Words for Those Waiting for His Rescue

The Greatest Threat to our Life

We just heard a rousing sermon Sunday from Pastor Jacob titled, “The Cry of Faith: Help my Unbelief” from Mark 9:14-29. One of the early takeaways from the sermon was this, “Unbelief is the greatest threat of your life!”

Do you believe that?

In our heart of hearts, I suspect many of us think of that statement with the same sort of perplexity the crowd likely had hearing Jesus’ first words to the paralyzed man, “My son, your sins are forgiven,” (Mark 2:5).

Perhaps they thought, “Forgiven sins? Jesus, this man needs miraculous healing – a rescue from paralysis.” In this case, the obvious rescue came quickly. As we know, Jesus said a few moments later, “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home,” (Mark 2:11). We see the instantaneous results, “And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:12). Don’t miss though the purpose statement of why Jesus said, “your sins are forgiven” and then spoke the healing. Just a verse before Jesus uttered those powerful words of healing, He stated the purpose behind it all, “…that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”.

That was the crux of everything at that moment. The paralyzed man, his friends, the questioning scribes, and the larger crowd needed to know and believe in Jesus’ identity and purpose. They needed to know and believe Jesus was the Son of Man who had authority to forgive sins. This was more crucial than the physical need for rescue from paralysis. There was ignorance and unbelief in Jesus at work, and therefore an eternal need for rescue.

We may admittedly think, “Yeah, I have issues with unbelief in my life, but it pales in comparison to the life-altering trials I’m currently enduring.” However, unbelief is a root buried under all of our sins, it robs us of our joy in Christ, it can quench the Spirit’s power and work in our lives, and it blunts our maturity in the faith. For those who are not born-again believers, unbelief in Jesus is the urgent and eternal barrier that must be overcome by the grace of God. Whether we’ve believed in Christ or not, unbelief is the crucial, foundational point from which we all need rescue. We must come to the point of knowing that God through Christ and by His Spirit is both powerful enough and that it’s His gracious will to ultimately rescue us.

Fighting Against Unbelief as we Wait on His Rescue

But how do we fight against unbelief and seasons of doubt in our lives as we endure trials, especially when His rescue seems to delay?

Again, Pastor Jacob gave some great points of application I want to highlight and expand on a bit.

1) Realize we’re in a spiritual battle, so we desperately need God. When we realize that for non-believers there is a war going on for their souls, then we realize how much we need Jesus to intervene. As believers, when we recognize that a war’s being waged to distract and tempt us to mar the name of Christ and His bride, and to divide and neutralize our effectiveness through depression, demoralization, moral failure, and false teaching- then we understand we desperately need God.

2) Recognize that as we’re needy for Jesus’ help we can be His instrument to help others. God works mightily through those who know they need Him and rely on Him. This makes sense since we’re made to glorify Him and help others find their greatest joy is found in Him. Sometimes our moment of realizing our greatest need for God can be a moment of fruitful work. That’s because in that moment, we’ll be less likely to bring any credit or glory to ourselves. As believers, we all have an opportunity to point others to the ways we’ve seen God’s faithfulness in our own difficult seasons and to comfort them with His comfort we’ve received directly and through others. This stepping out in faith to bless others is a way to fight against doubts and despair when our own trials are raging and our rescue is delayed.

3) Recognize God is working in our waiting. Sometimes with delays, it’s easy to feel God has forgotten us, or isn’t willing or able to rescue us. Biblically though, this we see lots of delays in God’s timing.

  • The Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years before God redeemed them through Moses (Exodus 12:40).
  • The exiles remained in Babylon 70 years before the first of them were able to return to Israel.
  • The man born blind was an adult before he was healed and believed (John 9).
  • Lazarus got sick and was dead 4 days before Jesus came and resurrected Him (John 11).
  • The woman suffered with an issue of blood for 12 years before receiving Jesus’ healing (Mark 5:25).
  • Jesus’ arrival on earth came after 400 years of silence from prophets and thousands of years after He was foretold. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son…” (Galatians 4:4)

God’s timing and His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). In His love, sovereign power, and omniscience He delays His rescue for the most opportune moment. While He delays, He works in His children to reveal unbelief, grow our faith, and make us more like Christ.

4) Recognize God has guaranteed an eternal rescue in Christ. Scripture does promise trials and hardships as we follow Jesus and does not promise a clean rescue from every one on this side of heaven. But, Christ Jesus does act as the Chief and Good Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4; John 10:11, 27-29) to carry us throughout our lives and ensure that our faith He’s gifted us will endure to the end. Paul toward the end of his life beautifully articulates this kind of confident attitude during crisis. In 2 Timothy, as he is nearing his execution, he says these words,

The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (2 Timothy 4:16-18)

This didn’t mean he’d be spared from being martyred for Christ. It did mean, not even death could stop God’s loving plans for rescue into His heavenly kingdom.

5) Recognize we must pray. In each of previous points, I hope you’ve sensed the necessity of Pastor Jacob’s final imperative Sunday to pray. If we’re dealing with cosmic forces of darkness, we need to pray for Christ’s protection and deliverance. If we’re to get beyond ourselves and see the opportunity to bless others, we need the Lord’s strength and wisdom. When our patience and faith and hope is running dry as we wait, we need to pray for God’s perspective and help to trust His perfect timing. We need to pray to keep our eyes focused on Christ and the eternal joy and rescue set before us in His presence.

This weekend, as we’re waiting for God’s rescue in circumstantial and spiritual ways both individually and as DGCC, we’ve got a chance to put our faith into action through prayer. We’ll have an opportunity for a corporate prayer of confession in our worship service. We’ll also have a joint time of prayer after lunch. Then we’ll send a group off to prayer walk around our church neighborhood. We’re even planning for a handful of people to stay back to pray that God’s Spirit would lead those walking to God-glorifying interactions.

As we pray together and seek His face, by His grace we’ll grow in our faith and will see the cry to rescue positively answered, “I believe, help my unbelief!”

DGCC’s Vision Part III: In the Love of the Father and the Power of the Holy Spirit

Preface

Why We Exist: Gospel Purpose

Our mission statement at DGCC says the following:

We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

This is why we exist. This is our gospel purpose. This has been DGCC’s identity from the time it was planted 20 years ago. And, by God’s grace, this will be DGCC’s gospel purpose for the next 20 years and beyond. The question is, what exactly do we aim to do to live out this gospel purpose.

