Photo by Minu Pradeep on Unsplash
It has been said that the best way to sum up the book of Revelation is to say, “Jesus wins.” Now, that is true as far as it goes, but this doesn’t go far enough. The book tells us more than just Jesus wins, because it tells us how Jesus wins. Details are important, because details give us a clearer picture of who Jesus is and always was. This scene is an important detail in our Portrait of Jesus series because it helps form the final word of the subtitle I stole from Beth McGrew for this series: Jesus, Meek and Wild. This is the wild part. Jesus isn’t a general leading from the rear. His garments have blood on them. He is getting personally involved. His eyes are described as flames, and His mouth wields a sword! This is a very different picture of a Lamb being led to slaughter, but I think a careful study of this passage will enhance your view of Jesus. For one, this picture will help us appreciate how patient Jesus was. At any moment, He would have been justified to slaughter everyone there, especially at the cross. But He doesn’t. I think that this also shows us where Christmas is ultimately going. We rightly talk about that Christmas begins in the manger and goes to the cross, but that isn’t all there is. The cross is the redemptive moment for us, but the ultimately victorious moment is here. It begins in the manger, and it ends on the Throne, all enemies and threats to it being decisively defeated. Our King Will Return While the book of the Revelation is complex, what comes here in this chapter is not overly difficult to understand. While we simply don’t have time to unravel all of the arguments as to when or precisely how this takes place, let’s simply look at what it is showing us about Who is doing all this work. We begin in verse 11 with an introduction to a figure sitting on a white horse riding into battle. As this passage unfolds, it becomes blindingly obvious that this is Jesus riding this horse. There are many names and titles that are given to Jesus that when they are all stacked together, you paint this picture of a really imposing figure! He is called Faithful and True. This title is given to Jesus earlier in the letters that are sent to the churches (3:7, 14). He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and our faithful High priest, but there is something that is not often talked about: Jesus brings war. His eyes are described as a flame of fire, crowns stacked on top of each other on His head, and most graphically, is wearing a robe that is dipped in blood! Let’s take a look at that robe for a moment. Some might think that the blood on the robe is actually His own blood. After all, His is known for shedding His blood for our redemption, isn’t He? Obviously, yes, that is still true, but as always, we have to look at the context of the rest of the passage to see what is going on. Verse 15 gives us a pretty good hint as to what exactly this blood is. The last line of that verse mentions Him treading the winepress of God’s wrath, and this image isn’t something that John is coming up with on His own. One key thing to understand about Revelation is that there is a reference to the Old Testament practically every three verses. This is just loaded with call backs and allusions to the Old Testament, and this is one of them. Specifically, this is pointing back to Isaiah 63:1-3. God is speaking in this chapter, and He arrives, as it were, with stained garments, stained with blood. They are splattered like one who’s garments are stained from a wine press. A winepress would have looked like a small pool dug into the ground and lined with stone. You would pour the grapes into the pool and then stomp around with your bare feet to press all the grapes down to squash the juice out of it. This would not be the time to wear your best garment. Can you imagine the mess you would make on a tunic stomping around a wading pool of wine? Can you also imagine what this would be like from the perspective of a grape? This is utter destruction. This is absolutely apocalyptic! This is the image that is ascribed to Jesus. He has dominated His enemies like a winepress of grapes, and His robe tells the tale. He has stomped them, and now He rules with a rod of iron. This is a rule that is not going to expire. This is a definitive victory that was prophesied all the way back in Psalm 2 . This judgment has been a slow burn, and absolutely no one can be said to be surprised by it. God has been announcing that it is coming for the last 3,000 years. When Jesus comes to reign, He takes that title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The battle that ensues here is quite definitive. And quick. We are going to skip down to verse 20 showing that the beast and false prophet (without getting into all the ways that we can look at the specific identity of this beast and prophet, let’s suffice it to say that these are Satanic agents bent on harming the Church). The heads of this resistance (with Satan himself bound up in the next chapter) are cast into hell, and “the rest” are slain by the sword. Who are “the rest”? Well, these are the kings of the earth and their armies. This would be absolutely terrifying to witness on the horizon, yet Christ defeats them all with His Word. This isn’t even a contest or challenge. What happens to all the bodies? Well, the birds are commanded to come to a feast. Here is God still taking care of the birds. What you’ll notice is that no one gets special treatment, either. Kings, captains, mighty men, animals, free men, and even slaves. There are no social categories that excuse from the wrath of God. There is no one above the law and no one too lowly to be noticed. Everyone is equal before the judgment of God. If this chapter were to be fulfilled today everyone opposed to God from the halls of power to the projects lie slain. The only thing that delivers anyone from a fate like that is a relationship with the King. We can