Nathan,
What does Paul mean in Ephesian 5 when he says, "that He who loves his wife loves himself."
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Answer to The Ultimate End
God fashioned the universe to display the infinite worth of his attributes. In examining the whole of scripture, we are never given the impression that the chief end of God is to save humanity or have relationships with humans. God’s ultimate objective is to uphold the glory of his name. Praise the Lord that he seeks to be glorified through the delight of his people. Throughout scripture, we see God’s zeal for his own glory from creation of the universe to the formation of the new heavens and the new earth. We see this single-minded focus as he states through the prophet Isaiah, “For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another (Is. 48:9-11).” As I read these verses my mind reflects on Romans 11:36 as Paul confirms that “for from him and through him and to him are all things.” God causes things to happen, sustains them, and shines gloriously through all his wondrous deeds. God chooses us before the creation of the world and adopts us as sons so that we might praise his glorious grace (Eph. 1:4-6). God forgives our sins not driven solely by his love for wicked humanity, but behind his mercy toward the elect is a desire to make his glory known. “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins (Isaiah 43:25).” So what does this mean for us? It means that we ought to evaluate our daily actions, thoughts, and interpretation of scripture. Are we driven by a belief that God is good for helping us achieve our own salvation, or are we fueled from an understanding that from our salvation to every good work we do, our ultimate purpose is to bring glory to God? “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).”
hindrances we see
Reece,
What have you seen to be the most common things that hinder college-age guys from growing or maturing in their faith?
What have you seen to be the most common things that hinder college-age guys from growing or maturing in their faith?
Friday, August 28, 2009
The Ultimate End
Nathan,
What was the ultimate purpose in God deciding to create the universe and everything in it?
What was the ultimate purpose in God deciding to create the universe and everything in it?
Disciples
The word disciple literally means a follower or student of a teacher, and the question being answered is what does it look like to make these disciples, to fulfill Jesus’ last command on earth to go and baptize men and woman, not to leave them damp with a prayer of good luck for the future, but to teach them everything commanded by their Lord.
God did not create man to walk through life alone. All men walk through life in community with friends taking the form of many varied and unusual relationships, but nonetheless, only the twisted, lonely man goes through life without any human bond. And surely most would answer they seek companionship out of a need for joy, out of a need to remain human. One pair finds community over a game of chess and coffee, and the other through intense stretching of each other’s mind in the field of science. Yet however varied, they all do so understanding, and more importantly feeling the benefit of knowing another who is like them in the most basic sense of sharing humanity. We were built to share parts of ourselves with others, whether there is much in common or only a mutual liking for chess and coffee and nothing else. A minimal mutual interest is the most basic requirement of relationship, and is itself almost riskless requiring little genuine love or self-sacrifice. If a game is the common link between two people, then the sharing of life needs to exceed little more then a common joy and the reciprocal disappointment when one of the players calls checkmate. But what of brothers or sisters who have the highest good in common? Surely this bond requires much more depth then the bonds needed to play a friendly game of chess. If the meeting ground of the two is the infinite grace, and unmatched worth of an infinite God, then there is infinitely more of the persons that must be shared. Perhaps this forms the command to sacrifice all of ourselves and consider the well being of others as more important than our own.
C.S. Lewis said we should indeed be merry in our relationships, but that our merriment should be of the most severe kind, as two people that have taken each other seriously from the beginning. When people who have Christ as their new life enter into relationship, it is required to work itself out in the upper reaches of heaven and never in the low valleys of earth where we once roamed. To share life like those who have mere hobbies to unite under would be more foolish then the man who only nibbles on crackers for his daily meal when an endless feast is arrayed on the table before him.
The call of Christ to make disciples is a call to take each other seriously, not in the solemn sense of the word, but to have significant, weighty relationships centered on the bond of Jesus. In talking about intentional discipleship between two believers, we assume that one has walked deeper and more obediently with the Lord and can truthfully say as Paul did, “follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” To make a disciple is not to create a carbon copy of oneself, but to point a person to Christ, to point them to the true source of life. Jesus in the only true vine and he commands us to abide richly in his love. “Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” The purpose of discipleship is for someone who has tasted the sweet fruit of Jesus’ love to point the other to the orchard of grace and life that is single-hearted obedience to Christ. Only the Spirit can change hearts, so we are left with the job of pointing; pointing through our day to day mundane actions, through encouragement, through prayer, through the sharp sword of scripture.
