Christ Changes Everything!

We recently began a new session of Discipleship Study at our church, using the book by Haley & Micheal Dimarco Die Young: Burying Yourself In Christ. I love the chapter titles. Among them: Death Is the New Life, Less Is the New More, Slavery Is the New Freedom, and Red Is the New White. The authors continually challenge the reader by reminding him/her that Jesus really does bring about a radical change in life. Our reasoning is to be different than that of our worldly counterparts. Our speech is to be different. Our attitudes are to be different. Our motivations are to be different. Our behavior is to be different. While some changes may be sudden and dramatic, and others subtle and painstakingly long, make no mistake: Christ is at work in the life of a believer! How is He working in you? Do you notice Him leading you on the "road less traveled"? Consider these words from the Dimarcos:

"When you die to everything that this world suggests is necessary for a 'good life', when you reject everything that they say is essential for happiness, peace, or even life, you choose the road less traveled by natural man but well-traveled by the spiritual man. It is a narrow road that leads to life and few will find it (Matthew 7:14) because few are willing to accept the paradigm shift that faith requires. This shift says that life isn't about you but about your God. This may mean taking the worst seat at the table (Luke 14:10), going the extra mile (Matthew 5:41), or forgiving someone for the same thing over and over again (Matthew 18:22). All of these the world would consider a step down in life and most definitely not a step up."

Considering the World to Come!

"How then, should we view this world and our existence in it? The Puritans would answer, sub specie aeternitatis- 'in the light of eternity': we must 'consider' (Romans 8:18) things as they will be rather than they are now: I see a world in decay and trouble. I consider a renewed, perfect world to come. I watch my body deteriorating. I consider my new body. I can make no sense of things here. I consider a world where all is integrated. I am tempted to sin here. I consider a world of perfection to come. I see in part now. I consider a time when I shall see Jesus. This is our calling: to gaze deliberately and see things as they will be rather than as they are. Did you notice that Paul suggests that this deliberate gazing is what creation itself is doing? Creation 'waits with eager longing' or, as J.B. Phillips so marvelously rendered it, 'The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own.' Creation stands on tiptoe. Are you?"

Derek W. H. Thomas, How the Gospel Brings Us All the Way Home

Say What?

In this month's edition of Christianity Today magazine's Quotation Marks segment, you will find a hilarious flub from noted atheist Richard Dawkins. When asked publicly for the full title of Charles Darwin's famous book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, Dawkins struggled. His exact reply:
"On the Origin of Species...uh...with...oh God." Sounds like a confirmation of Romans 1, but I'm sure Dawkins would disagree! Maybe he should stick with books that have simple titles, like, say...the Bible.

Using Biblical Words

During his sermon last week at the T4G conference, Thabiti Anyabwile observed that words act as containers for the truth. He warned that if we lose the words of Christianity, we lose the ability to properly convey the truth. For example, here is a word from the Christian vocabulary: lost. In many churches, this is an unpopular word that is often omitted from public use or it is assigned a less offensive working definition, although the new "meaning" is scripturally unsound. But if this word, and dozens of others like it, are intentionally sidelined or unscrupulously redefined, how can the gospel be explained with clarity, accuracy, and love? In short, it can't. That is why pastors and laymen alike need to use biblical words to explain biblical things. That, though, is only half of the challenge. We need to be able to offer an explanation of those words that we actually use. And our explanation needs to be not only right but also understood. Over the next several days, look at the list of words below. Do you know what they mean? Could you explain them to someone asking serious questions about your faith in Christ? And could you communicate their meanings in a way that someone could actually comprehend? Don't wait until you are caught off-guard. Prepare now to give an answer.

Lost
Saved
Born Again
Repentance
Propitiation
Baptism
Jesus
Grace
Faith
Resurrection
Kingdom
Sin
Believe

T4G Highlights

I took the week off from posting while attending the T4G (Together for the Gospel) conference in Louisville, KY. What a blessing it was to me and the thousands in attendance. I will resume posting again next week; hope you will return! In the meantime, I leave you with some of my selected highlights from T4G 2012. Some serious, some silly:

1. Free books!
2. Corporate worship led by Bob Kauflin.
3. David Platt's sermon on missions. Incredible.
4. Derby Pie.
5. The shout-outs for Tennessee when I wore my Vols sweatshirt.
6. The on-stage testimonies of lives changed by the grace of Jesus.
7. C.J. Mahaney standing in the lobby greeting people as they entered. And thanks to C.J. for his refute of Big Ten football.
8. Thabiti Anyabwile's sermon on Paul as a converted terrorist. Wow.
9. John Piper's teaching on the keeping power of God, explained through the words of Jude.
10. No gimmicks. Just Gospel. And tremendous encouragement for pastors. Thanks to Mark, Ligon, Al, and C.J. for all the hard work.