try to soften this, but there is no way to do so. Some might say that this is just symbolic, and in a way, they are correct. After all, Jesus isn’t literally going to produce a sword from between His teeth. “But” as one scholar asks, “if that is a mere symbol, what will be the reality?” (Wilcock, 187). That’s a good question. This wedding ring that I have on is meant to symbolize everlasting love for my wife. But this circular piece of metal in and of itself pales in comparison to wedded love. The same is true of God’s wrath. It is put here in terms that we can understand, but this isn’t even the half of what God’s wrath really looks like when it is spilled in judgement on the last day. This is a very different picture from a wriggling infant from Luke 2, isn’t it? So why bring all this up now? After all, this is Christmas, isn’t it? Aren’t we supposed to be ending things on a little bit more of an encouraging note? Well, for one, this is who Jesus is. As one scholar puts it, “Apart from the reference to Psalm 2 (‘he will rule them’), there is not even a verb in the future tense anywhere in these verses. They describe not what Christ is going to do but what he is: conquering King, righteous Judge, Captain of the armies of heaven.” (Wilcock, 183) If we are going to do a portrait of Christ, we have to include the meek and the wild. So why are we often uncomfortable with this picture? I think there are a couple of possibilities. 1) We might have forgotten how awful sin is, and that this is actually the right response. This is actually what justice looks like. Jesus isn’t overdoing here. He isn’t flying off the handle and doing things that He will later regret. Sin really is that bad, and it is a passage like this that reminds us of that. 2) We might shudder to bring this kind of Jesus to the world who expects Jesus to be “Nice.” Of course, we have defined “nice” by the world’s standards of non-judgement. But Jesus is gong to judge, and no amount of pretending is going to change that, so it is, in fact, not nice to hide that fact from people! There is a warning as well as an invitation around Christmas time. But why should we want to have this perspective on Jesus? One, we need a proper fear of the Lord. There is a place to be reminded that our Lord is a lion. Not safe, but He is good. Let us not be found on the other end of that sword. Two, this should comfort us in that no one is going to get away with anything forever. When we ask, “Is there no justice in this world?” We can point to this passage and say, “It is on its way.” Three, we need a proper compassion for the lost. This is their fate if they step out of this world without Christ. Remembering these things is what helps us pray for the most despicable people in our world. Those who oppose Christ will one day be slain and fed to the birds. Then it gets worse. So pray for them. Tell them about the gospel, because the same person who could be covered in their blood shed His. Finally, we need to be reminded that this same King is our King. He bled for us so that we don’t have to be the slain in the final battle. We have been delivered from this fate, if you are a believer in Christ. He spared us. He calls us to go and spread the good news that more of the world can be spared, too! Seeing this kind of picture shows how merciful God is. Jesus isn’t some kind of pushover that felt guilted into saving us. He isn’t some sort of overly permissive parent that just couldn’t stand the idea of punishing. No, He is a King radically committed to His own glory and justice but is yet a gracious and merciful God who delights to show mercy. He loves to, despite His obvious hatred of sin, despite His obvious disgust and wrath against rebellion, show mercy to the undeserving. The same one who comes riding in with bloody robes is the same who rescued you. That is your Champion on that horse. So, y’all, don’t fret this Christmas. There is so much evil in this world. That fact is undeniable. Satan doesn’t take Christmas week off. There will be more sin and tragedy during this time just like the rest of the year. But its time is coming to an end. Unrepentant evildoers find their end here. Evil finds its end here, the birth of Christ hails the destruction of the wicked. You are not being abandoned in this world. This fact is why Christians can sing in the ICU. It is why we should sing loudly and heartily here. We sing as people who have been redeemed from this fate. We sing as those who love our enemies and are praying for them to the same loving and gracious God Who saved us. We sing as those who have been waiting in a dark night yet know that the sun will rise soon. Jesus isn’t done yet. Redemption has only begun. So sing, Christian. Rest today. The fate of the world does not rest on your shoulders. Mom and Dad, making Christmas magic for your family is retelling this story to your children. Give them this foundation of hope. Enchant their world with the true story of the Hero Who beats the Beast. Grandma and Grandpa, I know you often worry about the world that is being left to your kids and grandkids. I can’t promise anything in the short term, and even if I could, it wouldn’t be better than what is here. The world is in good hands. Everything is going to be set right. Kids, you have a real Hero looking after you. You don’t have to be afraid of anything. Really. Get used to that. The world tries to scare you, but we have a God who doesn’t want you to be scared. He told you what the end of the movie is so you can enjoy it. Rest today, everyone. Celebrate this week. I know, there is so much going on. Please, try to take a moment. Everything is going to be ok. Rest, and then, in the New Year, let’s get back to it. Let’s go and win the world. It is already won in Christ, so let’s be involved in showing the world that victory. Work Cited Michael Wilcock, The Message of Revelation: I Saw Heaven Opened, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 187.
