Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Footnote Gem: Humanity’s Need for the Gospel
Footnote Gem: Humanity’s Need for the Gospel: "Footnote Gem: Humanity’s Need for the Gospel from the Desiring God blog."
E. T. is back—at least he’s made a brief reappearance in this footnote gem from John Frame.
In his chapter “Christians in Our Culture” in The Doctrine of the Christian Life, Frame writes,
Steven Spielberg’s character E. T. is, I think, a genuine Christ figure: recall the themes of preexistence, growth, teaching, miracle, healing, death, resurrection, and ascension. Spielberg denied this parallel, but in my view it is objectively there, even if Spielberg was unconscious of it. The reason is that the human mind has a need for a gospel like that of the New Testament. Those who don’t accept that gospel often instinctively give to their idolatrous inventions powers parallel to those of Christ. (Page 902, footnote 7, emphasis added)
I feel vindicated. I used ET as my theme for trunk or treat this year. I've always seen the parallel between ET and Christ but no one else seemed to see it. At least that's what I thought by the strange looks and sideways stares by the folks who walked by my trunk. It's always been so obvious to me, especially when ET calls home (prayer), has a glowing heart (Holy Spirit) when he communicates with home, and then there's of course the ascension at the end of the movie! I had never seen the quote above before I just always assumed everyone thought the way I did about ET. I think I will phone home now (pray) and thank God for this article!
Humanity’s Need for the Gospel
November 17, 2010 | by: David Mathis
In his chapter “Christians in Our Culture” in The Doctrine of the Christian Life, Frame writes,
Steven Spielberg’s character E. T. is, I think, a genuine Christ figure: recall the themes of preexistence, growth, teaching, miracle, healing, death, resurrection, and ascension. Spielberg denied this parallel, but in my view it is objectively there, even if Spielberg was unconscious of it. The reason is that the human mind has a need for a gospel like that of the New Testament. Those who don’t accept that gospel often instinctively give to their idolatrous inventions powers parallel to those of Christ. (Page 902, footnote 7, emphasis added)
I feel vindicated. I used ET as my theme for trunk or treat this year. I've always seen the parallel between ET and Christ but no one else seemed to see it. At least that's what I thought by the strange looks and sideways stares by the folks who walked by my trunk. It's always been so obvious to me, especially when ET calls home (prayer), has a glowing heart (Holy Spirit) when he communicates with home, and then there's of course the ascension at the end of the movie! I had never seen the quote above before I just always assumed everyone thought the way I did about ET. I think I will phone home now (pray) and thank God for this article!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
How to Qualify? Know You Don't~ The Resurgence
http://theresurgence.com/2010/11/11/how-to-qualify-know-you-dont
How to Qualify: Know You Don’t
Dane Ortlund
In the upside-down gospel of grace, the one thing that qualifies us before God is knowing we don’t qualify, and the one thing that disqualifies us is thinking we do.
Four consecutive accounts in Matthew 19 and 20 drive home this counterintuitive truth.
Addicted to Self-Qualification
First, some little kids run up to Jesus but are restrained by the Secret Security-like disciples (Matt. 19:13–15). Next, the rich young man approaches Jesus, trumpeting his moral resume (“All these I have kept”) but refusing to leave his riches behind (Matt. 19:16–22). Then Peter, reminding Jesus that he has lived out the very sacrifice the rich young man refused, wonders what his reward will be (Matt. 19:23–30). Finally, Jesus tells a parable in which workers are hired at different points throughout the day but all paid the same wage, to the dismay of the early-hired workers who have “borne the burden of the day” (Matt. 20:1–16).
In each passage we can detect the assumption that we have to “qualify” to gain corresponding approval.
The disciples thought little children needed to qualify with age in order to receive Jesus’ attention.
The rich young man thought he needed to qualify with obedience in order to receive eternal life.
Peter thought he had to qualify with sacrifice in order to receive a reward.
The early hired workers thought all employees had to qualify with sufficient work in order to receive a day’s wage.
Upside-Down Grace
Things haven’t changed much.
We roll out of bed every day with a bent to strengthen our qualification before God with some kind of self-generated contribution. Like those in Matthew 19 and 20, we deeply resist free grace.
After all, free grace is perplexing. Dangerous, even. How do we retain any moral compass at all if the only requirement is to stop trying to meet the requirement? Doesn’t this destroy the moral fabric of the universe? Isn’t this a moral free-for-all?
No. The reason why is the very next paragraph in Matthew after the parable of the workers:
And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.’ (Matt. 20:17–19)
You Don’t Qualify. Jesus Does.
On the cross, the one person who ever truly qualified allowed himself to be disqualified, so that you and I, naturally disqualified, can qualify. For free. All it takes to qualify is to acknowledge we don’t, and look to Christ.
To use the categories of Matthew 19–20:
We can have God’s undivided attention without qualifying with age or other social prerequisites, because on the cross Jesus was rejected not ultimately by his disciples or even the religious authorities but by his own Father.
We can have eternal life without qualifying with a moral resume, because on the cross Jesus experienced hell despite living the only life that deserved heaven, being the only person who can truly say “All these have I kept.”
We can have a reward without qualifying with sacrifice, because on the cross Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice that means we freely receive the ultimate reward.
We can have a full day’s wage without qualifying with comparatively more work than others, because Jesus worked the whole day, “bearing the burden of the day,” and then went to the cross, waiving the wage he deserved.
That’s why qualifying before God is so scandalously free.
In the gospel, the one thing that qualifies you is knowing you don’t, looking instead to Christ, and the one thing that disqualifies you is thinking you do. As Dad put it in a recent sermon, “Hell is full of people who believe they deserve to be in heaven. Heaven is full of people who believe they deserve to be in hell.”
