Conformed to Christ?

I have to continue just a little further with the thought on Romans 8:28. Previously, I tried to make the point that it is absolutely crucial that we understand that the "good" to which Paul refers in verse 28 is a specific good. Our own sin-tainted, skewed definition of good for ourselves is not the same good that Paul is talking about. We define "good" for ourselves as more peace, greater contentment, better relationships, more purpose, greater success, etc. But Paul has something else in mind. If the truth of this verse is going to bring us peace in this life, it is necessary that we understand that verse 28 is bound to verse 29. In fact, verse 29 defines the specific good that Paul is speaking of when he says that God causes all things to work together for good. "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." Romans 8:29 ESV. Our greatest good, for which God is working, is that we be conformed to the image of Christ. There is nothing better. There is nothing higher. And there is no greater purpose. This is the greatest act of love that our Father can do in our lives. It is the work that the Cross is accomplishing in us. And until we understand that this alone is the goal, we will continue to live in disappointment as we battle to reconcile the tragedies in our lives with our own definition of "good." This is the love of our Father for us; that He calls us His own children, and in doing so, He molds us into the likeness of His only begotton Son.

But I began to think of what exactly it looks like to be conformed to Christ's image, especially in the context of these two verses. Paul is encouraging us that God especially uses persecution, tragedy, loss, etc. in His good purpose to conform us to Christ. So I began to ask myself, "What specific work does God accomplish in our lives in the midst of our distress that causes us to be more like Jesus?" My mind immediatley went to the place where Jesus Himself was under the most duress. In the garden, before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed in agony because He knew that the cup of God's wrath was about to be poured upon Him. In this moment, the nature of His relationship to the Father is clearly seen. "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." Luke 22:42 ESV. This Christ who was the eternal Word of God, through whom all things were created, and in whom all things find their being, who was literally God in the flesh, submitted to His Father's will. In John 5:19 Jesus told the people that He could do nothing on His own accord, but He could only do what He saw His Father doing. Jesus fully trusted the word of His Father. Because of this complete trust, He lived a life of total surrender to the will of His Father, even in the midst of bearing the wrath that was due to a sinful humanity. What does it look like to be conformed to the image of Jesus? And why does God use tribulation and loss to bring that conformation about in our lives? Because in the midst of tribulation we cannot trust in ourselves. We are stripped of any false idea that we are capable of defining our own purpose and destiny. We are sobored to realize that we are powerless and completely dependent upon the One who we call Father. It is in this dependence, in this submission, in this trust that we are most like Jesus. And in becoming like Jesus, He is immeasurably glorified, because He is the firstborn of many brothers.

All Things? Again

My last post was called "All Things?" Discussing Romans 8:28, I wanted to show that in the midst of God's sovereignty He has promised His children that He never stops working for them out of love. And nothing is beyond His purpose. We never have to fear that God is smiting us out of judgement or restitution. He does, in fact, discipline the one's He loves. But His discipline is always because of His love. This is because Jesus bore God's wrath on the Cross. Now, for those who are united to Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation, no wrath, no judgement, no vindication. There is only love.

I wanted to talk a little more about this because my pastor (Bro. David) and I have begun to realize that God is experientially walking us through the things that we are teaching. We have taught about being satisfied only in Jesus. We have taught about God's endless and sufficient grace. And we have taught about God's love and discipline (realizing that everything that God does in the lives of His children is out of His love for His children.) In all of these Biblical truths, God will not allow us to simply know them in our minds. He is causing us to experience them. We are being forced to live them out. Sometimes my initial response has been to complain, or to fear, or to feel despair. The path to understanding that Jesus is to be valued more than any earthly possession or relationship can be a path filled with loss and pain. The path to understanding that God's grace in the Cross of Christ is powerful enough to reach to the lowest and most vile sinner can be a path paved with much shame and regret. And the path to understanding that God always works for the good of His children can be a path that demands letting go of dreams, denouncing wrong ideas, and truly trusting God with every breath. I am finding that walking, experiencing, living out these paths, is God's desire for His children. He doesn't want us to simply have a mental understanding of these truths learned from a Sunday School book or a devotional. He wants us to know, truly know. And truly knowing means experiencing. Oh, how deep God's love is for us, that He would guide our every step, through pain, tears, loss, blessing, hope, fulfillment, and joy for the sole GOOD purpose of knowing Him and Jesus Christ whom He sent!

