Part One - Notes from a recent sermon on Revelation 19:7-9 and Matthew 22:1-14 entitled: "God's RSVP"

Introduction: 

       In today's post I want to share notes from a current sermon I'm preaching from the book of Revelation. My main text is Revelation 19:7-10 (with emphasis on 19:7-9). Revelation 19:7-9 is what I refer to as "God's RSVP". We all know God is working even in this time of a worldwide pandemic. His invitation to sinners to respond by faith to His gracious call is ongoing even at this time. In the passage, we find these words as follows:

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."

     As I began studying this passage, I realized that John is showing us a vision of a completed process. The Bride in the vision (i.e. "The Church") is portrayed as having completed her journey with God in sanctification. She is viewed as composed of individual believers whom received glorified, resurrected bodies and which are free from sin in Heaven. 

     

        What I began to ask myself was this: what all brings believers to the point of what will transpire in Revelation 19:7-9? More importantly: why is John putting this forth as an invitation for people to respond in faith to the Gospel in this present age? Such questions prompted me to begin tracing what I call "the wedding theme" through the entire Bible. What follows in this post (and the next post) entails the process of preparation in thinking through the scriptures for this sermon. I hope too that readers will find their appetites whetted for God's Word and for Jesus' soon return. 

         To begin this first sermon (which will likely be the first in three overall sermons), I can recall the wedding invitation Debi and I had nearly 24 years ago. An RSVP was included. I had always wondered what "RSVP" meant? "RSVP" derives from a French expression, "répondez s’il vous plaît", for "please reply". 

       For me, reflecting back on our preparation (let me correctly say, my wife's preparations!) caused me to see how God always issues a "RSVP" to fallen sinners - whether Israel in the Old Testament or sinners scattered among the nations today. I can remember as the time approached, we were wondering why not everyone on our list had responded. It was an invitation. We don’t know why everyone didn’t “RSVP”. 

       

        Revelation 19:7-10 issues a Divine RSVP (it is worth reading Revelation 19:7-9 to hear the words of God's invitation). After having read this marvelous text, what I want us to do is slingshot over to Matthew 22:1-14, where we will camp in the remainder of today's sermon. As we will spend the remainder of our time in Matthew 22:1-14, we will begin to consider how God is calling forth sinners to become part of the Bride of Christ – the church. As we will discover, when God issues a RSVP for salvation, none are interested. His gracious working, by the Spirit, is required for anyone to respond (more on that later). 

              Now, why this focus upon the "wedding theme"? Well, this theme of “the marriage between God and His people” provides a lens to better understand Biblical salvation as presented throughout scripture. In this message, we will look at how God prepared history for the arrival of His Son – the Bridegroom, and how the Lord Jesus is now calling sinners to become part of His bride – the church. The relevance of this message is in how you and I need to respond to this Divine RSVP. 

      What I want to see happen in this message is a connection between the whole Bible to that of Revelation 19:7-9. In the second message, I plan on detailing how God is preparing the believer for what will be that glorious meeting with the Bridegroom - the Lord Jesus Christ - spoken of in Revelation 19:7-9. Then in the third sermon, we will focus particularly on Revelation 19:7-9 to culminate the grand vision of the wedding theme as intended by God in His Word.

 

1. God called a people that would reject Him. “God’s RSVP” to Israel, O.T. Matthew 22:1-7

a. God’s calling began. 

       God's invitation to sinners and His desire to have a redeemed people began in the Book of Genesis. The Old Testament uses the metaphor of marriage as signifying a marriage-of-sorts between Yahweh and Israel. The Bible often uses metaphorical language to depict God's adaptation of the revelation of Himself to His people's understanding. Metaphor as a vehicle of communication doesn't make what He reveals any less true. 

       As I had one professor explain to me years ago, a metaphor is an "implied comparison" between two unlike things. The intended affect of metaphor helps us to connect to what is true about God. If I say for instance: "it is raining cats and dogs", you would know I'm speaking metaphorically (afterall, we don't see poodles and kittens on weather maps!) The affect of my figurative way of speaking would bring about the affect in you that, "indeed, it is raining a bunch!) God does this often too, since we are finite people. 

      There are those instances, of course, when God makes known direct statements about Himself (such as He being "all-knowing" in Psalm 139). Now I likely won't cover these thoughts in the sermon, however, it helps me to think through why God would reveal marriage in the first place - because the institution tells us something true about His love and devotion to His people. Whichever mode God communicates, the idea of metaphorical language is to convey God's desire for relationship with those whom He calls to Himself. This idea of God making a covenant with His chosen people to redeem them and commission them to be a light to the nations is a major point of the O.T. 

      God’s ordaining of marriage in Genesis 2 set the tone for this wondrous metaphor. Literal marriage’s intent is to picture what is spiritually the case between God and His people. Later, We see His calling of Abraham in Genesis 12. It would be in Genesis 24 that Abraham would send his servant to fetch a bride for his son of promise, Isaac. Now at this point I won't spend too much time on the details we find in Genesis, only to say that the "marriage theme" sets the stage for God's formal covenantal arrangement with Israel at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19-20.

b. God’s calling reissued. 

        In the sermon, we will turn to Jesus' marvelous summation of the Old Testament account of God's dealings with Israel as a husband with his wife. Spans of centuries are passed over in the first three verses of Matthew 22. Per Jesus in Matthew 22:1-3, we find God sending his first group of servants or slaves to His people Israel, which derived from Abraham and the patriarchs. Servants (i.e. prophets), such as Moses and Samuel, we could classify in that first group. They were rejected and thus, God was rejected as Israel’s King. We could say Jesus' recounting would cover the contents of the Old Testament from Exodus to 1 Samuel.

c. God’s calling, final notice. 