 

What We Do: Gospel Pursuit

For the past several months the Vision Team here at DGCC has met regularly to pray and discern DGCC’s vision for the foreseeable future. Essentially, the Vision Team aimed to articulate what we do, our gospel pursuit. And, by God’s grace, in our most recent members meeting, the Vision Team shared with our fellow members the vision we believe God has led us to. This statement below captures that vision.

We glorify God by joyfully treasuring Christ and prayerfully pursuing Christlikeness in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture birthed this statement. Specifically, Ephesians 3:14–21 became the foundational text that informed and shaped this vision statement. Over the next several blog posts, I will unpack this vision statement. And I aim to do that by unpacking Ephesians 3:14–21 in order to (1) reveal the wonderful truths within this glorious prayer of Paul and to (2) hold those truths up as a glorious vision for the saints of DGCC.[1]

In our initial post, we considered the core of this vision: We glorify God. In the second installment of this series, we considered the means by which we glorify God: by joyfully treasuring Christ and prayerfully pursuing Christlikeness. Now, here in the third post of this series, we will consider the final portion of our vision statement: in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Paul’s Petitions in Ephesians 3:14–21

In the first two articles regarding our visions, I observed the following:

So, Paul’s ultimate aim in this prayer for the Ephesians is God’s glory (Ephesians 3:21). This is why the core of our vision at DGCC is this: We glorify God. And here in Paul’s prayer, we see what Paul prayed for so that the Ephesians would do just that. Paul prayed that the Ephesians would (1) have Christ dwell in their hearts through faith, or treasure Christ, and (2) reach full spiritual maturity as Christians, or be Christlike.

Thus, the purpose of Paul’s petitions is for the Ephesians to treasure Christ and grow in Christlikeness all for the glory of God. But what makes this treasuring and this conformity to Christ possible? For that, we consider Paul’s petitions themselves. What are those petitions? We’ve noted them in our previous articles. Let’s revisit them.

Paul makes two petitions in his prayer to God the Father on behalf of the Ephesians in Ephesians 3:14–21: (1) Holy Spirit power and (2) a greater revelation of God’s love. First, Paul prays that God the Father would strengthen the Ephesian Christians with power through the Holy Spirit. Second, he prays that God the Father would strengthen the Ephesian Christians with Holy Spirit power to grasp and know God the Father’s love for them in Christ.[2] Paul petitions God on behalf of the Ephesians for the power of the Holy Spirit and a greater revelation of God’s love for them in Christ. More power and more knowledge of God’s love.

 

Holy Spirit Power

Paul first prays for the Holy Spirit’s power to strengthen the Ephesians — “that…he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (Ephesians 3:16). We have already unpacked the purpose of this power in the previous post. The purpose of this request is that the Ephesians would treasure Christ even more — “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Ephesians 3:17). But consider the reality of this request. As Christians we should treasure Christ in our hearts. Christ should take up permanent “residence” and make our hearts his home, and we should conform more to him and his ways as he has greater and greater influence on our hearts.[3] However, given Paul’s prayer, we are incapable of doing this without God acting on our behalf. We cannot rightly treasure Christ without power from the Holy Spirit. Or, to say it positively, we need power from the Holy Spirit to treasure Christ.

 

Revelation of the God’s Love

Paul makes a second petition that grows out of his petition for power through the Holy Spirit. Paul asks that the Ephesians would have a greater knowledge of God’s love for them in Christ — “that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:17–19). Again, we have already unpacked the purpose of this greater revelation of God’s love. The purpose of this petition is that the Ephesians would grow in spiritual maturity, that they would become more and more Christlike — “that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19; 4:13). But again, consider the reality of this request. Christians should grow in spiritual maturity. Christians should become more and more Christlike. Christians should pursue holiness and Christlikeness. However, given Paul’s prayer, we are incapable of doing this without God acting on on our behalf. We cannot rightly become Christlike or pursue Christlikeness without a greater revelation and knowledge of God’s love for us.

Carson notes the following regarding the nature of this knowledge of God’s love: “This cannot be merely an intellectual exercise. Paul is not asking that his readers might become more able to articulate the greatness of God’s love in Christ Jesus…He is asking God that they might have the power to grasp the dimensions of that love in their experience.”[4] The measure of this love is, well, immeasurable. Therefore, Carson rightly observes that Paul “resorts to metaphor and then to paradox” in order to try and describe it.[5] God’s love for us in Christ is multi-dimensional — “the breadth and length and height and depth” (Ephesians 3:18). God’s love for us in Christ cannot be bound by knowledge — “the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19). We could never, on our own, grasp this love. We need God to reveal it to us. Only in the knowledge of God’s love for us can grow in spiritual maturity. We need a greater revelation of God’s love for us to become more Christlike.

 

Conclusion: In the Love of the Father and the Power of the Holy Spirit

So, Paul’s ultimate aim in this prayer for the Ephesians is God’s glory (Ephesians 3:21). This is why the core of our vision at DGCC is this: We glorify God. And in Paul’s prayer, we see the purpose of his petitions for the Ephesians — (1) that they would treasure Christ and (2) that they would be Christlike. And according to Ephesians 3:14–21, the two things that make this possible, the two petitions Paul laid before God were (1) power from the Holy Spirit and (2) a greater revelation of God’s love. When these two petitions are considered together, we clearly see that we are completely dependent upon God to treasure Christ and pursue Christlikeness. As Carson notes, “Paul assumes that we cannot be as spiritually mature as we ought to be unless we receive power from God to enable us to grasp the limitless dimension of the love of Christ.”[6] We need the power of the Holy Spirit and we the knowledge of God’s love for us in Christ in order to treasure Christ and pursue Christlikeness.

Therefore, we at DGCC make this our aim: We glorify God by joyfully treasuring Christ and prayerfully pursuing Christlikeness. And we recognize the only way we are able to do this is in complete dependence upon God, that is, in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

[1] Exegesis of this passage was aided by and leans heavily on Carson, who unpacks this passage in D. A. Carson, Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation, Second. (Baker Academic, 2015), 159–81.

