A Mysterious Friday World

Innocent suffering is part of life on earth as we know it. It's just a fact, whether we like it or not. We know it's not right and long for justice that never seems to come. All this is especially strange when you consider that a good and mighty God oversees this unjust planet.

We live in the mysterious world of Friday. On Friday our Lord was crucified. Many of those who looked on the scene that day must have been profoundly troubled by the gross injustice of it all. The only One who had never done anyone any wrong was being executed as a criminal among criminals. Jesus had confidence in God -- and then he cried out "My God, Why have you forsaken me?" Having been mocked and tormented by wicked people he prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." After agonizing in shame on a cross for hours, Jesus died. It happened on a Friday.

When Sunday came the reality of what happened on that cross began to be seen. Jesus was resurrected. He appeared to, spoke with, and ate with his disciples. They began to see that this was all part of a divine plan. All the human injustice was being reversed. God reversed the ruling. Jesus was no criminal -- Jesus was Lord!

Now is the time of sin and forgiveness. That makes this a Friday world, a world of innocent suffering. Soon, Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. Then justice will be perfected in a new earth. All wrongs will be made right. Many that are last now will be first then. Things will be turned right side up. Then the time of sin and forgiveness will be over.

Self-Examination with James Mudge

In 1909, James Mudge wrote The Riches of His Grace;: A portion for every Sunday. It happens to be a great book. Unfortunately, it's out of print. Mudge took the pursuit of holiness seriously. Everyone ought to. The Bible makes clear that no unholy person will enjoy eternal life. I want to be the kind of person with whom God can share his life. Below are some self-examination questions from Mudge's book. They're not designed to make you feel bad. They are intended as tools to help you see yourself as you really are -- so that you don't think more highly of yourself than you ought to -- and continue to grow in grace.

From James Mudge:


Am I at all below any former spiritual position, or is there a steady upgrade maintained?

Have I found out the weakest points in my character, and am I taking the utmost pains to overcome my special besetments?

Do I pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, and rejoice evermore?

Have I peace at all times, by all means?

Is there constant victory over temptation, cloudless communion with God?

Am I growing in humility and in the submission of my will to the will of others?

Am I improving in patience, serenity, equanimity, and continual good nature?

Is there intense longing in my heart for the utmost likeness to Christ and the swiftest progress in divine things?

Have I an enthusiasm for religion, a passion for doing good, an unappeasable thirst for the improvement of personal character?

Is there steady growth in the promptness and heartiness of my obedience to the divine commands?

Am I conforming myself more and more closely day by day to those special indications of God’s will which he makes to me by his providence?

Is the divine will, come in whatever shape it may, inexpressibly sweet and delightful to me, because of the great love embodied in it?

Does each hour open out as a page of deepening interest in the book of life, because I am studying how to walk with God in all the smallest as well as the largest transactions of the day, seeking guidance and finding communion from moment to moment?

Am I so suffused with God, so deeply in love with his blessed will, so filled with a sense of its transcendent excellence, that no suffering in its service is counted worth a thought?

Do I turn to good account, as the best helps to growth in grace, the ill usage, the affronts, the losses, the trials, and troubles of life?

Is it the uppermost desire of my heart to show to the world the worth of its Redeemer, and is no opportunity for praising Jesus left unimproved?

Have I adopted as my specialty absolute devotion to God, so that I talk more with him than with anyone else, and care more for his favor than for that of all the world bedsides?

Is my religion a winsome one, my character luscious and fragrant, so that all who have dealings with me are compelled to acknowledge the presence of a more than earthly influence, and all observers are profoundly impressed with the beauty of Jesus shining forth in me?

Am I kindly and thoughtful for the comfort of others, willing to serve, slow to push personal claims, quick to sympathize and help?

Is each day begun with a fresh surrender of self to God, a rededication of all to the Master, and a careful planning how to make the hours full of loving service rendered in his name?

Is each day closed with a careful review of the hours that have passed, to see how fully my resolves have been carried out, and what lessons I can learn from my failures?

Do I constantly realize the divine Presence so that it pervades and permeates all thoughts and feelings, all words and deeds?

Do I appropriate the promises and put to the proof my full rights of partnership with Jesus?

Is God all to me? Am I perfectly indifferent to everything except his will, thoroughly content with what he sends me, pleased with all he does, and pleasing him in all I do, regarding not the person of man, but listening continually for the whispers of the divine voice?