      Per Jesus again in Matthew 22:4-6, we see God sending a second group of servants (David, Elijah, Major and Minor Prophets). They too were rejected. The attempts of Yahweh to convince Israel to remain loyal to Him is metaphorically a husband trying to convince his increasingly estranged wife to come back to him. God's love ever extends to fallen sinners, captured within the small picture of what was going on in Israel throughout the remainder of the Old Testament revelation.

d. God’s covenant broken, promise of restoration. 

       Per Jesus again in Matthew 22:7, God would send first, the Assyrians in 722 b.c. and then, the Babylonians, beginning in 605 b.c., to exile the people (respectively the Northern Kingdom of Israel and then Southern Kingdom of Judah). The one feature of the "marriage theme" that some may find shocking is that Yahweh would experience the pain of divorce. God was metaphorically pictured in the O.T. as having issued a Bill of Divorce to Israel for her unfaithfulness (Isaiah 50:1). 

       Per Hosea 2, this metaphor of God as a husband and Israel as His wife is featured (one of several spots in the O.T. prophets). Why the Divorce? Israel had broken covenant. However, God would then issue prophecies and promises of Israel’s restoration. Yahweh’s wife, Israel, will be restored to Him in the earthly reign of Messiah. God says at the end of Hosea 2:23 “And I will say to those who were not my people, Your are my people! And they will say, “You are my God!”. The O.T. states what will take place (Israel’s restoration). It even hints at the nations somehow having involvement. However, it does not say “how” (part two of this sermon will cover the New Testament's teaching on the church, which will explain the "how", in the next post).

      God never ceases extending His invitation to fallen man – the O.T. gives us an example in the heart of the Father. If one can keep in mind that the Old Testament is summed-up as "God's initial calling"; "God's calling reissued"; "God's calling - final notice" and "God's covenant broken and promise of restoration", then the general purpose of the Old Testament to New Testament truth should come into view.

More next time....

A Bird's-eye View of the Bible - The theme of humiliation and why Jesus underwent humiliation for our sakes

Introduction:

    In our last post on our series "Bird's Eye View of the Bible", we looked at four reasons why Jesus, the Son of God, came to become also truly man for us: 

1. To provide righteousness by His 

    perfect obedience.

2. To provide redemption by His death 

    on the cross.

3. To raise from the dead.

4. To ascend and inaugurate His royal 

    reign in Heaven. 

    For anyone wanting to review the last post for this series, simply click here: http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/05/birds-eye-view-of-bible-why-incarnation.html

     The point of this series is to explore the Bible through major themes. As to our study through the New Testament, we've looked at what we identified as the first major theme of the New Testament: "incarnation". Today we continue onto a theme which describes what it was that the Son experienced in His descent from Heaven to Earth - "humiliation". 

        I'm sure none of us want humiliation. We all prefer people to like us. Almost everyone I know, including myself, avoids humiliation in preference to having a better view of themselves or having others look at them in a positive way. Yet, whenever we observe what Jesus did for us by humbling Himself, as truly God, to also be a true human 

being, what He did was humiliating. 

     Why did Holy God lower Himself not only to experience life as a man, but to live a human life in a sinful world that would mock Him, doubt Him and crucify Him? The journey of the Son of God from the glories of Heaven to the sinfulness of this world is worth a closer look. Let's consider some reasons for Jesus' humiliation, or, why He as God came to be man.

1. The humiliation of the Son of God 

    tells us how much He humbled 

    Himself to be our Savior.

    

       Philippians 2:5-11 is the key Bible chapter we look to when understanding the journey Jesus took in coming to be a true man while still remaining God. We call this journey of the incarnation the Son's "humiliation". The above depiction of this journey of "humiliation" was first viewed by me in the ESV Study Bible years ago. Other authors and Study Bibles have used similar illustrations to aid in grasping this overall experience of the Son of God from "humiliation" to what will be a later theme to explore in this study, namely "exaltation". 

        Philippians 2:5-6 tells us, in summary, that Jesus did not consider being equal with the Father as a privilege He ought to keep hold of in a selfish way, but instead, He humbled himself, being found as a man, as a lowly servant. In other words, the eternal Son willingly came to be the man, Jesus Christ, still remained truly God while withholding from Himself the advantages that come with being also God. A case in point is when Jesus states in Matthew 24:36 that no one knows the day nor the hour of His return - including Himself. If we understand that Jesus is speaking with reference to His own self-imposed limitation of access to that area of His omniscience as a man, we then can grasp how it was He yielded Himself to the Father's will (recalling all the while He never ceased being omniscient as truly God).

      Anytime someone lowers themselves to give help to those in need, we describe such an act as being "humble". I recall once seeing the pastor of a rather large church grabbing a mop to clean up a spill left by a child. The Pastor could had asked one of his assistants or a church member to do the mopping. Instead, the Pastor rolled up his sleeves and got the job done. He didn't stop being the Pastor of that church. In fact, he then went in to preach a great sermon before a crowd of many. Our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world saying these words: "I have come to do your will, God, as it is recorded of me in the Book" (Hebrews 10:4-5).

2. Jesus humbled Himself to be our  

    example.

