Cosmic Abuse?

I am currently reading John Piper’s book The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World. In his chapter on Joy and the Supremacy of Christ, he quotes a postmodern church leader as saying the way we interpret the cross is “cosmic child abuse.”

The fact is that the cross isn’t a form of cosmic child abuse – a vengeful Father, punishing his Son for an offence he has not even committed. Understandably, both people inside and outside of the Church have found this twisted version of events morally dubious and a huge barrier to faith. Deeper than that, however, is that such a concept stands in total contradiction to the statement: ‘God is love.’ If the cross is a personal act of violence penetrated by God towards humankind but borne by his Son, then it makes a mockery of Jesus’ own teaching to love your enemies and to refuse to repay evil with evil.
(Steve Chalke and Alan Mann, The Lost Message of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 182-83).

Piper does a nice job defending the essential doctrine of the penal substitutionary atonement of Christ, but another thing came to mind as I was reading the scriptures he presented. If we are going to view everything in the Bible through the lens of the one sentence “God is love” we must be sure we interpret that one sentence exactly as it was meant.

It seems to me that this leader has a misunderstanding of what love is. He seems to also ignore the fact that God is holy; He is angry at sin, righteous, and just. Grace and mercy do not mean anything if we don’t understand the wrath of God. God’s love does not mean He overlooks our sins, it means He showed us favor despite them because of what Christ did on the cross.

Here I just wanted to post the verses that Piper responded to this quote with and the verses that came to mind. Quite contradictory to the quote from this leader is the fact that when the Bible refers to the love of God, it ties it directly to the cross.

We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all…. It was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief. (Isaiah 53:4-6,10)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’ (Galatians 3:13)

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. (Romans 8:3)

I found it interesting that this author claims that penal substitionary atonement is actually a barrier to faith. Our Bible study last night revealed another verse very applicable to this very statement.

Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ (1 Peter 2:7,8)

Here are the verses tying the love of God to the cross.

For God so loved the world (i.e. He loved the world in this way) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13)

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (Ephesians 5:2)

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9,10)

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood… (Revelation 1:5)

I give these verses as a study, not simply to point out a false teacher, but to encourage believers to dig deeper into the word. The death on the cross and the resurrection are foundational to our faith. Without them we are still in our sins and are to be pitied above all men (1 Corinthians 15:12-18)

Blessed

As I sat in my living room this morning, eating my cheesy eggs, I was struck by how blessed I am. Even in the midst of a move, with so many things in boxes, I was still surrounded by "things." God has been good! As my thoughts moved further, I realized my dog was peacefully at rest in his crate, bothering me not at all! What a blessing! My cat was playfully batting around a paper clip, providing much entertainment. How blessed! My wife was quietly asleep, nurturing our little one even then. Delightfully blessed!

God is good, and it's amazing how well a sunny day on a crisp morning has reminded me of that. With all of life's trials, and the swirling confusion about me, the sweet serenity that sunlight and frost lend to my day far outweigh the heavy thoughts on my mind. My outlook brightens, hope sets in, and optimism prevails, as I am reminded, yet again, God is on His throne. He jealously guards His children, as they evidence His glory, and, even in the midst of trial, things are made new and aright. As gold is refined, so are we. As the slumber of winter awakens to spring, so must we. "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed" (John 12:24). God is doing a great work, but growth takes pain. Believe me, I remember; I'm not that far removed from adolescence. So, I'm encouraged, because God is God, and He is good!

How Dare We Fear

Under Islamic law, 9th century Spanish Christians were executed for sharing the Gospel. One such person was Eulogius of Cordova, whose grandfather would cover young Eulogius' ears during the Muslim recitation of prayer, instead reciting a psalm. Learned, Eulogius penned both Exhortation to Martyrdom and The Memorial of the Saints to encourage those condemned to die. Finding himself later in the same predicament, he nonetheless took the opportunity to expound the truths of his faith when on trial. He had been found guilty of protecting a young convert from persecution for her newfound faith. Exhorted to simply "say one word" and "afterwards resume [his] own religion," he instead said it was fitting that he "teach and present the faith of Christ as the way to the celestial kingdom."