[2] Carson, Praying with Paul, 161.

[3] Carson, Praying with Paul, 163–64.

[4] Carson, Praying with Paul, 168.

[5] Carson, Praying with Paul, 169.

[6] Carson, Praying with Paul, 173. Emphasis mine.

DGCC’s Vision Part II: Joyfully Treasuring Christ and Prayerfully Pursuing Christlikeness

Preface

Why We Exist: Gospel Purpose

Our mission statement at DGCC says the following:

We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

This is why we exist. This is our gospel purpose. This has been DGCC’s identity from the time it was planted 20 years ago. And, by God’s grace, this will be DGCC’s gospel purpose for the next 20 years and beyond. The question is, what exactly do we aim to do to live out this gospel purpose.

 

What We Do: Gospel Pursuit

For the past several months the Vision Team here at DGCC has met regularly to pray and discern DGCC’s vision for the foreseeable future. Essentially, the Vision Team aimed to articulate what we do, our gospel pursuit. And, by God’s grace, in our most recent members meeting, the Vision Team shared with our fellow members the vision we believe God has led us to. This statement below captures that vision.

We glorify God by joyfully treasuring Christ and prayerfully pursuing Christlikeness in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture birthed this statement. Specifically, Ephesians 3:14–21 became the foundational text that informed and shaped this vision statement. Over the next several blog posts, I will unpack this vision statement. And I aim to do that by unpacking Ephesians 3:14–21 in order to (1) reveal the wonderful truths within this glorious prayer of Paul and to (2) hold those truths up as a glorious vision for the saints of DGCC.[1]

In our initial post, we considered the core of this vision: We glorify God. Here in the second installment of this series, we consider the following portion of our vision statement: by joyfully treasuring Christ and prayerfully pursuing Christlikeness.

 

Purpose of Paul’s Petitions in Ephesians 3:14–21

Paul’s prayer to God on behalf of the Ephesians ultimately aims at glorifying God. But what exactly does Paul request of God on behalf of the Ephesians? Paul makes two petitions in his prayer to God the Father on behalf of the Ephesians in Ephesians 3:14–21. First, Paul prays that God the Father would strengthen the Ephesian Christians with Holy Spirit power. Second, he prays that God the Father would strengthen the Ephesian Christians with Holy Spirit power to grasp and know God the Father’s love for them in Christ.[2] But these petitions are not ends in themselves. Paul makes these each of these petitions for specific purposes: the treasuring of Christ and Christlikeness. We can apply those purposes to all Christians, including us.

 

First Purpose: Treasuring Christ

First, Paul prays for the Holy Spirit’s power to strengthen the Ephesians in order that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:14–17).[3] Thus, we as Christians need Holy Spirit power in order that Christ would dwell more richly in our hearts, that he would have the throne of our hearts, and that he might begin to shape and mold our hearts, fashioning them to reflect his desires. Carson likens this to remodeling a recently purchased, dilapidated house in order to make it a permanent, livable, lovely home, that is intentionally shaped and curated to the renovator’s specifications, desires, and purposes.[4] Thus, we as Christians need the power of the Holy Spirit to open up even more of our hearts to our king so that he would have full access to “take up residence in our hearts as we exercise faith in him.”[5] This exercise of faith in Christ so that he dwells in our hearts is the treasuring of Christ above all things and submitting ourselves to him (Philippians 3:7–8). Because Jesus is our greatest treasure, this isn’t done begrudgingly, but joyfully (Philippians 3:1). In short, we as Christians need the Holy Spirit’s power in order that we might joyfully treasure Christ more.

 

Second Purpose: Christlikeness

Second, Paul prays that God the Father would strengthen the Ephesian Christians with Holy Spirit power to know God’s love for them in order that they might be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:18–19).[6] Being “filled with all the fullness of God” refers to Christian maturity (Ephesians 4:11–14).[7] Elsewhere, Paul uses the phrase “fullness of Christ” to make the same point (Ephesians 4:13). Thus, we as Christians need the Holy Spirit’s power to strengthen us to know spiritually, emotionally, experientially, and intellectually God’s love for us in Christ in order to grow in our maturity as Christians—in order to become more Christlike.[8] Indeed, the entire Christian life aims at Christlikeness—conformity to the Son—which God has predestined (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:9; 1 John 3:2–3). Therefore, we as Christians live out our identity in Christ by actively pursuing Christlikeness. Notably, though, we are completely dependent on the Holy Spirit to give us this greater revelation of God the Father’s love for us in Christ. Therefore, our pursuit of Christlikeness is a prayerful pursuit. In short, we as Christians need the Holy Spirit’s power and a deeper knowledge of God’s love for us in Christ in order that we might grow in Christlikeness.

 

Conclusion: Joyfully Treasuring Christ and Prayerfully Pursuing Christlikeness

So, Paul’s ultimate aim in this prayer for the Ephesians is God’s glory (Ephesians 3:21). This is why the core of our vision at DGCC is this: We glorify God. And here in Paul’s prayer, we see what Paul prayed for so that the Ephesians would do just that. Paul prayed that the Ephesians would (1) have Christ dwell in their hearts through faith, or treasure Christ, and (2) reach full spiritual maturity as Christians, or be Christlike.

According to Ephesians 3:14–21, then, Christians glorify God by treasuring Christ and pursuing Christlikeness. This treasuring of Christ is a joyful treasuring of Christ rising from deep gratitude for God’s kindness toward us in Christ (Ephesians 5:20). And this pursuit of Christlikeness is a prayerful pursuit that recognizes our utter dependence on God to fill us with all his fullness (Ephesians 3:14–21).

Therefore, we at DGCC make this our aim: We glorify God by joyfully treasuring Christ and prayerfully pursuing Christlikeness.

 

[1] Exegesis of this passage was aided by and leans heavily on Carson, who unpacks this passage in D. A. Carson, Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation, Second. (Baker Academic, 2015), 159–81.

[2] Carson, Praying with Paul, 161.

[3] See Carson on this point in Carson, Praying with Paul, 163–67.

[4] Carson, Praying with Paul, 163–64.

[5] Carson, Praying with Paul, 164.

[6] See Carson on this point in Carson, Praying with Paul, 167–76. Especially 172.

