Brad’s Blog

This is the title of a sermon that I delivered at my home church on October 5, 2008.

I replicated my outline here in my blog. The audio of the sermon and the notes can be found here or at the bottom of this post.

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But GOD…

Genesis 39-50; Jonah;

Ephesians 2:1-10

October 5, 2008

“These two words, in and of themselves, in a sense contain the whole of the Gospel.”

-D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Joseph

• But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. (Genesis 39:21, ESV)

“We know that as the light of the sun is most clearly seen when we are looking from a dark place; so, in the darkness of our miseries, the grace of God shines more brightly when, beyond expectation, He aids us.” -John Calvin

• And God (but God – NIV) sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. (Genesis 45:7, ESV)
• Joseph was put in the worst of positions, forsaken by all, “but God” was directing the whole situation, and Joseph wound up second in command. This gave Joseph a stabilizing perspective on life and allowed him the frame of mind in which he could forgive and reassure his brothers.
• As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Genesis 50:20, ESV)
• This is a powerful testimony because the Bible has gone to great lengths to tell us the badness of this situation.
• Set against this backdrop, God and His work look all the more glorious.

• We see God’s protection and care of Joseph and also His faithfulness.
• Many times, Joseph probably should have died.
• Hands of his brothers, Slave traders, Potiphar, while in prison

• We see God faithful to His promises to Abraham. (Genesis 12:1-3)
• Genesis 48:21; 50:24
• In the story of Joseph, we should pull from “but God” confident hope in the future and knowledge that God is sovereign.

Jonah

• Sent as a prophet to the wicked city of Nineveh (non Jewish people)
• Jonah is an interesting juxtaposition next to Joseph.
• Joseph was a man of upstanding character, and we see God protecting Joseph from circumstances and situations.
• In Jonah, we more or less see God protecting Jonah from Jonah!
• But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. (Jonah 1:3-4, ESV)

• Jonah thought he was going to thwart God’s plan by disobeying.
• Jonah did not want the heathen converted.

• Jonah thought the evil people in Nineveh should be outside God’s grace and mercy.

• The very next verse after Jonah disobeys says “But the Lord” or “But God.”

• This passage highlights once again God’s sovereignty and also God’s grace and mercy.
• Jonah 1:16-17

• The story of Jonah is one of mercy.
• Jonah
• God was merciful to Jonah by first sending the storm and then protecting Jonah from the storm.
• God sent the fish, allowed Jonah to repent in the fish, and protected Jonah from the fish.
• Jonah was recommissioned for the original task and restored to his position.
• Sailors
• God extended mercy to the sailors by not destroying them in the storm.
• God also extended mercy to the sailors by using Jonah’s sinful choices to bring the message of the true God to them.
• Ninevites
• God gave them great mercy evidenced by the great repentance displayed in Nineveh.
• God stayed His hand of judgment on them for a time.

• Probably one of the greatest mass conversions in history
• Jonah illustrates that even when we make sinful choices God still works to accomplish His plan. It is never thwarted. Also, God is a patient and merciful God and uses His power to bring his children back in line.
• How marvelous is this story that it did not end with “But Jonah” but continues on with “But God!”

Acts

• God (But God – NIV) raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. (Acts 2:24, ESV)
• Acts 3:15; 7:5
• And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. (Acts 7:9-10, ESV)
• And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. (Acts 10:39-41, ESV)
• But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. (Acts 13:30-31, ESV)

Ephesians

• Ephesians 1 shows us salvation from God’s point of view.
• Father’s work of election, Son’s work of redemption, Spirit’s work of sealing
• Ephesians 2 talks about salvation from the perspective of the individual Christian.
• These verses give us the past, present, and future of those whom Christ saves.
• But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7, ESV)
• Paul does not leave anyone out – we are ALL dead in sins.
• There are gradients of sinners, but we are still all fundamentally sinners.
• Doctrine of Total Depravity

• After telling us the condition of man, Paul is quick to inform us that God has acted.
• Before telling us the good news, Paul goes to the depths of pessimism about man. He then goes to the heights of optimism about God.
• Paul describes to us the love of God against the dark background of human sin – it is only against this background that we are able to form a true picture of how great the love of God is.