All Things?

"Don't you Romans 8:28 me!" That was a response that one of my seminary professors said that he gave to a friend who was attempting to console him during a difficult time. He didn't want to hear about God's good purpose in the midst of the loss of his unborn child. He just wanted to grieve. No doubt, there is a time for mourning (Eccl. 3:4). When loss comes it is appropriate to mourn, and we should mourn with others who are mourning (Romans 12:15) so as to aid in their comfort.
However, sometimes I do wonder if we in fact do not allow Paul's words to strengthen us the way he intended for them to strengthen us. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28 NASB) Do we, who are believers, children of God, truly realize that God is working all things, all things, for our good? Do we realize that nothing is circumstance. Nothing is purposeless. Nothing is meaningless. God is using it all for our benefit. He is always looking upon His children out of love. He is always looking upon His children out of love, and His intentions are always for their good. This is possible because Jesus bore the wrath that was due to us (Romans 3:25). And now, rather than being God's enemies, we are called God's children (Romans 5:8-10 and 1 John 3:1). What a freeing truth! What peace it brings! But we doubt. And our doubt causes us to forfeit the comfort that this beloved text can bring us.

I think there are two specific things that we doubt about this verse. First, we doubt that God's intentions are always out of love. One effect of our sin is that it causes us to see God as one who deals with us as a retributive judge rather than a disciplining father. Rather than reminding ourselves that the Cross is sufficient to cleanse us of all past, present, and future failures, we tend to have the self-righteous mentality that God will have to smite us in some way in order to make it right. Therefore, when hardship comes our way, (for those who believe God is sovereign over all things) the temptation is to believe that God is punishing us in a judiciary way rather than disciplining us in a fatherly way.
The second thing that we doubt is that the end result will be "good." This doubt is probably based more on misconception than anything. We begin with a wrong idea about what is "good" for us. Our idea of "good" is sin-tainted and skewed. But Paul tells us in verse 29 exactly what the "good" is that God is working in our lives. "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." (Romans 8:29 ESV emphasis added). The greatest good (most loving act) that God can do in our lives is to conform us to the image of Christ. This is what God is always working for in His children. So whether the "circumstance" that we face is good or bad, we have the confidence to know that God's intention is for our good, the good that He works for is for us to be conformed to the image of Christ, and He does not fail at His work. Father, grant that we may see Your loving hand in all things, and grant also that we may agree with You about what is good for us.

The Uzzah Syndrome

In 2 Samuel 6 we are given the story of King David's first attempt to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem after it had been taken captive by the Philistines. I say first attempt because it was unsuccessful. Something tragic happened on the way. The text says, "But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it. And the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God." (2 Sam. 6:6-7 NASB).
This passage used to really bother me. Here was Uzzah walking near the Ark as it was on its way to Jerusalem. My guess is that he was probably a very religious man. The reason I say this is because transporting the Ark was a big deal. The Ark of the Covenant signified the very presence of God. I would assume that King David didn't want just anyone to be walking with the Ark. He probably wanted proven men of priestly duty to be the leaders in returning the Ark to the nation of Israel. Now, as they were walking, the oxen that were pulling the Ark stumbled. So Uzzah, it seems out of reflex, put his hand up to stabilize the Ark. This seems like the right thing to do. Here is the Ark of God. It is the most prized possession in all of Israel, and it is about to fall to the ground. Who wouldn't place their hand up to protect this sacred box? But what happens? God's anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down.
Some have said that this passage has more to do with David's sin than with Uzzah's. David wasn't transporting the Ark according to the Law. According to the Law the Ark was to be carried by Levites. The Levites were to place poles through the rings attached to the casing of the Ark, and the Levites were to walk carrying the poles on their shoulders. However, David used oxen and a cart. Following this line of thought, some have concluded that the blame is ultimately on David's shoulders rather than Uzzah's.
It is true that David was wrong, and it may be true that this event would have never taken place had David followed the instruction in the Law. However, it is also clear that all of the blame is not on David. The text says that the LORD's anger burned against Uzzah for his irreverence. And I guess this is the part that always bothered me. Why did God become so angry with Uzzah for keeping the Ark from falling to the ground? It seems like it was just a reflex. Had Uzzah had time to really consider things, he might have thought about God's holiness and his own sinfulness. He might have been able to reason with himself that even touching the Ark would mean death for him. But he didn't have the privilege of thinking through the scenario. The ox stumbled, his hand went up, and he died.
But when this passage stopped bothering me so much was when I realized that Uzzah's hand going up was an indicator of the condition of his heart. Had Uzzah recognized God's holiness; had Uzzah truly understood his own sinfulness, then his reflex would have been to jump out of the way rather than to put up his hand. Through most of our lives we are not given the time to consider the theological and spiritual implications of our actions. We simply act. We act based on our hearts. John Piper has said, "If we are going to do what pleases God, most of the time it will be by reflex, not reflection." And I suspect that our reflex choices are more indicative of our belief system than those based on reflection.

