Month: October 2008

Male Maturity in an Age of Adolescence

/ davidsschrock

I love Biblical Theology that informs daily living, and I love my son, so I have two great reasons to commend Owen Strachan’s three-part series on “A Biblical Blueprint for Manhood.”  Owen, a good friend who I greatly respect, traces out biblical wisdom for raising young men who are strong, on the alert, standing firm in the faith, acting like men, and doing all things in love (cf. 1 Cor. 16:13-14).  Considering age-graded aspects of biblical boyhood, adolescence, and manhood, these CBMW blogs esteem biblical wisdom over and above anything which the world has to offer.  Here is an excerpt:

Many young men about to graduate from college seem to realize that adolescence is getting a bit old. It’s slightly weird to dress and talk and look like a high-school boy while pushing into the twenties.  Yet such men have precious little sense about what to do with that realization.  So they lose themselves in a sea of self-indulgence, floating with a vague sense of shame and inadequacy.  In the past, American manhood was biblically informed and defined by certain events and experiences.  Now, many men do nothing but drift.  Though the Bible does not spell out in a single passage the way a boy becomes a man, it does include some poignant exchanges that provide clarity in the presence of confusion.

You can read them all here: 

A Blueprint for Manhood, Part 1: The Problem, a Solution, and the First Few Years of a Boy’s Life

A Blueprint for Manhood, Part 2: In Adolescence and Beyond, the Importance of Living for Others

A Blueprint for Manhood, Part 3:Maturity, Singleness, and the Legacy Every Man Can Leave

May we be biblically-reformed men, and for those who are bringing up boys, may we pray for and work towards shaping young men who walk wisely by fearing God, loving others, picking up the cross daily to follow Christ–the true man!!!

Sola Deo Gloria, dss

Intimate Allies (pt. 4): A Biblical Theology of Marriage

/ davidsschrock

Intimate Allies: A Biblical Theology of Marriage

The Bible speaks of marriage from Genesis 1 to the end of the book of Revelation… We will conclude our meditation on the Bible’s vision of marriage by exploring God’s design for marriage and sexuality as it unfolds in the narrative of Scriptures.  As we do this, we will have a glimpse at an incredible mystery.  Our marriage reflects another marriage.  God speaks of our relationship with him as a marriage.  It is amazing, but our relationship with God is so intimate that it can be understood only in light of the passion that is to be shared within a marriage union (Dan Allender and Tremper Longman, Intimate Allies [Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1995],348-49).

Concluding their book on marriage, Tremper Longman and Dan Allender, sweep across the Scriptures considering the height, depth, breadth, and length of God’s love for his covenantal people.  They begin with the original creation of marriage in Genesis 1-2 and its subsequent Fall (Gen. 3).  Cast out of the Garden, they consider marriage in the OT, particularly in the Song of Solomon and the book of Hosea.  Moving into the NT, they conclude their biblical survey in Revelation 19:6-10, where God’s eternal and eschatological purposes for marriage are seen, and they conclude with culmination of all things in the summation of every marriage in Christ (cf. Luke 20:27ff).  Though brief and constrained to edit many important BT aspects of marriage, they give a helpful overview of the important turning points of marriage in the Bible.  They write:

Marriage as an institution, if not a particular relationship, can now give us a taste of heavenly realities.  It is a lens that enables us to peer into our depraved demands and into our anticipated full redemption when we are drawn into the wonder of the marraige ceremony of the Lamb.  Each moment of marriage is an anticipation of that moment when we will walk down the aisle to the Lamb’s waiting embrace.  It is also the anticipation of the day when we will ejoy the most profound, the most intimate, the most sensual (remember we will have heavenly bodies), the ultimately satisfying of relationships.  Our union with God will ignite and solidify our relationships with one another.  Truly, male and female will be one flesh again (361-62).

The Scriptures do paint a powerful portrait of God’s love for his redeemed, and they should give us pause to consider that love and the way in which our own marriages embrace and embody that heavenly reality.  Christ and his death on the cross has everything to do the day-to-day rigors of marriage.  Marital spats should be reoriented by the grace demonstrated on the cross, just as marital bonds should be strengthened by the unrequited love of God’s covenantal commitment.  It is a wonderful thing that the heavenly marriage of Christ and his church beckons us to press on toward that eternal union.  Our routine relationships are dignified by this glorious truth.  As Longman and Allender remind us, “our marriage[s] reflect another marriage,” and thus our lives have the potential to receive and reflect the glory and grace of the love of Christ.  This is good news that should strengthen our marriages.