• This makes God look glorious!
• …but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, ESV)
• What has God done?
• Notice in verse 1, we were dead in our sins – in verse 5, God has made us alive
• In verse 2, we followed the course of this world – in verse 6, God has raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly places
• In verse 3, we were objects of God’s wrath – in verse 7, we are the objects of the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us
• Interesting how Paul shows how God has undone and redeemed each of the bad things at the beginning of this chapter.

Theme from Cover-to-Cover

• The overarching theme of the Bible is redemption, and redemption is all about “but God.”
• Genesis 3 – The Fall
• Romans 5:8 - …but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (ESV)
• Culminates in Revelation
• And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5, ESV)
• And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:5, ESV)

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

(Psalm 73:25-26, ESV)

“The only basis for any real and lasting hope – about anything – is that Jesus died for our sins on the Cross, was buried in a tomb, and was raised from the dead on the third day, inaugurating the greatest restoration project imaginable” -Steven Curtis Chapman

Click here for high quality mp3 file (~38.7MB)

Click here for lower quality mp3 file (~9.7MB)

Click here to download the notes page

Click here to view the PowerPoint slide show

So, I posted about Donald Miller the other day. I hate to keep picking on the same person but decided this had to be commented on as well.

Like I said the other day…I am not really a fan of Donald Miller (author of Blue Like Jazz). He gave the Benediction the other night at the Democratic National Convention. As I said before, I have no problem with him doing that.

Miller recently gave an interview to someone from Christianity Today talking about why he is at the DNC. The video that I saw can be found here or below.

So, in this video, Miller talks about abortion. He says, “Legislation was passed that we hope will reduce the number of abortions by dealing with systemic social problems…The Republican, Evangelical, Conservative mindset has been to make it illegal and it has never worked. I don’t see it working anytime soon.”

On the surface, this sounds kind of novel. You at first think, “I have not looked at this quite like that before.” But after about half a second, you see the smoke and mirrors. First, Miller is making the assumption that most abortions occur because a woman is under social distress. Is this really true? Or, are most women having abortions because a child is not convenient for them at that time? Will fixing social problems really change anything? I seriously doubt it.

I will agree with Miller that it is a tragedy when a woman gets pregnant and does not feel that she has the ability to care for the child. But, Miller is assuming that there are not better alternatives to abortion. Wouldn’t adoption be a much, much better alternative while we work on fixing social problems? There are many couples throughout the country that would love to adopt a child. Wouldn’t a better approach be to encourage adoption and also cut a lot of the red tape that makes this process long and expensive? If social distress is the problem, adoption is the temporary solution, not abortion.

Let’s even take this one step further. I would say that murder occurs much, much more frequently due to social distress than does abortion. Most murders occur over drugs or money or bad social settings where anger goes uncontrolled. So, taking Miller’s argument and applying it to other issues, we should allow murder in this country and focus our energy on correcting the social problems that lead to murder. If he is saying that social problems leave a woman with no choice but an abortion, then he is also saying that social problems leave a person with no choice but murder, so that person should not be responsible for that action.

Furthermore, continuing Miller’s line of thinking, murder is illegal but that has not stopped murders. Does this mean that we should repeal the laws related to murder? Absolutely not! The job of government is to restrain evil, to punish evil, and to protect the weak and innocent. Murder is illegal to restrain evil and to protect the innocent even though social problems exist. By the same token, abortion should be illegal to restrain evil and to protect the innocent even though social problems exist.

Miller sounds so brilliant and pious on the surface, but you only have to pull back a couple of layers to realize that he is not saying anything of substance.