Receive it. Humble yourself. Be free.
How to Qualify: Know You Don’t
Dane Ortlund
In the upside-down gospel of grace, the one thing that qualifies us before God is knowing we don’t qualify, and the one thing that disqualifies us is thinking we do.
Four consecutive accounts in Matthew 19 and 20 drive home this counterintuitive truth.
Addicted to Self-Qualification
First, some little kids run up to Jesus but are restrained by the Secret Security-like disciples (Matt. 19:13–15). Next, the rich young man approaches Jesus, trumpeting his moral resume (“All these I have kept”) but refusing to leave his riches behind (Matt. 19:16–22). Then Peter, reminding Jesus that he has lived out the very sacrifice the rich young man refused, wonders what his reward will be (Matt. 19:23–30). Finally, Jesus tells a parable in which workers are hired at different points throughout the day but all paid the same wage, to the dismay of the early-hired workers who have “borne the burden of the day” (Matt. 20:1–16).
In each passage we can detect the assumption that we have to “qualify” to gain corresponding approval.
The disciples thought little children needed to qualify with age in order to receive Jesus’ attention.
The rich young man thought he needed to qualify with obedience in order to receive eternal life.
Peter thought he had to qualify with sacrifice in order to receive a reward.
The early hired workers thought all employees had to qualify with sufficient work in order to receive a day’s wage.
Upside-Down Grace
Things haven’t changed much.
We roll out of bed every day with a bent to strengthen our qualification before God with some kind of self-generated contribution. Like those in Matthew 19 and 20, we deeply resist free grace.
After all, free grace is perplexing. Dangerous, even. How do we retain any moral compass at all if the only requirement is to stop trying to meet the requirement? Doesn’t this destroy the moral fabric of the universe? Isn’t this a moral free-for-all?
No. The reason why is the very next paragraph in Matthew after the parable of the workers:
And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.’ (Matt. 20:17–19)
You Don’t Qualify. Jesus Does.
On the cross, the one person who ever truly qualified allowed himself to be disqualified, so that you and I, naturally disqualified, can qualify. For free. All it takes to qualify is to acknowledge we don’t, and look to Christ.
To use the categories of Matthew 19–20:
We can have God’s undivided attention without qualifying with age or other social prerequisites, because on the cross Jesus was rejected not ultimately by his disciples or even the religious authorities but by his own Father.
We can have eternal life without qualifying with a moral resume, because on the cross Jesus experienced hell despite living the only life that deserved heaven, being the only person who can truly say “All these have I kept.”
We can have a reward without qualifying with sacrifice, because on the cross Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice that means we freely receive the ultimate reward.
We can have a full day’s wage without qualifying with comparatively more work than others, because Jesus worked the whole day, “bearing the burden of the day,” and then went to the cross, waiving the wage he deserved.
That’s why qualifying before God is so scandalously free.
In the gospel, the one thing that qualifies you is knowing you don’t, looking instead to Christ, and the one thing that disqualifies you is thinking you do. As Dad put it in a recent sermon, “Hell is full of people who believe they deserve to be in heaven. Heaven is full of people who believe they deserve to be in hell.”
Receive it. Humble yourself. Be free.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Journey of Sanctification
The Journey of Sanctification: by Mark Struck
Category: Commentary
Above my desk are two items that I see daily and have owned for many years. I cherish them because they represent the inter-connectedness of two men who never met each other and yet who spoke the same message in a powerful way in their generation.
One is an old, old block print from the only book slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce ever wrote: A Practical View of Christianity. It is a most endearing book on the sanctification process.
Next to it is an excerpt from a sermon by Reformer Martin Luther, who also preached on sanctification. The beautiful calligraphy of the sermon is a mere reminder of the end result of sanctification—the beauty of our soul. He wrote:
This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteousness;
not health but healing; not being but becoming; not rest but exercise.
We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it.
The process is not finished, but it is going on.This is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.
Two men, each seeing how Christ changed their own lives, have left for us messages about the sanctification of our own soul. Cherish the journey, fix on the cross.
Category: Commentary
Above my desk are two items that I see daily and have owned for many years. I cherish them because they represent the inter-connectedness of two men who never met each other and yet who spoke the same message in a powerful way in their generation.
One is an old, old block print from the only book slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce ever wrote: A Practical View of Christianity. It is a most endearing book on the sanctification process.
Next to it is an excerpt from a sermon by Reformer Martin Luther, who also preached on sanctification. The beautiful calligraphy of the sermon is a mere reminder of the end result of sanctification—the beauty of our soul. He wrote:
This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteousness;
not health but healing; not being but becoming; not rest but exercise.
We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it.
The process is not finished, but it is going on.This is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.
Two men, each seeing how Christ changed their own lives, have left for us messages about the sanctification of our own soul. Cherish the journey, fix on the cross.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Dr. Fred Williams
I went to Bro. Fred's funeral yesterday at Ebenezer. It was so nice to be "home" at the church where I was saved and brought up in Christ. I took my checkbook in in honor of Dr. Fred. He always made me a cheerful giver. I just wish he'd been able to ask for an offering. I wish everyone was so willing to ask boldy for what belongs to God. I can hear God saying, "Well done thy good and faithful servant." I pray that God will give me just a fraction of the strength and tenacity that he gave Dr. Fred and Dr. Norma. One day we will all blink and Jesus will be right in front of us in His Glory. It's too good to be true but it is. Amazing. The video below was played at the funeral. Click to watch.
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