Easter Sunday...He is Risen!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

I Peter 1:3

"It shall be imputed to us who believe in him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification."

Romans 4:24,25

Prayer: We praise you, Father, for your perfect love, mercy, and grace. Thank you for keeping your word in sending Jesus to be our Savior and Lord. We know that apart from His death and resurrection, we would still be in our sins. But He has risen! And we now have a hope that is truly eternal. Thank you for your wonderful gift. Jesus lives! And so do we in Him! Amen.

Contemplating the Cross, Good Friday

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that charm me most-
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Prayer: Father God, today is the day that we fix our minds and hearts on the cross of Jesus. May we rest in His final words: It is finished! We have nothing to contribute to our salvation, nothing to add to what Jesus has already accomplished for us. By faith we remember. By faith we rest. Thank you for a love so amazing and divine. Amen.

Contemplating the Cross, Day 4

"However, the truth of the struggle between Christ and the Devil does not mean that the ransom of which Christ spoke of was paid to Satan. Think of it for a moment. If Christ paid a ransom to Satan to deliver us from Satan's clutches, who is the victor?... So if the ransom was paid to Satan, the Devil laughed all the way to the bank and there is no Christus Victor. It must be Satanus Victor...When the Bible speaks of ransom, it speaks of the ransom being paid not to a criminal but to the One Who is owed the price for redemption, the One Who is the offended party in the whole complex of sin-the Father. Jesus didn't negotiate with Satan for our salvation. Instead, He offered Himself in payment to the Father for us. By so offering Himself, He made redemption for His people, redeeming them from their captivity."

R.C. Sproul

Prayer: Father, we thank you for redeeming us at such a great cost. We will never fully understand the debt we owe you until we see you face to face. We were prisoners, held captive by our sins. But because of Jesus, acting on our behalf, we are redeemed! Thank you for loving us enough to set us free. Amen.

Contemplating the Cross, Day 3

"The atonement is not merely a doctrine of the church. It is the doctrine of the church. Leave this out, and you have no truth, no Savior, no church. As Luther said of the doctrine of justification by faith, that is was the article of a standing or falling church, so we affirm of the atonement, the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ for the sins of men...If the atoning sufferings of Christ are left out of a ministry, that ministry is worthless."

Charles Spurgeon

Prayer: Lord, we ask that we would be given a renewed sense of the greatness of Christ's sacrifice for helpless sinners. May we hold it in awe, never minimizing its place in Christianity. And we ask that pastors, our own and those around the world, would recognize that any ministry that abandons the work of the cross is indeed worthless. May our pastors preach Christ and him crucified. We thank you, Father, for allowing us to hear this wonderful message. By grace we have received it and believed it. Amen.

Contemplating the Cross, Day 2

"In the light of their sense of Christ's victory over Satan and the powers of darkness, the early disciples went into the world proclaiming Christ the Redeemer and Conqueror. If we share their appreciation for Christ's triumph, we will also share their passion to proclaim it. For we live in the light of this fact: Jesus has triumphed over Satan. We too may therefore ask the questions Paul does in Romans 8:31-35. Here, significantly, in the light of the cross seen as a triumph over Satan, Paul uses the interrogative pronoun. Does he have Satan specifically in mind? Who can be against us? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? Who is he that condemns? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Satan certainly cannot; for by his death Christ disarmed him of the weapons that would otherwise enable him to do so. Christ has conquered! And in him we are more than conquerors!"

Sinclair Ferguson

Prayer: Father, we thank you that we are not helpless victims. Because of Christ, we are made more than conquerors! May we not live in fear of Satan and his schemes. Help us not to run from the opportunities you give us because we are afraid. As conquerors, may we not be held in the grip of fear. Instead, may we live in the victory that has been given to us through Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Contemplating the Cross, Day 1

Each day this week, I will be posting a reflection and/or teaching concerning the theology of the cross, followed by a short prayer. May these daily entries help to prepare your heart for contemplation and celebration as we approach Good Friday and Easter Sunday:

"Yet the neglect of the cross in our churches is the result of more than our growing fascination with the subjective and with self-improvement. There is also a growing hostility to the whole notion that Christ suffered as a substitute, that God would desire such a thing, or that God is at all wrathful. Theologians and biblical scholars have reread parts of the Bible-or set it aside-in order to fashion a seemingly more humane religion, a religion of improvement rather than rescue. In such a domesticated version of Christianity, there is no place for a bloody cross."

Mark Dever

Prayer: Father, we thank you for the cross. And we do understand that we are thanking you for a bloody cross. Forgive us for trying to sanitize the cross in an effort to ignore or avoid the seriousness of our sin. In Jesus' name, Amen.