May we continue to grow in grace and in truth in the love that is captured in the biblical theological vision of marriage culminated in Christ and the church.

Sola Deo Gloria, dss

 

Biblical Theology Visualized!!!

/ davidsschrock / 1 Comment

For all those who love seeing the intra-canonical connections of the Bible, this visualized cross reference is for you!  See the description below:

This diagram arose from a collaboration between a Carnegie-Mellon Ph.D student and a Lutheran pastor to create a grand map of Biblical cross-references: “We wanted something that honored and revealed the complexity of the data at every level –- as one leans in, smaller details should become visible. This ultimately led us to the multi-colored arc diagram… The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible. Books alternate in color between white and light gray. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in the chapter. Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc – the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect.”

(HT: Tim Challies)

DA Carson on Biblical Theology and Preaching

/ davidsschrock / 6 Comments

While speaking at a conference this weekend at Omaha Bible Church on the topic of suffering, D. A. Carson gave a trenchant overview of Biblical Theology and Preaching.  His points are worth pondering and applying.

 

1. Biblical Theology directly addresses massive biblical illiteracy now prevalent in many of our hearers.  Preachers who only preach small portions of Scripture, who take “six years to preach through Matthew,” do a disservice to their congregations and deprive them of large swathes of Scripture.  BT preaching contends against biblical illiteracy.

2. Biblical Theology considers the major turning points in the Bible, not just the raw chronological story.  Preaching that highlights the covenants, the exodus, the exile, the incarnation, the resurrection, and the cross help disciples of Christ understand his story and theirs.  This is not the same thing as mere bible story telling, like in Telling God’s Story (Vang and Carter, 2006), which simply retells the bible in survey fashion.  It is rather a forward-moving, eschatological narrative that has twists, turns, all pointing to Christ.

3. Biblical Theology enriches and encourages systematic Bible reading and is in turn enriched by those who faithfully read their Bible’s.  More than just reading the Bible for an emotional pick-me-up, congregants who see redemptive storyline in Scripture will delight in reading the OT narratives, the minor prophets, and Levitical codes with greater anticipation and understanding.  They become more accessible when they are put in biblical-theological context.  To illustrate this point, Carson expounded Genesis 39 and the biblical theological ramifications of the Joseph narrative with Potipher’s wife.  More than just an admonition to avoid sexual immorality, lust, and tempting situations (though it does affirm all of those); it shows how Joseph’s sexual purity preserved the people of Israel and advanced the kingdom of God.  Consider this quote: Humanly speaking, you and I are Christians today, saved by the blood of the lamb, because Joseph kept his zipper up!!!  This perspective is reinforced and elucidated by BT.

4. Biblical Theology demands inductive rigor in preaching Biblical books and corpora.  DAC argues that preachers must do more than systematically analyze biblical data.  In doing so, God’s progressive revelation is minimized, time and space are blurred.  Rather BT preachers must ask in every passage:  What time is it?   How does this passage fit in the biblical narrative?  On what antecedent revelation/theology is the author grounding?  And concerning biblical language, how does this particular author use his language?  Different authors at different times mean different things by their words, and so it is vital to understand the language in context.

5. Biblical Theology not only keeps historical-canonical-covenantal turning points in mind, but it also keeps inner-canonical tendons/connections tied together in Scripture, and these ineluctably point to Jesus Christ.  Carson alluded to about twenty explicit themes that run through Scripture and move the storyline framework along.  Some of these he listed were: covenant, temple, sonship, marriage, to name a few.  He cited a profitable exercise of going to Revelation 21-22, listing all of the themes and images in the two chapters and then tracing them out throughout the rest of the Bible.  This is an assignment he gives incoming students at TEDS, and it is surely something that would be beneficial to any reader of the Scriptures, for Revelation 21-22 sum up all things in the Scriptures.  William Dumbrell’s book The End of the Beginning does this very well, as does GK Beale’s The Temple and the Church’s Mission.