Quickly beheaded for fear of hearing anymore, Eulogius had nonetheless made an eternal impact on his world. Even at the news of his execution, Leocritia, the young lady who he had protected, was unswerving in her commitment to Christ. Four days later, she was beheaded. Four days later, she was in the presence of Christ Himself.

A Reality Check

News from Egypt

"I'm in real danger, but I trust God because He is alive. My comfort is that it is only a short time I'm spending here on earth, but there will be a long time that I'll spend with Him. - "Lana," a former Muslim Egyptian

Beaten and abandoned by her family, "Lana" was penniless and with nowhere to live, as her family now considered an infidel, because of her newfound faith. Detained for three days, having her head shaved and leg broken, "Lana" was finally returned back to her family, who responded by abandoning her again.

News from Morocco

Through the Internet, "Majdy" came to know the Lord, through the Christian witness of a Syrian girl who pointed out to him that, of all the 100 names for God in Islam, none refers to Him as "Love." Struck by that, "Majdy" accepted Christ, no longer attending mosque or reciting Koranic prayers. Hiding for fear of his life from his father, "Majdy" prays for his family, convinced they will see the light of the Gospel.

News from Algeria

Strumming his guitar and singing Christian hymns, "Hazim" shares the Gospel with any who ask him to stop singing as they travel on the train. On a seven-hour ride, "Hazim" explains that "Muslims have nowhere to escape. They have to listen to me." Already responsible for the planting of six churches, "Hazim" is "fearless and will go anywhere."

Lord, may we be. May we Rescue the Perishing.

The Truth About Prayer

Prayer malfunctions in the hands of Christians when we seek selfish desires instead of fruit-bearing in the mission of advancing the Gospel. John 15:7 tells us that if the words of Jesus abide in us, we will pray with power and effectiveness, both for our good and God’s glory. Four truths about prayer come from meditating on this Scripture in its wider context.

Fruit Bearing
God designed prayer to give His disciples the joy of bearing fruit while God Himself gets the glory. Jesus said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:7-8).In verse 16. Jesus says to His disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give to you.”
The logical connection between the two parts of this verse is important. Jesus says, in effect, “I have given you a fruit-bearing mission in order that your prayers might be answered! ”You would expect His words to be just the reverse: God will give you what you ask in order that you might have a fruit-bearing mission. But Jesus says it the other way around: I give you a fruit-bearing mission in order that the Father might answer your prayers. The point: Prayer malfunctions when it is not used in fruit-bearing. Therefore, since I want you to pray and to get answers to your prayers, I chose you and I appointed you to go and bear fruit. If you are not devoted to fruit-bearing, you have no warrant for expecting answers to prayer.

Kingdom Desires
Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And what could be more natural than the desire to eat? There are dozens of instances in the Bible of people praying for desires—for protection from enemies, escape from danger, success in vocation, fertility in marriage, recovery from sickness. It’s not that those desires are wrong, but they should always be subordinate to spiritual desires; Kingdom desires; fruit-bearing desires; Gospel-spreading, God-centered desires; Christ-exalting, God-glorifying desires. And when our natural desires are felt as a means to these greater desires, then they become the proper subject of prayer. Just before Jesus said to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” He said, “Make it your heart’s desire that God would hallow His name and that the Kingdom would come and that the will of God would be done on earth.” When your heart is caught up with these great desires, then having something to eat is not merely a natural desire, but a means to some great God-centered end. And then it is the proper subject of prayer.