0 Comments
Photo by Thanti Riess on Unsplash
We are going to take a look at one of the most complicated and comforting mysteries in the Bible. How is Jesus in one Person able to have a fully divine nature and a fully human nature? There is one sense in which that mystery is simply left at that: a mystery. As one theologian put it: “We are simply told what Jesus is, without any attempt to show how He became what He is…It has always recognized the incarnation as a mystery which defies explanation. And so it will remain, because it is the miracle of miracles” (Berkhof, 321). But just because we can’t explain how this mystery works, doesn’t mean we can’t be awed by viewing it. I can’t possibly explain how a star manages for most of its life not to be crushed by its own gravity or how a hunk of rock and gases emit light, but I can still be captured by its beauty in the night sky. Now, unlike a star, Jesus is more than someone to admire and ultimately worship and obey. He’s not less than that, but the angle that I want to take a look at today is the comforting aspect of knowing who our God is. The last couple of weeks, we have been examining the Person of Jesus. The first week of Advent, we look at Jesus’ divinity, as clearly seen in John 1:1-14. Next, we saw the humanity of Jesus out of Luke 2:52. Now, we are going to look at those two elements together and see what it means for Jesus to be the Godman. Again, how this works is a mystery beyond human mental capability, but what this means for us is well within our grasp to understand and worship. We will consider this chapter under a couple of broad headings. The first is Jesus is the King of all Kings. Second, Jesus is the reconciler of all things, and Third, Therefore, Jesus is your sole Hope Jesus is the King of all Kings This letter was written to the church because the church at Colosse was beset by a culture that was very afraid of spiritual powers. The people in the area were concerned that angels, demons, other gods might have an impact on things like their crops, so keeping them happy was very important. It is difficult for us to imagine the level of concern that this would bring because for most of us, having food is a given. The thought that all your crops might die because you didn’t offer a little sacrifice to the gods would be very powerful. Here, Paul is reminding everyone who is really in charge. Speaking of Christ, Paul says that He is the revealer of God, which is just another way of saying that He is God Himself. To look at the face of Christ is to look at the face of God. He is called the firstborn of all creation not because He was created Himself, but because “he existed before creation.” (McLaurin, Lexham Theological Wordbook). This is made explicit in the next verse (16) by saying that all things, including any and all authority figures on Earth or in the spiritual realm were created through Him and for Him. This means that not only was everything created by Christ, but everything was created to serve Christ as well! However, I want us to look at verse 17 closely. Not only did He create all things, but He is the one who holds all things together. All things, rulers spiritual and earthly included, not only started to exist because of Jesus, but they also continue to exist because of Jesus! The word translated “hold together” or “endure” is in the perfect tense, meaning this is something that happened in the past that has enduring effect to the present. In other words He has held things all together and continues to do so. So if Jesus ever wanted to remove someone from power, all He has to do is relax. He just has to stop sustaining that person’s life and they immediately stop. He doesn’t have to figure out how to stop this person, come up with a plan to defeat them, He just has to stop holding them together. This comprehensive control should bring us a lot of comfort and direct us on how to deal with problems in our world. Nothing that a ruler of any sphere does is outside the realm of God’s control, so this means that we do not have to go outside the moral limits that God has placed on us. He does not need us to “do something—anything” to protect ourselves. He’s got it under control. In a recently relevant example, we do not murder insurance company CEOs even if we think their business model is bad. Without getting into the weeds about when is a killing justified, we should be able to agree at least to that distinction. To a more specific application to our group here, we don’t have to spend inordinate time worrying about the future government or corporations do. They cannot oppose God’s plans. They can only advance them. That doesn’t mean our lives will be easier for it or that we resign our responsibilities to be good and lawful citizens. It takes the sting of concern and sleeplessness out of the equation. We serve a powerful God. Not only do we serve a powerful God, but that same God is head over our Church. What does it mean to be head? It can be thought of in two ways: God directly orders the church what to do or God takes care of the church like a brain cares for its body. As scholars point out, “The two interpretations are not mutually exclusive, and some commentators argue in favor of a combination of the two (see Bruce 1984, 66–71).” (Brown, Colossians). In other words, God (the same one who makes and sustains the entire universe, including our enemies) pays particular attention to the Church. How is Jesus able to do that? Because, as we see in verse 19, all the fullness of God dwells in Him. Jesus has a completely divine nature. Jesus is not some limp-wristed hippy. Jesus is the Reconciler of All Things However, even more powerfully, we see in verse 20 the idea that Jesus brings