Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
When theology helps to clear the clouds.
"My little children, I am writting these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One, and He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world." - 1 John 2:1-2
"Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than that, He was raised) who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceeding for us." - Romans 8:33-34
"It is finished." - Jesus, John 19:30
It is in these times, when the guilt of my sin comes creeps up on me like a rising tide, that it helps to me to remember that God is Trinity. He is not just Jesus. He is not just the Holy Spirit. He is not just the Father. They are all one single God. Jesus is not the Father, and the Father is not Jesus. Yet Jesus is God, the Father is God, and there is but one God.
That's why when I read a verse like 1 John 2:1-2 and Romans 8:34, I can't help but weep. God is not a Zeus in the clouds, watching me sin from high above and becoming angry with my actions, scowling and grimacing as he hurls a bolt of lightning caused by my failure. God is not Zeus. God is not Apollo. God is Trinity.
God is an obedient servant who was willingly slaughtered due to my failure. God is a loving and compassionate Father who did not want me to perish because of me missing the mark of his perfect holiness. God is a gentle Counselor, guide, and teacher who didn't leave me to live my life on my own, but actually lives in me, reminding me of the words He spoke and cleaning out the stuff in my life that doesn't look like Him.
Even more humbling (and often unsettling) is the fact that God is a bloody Lamb who is currently defending me against the judgments from sin, and advocating for my forgiveness in light of His sacrifice. God is showing God the scars, the proof of payment, crying out, "Tetelestai! Tetelestai! Tetelestai! It is finished! It is accomplished! It is over! This one has been purchased with My very blood."
Many cringe at the thought of believing in a God that has been beaten and battered at the hands of men. Many find the suggestion deplorable, that a perfect God would willingly lay down His own life for sinners who had done absolutely nothing to earn it or deserve it. Indeed, many would cry "Infidel!" or even "Heresy!" to the notion that God would be called a Lamb "who takes away the sins of the world" or who now is in heaven "looking as if it had been slain." But Fact is Fact: the same scars that Thomas touched remain upon Him now as proof of purchase. Paid in full. It is finished.
All the more reason that I will cling to that glorious, bloody cross upon which God poured out His life for sinners like me. For it is there, that central place where the spotless Lamb took on my sin, that I find the meaning to the words of Isaiah: "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed."
"Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than that, He was raised) who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceeding for us." - Romans 8:33-34
"It is finished." - Jesus, John 19:30
It is in these times, when the guilt of my sin comes creeps up on me like a rising tide, that it helps to me to remember that God is Trinity. He is not just Jesus. He is not just the Holy Spirit. He is not just the Father. They are all one single God. Jesus is not the Father, and the Father is not Jesus. Yet Jesus is God, the Father is God, and there is but one God.
That's why when I read a verse like 1 John 2:1-2 and Romans 8:34, I can't help but weep. God is not a Zeus in the clouds, watching me sin from high above and becoming angry with my actions, scowling and grimacing as he hurls a bolt of lightning caused by my failure. God is not Zeus. God is not Apollo. God is Trinity.
God is an obedient servant who was willingly slaughtered due to my failure. God is a loving and compassionate Father who did not want me to perish because of me missing the mark of his perfect holiness. God is a gentle Counselor, guide, and teacher who didn't leave me to live my life on my own, but actually lives in me, reminding me of the words He spoke and cleaning out the stuff in my life that doesn't look like Him.
Even more humbling (and often unsettling) is the fact that God is a bloody Lamb who is currently defending me against the judgments from sin, and advocating for my forgiveness in light of His sacrifice. God is showing God the scars, the proof of payment, crying out, "Tetelestai! Tetelestai! Tetelestai! It is finished! It is accomplished! It is over! This one has been purchased with My very blood."
Many cringe at the thought of believing in a God that has been beaten and battered at the hands of men. Many find the suggestion deplorable, that a perfect God would willingly lay down His own life for sinners who had done absolutely nothing to earn it or deserve it. Indeed, many would cry "Infidel!" or even "Heresy!" to the notion that God would be called a Lamb "who takes away the sins of the world" or who now is in heaven "looking as if it had been slain." But Fact is Fact: the same scars that Thomas touched remain upon Him now as proof of purchase. Paid in full. It is finished.
All the more reason that I will cling to that glorious, bloody cross upon which God poured out His life for sinners like me. For it is there, that central place where the spotless Lamb took on my sin, that I find the meaning to the words of Isaiah: "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed."
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