How much time do I spend in stated prayer? Cannot I manage to be a little longer on my knees? Would it not undoubtedly help me? Is not my spiritual leanness largely due to lack at this point?

Do I watch my words, that they may honor my Lord, and exhibit my trust in his providence, my adoration of his holy name?

Is the Bible yielding to me just now all that it ought, all that it has at some other times, all that it does to other people? If not, why not?

Have I a lessened attachment to the world, a warmer love to Jesus, a keener interest in heaven?

Am I learning that it always pays to mind God the first time he speaks, and that my genuine well-being has no connection with things, cannot be altered by any change of circumstances, but depends wholly on my obedience to him?

Finally read Desiring God

Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (Revised Edition) by John Piper

I was 6 when the first edition of Desiring God was published in 1986. Few books have had the deep and wide impact of Piper's Desiring God. As a pastor and earnest Christian I felt compelled to learn more exactly the content of the book. This copy is a revised edition (2011). Having not read the original, I can't compare the 25th anniversary edition. I do see why the book is still in print and being updated. The truths found in this book are timeless, not trendy.

Piper contends that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. Christian hedonism is Piper's shorthand for a life devoted to delighting in God. He presents a strong and (overly?) thorough case for this hedonic brand of Christianity. The chapters focus on: God's happiness, conversion, worship, love, Scripture, prayer, money, marriage, missions, and suffering. There is much in these pages to challenge and inspire the sincere Christian.

My primary concern and caveat about this generally helpful book is determinism. I would love to be able to recommend this book to a young Christian. It could be very useful. However, the dangerous theology introduced early on in the book makes me very reluctant to do so. The author tells us that all of history…"good and evil -- brings Him delight."


I owe thanks to Multnomah for a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. I was not in any way obligated to give a favorable review.

Who I am through the I AM

God appeared to Moses in the wilderness. In God's awesome presence Moses asked

"Who am I?"

Moses was a shepherd and a fugitive. He recognized that he was not qualified to go up against perhaps the mightiest man in the world, the Pharaoh. This proved to be God's pattern in his dealings with humanity. Time and again he uses the weak to bring down the mighty.

Just think :

David vs. Goliath
The worm vs. the mountain (Isa 41:14-15)
Gideon's band vs. entire Army
Daniel vs. Den of Lions

God is looking for humble men and women to bring down the proud. Perhaps that's why Moses spent 40 years as an obscure shepherd. Becoming the meekest man alive (Num 12:3) couldn't have come easily.

Perhaps the number one qualification for greatness in God's service is humility.

Until you can say with Moses "Who am I?" you cannot be of great use to God. Before being used by God one must realize "I am not God".

Moses stood in the presence of God who revealed himself as the I AM. All of the beauty and complexity of this universe has an explanation. The explanation is the I AM. In the presence of his perfection, faithfulness, and power all of our obstacles and enemies appear puny. Moses was soon to see the incredible power of the one who spoke the universe into existence as he worked miracles among the Egyptians and delivered his people.



Recognizing the greatness of the I AM is crucial. A glimpse of his greatness sheds light on all of life's problems, dwarfing them. God is bigger than all of your troubles.


Sure, Moses wasn't exactly a famous or important guy. What made him great, important, and famous was his God. He knew the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Just as they were great through knowing him, so too Moses became great through God. It wasn't that Moses didn't have weaknesses and failures. He did. Just like you and me. God proved himself greater than all of Moses' past.

More important than Moses' question, "Who am I?" is "Who will I be?" Moses became mighty through God. That's the pattern. Recognizing our own frailty, we turn to God. Through God we become great.

Conditional Security

To Remain Secure I Must:

Rely On Grace
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. (Gal 5:4)

Keep My Body In Subjection
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1Co 9:27)

Overcome Temptation
They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. (Luk 8:13)

Continue In Righteousness
When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. (Eze 18:26)

Remain Free From Pollution
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.(2Pe 2:20)

Abide
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (Joh 15:6)

Continue In The Faith
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel… (Col 1:21-23)

Theological Implications of Genesis 3

Power

Before God even enters this scene it is clear that he is an authority. Neither the serpent nor the woman suggest that God does not have the right to prohibit certain behaviors. Neither does Adam. His authority is everywhere assumed. His power is further demonstrated as he dispenses judgments. Everyone in this passage obeys him or suffers for their disobedience.