Used for His Ends
If prayer is not for gratifying natural desires but for bearing fruit for God, the major challenge of prayer is to become the kind of people who are not dominated by natural desires, the kind of people who do not use God for their own ends but are utterly devoted to being used for His ends.
This is why Jesus says, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.” The words of Jesus abiding in us make us those kind of people.
Here are a few examples that show this in John’s writings:
In 1 John 1:10 he says, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” If the words of Jesus were abiding in us, we would have known ourselves better—that we have sinned. The words of Jesus abiding in us is the key to a true and humble assessment of ourselves that keeps us in line with God’s purposes.
In 1 John 2:14 John says, “I write to you, young men, because … the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” So the words of Jesus abiding in us triumph over Satan and free us from the deceptions that would put us at odds with God and make natural desires dominate our lives.
In John 14:24 Jesus says, “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” So if we keep the words of Jesus—if they abide in us—they will define for us the path of love, precisely the path where prayer was designed to bear fruit.
The abiding Word of Jesus puts us in tune with the fruit-bearing purposes of God to glorify Himself.

Saturated by His Words
So the fourth and final truth about prayer is that the more we are saturated by the words of Jesus, the more our prayers will be answered.
The challenge of prayer in the year ahead is the challenge to become the kind of people who do not live at the level of mere natural desire, but who live to bear fruit for God—to hallow His Name, seek His Kingdom and do His will.
The key to becoming that kind of person is letting the words of Jesus—the Word of God (John 3:34, 14:10, 17:8) —abide in us. Being filled and saturated by the words of Scripture brings us so close to the mind of God that we pray in tune with His purposes and receive whatever we ask.

John Piper is pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minn.
All Scripture quotations are taken by permission from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Adapted from the sermon “Ask Whatever You Wish.” ©John Piper
from the January 2008 issue of “Decision” magazine

Get on Tract!

I just returned home from spending the morning with a faithful few at Emmanuel giving out tracts around town. What an amazing time it was! It seems like the best times doing evangelism are the small events where we just get together and go out and meet people. We try to set up large events, fun events, at church events, and all kinds of things to create opportunities for members to share the gospel with the lost. But it seems the most successful (read: faithful) times are when we keep it simple and just get the gospel to people with little extra fanfare. Today was definitely one of those.

We started this morning meeting together to discuss some places we could go and share ideas on how to hand out tracts. Excitement spread around the room as people thought of great ways to get the gospel into the hands of the people. With a table full of tracts, everyone was armed with an entire arsenal of gospel ammunition.

After some time in prayer for courage and faithfulness from our team and soft hearts readied for the gospel, our team parted ways throughout town to plant gospel seeds. Rev Kev spent the morning visiting contacts he had previously made in shopping for tractors. He was able to give away small booklets on heaven while getting the chance to share the gospel with a broken hearted acquaintance. Kevin also found out by sharing tracts that one person already professed to be a Christian and even had the privilege of leading his son to Christ the previous night. Kevin was able to rejoice with him in that.

Jeremy and Jake went downtown to start some conversation at the international food store. They tried to mingle with the locals a bit, but found some difficulty when they didn't understand the language they were using. The left some tracts anyway. The two of them also went to the library to leave some tracts and got the opportunity to share a little with the piano teacher when they returned to church.

Molly and I scoured the Galleria downtown and also the Apache Mall. We placed a few dozen tracts around the area and even thought of a few more clever places (ATMs, books, newspapers, public chairs). We hit up a local bookstore and placed a few gospel tracts in the religion books.






The Murrays went to some stores to do some shopping this morning and they loaded up on over 50 tracts. The boys put tracts in boxes and handed out tracts while their parents did the shopping. As they checked out of the stores, the cashiers were invited to church and given the gospel on a tract. The boys were so excited about telling people about Jesus that they had to be told to slow down a bit. But they just had to keep going. They put some 10 Commandment coins in and under vending machines where kids just love to look for spare change.