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Timothy 4:3

Once again, I find it very sad that Miller is viewed as a Christian leader to many American Christians.

OK, first, I am not really a fan of Donald Miller (author of Blue Like Jazz). I read his book. I did not like it. I know that I am like the lone person out there who does not think this is the greatest book ever penned. I find Donald Miller to be very shallow and basically his beliefs are just liberal Christianity repackaged to appeal to a new generation. He sounds so pious and brilliant in his views, but there is really no meat to what he has to say.

So, Donald Miller gave the Benediction the other night at the Democratic National Convention. I have no problem with him doing that. It is not a moral issue, so if he thinks this is a good thing to do, then that is his decision.

I did find it very interesting how he closed his prayer though. He said, “I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice. Let Him be our example.”

Miller actually affirmed the standard liberal Christian view of Christ’s death. The orthodox biblical view is that Christ’s death was a Penal Substitutionary Atonement. In this view, Christ took on the actual sins of believers and suffered God’s wrath and punishment for those sins.

Miller’s view of the atonement, as espoused in his prayer, is the Example View of the atonement as held by the Socinians, which is the standard interpretation of liberal theologians who deny a whole host of historical, orthodox biblical positions.

The Example View of the atonement denies that God’s justice requires a payment for sin. Basically, Christ was just a martyr and a good person. Christ died for what He believed in, so we should be courageous and stand up for what we believe in too. Basically, this view just says to be good like Christ, which is very humanistic with nothing mysterious or spiritual about it. This view is contrary to so much Scripture that teaches that Christ died for our sins; that He bore our sins; and that He was a propitiation. In the end, man really winds up saving himself by following Christ’s example.

How sad it is that much of American Christianity looks to a man as a spiritual leader who has very screwed up theological views. No wonder American Christianity is in such shambles.

This is the title of a message that I delivered at my home church back in January. Our pastor was out of town and asked me to speak in his absence. Notice I am not using the word preach because I don’t really think that I am gifted to preach. Teach, yes; preach, no.

I spoke on James 2:14-26. This is the section that talks about faith and works. It is probably one of the most misinterpreted and most misunderstood passages in our Bibles. I really enjoyed this opportunity and the study that it required.

I am replicating the notes from the message in my blog. The audio of the sermon and notes can be found here. The audio files are at the bottom of the page.

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“It is faith alone that justifies, but faith that justifies can never be alone.” -John Calvin

Does this text conflict with Paul and Romans and the doctrine of sola fide?

Background

• Written to church at Jerusalem
• Jews who had become Christians
• Key phrase “my brothers”
• James is writing to teach us what it means to be a believer and not how to become a believer.
• Main point - Correct spiritual immaturity

We are saved by faith alone (sola fide)

• Works do not save or make us more saved.
• James is explaining what true faith does.
• True faith results in a changed life.
• Christ backed up his words with actions/results.
  • Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins….” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” And the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men. (Matthew 9:1-8, NIV)

Abraham is an example

• James and Paul appeal to Abraham for different reasons.
  • If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-but not before God. What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:2,3, NIV)
  • …being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness-for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. (Romans 4:21-24, NIV)
  • Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6, NIV)
  • Genesis 22:1-19
• Emphasis in James is on the fruit of Abraham’s faith.
• Our works “justify” to humans our claim to faith.
• Abraham’s work in Genesis 22 showed that his faith proclaimed in Genesis 15 was true.