reconciliation between God and all things. This is only possible by the blood of His cross. Have you ever been kinda weirded out by how often Christians sing about blood? This isn’t because we want to be gross, but this is because that is the most important part of our doctrine. In order to have reconciliation, as we have covered before, there has to be blood spilled. And it can’t be just any old human blood. First of all humans are sinners now, and a tainted sacrifice isn’t going to do anything. You can’t substitute one criminal for another. Each criminal has to pay their own fine. Second, even if you could find a perfect human being, that person in their human nature is finite. God’s wrath against sin is infinite. At most, the perfect human being could suffer for all eternity to spring one other human being from hell. One human being only couldn’t save anyone else. However, Jesus isn’t just human. He is also God. The Person of Jesus has the attributes of BOTH humanity and divinity. He possesses the ability to bleed and die in His human nature, but His person is infinite because He also has all the divine attributes. He can reconcile all things because He is infinite! Jesus is the only person in the universe who could do this! He is the only person to have divine and human attributes. This is why He must be both. His sacrifice is sufficient for all things, but there will be those who reject their own mercy and refuse to surrender their lives to Jesus. Even this, for reasons beyond our ability to cover here, is part of God’s plan as well. Therefore, Jesus is Your Sole Hope As we settle into our final verses here, Paul turns to emphatically address the recipients of this letter. The “you” there is plural and emphatic. Translated correctly, and Southern English is the best to translate this word, Paul is saying, “and Y’ALL…” Paul is directly addressing this specific church, and we who are also united in Christ are included here. We, here at Knollwood Presbyterian Church today, were once alienated and hostile and evil towards God, but we have been reconciled, brought back into a good relationship with God, through Christ’s body of flesh. Our sin had to be dealt with. Notice also that this reconciliation happens with Jesus. Note that He reconciles all things to Himself! Christ is the offended one, along with the rest of the Godhead! Yet, He is the one who suffers, bleeds, and dies to make it right. It doesn’t get more gracious and merciful than that. So what’s a person to do? How on earth do we respond to that? Well, the emphatic “y’all’s” continue in the following verses. He has done all of this so that we might be blameless and holy before Him. This doesn’t mean that Jesus started the process with us finishing it. No, no! Jesus has made us perfectly holy before God on the cross. Period. And from that new status of holy, we begin to shape our lives to live up to this new name. The life that God intends for us is a holy one. God isn’t calling us to a lower life to serve Him. He is simply redefining for our sinful minds what the good life is. The good life is a holy life, which is why He is calling us to it. We are called to continue in the faith, being stable and steadfast, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel. Now, as one commentator points out, the “if” isn’t Paul saying that Christians can lose their salvation. He is just saying, “Don’t fall away”! (Wilson, 227). He quotes J.I. Packer as summing it up this way, “The only proof of past conversion is present covertedness.” (ibid, 227). In closing, what does a stable and steadfast life that looks to the hope of the gospel look like? Well, it begins by realizing, like we said last week, that everything here said is in fact true. It is an actual reality that the God whom you serve is capable of all these things and has actually purchased your redemption. You actually need to remind yourself of this every day. I heard a Piper sermon this week where he talked about when he forgets about the forgiveness he has in Christ. He said something to the effect of, we have people in here who feel the guilt of their sin as they are going to bed, and some feel totally insecure of their place in Christ in the morning when they first wake up. He said he was a “morning guilt” person! He feels totally secure as he is going to bed. I’m actually the same way. In that fog of the morning, all the regrets and sins of the past rush to accuse. It is at that very moment that you have to remind yourself of the gospel. Once you are re-stabilized, run the rest of your life through that truth. You are reconciled to God, the Creator of all the world, the one who can destroy enemies just by relaxing, through His pouring out His lifeblood on the cross in utter humiliation. There was actual pain involved to remove that sin. Will you now, keeping that in mind, contribute more sin by yelling at your kids? By arguing with your spouse? By gossiping (a form of immodesty)? What sin do you commit that is worth that? Do you really need another hour of scrolling when your Bible hasn’t been touched in a week? Is there really something more glorious to spend your time thinking about? And then, once that truth of the glorious Christ has caused you to sin less and enjoy Him more, you will not be able to help yourself from sharing Him with others. You evangelize things and people you love all the time. Look at grandparents! How long can you even go in conversation with them without them bringing the little tykes up, especially if they are proud of them? If you even mention my kids, I am already reaching for my phone to show you a picture! I don’t even have to scroll far to show you one! Let us be that way with Christ. Let us adore Him. We can’t do that if we don’t know Him. And we can’t do that if we don’t remind ourselves regularly about Him. We don’t forget because He is forgettable. We forget because we are sinful. Fight to learn; fight to remember. Then enjoy Him. Announce to the world, “Joy! The Lord has come.” Works Cited Alisair Wilson, Colossians, ESV Expository Commentary, Crossway. L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans publishing co., 1938), 321. Dougald McLaurin III, “Ancestry and Posterity,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014). Derek R. Brown, Colossians, ed. Douglas Mangum, Lexham Research Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013), Col 1:15–23 .
Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash
Interestingly, one of the harder things for the ancient peoples to believe about Jesus was that He was truly human. When a person rises from the dead, it isn’t too difficult to believe that they are truly divine, but the idea that Jesus was also truly human was a little much. Many at that time thought that Jesus only “appeared” to be human, walking around the earth like some sort of phantom. It was just too hard to imagine. It is hard for us to conceive as well. It is hard for us to express that God experienced limits in the person of Jesus. It is hard for us to believe that Jesus actually does understand where we are coming from. He doesn’t know our weaknesses in just an academic sense. He has actually experienced our troubles physically AND emotionally. All those things that we would say makes us human from a theological understanding to a popular understanding were true of Jesus. There are practical reasons for exploring this doctrine. I think the area that this improves the most immediately is patience in the hard things of life. Military training is a really hard thing to get through, particularly if you want to join the best of the best. For example, I heard one sort of training exercise where a recruit had to run across the beach, fill his mouth with salt water, run back to a bucket way too far away, spit the water into the bucket, and then go back for another mouthful, continuing this exercise until the bucket was full. Once full, the instructor kicked the bucket over and flatly said, “Do it again.” Now, you might think that the instructor is just trying to torture the recruit until you hear that the instructor was once a recruit. The instructor has seen combat. He actually knows what is coming, and sees the ability to follow orders even through great disappointment and fatigue as important to build in the coming generation. If the instructor were just a civilian, a non-combatant, the temptation would be to stuff him in the bucket, but because the recruit knows that this instructor has not only done this exercise himself and has survived in part because of it, he will continue with the training. Jesus doesn’t ask you to suffer without having done so Himself. Jesus will never ask you to go somewhere He hasn’t gone, suffer something that He hasn’t suffered, because at the end of the day, no matter what we suffer, Jesus endured the very wrath of God on the cross. So let’s examine this doctrine that we especially celebrate at Christmas time, the incarnation, God taking on human nature, on Jesus being fully human. Jesus is truly human What does it mean to be human? This is a question that we are increasingly wrestling with today, but the Bible answers that in Genesis 1 as a creature made in God’s image. They come in two flavors, male and female, but both are equally made in God’s image, both equally human. At the core, that is what it means to be human. There are many other attributes that are found with that identity that are physical (arms, legs, eyes, that sort of thing) and some that are less easily seen (the ability to think, the possession of a soul). As humans, we are creatures of God’s creation. This means that we are not God and are different from Him. God is eternal, having neither beginning nor end, nor having any real boundaries whatever. He is outside of space and time and has nothing on which He depends (like air, blood, or food). We are very different. We can only be in one place at one time and are wholly dependent on all kinds of things. One of the very first people we depend on is a mother. Jesus had one, too! One scholar noted that we often talk about the “virgin birth” of Jesus, but the birth itself really was quite ordinary. What was remarkable, though, was the conception (John Frame). Mary never knew a man, yet she carried the embryonic Christ in her womb. Just like us, half of Jesus’ genetic material came from Mary. The other half from the Holy Spirit. Jesus would have had physical characteristics that would have made Him recognizable as Mary’s son. Perhaps He got her nose or her smile. Ok, you may say, Jesus had to enter the world in some way, but what about once He was here? Did Jesus really need to be nursed or go to school? Yes and yes. Just like any other child, Jesus had to learn things. This is why our passage says that He grew (or progressed) in wisdom and stature. At one point in His life, He was two feet tall and had to grow. The Gospel of Luke records in chapter 1:80 that the baby John the Baptist grew and the exact same word is used to describe Jesus in Luke 2:40. By the same token, he had to learn, which is why it is said that He progressed in wisdom. He had a fully human mind that needed to learn and memorize. It may sound surprising to phrase it this way, but from the outside, there would be nothing special about Jesus. I know “Away in a Manger” says that “the cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes” but that’s ridiculous. All babies cry, especially when they are woken up by a cow. Jesus would have been no different. So can we say that Jesus was dependent as an adult? In His humanity, yes he was. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, in Matthew 4 it had been 40 days since He had anything to eat, and the text says that He was hungry. Jesus wasn’t pretending to be hungry. He really was hungry, and not in a “oops, I forgot to eat lunch today” sort of hungry but a “I haven’t eaten in nearly a month and a half” sort of hungry. Jesus’s body is basically breaking down muscle at this point. Jesus knows what it means to be starving. He knows what it means to be emotional “weeping (Luke 19:41; John 11:35), being moved (John 12:27), feeling grief (Matt. 26:38), being furious (John 2:17)” (As Bavinck points out in his dogmatics). Now, why are we going over this is such exhaustive detail? Well, believe it or not, it is critically important for our salvation. It was said by the ancient theologian, John of Damascus, “that which is unassumed is unredeemed.” What that means is Jesus has to be like us in every way because if Jesus was, say, missing a human mind, then it wouldn’t be changed in our salvation. We sin with our minds as much as we sin with our hands, and every sin needs to be paid for. Not only that, but every act of goodness has to be done as well. We need to not only avoid sin but accomplish righteousness in all our members. Jesus has to be righteous in every respect in every member we have. This is why He must be like us in ALMOST every way. Jesus is sinless in every way Now, why do I say “almost” every way? Well, there is one crucially important difference between Jesus and us: sinlessness. Hebrews 4:15 tells us very clearly, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, [and here is the key phrase] yet without sin.” Jesus not only never sinned, but didn’t have a sinful nature. Now, why do we stress all these things? Why is it so important for Jesus to be fully human yet without sin? Well, there are a few reasons, with the help of Augustine, why this is important to us. Jesus needs to be our perfect sacrifice. Jesus being without sin is an absolutely critical difference between us and Jesus. Without this being true, Jesus could do nothing for us. If Jesus was a sinner, then He would have to pay for His own sins, and there would be no way for Him to pay for ours. That is what the priests of the Old Testament had to do as the writer of Hebrews points out in Hebrews 7:27 “He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.” (Letham, 531). Jesus needs to be our re-creation. Now, you may say, “Wait a minute! I thought he was like us in every respect. To be human is to be a sinner, so what’s the deal?” Well, being a sinner wasn’t the original design of humanity. Adam and Eve were originally sinless. Humans being sinners is only a given after Genesis 3. Taking the original design for human beings means that being righteous is what it means to be truly human. We’ve had a number of food recalls lately because certain diseases have gotten into spinach or ice cream, or something of that nature. If someone’s only experience with these foods is with the contaminated ones, that person may assume that sickness simply comes with ice cream. But we would not say, not that original ice cream was this way. So if we wanted to show what true ice cream was supposed to be, it would need to be remade. It would need to be re-created. That is what Jesus is doing here. Jesus’s perfection is the picture of what it means to be human, and His work is restoring us to true humanity. The ancient theologian Augustine sees sin as not just corruption, but a corruption that is sliding us into non-existence. After all, sin is moving away from God, and God is “being” itself. For Jesus to save us, we need to be re-created, and that is just what He is doing. And what better person to recreate us than the person who made us in the first place? (Augustine, 93). When we are united to Christ by faith, our souls are restored (Psalm 23:3). We are given a new nature, the nature we were originally created to have. To be a Christian is to be human. Now, of course, we still are living in our corrupted flesh here on earth warring with the Spirit as Galatians 5:17 points out, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” But one day that is going to be remade as well! Jesus needs to be our example. We need to be shown how to be human, and Jesus does that in His life. John Frame, one of my favorite theologians, points to 1 Peter 2:21 to make this point: “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” And it isn’t just the “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” part of Jesus’ ethic (as revolutionary and difficult as that is on its own), Frame points out that following Jesus’s footsteps necessarily involves self-sacrifice, even to the point of death (Frame, 885). He points to Philippians 2:5–8 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” If we want to describe ourselves as loving, that’s what we need to do according to 1 John 3:16 “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” We have a Savior who laid down His life for us. I mean, it was humiliating enough just to become human, but to become human in this sinful world, AND die for it is simply staggering (Frame, 883, quoting John Murray). Think back to the worst sin you’ve committed, the one that haunts you in the silence of the dark. Know that Jesus knew about that sin and all the other ones. He died for you anyway. And He could only do that by taking on human nature. So what does this mean for us today? We have a God Who understands us intimately and calls us to a sacrificial life of righteousness. He has already gone before us, so let us follow after Him.