[7] Carson, Praying with Paul, 172.

[8] Carson, Praying with Paul, 173.

DGCC’s Vision Part I: We Glorify God

Why We Exist: Gospel Purpose

Our mission statement at DGCC says the following:

We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

This is why we exist. This is our gospel purpose. This has been DGCC’s identity from the time it was planted 20 years ago. And, by God’s grace, this will be DGCC’s gospel purpose for the next 20 years and beyond. The question is, what exactly do we aim to do to live out this gospel purpose.

 

What We Do: Gospel Pursuit

For the past several months the Vision Team here at DGCC has met regularly to pray and discern DGCC’s vision for the foreseeable future. Essentially, the Vision Team aimed to articulate what we do, our gospel pursuit. And, by God’s grace, in our most recent members meeting, the Vision Team shared with our fellow members the vision we believe God has led us to. This statement below captures that vision.

We glorify God by joyfully treasuring Christ and prayerfully pursuing Christlikeness in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture birthed this statement. Specifically, Ephesians 3:14–21 became the foundational text that informed and shaped this vision statement. I aim to unpack this vision statement in a series of blog posts here. And I aim to do that by unpacking Ephesians 3:14–21 in order to reveal the wonderful truths within this glorious prayer of Paul and to hold those truths forth as a glorious vision for the saints.[1] Here in this initial post, we will consider the core of this vision: We glorify God.

Before diving in though, let’s first orient ourselves to the context of Ephesians 3:14–21.

 

Context

Paul has just heralded God’s glory in the gospel of Jesus in one of the densest and richest treasure troves Scripture has to offer in Ephesians 1 and 2. He penned astounding realities such as

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3–6)

And

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4–7)

Paul goes on to exhort the Ephesians to walk in this new life, to grow in their gospel-forged unity as a local church,  and specifically to grow “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:9).

Ephesians 3:14–21 fits right in between Paul’s heralding of these wonderful gospel realities—the gospel indicatives—and his powerful gospel exhortations—the gospel imperatives—to the Ephesians. Moreover, Ephesians 3:14–21 is a prayer. And this prayer makes clear to us what Paul understands the necessary ingredients for Christian growth—growth in both love for God and Christlikeness—to be. Consider Paul’s prayer.

 

Ephesians 3:14–21: A Prayer for God’s Glory

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14–21)

First, notice the obvious that I have already pointed out. This is a prayer. Paul says, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named” (Ephesians 3:14).

“For this reason” refers to all of the gospel realities that Paul has just touched on in Ephesians 1:1–3:13. Paul essentially says, “God in his sovereignty planned to save you through the gospel of his Son, so ‘for this reason’ I pray as a minister of this grace for you, Ephesians.” The fact that this is a prayer informs us immediately that Paul assumes the Ephesians have need for God to act in order to bring about whatever Paul is about to pray for. Thus, we have need for God to act in order to bring about for us the things Paul instructively petitions for here. The Christian life is completely dependent upon God to act. So prayer colors everything we aim to do as Christians, and of course what Paul is about to request here.

Second, notice the ultimate aim of Paul’s prayer. The ultimate aim of Paul’s prayer reveals itself in verse 21: “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever.” At the bottom (or top, depending on how you look at it) of all of Paul’s requests here is this—God’ glory. This is what his prayer for the Ephesians ultimately aims at, as it should. Carson notes regarding this, “It is possible to ask for good things for bad reasons.”[2] He goes on to note that we “can distort…good requests by envisaging their fulfillment within a framework in which the entire universe revolves around our improvement.”[3] But Scripture makes clear that God’s work of creation is for glory:

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)

And, Scripture makes clear that God’s work of redemption is for his glory:

In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:4–6)

Indeed, God’s glory is what the entire Christian life aims at, no matter if we’re enjoying breakfast or taking the gospel to an unreached people group in a foreign land—”So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Thus, since all things work for God’s glory in creation and salvation, we too join with Paul in saying, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36).

Therefore, our vision as DGCC is to first and foremost fall in line with the purpose of all of creation and redemption history. And that purpose is to bring glory to God. This is why we exist: we exist for God’s glory, we exist to enjoy God’s glory, and we exist to spread that enjoyment of God’s glory. This is why our mission statement at DGCC reads

We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

Thus, our vision at DGCC begins with this—We glorify God.

 

 

[1] Exegesis of this passage was aided by and leans heavily on Carson, who unpacks this passage in his book D. A. Carson, Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation, Second. (Baker Academic, 2015), 159–81.

[2] Carson, Praying with Paul, 280.

[3] Carson, Praying with Paul, 180.

Who Receives the Commendation, “Well Done”?

“Well done, good and faithful servant…. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21, 23)

In Jesus’ story, so says the master to his servants who double the money he entrusted to them.  

The Apostle Paul tells us that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10). 

So at that judgment seat, to whom will Jesus say, “Well done!” 

  • To those who see many come to faith through their witness? 
  • To those who plant churches and preach good sermons? 
  • To those who raise children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4)? 
  • To those who work faithfully at their jobs, not just giving eye-service, knowing they are serving Jesus (Ephesians 6:5-8)? 
  • To missionaries who go to unreached peoples and spur on others to go to the unreached? 

That last category includes Elisabeth Elliot (1927-2015). Lucy Austen’s new biography details her Christian upbringing, her call to missions, her brief marriage to Jim Elliot and his death at the hands of the people group he was trying to reach, her subsequent return with their little daughter to that people group, her many books, radio broadcasts, and speaking engagements. 

Beth and I read a number of her books in the first decades of our marriage, and Beth listened regularly to Elliot’s daily radio broadcast when we had a house full of young children. Beth and our daughter Erin were privileged to hear her speak in person at Gordon College in 2002. 

In God’s providence, that was one of Elisabeth Elliot’s last speaking engagements. Surprisingly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1998 at age 71, she ended all public speaking in 2004. She lived her final eleven years with increasingly severe dementia. 

So when Elisabeth Elliot stood before the judgment seat of Jesus, what did our Lord say? “Well done”? If so, was He referring only to her life through 2004? What about those last years with Alzheimer’s?

