“Post Tenebras Lux”—“After Darkness... Light.”

http://vimeo.com/50857619#at=0

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.  Matthew 27:45-50

I used to think when Jesus quoted Psalm 22 on the cross and said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" that he was giving voice to his own uncertainty.  That thought comforted me because I felt Jesus empathized with our questions and doubts.  He could relate.  Even Jesus asked "Why?".

I think Jesus chose his final words carefully.  His whole life up to that point had been lived for one purpose.  As Christ himself said in John 12,

"27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”  John 12:27-28

In spite of this, Jesus' words on the cross made me wonder if in his last moments Jesus perhaps wasn't so sure about this plan.  That is until I read the Psalm he was pointing to:  Psalm 22.

You see, Psalm 22 is an explanation of why Jesus had to die on that cross.  By quoting its opening words Jesus was pointing us to the problem of our separation from God ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"; vs 1), the solution ("you lay me [Christ] in the dust of death"; vs 15), and the ultimate glorious resolution ("The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied...All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord."; vs 26, 27).  Why can we trust him?  Because "he has done it" (vs 31).  His plan will not be thwarted.  It will succeed.

By quoting Psalm 22 it's as if Jesus in his final moments was pointing to the Psalm with all of his remaining strength and saying "Look here!  This is why I'm on this cross!  This is what I'm accomplishing!"

If my former understanding was comforting it was because in his empathetic uncertainty Jesus provided a shoulder to cry on.  But after following him to Psalm 22 he picks up my head and turns my tears into joy.

Psalm 22
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
    and by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
    they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
    let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
    you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
    and from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Be not far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is none to help.

12 Many bulls encompass me;
    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs encompass me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
    O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dog!
21     Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
    the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
    but has heard, when he cried to him.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
    May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
    even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
    it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
    that he has done it.  Psalm 22

32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

“‘You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you.’

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.  (Acts 13:32-39)

Universalism is impractical

Christian Universalism is the belief that when Christ died on the cross he paid the price for everyone's sins right then and there.  In effect, his atonement removed God's wrath for sin from every person throughout history regardless of whether they know it or not.  In the Universalist view, faith does not matter for salvation.

Now, Universalism is not a Biblical view, and to believe in Universalism you have to overlook and ignore broad swaths of the Bible.  But even from a purely practical point-of-view it is farcical.  Most of the twelve disciples were martyred.  The apostle Paul was beheaded in Rome.  Peter was crucified upside down.  It makes no sense that these individuals would gives their lives to spread the news that everyone was going to be saved.  If everyone would have been saved whether they knew it or not, why die to tell them?

Would you devote your life and your death to telling people information that didn't matter?

Excerpt from Is Faith Meritorious?

What faith involves and whether it “merits” salvation may be shown by two illustrations. First, picture yourself as a murderer condemned to death and awaiting execution. You are guilty and everyone knows it. You deserve to die. Then you get a letter from the President of the United States which says that he has, by his sovereign power, decided to remit your sentence and let you go free.

The reason he gives for this decision is not that any new evidence has turned up, but rather he simply wants to demonstrate to everyone his power in this declaration of mercy and to transform your disregard for his laws into humble adoration of his merciful sovereignty. He calls your attention to his seal on the letter and instructs you to simply show it to the warden, who will then let you go free—no questions asked.

So you call the guard, show him the letter and get a hearing with the warden. As you enter the warden’s office, you smell the fresh air of life and liberty blowing in his window and you see the tops of trees and a kite flying beyond the wall. You hand him the letter and he reads it. Without a query he orders the guard to get your things. As you leave the gates you turn to look at the massive prison and the row of windows where you had been an hour before. Then you start running and jumping and shouting and laughing and telling everyone, “The President let me out! The President let me out!”

