Month: July 2013

Eschatology from the Start (Genesis 1:28)

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Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

God created a permanent order of creation. But he also intended a development in which man would play a central role. Because Adam failed and fell into sin, Christ came as the last Adam to achieve dominion (see 1 Cor. 15:22, 45–49; Eph. 1:21–22). (ESV Study Bible, p. 2635).

Where does eschatology begin? Or better, when does it begin?

Typically, when we think of eschatology, our minds race towards Revelation with a stop in Daniel, Zechariah, and Matthew 24-25 along the way. Often, eschatology, “the study of last things,” is understood narrowly, as those events which will transpire at the end of the age.  Hence, eschatology is about the second coming of Christ, the rapture, the millenium, and the order of these things—sometimes with prophecy charts included.

It is true, there is a kind of narrow eschatology that focuses on what will happen at the end, but there is another variety of eschatology—a more biblical kind (I would argue)—that begins in the beginning.  In fact, this eschatology can be seen in Genesis 1, even before the fall. Continue reading →

Immanuel: A Devotional Reflection on Matthew 1:18–25

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Matthew 1–2 is a rich passage for discerning who Jesus is and how the apostles understood Jesus to be the Christ.  As to the former, Matthew introduces his Jewish audience to Jesus as Immanuel, “God with us” (1:18–25), the King of the Jews (2:1–10), the Son of God (2:13–15), the covenant Lord (2:16–18), and the Suffering Servant (2:19–23).  As to the latter, Matthew employs a variety of quotations, allusions, and metaphors to paint the picture of Jesus fulfilling the messianic prophecies of old.

In this post we will focus on the first aspect of Jesus’ identity—he is the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14, the Immanuel. Continue reading →

Matthew’s Gospel: A King and His Kingdom

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There has been much recent debate on the nature of the gospel.  Did Paul get it right?  Or should we look to Jesus to know the gospel?  See the panel discussion at the recent TGC Conference: Did Jesus Preach the Gospel?

Taking a biblical-theological approach, the gospel is best understood when we look at all that the Bible has to say about the subject.  This includes the proto-gospel preached to Adam (Gen 3:15), the gospel preached beforehand to Abraham (Gal 3:8), the good news which David celebrated in the Psalms (esp. 40:9; 68:11; 96:2), and the good news announced by Isaiah (40:9; 41:27; 52:7; 60:6; 61:1) and the other prophets (Nahum 1:15; Joel 2:32).  Likewise, to rightly discern the meaning of the gospel to the early church we must look at its multiple uses in the gospels, letters, and John’s singular use in Revelation 14:6.

In this fabric of gospel theology, it is important to remember that God has given us four inspired accounts of the gospel. These don’t stand out as different gospels; nor do they reclaim the true gospel—as some infer.  They are rather four accounts of the one true gospel that all the apostles preached.  In conversation with the OT gospel promises and the epistolary explanations of the gospel, the four gospels give us a message of the person and work of Jesus Christ, the one who stands at the center of the gospel.

Starting yesterday, I began to consider the gospel in the gospels, or better the gospel according to the ‘gospelists’–Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Continue reading →

UPDATED: Identifying the Son: A Chiasmus for Christ (Matthew 3:1-4:17)

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UPDATE: On the basis of a few comments and further reflection, here is an updated outline of the chiasmus in Matthew 3-4.  What do you think?

In preparation for Sunday’s message, I came across some themes in Matthew 3:1-4:17 that seemed to present themselves as a conceptual chiasmus in Matthew’s gospel.  The issue revolves around the identity of Jesus, which the whole point of Matthew’s writing and the point he is trying to make early on in his gospel.

What I noticed is that in chapters 3-4 is that Matthew seems to pit John’s testimony about Jesus against Satan’s questions to Jesus. The former affirms the sonship of Christ and prepares the way (3:3) for the Father to declare his unconditional approval of the son (3:17).  By contrast, Satan takes the word of God and twists it back against Jesus so that, he questions Jesus identity with it (4:1-11).

In the end, John’s testimony proves true as Jesus abides in God’s word (4:4, 7, 10) and resists the temptation of the devil.  In the end, John’s proclamation of the kingdom’s nearness (3:2) is confirmed by Jesus’ devotion to the Father.  Therefore, Matthew records Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom, which nicely concludes this section of his gospel (4:17).

