offered. Everything you've ever seen that you wanted: every experience, every possession, every accomplishment. All the pride and glory you could ever have. For Christ what more of a temptation to grasp what was rightfully his in the first place. To be in a state of humility no more, but to rule the nations now.
And when these two had failed Satan tries to tempt Christ to test God. Satan wants nothing more than to alienate Christ from the Father. He seeks to accomplish this by convincing Jesus to test the Father
Christ answer to every challenge is essentially the same. The Lord God. The Lord God is what gives him life more than bread. The Lord God is the one who alone should be worshipped. And the Lord God is the one not to be doubted or put to the test.
In Christ's unshakable trust and obedience to God he succeeds where men fail. God's people in the Old Testament fell continuously into temptation in the wilderness. And we fail in many ways.
We see in the wilderness temptation patterns that continued Christ's life, and would be be displayed even more powerfully in his greatest work: going to the cross. Christ suffered. Christ was tempted. He submitted to the Father's will. And in his obedience Satan's plot and attack were turned to the God's victory.
As you and I see Christ in this passage we can know we have a Savior who has been tempted like us. Satan attacked him the same way he attacks us only with far greater severity. Every time we are in temptation it should comfort us to know that we are walking the path our Lord walked.
And we can walk by his example. We must also stand and control ourselves in midst of temptation. To do so we must seek the Holy Spirit. Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit (Vs. 1). We should speak the truth of the Bible against the lies of Satan (out loud if necessary). But most of all Jesus' example shows us to focus on the Lord God like he did continually. We should look to what God provides, what God promises, and what God requires of us.
Even when we fail we can look to this passage and remember there was one who succeeded. And we are his. And because of his obedience to the Father we can be forgiven.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
"Isn't Life More?" or "From Sheep to Glory"
At this time of year there is a lot of inviting going on. We invite, and we are invited. Some of us throw parties. Some of us invite family and friends over to share the holidays together. And the practice of inviting to a celebration was done in Jesus' time as well as ours. Christ actually makes mention of it on a couple of occasions. But years before those words, on the first Christmas night, there was an invitation.
There were a few people fortunate enough to be invitied to see the Christ child. Those people were shepherds. Let us take a look at these shepherds and what happened to them that night.
Read Luke 2:8-20
http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+2%3A8-20
When we first encounter these shepherds in Vs. 8 what are they doing?
They are keeping watch over their flock by night. They were looking after sheep. It is interesting that a sheep can basically be used for two purposes. First you can eat sheep. Secondly you can use a sheep's wool to make clothing. In the Bible food and clothing are referred to as the basic necessities of life. The Bible says that food and clothing is what the Father knows we need, and that if we have them with these we should be content. So in these shepherds we have an example of people who are literally looking at, and focusing on, the basic necessities of their life.
We should relate to these shepherds. They are doing what many of us do everyday. We spend our lives working to provide. We, like the shepherds, spend our days (or nights) at our jobs, or taking care of our kids trying to make sure we have what we need.
The shepherds are in for a miraculous encounter. Something is about to happen which changes their lives, and that we would do well to think about.
In Vs. 9-14 we see the beginnings of this encounter. When the angel appears the shepherds fear. the first words from God to them (found so often in Scripture) are "Fear not." Then the message is delivered: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." This savior is the center of the whole passage everything is focused on him. The angel appeared because of the savior Christ the Lord. The good news of great joy was the savior Christ the Lord. The reason the heavenly host were praising God was the savior Christ the Lord. And the reason the shepherds would then Vs. 15 leave their flock in the field and go to Bethlehem was the savior Christ the Lord.
At first the shepherds were looking over their food and clothing (the basic necessities of life), but now they are called to look to something greater. to see something beyond and more important than the sheep.
When Jesus grew up in his most famous sermon (the sermon on the mount) Jesus said: "“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" (Matt 6:25) This was the challenging question he gave the disciples: Isn't life more? Isn't there something more important that just eating, and buying clothes, and paying the rent? Isn't there something that matters more?
The shepherds that night were hit with a wake up call that something was more important. Perhaps that is why they feared; because they had come face to face with the reality that there was something more important.
What is more important, and more important for all of us is God. Our creator who formed us in our Mother's womb. God, knowing God, having peace and a relationshipwith God, obeying and loving God, this is what really matters in life. In fact this really is "life".
We do not know how much the shepherds understood that night about the significance of what they were witnessing, but we know in light of Scripture, that it was of infinite significance. The infant, the baby they found lying in a manger (Vs. 16), was of infinite significance. Because only through him we have hope of life. Only through what he would accomplish in his death and resurrection can we have peace with God and come to know and love and obey Him.