Works are a confirmation of salvation, not a cause of salvation

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10, NIV)

Bible never suggests a works righteousness system

• Galatians 2:16; Romans 1:17; Romans 3:23,24; Romans 4; Romans 5:1; Luke 7:50; Acts 16:30,31; Ephesians 2:8,9
• …all our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6b, NIV)
• “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23, NIV)

Six key words/phrases

• Verse 14
  • “my brothers”
  • “claims”
  • “such faith”
• Verse 18 - “show me”
• Verse 22 - “you see”
• Verse 24 - “you see”

James 2 condemns antinomianism

• Antinomianism = belief that we can have faith in Christ but continue in an immoral lifestyle and live an unchanged life
  • What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Romans 6:1,2, NIV)
• Demons have proper knowledge of God
  • When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. (Matthew 8:28-32, NIV)
  • Mark 1:24; Mark 3:11,12; Mark 5:1-13; Luke 4:34,41; Luke 8:28-31
• Abraham and Rahab were willing to sacrifice everything for God.
• James, Paul, Peter, John, and Jude all wrote against antinomianism.
• 2 Corinthians 13:5; Titus 1:16; Matthew 7:20; 1 John 2:4-6; 1 John 3:8-10

Further study

Romans 4; Genesis 15 & 22; Hebrews 11; 1 John; Galatians 3; Romans 6

The evidence of salvation and true saving faith is a changed life.

Currently, I am reading through the book of Acts. Two words keep jumping off the page at me, “but God.” I just realized that those two simple words are packed with meaning.

I did a search and found that “but God” occurs 61 times in the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. There are several key instances that are really neat.

We see these two words used in relation to Noah. (The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. BUT GOD remembered Noah…. Genesis 7:24-8:1)

These two words really jump off the page in the story of Joseph. Joseph illustrates to us in profound ways the sovereignty of God. Check out these verses.

Genesis 45:6,7 - For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. BUT GOD sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Genesis 50:20 - You intended to harm me, BUT GOD intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

The story of Joseph can be summarized in two words, “but God.”

There are more instances in the Old Testament, but let’s skip over to the New Testament. These two words occur frequently in the book of Acts.

Acts 2:23,24 - This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. BUT GOD raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Acts 3:15 - You killed the author of life, BUT GOD raised him from the dead.

Acts 7:5 - He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. BUT GOD promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.

Acts 7:9,10 - Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. BUT GOD was with him and rescued him from all his troubles.

Acts 10:39,40 - We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, BUT GOD raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.

Acts 13:29,30 - When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. BUT GOD raised him from the dead….

I think these two words, “but God,” really jump off the page at me because they link two statements that do not go together. The first half of the statement is something that is terribly wrong, and the second half of the statement is something redeemed.

These two words amaze me. They are the greatest conjunction in the whole Bible. They are perhaps the greatest conjunction in all of history. Man was dead in his sins and destined for hell…but God. I was a sinner condemned in my sin…but God. These two simple words, “but God,” should be the testimony of everyone one of us.

The whole of redemptive history and the main point of the Bible is “but God.” Those two words are the turning point of all of human history.

Praise God that He sovereignly controls this world and that we are not left to ourselves. Praise God for “but God.”

I recently read an article in Time Magazine about Mother Teresa.  The article can be found here.  I have also posted a copy on braddena.com in case Time removes it in the future.  The copy can be found here.

The first couple of pages of the article give you the flavor.  It is a preview to a new book that is coming out entitled Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light.

Mother Teresa is often times heralded as the face of Christianity.

To start with, don’t get me wrong. She did some amazing work by human standards. The region she worked in is far better off because of her, and I applaud her work.

I have always wondered though if she was really a Christian or not. On the outside, she had amazing works. But, I have heard her speak of her beliefs before. Her beliefs did not square with scripture. She believed just as the Catholic Church taught (and I think even incorporated some Hinduism). Catholic teaching can not be reconciled with the Bible. The 2 are mutually exclusive. I do think there are some true Christians in the Catholic Church, but it is very hard to find the Truth in that institution.

So, I have always wondered if she did her work out of love, obedience, and thankfulness of what Christ did for her, or was she working trying to win Christ’s favor. This article shows Mother Teresa’s private life. It appears that she probably was not really a true Christian. (I can’t say for sure. I am just speculating. And, it is deeply sad.)

