God Couldn't Just Turn Up - Israel's Role in the Incarnation

The incarnation didn't just happen, as we observed in the previous post God took a long time preparing for that first Christmas, and for very good reason.

There was indeed much to be done, God couldn't just turn up. For God to come in Christ as he did, he needed to prepare the way, to prepare peoples hearts and minds that they might truly know him, his ways, and how they could relate to him.

That's where God's calling and dealings with Israel come in. To that end the story of Israel is one of the revealing of God to those whom he had created - the breaking in of God upon the hearts and minds of humanity, a humanity broken, distanced and separated by sin.

For that reason he chose Abraham, a man from a  pagan background, and no special individual. He gave him a family, and from that family chose and brought forth the people and nation of Israel, a people who were no more special than any other nation on earth, the least of all people's, and as it turned out, a stubborn, rebellious people at that.

Over a period of time God made himself known to them in different and varied ways, ways that would distinguish him from the non gods of the surrounding nations as the only true and living God, a God worthy of their praise and devotion.

Part of that was a variety of rules and religious rituals, rules and rituals that may seem strange to us today and somewhat of a palaver, but they were all a necessary part of how he revealed himself to them and how he educated them in their knowledge of and relationship to him.  They enabled them to understand exactly who he was, the difference and distance between them and God, and how they should relate to him.

It would tell of his undeserved covenant love and faithfulness, his unending mercy and grace, the nature and depths of sin, the way of redemption, forgiveness, atonement, salvation. It would tell of prophet, priest and king, and the promise of Messiah which would ultimately lead to the womb of a young virgin girl and the incarnation of the Saviour God.

The Importance of the Word

The last couple of weeks we have looked at the necessity of work of the Spirit. In this post I want to focus on the importance of preaching/teaching which was a vital part of the growth, establishment and expansion of the early church.

Not only did they know God present and active through the Spirit, but they knew him speaking powerfully through the Word and continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine.

Those who were called to lead were to be men of the Word and Spirit. In fact at one point when the apostles threatened to be overwhelmed by the increasing needs of the rapidly expanding church they appointed men full of the Spirit and faith to look after the practical needs arising so that they could give themselves to prayer and the Word.

But a question is sometimes posed – if we have the Spirit so dynamically present with us, why do we need the preaching/teaching of the Word?

A Few Good Reasons:

Here are a few good reasons…

1. Because we are living in a fallen world, and therefore our knowledge of God and of ourselves is skewed.

2. The enemy is always out to destroy the true knowledge of God – both for the those who don’t know him and those who do.

3. The enemy is out to prevent our relationship to God first of all by seeking to prevent our being saved through faith in Christ, and two, if he can’t do that, he will seek to undermine the relationship we do have with God.

4. The enemy is out to prevent our maturity – the Word keeps us focussed, reminds us where it’s at and refines us.

5.  The enemy is out to prevent our equipping for the purposes of God – all Scripture is God breathed, and is given not only to challenge and change us, but to equip us to fulfill God’s purpose.

The knowledge of God, growth in walking with him, being transformed and being equipped don’t just happen by being filled with the Spirit, our minds needs to be educated, old thoughts and ideas need to be challenged and changed, all of which the enemy is against, therefore in teaching we are confronting and demolishing strongholds, whether in the unsaved mind or the Christians.

The Big Issue 

What place does it have in your life?

What place does it have in your church?

Are you, me, we taking it seriously – in other words acting on what we hear?

Low view of man = high view of God?

Last week I attended a conference at which the speaker used the illustration of a see-saw to illustrate the idea that when we have a high view of man we correspondingly have a low view of God, and when we have a high view of God we correspondingly have a low view of man. I know what he’s trying to get at, but I think the pictures wrong.

If I can put it this way, having a high view of man doesn’t necessitate a low view of God, in fact quite the opposite. In fact I would go so far as to say that having a low view of man belongs to the evolutionary world not the theological one. The Bible seems to tell us that God himself has a ‘high view’ of man – he made him in his image, the pinnacle of his creation, with the ability to know and relate to him, and rule over or steward the earth.

Now some will say the Fall changed all that – my question is, did it? Even after the fall, humanity is not portrayed in some kind of ‘worm’ tone as in the words Isaac Watts wrote in 1885 “Would he devote that sacred head, for such a worm as I?” Rather to paraphrase the Psalmist (8:3, 4) “After I’ve observed your creation of the universe, I mean wow! Then I see man and I’m staggered that you think of him – what is it about man that you think about him and care for him?” Now that to me is quite a ‘high view’ of man.

That doesn’t mean I deny the fallen state and the wrechedness of it (Romans 7:24). I just need to watch my theological categories.

Now the question is does it diminish my view of God? and my answer is no; in fact I magnify God all the more for the way he has created me/humanity. It staggers me even more that this God who made me in such a way, whom I have rebelled against, should take on our flesh, live here, be tempted in all points as we are, and give his life that we might once again be reconciled to him.