Are We Romans 1?

Bear with me on this one.

Paul's primary purpose in his letter to the Roman church is to demonstrate to them that righteousness, salvation, right standing before God, is a gift and cannot be earned. But before he can present this gift (righteousness that comes from faith in Jesus Christ) he has to convince his readers that they are lacking and in need. So in the first portion of the letter, Paul makes the case that all have sinned and fall short of God's glory. To introduce his case, Paul tells the church to simply open their eyes and see that God's wrath is being executed. Paul says that God's wrath is revealed against those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. The creation itself testifies not only to God's existence, but also to His character and nature (vs. 20). However, the result of unrighteousness is the supression of the truth. So we see that Atheism is not an intellectual problem. It is a moral problem.
To me, the most interesting and horrific thing about this passage is how Paul defines the wrath of God..."Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them."(Romans 1:24 NASB). So God's wrath in Romans 1 is a giving over. It seems that God's wrath is God giving people over to sin. I don't believe that Paul is telling us that this is the totality of God's wrath. We are given some very graphic imagery in Revelation of the culmination of God's wrath. However, I do think Paul is telling us that this is how we see God's wrath being displayed in this present age.
Now, what is even more interesting is exactly how this "giving over" plays out. In verses 26-28 Paul tells us that the result of God's giving them over is homosexuality. Why is homosexuality the specific sin that is manifested when God gives them over? I think the answer is in verse 28..."And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,". It seems that there is a link (I would say culturally) between the spiritual sin of denying God and the physical manifestation of homosexuality. This makes sense because God sees Himself as a groom, and He sees His people as His Bride. My thought is this: Since marriage was created to be a physical picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church, maybe homosexuality is the physical picture of a people, who were created to love and honor God, turning away from God and worhsipping themselves. In other words, it seems that God's wrath toward idolatry is giving people over to their own depravity, resulting in homosexuality.
This has also made me wonder if God's wrath also has other physical manifestations to correlate to different spiritual sins. I know this might sound a little crazy, and I'm not claiming that it is Truth. It's just something that I have wondered about. Please let me know your thoughts.