Photo by Roman Mager on Unsplash
When we think about Christmas, it is so easy to be distracted by all the wonderful things that happen in this time of year. We are reminded by literally all the Christmas movies that Christmas isn’t about the gifts, the lights, the trees, but when asked what Christmas is actually about usually the answer is “the people that you are with.” Of course, as wonderful as family and friends are, that isn’t what Christmas is about. This might be the moment at which Charlie Brown’s Linus might be feeling a little smug in that he quotes from Luke 2 when asked what Christmas is about. And Linus is right! It is about the birth of Jesus! But what does that mean? We are so familiar with this passage that we can zip right by what that incredible sentence is saying in verse 11 of Luke 2. Who is Jesus, and how is He able to be that Savior and Lord? That is the question I would like for us to dwell on during this advent season. Jesus is more than a manger. What happens here in the Christmas story is something that has kept historians and theologians busy for the last 2000 years. More has been written and thought about concerning Jesus than any other figure, and this Christmas, we are going to meditate on why. I’m calling this series “A Portrait of Jesus” but if I could give a subtitle, I would steal it from an online author I follow, Bethel McGrew, and call it “Jesus: Meek and Wild.” I fear that we think we serve a domesticated Jesus. A Jesus who fits comfortably within our homes and doesn’t take up much space. He comes out of storage every year about this time and is represented as a cute, harmless baby (a reason I’m often uncomfortable with nativity scenes). Yes, we do need to wrestle with the miracle of God becoming human (which we will next time), but first we have to remember the part about Jesus we often functionally, if not completely, forget: Jesus is God Himself. Even if we don’t forget that, there are many people out there for whom this season is a great time to talk about the gospel. If you believe that Jesus is God but don’t know quite where you would go in the Bible to show that claim, then this sermon will help you do that! Today we are going to focus on Jesus as Deity as we examine John 1:1-14. Jesus is God We begin with the beginning. As one scholar points out: “The opening words of this gospel bear a striking parallel with the opening words of Genesis,” and this is of course intentional (Guthrie). John wants to take us back to the very beginning because that is as far back as Jesus goes. Jesus is eternal, no beginning or end, completely outside of time. Now, Jesus isn’t explicitly named here yet (that won’t come up until verse 14), but He is given a very significant title here “the Word” which we need to think about for a moment. The word that John uses here is “logos.” In many places in the New Testament “logos is used to express the idea of divine revelation…The Gospel shows that Jesus is this logos, and is, therefore, the ultimate divine revelation.” (Robertson) In other words, there was no one and nothing that told the world who God was as well as Jesus did, because He is God! He came to save and to reveal Himself and what He is like. As one scholar put it, “John intends us to see in the ministry of Jesus an expression of God’s grace and a revelation of his truth.” (Guthrie) Have you ever seen those “Day in the Life” sort of shows? The idea is that these cameras will come in to show you how some famous celebrity or political figure lives. The idea ostensibly is that you will get the “real” person by being around them. How do they order their coffee? How do they interact with their kids? We don’t just hear their words, we see their actions, their expressions, their tone of voice to give us a full picture. This is what Jesus does for God. We can read what He said and know that this is exactly what God thinks and feels. But how do we know that Jesus is God? How do we know that we are getting the real story of God and aren’t just getting things said through a spokesperson? Let’s see how John reports this. As we will see, John takes tremendous pains here to show that Jesus is definitely God. We are told that the Word was with God and was God. At first this may seem a little confusing. I wouldn’t say that I was with myself! So how is the Word able to be WITH God AND God Himself at the same time? John, in an amazingly short amount of time, gives us a preview into the doctrine of the Trinity. The Word is obviously a distinct person, but the way the language is structured, it is unmistakable that the Word is fully divine. Jesus isn’t part of God or a step down from God. He is just as fully God as the Father. After all, this Word created all things (v 3). He is the source of life and light (v 4). And He will ultimately be the one to make it possible for people to be in a relationship with God (v 14). But this isn’t just John’s assessment of Jesus. There are many other places that