In the second illustration, picture yourself as a poor unskilled laborer who barely can scrape enough together to feed your wife and three children. One day you get in the mail a letter from a famous wealthy philanthropist. The letter says that if you will bring it to his lawyer, the lawyer will pay you a hundred thousand dollars—no strings attached. The reason he gives is simply that he enjoys giving to the poor.

There is no indication why he sent the letter to you and not to another. You need only go pick up the money with the letter. So you follow his instructions and go. Entering the lawyer’s office, you hand him the letter. He says he has been expecting you, writes the check and bids you farewell.

The question that these two stories raise is whether you, in either situation, could properly speak of “meriting” freedom or wealth? You did have to meet a condition: The sine qua non of freedom and wealth was to present the letters from the President and the philanthropist. But to use our definition of merit, was your presenting of the letters an act so valuable to the President or to the philanthropist that they were thus obligated to reward you?

I think the answer is clearly no. Only one thing obligated the President and the philanthropist—their own honor. Insofar as they were committed to maintaining their own honor, it was morally impossible for them to refuse the favor they had promised. In other words, there was something so valuable to them that they were obligated to “reward” it, namely, their own good name.
...

Faith is the one human act which morally obligates another person without calling attention to the other person’s honor. Faith in God’s promise obligates him to save the believer not because the quality of faith is meritorious, but because faith is the one human act which calls attention alone to God’s merit, honor and glory and his unswerving commitment to maintain that glory.

From "Is Faith Meritorious?" by John Piper.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?  Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.  Isaiah 55:2

Do you see the waterfall?

There are many Christians today who believe in justification by decency.  What I mean is they believe if they are civil with their neighbor and don't do anything (or at least, not a lot of things) that are indecent they are "okay" with God.  If asked to provide some way to measure civility they will usually say, "The Golden Rule".  And by that they are referring to the second greatest commandment given by Jesus (though they may not know they are):  Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)  If asked to define what is decent or indecent they'll say it is based upon whatever is culturally acceptable.

One pastor I spoke to recently told me that he's often posed the question to people, "If you were to stand before Jesus today and He were to ask you, 'Why should I allow you into my kingdom?', what would you say?"  The typical response is, "Because I believe Jesus died for me on the cross and I've been a pretty good person."  The response begs the question, if you've been a pretty good person then why did Jesus have to die for you on the cross?

There's an inconsistency with that response which tells me that person does not understand their true condition.  They don't understand how desperately in need they are.

Let me illustrate.  A man went paddling down a river in a canoe.  All of a sudden another man ran up to the edge of the river in a life vest and yelled, "I'll save you!" and jumped into the river.  He swam over to the canoe, pulled the man out of the boat and pulled him back to shore.  The paddler, soaking wet, screamed, "What did you do that for?!"

Another man went down a river in a canoe.  He was paddling for his life upstream while his canoe was sucked along by a raging current towards a towering waterfall just ahead.  All of a sudden another man ran up to the edge of the river with a rope tied to a tree and yelled, "I'll save you!" and jumped into the river.  He swam over to the canoe, threw the paddler the rope that saved him, and went over the waterfall himself.

Which paddler do you think was more thankful for their rescuer?  Probably the paddler who saw the waterfall ahead and knew there was nothing he could do to rescue himself.

Our sinfulness puts us each in a canoe on a river aiming straight for certain death.  When we overlook or minimize our sin we fail to recognize our precarious situation. We fail to see our desperate need for rescue.

The Bible tells many stories about people who minimized their sin.  Consider this story found in the book of Mark:

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Mark 2:15-17

The Pharisees hated that Jesus ate with the "sinners" and outcasts of society.  Jesus responded that he "came not to call the righteous, but sinners."  The problem with the Pharisees wasn't that they were too religious.  It wasn't that they were too conservative either.  Their problem was that they did not recognize their own sin.  They were blind to it.  They thought they were righteous and didn't need help.  Jesus ministry was to those who needed rescue, not those who thought they were alright.  Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6-9).