       We read of Jesus humiliation once again in Philippians 2:7 - "but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men." Why did Jesus come to be a human being like you and me? Jesus came not only to save us from our sins, but also to restore back our humanity that was greatly harmed by our sins. Jesus is our example of what it looks like whenever any follower of His trusts God in faith, obedience and courage to the end. We read in 1 John 2:6 - "the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." Elsewhere, the Apostle Peter reminds us that Jesus came as a sinless man to serve as our example, so that we could walk in the way he followed after God (1 Peter 2:21-22). The amazing truth about Jesus humbling Himself to experience what it was like to be a man was that He did so willingly (Hebrews 10:4-5).

3. Jesus humbled himself to be a 

    man to represent sinners on the 

    cross.

    

     When Jesus died on the cross, a number of results were acheived, among them: 

A. Removal of the curse.

B. Forgiveness of sins.

C. Reconciliation or bringing sinners to 

    God.

       Whenever Jesus came into this world, the experience of living life as a man would had more than demonstrated His humility. If all that was needed for Jesus to forgive sin was the bleeding of His blood, then He could had come on a weekend, pricked His finger with a needle, and went back to Heaven. The problem would had been of course that the curse of sin would still had remained, meaning no provision of salvation. Jesus' humbling of Himself as a man included going to the cross, since scripture tells us that His dying on the cross meant taking away the curse of sin (Deuteronomy 21:33; Galatians 3:10-13).

4. Jesus humbled Himself to become the second Adam to give access to the benefits of salvation.

  

     We have looked in past lessons at how the original Adam represented all human beings in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned, it resulted in all human beings being judged as sinners (see Romans 5:12-21). Jesus' humbling of himself to become a man functioned as a second type of Adam, a new Adam.  He lived such a perfect life as to fulfill the original covenant of works broken by the first Adam which we saw at the beginning of this study (see Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:45-47). The original Adam brought about death and a curse on all human beings. Jesus came to be cursed on the cross and make forgiveness available to all who receive Him by faith (Gal. 3:10-13). 

        We can also see how the cross resulted in providing forgiveness of sins. He provided the right to be with God due to Himself being the perfect man, meaning, all humans who trust in Him by faith inherit salvation on forgiveness of sins (Romans 3:25-26). We understand from the Old Testament that only God can forgive sins (that is, grant salvation to all who trust in Him, Isaiah 43:10; Jonah 3:9). For God to forgive sinners, there must be payment given to God by the giving of an innocent life on behalf of the sinner. We've talked about this in a past lesson, calling Jesus' payment to provide forgiveness of sins "redemption". 

       Lastly, Jesus' humiliation on the cross meant that the ability for God and believing sinners to be together could really take place (1 Peter 3:18). One of the descriptions the New Testament gives of everyone born into this world is that they are "lost", meaning they are separated from God and His enemies (Ephesians 2:1-3, 12). The moment we trust in Jesus results in us being brought into a relationship with God - or what the Bible calls, "reconciled" (2 Corinthians 5:15-20).

       Jesus certainly went through a lot of stuff to accomplish our salvation. Thankfully, there is more beyond the state of humiliation, which is what we will look at in the next theme.

National Day of Prayer May 7, 2020 Devotional - "When God Has You In A Holding Pattern"

Introduction: Recalling a holding-pattern

        I can recall one vacation several years ago in which we had went to visit some family. After saying our goodbyes, we proceeded to drive the ten-minute journey to the major interstate highway that would take us home. As soon as we got onto the on-ramp, we found ourselves in a traffic jam that stretched for miles. For two hours we were in a holding pattern – not moving an inch. Admittedly, we all were getting anxious, wondering what the “hold-up” was. We heard overhead helicopters, saw flashing lights – but nothing more. Gradually we began to move. We would later hear that an armed gunman had aimed shots at another motorist over a road-rage situation. The state troopers had to shut down traffic to address the situation and ensure everyone’s safety. Holding patterns are never enjoyable. Oftentimes, a holding-pattern is never understood due to not having the far- bigger picture.  

        As we approach this National Day of Prayer for 2020, we come upon what is perhaps one the most unique National Day of Prayer in its 69 year history. Never in the history of any National Day of Prayer has there been a worldwide pandemic that has affected people's lives to the scope of COVID-19. As we approach this situation in prayer to God, having a time in which Christians can come together to pray is the most appropriate response we can give. We are all in a holding pattern. I recently heard a well-known pastor remind his listeners to not waste this time of solitude. 

Meet a prophet who was in a holding-pattern        
           
        As we turn our attention to the prophet Habakkuk, we find a prophet who is wrestling and trying to comprehend exactly what is going on in his world. He sees around him a people who have fallen into moral and spiritual decline. I heard a preacher once describe Habakkuk’s situation in this way:

“Habakkuk is like a wrestler grappling with the problem of evil who becomes a watcher, waiting on his God to act. This watcher, by the end of His prophecy, becomes a worshipper who praises God for granting him strength and faith to trust him.” 
      
       I often refer to Habakkuk as the “Job” of the prophets. Much like Job in the Old Testament, Habakkuk did as his name signifies - he “clung”. He clung tightly to God while experiencing internal turmoil from all the circumstances that he saw around him. Chapter 2 of his prophecy finds Habakkuk put into a holding pattern – which I suspect all of us find ourselves today. Listen to what is described in Habakkuk 2:1-4

I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved. 2 Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run. 3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay. 4 “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith. 