Mother Teresa had a God-shaped hole in her heart (we all do). Instead of filling that hole with Christ and letting works flow from that, she was trying to fill that hole with her works. Instead of bringing her peace and assurance, it actually made the hole bigger. She could not find rest for her soul. It appears that she felt further from God the more she tried to work to win His favor. That is exactly what the Bible says happens. Nothing can substitute for Christ, not even our good works.

Here are a couple of verses that illustrate what I think Mother Teresa was missing.

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. (Psalm 62:1,2; NIV)

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30; NIV)

The problem of evil is something that typically comes up early in a conversation about God. This is especially true if you are speaking to a non-believer. What is the answer to this question? Is God in control? Are there things outside of God’s control? These are important questions. Theologians have grappled with this question for centuries. In no way do I completely have this question figured out. I think at some point, we just have to claim Deuteronomy 29:29 and say that the secret things belong to God.

I just finished Piper’s chapter on suffering in Desiring God and thought this would be an appropriate place for this post. Clearly, this one post will not fully resolve the question, but hopefully I can provide some insights.

First, I believe God is sovereign. He is in complete control of this universe, even evil. There is nothing outside of His control. I think there is no verse that demonstrates this more clearly than Acts 4:27,28. The greatest evil in all the world is the murder of an innocent person and especially if that innocent person is God. This passage in Acts clearly tells us that God was in control of even that event.

The problem of evil should not be a strike against God. It is actually one of the greatest signs pointing to God. We hold a book in our hands, the Bible, that explains the problem of evil to us clearly. In the 3rd chapter of the book (Genesis 3), God tells us where evil came from. Evil entered this world when Adam and Eve, using their free will, chose to sin. From that point forward, humans lost their free will and have been held captive to their sin nature.

The Bible ends in Revelation telling us what God plans to do with evil. It will be completely wiped out. There will be a new heavens and a new earth. God has a plan for evil. He is perfectly clear about that. The question is not, “Why has God not judged evil?” The question is, “Why has God not judged evil yet?”

The Bible answers this question as well. It is because of God’s great love and mercy that he has not rid the world of evil. It is not because He is weak or not in control. He is full of love and mercy. The Bible tells us between Genesis and Revelation the history of redemption and how God is fixing this messed up world. It all points to the cross where evil was defeated.

So, why are we still here? The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 3 that God is patient. He is waiting until the full number of His children have come to faith in Him before He judges the world. Once again, it is His mercy. What if Christ would have returned 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 100 years ago, 1000 years ago. How many of us would have been left out? How many of us would have died in our sins?

The problem of evil does not tell us there is no God, or that God is unloving, or that God is weak. Evil tells us just how merciful that our God is. He would have been perfectly just to have destroyed this world at the first sin. He would have been perfectly just to destroy you with your first sin.

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:18-25 that the Creation has been subjected to frustration waiting on redemption. God gets our attention through the evil in the world. No one gives a rip about God in the good times. The only way He can get us to stop, examine our lives, and see the ugliness of our sin is through evil and pain. Evil should be a sign that screams at us the ugliness of sin.

I like what C.S. Lewis says in The Problem of Pain. He says, “But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

When bad things happen, it should cause us to repent and run to God - not question His existence or character. This is exactly what Christ said in response to a calamity in the Bible found in Luke 13:1-5.

Praise God for His great mercy and patience!

Not only is the marriage relationship a mirror of the Trinity, but it is also a picture of the relationship of Christ to His church.

We see Paul write in Ephesians chapter 5 how our marriages should be a picture to the world of how Christ loves His church.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:25-33; NIV)

So, the question is now raised, are you accurately reflecting the love of Christ for His church in your marriage? How can we as Christians communicate this greatest of all relationships, that relationship being the love of Christ for His church, if we who are Christians do not demonstrate it in our marriages?