We can only answer the question rightly if we remember what Jesus calls us to.  He calls us to be like Him, to be like the Father. He calls us to be conformed to His character (Romans 8:29). He calls us to follow Him (as Jacob will explain this Sunday). All our works are to be done in the strength that He supplies, so that He gets all the glory (1 Peter 4:11). Indeed, apart from Him we can accomplish nothing – just as a branch of a grapevine cannot produce fruit unless it stays connected to the vine (John 15:4-5). The Apostle Paul details what this conformity to the character of Jesus looks like in Galatians 5:22-23, and calls it the “fruit of the Spirit” – what God produces in His people. 

Clearly then Jesus commends at His judgment seat not our accomplishments, not our activities, not our work life, not even our family life. He proclaims, “Excellent!” (a possible translation of the Greek word – there is no word for “done”) over our active dependence on Him to become what He intends, to become like Him. 

Necessarily, for those of normal physical and mental health, this includes activities such as those listed above that are done by His power for His glory, as an outgrowth of His work inside us.  But the emphasis is not on what we do; the emphasis is on who God has made us to be. 

And who did God make Elisabeth Elliot to be? A chosen, holy, beloved child (Colossians 3:12). An unworthy servant whom He used in marvelous ways through periods of trial, periods of intense work, and a lengthy final period of suffering from Alzheimer’s. He chose those last eleven years for her. She had displayed Jesus through diligent service for decades. In her last decade, she displayed Jesus through patience in suffering, through the enduring of affliction, in some ways following Him in His final hours. And Jesus pronounced, “Excellent!” over the entirety of that divine work. 

In concluding a biography Elliot wrote in 1968, she asks whether her subject will have been:

welcomed home with a “Well done, good and faithful servant,” or will he simply have been welcomed home? The son who delights the father is not first commended for what he has done. He is loved. (From Who Shall Ascend? as quoted in Austen, p. 525)

In Jesus, you too are chosen and holy and loved. Live by faith in Jesus – as we proclaim at the end of our services, “remembering who you are and to Whom you belong.” Our God will complete the good work He has begun in you, His beloved, enabling you to fulfill the purpose for which He made you and redeemed you. And on that final day, He will proclaim over you, “Excellent! Enter into My joy!” 

God Is Worthy of Our Going and Sending

In Revelation 5 John looks and sees God seated on the throne with a scroll in his hand. The scroll has writing on it, and it is sealed with seven mysterious seals. While he is looking at the Father he also sees an angel very loudly saying “Who is worthy to open the scrolls and break the seals?” These seals usher in God’s judgment on evil and help fulfill his plan of redemptive history but no one in heaven or on earth or even under the earth was found worthy to open it or even look into it. This makes John weep loudly! All that God has created to help his creation know him, honor him, and flourish has been attacked or deformed by the kingdom of this world. Imagine history ending this way. Imagine evil not being judged or wrongs not being made right. Imagine God’s perfect plan never being completed in full. So John weeps loudly….but he does not weep for long.

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”…And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:5,9,10

We should all rejoice that Jesus is worthy! Jesus being worthy means that evil will be judged by a holy and righteous God. Christ has conquered the sin that is in our hearts and the sin that is in the world so our hearts should be filled with gladness and appreciation. Jesus is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals because he was slain. He came down from heaven and took on flesh, was tempted in every way but did not sin. The blood that he shed ransomed his enemies from every tribe, language, people, and nation. This blood has not only paid the price for our sins but also for our conformity to his image and our acceptance into his kingdom as priests.

In other words, when Christ died for us he didn’t merely cancel our sin debt to make us even with God. He canceled the debt and made an eternal contribution to our account. Christ transformed us from being debtors to God to those who have access to all things according to his riches and glory (Philippians 4:19). Our receiving the shed blood of Christ transforms us from orphans to heirs (Romans 8:17); it transitioned us from sinners to priests (1 Peter 2:9).

We also see here how God’s worth is tied to missions. By going we show that God is worthy to us, and by having us go with him God shows that he is a loving leader to his people. One day we will all be able to gather together at God’s throne and be amazed at his plan for redemption over so many ages to save people from “every tribe, language, people, and nation”.

You may say to yourself, “Well, I’m not currently going, so what about me? If goers go, what does that make me? Am I just a stayer? No. Goers go because God is worthy and those who support them are senders because God is worthy. Sending is not a lesser role in God’s plan for redemption. It is neither passive nor unessential. It’s part of God’s design to conform us to his imagine by sacrificially sending in a manner “worthy of God” (3 John 1:6). Remember that one day we will all be before the throne of God not as goers or senders but as one people redeemed from many peoples. We will sing praises to our God because he has overcome death, and he has finished the work that he planned before time began. He is worthy to judge the world because he redeemed the world and our church is actively playing a part in that redemption. The God of the universe has called us in various ways to help fulfill his good plan so ultimately going and sending is one work to honor a God who is worthy of both.

 

 

 

Jesus Is the Christ: A Halfway Healing and a Halfway Confession

In Mark 8:22–26, we see Jesus heal a blind man at Bethsaida. Interestingly, Jesus doesn’t completely heal him all at once. Instead, Jesus heals him in stages. Recall the story:

And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

Jesus lays his hands on the man the first time and only halfway heals. Only after this first stage of healing does Jesus then fully heal the man. What gives? Why does this miracle play out in this way? Is this just a harder case? Or, is it a problem with Jesus’ power—was Jesus just not quite feeling it that day? Well, I think we can eliminate those options. In fact, it might be helpful to first point out what is not happening here based on what Mark has revealed about Jesus.

 

Not a Harder Case

This is not just a harder case. Mark has shown Jesus to have absolute authority and power over demons, disease, nature, and even sin and death (Mark 1:25–26, 34, 40–42; 2:5, 8–12; 3:1–6; 4:35–41; 5:1–20, 21–43; 6:30–52; etc.). In fact, every miracle up to this point that Jesus has performed has been instantaneous. No matter how you rank the difficulty level of these cases here—of course, sin and death are the obvious choices of “most difficult” though, but you knew that—none have stood up to Jesus’ authority. Therefore, we can eliminate the notion that this is just a harder case.

 

Not a Problem with Power

This does not indicate a problem with Jesus’ power. Mark has made clear at the outset that Jesus is the Son of God.