Here is my conceptual outline below.  Would love to hear your thoughts. Continue reading →

The Light of the World (Genesis 1:3)

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Genesis 1:3. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

God created physical light. The Bible also says that God is light in a moral and spiritual sense (1 John 1:5). By God’s design, the physical aspects of creation can serve as vehicles for developing themes about God and his salvation. Jesus is “the light of the world” (John 8:12). (“History of Salvation in the Old Testament: Preparing the Way for Christ,” in ESV Study Bible’s, p. 2635)

Let There Be Light

The first thing created in the Bible is “light.” In this God not only communicated his essence to creation; he also ensured that all things would be made under the rule of his light. As it will be in the new creation—a world illumined by the light of the Lamb (Rev 21:23)—so it was in the beginning.

God spoke light into existence and made the physical universe to display his radiant glory. Indeed, as the Bible tells, God’s glory shines in the heavens (Ps 19:1) and is reflected by men and women made in his image (Ps 8). With the Fall, sin dimmed and deranged that reflection—almost to the point of total darkness sometimes—but the light of God remains.

Truly, all creation was made by the Lord of light (John 1:3), and nothing exists that did not come from his light. The Lord of light is the Author of Life (Acts 3:15) and in his light we see light (Ps 36:9). In this way, the world was fashioned in the light; nothing that was made was made from darkness, by darkness, or contained darkness. As Genesis 1:31 states, all of it was “exceedingly good.” Continue reading →

Hospitality, Fellowship, and Evangelism

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This week, I have been thinking about (and blogging about) ‘hospitality evangelism.’ A good friend and former seminary classmate, Matthew Wireman, pushed back via Twitter—that vast forum for nuanced perspectives—and said why not just call “hospitality evangelism,’ ‘hospitality.’ Rightly, he insisted that all hospitality should include gospel conversation and that we should not see hospitality as the new door-to-door program, where we invite people in only to give them a fiery invitation to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus. We should in essence always be hospitable, without any other motive.

Or at least, that is what I took him to mean from his 140 characters.

So, should we drop the label ‘hospitality evangelism’ and just go with ‘hospitality,’ trusting that people will catch the drift and will focus on bringing Christ into the conversation? Or should we teach our people to combine hospitality and evangelism, whether or not they use the label ‘hospitality evangelism’?

Here are a few reflections on that question and the need for evangelicals to remember what hospitality and fellowship really are. Continue reading →

The Key to Twenty-First Century Evangelism

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Last fall, David Mathis wrote an insightful piece on hospitality as the ‘key’ to evangelism in the twenty-first century. He writes,

In a progressively post-Christian society, the importance of hospitality as an evangelistic asset is growing rapidly. Increasingly, the most strategic turf on which to engage the unbelieving with the good news of Jesus may be the turf of our own homes.

When people don’t gather in droves for stadium crusades, or tarry long enough on the sidewalk to hear your gospel spiel, what will you do? Where will you interact with the unbelieving about the things that matter most?

Invite them to dinner.

For several of us in Childers’s class, the lights went on after his dramatic revelation. Biblical texts on hospitality were springing to mind. A theme we’d previously thought of as a secondary fellowship-type-thing was taking shape as a significant strategy for evangelism in a post-Christian milieu. Continue reading →

‘Wordsmithy’ by Douglas Wilson

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Douglas Wilson’s little book, Wordsmithy, packs a punch.  He subtitles it “hot tips for the writing life,” and in 120 pages gives 1200 imperatives—or something like that. As far as I can tell, the whole book is one giant imperative composed of dozens of witty, winsome, and eyebrow-wrinkling maxims for good writing.

Wilson hits his mark. After reading his book, I both want to write better and feel as though his little book has opened my eyes to ways I need to improve as a writer—that’s one of the reasons why I am writing this.

His truckload of imperatives are dumped into seven principled piles: (1) know something about the world, (2) read, (3) read mechanical books (e.g., dictionaries, books of quotations, etc), (4) stretch before your routines, (5) be at peace with being lousy for a while, (6) learn other languages, and (7) keep a commonplace book. Each section of even chapter comes with books to read and crisp, clear writing tips.

If you want to write well, read Wordsmithy. If you are thinking about writing as a vocation, read Wordsmithy.  If you want to see good writing, read Wordsmithy. It will be worth the read.

Soli Deo Gloria, dss

 

The Gospel: Mere Facts or Mouth-watering Feast

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Perhaps more than any other place in Scripture, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 provides a ‘definition’ of the gospel.  He writes,

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

As Paul closes out his first letter to the church at Corinth, he reminds those who have received the gospel to continue to stand in the gospel.  But even more than reminding them of the gospel that they know, he reiterates the four main events of the gospel–Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and glorious appearing—so that they (and we) will might delight in the feast of knowing the triune God.

Soli Deo Gloria, dss