In conclusion notice how the narrative ends in Vs. 20 "And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them."
First they returned. They went back to the sheep. They went back to their jobs. This is a good reminder that Christianity is not against work. On the contrary Christians are instructed to be good workers, and for the Christian work becomes an act of worship. Work becomes something we should do unto the Lord.
But there is a difference between the shepherds in Vs. 8 and Vs. 20, and the difference is worship. They are "glorifying and praising God". They have seen something fantastic. They have seen something praiseworthy. As I said they have seen something more important than the sheep. As Christians we are called to' "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." (Col 3:2) They don't ignore their jobs, but they go back to them with a new perspective because of what they've seen. They have seen these things, and this naturally produces in them worship. This is a mark of a Christian life. A Christian life is a life that produces worship.
As the Shorter Catechism says the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. That is the chief: the most important, the best thing we can do is to bring glory to our maker. This is what we were made to do. We found the shepherds looking at sheep and we leave them exalting the Living God. Let us, like the shepherds, go back to our lives knowing there is something more important than just the necessities of physical life. There is true life, and that life is in the Son of God. Let us seek to worship and glorify him in all we do.
Merry Christmas
There were a few people fortunate enough to be invitied to see the Christ child. Those people were shepherds. Let us take a look at these shepherds and what happened to them that night.
Read Luke 2:8-20
http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+2%3A8-20
When we first encounter these shepherds in Vs. 8 what are they doing?
They are keeping watch over their flock by night. They were looking after sheep. It is interesting that a sheep can basically be used for two purposes. First you can eat sheep. Secondly you can use a sheep's wool to make clothing. In the Bible food and clothing are referred to as the basic necessities of life. The Bible says that food and clothing is what the Father knows we need, and that if we have them with these we should be content. So in these shepherds we have an example of people who are literally looking at, and focusing on, the basic necessities of their life.
We should relate to these shepherds. They are doing what many of us do everyday. We spend our lives working to provide. We, like the shepherds, spend our days (or nights) at our jobs, or taking care of our kids trying to make sure we have what we need.
The shepherds are in for a miraculous encounter. Something is about to happen which changes their lives, and that we would do well to think about.
In Vs. 9-14 we see the beginnings of this encounter. When the angel appears the shepherds fear. the first words from God to them (found so often in Scripture) are "Fear not." Then the message is delivered: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." This savior is the center of the whole passage everything is focused on him. The angel appeared because of the savior Christ the Lord. The good news of great joy was the savior Christ the Lord. The reason the heavenly host were praising God was the savior Christ the Lord. And the reason the shepherds would then Vs. 15 leave their flock in the field and go to Bethlehem was the savior Christ the Lord.
At first the shepherds were looking over their food and clothing (the basic necessities of life), but now they are called to look to something greater. to see something beyond and more important than the sheep.
When Jesus grew up in his most famous sermon (the sermon on the mount) Jesus said: "“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" (Matt 6:25) This was the challenging question he gave the disciples: Isn't life more? Isn't there something more important that just eating, and buying clothes, and paying the rent? Isn't there something that matters more?
The shepherds that night were hit with a wake up call that something was more important. Perhaps that is why they feared; because they had come face to face with the reality that there was something more important.
What is more important, and more important for all of us is God. Our creator who formed us in our Mother's womb. God, knowing God, having peace and a relationshipwith God, obeying and loving God, this is what really matters in life. In fact this really is "life".
We do not know how much the shepherds understood that night about the significance of what they were witnessing, but we know in light of Scripture, that it was of infinite significance. The infant, the baby they found lying in a manger (Vs. 16), was of infinite significance. Because only through him we have hope of life. Only through what he would accomplish in his death and resurrection can we have peace with God and come to know and love and obey Him.
In conclusion notice how the narrative ends in Vs. 20 "And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them."
First they returned. They went back to the sheep. They went back to their jobs. This is a good reminder that Christianity is not against work. On the contrary Christians are instructed to be good workers, and for the Christian work becomes an act of worship. Work becomes something we should do unto the Lord.
But there is a difference between the shepherds in Vs. 8 and Vs. 20, and the difference is worship. They are "glorifying and praising God". They have seen something fantastic. They have seen something praiseworthy. As I said they have seen something more important than the sheep. As Christians we are called to' "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." (Col 3:2) They don't ignore their jobs, but they go back to them with a new perspective because of what they've seen. They have seen these things, and this naturally produces in them worship. This is a mark of a Christian life. A Christian life is a life that produces worship.