The Wrath of the Lamb

Some will remember when children were taught to pray, “Gentle Jesus meek and mild….” and many have sung, “no crying he makes…” But, what kind of image does this conjure up of Jesus – a very nice, ‘docile’ Jesus – compliant, non-offensive, someone who just gets on with everybody, and is everyone’s friend?

My ‘personal’ Jesus
A number of years ago now the controversial ‘artist’ and musician Marylin Manson released a song called Personal Jesus (originally by Depeche Mode), and it begins with the words ‘Your own personal Jesus, Someone to hear your prayers, Someone who cares.’ In 2006 it was ranked as one of the 100 Greatest Songs Ever. Now you may say, what’s wrong with that isn’t that what he is?
But there’s something very subtle going on here and it’s found in the expression ‘your own personal Jesus,’ i.e. one that is unique to and for you, not necessarily the Bible one, one that you make and suits your own personal desires and needs. (The song was inspired by the book Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley).
We need to be careful it’s not public opinion or our own personal feelings that are shaping our knowledge of Jesus.

The wrath of God
Some today struggle with the whole idea of the wrath of God, with the typical objection being how could a God of love act in such a way. Some get round this by suggesting that the God of the New Testament is somewhat different to the God of the Old – as if there has been some development of God. Some see Jesus as different from God, or the nicer face of God, but this is to divide God.
Might I suggest that the problem is ours and not God’s. The problem is that we struggle in our politically correct, humanistic world, to conceive of anger and love going together – they seem to be opposites. In reality they are not two opposites, anger (rightly expressed) is an aspect of love. In fact love without anger leaves us with an insipid ‘attitude’ (you can’t call it love) that fails to bring true discipline to a rebellious child, in fact the cry for justice arises from the fact that love (the basis for normal healthy relationships, and therefore society) has been violated in some way, and without justice its seen to be excused, acceptable, doesn’t matter….. A loving father sets up boundaries, and threatens consequences. If those consequences are not followed through in a loving way, the child will lose respect for the Father, and actually a lack of love.

All of scripture
The whole Bible must be our teacher, it reveals Jesus in his own ‘right’, not after our own ideas of him. On the one hand that may be:
1. Disturbing and discomforting,
2. Encouraging and stirring.

Just as an aside a question arises as to whether the lack of men in the church is due to an effeminate portrait of Jesus, or as someone put it ‘my Boyfriend in the sky,’ caricature.

In Revelation we get an unfolding picture of Jesus, in fact John’s knowledge of Jesus is expanded considerably. He has known him as a fellow human who walked the earth, a good man, a friend of sinners, a miracle worker, at the transfiguration he encountered him in his glory as the Beloved Son of God, he knew him as the Saviour who died and rose again. Then in Revelation 1 Johns gets a revelation of Jesus as the ascended and all glorious Lord. Then in Rev. 5 and 6 another unfolds culminating in, “the wrath of the Lamb …. the great day of Their wrath has come.” This verse parallels Luke 23:30 and Matthew 24.

“The wrath of the Lamb” sounds like a contradiction! We love lambs. We love to see them playing, skipping, running up and down. We love to feed them, stroke them. They are so innocent. They would never hurt you, and yet here we are confronted with the wrath/anger of the Lamb. It is the Lamb who opens the Seals. It is the wrath of the Lamb that is manifested against an unbelieving and ungodly world.

In order to understand this you need to step into the THRONE ROOM, as the psalmist said “When I tried to understand all this, it seemed hopeless (wearisome task) until I entered God’s sanctuary. Then I understood their end.” Psalm 73:16-17. There’s an important principle here, the need to go into the sanctuary, where God is encountered for who he is, as he is, holy – other than we are, creator – the world was made by and for God, redeemer – the One who has bought us. It is from this vantage point we must look at what unfolds in Revelation.

In reading Revelation we need to keep in mind the big story. God created the world, humanity. Humanity sinned and spoiled God’s creation. God gave a promise, called and raised a man – Abraham, who had a family that became a nation – Israel, to whom he gave his word through the prophets, of a Saviour, who came in the fullness of time. He came to his own, and lived and taught, and revealed the heart of God, but his own rejected him. He wept over Jerusalem, and warned of coming judgment, and said that ‘all these things would come on this generation,’ and how he had wanted to gather them to himself, but they were not willing, and now their house was ‘left desolate.’ (Matthew 23).

The Lion and the Lamb
The Lamb shows us Jesus in all his purity and meekness – we love lambs, we play with them. The Lion shows us that he is King – sovereign and powerful and not to be trifled with. This Lamb is not to be messed with, not because he is a Lion, but because is the Lamb who has suffered, was slain, and is alive again, the worthy One. The one who took on flesh like ours, was tempted in every way as we are, the One who the devil through everything at, yet he conquered and so he has the right to judge.

As it says in the Acts of the Apostles:
“ Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:31,
and in Pauls letter to Tmothy:
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead….”(2Ti 4:1).