What good would it be if we did Christianity alone without help from those who had gone before us? This is the natural course of things. None of use would know how to read if someone more efficient at reading had not instructed us in the way that reading works. I need men who have walked with Jesus more deeply than I have to point me to him. I need men who have laughed and cried more then me and have trusted in Jesus to be who he is. I need men who have yearned for the Lord on deep levels I haven’t discovered, and I need men to teach me how to obey the Lord when my flesh fights with all its might. I need wiser men to be obedient to the call of Jesus to make disciples. And I must be obedient to Jesus to point the way along the road that is life, even if I have traveled but a few miles more.
God did not create man to walk through life alone. All men walk through life in community with friends taking the form of many varied and unusual relationships, but nonetheless, only the twisted, lonely man goes through life without any human bond. And surely most would answer they seek companionship out of a need for joy, out of a need to remain human. One pair finds community over a game of chess and coffee, and the other through intense stretching of each other’s mind in the field of science. Yet however varied, they all do so understanding, and more importantly feeling the benefit of knowing another who is like them in the most basic sense of sharing humanity. We were built to share parts of ourselves with others, whether there is much in common or only a mutual liking for chess and coffee and nothing else. A minimal mutual interest is the most basic requirement of relationship, and is itself almost riskless requiring little genuine love or self-sacrifice. If a game is the common link between two people, then the sharing of life needs to exceed little more then a common joy and the reciprocal disappointment when one of the players calls checkmate. But what of brothers or sisters who have the highest good in common? Surely this bond requires much more depth then the bonds needed to play a friendly game of chess. If the meeting ground of the two is the infinite grace, and unmatched worth of an infinite God, then there is infinitely more of the persons that must be shared. Perhaps this forms the command to sacrifice all of ourselves and consider the well being of others as more important than our own.
C.S. Lewis said we should indeed be merry in our relationships, but that our merriment should be of the most severe kind, as two people that have taken each other seriously from the beginning. When people who have Christ as their new life enter into relationship, it is required to work itself out in the upper reaches of heaven and never in the low valleys of earth where we once roamed. To share life like those who have mere hobbies to unite under would be more foolish then the man who only nibbles on crackers for his daily meal when an endless feast is arrayed on the table before him.
The call of Christ to make disciples is a call to take each other seriously, not in the solemn sense of the word, but to have significant, weighty relationships centered on the bond of Jesus. In talking about intentional discipleship between two believers, we assume that one has walked deeper and more obediently with the Lord and can truthfully say as Paul did, “follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” To make a disciple is not to create a carbon copy of oneself, but to point a person to Christ, to point them to the true source of life. Jesus in the only true vine and he commands us to abide richly in his love. “Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” The purpose of discipleship is for someone who has tasted the sweet fruit of Jesus’ love to point the other to the orchard of grace and life that is single-hearted obedience to Christ. Only the Spirit can change hearts, so we are left with the job of pointing; pointing through our day to day mundane actions, through encouragement, through prayer, through the sharp sword of scripture.
What good would it be if we did Christianity alone without help from those who had gone before us? This is the natural course of things. None of use would know how to read if someone more efficient at reading had not instructed us in the way that reading works. I need men who have walked with Jesus more deeply than I have to point me to him. I need men who have laughed and cried more then me and have trusted in Jesus to be who he is. I need men who have yearned for the Lord on deep levels I haven’t discovered, and I need men to teach me how to obey the Lord when my flesh fights with all its might. I need wiser men to be obedient to the call of Jesus to make disciples. And I must be obedient to Jesus to point the way along the road that is life, even if I have traveled but a few miles more.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Go therefore and make disciples
Reece,
What does it mean to make disciples? How do you hope to see this played out in your life/how have you seen this played out in your life or the lives of others?
What does it mean to make disciples? How do you hope to see this played out in your life/how have you seen this played out in your life or the lives of others?
A reason for this blog
Due to the question and answer format of this upcoming blog, I feel some excitement and responsibility to write and read from our blog throughout the week. As we ask questions, and humiliate ourselves by attempting to answer them all, I expect to be found in the scriptures, builiding my beliefs on a stronger foundation. I, too often, am unable to give a clear, concise answer on many spiritual issues; my hope is that through blogging with Reece, I will be more equipped to not only be ready to give reason for my hope in Christ but that my joy in Christ may grow all the more as my understanding of him continues to grow.
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