As the Shorter Catechism says the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. That is the chief: the most important, the best thing we can do is to bring glory to our maker. This is what we were made to do. We found the shepherds looking at sheep and we leave them exalting the Living God. Let us, like the shepherds, go back to our lives knowing there is something more important than just the necessities of physical life. There is true life, and that life is in the Son of God. Let us seek to worship and glorify him in all we do.
Merry Christmas
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The Authority of Scripture Answering Unbelievers: Calvin's View
When believers speak to unbelievers about the truths of the Christian faith one of the key foundational issues of disagreement is the authority of Scripture. After a recent conversation I wanted to develop a more well defined answer to the basic question "Why should I believe the Bible is true?"
I read the chapters in John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion on the authority of Scripture (Book 1 Chapters 7 & 8) and this is what I got out of it.
One of Calvin's major points is that in order for people to be fully convinced of the truth of the Scripture the Holy Spirit must make it known to them. It has to be a work of God authenticating his word. Those who God has called by his Spirit will believe his word. Jesus says the same about the authority of his words, "Jesus answered them, 'My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority." (John 7:16-17) Paul also says as much, "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor 2:14) The natual man must be transformed to be able to believe.
This is true, and proper to acknowledge from the outset in a discussion on the authority of Scripture. Stating this is also a way of pointing a non believer to their need for God. When talking to an unbeliever it is good to keep in mind that the issue is not merely a misunderstanding or a lack of information. Without the work of the Holy Spirit they do not have the ability to believe the truth.
Calvin does not stop here though (and neither should we). He does not say that since men won’t be fully convinced without the Spirit that reason has no place. He goes on to show evidences of the Scripture’s truth while admitting that these evidences alone without the Spirit’s work will not convince the unregenerate.
One evidence is the profound impact Scripture has on men who read it beyond any human writings. Calvin wrote “How peculiarly this property belongs to Scripture appears from this, that no human writings, however skilfully composed, are at all capable of affecting us in a similar way. Read Demosthenes or Cicero, read Plato, Aristotle, or any other of that class: you will, I admit, feel wonderfully allured, pleased, moved, enchanted; but turn from them to the reading of the Sacred Volume, and whether you will or not, it will so affect you, so pierce your heart, so work its way into your very marrow, that, in comparison of the impression so produced, that of orators and philosophers will almost disappear; making it manifest that in the Sacred Volume there is a truth divine, a something which makes it immeasurably superior to all the gifts and graces attainable by man.”
Another evidence is the integrity of the human writers of Scripture who faithfully record what God reveals about themselves and their families even to their own dishonor. For instance Moses, who we affirm wrote Genesis, records the words of Jacob shaming Levi (his own ancestor) (Gen 49:6-7). Paul and Peter are not mentioned by Calvin in the same section, but the same could be said of them. Paul confesses his own shameful behavior before his conversion and says of himself: “I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” (1 Cor 15:9). Peter a leader in the early church and likely a contributor to the Gospel accounts does not deny his cowardly behavior on the night Christ was betrayed.
This should clearly demonstrate that the Scriptures were not written with an aim to bring honor to their human authors.
Calvin also mentions a few examples of fulfilled prophecy. There are certainly many more that he does not mention. He points to Genesis 49:10 which states that Judah will rule and that the nations will honor him. This was many centuries before there was any King from the tribe of Judah, and over a millennium before the Gentiles would come into the church and give their obedience to Christ the King. He also mentions Isaiah’s prophecy of the Babylonian captivity (Is 39:6-7) and even more the release from that captivity by Cyrus (Is 45:1). Jeremiah’s prediction that the Babylonian captivity would be 70 years (Jer 25:11-12 & 29:10) is another evidence.
The transformation in the lives of the apostles demonstrates that a divine power worked in them. Calvin wrote: “But one circumstance, sufficient of itself to exalt their doctrine above the world, is, that Matthew, who was formerly fixed down to his money-table, Peter and John, who were employed with their little boats, being all rude and illiterate, had never learned in any human school that which they delivered to others. Paul, more over, who had not only been an avowed but a cruel and bloody foe, being changed into a new man, shows, by the sudden and unhoped-for change, that a heavenly power had compelled him to preach the doctrine which once he destroyed. Let those dogs deny that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles, or, if not, let them refuse credit to the history, still the very circumstances proclaim that the Holy Spirit must have been the teacher of those who, formerly contemptible among the people, all of a sudden began to discourse so magnificently of heavenly mysteries.”
Calvin also notes that the truth of Scripture has been so often attacked in History. Many men have sought to discredit and destroy its message, and yet God’s truth has prevailed. This demonstrates that the Scripture is of divine origin.