All Christians minimize their sin to some degree.  Nobody wants to face the reality of their sin.  Yet we are called to face our sin head-on with an attitude of repentance.  I'm reminded of the story of King David after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered.  The prophet Nathan went to him and exposed David's sin.  When David realized what he had done he faced his sin and its consequences head-on.  He minimized his sin until Nathan tore down the walls David had built up to protect himself (2 Samuel 11-12).

Here's the danger:  when we minimize our sin, we also minimize our perceived need for Christ.  If we do not believe we need the atonement Christ provides we cannot believe in what his atonement accomplished.  And without faith in his blood that cleanses us of our sin we are not justified before God (Romans 3:25).  This is why the apostle John wrote, "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:10) but if we "walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7).  The light exposes sin so if we don't see our sin it's an indication there's no light shining.

Pascal's Wager

I would rather die duped than damned.  (Pascal's Wager)

"God Is Most Glorified in Us When We Are Most Satisfied in Him"

This excerpt was transcribed from John Piper's sermon, "God Is Most Glorified in Us When We Are Most Satisfied in Him."

"God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is the highest virtue.  If you try to exalt yourself you're not loving anybody.  Why?  Because you are distracting them from what will make them happy:  God!  You won't make them happy.  You're quite unsatisfactory.  God will make them happy.  If you say, "Look at me!  Look at me!  Look at me!" You distract them from what will save them.  Give them life, give them joy.  But, if God exalts himself He's not distracting you, He's loving you.  "Come to me, come to me.  I'm everything you've ever wanted.  Come to me.  Be satisfied in Me.  Enjoy Me.  Treasure Me."  If you say that you're an egomaniac.  If God says it He's love." (John Piper)

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.  2 Corinthians 4:16-18

New City Catechism

www.newcitycatechism.com

If you are not familiar with "catechisms" they are basically a series of questions and answers intended to be simple but Biblically rich and useful for both adults and children.

They are updated periodically to respond Biblically to the issues of the day.

This one contains 52 question and answers, each with accompanying scripture, commentary, video commentary, and prayer.  Each answer has an adult version and a child version.  52 makes it easy to do one per week.

It would be especially helpful in instructing your children.

All about faith

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the men of old gained approval.  Hebrews 11:1-2 NASB

What is faith?  What is its purpose?  Hebrews 11:1-2 answers these questions for us.

What is faith?

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.  The Greek word for "assurance" here is ὑπόστασις (pronounced hypostasis).  It means "a setting or placing under", "foundation", and "that which has foundation, is firm".  One reading is that faith is our firm confidence, our foundation, that the things we hope for will occur.

Faith is also the conviction of things not seen.  The Greek word for "conviction" here is ἔλεγχος (pronounced elegchos).  It means "a proof, that by which a thing is proved or tested".  The King James Version translates the word as "evidence".  So faith is proof.  It is evidence of something.

What is faith's purpose?

Verse 2 says it was by faith "the men of old gained approval."  The Greek word for "approval" is μαρτυρέω (pronounced martyreō).  If you notice the pronunciation looks a lot like the word "martyr".  In fact, the Greek word for "martyr" is its root.  The word translated as "approval" here means "to be a witness, to bear witness" and "to utter honorable testimony, give a good report".  The King James Version translates this verse to say "For by it the elders obtained a good report."  So the purpose of faith is to bear witness to something and in so doing provide a good report for us.

The rest of Hebrews 11 lists several instances where heroes did good works "by faith".  Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain, Noah prepared the ark, Abraham went out to obtain his God-given inheritance even though he didn't know where he was going.  The list is remarkable but the point is that their good deeds were evidence of the authenticity of their faith and their faith was the evidence (proof) that they were God's people.