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Mark 1:1)

The same logic we applied above to the first question (Is this a harder case?) applies here as well. Jesus has indicated by his actions that he operates with divine authority. Demons, disease, nature, and death all bend to his will. Jesus himself reveals by his self-proclaimed title the Son of Man that he is the one who receives all authority and dominion straight from God, the Ancient of Days himself (Mark 2:10; 28; cf. Daniel 7:13–14). This two-stage healing, then, does not point to a problem with Jesus’ power.

 

A Problem with Faith

So it is not a more difficult case and Jesus is not having a problem with power here. In fact, Jesus has shown nothing but absolute authority and control up to this point. So based on this, what is going on? Well, the logical conclusion is that Jesus, who has all power and all divine authority, must be in control here as well. That is, he must be doing this on purpose. Why? Because there is a problem present here. The problem is faith.

This faith problem is not Jesus’, and it is not the blind man’s. The faith problem is the disciples’ faith problem. Unlike most of us, Jesus is an extraordinary multi-tasker. Here, Jesus is not just compassionately addressing the issue of this man’s blindness, he is also compassionately addressing the issue of his disciples’ lack of faith in him. In fact, just a few verses before Jesus rebukes the disciples for unbelief and asks

Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?… (Mark 8:18)

The point is driven home even further by the fact that right before saying this, Jesus healed a deaf and mute man (Mark 7:31–37). That point is this: the disciples are spiritually like this blind man. They see Jesus, but not clearly, not fully. They don’t fully grasp who he is and what he has come to do. They don’t fully believe in him for who he is…yet. Peter illustrates this spiritual reality in the very next scene.

 

A Confession and A Rebuke

Immediately on the heels of this miracle, Jesus poses the question of the ages to his disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29). Peter, ever eager, gives an answer that proves to be the confession of the ages: “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29). Peter at the very least believes that Jesus is the promised son of David who would restore the kingdom of Israel, rout their enemies, and reign on the throne as king in justice and righteousness (2 Samuel 7:12–13; Isaiah 9:6–7). He might even have a sense of this king’s special nature in that in some way he would be considered God’s son (2 Samuel 7:14; 1 Chronicles 17:13). And he might have a sense that his reign, his kingdom would endure forever in some way shape or form (2 Samuel 7:13; Chronicles 17:12, 14). Perhaps he believes his throne would endure forever through an unbreakable line of kings that followed. Regardless of the full extent of Peter’s knowledge here, Peter knows the promise of the coming Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed, a son of David who would restore God’s kingdom and be king. And Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ. But in what follows, it becomes clear that Peter gives a halfway confession. That is, Peter does not fully know the way the Christ will restore the kingdom. He only sees partially in that he does not understand the messianic mission. There is more to this confession than Peter knows.

After Peter’s confession, Jesus begins to teach them the path he, the Son of Man, the Christ, must take to the throne. And power in any earthly sense does not mark this path. Pain marks this path.

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. (Mark 8:31)

This does not fit into Peter’s category for the Christ. So he immediately takes Jesus aside and begins to rebuke him. This earns him nothing but an even fiercer rebuke from Jesus.

He [Jesus] rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Peter only halfway sees who Jesus is as the Christ and what Jesus will do as the Christ. Peter does not fully see that the Messiah has come to destroy sin and Satan, not earthly enemies (1 John 3:8). And Peter does not fully see the way that the Christ will do it—through suffering. The Christ is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53.

 

The Christ Suffers in order to Save

Jesus makes clear that you cannot confess him as the Christ who saves without confessing him as the Christ who suffers in order to save. Jesus the Christ “was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him” (Isaiah 53:10). Because, as the perfectly righteous one, he will “make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11). Jesus the Christ, “bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).

Peter’s ignorance and partial spiritual eyesight is on full display here. But the Christ would not leave him in his partial blindness and halfway confession. Indeed, it is the very path Peter disagrees with, that ends up saving him and restoring his sight. Because the Christ suffered, was rejected, was killed, and rose, Peter’s “sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.” Jesus heals Peter’s half sight so he that he no longer holds to a half confession. There is no confessing Christ without confessing the suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection of the Christ. Don’t take my word for it, take Peter’s.

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it…Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Jesus is the Christ. And he is the Christ who suffers in order to save his people. Like Peter and the rest of the disciples, we were spiritual blind, but the Christ has come in order to restore our sight. And while our battle with this sinful flesh will often blur our vision again, the promise of the Christ is that through his suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection, he will save us. He will restore our sight fully, and we will behold the son of David, the Son of God, reign forever over God’s kingdom that never ends. And our lips will utter this confession in all it fullness: Jesus is the Christ.

The Patience of God

The Glory of God in Exodus 34:6–7

We recently had the privilege of listening to Pastor Wil preach a sermon from portions of Exodus 33 and 34. In those two chapters of Exodus, we see something remarkable. Moses requests to see God’s glory. What an bold request! God goes on to tell Moses that if he were to see the fullness of his glory, it would kill him (Exodus 33:20). And if this request wasn’t remarkable enough for you, God’s response is even more staggering. God actually shows Moses his glory. He does so by putting Moses in the cleft of a rock to guard him, covering Moses with his hand, and passing by him so that Moses can see his back (Exodus 33:21–23; 34:5–7). And when God passes by Moses, he doesn’t pass by him in silence. God proclaims his name, “The LORD” or “YHWH”, and makes known who he is. Exodus 34:6–7 describes the scene

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

In his sermon, Pastor Wil noted that you could write a book on each of these attributes that God proclaims about himself. Indeed, there have been books written on the attributes of God. Here, I aim to write a little about one particular attribute—God’s patience.

 

The Patience of God

In Exodus 34:6, God proclaims, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger…”. God is slow to anger. The literal translation of the Hebrew here is long of nose. This is quite the word picture isn’t it? It conveys the idea that God’s divine wrath takes a long time to ever manifest in his divine judgment.[1] In other words, God’s patience, his forbearance, his long-suffering is inexhaustible. The very just judgment that God promises to bring about a few words later in Exodus 34:7 is stayed for a time because of his slowness to anger, because of his patience.