We cannot have one aspect of Jesus without the other. The New Testament says “Our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29, and “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:31.

I think Dorothy Sayers put it well when she wrote:
“We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him “meek and mild,” and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies. To those who knew him, however, he in no way suggests a milk-and-water person; they objected to him as a dangerous firebrand.”

Heaven's Perspective

Perspective
Perspective is everything, if we don’t have it we are in trouble.

In Revelation we encounter a persecuted and suffering church, and things are not going to get better. From their perspective it doesn’t look or feel good, later on we will hear the cry, “how long, O Lord?”

Following the messages to the seven churches we see heaven’s door open and we are immediately launched into heaven, “Come up here,…” (Rev.4:1) was the summons – an invitation into the very presence of God, and my what a revelation.

A Throne
This word will be repeated numerous times. Yes there is a throne in heaven upon which God sits, and from that throne he reigns. He has the first and last word.

John says that before it was “something like a sea of glass” – nothing can disturb, or trouble the throne of God. God is not thrown into a quandry by what’s going on on earth. In fact in the words of the psalmist, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs” (2:4 HCSB) at the schemes of man.

God is Trinity
“One was seated on the throne…. seven Spirits of God or the sevenfold Spirit of God….. A Lamb…” God is Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that blessed (happy) community of eternal fellowship that exists at the heart of the universe and is the cause and creator of it.

God is holy
The thrice holy – utterly unique One who is so much more and other than we are. How frequently we bring God down to our level, and then wonder why our Chrisitan experience is so feeble and frail.

The forever God
God who was.
God who is.
God is to come.
No beginning, no end. He reigns for ever and ever. Hallelujah!

Worship
We see him praised and worship:
1. For who he is (4:10).
2. For his work in creation (4:11).
3. For his work in redemption (5:9, 10, 12, 13).

How often our worship starts with ourselves – feelings: I don’t feel like it; self analysis: I don’t feel good enough; or with what we are going to do: “I will …”, “We will …” and then we wonder why we never get airbourne, why it seems hard work and little more than the old genie in a bottle trick.

When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, worship came first, “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name…” it’s about two thirds of the way through that we get the confession, “Forgive us our sins…” Maybe your prayer life is taken up with too much of yourself – it’s all about you. That’s whirlpool worship, it sucks you in and leaves you exhausted.

David stirred himself up, spoke to himself, “Bless the Lord O my soul…” Psalm 103:1. Worship involves a looking away from ourselves to Another who is worthy in himself, and secondly for what he has done.

We need to get God’s perspective
Getting into God’s presence and get his perspective makes all the difference.

Yes life for the churches John was writing to was tough and going to get tougher, but God was on the throne, and he reigns. Satan and those he works through will not win. The world is God’s, he has wrought salvation, and his people can have every stong hope in him.

Perhaps your perspective has become skewed, fear has become your consellor, and you are on a downer - It’s time to get into the presence of God, to see him on his throne, to know that he commands your destiny, to get his perspective on your life.

Reflecting on Jesus

A Concern
Reading and reflecting on the Christmas story I can't help feeling that some Christians/the Church doesn't exactly know what to believe about Jesus.

It seems to me that many Christians have an inbetween Jesus, neither fully God or fully man. An anaemic, insipid, pale reflection of the Jesus of the Bible - a Jesus who would never disturb anybody let alone draw forth worship and obedience.

Flesh
It seems that we struggle with the idea of Jesus coming into this world and into this stuff called flesh, let alone frail flesh. Paul says "flesh just like ours under sin's domain." (Romans 8:3 HCSB) - we need to avoid the theological manoevering that frequently goes on here, i.e. it was only 'like' ours. If that is so we are in trouble with what Paul says in Philippians 2:7, "taking on the likeness of men." When we fall into that trap we end up building doctrines to protect him (e.g. the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception).

If this is the case it is not surprising that we fail to understand how he can sympathise with us in all of our temptations/weaknesses in such a way as to help us, and if we struggle with this how are we ever really going to cope with Jesus taking our sin and bearing it on the cross? "He made the One who did not know no sin to be sin for us." (2 Corinthians 5:21). What a staggering truth!

Divine
On the other hand we struggle with his Divinity, after all if he really was, and is, God the Son, co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, why do we struggle to take his word seriously - to live under his lordship? We cannot simply see Jesus as our Saviour, he is also our Lord. He has bought us. We are His.

A New Vision of Jesus
It seems that we need to radically reflect on just who Jesus was and is, to remove him from the stained glass windows and the niceities of western middleclass suburban Christianity. To get rid of the sentimentalised convenient Christ of the manger and of so much deadening modern religion. To get back to our Bibles and let the text speak to us in all it's plainness, and let the real Jesus come forth into our lives and into our churches.

The Challenge of Jesus
It was the challenge of Jesus himself, "Who do you say I am?" Our answer to that question will impact the type of Christian lives we live and the churches we build.