Why Can't We Call it What it Is?...Killing Babies

My heart has been especially troubled lately that we kill babies in our country. I have heard that the number is close to 1 million per year. We kill 1 million babies every year. We are not forced to do it. It is our "choice." And I have been guilty, along with the rest of the Church, of being disturbingly silent. In our hearts we feel sorrow. The Spirit of God testifies to our spirit that a great injustice is being done. We know, regardless of what anyone else says, that this is a valuable little child created in the image of God. Yet we still remain silent. We probably think to ourselves, "That's just the way it is." Our culture becomes increasingly confused by words that are designed to mask the truth rather than to reveal it. "Medical procedure," "abortion," "terminating the pregnancy," "sexual privacy," and "civil rights," are a few. Why can't we just call it what it is?...killing babies.
There have been other injustices in our nation's history; things that, looking back, seem absurd. About 150 years ago white American people owned African people as slaves. I'm sure there was some sort of logical argument behind it. I'm sure there was language that made it seem just and right to the culture. Maybe some argued that the slaves weren't really people. Others probably focused on the rights and freedom of the slave owner. I'm sure some argued that it would be too expensive to the nation to allow all of these people to live free lives. And I wonder if some even argued that it would be cruel to let the slaves go free. After all, life as a slave is all they knew. They couldn't possibly make it in a world so difficult.
In the midst of all of the debate and rhetoric, I wonder if there were Christians who looked at slavery with discontent, yet remained silent. Perhaps they read their Bibles and recognized that there was a great injustice taking place. But maybe they said to themselves, "That's just the way it is." Maybe they even talked to each other about how horrible slavery was. And maybe it eased their conscience a little to tell someone, who already agreed with them, that slavery was bad.
But there were other Christians who were bold enough to call slavery what it was to people who needed to hear the truth. They penetrated through the rhetoric and revealed the injustice. They did not let their own comforts and fears render them impotent. Rather, they realized that God had commissioned them to glorify Him by fighting for justice. It was a passion for the Glory of God as displayed in the Justice of God that finally abolished slavery (if not clearly in the U.S. then clearly in Great Britain of whom the U.S. followed suit).
I want to be a disciple of Christ that is not content with saying, "That's just the way it is." I don't want to be ruled by my comforts or fears. I don't want to ease my conscience by just talking about the injustice of abortion to people who already agree with me. And I want to be a believer who will be bold enough to call it what it is...killing babies.

What is Righteousness?

Read Romans 3:21-28 when you have the time.

Most of the time when we think of the Gospel we think of God's love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Indeed, the scriptures continually remind us that the Gospel demonstrates a love that is higher, deeper, and wider than any love we could fathom. However, in Romans 3 Paul emphasizes a different word..."righteousness." Paul says that the reason Jesus died on the Cross "...was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who as faith in Jesus." So it is not only because God is love that Jesus died on the Cross, but it is also because God is righteous.
My question is, "What does it mean to be righteous?" or "What is righteousness?" In the previous verse we are given a clue. Paul says that God wanted to display his righteousness"...so that he might be just and the justifier..." So righteousness and justice are closely linked. However, it doesn't seem that they are the same thing. From what Paul says, it seems that it is only in the display of His righteousness that He is called just and the justifier. So I would say that justice is the display, outworking, or execution of righteousness. Righteousness is a state of being, and justice is its visible manifestation. Or another way to say it is that justice is the fruit that grows on the tree of righteousness. God didn't just want to be righteous in His own being. He wanted to display His righteousness and share His righteousness so that He would be called the justifier of the ungodly and He would receive glory. And Paul says that this is the reason that Jesus died on the Cross.
So righteousness is a state of being or a quality of God that only God has (Is. 64:6). And His righteousness is displayed through the Cross so that He is called just and the justifier of the ungodly.
Now, we are getting closer, but we still haven't answered the question, "What is righteousness?" John Piper's definition might be the best I've heard. He says, "God is supremely and unimpeachably righteous because He never shrinks back from a right assessment of His ultimate value, a just regard for His infinite worth, or an unswerving commitment to honor and display His glory in everything He does." ("Brother's We Are Not Professionals" pg. 14). In other words, righteousness is a state of being that honors God as the supreme value. To not honor God as the supreme value is to be unrighteous. Now the Bible says that there are no righteous people and that all have sinned (Ecc. 7:20). So because of the Fall there is not a single man or woman who values God supremely. We are all unrighteous.
Now, here is where the Gospel (Good News) shines brightly for us. The Bible says that there has only been one righteous man. There has only been one man who honored God as the supreme value. And it pleased God that the punishment that was due to the unrighteous would rest on the shoulders of the Righteous, so that the unrighteous could have new eyes to see God's worth and now be called righteous. Jesus died on the Cross so that we could have new hearts, new lives, new eyes to see the infinite value of God...so that we could be called righteous. "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor. 5:21 ESV) Praise the Lord!