       You can see this in the first three verses. My question to you and me this day is this: what do we do when God places us in a holding pattern? There is no question in my mind that we are in such a circumstance. What we need is a word from God as to how we can not only function from day to day in this current situation, but more importantly, what we will do in the wake of this predicament. I find in this second chapter three marvelous truths that give us handles with which we can grab onto as we exercise faithfulness to God during our holding pattern. 

1. The Power of the Gospel. Habakkuk 2:4.
      
         Let me point to you first the power of the gospel we find this in Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4 which reads: “Behold as for the proud one his soul is not right within him but the righteous will live by his faith.” The latter part of verse four is found three times in the New Testament. The first reference is in Romans 1:17 where Paul writes: “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith." The second place we find this verse is in Galatians 3:11 “Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” And then the final time we find Habakkuk 2:4 quoted in the New Testament is in Hebrews 10:38 which reads: "But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him." 
All three of these New Testament verses underscore our need for the Power of the Gospel.
            Now to understand a little bit further the message of Habakkuk, we need to consider the background of this prophecy. Habakkuk ministered during the time in which the southern Kingdom of Judah and its capitol Jerusalem in moral and spiritual decline. The year was 620 b.c, and the people were 15 years away from being conquered by the Babylonian empire for the purpose of captivity and exile. The only bright spot that shone during this time was a godly king by the name of “Josiah” (you can read about King Josiah’s reign and the background of Habakkuk in 2 Kings chapters 22-23). 

       The reason I point your attention to King Josiah is because he literally embodied what we find here in Habakkuk 2:4, namely, he as a righteous man lived by faith in God.  King Josiah clung to the power of the Gospel. God's grace affected him to trust the LORD as a young lad. As a grown man, leading a nation amidst difficult circumstances, the king would lead his people in a revival and renewal. 

      Josiah’s example provides a picture of what it looks like when we “walk by faith, and not by sight” (see 2 Corinthians 5:7). Moreover, Josiah is in the biological bloodline that would lead to the bringing about of the humanity of Jesus as the incarnated Son of God. Such a life that “lives by faith” is like a neon sign, pointing to Christ. When we find then that when we are in a difficult holding pattern like we are now, we must cling onto the power of the gospel. But let me point your attention to a second truth that helps us to get through holding patterns such as this and that is…..

2. The promise of God's glory. Habakkuk 2:14

       We find these words in Habakkuk chapter 2:14 - which reads: “For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Now mind you, when Habakkuk was writing these words, God was actually delivering to him what would be a scathing judgment against the Babylonians whom he was going to send to judge the Southern Kingdom of Judah and its city, Jerusalem. It seemed as if the future was nothing but a hopeless and helpless mess. Yet, God gave this promise that the day would come when the entire earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. We come to the New Testament and we find such statements like this in many spots. For example, we read in 1 John 3:1 – 

"See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. (2) Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is."

      And then the Apostle John writes in 1 John 3:3 – “And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." It is our hope in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ that sustains us in the here and now as we look forward to his coming in the sweet by and by. When we are going through any valley of shadow and darkness, the only place to which we can look is up (see Psalm 121). Surrounding such a shadowy valley are the mountains over which shines the coming glory of God. It is when such light begins to illuminate the sky that we find our ability to trek through such spiritual valleys, supernaturally enabled by God (see 1 Corinthians 3:16).  So whenever we find ourselves in a holding pattern we look to the power of the gospel and the promise of God's glory but let me point out to you one more truth that we find in Habakkuk 2, and that is….

3. The present awareness of God's activity. Habakkuk 2:20

     In Habakkuk 2:20 we read - "but the Lord is in his holy temple let all the earth be silent before him." There is something about waiting on God and seeing what he is going to do that causes us to collect our thoughts and our faith which may very well had been shattered into a million pieces. We read in Isaiah 40:30-31 –

"Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, (31) Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."

      There is something about waiting on God and being still that causes us to get refocused on him. There is a wonderful book of written prayers by a group of late sixteenth and seventeenth century Christians called: “The Valley of Vision”. In one of those recorded prayers, we find an excerpt which expresses to God how we can cope through difficulty by gaining awareness of God through silence: 

"I bless thee that the court of conscience proves me to be thine.
I do not need signs and wonders to believe, for thy Word is sure truth.
I have cast my anchor in the port of peace, knowing that present and future
are in nail-pierced hands."

The prayer continues....

"Thou art so good, wise, just holy,
that no mistake is possible to thee.
Thou art fountain and source of all law;
what thou commandest is mine to obey.
I yield to thy sovereignty all that I am and have; do thou with me as thou wilt.
Thou hast given me silence in my heart
in place of murmurings and complaints.
Keep my wishes from growing into willings, my willings from becoming fault-finding with thy providences,
and have mercy on me."

      As Isaiah 26:3 reminds us (as we find it in the KJV) – “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” 

Closing thoughts

      Thus, as we look to the power of the gospel, the promise of his glory as well as increasing our awareness of his presence, we will find strength while we are in our holding pattern.

Bird's-eye view of Bible - Why the incarnation is important for you today - Jesus raised from the dead, ascended into Heaven and is coming again

Introduction:

        Whenever we come to the New Testament, we see the following truths about God:

1. God is One God and three "Who's", a Unity of Deity in Three Persons - i.e. a "Trinity". Each "Who" or "Person" of the Trinity is truly God and identified as Father, Son and Spirit. 