We benefit from God’s divine patience in at least two ways. First, we benefited from God’s patience before we were in Christ—while we were actively rebelling against him. Second, we benefit from God’s patience while we are in Christ—while we continue to struggle with our sinful flesh. In short, God’s patience means our initial salvation and our ongoing sanctification. How can a just God afford to be so patient with rebellious, treasonous sinners? Jesus won this inexhaustible patience of God for each of us, who are in him, through the cross.

 

Before We Were in Christ

God has been unbelievably patient to humanity as a whole. God could have wiped out humanity because of our sinful rebellion against him, and he would have been just in doing so. But God has patiently endured humanity’s sinful rebellion in order to save his people. Second Peter 3:7–9 speaks of this reality:

But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God has set aside a day of judgment for the ungodly (2 Peter 3:7). And God is not just dragging his feet with regard to that judgment—“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness” (2 Peter 3:9). Rather, God is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9). God’s patience toward humanity comes to a laser focus. God isn’t just patient to humanity in general. God has been patient with you personally. If you are in Christ, you are in Christ because God was patient with your rebellion and your unbelief. And then by his effectual grace, he awakened faith in your heart. Recording artist and author Shai Linne captures this reality wonderfully in his song “Lord of Patience”:

Lord, we worship You, we know that everything we owe You
And when we reflect on the time before we came to know You
How we were unbelievers committing tons of treason
We had a hundred reasons why we wouldn’t come to Jesus…

We were active in our rebellion against the God of the universe. But he remained patient in order to save. Linne goes on:

…So after waiting with patience as we would run from You
You activated our faith so that we would come to You
Your law exposed our sin so that we would know the danger
And take refuge in the Holy Savior who’s slow to anger
And as our teary eyes beheld the cross of our King
We understood the true meaning of long-suffering
Who can record Your graces? Adored through scores of ages
Your reward is the nations, for You are the Lord of patience

God’s patience means your salvation.

 

While We Are in Christ

But God has not only been patient with us before we were in Christ. God continues to be patient with us while we are in Christ. We as Christians still battle the flesh:

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 (Galatians 5:17).

And occasionally sinful flesh and unbelief get the upper-hand (Romans 7:19–20).[2] Yet, even in the midst of our stumbling as Christians, even in the midst of our sinfulness that breaks through more often than we would like, God continues to display his marvelous patience toward us. And his divine patience toward those not in Christ and those in Christ is meant to lead us to the same thing: repentance. Indeed, his patience and kindness is what should move us to repentance:

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4).

So even in Christ, God continues to show his marvelous patience toward us. Again, Shai Linne:

And now that we’re in Christ, the thing that is amazing to us
Is that You still continue to display Your patience to us
Through all our stumbles and falls and our idolatry
Through all our grumbling and all of our hypocrisy…

Though we are imperfect now, through Jesus by the power for the Holy Spirit, God patiently sanctifies and perfects us. And so we actively lean into that promise. Shai Linne continues:

…Oh Father, help us please! We truly need Your Holy Spirit!
He is the only Person who can shape this fruit within us
We praise the risen Savior who is able to present us
Without an ounce of blame, with zero doubt or shame
Lord Jesus, down You came from heaven to announce Your reign
In the hearts of Your people, and now we have the truth
And gladly choose to praise You for all of Your attributes
Who can record Your graces? Adored through scores of ages
Your reward is the nations, for You are the Lord of patience

God’s patience means your sanctification.

 

The Lord of Patience

How can God afford to be so patient toward us and still be the God of justice? God is inexhaustibly patient toward us because Jesus secured God’s patience for us by absorbing all of God’s righteous wrath on our behalf. The cross of Jesus makes God’s patience with us possible, and it should move us to avail ourselves of his patience and strive toward greater Christlikeness. We do not look at God’s patient kindness and think, “This means I have a license to sin.” This is the sure mark of impending judgment (Hebrews 10:26–29).  Rather, when behold God’s patience, we see nothing less than the cross of Christ. When we behold God’s patience in the cross of Christ, we are moved to come to him in repentance. And there in that place, in the face of our crucified, risen savior, we behold the glory of the LORD even more clearly than Moses. In the person of Jesus we see the Lord of patience.

[1] See Jason DeRouchie, Lecture 4 Exodus (Jason S. DeRouchie: 2022), https://jasonderouchie.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Lect-04-Exodus.pdf

[2] There is disagreement whether Romans 7:14–25 describes the pre-Christians life or the Christians life. I am persuaded that it describes the experience of Christian wrestling with sinful flesh at times. This doesn’t mean it describes the “totality of the Christian experience.” For a helpful discussion see Piper on this point at https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/does-romans-7-describe-a-christian

An Undesirable Blessing

In part of the July 23 sermon, we considered the strange blessing pronounced in Psalm 137:8-9:

O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!

We saw that God is bringing about justice – the Babylonians will suffer the same pains they inflicted on others, as prophesied in Isaiah’s oracle against Babylon written a century earlier (Isaiah 13:16-19).

We also saw that the use of the word “blessing” in Psalm 137 is the mirror image of the blessing given in Isaiah 30:18, “blessed are all those who wait for him.” The latter blessing is not immediate, but rather a promise of a future benefit after enduring God’s judgment on His disobedient people (see Isaiah 30:9-26). The mirror image in Psalm 137: A temporary blessing followed by eventual judgment. Those who do such terrible deeds against the Babylonians will be implementing justice and will benefit – but they too eventually will suffer just recompense for their atrocities.

We see this pattern in numerous places in Scripture. Let’s consider the example of the first three rulers of the northern Kingdom of Israel. Recall that after Solomon’s death, the kingdom splits. In the north, Jeroboam becomes king, fulfilling God’s prophecy:

I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. (1 Kings 11:37-38)

This is a blessing. Jeroboam reigns over Israel. He has power and majesty.

Yet Jeroboam does not walk in God’s ways, and so the blessing is temporary. God calls down judgment on the king, speaking through the prophet Ahijah:

Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David … but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back, therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone…. The LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam. (From 1 Kings 14:7-14)

The judgment comes after Jeroboam’s death. His son Nadab reigns in his place and follows in his father’s footsteps. Baasha assassinates Nadab, makes himself king, and then:

He killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. It was for the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and that he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel. (1 Kings 15:29-30)

So Baasha, like Jeroboam, executes God’s judgment and receives a temporary blessing – he has power and glory as king of Israel, reigning for 24 years. But he too does evil, so God pronounces the sentence of judgment on him and his house.

Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. (1 Kings 16:2-3)

God fulfills the prophecy. Baasha’s son Elah becomes king upon the death of his father, but has reigned only two years when Zimri, one of his army commanders, assassinates him and kills all males among his relatives and friends (1 Kings 16:11-13).

The pattern is obvious: A king turns his back on God. God raises up someone else to exercise judgment. This new king then is blessed with power and authority. Yet he turns his back on God, and the cycle continues.

1 Kings 16:7 speaks specifically of Baasha but highlights the nature of the cycle:

The word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it. (1 Kings 16:7, emphasis added)

So here we have the same type of “blessing” as in Psalm 137:8-9. Baasha is blessed in being God’s agent, implementing God’s justice against Jeroboam and Elah – but in implementing that justice he himself commits evil. God then calls on another agent, Zimri, to bring about judgment on Baasha. And Zimri too receives a blessing – for seven days! Then he himself receives the judgment (1 Kings 16:15-19).

Thus, not all blessings are desirable! We don’t want temporary blessings followed by eternal judgment! We want the eternal blessings that come to those “whose transgression is forgiven” (Psalm 32:1), “who take refuge in Him” (Psalm 2:12), “whose strength is in You” (Psalm 84:5), and who “are poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). We want those eternal blessings, even if we have to wait, trusting God through trials and judgments and persecutions before we receive them (Matthew 5:10-12). We want the eternal blessings of those who know Jesus, abide in Him, have saving faith in Him, and are being conformed to His likeness.

Therefore, set your hope fully not on any temporary blessing, but on “the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). That inheritance is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1 Peter 1:4). Loving Jesus though you do not now see Him, rejoice in Him “with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8). That’s the eternal blessing. May we all receive it.

 

Look at Christ to Look Like Christ

The Christian life is the Christlike life in the present. And the divinely ordained destiny of all Christians is Christlikeness.

 

Imitation Game

I’m sure you’re familiar with the saying, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” To imitate someone is to acknowledge their uniqueness, their superiority, their greatness, their beauty. Well, interestingly enough this familiar saying actually applies quite readily to the Christian life. Paul has this to say in 1 Corinthians 11:1,

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Notice Paul isn’t telling the Corinthians to imitate him because he himself is so great. No. Rather, he too is a fellow imitator. He is an imitator of Christ. Christ is the only one ultimately worth imitating. This theme pops up throughout Scripture.

I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church (1 Corinthians 4:16–17).

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:1–2).

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1:6).

For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews (1 Thessalonians 2:14).

 

The Christian Life is the Christlike Life

The Christian life is the Christlike life. As saints, we imitate Christ’s ways (1 Corinthians 4:16–17). We imitate Christ’s sacrificial love (Ephesians 5:1–2). We imitate Christ’s Holy Spirit empowered joy in the midst of affliction on account of the word (1 Thessalonians 1:6). We imitate Christ in our suffering (1 Thessalonians 2:14). Christlikeness is not merely peripheral to the Christian life. The Christian life is the Christlike life here and now, in the present. But Christlikeness is also in our future.

Christlikeness is the divine destiny for all saints. God predestined us to look like Christ.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29)

Through Christ we are conformed to the image of the Son (Romans 8:29). Through Christ we become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Through Christ we are being transformed into the same image of him (2 Corinthians 3:17–18). Through Christ we are being renewed in knowledge after his image (Colossians 3:10; cf. 1:15). Indeed, through Christ, we will be like Christ (1 John 3:2–3).

 

How Do We Look Like Christ?

This is a wonderful promise, but how do we take hold of it? How do we do this? How do we live in such a way now that we imitate Christ—that we look like Christ? Where do we start? Not surprisingly, we start by looking at Jesus.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18)

We are transformed by beholding the glory of the Lord. Where do we look to behold this glory?

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6)

We look at Jesus. That’s how we start. We can only imitate Jesus if we are looking at Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth is the supreme revelation God has given us of himself. Well, where do we see him? In at least two places to start: (1) in Scripture and (2) in the lives of fellow, more mature saints.

 

See Jesus in the Bible

First, we see Jesus supremely in Scripture by the power of the Holy Spirit. All of the OT prophesied, pointed to, and anticipated him. And all of the NT reveals how Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled in this age and will fulfill in the age to come all of God’s promises to his people (Luke 24:27; 44–45; Revelation 22:12, 16, 20). The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the truth of Christ if we will look. We see Jesus by the Holy Spirit revealing him to us supremely in the Scriptures and testifying of him to our hearts (John 15:26). Read of Jesus in the Scriptures. See him, and imitate him.

 

See Jesus in Seasoned Saints

Second, we see Jesus when we look at fellow believers who are further down the winding road of our great pilgrimage. Here, we’re back where we started in this article. Paul issued this very instruction to fellow believers, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Similarly, the author of Hebrews says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:1). Even here, the author of Hebrews runs back up the chain of faith to Jesus himself, who never changes, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

This means we can look at the lives of past saints and living saints to see Jesus. Find a saint of old, perhaps an early church father, a reformation era theologian, or a modern Christian who has passed on to glory, and spend time with them. Read their works. Find their sermons. Read their biographies. But don’t just find a saint of old. Find a living saint. Find one who isn’t far, but close. Your local church where you are a member is the ideal place. Spend time with them. Talk with them. Listen to them. Consider their way of life and imitate their faith. Look at saints of old and present. See Jesus through their lives, and imitate them.

 

Look at Christ to Look Like Christ

Looking at Christ—this is how we run this great endurance race (Hebrews 12:2). And by looking at Christ, we will look like Christ. In this present earthly life we will look like Christ imperfectly. But this is really preparation and practice for the eternal life that awaits when we will look like him perfectly. Because this is our foreordained destiny as saints, to look like Jesus (Romans 8:29). And it may not surprise you at this point to learn that what will finally bring about our perfect image-bearing of Jesus is our seeing and looking at him when he returns.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2)

We look at Jesus to imitate and look like him now. And we do this in the knowledge and unwavering hope of this promise: We will see him as he is. And when we do, we will look like him.

Look at Christ to look like Christ.