6. Finally, Biblical Theology helps avoid anachronism in your preaching by developing biblically warranted inter-connections. 

7. There was a seventh point in there somewhere, but I missed it.  I encourage you to listen for yourself, pick out the seventh point, and see how God would have you apply biblical theology to your preaching.

A few other resources that DA Carson names to better grasp these issues are The Unfolding Mystery by Edmund Clowney, (I would add Preaching and Biblical Theology by Clowney), Graeme Goldworthy’s Trilogy, and Bryan Chapell’s Christ-Centered Preaching (cf. Him We Proclaim by Dennis Johnson and Preaching Christ from the Old Testament by Sidney Greidanus).

May we who preach the Bible, preach the whole counsel of God, and point all of our hearers to Jesus Christ through the inspired language of Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles. 

Sola Deo Gloria, dss

(HT: Unashamed Workman)

Colossians 1.6: Bearing Fruit and Growing!!!

/ davidsschrock

The gospel,
which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world
it is bearing fruit and growing–
as it also does among you… (Col. 1:6)

This Sunday I am preaching at Kenwood Baptist Church in South Louisville.  I am tremendously excited about the opportunity and about the chance to proclaim the message of the gospel which is “is bearing fruit and growing” all over the world.  In a day when economic forecasts are anything but prosperous and increasing, the hope that is found in heaven (Col. 1:5) promises to bear fruit in the lives of all those who believe.  Moreover, the proclamation of the gospel always accomplishes its fruit-producing task (cf. Mark 4), it never returns void (cf. Isa. 55:10-11).

Meditating on the truths of Colossians 1:1-8, I came across this succinct statement by New Testament scholar, Douglas Moo, in his recent commentary on Paul’s Christocentric epistle.  Consider the redemptive historical unity of his comments on Colossians 1:6 and ask how the gospel is bearing fruit in your life and all over the world.  

The language bearing fruit and growing is reminiscent of the Genesis creation story, where God commands human beings to “be fruitful and increase in number” (Gen. 1:28; see also 1:22).  After the Flood the mandate is reiterated (Gen. 8:17; 9:1, 7), and the same language is later used in God’s promises to Abraham and the patriarchs that he would ‘increase’ their number and ‘multiply’ their seed (e.g., Gen. 17:20; 28:3; 35;11).  The nation Israel attains this blessing in Egypt (Gen. 48:4; Exod. 1:7) but then, of course, suffers judgment and disperal.  So the formula appears again in God’s promises to regather his people after the exile (Jer. 3:16; 23:3).  Paul may , then, be deliberately echoing a biblical-theological motif according to which God’s orignal mandate to humans finds preliminary fulfillment in the nation Israel but ultimate fulfillment ini the worldwide transformation of people into the image of God by means of their incorporation into Christ, the “image of God.”  Colossians 3:10 echoes the same idea, referring to the ‘new self’ (the new people of God in Christ) as ‘renewed in knowledge of the image of its Creator’ (see also v. 10 and cf. 1:15) (Douglas Moo, The Letter to the Colossians and to Philemon in the PNTC [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008], 88).

May the God of all life-giving grace bear fruit in our lives and may his glorious kingdom increase until it covers the earth!

Sola Deo Gloria, dss

Intimate Allies (pt. 3): A Call for Christian Maturity

/ davidsschrock

Discipleship: Maturation Through Marriage

In addition to bolstering evangelism, Dan Allender and Tremper Longman posit the integral role that marriage has in discipleship.  Consider their words:

The purposes of our marriages are to create life and to shape life to maturity.  A marriage is no better than the vision we have for one another and the willingness we have to sacrifice for each other, to suffer to see growth occur.  Many marriages survive by merely providing a partner for activities–a resource to counter occasional biological and personal needs.  But God’s intention for marriage is to grow or subdue each partner in relation to the other in order to draw each–and eventually marriage itself–to reflect the character of his Son.  The high calling of God is to create life and then to shape it in his image.  Our marriages are not only the context for evangelism but also the soil for discipleship.  And to what end?  Ultimately, our marriages are the foundation for the kingdom of God to grow on earth in anticipation of its full realization in the new heavens and new earth (Intimate Allies, 83-84).