2. The doctrine of the Trinity is composed of three main truths: 

a. God is "One God", who is first revealed as "the Father" in the redemptive work of God to Israel. 
    
b. Second, the Son, revealing Himself in the flesh as the historical Jesus, is the decisive revelation of God in history who, as truly God, came to be truly man for us. Jesus' miraculous birth, fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, miracles, substitutionary death, resurrection from the dead and ascension all affirm Him as truly God, equal with the Father and Holy Spirit. As we read Jesus' self-described Divine actions, titles and abilities, as well as His claims of being "One" with the Father, we see the Deity of Christ as the second great truth comprising the Trinity. 

c. The third truth comprising the doctrine of the Trinity is that of the 
Personality of the Spirit, who is also truly God as much as the Son and the Father with the same perfections that come with being God.

      I mention the above truths recorded in the New Testament so as to understand how Jesus' incarnation is situated within the Biblical doctrine of God generally and revelation of the Son specifically. The incarnation of the Son of God was discussed in a prior post in this series that I wrote a number of weeks of go and is found in the link here: http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/04/birds-eye-view-of-bible-why-incarnation.html    

What is meant by "incarnation".

      To understand what is meant by the term "incarnation", we can look at the introduction or "Prologue" to John's Gospel. John 1:1 begins by distinguishing the Person of the Son (called by the title "The Word") dwelling in eternity with the Father (called by the general title of deity: "God") as seen in the first part of the verse: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God". Next we see the Word distinguished from another Divine Person whom we know is the Father but is called "God": "and the Word was with God". 

       When we go down to John 1:14, we discover that the Word (that is, the Divine Person of the Son) entered into our world to live life as a man: "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The eternal Word or Son came to be "incarnated" or "in the flesh". Put another way, the Son, having always existed as truly God, came to express Himself a second way by becoming truly man, while still remaining truly God. 

Why the incarnation of the Son of God?

       Having defined the event of Christ's incarnation, we are reminded of two reasons why the Son of God came to be man that we looked at in the prior post of this particular series (see the link above). 

      The first reason why the incarnation is so important was for Jesus to provide righteousness (that is, so that God could count those who receive Jesus by faith as right with Him). The second reason for the incarnation was so that Son of God could, by His death on the cross, redeem us for the forgiveness of sins (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10; 1 Peter 3:18). What follows are two other reasons why the incarnation of the Son of God is vital for our understanding today. 

The third reason the incarnation is important is so that Jesus could raise from the dead.

                What if Jesus had remained dead after his death on the cross? If Jesus had remained in His tomb, then everything we just said about His incarnation would mean nothing. Jesus' resurrection from the dead proved that all He achieved worked in living His perfect human life and death for sinners. 

       Jesus' resurrection could only take place if He first died on the cross. In order for Jesus to qualify as the perfect sacrifice for sinners on the cross, He himself had to live a sinless human life. For Jesus, to live a perfect human life meant He, as truly God, had to have His humanity conceived in the the Virgin Mary's womb. The uniting of a truly human nature to the Person of the Son who already possessed (and remained so) to retain a truly Divine nature, is what is called "the hypostatic union". Quite literally, the uniting together of a "truly divine nature" and "truly human nature" in One Person, the Son, is the result of the miracle of the incarnation. 

        As man, He could die and be raised. As God, all He achieved would have infinite value. Because Jesus raised from the dead, all who receive Him by faith are counted as being right with God (Romans 4:25) and forgiven of their sins (1 Corinthians 15:20). 

The final reason the incarnation is important is so that Jesus can reign as King in Heaven.

                We have considered three main reasons why the incarnation is so important, so that the Son of God could provide: 

1. Righteousness, that is, the right to 
    be in God's presence.

2. Redemption, which is to say, 
    forgiveness of sins and.....

3. Resurrection, so He could raise from 
    the dead. 

      What did Jesus do after He raised from the dead? We know from the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) that Jesus appeared on a dozen occasions to groups and individuals, to believers and those who had yet to believe that He had risen. After forty days, Jesus had His disciples gather outside of Jerusalem for them to witness His going up into Heaven (Acts 1:11). Jesus' "going up" is what we call His ascension, meaning He inaugurated His reign the true King of the church at the right hand of the Father. 

       Jesus retained His physical humanity and revealed in heaven, once again, what He had always been and ever will be: truly God. Now He reigns as the God-man, praying for believers and ready to return to earth to rescue His people and judge the world (1 Thessalonains 4:13-18; Acts 17:31). This theme of "incarnation" is vital for understanding the New Testament, the Christian life and salvation.

Five spiritual resources to get you through any crisis or situation

Introduction:

      The other morning I was meditating on spiritual resources which enable the Christian to get through any difficult time. As all of us are experiencing the ripple effects of COVID-19, I'm sure we wonder how we will fare? Furthermore, as we emerge out from underneath this time, and face a whole new way of living life amidst what are bound to be sweeping changes, how can the Christian effectively navigate through such choppy waters? Below I offer five truths that God provides for spiritual and emotional strength through this time and, really any situation we may face in the future.

1. Sovereignty of God.

      What is God's sovereignty? Divine Sovereignty is that perfection in which God has the unlimited right to be God over all He has created. The sovereignty of God is crisply expressed by Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper, where he said in effect that there is not one square inch of all creation where Jesus does not say: "mine". King David wrote in Psalm 103:19 perhaps the clearest words about God's sovereignty anywhere in God's Word, the Bible -

"The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. 20 Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! 21 Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you who serve Him, doing His will. 22 Bless the Lord, all you works of His, in all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!"

Some additional passages which affirm God's ultimate right of dominion over the events of our world are Genesis 50:20; Acts 2:23-24; 14:17; Romans 8:28 and Romans 11:36. 