Grace

God approaches Adam and Eve, who are suffering under burdens of guilt and fear, and calls to them. He invites them to himself and requests what could have been cathartic confession. He made them clothing to cover their nakedness and allowed them to live. In light of his power this is a great display of graciousness.

Speech

The characters in this account talk about what God has “said”. There is disagreement as to the particulars of His speech, however, there’s no question that He spoke. As the scene unfolds we hear from Him ourselves (v 9). Much of this passage is taken up by divine dialogue. He speaks.

Foreknowledge

God is able to tell Adam, Eve, and Satan what will happen before it happens. Some of this is in the context of a divine curse. Most important in terms of salvation history is his foreknowledge of the ultimate defeat of Satan by the seed of the woman. Knowledge of unrealized future possibilities (counterfactuals of freedom) is also implied (v 22).

Justice

Punishment is doled out to those who disobeyed Him. Nothing in the passage implies anything other than His innocence in the matter. His right to have a forbidden tree is never questioned. His right to command that no one eat from the tree is never contested. That Adam and Eve (with Satan’s encouragement) eat from the tree is never blamed on God. It is implied that Adam and Eve made a choice to disobey, that God is just in punishing them.

Created For Communion

What is man?

Is man a mere "tool making animal"? A random gathering of atoms? A machine? In the course of human history, few have found such mechanistic answers satisfying. Evidence and intuition nudge us in a different direction in our search for self-understanding.

We really are unique among the creatures of earth. Part of what makes humanity unique is our astounding capacity for good or evil. We rise above and sink below other creatures. Mr. Gacy’s behavior lends support to the idea that man is an animal. But, what of Mr. Rogers? Many other examples could be given of people who have lived generous and good lives – lives that reveal that humans can sublimate and control their animal appetites. How do we make sense of the paradox of human nobility and depravity? 

Revelation is needful

The human has been called a religious animal. John Calvin began his Institutes of the Christian Religion with the proposition that "The knowledge of God and of ourselves [is] mutually connected." If it is true that we cannot know ourselves without knowing God, whom we cannot know without knowing ourselves, then it would seem that we are caught in an inescapable spiral of ignorance.

God be praised -- we are not left in our ignorance. God reveals himself. The heavens “declare the glory of God” and “his righteousness.” God has given humans the capacity to interpret messages in the heavens. We can discern his “eternal power and divinity” from creation, by looking both inward and outward. By looking within we can discern that we are self-conscious. Nothing in nature explains this. We must then look up. There we see the starry heavens. What splendor! By looking around us we see that there is a universal sense of “oughtness”. Only humans make moral judgments. There is something within the human heart that either condemns or approves of our actions. Once again, we are compelled to look up. Where do our feelings of guilt and moral repugnance come from?



Genesis 1:26-27 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”



In this text the Holy Spirit reveals to us, through the prophet Moses, that humans were created in God's "image".


What does it mean to be in the “image of God”?

Scriptural references to the image of God in man are few. We do learn that man was made “in the likeness of God” in Genesis 5:1. Just a few chapters later it becomes clear that the fact that man was created the image of God has continuing ramifications for the value of human life (Genesis 9:6). The New Testament epistle of James indicates that all of humanity is made in the “likeness of God” (James 3:9).


A number of theories about what this imago Dei consist in have been put forward. The image of God has been said to be Substantive, Relational, and Functional. The substantive view, the predominant view of historical theology, contends that the image of God abides within humans.[1] Ancient theologians (Irenaeus most famously), made a distinction between the image and likeness. Image was supposed to refer to the rational and volition in humanity. Likeness was said to refer to the “gift of supernatural communion with God” or moral likeness.[2] Modern theology has emphasized the relational image. Brunner used the analogy of a mirror. As image bearers, we only reflect God by being in relation with him. Barth said the image was like a mother and fetus. Later, he saw the capacity for relationship as essential to image bearing. God made man in his image – male and female. Those two become one in marriage. Barth also emphasized starting with Jesus to discern true humanity. The functional view emphasizes dominion – something humans do. Genesis 1:26 and Psalm 8:5-6 are key texts.[3]




What can be said with certainty concerning the image of God in man is that we are in some way like God. An exploration of the ways that humans are like their Creator might never end. Let us then consider just a few of the more prominent and clear ways that we are like God.