Let's say I sit down to take a math final exam.  The teacher has been teaching me math for months and now has to determine how much I understand and whether I belong in the next-level class.  She passes out the test and says, "You may begin."  With several strokes of my pencil I try to solve equation after equation.  I finally get to the end and I give her my test to be graded.  The next day she gives it back and I see some red Xs on the questions I got wrong.  You see, the teacher needs me to submit evidence proving I belong and so I take an exam.  The pencil marks on my exam are the outward expression of my understanding and provide proof to the teacher I belong in the next class.

I want to be careful here because by using an academic reference I may unintentionally give the impression that faith is an achievement which deserves reward.  Our faith is not something meritorious we do that God rewards.  It is not the reason we are part of God's family.  We belong in God's family because God purchased us through his Son's death on the cross.  Our faith is the evidence (proof) that God purchased us (1 Corinthians 6:20).  Consider what the apostle John says,

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.  1 John 5:1

A few verses later, John says,

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.  1 John 5:13

So John wants us to know that our faith is proof that we are born of God and that proof gives us assurance that we have eternal life.  This takes us back to the first point, which is that faith is the assurance of things hoped for.  Our hope is that we belong in God's family and so will be benefactors of his promises.  Our faith is our assurance that this is so.

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." (C.S. Lewis, Is Theology Poetry?)

"To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect."  (John Owen)

Free books by John Piper

John Piper has made most, if not all, of his books available for free as PDFs on the Desiring God website.  You can view the list of books here.

"Through" or "for"?

39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, Hebrews 11:39 NASB

39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, Hebrews 11:39 NIV

In the first translation mentioned above, the heroes listed in Hebrews 11 gained approval (were commended) through their faith.  In the second translation, they were commended for their faith.

The Greek word translated as "for" and "through" is διά (pronounced dia).  It actually forms the root of the English word "diameter", which is the line that stretches from one side of a circle through to the opposite side, hence why it's translated as "through" in the NASB.  Its meaning is "A primary preposition denoting the channel of an act" (for more information, go here).  So you could say the word "dia" specifies the means by which something is accomplished.

The wording is important because using the word "for" gives the impression that faith is something we do that deserves merit.  But our faith does not deserve merit because whatever faith we exercise is given by God.  That is why the disciples pleaded with Jesus, saying "Increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5) and Paul wrote to fellow Christians,

29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,  Philippians 1:29 (emphasis mine)

And again he wrote in Romans,

3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.  Romans 12:3 (emphasis mine)

Faith is like a muscle.  I can go to the gym to workout and gradually my muscles will increase in strength.  But I had to be given some amount of muscle to start!  Thank God for the faith that you have and if you find yourself in a time of little faith, ask God to increase it.

The "original" sin

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  Genesis 3:1-6

The first sin made by Adam--and the one all other sins flow from--is the desire to be like God.  That's the root of all disobedience.  That's why the serpent said, "when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5)  That's the whole reason Adam and Eve ate the fruit.  In our desire to become like God we actually replace God in our hearts and put ourselves in his place.  In effect we make ourselves our own idol.  As Paul says in Romans 1, we "exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25; italics mine).

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.  24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.  Romans 1:22-25

Whenever we tell God--through our decisions, mindset, and behaviors--"I'm going to do this my way" we put ourselves in the place of God.  And when we take this to the extreme, God gives us up to our desires.  God intends to protect us from ourselves but there is a point in our kicking and screaming "Let go!" where God says, "Okay, do what you want to do."

A rose bush becomes most beautiful if the gardener prunes it regularly by cutting it back and removing all the dead blossoms.  Right after the pruning the bush looks terrible but given a couple months it will be full of beautiful flowers.  God prunes us through the discipline of trials and hardship.  This process is called "sanctification"and through it we gradually do become more like God.  As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18,

18 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.

When God stops pruning us and "gives us up" due to our persistent stubbornness He withdrawals his shears and let's us go wild--and the outcome is never good.  Our desire to be God-like is not the problem.  The problem is in our effort to be God-like we take God out of our hearts and replace him with ourselves.  As C.S. Lewis said in his book The Great Divorce,"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done.""