       Why is Sovereignty such a strengthening truth? To know that God is on the throne and that there is nothing random or meaningless means there is a purpose to everything - even when we cannot see it in the short-term. I heard author Charles Swindoll once note in a sermon something to this effect:

"Although I may not be able to comprehend all that is in God's Sovereignty, yet because of His Sovereignty I find great comfort and peace".

       God's exercise of His Sovereignty in our world is called His "Providence", meaning, He directs the course of all things, and uses both good and evil to accomplish His greatest good. Providence, simply put, is where God's "right-to-reign" becomes "the exercise of His reign in the maintaining of our world". Although God is not the author of evil and suffering, His plan included it. He works His will through the secondary agency of human choices and the secondary instrumentality of the laws of nature, history and events. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 expresses this point of God's providence:

"God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise."

      God chose to create a world that included, in His plans, the Fall of man and the Crucifixion. The inclusion of the crucifixion of Jesus and permission of the Fall of man points us to God's morally sufficient grounds for using both to achieve His most-wise ends. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith in Modern English notes about Divine Providence in matters such as COVID-19 (notice the underlined words) - 

"All things come to pass unchangeably and certainly in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, who is the first cause. Thus, nothing happens to anyone by chance or outside of God’s providence. Yet by the same providence God arranges all things to occur according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or in response to other causes."

2. The Savior - Jesus Christ

       When Jesus came into our world to live, suffer, die and raise from the dead, He came as the Savior of the world and His church (Acts 20:28; 1 Timothy 2:2; 4:10; 2 Peter 3:9). We read in Acts 4:27-28 a prayer the early Christians expressed that had a strong view of God's Sovereignty and focus on the Savior - Jesus Christ:

"For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. 29 And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence."

       As the early church was undergoing increased pressure, they found spiritual and emotional resources in the mission and majesty of Jesus Christ. The writer in Hebrews 13:8 reminds us of about Jesus as unchanging, with respect to His Divine nature, whenever we consider our rapidly changing world: 

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever".

One other quote from the inspired Book of Hebrews about the Savior, Jesus Christ, captures His empathy which He experienced as truly man for us in Hebrews 4:15-16 - 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - ESV

I love that particular text of scripture, since there is an invitation to come to the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer whenever we're in need of help. The last line of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 article on "God the Son" reminds us:

"He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord."

Other New Testament passages such as Hebrews 12:1-3 direct the Christian to focus on Jesus when facing hardship (also consider 1 Peter 2:21-22; 1 John 2:6). 

3. The Scriptures.

     In addition to God's Sovereignty and the Savior, the third life-sustaining truth for Christians to remember when facing situations such as COVID-19 or other times is the Word of God - i.e. "the Scriptures". The term "scripture" derives from the Latin "scriptura" and means "that which is written". The Bible is God's Divinely written, inspired, inerrant words as originally given to the prophets and apostles. Psalm 119:105 reminds us in these dark times:

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

Romans 15:4 gives us this life-practical reminder of why we need the Bible in times such as these: 

"For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."

Readers can also turn to the following Biblical passages about the necessity and sufficiency of scripture in difficult times (Psalm 19:7-14; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21).

4. The Spirit of God.

       For the Christian, having God's presence directly active in their life ought to give great comfort in a time such as this, which is why Jesus promised the sending of the Holy Spirit upon His ascension into Heaven (see John 14:16-17; 14:26; 15:26-27; 16:7-11). 

       The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity, meaning, He brings to us the direct presence and power of God as God. Put another way, I sometimes refer to the Holy Spirit as the "Ambassador of the Trinity", since it is He Who makes available to the Christian access to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Heavenly Father (see Romans 8:14-16; Galatians 4:6; Colossians 1:27; Hebrews 4:15-16). The presence of the Holy Spirit in the Christian means that God is literally with every believer, and that there is no chance of having to face any crisis alone apart from God (see 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19-20).

5. Certainty of God's promises.

      I've read over the years that various authors estimate some 8,000 promises from God to the Christian.      What promises can we turn to when facing difficult times? Let me mention a few examples. Whenever you are trying to discern God's will for future employment, your family or your current situation, Proverbs 3:5-6 gives this counsel:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

       What about knowing how to pray whenever you feel overwhelmed? How can you cope with overwhelming burdens such as bills and health? The Apostle Paul gives us this prescriptive promise in Philippians 4:6-7 - 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

     Then of course the impulse we all feel to get out of our homes and go "do something". For others, the current "holding-pattern" is nerve-racking, especially whenever one feels the urgency to get back to work or somehow try to transcend a situation in which they have no control. The promise we find in Isaiah 40:30-31 is timely - 

"Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

Closing thoughts:

      We've considered five truths to get us through any situation: God's Sovereignty; the Savior - Jesus Christ; The Scriptures; The Spirit of God and the certainty of God's promises. I've found in over thirty years of Christian living that these five spiritual resources enable endurance through any and every situation. May the Lord strengthen you dear reader as you look to Him. 

That's A Good Question! How can an unchanging God change His mind? More on God's emotional life.