David also had a fruitful morning as he was able to have conversations with 4 different people at the mall food court. He did a survey asking some questions of people to get some information for his dissertation and was able to share some gospel tracts during the conversations. He was extremely excited about being able to walk through the gospel so easily with these people. Everyone was so friendly and not even close to antagonistic to the message. David said the time flew by so fast because the conversations went so well.

At noon, we all met back at the fellowship hall for a fantastic taco lunch prepared by Julie and Lexi. We shared our battle stories and rejoiced together for God's power in working through us. The Murray boys filled their pockets with more tracts and begged to be able to go back out and share more about Jesus so others could go to heaven too. Praise God for the faith of children!

Please pray for those who heard the gospel today. Pray that God's Word convicts and brings repentance to softened hearts. Pray also for the gospel tracts that are still out there. Many people have given testimonies of being saved by stumbling across gospel tracts. And finally pray for faithfulness in all of our lives to be more obedient to God's Great Commission. Praise God for using such simple things and broken people to bring glory to Himself!

The Holiness of God - Review

Isaiah (chapter 6) once got a glimpse of God's holiness and immediately cried out, "Woe is me. I am undone." Moses (Exodus 33) asked to see God's face and He replied, "No man can see God's face and live." The disciples trembled in fear after witnessing Christ's display of control over nature (Mark 4:35-41). These men instantly understood their place in the universe when they were confronted with the awesome holiness of their Creator.

In The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul unfolds the incredible nature of the mysterious attribute called God's holiness. Of all God's characteristics described in the Scriptures, none is so beyond our understanding as His holiness. When we think of God we often consider His love, grace, or kindness, but Sproul notes an interesting emphasis placed in Scripture. "The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy; or wrath, wrath, wrath; or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy, that the whole earth is full of His glory." (pg. 26)

The book describes God's holiness as being separate, high above what we are. To be holy is to be of supreme and absolute greatness. Holiness is not just another attribute in a list of what God is like; it is all that God is. Holiness encompasses everything we understand about God and far beyond. God's love, grace, justice, mercy, wrath, kindness, righteousness, power, perfection, deity are all expressed as part of God's holiness. "When we call things holy when they are not holy, we commit the sin of idolatry. We give to common things the respect, awe, worship, and adoration that belong only to God." (pg. 40)

R.C. Sproul throughout the book discusses aspects of God's holiness and the effect it has on the lives of His creatures. He expounds on Biblical examples of the LORD's holiness revealed. He takes a look at how great men of God in history, Martin Luther and Jonathan Edwards, were transformed and proclaimed holiness. Luther went from a Catholic monk who feared the holiness of God, to understanding faith in Christ and longing for His holiness. Edwards was a man who did not falter in preaching every aspect of God including His wrath, justice, love, and mercy, in his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

It is wise for us to study the holiness of our God and Savior. The more we understand who God is, the better we grasp our true place in creation. We recognize how utterly sinful we are and how righteous God is; how helpless we are and how powerful God is; how empty we are and how wonderful God is. "We may dislike giving our attention to God's wrath and justice, but until we incline ourselves to these aspects of God's nature, we will never appreciate what has been wrought for us by grace" (pg. 183). We should, at the same time, both fear His holiness and

yearn for it; knowing that only His holiness can save us from the consequences of our unholiness.
The lives of many professed Christians seem so tiresome and dull. They see nothing exciting about being a Christian and worshipping the sovereign King of the universe. Often these people fall away, revealing they never truly knew who God is (1 John 2:19). "It is difficult for many people to find worship a thrilling and moving experience. We note here, when God appeared in the temple, the doors and the thresholds were moved. The inert matter of doorposts, the inanimate thresholds, the wood and metal that could neither hear nor speak had the good sense to be moved by the presence of God." (pg. 26) "People do not normally feel [overwhelmed] in church. There is no sense of awe, no sense of being in the presence of One who makes us tremble. People in awe never complain that church is boring." (pg. 137) The Holiness of God will be a book that will bring a sense of awe into your relationship with your Savior.