Just as marriage opens doors for evangelism, it also creates environments for sanctification and discipleship.  Incredibly challenging is the notion that marriage is not just a relationship for recreation, “providing a partner for activities.”  Instead, it is a licensed endeavor to procreate God’s love, to picture divine grace, and to proclaim the mystery of Christ and the church.  This does not mean that your marriage has to be perfect to convey such a message, it just has to be honest, intentional, and gospel-rich.  The Good News has always been that Jesus came to set captives free and to heal the sick.  Therefore, Christian marriages that fail to give verbal credit to Jesus Christ, verge on cosmic plagarism because they do not footnote their source.  Similarly, those that do not admit their frailty, while testifying of Christ’s overcoming sufficiency, miss out on the life-giving joy of telling others of the power and kindness of God.  In other words, maturation occurs in an individual and in a marriage, when the gospel is believed and shared.

This idea of maturation that Allender and Longman highlight is vitally important.  If we have been born again (cf. John 1:12; 3:3-8) and are growing into the image and likeness of our savior, marriage serves as an opportune environment for Christian maturation.  Evangelism and discipleship are requisites of the Christian faith, and marriage is designed to improve these, not impoverish them.  However, too often marriage and Christian maturity are set at odds.  A hidden assumption is that the serious Christian must take on monastic commitments if they are too be holy.  (Gary Thomas addresses this in his book Sacred Marriage).  Some may claim, “the kids keep me from my quiet times,” or “being the bread-winner disallows me from church service.”  Yet, it does not have to be so.  In fact, it must not be so.  The Christian marriage, filled with children (if the Lord permits), should be a vehicle driving us to a greater need for the gospel and propelling us to share the love of God with others.  In this way, marriage enhances our discipleship, as we press towards our spouse in gospel-empowered love, taking on the yoke of self-denying discipleship (cf. Matt. 11:29-30; Luke 14:25-33).

May we pray to that end, that God may be most glorified in our marriages as we are daily conformed into the image of Christ.  May we evangelize and be discipled through one of God’s most precious gifts–marriage.

Sola Deo Gloria, dss

Intimate Allies (pt. 2): Marriage and Evangelism

/ davidsschrock / 1 Comment

Evangelism: Marriage Depicts the Mystery of Christ and the Church

In Intimate Allies, Dan Allender and Tremper Longman show how marriage reflects to the watching a world a picture of the gospel, while at the same time for those Christian couples committed to growing in Christ-like conformity, it provides powerful opportunities for discipleship and sanctification.  Consider first their observation on marriage’s gospel-depicting purpose(s):

Marriage must be a picture of or testimony to new birth.  Marriage must reflect the fruits of new birth and the creative, Trinitarian God who is he author of life.  In that sense, a marriage is the foundation of evangelism and the declaration of the possiblity of being a son and a daughter–being a member of the family of God.  The central task of a marriage is first to create and offer life and then to take new life and shape it in the direction of maturity (79-80).

What an incredible vision of marriage!  By participating in and continuing the work of creation in the world through child-bearing, marriage is a picture of new birth.  Likewise, as life is cultivated within the marriage, and as the fruits of marital love are seen with runny noses and dirty feet, God’s program of filling the earth is accomplished.  Consequently, marriage does not stand at odds with God’s plan of salvation, as some might assume from passages of Scripture like 1 Corinthians 7; rather, marriage is a primary means by which the Great Commission is accomplished.  Consequently, marriages that seek to reflect the overflowing love of Christ and the church, provide a powerful lead in to gospel conversations and testimony to the greater, more perfect marriage–one that married and singles alike, can look forward to.

Paul in writing to the Colossians asked for prayer, that God would open a door for more effective service.  He writes, “Pray for us also, that God may open a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison” (4:3).  This petition is a model prayer for all missions-minded believers, and for the married couple who long to see their marriage be a means of evangelistic witness, it should fill their hearts with hope.  For the very being of their marriage witnesses to the mystery now revealed–Christ and the church (Eph. 5:32).  So married couples can and should pray with boldness that God would open doors of for the word of God, pried open by unbelievers witnessing the effect of Christ on their marriage.

Sola Deo Gloria, dss