Introduction:

     In the last post we began to look at God's emotional life here: http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/04/thats-good-question-answering-recent.html. Recently, I had received a question about this topic in a Sunday night live Q&A service (in which we live streamed and received questions from viewers). I began to deal with how God's emotional-life differs from our emotional life. In this post, I continue on with the response I gave to this question, focusing on the seemingly perplexing issue of how an unchanging God is described as "changing His mind" or emotions. For those interested in watching the video segment to which this question is related, you can click on the link here to our church's You Tube channel that features the "Q&A service" from April 5, 2020 and forward to time segment 30:15-43:30 in which the question is addressed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbH84ZEGlR0&t=2607s

So what does the Bible mean when it says "God changed His mind", even though it elsewhere describes God as unchanging?

Answer:

1. Scripture does present God as unchanging in terms of His being while seemingly "changing His mind".

     "Scripture says that on several occasions (for instance in the book of Jonah), that Jonah is talking to God in chapter three of His prophecy. Jonah said something to the effect: "I knew that you were a God who would change your mind".  What had happened, Jonah had been told by God to proclaim throughout the city of Nineveh in three days God was going to judge them. Then, the King of Nineveh decreed a time of repentance where everyone was to dress in sackcloth and sit on ashes (a customary ancient form of mourning) and cry out to God for repentance. It says in the book of Jonah that "God changed his mind".  So, some people have asked: "well, how can that be the case?" We read, for instance, in Numbers 23:19 

"God is not a man that he should change his mind nor son of man that he should repent". 

      Yet, there in the book of Jonah, we see God changing his mind.  Although God is by nature unchanging (what theologians call "immutable"), we see instances in scripture where we see him described as changing his mind that is referring to God from the standpoint of the creatures. What is going on then? 

2. God, in Scripture, uses two different methods of expressing His nature and identity.

      Scripture talks of God in two ways. There are those verses that speaks of God as He is in and of Himself - namely, He's unchanging. Then, there are those verses in which God adapts the revelation of Himself in forms of figurative language to bridge understanding to His people (older writers liken this to a parent speaking baby-talk to their child).

      As to the first sort of way scripture refers to God, we turn to James 1:17, which says - 

"every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of heavenly lights with whom there is no variation nor shifting of shadow." 

      So, with respect to God from God's perspective, there is no change within Him. His emotions are constant. They are "always-on", so-to-speak. God's emotional life is unvarying. 

      To illustrate, whenever I was a child, my mom or dad would take me to do errands or go on a trip. They would tell me at the beginning of the trip - "we're going to the store" or "we're going to Grandma's house". As to their plan and point of view, there was nothing different to alter that plan. They told me what was happening. They were the same mom and dad to me. As a principle of perspective and truth - my mom and dad kept the same unvarying plan and course. 

              But with respect to our finite perspective, as we experience and interact with God from our point of view, it seems as if God does change his mind. Romans 2:4 says this: 

"do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience, knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance". 

      So, we understand that it is God's intention to change people and to change their lives. So whenever we read in scripture those places where God is described as "changing his mind", that is, figurative language used in scripture to ascribe changeable human-like emotions to God (called "anthropopathism", or "human-like emotions"). God does this in revealing Himself  by adapting the revelation of Himself to people so that they can relate to Him. 

       If we go back to my illustration of my parents and myself as a child on a trip, my parents could make several stops along the way to our intended destination. In my child-like understanding, I wondered why my parents "changed their minds" about our trip. Sometimes they would explain to me in words I could grasp why we were making this stop or that stop (and sometimes they would say "trust me"). 

       As a child, it was hard for me to grasp they're overall intentions, yet, they had never ultimately changed in their intentions nor as my parents in the illustration of the journey. If anything, such interactions demonstrated I was the one who was changing: learning to trust them or growing in contentment. As to my vantage point, my parents seemed to change their minds a lot, yet, from their vantage point - they had already had those plans in mind and still had the ultimate destination of our trip in mind. 

          In divine revelation, it's God's way of expressing himself in ways that are understandable to us. Scripture itself demonstrates this principle by which God adapted His communication to words in the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek written by the prophets and apostles (over 770,000 words an average English translation of Old and New Testaments). In other words, wherever we read in scripture where it says: "God changes his mind", that's actually Scripture's way of indicating a change in ourselves. 

       The author A.W. Tozer puts it this way, more-or-less:

"that whenever we read of God changing his mind that means there's been a change in the moral situation of the person. So, for example, a person who perhaps all their lives was in rebellion against God and opposition against God hears the Gospel. The Spirit of God does His work in them and now they're responding by faith to Jesus Christ. What has taken place? Has there been a change in God? No. God's always angry at sin and He hates it. God is always gracious and merciful towards those who repent. So what's changed? It's not God. Instead, its the person that's changed." 


              Sometimes we can illustrate it in this way. Say you have the sun and then you have maybe a block of wax and a block of clay. As you sit that block of wax and that block of clay out in the sunlight, the block of clay will harden but the block of wax will soften. Now what has changed? It's not the sun. The sun is shining. It's doing what it always does. 

     The sun does not change relative to the block of wax and the block of clay. Instead, it's the block of clay and the block of wax that has changed.  So, from the perspective and the vantage point of the blocks of clay and wax, there has indeed been a change (a change in the situation of each). In like manner, when we talk about people and how it is they experience what seems to be a change in God, it's actually those persons experiencing a change within themselves.

3. God has an emotional-life without the frailties and sin we typically have because of what kind of God He is by nature. 

        So, how is it that God can have an emotional life and yet we have emotions? Furthermore, so oftentimes our emotions come out as sinful and frail. How can we draw all of this to a conclusion? We've been made in the image of God.  We read in Genesis 1:26 where God says: "Let Us make man in our image in our likeness." And so when God made human beings, He included in His design of human beings that they were to have emotions. Moreover, they were to have a creaturely emotions that were expressive of their Creator.  Of course, when man fell into sin, that meant that the entire nature of man's being (emotionally, psychologically, intellectually) was affected by sin. 