These aren’t all of Calvin’s arguments, and more that he does not mention could be made. These are his arguments that I thought were the strongest. It isn't exhaustive, but I think it is helpful. It should be enough to demonstrate that the believer in Scripture is not foolish, and that the the one who doubts Scripture is on shaky ground. We must pray for the Spirit to open the eyes of unbelievers while on our part presenting a challenging defense of the Bible's authority.
I read the chapters in John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion on the authority of Scripture (Book 1 Chapters 7 & 8) and this is what I got out of it.
One of Calvin's major points is that in order for people to be fully convinced of the truth of the Scripture the Holy Spirit must make it known to them. It has to be a work of God authenticating his word. Those who God has called by his Spirit will believe his word. Jesus says the same about the authority of his words, "Jesus answered them, 'My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority." (John 7:16-17) Paul also says as much, "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor 2:14) The natual man must be transformed to be able to believe.
This is true, and proper to acknowledge from the outset in a discussion on the authority of Scripture. Stating this is also a way of pointing a non believer to their need for God. When talking to an unbeliever it is good to keep in mind that the issue is not merely a misunderstanding or a lack of information. Without the work of the Holy Spirit they do not have the ability to believe the truth.
Calvin does not stop here though (and neither should we). He does not say that since men won’t be fully convinced without the Spirit that reason has no place. He goes on to show evidences of the Scripture’s truth while admitting that these evidences alone without the Spirit’s work will not convince the unregenerate.
One evidence is the profound impact Scripture has on men who read it beyond any human writings. Calvin wrote “How peculiarly this property belongs to Scripture appears from this, that no human writings, however skilfully composed, are at all capable of affecting us in a similar way. Read Demosthenes or Cicero, read Plato, Aristotle, or any other of that class: you will, I admit, feel wonderfully allured, pleased, moved, enchanted; but turn from them to the reading of the Sacred Volume, and whether you will or not, it will so affect you, so pierce your heart, so work its way into your very marrow, that, in comparison of the impression so produced, that of orators and philosophers will almost disappear; making it manifest that in the Sacred Volume there is a truth divine, a something which makes it immeasurably superior to all the gifts and graces attainable by man.”
Another evidence is the integrity of the human writers of Scripture who faithfully record what God reveals about themselves and their families even to their own dishonor. For instance Moses, who we affirm wrote Genesis, records the words of Jacob shaming Levi (his own ancestor) (Gen 49:6-7). Paul and Peter are not mentioned by Calvin in the same section, but the same could be said of them. Paul confesses his own shameful behavior before his conversion and says of himself: “I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” (1 Cor 15:9). Peter a leader in the early church and likely a contributor to the Gospel accounts does not deny his cowardly behavior on the night Christ was betrayed.
This should clearly demonstrate that the Scriptures were not written with an aim to bring honor to their human authors.
Calvin also mentions a few examples of fulfilled prophecy. There are certainly many more that he does not mention. He points to Genesis 49:10 which states that Judah will rule and that the nations will honor him. This was many centuries before there was any King from the tribe of Judah, and over a millennium before the Gentiles would come into the church and give their obedience to Christ the King. He also mentions Isaiah’s prophecy of the Babylonian captivity (Is 39:6-7) and even more the release from that captivity by Cyrus (Is 45:1). Jeremiah’s prediction that the Babylonian captivity would be 70 years (Jer 25:11-12 & 29:10) is another evidence.
The transformation in the lives of the apostles demonstrates that a divine power worked in them. Calvin wrote: “But one circumstance, sufficient of itself to exalt their doctrine above the world, is, that Matthew, who was formerly fixed down to his money-table, Peter and John, who were employed with their little boats, being all rude and illiterate, had never learned in any human school that which they delivered to others. Paul, more over, who had not only been an avowed but a cruel and bloody foe, being changed into a new man, shows, by the sudden and unhoped-for change, that a heavenly power had compelled him to preach the doctrine which once he destroyed. Let those dogs deny that the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles, or, if not, let them refuse credit to the history, still the very circumstances proclaim that the Holy Spirit must have been the teacher of those who, formerly contemptible among the people, all of a sudden began to discourse so magnificently of heavenly mysteries.”
Calvin also notes that the truth of Scripture has been so often attacked in History. Many men have sought to discredit and destroy its message, and yet God’s truth has prevailed. This demonstrates that the Scripture is of divine origin.
These aren’t all of Calvin’s arguments, and more that he does not mention could be made. These are his arguments that I thought were the strongest. It isn't exhaustive, but I think it is helpful. It should be enough to demonstrate that the believer in Scripture is not foolish, and that the the one who doubts Scripture is on shaky ground. We must pray for the Spirit to open the eyes of unbelievers while on our part presenting a challenging defense of the Bible's authority.
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