we could go in the gospel of John where Jesus claims this position for Himself: • “I am the bread of life” (6:35, 48; see also 6:41, 51); • “I am the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5); • “I am the door” (10:7, 9); • “I am the good shepherd” (10:11, 14); • “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25); • “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6); • “I am the true vine” (15:1; see also 15:5). (Miller). With Jesus saying these things, He isn’t just claiming metaphors for Himself. By introducing each of these things with the phrase “I Am” He is using the same title as God uses for Himself in Exodus “the I am Who I Am” in Exodus 3. However, probably one of the most stark statements of claiming to be God (and helps us understand the first few verses of our chapter) comes from Jesus’ own mouth in John 10:30-33 John 10:30–33 ESV I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Cleary the Jews got the message. If someone claims to be God who isn’t, they are blaspheming and deserve to die under the Law. They obviously didn’t believe Him, yet clearly understood what He was saying. Of course, it is one thing to claim something, and quite another to prove it. He gives copious amounts of proof in miracles which include ruling over nature (Matthew 8:23-27), feeding thousands of people (John 6), and most importantly, rising from the dead (the end of every Gospel)! It is very clear that the New Testament sees Jesus as exactly who He claimed to be. But there is more here in these verses than just winning the theological battle against the worlds nicest Biker Gang, the Mormons (they don’t believe that Jesus is God, you see). I bring all of these things up because we have to keep in mind who we are dealing with here. When Jesus calmed the storm, for instance, Mark 4 records that AFTER the storm, the disciples were afraid. This was because they wanted to know what sort of person can control the weather. There should be a layer of awe in our own minds as we approach this Jesus. He is unlike any other In a world where there are pictures of Jesus everywhere, we spend more time thinking about how Jesus is so much like us. And again, there are elements where that is true. But we have to realize how unlike us He is with His divinity. Even when you aren’t dealing with Mormons who deny that Jesus is God, you will find plenty of Americans with a passing knowledge of Jesus who will add Him to the halls of “Great Teachers.” There will even be some well meaning, artsy type Christians who will introduce Jesus as “Rabbi Jesus” or “The Teacher.” This is an effort to make Jesus seem approachable and help the world take a second look at Him without all the “churchy” words. The problem is we aren’t introducing them to a Teacher only. We are introducing a world to their God. Jesus wasn’t making suggestions for a better life when He was preaching the Sermon on the Mount. You can’t sum up Jesus with the Golden Rule. Jesus is someone to whom you must submit. Jesus is the way, not a pointer to the way. In this, Jesus separates Himself from every other major religion. Mohammed wasn’t the way to heaven. He just claimed to point the way to Allah. Buddha wasn’t the path to enlightenment; he just claimed to teach the way to enlightenment. When Jesus came into the world, He proclaimed Himself. Do you believe Him? Do you submit to Him? Do we take Him seriously at a time when we are buying everything when He rhetorically asks, what does it profit a man if He gains the whole world and loses His soul (Mark 8:36)? At a time in which families are nursing old grudges around the holiday table, do we believe Him when He says that we are to forgive seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22)? At a time in which the gospel is the easiest to share, do we take seriously the great commission that Jesus gave to us? Jesus is no mere baby, He is the Son of God. And what is amazing is, unlike all those other false gods out there, He came to save you. God could have stayed in heaven where things were blissful. He could have remained in a place without any limitation, yet, as we will explore next time, God became a human being to live with us. Verse 14 recalls the first time God dwelt with His people post Garden. The word “dwell” is literally “Tabernacled” with us. God coming down to live in a tent amongst His people. He did so in the desert, and He did so again right here as a human being. All this to not only proclaim Who He is in Words, but showed Who He is in action by dying on a cross to deliver us from sin. What a God! Donald Guthrie, “John,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1025.” Jeffrey E. Miller, “I Am Sayings,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). Michael Scott Robertson, “Divine Revelation,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014). |
AuthorThis is where our Pastor posts weekly sermon manuscripts and other writings. Archives
January 2025
Categories |