God is relational. 1 John 4:16 says “God is love”. So is man. Man is male and female – and the two become one through love. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and these three are One. Humans are built for communion. We are all come into this world in and through relationships. Ideally, these relationships are marked by self-giving love, like the relations within God. In order for such fellowship to be possible humans must be capable of meaningful freedom. Genuine dynamic relationships cannot take place between robots. God is relational by definition, and so are we. 


God is also “light” (1 John 1:5). He is utterly holy. One aspect of holiness is transcendence. Humans transcend all other earthly creatures. Adam and Eve were instructed to subdue and ruled over creation because they were fit to rule as reflections of the transcendent God. The term holy also relates to morality. Here too, man is similar to God. Humans make significant moral choices.

Though man was created “in the likeness” of God, we are certainly not God. In many ways, humanity is quite unlike God. From the time of Adam’s rebellion every facet of human life (mental, volitional, ethical, relational, and governmental) is obviously less than what it was intended to be. Nevertheless, the image of God remains with us. Even in the most perverse of humans there remains some trace of the imago Dei. The Bible tells us, referring to the human race, that “we are the offspring of God.” Clearly, we fall short of his glory. It is abundantly clear that we are not God. Even if we were made created…

“…a little lower than God, And dost crown him with glory and majesty! Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet...” Psalm 8:5-6 (NASB)

The distinction remains clear. We are the branches. He is the True Vine.

What can we learn about humanity from Jesus?

In Jesus we see the “express image” of God. From Jesus we also see the clear and perfect representation of humanity. Jesus is like God because he is God. He is like us because he is one of us. He is our example in everything. God’s will for every man, woman, boy, and girl is that we become like Jesus. The image of the invisible God is to be displayed in us.

Christ taught us that humans are to exercise dominion over sin and demons. There is nothing sinful inherent in humanity. Jesus taught us to love, humbly serve, and exercise authority. In so doing we make known that we are the children of God.

Jesus is the “only begotten Son”. He is also the firstborn among many “brothers”. The New Testament is filled with metaphors concerning God's plans for humanity. He makes us join-heirs with Jesus, his brothers, his bride, his body, and his branches. We humans are invited to become “partakers of the divine nature.” We are like him at birth and become more like him through the new birth. Finally, “we shall be like him” when we are resurrected.

Jesus taught us about God’s deep love for humankind. Though that love was sometimes revealed in his holy hatred for sin, Jesus demonstrated that God longs to forgive sinners. Jesus compared God to a father who rejoiced when his wayward son returned home (in spite of the shame the son had brought upon his father). The New Testament makes use of judicial, familial, marital, biological, and horticultural metaphors – all of which are relational – to tell us about God’s plan for humanity. The relationship God desires to have with his people will finally lead to a marriage between Christ and his holy bride – us. We were created for intimate communion with Jesus. We bear his image.

Application to daily living

Even though sometimes it may be hard to tell, all humans do bear God's image. This reality has profound implications for our daily lives.

The Scriptures admonish us to refuse to speak evil of any human, because in cursing a human we are cursing someone who was made in the image of God. Respect for God demands respect for humanity – since we all bear his image.

If all humans are the “offspring of God” and created “in the image of God” racism has no place in God’s plan for humanity. God made us all like himself. When we hate and berate those who are different from us we are attacking the image of God. When we treat those who are poor and rejected kindly we are serving God.

It is apparent that in most of the human race the image of God largely consists in unrealized capacity. That does not mean that these individuals do not bear God’s image. Fetuses, infants, the elderly, stroke victims, the sick, the weak, the blind, the mentally ill, and the mentally challenged are all human. The nobility and sacredness that comes with being human (i.e. being in God’s image) is something that cannot be forfeited in this life.

Part of being in God’s likeness and image is our power of moral choice. Because we are free persons, created with the capacity for fellowship with God, we are justly held accountable. Along with our freedom comes responsibility. Every human person will stand before God and give an account. As partakers of God’s image, we are never to bow to sin or Satan. We can exercise our God-given (grace-enabled) freedom to reject every temptation and overcome sin and Satan through faith and prayer. You and I were made for something better than sin, sickness, and even death. We were created for communion with the one in whom is no darkness at all. Through communion with him we will be victorious!

Doxology

Praise to God. He shows us what it is to be human. Let us continue to become increasingly conformed to the image of his dear Son, Jesus!