Closing thoughts

        So, emotions in of themselves are not sinful.  Rather, they are expressed in connection with ,the nature of the one that expresses them. For God, God has emotions that are expressed without sin because He is God, that by nature, cannot sin (see Habakkuk 1:13; Titus 1:2; James 1:17; 1 John 1:5-7).  We express emotions and they are subject to change. We respond to the changes of circumstances.  Just because God has emotions it doesn't necessarily mean that they are sinful. As a final thought, Scripture certainly bears out that God has an emotional life, even though it is different from our own."

That's a good question! Answering a recent question on God's emotional life.

Introduction:

     Every so often, on Sunday nights, we do a live question and answer time that entails people submitting questions they have about the Bible. Recently I received one question that was a very good question about God's emotional life. I thought I would reproduce both the question and response given. For those interested in watching the video segment to which this question is related, you can click on the link here to our church's You Tube channel that features the "Q&A service" from April 5, 2020 and forward to time segment 30:15-43:30 in which the question is addressed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbH84ZEGlR0&t=2607s

The Question: How do we Biblically make sense of God's emotional life?

      We're going to begin tonight with a question that is addressed in this way. This is the question. 

      "Please address the emotions of our creator including the Trinity he is perfect and yet scripturally contains all the emotions of a frail and sinful man. It doesn't compute. Yet many of our emotions are sinful. So the question is: how can we account for the emotional life of God and how does that compare with our emotions and is it right to talk about God having an emotional life? We have emotions. We have an emotional life and yet, so often, we express our emotions in sinful ways. Is it right to talk about God having emotions?" 

Answer from the Bible about God's emotional life

1. Let's first realize, God has an 
    emotional life.     
     
    Well that's a good question! I begin at Exodus 34. Exodus 34, and  I'm going to pick up at verse 6. Here we see God. He's talking to Moses on top of Mount Sinai and God is revealing some things about Himself to Moses and so we read in verse six of Exodus 34 - 

     "Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed: 'the Lord the Lord God compassionate and gracious slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth who keeps loving kindness for thousands who forgives iniquity transgression and sin, yet, He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Visiting the iniquity of father's on the children on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generation."'

      That is from Exodus 34:6-7. So we understand that God indeed does have an emotional life. Let me just give you some scriptures that speaks love the emotional life of the God of the Bible. 

      We see here in Exodus 34:6 how God is described as being "slow to anger, abounding in love and mercy." As matter of fact, throughout the Old Testament, we see several times where God is expressed in these words in terms of His emotional life. Nehemiah writes in Nehemiah 9:17 -  

"but you are a God of forgiveness gracious and compassionate slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and you did not forsake them." 

      Nehemiah is talking there about the people of God. We read in Psalm 108:4 of the emotional life of God -  

"for your loving kindness is great above the heavens and your truth reaches to the sky."

     So there in Psalm 108:4 we see reference there to God's loving kindness and how it is his truth reaches to the skies. So no doubt about it God, has an emotional life.

2. Let's compare God's emotional life to our own.
    
       Now we understand that in terms of the nature of God's emotions, His emotions are not subject to change. Sometimes theologians will use a term called "impassibility". When we describe God as "impassible", that doesn't mean that God is aloof or somehow separated from the plight of humanity. Also, impassibility doesn't mean that God is some sort of sterile being that has no emotions. 

     Instead, when we talk about Divine impassibility, this simply means that God's emotions are constant. In other words, God's emotions are not caused by anything outside of himself. Our human emotions are "passible", meaning that they react to whatever is coming to them "passively" from the outside. All human emotions, even ones which are expressed as a result of intentions on our part, are prompted. I can be happy one moment but then, if something goes wrong, I change to sadness, gloom or frustration. I am passible with respect to my emotional life. My emotions, we could say, are "reactionary." God's emotions, on the other hand, are regulated by his attributes. Numbers 23:19 for example says: 

"God is not a man that He should lie down or a son of man that He should repent. Has he said and will he not do it or has he spoken an will he not make it good."  

      So there we see God is not a man, rather, His emotions are constant. They're not affected by anything outside of Himself. God's emotions are always "on".  Then we read then in 1 Samuel 15:29 similar terms - 

"The Glory of Israel will not repentant he is not a like a man who changes his mind ." 

Malachi 3:6 reminds us - 

"Oh Lord you do not change so that Jacob would not be consumed." 

      God described himself in this way. He says: "I am the Lord who does not change so that Jacob is not consumed." So God by nature, with respect to his emotional life, expresses emotions that never change. They are constant. To cite further examples, we read in Zechariah 8:17 that God is constantly angry at sin. God has always known that there would be sin in our world. God ever opposes anything that would get in the way between the creature and Himself (especially those things that will hurt us or cause us to harm others). God hates sin. 

    So, we understand that God hates sin. We understand that God is a constantly loving God. John 3:16 is a familiar verse in the Bible. There we see how God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Again, God by nature is unchanging in his emotional life, which is to say He's impassible. Impassibility tells us that  His emotions are not passive. He does not change his emotions due to outside circumstances. Rather his emotions are regulated by what is within himself.


In the next post we will continue answering this question by grasping how God is unchanging in His emotional life and yet is often described in the Bible as "changing His mind" or emotions.