When people look at the Church, they should see marriages that are different than what they see in the world. By our marriages looking different, I mean happy, healthy marriages in which each spouse esteems the other ahead of themselves. I am talking about marriages that accurately reflect the unity and selflessness seen within the Trinity and accurately portray the love of Christ for His church. If more people understood that this is what marriage is about, I am convinced that our marriages would be much healthier.

Statistics from The Barna Group from 2004 show the divorce rates for both unbelievers as well as born-again Christians at 35%. Notice this was not just people who claim to be Christians, but people who claim to be born-again Christians. Did you catch that? Born-again Christians have the same divorce rates as that of unbelievers. This is the picture of marriage that we are presenting to unsaved people. When Barna broke the statistics down into different generations, 46% of Baby Boomers are divorced and that number is still rising, and my generation is on pace to surpass that of the Baby Boomers. An even higher percentage of Christian couples are unhappy and have no idea that they do not have a God-honoring marriage. They do not live up to the biblical standard set for marriage.

We, as the Body of Christ should strive to have marriages where outsiders take note that they do not see the world’s idea of marriage from us. We should be a group of people that hold marriage in the highest esteem just as God does. Outsiders should look in and see that we are different and that they want what we have. Our marriages and families should be advertisements to the world that scream the character of God and the love of Christ. We need to be good image bearers not only in our individual lives but also in our marriage relationship.

If we coast in our marriage, we will coast right into DISunity. Our marriage has to be that steady uphill climb from the wedding vows until death do us part. The wedge Satan placed in our marriages is naturally there due to the fall. We have to work everyday to force this wedge out from between us. Satan knows that driving a wedge into our marriages defaces the image of the Trinity and the picture of Christ and His church. Remember, Satan in our true enemy.

Also, the biblical principles of marriage tie quite nicely with the closing verses of 2 Timothy. These verses were written as Paul was near the end of his life.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7,8; NIV)

We need to apply this to every area of our life. We should apply it first and foremost to our relationship with God and when we do this, it will then affect all areas of our life including our marriage relationship. On our death bed, we should be able to hold hands with our spouse and say, “WE have fought the good fight, WE have finished the race, WE have kept the faith.” Marriage just like life is a race that you both run together holding each other along the way with your eyes fixed steadily on Jesus at the finish line.

If you have never read the book of Hosea in the Old Testament, I want to encourage you to do that. Hosea was a man who married an extremely unfaithful spouse, in spite of this, he actively loved her and pursued her even though she had vast shortcomings and was for all practical purposes unlovable. He loved her and cared for her in a way that was nothing short of super-human. This is a picture of Christ’s love for us. We are the unfaithful spouse who has adulterated ourselves to the world, and Christ loves us in spite of all of our terrible short-comings. When we keep in perspective how Christ has loved us and died for us in spite of the things we do, we can much more easily love our spouse in spite of the petty differences that we have with each other. And just think how our differences pale in comparison to how we have offended a holy God.

I want to finish with an illustration that I heard from a pastor once. He was asked if performing weddings was his greatest joy. He said no. He said not to get him wrong that weddings are great and he enjoys doing them but that he gets more joy from performing the funeral for a faithful saint. He said at that funeral sits their spouse of over 50 years quietly sobbing. He said that brings him great joy (not happiness but joy). You see, anyone can say on their wedding day that they are going to persevere with their spouse and be together until death do us part. The cause for real celebration is when a couple has actually done that. They have fought the good fight together. They have kept their eyes firmly fixed on Christ for 50 plus years and finished the race as one. They have been good image bearers of the Trinity and accurately reflected Christ’s love for the church.

Make it a priority to make the relationship between you and your spouse all that God intended it to be so that you can bring the maximum glory to God with your marriage.

Outside of our relationship with God, the most important relationship that we see in the Bible is the marriage relationship. God has a very high view of marriage. It is not a fleeting feeling nor an institution of convenience that our society has made it out to be.

The Bible lays out the foundation of marriage in Genesis 2.