When People Are Big and God is Small - Review

The fear of man is a lot larger reality in our lives that we believe. "If you want to know whether or not you fear God, note your reaction when good things are taken from you." (pg. 114) "Fear of man is such a part of our human fabric that we should check for a pulse if someone denies it.' (pg 17) Do you want to see the fear of man rear its head? Start talking to people about evangelism. In our culture it is often labeled by other names; peer pressure, people-pleasing, codependency, pride, introversion, self-pity, etc. Edward T. Welch writes in When People Are Big and God is Small that we all have a fear of man and explains that freedom from it has three parts: a biblically informed knowledge of God, other people, and ourselves. He breaks down these three into steps that help reveal the sinful fear of others in our lives and replace it with a godly fear.

Rightfully, Edward Welch begins and spends much of the book describing the amazing attributes of God explaining, "The most radical treatment for the fear of man is the fear of the Lord" (pg. 19). God is a lot bigger than we can even begin to imagine. "Scripture speaks of unimaginable love alongside holy anger. God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love, but he also does not leave the guilty unpunished" (pg. 103) We need to understand all sides of God's holiness; His grace, love, and mercy, balanced with justice, anger, and wrath. God is awesome, powerful, beautiful and His handiwork is displayed everywhere. Many of today's sermons in America feed into self-centered thinking by providing self-help sermons. "The result [of too many application sermons] is that our goal can be self-improvement rather than the glory of the Holy God. We need more sermons that leave us trembling." (pg. 96) "A growing knowledge of God displaces the fear of people, and it casts out our tendency to be casual with our secret sins." (pg. 107)

Another step in overcoming the fear of man is having a biblical understanding of ourselves and others. It is important for us to realize how sinful we are and that our dependency is on God not on others. Welch says we ascribe too often God's attributes to other people, "People are our favorite idol. We exalt them and their perceived power above God. We worship them as ones who have God-like exposing gazes or God-like ability to "fill" us with esteem, love, admiration, acceptance, respect, and other psychological desires" (pg. 45). He states that too often we worry that other people will think we are fanatics, that we are stupid, or that they won't respond to us the way we want (fear of people), instead of being more concerned about our own sin and obeying God (fear of God). We then begin to make excuses for our fear of man, calling our sins "shortcomings," saying we are only human, or appealing to the majority for decisions. Instead of living godly we give in because we fear others. In reference to this, Edward Welch makes this convicting statement, "Sometimes we would prefer to die for Jesus than to live for Him." (pg. 39) He declares that "what we fear shows our allegiances. It shows where we put our trust. It shows who is big in our lives." (pg. 47)

When People Are Big and God is Small is a great book that dives into the excuses we make for the fear of man and the remedies for them. The heart of the book is the gospel message, which Welch digs deep into and reveals a better understanding of the gospel than a basic 'Romans Road' presentation describes. He says, "The good news of Jesus is not intended to make us feel good about ourselves. Instead, the good news humbles us" (pg. 146). Throughout the book we find out that we are more sinful than "all fall short" leads us to believe. We take every second of blessing from God and lace it with sin (boasting, self-pity, lies, fear, worry, lust, coveting, etc.). We are idol factories, exaggerating the power of people over us and ascribing them the ability to fulfill our desires. We "stretch the truth" to make ourselves more comfortable in a situation and justify it by saying we are only human or others just don't understand the situation. We create a perceived need in our eyes (more accurately a lust), and make justifications for desiring something God hasn't granted us. When discussing the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the good news of Christ's death and resurrections the author states, "When the fear of the Lord matures in you, Christ becomes irresistible" (pg. 123).

In the book, Welch gets right to the root of these issues, lays out God's wonderful news of His love and transforming power, and offers practical advice on steadily overcoming the fear of others. "THE problem is clear: People are too big in our lives and God is too small. The answer is straightforward: We must learn to know that our God is more loving and more powerful than we ever imagined." (pg. 113)