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. (Genesis 2:18-24; NIV)

Notice that this passage starts out with “It is NOT good for the man to be alone.” This is the first time in the creation account that God has declared something to NOT be good. Up to this point everything was good. Man in his aloneness was not good. Before creating the woman, God paraded all of the animals in front of Adam to show him that there was not a suitable mate for him in all of creation. God wanted Adam to appreciate the wife that He is about to give him and realize there is nothing in all of creation that compares to her and that she is a fellow image bearer of God. God’s creation of the woman was the completion and perfection of his creative acts.

When God created marriage, it was not simply that God considered marriage to be a good idea, though it certainly is that. He created marriage to illustrate to us spiritual truth, namely the relationship within the Trinity and the relationship of Christ to His church.

We are all as individuals made in the image of God. We are all image bearers individually. In the marriage relationship though, we get to image God in a different way. The marriage relationship is our best human example of the relationship within the Trinity. As husband and wife become 2 in 1, we mirror the 3 in 1 relationship that we see in the Triune Godhead.

The marriage relationship should be the pinnacle of unity in a human relationship and therefore mirror the perfect unity seen within the Trinity. The marriage covenant should reflect the selfless attitude and praise of the other as seen within the members of the Godhead. This is God’s ideal of marriage. I am afraid that too often, we buy into the lie that marriage is all about “me” and have elevated my perceived needs above that of my spouse.

It is because of sin that the marriage relationship has been tarnished and scarred. Because of this, the natural tendency in marriage is not for unity as designed BUT for DISunity. In Genesis 3:12 (The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” NIV). We see here that the fall has occurred and now the man is accusing his wife, and ultimately God, of his own short-comings. The marriage relationship is no longer naturally unified as God intended. One chapter after the institution of marriage, we see why we today struggle in our marriages and why it is all the more important to actively pursue oneness with our spouse.

In marriage and any other relationship for that matter, disunity happens passively. However, in order to achieve unity in marriage and therefore better reflect God’s image, we must ACTIVELY work at unity. Instead of working against each other and falling into disunity, actively work together toward unity. Actively pursuing unity is the only way that we will keep from sliding into disunity. We just saw in Genesis 2 that God created marriage as the greatest of human relationships. Keep in mind that Satan is the real enemy and not your spouse and that he worked a wedge into the marriage relationship in Genesis 3, and this is a wedge that we still battle today. You and your spouse MUST work together.

I will continue this post tomorrow.

Well, this is my third post on prayer. You can tell that anytime a discussion arises involving prayer that it really peaks my interest. Studying prayer always makes me feel guilty. I always realize how far short I fall in this area in my life. I can always pray more. I should always pray more. I know at the Judgment Seat of Christ that I will look back on my life and wish that I would have prayed more.

The Apostle Paul gives us some pretty serious insight on prayer in Romans 15:30-32. (I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed.)

Paul asks for prayer in 2 serious areas. He asks to be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, and he asks that his service will be acceptable in Jerusalem. Notice that Paul is saying that prayer can change both the hearts of believers and unbelievers.

Paul tells us that prayer is a struggle. The NIV does not capture this as well as other translations do. The NASB says, “Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me…” Prayer is a spiritual battleground. It is a struggle against sin and evil around us.

So, why don’t we pray? I think there are several reasons.

• We do not realize the seriousness of what is going on around us.
  • We are irresponsible to our calling
  • We have no passion for the souls of lost men and women.
  • We have no passion to see ourself and others grow to be more Christ-like.
  • We have a general unbelief about God, His power, heaven, and hell.
• We don’t understand our part in this world.
  • God ordains the ends as well as the means.
  • Prayer is God’s appointed means to act in this world. (Our finite minds can not reconcile the power of prayer with God’s absolute sovereignty.)
  • When we do not pray, there is no praise from God’s people because we have no idea of what God is doing around us.

Prayer enlivens ministry! Prayer enlivens life!